THE execution in Iran of a 26- year-old woman convicted of
murdering a doctor whom she said had tried to rape her was among
the human-rights violations discussed in the House of Commons on
Tuesday.
Reyhaneh Jabbari, a university-educated interior designer, was
hanged in Tehran on Saturday. She was sentenced to death in 2009
for the murder of Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a doctor and a former
employee of the Intelligence Ministry. She admitted stabbing him in
the neck, but said that he had attempted to sexually assault her.
Amnesty International described the trial and investigation as
"deeply flawed".
Ms Jabbari told her mother that her last wish was that her
organs should be donated: "I don't want to rot in the soil."
The case was discussed by the British Parliamentary Committee
for Iran Freedom on Tuesday. Mark Williams, the the Liberal
Democrat MP for Ceredigion, said: "We must never lose sight of
human rights when talking to Iran on nuclear issues."
On Monday, Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on human
rights in Iran, spoke of a "surge" in executions in the country in
the past year. At least 852 individuals were reportedly executed
between July 2013 and June 2014.
Mr Shaheed also spoke of his "increasing concern" about the
situation of women in Iran. There have been multiple acid attacks
against women in Iran this month. Social-media reports suggest that
the women were targeted for not following the country's dress code.
The Iranian authorities have denied this. The
Guardian reported on Tuesday that assailants on motorbikes
had thrown acid in the face of at least eight women driving in the
city of Isfahan.
Nasser Jowrkesh, whose daughter Soheila was one of the victims,
told BBC Persian: "The attack caused extensive acid burns on her
face, forehead, both hands, and legs. She has lost her complete
eye- sight in her right eye." The Iranian President, Hassan
Rouhani, ordered an investigation into the attacks.
Last week, the Foreign Office minister Baroness Anelay told the
Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, that the Government was "deeply
concerned" about the "discrimination against . . . minority
religious groups in Iran".
