Mehdi Hosseinzehi Executed in Zahedan

According to the Baloch Activists Campaign, a Baluch man was executed in Zahedan Central Prison on 4 December. His identity has been reported as 25-year-old Mehdi Hosseinzehi who was sentenced  to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source is quoted as saying: “Mehdi was arrested around three years ago and spent two years in Saravan Prison. He denied the charges repeatedly but the victim’s family told him they would forgo execution if he confessed.  So he confessed but the family demanded execution.”

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.

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.