Shamseddin Fazli Hanged in Tabriz

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Tabriz Central Prison on 9 April 2025. His identity has been established as 27-year-old Shamseddin Fazli who was sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Shamseddin was arrested three years ago on charges of murder after a group altercation in front of the Emamieh produce stand on Meraj boulevard. He was trying to separate the two people fighting when one of them was killed by stabbing. Everyone else ran away but Shamseddin refused to leave the injured man. That’s why he was the one arrested when police arrived on the scene and later sentenced to qisas in court. He took an oath twice in court that he was innocent but the court didn’t accept his defence, witnesses testified that he was the one that had stabbed the victim.”

IHRNGO previously reported the execution of Seifollah Nasiri at the prison that day.

At the time of writing, his execution has 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.