Two days after three executions by hanging for rape and armed robbery, this weekend, two men were executed for murder in Sistan-Balochistan, a province in southeastern Iran. Elias Raisi and Ayoub Rigi were hanged on December 24, reports Mizan Onlinethe Iranian Judiciary’s news site.
“Elias Raisi was executed for a murder committed in May 2020 amid family disputes,” said Mehdi Shamsabadi, attorney general of the provincial capital Zahedan, on Monday. Ayoub Rigi suffered the same fate for having killed with a firearm in a personal conflict, added the prosecutor, without further details.
Murder carries the death penalty in Iran
Both executions took place on Saturday after the families of the victims “refused to spare the lives of the condemned”, Mizan said quoting the prosecutor. The murder is punishable by death in Iran, according to the Islamic law of retaliation. However, the death penalty is not carried out if the victim’s family or relatives agree to pardon the person.
Earlier this month, a court executed two men in connection with protests over the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd arrested in Tehran for breaking a strict dress code for women.
According to the judiciary, 11 people have so far been sentenced to death in connection with the protests. Activists say a dozen more could suffer the same fate. According to the London-based human rights group Amnesty International, Iran is the second country behind China to apply the death penalty, with at least 314 people executed in 2021.