Five Men Executed for Murder in Rajai Shahr Prison

According to Rokna, five man was executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on August 24. They were all sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder in separate cases.

The identities of two of the men have been established as Hadi Jozi (pictured) and Mohammadreza Shahramfar who was transferred from Ward 1 of the prison. The identities of the other three men have not been established at the time of writing.

The five prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions in a group of ten. The other five men were spared execution after obtaining extensions or forgiveness from the victims’ families.

Human Rights in Iran had previously quoted an informed source saying that Hadi Jozi was arrested for a murder during a fight around three years ago. The victim’s family had refused to forgo their right to retribution.

Iran Human Rights previously reported the men’s transfer for execution.

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.