Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); February 28, 2022: Hojat Ostad-Asyabi’s execution was postponed for a month after he suffered a heart attack at the gallows prior to his execution for murder in Ardabil Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, the execution of a man who suffered a heart attack as he was about to be hanged in Ardabil Central Prison on February 26, has been postponed for a month.
His identity has been established as 55-year-old Hojat Ostad-Asyabi from Ardabil. He was arrested around four years ago and had been held in Ward 1 of the prison. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the murder of his wife.
An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “He was standing on the platform of the gallows when he had a heart attack and fell to the ground. The sentence wasn’t carried out as a result of that that and they transferred him to the A&E of a hospital outside prison. He was returned to the prison yesterday afternoon after slightly improving.”
According to Iran Human Rights’ Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 211 of the 267 people executed in 2020 were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for "premeditated murder."
As there are no legal distinctions made between murder and manslaughter and no grading, whether voluntary or involuntary in Iran, those charged under the umbrella term of “premeditated murder” will receive the death penalty regardless of intent and the circumstances.