Delay of Executions of 14 Prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison

According to Iran Human Rights, 13 male prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions from various wards of Rajai Shahr Prison. The men who were all sentenced to qisas for murder, were due to be executed this morning.

Zahra Esmaili, a female prisoner at Qarchak Prison was also transferred to solitary confinement in Rajai Shahr Prison in preparation for her execution on February 2. She was sentenced to qisas for “murdering her husband.”

Informed sources told IHR: “The prisoners were told that their executions were delayed due to Mother’s Day. But if they were to be executed today, they would have actually had a higher chance of obtaining the consent of their victims’ families precisely because of it is Mother’s Day.”

As there are no legal distinctions made between murder and manslaughter, whether voluntary or involuntary in Iran, those charged under the umbrella term of “premeditated murder” will receive the death penalty regardless of intent and the circumstances.