Yaser Balandeh Executed in Jiroft

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Jiroft Prison on 23 September. His identity has been established as 32-year-old Yaser Balandeh (Damani) from Roudbar who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Yaser Balandeh was behind bars for around five years. He was accused of killing his cousin once removed over a property. The victim’s family all wanted to grant forgiveness but his brother demanded retribution and put the noose around his neck. Yaser had a young child.”

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

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. Crucially, while an indicative amount is set by the Judiciary every year, there is no legal limit to how much can be demanded by families of the victims. IHRNGO has recorded many cases where defendants are executed because they cannot afford to pay the blood money.

According to Articles 422 and 423 of the IPC, if only one family member demands retribution and the rest of the family are willing to accept diya or grant forgiveness, the defendant will be executed after that one family member has settled the diya.

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.