Unidentified Man Executed in Tabriz

According to Rokna, a man was executed in Tabriz Central Prison on 16 May. His identity has been reported as 28-year-old Naser who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

The report states that Naser had killed a man with two others on 14 April 2021.

 Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.

In 2023, at least 282 people including two juvenile offenders and 15 women, were executed for murder charges, the second highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 20% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2023, Iran Human Rights also recorded 857 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.