Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 21, 2024: Reza Abbasi, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Rasht Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison on 19 October. His identity has been established as 29-year-old Reza Abbasi from Rasht. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Reza Abbasi was arrested for murder during a group fight four years ago and sentenced to qisas.”
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.