Abbas Karimi at Risk of Execution; Children Beg for Forgiveness

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a 36-year-old man named Abbas Karimi is at imminent risk of execution in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

One of Abbas Karimi’s relatives told IHRNGO: “Abbas Karimi was arrested for the murder of Davoud Ahmadi during a street fight and sentenced to qisas. On 19th May, he was transferred to solitary confinement for execution but managed to obtain an extension from the plaintiffs in the case. But his family were unable to afford the diya and he is scheduled to be executed next week.”

“The victim’s family have demanded 4 billion tomans. His family have sold all their belongings but still can’t afford that amount,” the source added.

In a video sent to IHRNGO, his 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son beg the victim’s family to forgive their father.

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.

The Head of Judiciary sets an annual indicative amount for diya based on inflation and other considerations, but the victim’s family can choose their own amount. They can demand a lower or higher amount than the judiciary’s indicative number but crucially, no upper limit is set. The diya indicative amounts, which are determined every March, were set at 900 mil- lion tomans (€18,000) for a Muslim man and 450 million tomans (€9,000) for a Muslim woman in March 2023. The amount set by families is usually higher than the indicative amount and even the indicative amount is higher than what most families can afford.