Reza Shahbazi Khalari and Nezamoddin Nouralhagh Executed in Shiraz

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 25 November. His identity has been established as 40-year-old Reza Shahbazi Khalari (right photo) from Khalar village in Shiraz. He was arrested for murder committed during a fight five years ago and sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court. He was taken to the gallows from Ward 10 of the prison.

On 23 November, another man was executed at the prison. His identity has been established as Nezamoddin Nouralhagh (left photo), a 27-year-old Afghan national from a village in Mazare Sharif who was also on death row for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Nezamoddin was arrested a year ago for a murder during a fight in a fruit and vegetable market. He had tried to break up the fight but because he was Afghan, he was blamed for the killing. He lived in Shiraz with his mother and younger sister.”

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.