Update on the execution sentences of several girls & women in Iran

Nazanin Fatehi’s court date set for January 1 0th

Final investigative court in the case of Nazanin Fatehi will be held on January 10th in Tehran. When Nazanin was 17 years old, in the city of Karadj, she came under aggression by 3 young men and in self-defense and the defense of her niece, Somaya, who was 16 at the time, she is said to have killed one of the youths.

A major collaborative campaign launched by the international committee against execution and the Iranian-born Miss world Canada for 2003, Nazanin Afshin-Jam is in progress to save Nazanin Fatehi’s life. From January 1st through the 1 0th, via a series of media interviews in Canada, the Save Nazanin campaign, is trying to bring attention to the plight of Nazanin and other children, teenagers and women who are in imminent danger of execution, in Iran.

Kobra Rahmanpour and Shahla Jahed may be on the verge of being saved from execution

According to news obtained by the international committee against the execution, the Islamic regime is on the verge of heeling to pressures from widespread international pressure and the Iranian people’s protest against Kobra Rahmanpour and Shahla Jahed’s executions.

It is 7 years since Kobra Rahmanpour, who was charged with killing her husband's mother is in prison, awaiting execution. Kobra worked as a servant in a house where she was raped by a man who was older than her father. After Kobra complains about the rape, the rapist asks her to marry him. Following the marriage the man and his family repeatedly abuse her; finally one day, after having been savagely attacked by her mother-in-law, in self-defense, she stabs her. Kobra was arrested that same day and several days later she was sentenced to death. The campaign to save Kobra has been one of the most successful and widespread actions to combat execution. The Islamic regime’s own authorities have admitted that 90% of the Iranian people are against this execution and now it appears that the regime may be looking to retreat, reversing the execution sentence.

Shahla Jahed who is also charged with murdering her lovers wife, has earned international recognition. The film of her court trials has been shown in several cinemas in Holland and has even received prizes for best documentary film.

The campaign to save Shahla Jahed has also received a great deal of attention around the world and has shed light on the plight of women in Iran under the Islamic regime’s which intentionally murders girls and women. Now too, rumor about the annulment of Shahla Jahed’s death sentence has begun to circulate and it is said that the Islamic regime will probably be forced to retreat in this case as well.

17-year-old Hamzeh was sentenced to death

Hamzeh is only 17 years old. In the course of a conflict she killed her 20-year-old friend Mehdi; the victim recently died, after 7 months in a hospital in Tehran. She was charged with murder and sentenced to death. Hamzeh’s life is in danger.

The International Committee against the execution remains in touch with the families and lawyers of these girls and women and continues to work at saving their lives.