Four Men Executed for Murder in Rasht; Two Others At Imminent Risk

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Rasht Central Prison on November 17. Their identities have been established as Abbas Abdollahi and Fariborz Shahbazi who were sentenced to death for murder.

Two other men were executed at the prison on December 1. Their identities have been established as Majid Mehdipour and Massoud Efati who were also sentenced to death for murder.

Furthermore, two unidentified men were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions and are due to be executed imminently.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have 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.