Ahmad Heyrati Executed in Shiraz/20+ Others at Risk

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Shiraz Central Prison (Adel Abad) on 1st May. His identity has been established as Ahmad Heyrati who was sentenced to qisas for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Ahmad Heyrati was transferred for execution from Pirbanu Prison in Shiraz to Adel Abad three days ago.”

“There are currently around 50 death row inmates on the second floor in Ward 11 of Pirbanu Prison. The majority of those in Wards 3, 4 and 5 of the prison have also been sentenced to death for drug and or murder charges. Prisoners were told 15-20 of them will be transferred to Adel Abad prison for execution in the next week,” the source added.

Furthermore, two other murder death row inmates have been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions in Shiraz Central Prison (Adel Abad).

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.

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.