Ramezan Gholamian and Mousa Najar Executed in Mashhad

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Mashhad Central Prison on 24 July. Their identities have been established as 32-year-old Ramezan Gholamian (photo) and 38-year-old Mousa Najar who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Mousa Najar was accused of stabbing a motorcyclist during a fight in the Khalgh Abad neighbourhood of Mashhad in July 2021. Ramezan Gholamian was arrested for murder around two years ago.”

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. Crucially, while an indicative amount is set by the Judiciary every year, there is no legal limit to how much can be demanded by families of the victims. IHRNGO has recorded many cases where defendants are executed because they cannot afford to pay the blood money.

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.