Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Omid, a memorial in defense of human rights in Iran
One Person’s Story

Mohammad Noruzi

About

Age: 20
Nationality: Afghanistan
Religion: Unknown
Civil Status: Single

Case

Date of Killing: September 18, 2011
Location of Killing: Raja’i Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison, Karaj, Alborz Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Drug trafficking; Drug possession
Age at time of alleged offense: 17

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Mohammad Noruzi, along with 21 others, was published in the Iran newspaper on September 19, 2011 and on the website of Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran on September 18, 2011. Additional information was taken from the same website on September 16 and 17, 2011. This case was related to the transportation and possession of narcotics and importing them into the prison. Mr. Noruzi, an Afghan citizen, was 17 years old when the crime took place.

International laws have strictly prohibited capital punishment against those who were under the age of 18 at the time of committing the crime. As a party to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran has the obligation to avoid capital punishment for an offence committed before the age of eighteen.

Arrest and detention

Mr. Noruzi was detained in the Qezelhesar Prison for two and a half years. On September 17, 2011, he was transferred to solitary confinement either at the Evin Prison or in Gohardasht Prison where he was allowed to visit his family. According to Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran, seven prisoners could not visit their families in person and had to talk to them in booths. The circumstances of his arrest and detention are not known.

Trial

The Islamic Revolutionary Court tried Mr. Noruzi (Iran newspaper). No information is available on his trial.

Charges

The charge brought against Mr. Noruzi. was announced as “transporting narcotics into the prison.” (Iran newspaper)

The validity of the criminal charges brought against this defendant cannot be ascertained in the absence of the basic guarantees of a fair trial. International human rights organizations have drawn attention to reports indicating that the Islamic Republic authorities have brought trumped-up charges, including drug trafficking, sexual, and other criminal offences, against their opponents (including political, civil society activists, as well as unionists and ethnic and religious minorities). Thousands of alleged drug traffickers have been sentenced to death following judicial processes that fail to meet international standards. Scores of them were executed based on a 1989 law imposing mandatory death sentences on drug traffickers found in possession of specified amounts of proscribed narcotics (5 kg of hashish or opium, and more than 30 grams of heroin, codeine or methadone). The exact number of people convicted based on trumped-up charges is unknown.

Evidence of guilt

The evidence presented against Mr. Noruzi. was “possession of 480 grams of heroin.” (Iran newspaper)

Defense

Mr. Noruzi was under 18 when the crime was committed. No information is available on his defense.

Judgment

The Islamic Revolutionary Court condemned Mr. Mohammad Noruzi. to death and the General Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the ruling. He was hanged, along with 21 others, either at the Evin Prison yard in Tehran or in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj on September 18, 2011. Authorities told the families to go to the Kahrizak morgue to receive the bodies on September 18, 2011.

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