Ali Mostafavi and Hossein Ali Maleki Executed in Qom/Ali Gholibeigi at Imminent Risk

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Qom Central Prison on 29 October. Their identities have been established as Ali Mostafavi (photo) and 38-year-old Hossein Ali Maleki, two Malarad natives. They were arrested for an honour killing three years ago and sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court in a joint case.

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

A murder death row prisoner named Ali Gholibeigi has also been transferred to the pre-execution solitary confinement cells of the prison in recent days.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Currently, there are 40 prisoners including 11 Afghan nationals in Ward 1 of the prison whose death sentences have been sent to the implementation unit. Another 20 prisoners are also on death row at the ward whose death penalties are under review at the Supreme Court.”

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.