Parisa was arrested in April
2004, while working as a prostitute in the city of Shiraz in southern
Iran. She confessed to the charge
of adultery during the
preliminary investigations, claiming that she had been forced into prostitution
by her husband due to the family’s poverty. Her trial took place in June 2004, during which
Parisa Akbari retracted her confession. Nevertheless, on 21 June 2004, Branch 5
of Fars province Criminal Court sentenced her to death by stoning for adultery.
The sentence was upheld by Branch 32 of the Supreme Court on 15 November 2005.
Her case is currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court. Parisa Akbari is detained in Adelabad prison in
Shiraz.
Iran, an Ahwazi
Arab from the Bakhtiari clan, was reportedly talking to the son of a neighbour
in the courtyard of her house, when her husband attacked her with a knife. She was badly beaten
and left bleeding and unconscious
on the floor. While she was unconscious, it is alleged that the man killed her
husband with his own knife. While police were interrogating her about the
killing, Iran Eskandari reportedly confessed to adultery with the son of her
neighbour. However she later retracted her confession. A court in the city of
Khuzestan sentenced her to five years' imprisonment for being an accomplice in
the murder of her husband, and to execution by stoning for adultery. The verdict
was upheld by the Supreme Court in April 2006. Her lawyer has appealed against
the sentence. She is detained in Sepidar prison, in Ahvaz
city.
Khayrieh, an Ahwazi
Arab, was reportedly subjected to domestic violence by her husband. She
allegedly began an affair with a relative of her husband, who then murdered him.
She was sentenced to death by Branch 3 of Behbahan Court, in Khuzestan in
southwestern Iran, for being an accomplice in the murder of her husband, and
death by stoning for adultery. Khayrieh Valania has denied any involvement in
her husband’s murder, but confessed to adultery.
The sentence was upheld, and the case has reportedly
been sent to the Head of the Judiciary for permission to be implemented. Talking
about her fate, Khayrieh Valania said "I am ready to be hanged, but they should
not stone me. They could strangle you and you would die, but it is very
difficult to have stones hitting you in the head".
Shamameh Ghorbani (also known as Malek), arrested
in June 2005, was sentenced to execution by stoning for adultery by a court in
Oromieh in June 2006. She is
reportedly held in Oromieh prison. Her brothers and husband reportedly murdered
a man that they found in her house, and she too was nearly killed after they
stabbed her with a knife. Shamameh Ghorbani’s case is reportedly being
re-examined.
Kobra Najjar,
who is detained in Tabriz prison in northwestern Iran, is at imminent risk of
execution. She was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for being an
accomplice to the murder of her husband, and execution by stoning for adultery.
She was scheduled to be executed after serving her prison sentence, which was
finished two years ago. She has reportedly written to the Judicial Commission
for Amnesty to ask for her sentence of execution by stoning to be commuted, and
is awaiting a reply. Kobra Najjar was allegedly forced into prostitution by her
husband, a heroin addict who was violent towards her. In 1995, after a severe
beating by her husband, she told one of her regular customers that she wanted to
kill her husband. The customer allegedly murdered her husband after Kobra Najjar
took him to an arranged meeting place. He was sentenced to death, but he was
pardoned by the victim’s family, to whom he paid diyeh
(blood money).
Soghra
Mola’i was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for being
an accomplice to the murder in January 2004 of her husband Abdollah, and to
execution by stoning for adultery. During interrogation she said "My
husband usually tormented me.
Nevertheless, I did not intend to kill him. On the night of the incident … after
Alireza killed my husband, I ran
away with him because I was scared to stay at home, thinking that my
brothers-in-law would kill me." Alireza was sentenced to death for the murder of
Soghra Mola'i’s husband, and to 100 lashes for "illicit relations". The
sentences are pending examination by the Supreme Court. It is believed that Soghra Mola’i is detained in
Reja'i Shahr prison, Karaj, near Tehran.
In May 2005,
Branch 71 of the Tehran Province Criminal Court sentenced Fatemeh (surname
unknown) to retribution (qesas)
for being an accomplice to murder, and execution by stoning for having an ‘illicit relationship’
with a man named Mahmoud. Her husband was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment
for being an accomplice to the murder of Mahmoud. The case is currently being
examined in the Supreme Court.
According to a May 2005 report in the newspaper Etemad, an altercation occurred between Mahmoud,
and Fatemeh’s husband. Fatemeh confessed to tying a rope around Mahmoud’s
throat, which resulted in his strangulation. She has claimed that she intended
merely to tie his hands and feet after he was unconscious and hand him over to
the police.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Amnesty International is aware of two
other women under sentence of execution by stoning in Iran, Ashraf Kalhori (see
UA 203/06, MDE 13/083/2006, 27 July 2006; and updates), and Hajieh Esmailvand
(see UA 336/04, MDE 13/053/2004, 16 December 2004; and updates). The Head of the
Judiciary announced a moratorium on the use of stoning in December 2002, but
reports indicate a man and a woman may have been stoned to death in May
2006.
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