Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Safa Hosseini and Soleiman Vaziri, a Baluch man, were executed for murder charges in Gonbad Kavous Prison without last family visits.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Gonbad Kavous Prison on 19 November. Their identities have been established as Safa Hosseini from Gorgan and Soleiman Vaziri, a 30-year-old Baluch man from Zabol (photo).
They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court in separate cases. They were deprived of the right to last family visits.
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.
In 2023, at least 282 people including two juvenile offenders and 15 women, were executed for murder charges, the second highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 20% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2023, Iran Human Rights also recorded 857 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.
