Aiseh Amini

The following interview is with Mina Jaafari, the attorney for Ms Akram Mahdavi who has been sentenced to death on charges of murdering her husband.

Rooz (R): What news do you have regarding Akram’s case?
Mina Jaafari (MJ): She is on the death row now awaiting execution.

R: Akram has killed her husband. Homicide is not accepted by the public regardless of its form. But killing of a spouse is a new phenomena on the rise in Iran. Since you have been working with one of these women, why do you think she murdered her husband? What forced her to come to that dead end point in her life?
MJ: Akram is completely helpless. You can see that in her face. She has never enjoyed any family support, even now that is just two steps from death. Her first marriage came about when she was only thirteen, meaning that she neither made her own decision nor had the right to choose. At 18 she and her husband divorced and her husband went after another woman abandoning her and her five year old child to themselves. In reality, Akram experienced betrayal when she was a mere adolescent. Her second marriage too came about under conditions where she did not have a choice. Two years after her divorce, her father forced her to marry a man who was 48 years older than her! She says she felt ashamed to tell others that he was her husband because he was more like her father or even grandfather, she said. So while it is true that we are talking about someone who has committed murder, but we must be cautious in that label because we cannot ignore the life behind that murder. One cannot disregard the humiliation, hatred and abuse that Akram’s soul has suffered. One cannot stop asking what happened to this woman’s right to choose, her right to happiness etc. Every man in her life exploited her. Even the man (not her husband) who appeared to love her and deceived her under this pretext.

R: Had Akram fallen in love?
MJ: It appears that all she really wanted was to liberate herself from the life that had been imposed on her and which was suffocating her. This was the first time she had come across a Kurdish man who sang a different song. He made promises to her. But Akram was not in live with him, but with the freedom and liberation that he promised her. She was acquitted of the charges of adultery. We do know however that such a possibility existed for her. This is yet another indication that she was simply fed up with everything around her.

R: Akram has failed to get the consent of the next of kin of her ex husband, so what is her current status? Is there any chance to save her?
MJ: The family of the victim has conditioned any consent to withdraw their charges for monetary returns. But the amount they have requested is extremely high, 60 million Toman (approximately $60 thousand). This amount is twice the norm for a murder.

R: How much is the norm?
MJ: This year it is 40 million Toman. Last year it was 35 million Toman.

R: Some time ago you had requested the public to help your client. How much have you collected?
MJ: Promises were made for only about 3 and a half million Toman ($3,500), none of which materialized. Whatever has been contributed to this cause has come from domestic sources inside Iran. In view of the short time left for the execution of this case, I request all those outside Iran who want to help in this case to please make your contributions through people inside the country because of banking restrictions in Iran, by contributing to account number 0302-9177-50001 at Mobarezan branch of Bank Melli.