Baluch Esmail Faghirdadzehi Executed for Murder in Zahedan

According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man was executed in Zahedan Central Prison on November 15. His identity has been reported as Esmail Faghirdadzehi (known as Mehrollah Shakib) who was arrested around six years ago for murder during a tribal conflict.

He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

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.