Iran Executions: A Qisas and a Forgiveness on the Same Day

According to a close source, on the morning of Saturday, June 30, a prisoner was executed at Rasht Central Prison. The prisoner, sentenced to death on the charge of murder, was identified as Ali Arezumand.

A close source told IHR, “Ali Arezumand was charged with murdering his wife with a sickle four years ago.”

Meanwhile, Hossein Esmailpour, another prisoner who was also supposed to be executed on Saturday, was able to ask for time from the plaintiffs.

Hossein Esmailpour was a student at a religious school. He is convicted of murdering Fakhri Langaroudi with the complicity of two of his friends in September 2014.

One of Hossein Esmailpour’s relatives told IHR, “We are very grateful to the Fakhris, especially Haj Ne’mat Fakhri, who gave Hossein another chance. Haj Ne’mat Fakhri was able to convince his family to give Hossein another chance at the last moment. We hope for the day when the Fakhris forgive Hossein.”

Read More: Iran: Prisoner Accused of Murdering a Clergyman Scheduled to Be Executed

The execution of Ali Arezumand has not been announced by the state-run media so far.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the 517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges. There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and intent.