Woman On Death Row Who Died Before Execution Hanged Anyway To Please Victim's Mom

An Iranian woman on death row, who died minutes before the execution, was hanged anyway so that her alleged victim's mother could watch, her lawyer has claimed.

Zahra Ismaili was sentenced to death for murdering her abusive husband, Alireza Zamani, an official in the Intelligence Ministry, and died while waiting for her turn to be executed, Omid Moradi, Ismaili’s lawyer, said.

Ismaili collapsed after she was made to watch 16 other convicts hanged ahead of her while she was waiting for her turn to be executed on Feb.17, reported local news outlet Arab News.

Ismaili’s death certificate states cardiac arrest as the official cause of death.

“It states cardiac arrest as cause of death because yesterday 16 men were hanged before her eyes. Zahra’s heart stopped and she died before she was taken to the gallows,” Moradi wrote in his Facebook post, reported Iran Human Rights Monitor (IHRM).

Moradi said that the officials still went ahead with the execution so that Zamani’s mother could carry out the act of kicking the chair beneath her.

“They hanged her lifeless body, and the victim’s mother, Fatemeh Asal-Mahi, personally kicked the stool from under her feet so she could see her daughter-in-law’s corpse on the gallows for even a few seconds,” Moradi added.

Ismaili, a mother of two children, was a victim of domestic abuse and killed her husband in self-defense, according to Moradi.

“The Iranian regime’s dossier of human rights violations must be referred to the UN Security Council. The leaders and officials of the clerical regime in Iran must face justice for four decades of committing crimes against humanity,” IHRM said in the news release.

Recent reports suggest that 233 people were executed in Iran in 2020. This includes three prisoners who were children at the time of their alleged offenses, Javaid Rehman, UN rapporteur on human rights in Iran said, reported Arab News.

In a recent execution on Dec.31, 2020, in Iran, United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) had raised concerns about the free trial and execution of an offender for the crime he committed when he was a 16-year-old.

“This is the fourth confirmed execution of a child offender in Iran in 2020. The execution of child offenders is categorically prohibited under international law and Iran is under the obligation to abide by this prohibition,” Ravina Shamdasani, UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson had said.