Abbas Karimi and Mohammad Ali Najafi Executed in Isfahan; 92 Executions Recorded in 17 Days

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 17 October. Their identities have been established as 36-year-old Abbas Karimi and 35-year-old Mohammad Ali Najafi. Both men were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

Abbas Karimi was on death row for nine years for an unintentional murder during a street fight. He was previously transferred to the gallows on 3 October after failing to raise the 70 billion tomans (€1,060,000)blood money but the victim’s family granted a last minute extension in the case as he was about to be executed. They agreed to accept house deeds plus 40billion tomans. Despite all efforts and multiple fundraising efforts by Abbas Karimi’s family, they failed to raise the required amount by the set deadline.  

Abbas Karimi’s children Ali and Aileen shared Instagram account posted: “We gave them 50 billion tomans in cheques and the deeds to four properties but they still executed my dad.”

IHRNGO has also received a recording of Abbas Karimi’s last phone call prior to execution.

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 million 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. IHRNGO has recorded many cases where defendants are executed because they cannot afford to pay the blood money.

Mohammad Ali Najafi was from Shahin Shahr and a father of one. He was arrested for murder three 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.