Mohammad Javad Hassanvand and Abid Maleki Hanged in Khorramabad

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Khorramabad Central Prison on 8th March. Their identities have been established as 37-year-old Mohamamd Javad (Afshin) Hassanvand (right photo), a former traffic officer from Alshatar in Lorestan, and 27-year-old Abid Maleki from Dezful. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Mohamamd Javad was arrested for the murder of two people six years ago and Abid Maleki was arrested four 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.

According to IHRNGO’s 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 419 people including a juvenile offender and 19 women, were executed for murder charges, the highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 12% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2024, Iran Human Rights also recorded 649 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.