Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 31, 2024: Amir Jahandar, Kourosh Salehian and Reza Bidabadi were executed for murder and drug-related charges in Isfahan Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 28 October. Their identities have been established as 40-year-old Amir Jahandar (left photo) from Kazeroun who was on death row for drug-related charges for three years and 27-year-old Koroush Salehian who was arrested for the murder of his cousin three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court.
Another man was executed at the prison on 31 October. His identity has been established as Reza Bidabadi (right photo) who was on death row for murder for four years.
At the time of writing, none of their executions have 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.