Shirkouh Maroufi at Imminent Risk of Execution in Sanandaj

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was transferred to solitary confinement on 4th November in preparation for his execution in Sanandaj Central Prison. His identity has been established as Shirkouh Maroufi from Baneh who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Shirkouh killed someone during an argument a few years ago. The victim’s family demanded 2 billion tomans as blood money but Shirkouh couldn’t pay that amount by the deadline so his death sentence is scheduled to be carried out soon.”

“Shirkouh was an only child and was raised by his mother as he had lost his father as a child, so he was the family breadwinner,” the source added.

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.