Fatemeh Abdollahi Executed in Neishabur

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a woman was executed in Neishabur Prison on 18 May. Her identity has been established as 27-year-old Fatemeh Abdollahi who was sentenced to qisas for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Fatemeh Abdollahi was arrested for the murder of her husband who was also her cousin three years ago. Her maternal uncle’s family were the plaintiffs in the case and refused to forgo execution.”

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

Iran is the biggest executioner of women. In 2023, at least 22 women were executed for drug-related, murder and security-related charges in Iran. Fatemeh Abdollahi is the 10th woman to be executed in 2024.

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.

In 2023, at least 282 people including two juvenile offenders and 15 women, were executed for murder charges, the second highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 20% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2023, Iran Human Rights also recorded 857 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.