At Least 3 Men Executed in Urmia

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Urmia Central Prison on March 9. His identity has been established as Jalal Sardarifar who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

On March 10, two other men were executed at the prison. Their identities have been established as Saleh Ghassemi and Mansour Abdizadeh. Saleh was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder and Mansour sentenced to death for drug-related charges.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Saleh Ghassemi was arrested for murder around four years ago and sentenced to death.”

At the time of writing, their executions have 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.

On January 27, Iran Human Rights warned of the high number of drug executions currently being carried out in Iran. Of the 66 executions carried out in January, at least 43 (65%) people were executed for drug-related charges, none of which were officially announced.