Biography

Mohammed Sadeq Givi Khalkhali (Persian: 26 July 1926 – 26 November 2003) was an Iranian Shia cleric who is said to have "brought to his job as Chief Justice of the revolutionary courts a relish for summary execution" that earned him a reputation as Iran's "hanging judge". A farmer's son from Iranian Azeri origins, Khalkhali was born in Givi, Azerbaijani SSR, in the Soviet Union (now in Azerbaijan). He is also reported to have been born in Kivi, in the Khalkhal County, Iran (ergo his name).