Delara Darabi

Delara Darabi (born September 29, 1986 in Rascht ; † May 1, 2009 ibid) was an Iranian woman who was accused of murdering her father's cousin and was executed despite international protests. She was a minor at the time of the crime.

Charge

Delara Darabi is said to have broken into the house of her father's 58-year-old cousin on September 29, 2003, when she was 17 years old, together with her 19-year-old boyfriend, Amir Hossein Sotoudeh. Surprised at the break-in, Amir Hossein Sotoudeh is said to have murdered the cousin. Delara Darabi confessed to the murder after her boyfriend asked her to take responsibility in order to save him from the death penalty. Darabi assumed that underage perpetrators would not be executed in Iran and consented to the confession. She later withdrew her statement.

Trials and sentencing

At the trial, Delara Darabi testified:

"In contrast to him, I am a minor and am not sentenced to death, said my friend and persuaded me to take responsibility for the crime."

The court did not accept the revocation. On February 27, 2005, Delara Darabi was sentenced to death by the 10th Chamber of the Rasht General Court. The Supreme Court overturned the death penalty for procedural errors and referred the case to the Rasht court for retrial.

In June 2006, after two days of trial, Darabi was sentenced to death again on appeal before the 107th Chamber of the Rasht General Court. Her boyfriend received 10 years imprisonment for complicity. Additionally, both were sentenced to 50 lashes for robbery and 20 lashes for illicit relationship. Darabi's death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court on January 16, 2007, and again in April 2007, following further appeals.

After another retrial by her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, who spoke of a flawed forensic investigation, there

• a reconstruction at the crime scene never took place and the conviction would be based solely on the confession of Delara Darabi and
• the medical report shows that the murder was committed with the right hand of the perpetrator, but that Darabi was left-handed,

the review of the verdict was handed over to the head of justice, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi , at the end of 2007 . He asked the appeals court in Rasht to review it again. The local authorities disregarded the two-month suspension of punishment issued by Schahrudi on April 19, 2009 - in order to give the victim's relatives the possibility of consent to the death penalty under Islamic law (see blood money ).

execution

1 May 2009 Delara Darabi was surprising to the train executed. At 7 a.m., Darabi was allowed to call her mother. Neither her parents nor her lawyers were previously informed of the impending execution , although Iranian law requires the lawyer to be notified 48 hours before the execution.

International protest

Amnesty International had already drawn attention to the case on January 6, 2006, calling the proceedings unfair, in particular the court had failed to assess evidence. In particular, the fact that Darabi, like Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni , was not of legal age at the time of the crime, is a reason for protests. According to Human Rights Watch, only four other states have been known to have underage offenders executed since 2005 : Saudi Arabia , Sudan , Pakistan and Yemen . Amnesty International notes that since 2007 Iran has been the only country where such death sentences are still being carried out. An estimated 130 child offenders are currently on Iranian death row .

The Czech EU Council Presidency declared that the execution violated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Iran was a signatory. The EU had protested repeatedly against the planned execution. Human Rights Watch joined the criticism:

"It appears that Iran's head of Judiciary has no ability to control even his own judges, ... This is an outrageous violation of Iranian as well as international human rights law, and a callous affront to basic human dignity."

"It seems that the chief judge does not even have the ability to control his own judges ... This is a egregious violation of both Iranian and international human rights law and a callous attack on basic human dignity."

- Zama Coursen-Neff, Deputy Director of the Children's Rights Department

exhibition

During her imprisonment, Delara Darabi engaged in painting. In October 2006, an Iranian journalist and women's rights activist organized an exhibition of Darabi's works in the Golestan Gallery in Tehran under the motto “Prisoners of Colors”, which she had created in prison. On April 28, 2007 there was an exhibition in Amsterdam . Her expressive works of art also caused a stir internationally.

See also

• Atefah Sahaaleh
• Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni
• Makwan Moloudzadeh

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Amnesty International: Delara Darabi minor offender threatened with execution  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   , April 2009
2. ↑ Bahman Nirumand:Execution in Iran: “Mother, please save me!” The daily newspaper , May 6, 2009.
3. ↑ Delara Darabi executed . Amnesty International , May 5, 2009
4. ↑ Jörg Lau: Hardliners make politics with executions . In: Die Zeit , May 5, 2009.
5. ↑ Independent: Delara Darabi: 'Oh mother, I can see the noose' , May 4, 2009 (English)
6. ^ Amnesty International: Delara Darabi executed , May 5, 2009
7. ↑ Iran: Death penalty / legal concern: Delara Darabi Amnesty International, January 6, 2006 (English)
8. ↑ Iran: Stop Imminent Juvenile Offender Executions . Human Rights Watch, May 6, 2009
9. ^ International protests against execution of Delara Darabi . Amnesty International, May 6, 2009
10. ↑ United Kingdom Department of Foreign Affairs: Execution of Delara Darabi in Iran .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. May 7, 2009 (English) Iran: Stop Imminent Juvenile Offender Executions . Human Rights Watch, May 6, 2009  
    
11. ^ Ratification list of the 11th Convention on the Rights of the Child (English)
12. ↑ EU protests against execution of Iranian women . Spiegel Online , May 2, 2009.
13. ↑ Zama Coursen-Neff at Human Rights Watch
14. ↑ Iran: Secret Execution of Juvenile Offender . Human Rights Watch, May 1, 2009
15. ↑ Amnesty International: Delara Darabi minor offender threatened with execution  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   , April 2009
16. ↑ Death sentence at 17, execution at 23 . ( Memento of the original from May 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 2, 2009 

Web links

• On the execution of Delara Darabi in Iran by Jörg Lau
• Website of supporters (English, Persian)
• A Prisoner of Colors , video report about Delara Darabi (English, Persian)