Afghan National Executed for Murder in Karaj

According to Parsineh, an Afghan national was executed in Karaj Penitentiary on the morning of April 2. Only identified as Golmohmmad, he was arrested for murder in April 2013 and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind).

At the time of arrest, Golmohammad had told detectives: “Ahmad, the victim, and I had been socialising for a while until one day, I realised he was sexually abusing my daughter. I was so angry so I went to see him. I killed him with a knife during the fight and chopped up his body and left it in the desert so there would be no trace of him.”

In the investigative phase of Golmohammad’s case, authorities were unable to find the victim’s family, leaving him in limbo until the Deputy Head of Judiciary requested qisas for him. He was sentenced to qisas six years after arrest by Branch One of the Alborz Criminal Court.

According to Iran Human Rights’ Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 211 of the 267 people executed in 2020 were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for "premeditated murder."

As there are no legal distinctions made between murder and manslaughter and no grading, 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.