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By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran Published: December 1 2010 16:40 | Last updated: December 1 2010 16:40
In spite of the international outcry over the death-by-stoning sentence passed on Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, another Iranian woman convicted of murdering her lover’s wife has been executed.
Khadijeh Jahed, known as Shahla, was hanged at dawn on Wednesday in the presence of the victim’s family including a son who pushed off the stool from under her feet and put an end to one of Iran’s most controversial judicial cases.
In spite of the international outcry over the death-by-stoning sentence passed on Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, another Iranian woman convicted of murdering her lover’s wife has been executed.
Khadijeh Jahed, known as Shahla, was hanged at dawn on Wednesday in the presence of the victim’s family including a son who pushed off the stool from under her feet and put an end to one of Iran’s most controversial judicial cases.
The execution comes at a time when the Islamic regime has been under mounting international pressure over its poor human rights record. A UN General Assembly committee accused Iran last month of “serious ongoing human rights violations” including “pervasive gender inequality and violence against women”.
During the more than eight years of her imprisonment, Ms Jahed’s lawyers argued there were serious discrepancies in her file. Her death sentence was revoked two times for further investigations.
During the more than eight years of her imprisonment, Ms Jahed’s lawyers argued there were serious discrepancies in her file. Her death sentence was revoked two times for further investigations.
Amnesty International, which made a last-minute appeal on Tuesday to halt the sentence, condemned the execution. The organisation’s Middle East and North Africa director, Malcolm Smart, said: “Shahla Jahed’s execution, like all such executions, is an example of premeditated and cold-blooded killing by the state, and is particularly distressing as there were serious concerns over the fairness of the trial, and the evidence used against the defendant.”
Ms Jahed, 41, “confessed” she was guilty only once during interrogations during which she re-created the murder scene. However, she insisted from then on that she was innocent.
She remained the top headline of Iran’s media until her last day as she was the mistress of a national football striker Nasser Mohammad-Khani. He watched the hanging in the notorious Evin prison.
Ms Ashtiani’s stoning to death on charges of adultery has so far been delayed because of the international pressure. Iran has indicated that she might be hanged instead of stoned.
It was not clear whether Ms Jahed’s execution was to prepare public opinion for hanging Ms Ashtiani, whose lawyers and son have been put in jail to prevent their contacts with foreign media.
Iran ranks second in the world, after China, for executing at least 388 people in 2009, most of whom are social criminals and drugs traffickers. The execution of Ms Jahed was the 146th this year based on reports in local media, AFP counted.
However, serious doubts are cast on official reports after Ahmad Ghabel, a prominent political prisoner, recently claimed at least 50 social criminals were secretly hanged in Vakilabad prison in the north-eastern city of Mashhad during his three months in the same jail.
More international pressure has been exerted on Iran to improve its human rights record after it brutally suppressed protesters who questioned results of the disputed presidential election last year.
The prosecution of human rights activists and lawyers has intensified in recent months in a clear attempt to block those who are believed to be giving information to international organisations on violation of human rights.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent female lawyer and defender of women’s rights, has been in jail since September. She frequently goes on hunger strike. Five other human rights lawyers were arrested last month, three of whom are still locked.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of reports on tortures of members of the opposition Green Movement. Some political prisoners recently claimed that such physical tortures as beatings and their heads being pressed into toilet cistern happened to them. Tehran denies any misbehaviour.
Ms Jahed, 41, “confessed” she was guilty only once during interrogations during which she re-created the murder scene. However, she insisted from then on that she was innocent.
She remained the top headline of Iran’s media until her last day as she was the mistress of a national football striker Nasser Mohammad-Khani. He watched the hanging in the notorious Evin prison.
Ms Ashtiani’s stoning to death on charges of adultery has so far been delayed because of the international pressure. Iran has indicated that she might be hanged instead of stoned.
It was not clear whether Ms Jahed’s execution was to prepare public opinion for hanging Ms Ashtiani, whose lawyers and son have been put in jail to prevent their contacts with foreign media.
Iran ranks second in the world, after China, for executing at least 388 people in 2009, most of whom are social criminals and drugs traffickers. The execution of Ms Jahed was the 146th this year based on reports in local media, AFP counted.
However, serious doubts are cast on official reports after Ahmad Ghabel, a prominent political prisoner, recently claimed at least 50 social criminals were secretly hanged in Vakilabad prison in the north-eastern city of Mashhad during his three months in the same jail.
More international pressure has been exerted on Iran to improve its human rights record after it brutally suppressed protesters who questioned results of the disputed presidential election last year.
The prosecution of human rights activists and lawyers has intensified in recent months in a clear attempt to block those who are believed to be giving information to international organisations on violation of human rights.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent female lawyer and defender of women’s rights, has been in jail since September. She frequently goes on hunger strike. Five other human rights lawyers were arrested last month, three of whom are still locked.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of reports on tortures of members of the opposition Green Movement. Some political prisoners recently claimed that such physical tortures as beatings and their heads being pressed into toilet cistern happened to them. Tehran denies any misbehaviour.
i am not a shia and though i don't agree nor understand the idea of contract marriages from any angle, i am still not going to comment on that because i don't understand their rules and laws...
here is what i really want to know. if this man really loved his wife then why did he sleep with some one else and if he did sleep with some one else then why could he not find it in himself to forgive her for what she did for the want of being with him?
murdering some one is wrong no matter what your reason/s be but was she not his wife just as his first wife? how could he sit there and watch her be hanged??
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