Unnamed Man Executed in Fars Province

According to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency, an unnamed man was executed at an unspecified prison in Fars province. The news was reported on 24 December but the exact date was not specified.

Sadrollah Rajai Nasab, the Fars province Chief Justice is quoted saying: “The convicted individual had killed two rangers while illegally hunting in the Dareh Bagh protected area of Banavat country on 27 May 2022.”

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.