3 Men Including Afghan National Executed in Karaj

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men including an Afghan national were executed in Karaj’s Ghezelhesar Prison on 17 April. Two of the men’s identities have been established as Sadegh Tajik, an Afghan national, and Etminan Rad. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. The third man who was sentenced to death for rape charges has been identified as 34-year-old Faramarz Tayeb Bakhsheh (picture).

On 17 April, Rokna reported the execution of a prisoner for murder charges in Tehran. According to the report, he was accused of killing three members of a family in Tehran’s Baghe Feiz neighbourhood on 15 June 2019. The exact location of the execution was not specified in the report but it appears to be Etminan Rad.

The other two men’s executions have not been reported by state media or officials at the time of writing.

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.