Baratali Sheikhalizadeh and Unidentified Man Executed for Murder in Karaj

According to Rokna, a man was executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on December 7. His identity has not been revealed in the official report.

His identity has been established as Baratali Sheikhalizadeh who was alleged to had committed murder in the course of an armed robbery with two others on 27 March 2020.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least one more person was executed at the prison that day. An unidentified man was executed on murder charges.

At the time of writing, the unidentified man’s execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

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.

More than 500 people including 2 juvenile offenders have been executed in 2022, the highest annual execution since 2017.