Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 24, 2024: Nategh Hosseini, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Qazvin Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Qazvin Central Prison on 23 June. His identity has been established as 36-year-old Nategh Hosseini from Qazvin who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Nategh Hosseini was accused of killing someone three years ago. At the time, Nategh had got into a disagreement and physical altercation over a house sale and the man had died after unintentionally hitting his head on a wall. Nategh’s family had requested that his seven-year-old son be present at the execution in the hope that the victim’s family would change their mind. Nategh was hanged in front of his young son.”
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.
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.