Chengiz Norouzi dies after suicide attempt at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad

Hengaw — Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Chengiz Norouzi, a prisoner held at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, died after attempting suicide inside the facility in Razavi Khorasan province.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Norouzi died on Sunday, December 14, 2025. He attempted to end his life by ingesting methadone while in custody at Vakilabad Prison and died shortly afterward during transfer to a medical facility.

Norouzi had been detained for approximately three years on “drug-related charges” and was being held in a state of legal uncertainty.

Hengaw notes that a similar case was reported about 15 months earlier, in November 2024, when another prisoner, Ali Mirza Niazi, a 39-year-old inmate sentenced to death, died at Vakilabad Prison after consuming methadone tablets and syrup.