Unnamed Man Executed for Murder in Isfahan

Oct. 11, 2023, noon

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 11, 2023: State media have reported the execution of an unidentified man for murder in Isfahan Central Prison.

According to Etemad Online, a man was executed in Isfahan Central Prison (Vakil Abad) on 9 October. The unidentified 25-year-old man was accused of stabbing another man to death during a street fight. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

In his published confessions, he said: “We were friends and there was no previous conflict between us; but that day, we went head to head on the streets. By coincidence, I had a knife with me and I stabbed him and ran away. I later found out that he had died and turned myself in from the guilty conscience.”

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.