Press Release by International Committee In Search of Justice – 25 Oct 2014
Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, a university student and decorator, was hanged at dawn on Saturday in a prison outside of Tehran for the murder of a former intelligence official, Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, who had tried to rape her in 2007. The UN and many international bodies including Amnesty International had said her confession was obtained under intense pressure and threats from Iranian prosecutors. Amnesty International said she was convicted after a deeply flawed investigation. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s human rights rapporteur on Iran, has said that she had acted in self-defence.
Sarbandi had offered to hire Jabbari to redesign his office and took her to an apartment where he tried to sexually abuse her. She had grabbed a knife and defended herself and fled. Sarbandi died later of bleeding at the hospital. After her arrest, Jabbari had been placed in solitary confinement for two months, where she reportedly did not have access to a lawyer or her family. She was sentenced to death by a Tehran court in 2009 and her execution verdict was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court. Her case drew international outcry and sparked a petition urging her release, which collected several hundred thousand signatures.
Jabbari’s mother, Shole Pakravan, confirmed the execution, saying she was going to the cemetery to see her daughter’s body. Ms Pakravan had been allowed to see her daughter for an hour on Friday.
The Iranian opposition leader, Maryam Rajavi said today: “The savage hanging of Reyhaneh Jabbari is the other side of the coin of the mullahs’ anti-human crime of acid attacks against innocent Iranian women and girls.”
Iran has witnessed a wave of repressive acts against women recently, including dozens of organised acid attacks for “mal-veiling”. More than 1000 people have been executed since the so called “moderate” President Rouhani took office.
The international committee In Search of Justice (ISJ) calls on the UN Human Rights Commissioner, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and international human rights and women rights organizations to strongly condemn the brutal execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari and to refer the case of human rights violations in Iran to the UN Security Council to make binding actions to stop torture and executions in Iran.
Alejo Vidal-Quadras
Vice-President of the European Parliament (1999-2014)
President of the International Committee In Search of Justice (ISJ)
