NCRI Women’s Committee urges strong condemnation of this heinous crime and adoption of urgent measures to save death row prisoners
On February 17, 2021, in a heinous crime, Zahra Esmaili, a female death row prisoner who died of a heart attack shortly before her execution, was nonetheless hanged in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj.
Her lawyer wrote in a post on Facebook: “Yesterday, 16 men were hanged in front of Zahra’s eyes. As a result, she suffered from a stroke before going to the gallows, and passed away. However, her lifeless body was still hanged.”
Zahra Esmaili, mother of two, was sentenced to death for the alleged murder of her husband, Alireza Zamani, one of the director generals of the notorious Intelligence Ministry, who had tried to sexually assault her teenage daughter. Her execution was an inhumane revenge by Intelligence agents. She is the third woman to be executed in Iran in less than a month.
In 2014, Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged at the age of 26 after enduring seven years in prison for defending herself against an official of the Intelligence Ministry who had tried to assault her.
The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) strongly condemns this heinous crime and urges Mrs. Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, as well as human rights and women’s rights organizations, to strongly condemn this crime. It also calls for urgent measures to save the lives of other death row prisoners, especially women prisoners.
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
Women’s Committee
February 20, 2021
