Baluch Ghasem Shehbakhsh Executed for Murder in Zahedan

According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man was executed in Zahedan Central Prison on September 29. His identity has been established as 23-year-old Ghasem Shehbakhsh who was sentenced to qisas for murder.

The report states that Ghasem Shehbakhsh had allegedly killed two agents based at the Pirosvan IRGC base as retaliation. “In 2018, local armed IRGC forces based in the village of Doumag in Zahedan went to a villager’s house called ‘Haji Vali Mohammad.’ As well as beating up all the residents, breaking a woman’s leg and destroying their property, they also kidnapped two children called Yassin Shehbakhsh, 16 and Jabar Shehbakhsh who was 8," the report quotes an informed source as saying.

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

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.