Five Men Scheduled for Execution on Wednesday in Rajai Shahr Prison

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least five men were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions in Raja Shahr Prison on August 20.

All five men are believed to have been sentenced to qisas for murder and will be executed on August 24 should they fail to obtain extensions or forgiveness from the victims’ families.

According to data gathered by Iran Human Rights, at least 183 people were executed on murder charges in 2021. 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.

At least 251 including 6 women and 67 Baluch minorities were executed in the first six months of 2022. This is double the number of executions in the same period in 2021 when 117 people were executed.