Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); July 27, 2022: Sarajolhagh Sedighi, a Pakistani national who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for “participation in murder,” was executed in Shiraz Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a Pakistani man was executed in Shiraz Central Prison on July 24. His identity has been established as 45-year-old Sarajolhagh Sedighi who was sentenced to qisas for “participation in murder.”
An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Sarajolhagh Sedighi was transferred to Shiraz Central Prison for his execution from Pirbano Prison. They transferred his body to Pakistan by land yesterday.”
According to Hal Vash which first reported his execution, Sarajolhagh was a Sunni cleric from the Baluchistan region of Pakistan and had been in prison since his arrest in 2017.
At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to data gathered by Iran Human Rights, at least 183 people were executed on murder charges in 2021. 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.
At least 251 including 6 women and 67 Baluch minorities were executed in the first six months of 2022. This is double the number of executions in the same period in 2021 when 117 people were executed.