Iran Human Rights (DEC 6 2016): A prisoner with murder charges was reportedly saved from execution by the murder victim's family. According to close sources, the prisoner is 31-year-old Iman Shokri.
Mr. Shokri was arrested by Iranian authorities in December 2009 in the city of Dehgolan (Kurdistan province, northwestern Iran) and charged with the murder of his neighbour. He was reportedly sentenced to death in October 2012 by branch 2 of the public court in Dehgolan. Mr. Shokri's execution sentence was reportedly confirmed by Iran's Supreme Court, which closed all possibilities of appealing the court's decision. However, on Saturday December 3, the murder victim's family appeared in court to forgive Mr. Shokri and stop his execution without laying down any conditions.
Mr. Shokri has reportedly been detained in prison for the past seven years and will likely face a retrial.
Forgiveness cases in Iran have significantly increased in the past three years. In 2015, majority of the families of murder victims who had to choose between forgiveness and execution, reportedly chose forgiveness. Iranian civil society groups have played a major role in the increase of forgiveness cases in Iran.