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TEHRAN (AFP) - Drug-related crime is the main cause of jail sentences in Iran, and most prisoners continue receiving drugs through smuggled supplies once inside, the country's top prisons official said on Sunday. Prisons organisation chief Ali Akbar Yasaghi told state news agency IRNA that nearly half-47 percent- of all male prisoners in the country were being held for drug-related crimes, giving rise to a growing drug problem within the prison system.Drugs crimes overshadow other crimes such as robbery (19 percent), "crimes against people and children", and property-related crimes, which account for six percent of inmates."Based on the existing statistics, about 50 percent of the prisoners have a history of addiction," the official said.Citing the latest available figures from August, Yasaghi put the total number of prisoners in the country at 158,351, considerably higher than the world average per head of population."In Iran, there are 225 prisoners in jail per 100,000 people, which unfortunately is a high number compared to the world's average rate at 144 prisoners per 100,000 people," Yasaghi said.Yasaghi explained that almost all of the drugs smuggled into jails were swallowed and then passed by inmates coming back from furlough."As for women, crimes related to moral issues account for 15.14 percent of the cases, second to drugs," which scores 61 percent, he said.Iran's prison system consists of 130 run-down jails, while 41 new prisons are currently under construction as the Tehran government attempts to tackle overcrowding."Using substitute punishments and reduction of the prisons population is one of the main plans of the judiciary system of the Islamic republic," Yasaghi said.
He also invited international judicial officials and institutions to visit the country's prisons.
Iran's judiciary system has been subject to repeated criticism by international bodies over consistent human rights violations.
As in the days of Noah....
