{"id":3987,"date":"2006-09-28T16:16:39","date_gmt":"2006-09-28T15:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/?p=3987"},"modified":"2006-09-28T16:16:39","modified_gmt":"2006-09-28T15:16:39","slug":"death-penalty-stoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/?p=3987","title":{"rendered":"Death penalty\/ stoning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u0622\u0628\u0627\u062f\u0627\u0646\u06cc\u0627<\/a>:
\nPaper reprints authorised. Electronic redistributors
\nmust request permission from Amnesty International.
\nContact: ua@amnesty.org.uk
\nPUBLIC<\/p>\n

AI Index: MDE 13\/111\/2006
\n27 September 2006<\/p>\n

UA 256\/06<\/p>\n

Death penalty\/ stoning<\/p>\n

IRAN<\/p>\n

Parisa Akbari (f)
\nIran Eskandari (f)
\nKhayrieh Valania (f)
\nShamameh Ghorbani (also known as Malek) (f)
\nKobra Najjar (f, aged 44)
\nSoghra Mola’i (f)
\nFatemeh (f)<\/p>\n

The women named above are at risk of execution by stoning.<\/p>\n

Parisa Akbari was arrested in April 2004, while working as a
\nprostitute in the city of Shiraz in southern Iran. She confessed
\nto the charge of adultery during the preliminary investigations,
\nclaiming that she had been forced into prostitution by her husband
\ndue to the family’s poverty. Her trial took place in June 2004,
\nduring which Parisa Akbari retracted her confession. Nevertheless,
\non 21 June 2004, Branch 5 of Fars province Criminal Court
\nsentenced her to death by stoning for adultery. The sentence was
\nupheld by Branch 32 of the Supreme Court on 15 November 2005. Her
\ncase is currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court. Parisa
\nAkbari is detained in Adelabad prison in Shiraz.<\/p>\n

Iran Eskandari, an Ahwazi Arab from the Bakhtiari clan, was
\nreportedly talking to the son of a neighbour in the courtyard of
\nher house, when her husband attacked her with a knife. She was
\nbadly beaten and left bleeding and unconscious on the floor. While
\nshe was unconscious, it is alleged that the man killed her husband
\nwith his own knife. While police were interrogating her about the
\nkilling, Iran Eskandari reportedly confessed to adultery with the
\nson of her neighbour. However she later retracted her confession.
\nA court in the city of Khuzestan sentenced her to five years’
\nimprisonment for being an accomplice in the murder of her husband,
\nand to execution by stoning for adultery. The verdict was upheld
\nby the Supreme Court in April 2006. Her lawyer has appealed
\nagainst the sentence. She is detained in Sepidar prison, in Ahvaz
\ncity.<\/p>\n

Khayrieh Valania, an Ahwazi Arab, was reportedly subjected to
\ndomestic violence by her husband. She allegedly began an affair
\nwith a relative of her husband, who then murdered him. She was
\nsentenced to death by Branch 3 of Behbahan Court, in Khuzestan in
\nsouthwestern Iran, for being an accomplice in the murder of her
\nhusband, and death by stoning for adultery. Khayrieh Valania has
\ndenied any involvement in her husband’s murder, but confessed to
\nadultery. The sentence was upheld, and the case has reportedly
\nbeen sent to the Head of the Judiciary for permission to be
\nimplemented. Talking about her fate, Khayrieh Valania said “I am
\nready to be hanged, but they should not stone me. They could
\nstrangle you and you would die, but it is very difficult to have
\nstones hitting you in the head”.<\/p>\n

Shamameh Ghorbani (also known as Malek), arrested in June 2005,
\nwas sentenced to execution by stoning for adultery by a court in
\nOromieh in June 2006. She is reportedly held in Oromieh prison.
\nHer brothers and husband reportedly murdered a man that they found
\nin her house, and she too was nearly killed after they stabbed her
\nwith a knife. Shamameh Ghorbani’s case is reportedly being re-
\nexamined.<\/p>\n

Kobra Najjar, who is detained in Tabriz prison in northwestern
\nIran, is at imminent risk of execution. She was sentenced to eight
\nyears’ imprisonment for being an accomplice to the murder of her
\nhusband, and execution by stoning for adultery. She was scheduled
\nto be executed after serving her prison sentence, which was
\nfinished two years ago. She has reportedly written to the Judicial
\nCommission for Amnesty to ask for her sentence of execution by
\nstoning to be commuted, and is awaiting a reply. Kobra Najjar was
\nallegedly forced into prostitution by her husband, a heroin addict
\nwho was violent towards her. In 1995, after a severe beating by
\nher husband, she told one of her regular customers that she wanted
\nto kill her husband. The customer allegedly murdered her husband
\nafter Kobra Najjar took him to an arranged meeting place. He was
\nsentenced to death, but he was pardoned by the victim’s family, to
\nwhom he paid diyeh (blood money).<\/p>\n

Soghra Mola’i was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for being an
\naccomplice to the murder in January 2004 of her husband Abdollah,
\nand to execution by stoning for adultery. During interrogation she
\nsaid “My husband usually tormented me. Nevertheless, I did not
\nintend to kill him. On the night of the incident … after Alireza
\nkilled my husband, I ran away with him because I was scared to
\nstay at home, thinking that my brothers-in-law would kill me.”
\nAlireza was sentenced to death for the murder of Soghra Mola’i’s
\nhusband, and to 100 lashes for “illicit relations”. The sentences
\nare pending examination by the Supreme Court. It is believed that
\nSoghra Mola’i is detained in Reja’i Shahr prison, Karaj, near
\nTehran.<\/p>\n

In May 2005, Branch 71 of the Tehran Province Criminal Court
\nsentenced Fatemeh (surname unknown) to retribution (qesas) for
\nbeing an accomplice to murder, and execution by stoning for having
\nan ‘illicit relationship’ with a man named Mahmoud. Her husband
\nwas sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for being an accomplice to
\nthe murder of Mahmoud. The case is currently being examined in the
\nSupreme Court. According to a May 2005 report in the newspaper
\nEtemad, an altercation occurred between Mahmoud, and Fatemeh’s
\nhusband. Fatemeh confessed to tying a rope around Mahmoud’s
\nthroat, which resulted in his strangulation. She has claimed that
\nshe intended merely to tie his hands and feet after he was
\nunconscious and hand him over to the police.<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND INFORMATION Amnesty International is aware of two other
\nwomen under sentence of execution by stoning in Iran, Ashraf
\nKalhori (see UA 203\/06, MDE 13\/083\/2006, 27 July 2006; and
\nupdates), and Hajieh Esmailvand (see UA 336\/04, MDE 13\/053\/2004,
\n16 December 2004; and updates). The Head of the Judiciary
\nannounced a moratorium on the use of stoning in December 2002, but
\nreports indicate a man and a woman may have been stoned to death
\nin May 2006.<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
\npossible, in Persian, English, Arabic or your own language:
\n– calling for the sentences of execution by stoning of the seven
\nwomen named above (naming them) to be commuted immediately;
\n– stating your unconditional opposition to the death penalty, as
\nthe ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and violation
\nof the right to life;
\n– reminding the Iranian authorities that the UN Human Rights
\nCommittee (in the case of Toonen v Australia) has made clear that
\ntreating adultery and fornication as criminal offences does not
\ncomply with international human rights standards. Therefore the
\nsentence of execution by stoning for adultery breaches Iran’s
\ncommitment under article 6(2) of the International Covenant on
\nCivil and Political Rights that death sentences will be imposed
\n“only for the most serious crimes”;
\n– calling for the abolition of execution by stoning in Iran as a
\npositive step towards implementing international law and standards
\nfor the protection of human rights.<\/p>\n

APPEALS TO
\n(Time difference = GMT + 3.5 hrs \/ BST + 2.5 hrs):
\nLeader of the Islamic Republic
\nHis Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the
\nSupreme Leader
\nShoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
\nEmail: info@leader.ir OR istiftaa@wilayah.org
\n[Salutation: Your Excellency ]<\/p>\n

Head of the Judiciary
\nHis Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
\nMinistry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of
\nIran
\nEmail: Please send emails via the feedback form on the Persian
\nsite of the website: http:\/\/www.iranjudiciary.org\/contactus-
\nfeedback-fa.html
\n(The text of the feedback form translates as: 1st line: name, 2nd
\nline: email address, 3rd line: subject heading, then enter your
\nemail into the text box)
\n[Salutation: Your Excellency]<\/p>\n

PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR APPEALS TO: His Excellency Mr Hamid
\nReza Nafez Arefi, Embassy of Islamic Republic of Iran, 16 Prince’s
\nGate, London SW7 1PT. Fax: 020 7589 4440, Email: info@iran-
\nembassy.org.uk<\/p>\n

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Please do not send appeals after
\n8 November 2006.<\/p>\n

—————————————————-<\/p>\n

SHOULD YOU MENTION AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL IN YOUR APPEALS? The name of
\nAmnesty International may be used unless otherwise stated in the text above. Letters written in a
\nprivate or personal capacity may be more effective.
\nFAX NUMBER NOT WORKING? Officials will sometimes switch off their fax machines to stop
\nappeals arriving \u2013 please keep trying. If you can’t get through, please
\nput your appeal in the post. If a number is unobtainable please inform the Urgent Action team.
\nEMAIL ADDRESS NOT WORKING? Please send a copy of the delivery error report to
\nua@amnesty.org.uk
\nRECEIVED A REPLY FROM A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL? Please send it or a copy to the
\nUrgent Action team. If appropriate, thank the official who has replied and ask
\nto be kept informed about the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u0622\u0628\u0627\u062f\u0627\u0646\u06cc\u0627: Paper reprints authorised. Electronic redistributors must request permission from Amnesty International. Contact: ua@amnesty.org.uk PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13\/111\/2006 27 September 2006 UA 256\/06 Death penalty\/ stoning IRAN Parisa Akbari (f) Iran Eskandari (f) Khayrieh Valania (f) Shamameh Ghorbani (also known as Malek) (f) Kobra Najjar (f, aged 44) Soghra Mola’i (f) Fatemeh (f) The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/news06.hasanagha.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}