Below is an English translation of a text written by Mohmmad Mostafaie, prominent human rights lawyer who is an expert on the Safieh Ghafouri (a.k.a. Maryam) case. For media inquiries on Maryam’s case or interviews with Mohammad Mostafaie, please contact: [email protected]
Translation by Cyrus Arian | Persian2English – The Governor General, the Governor, the Prosecutor, and the Birom Friday Prayer Imam (Birom is a village near the city of Shiraz in the province of Fars), and several judicial authorities have joined forces to execute Safieh Ghafouri (a.k.a. Maryam). Mohammad Mostafaie, a human rights lawyer who has represented many execution cases in Iran, says that Maryam is scheduled to be executed even though she is innocent and had confessed to murder under pressure.
Recently, branch 4 of the Iranian Supreme Court had requested that Maryam be provided with a re-trial and her case be reviewed by the presiding Judge. Maryam’s case file was in the possession of the Supreme Court’s appeals court when suddenly, for unknown reasons and without any explanation, the case file was sent to branch 17 of the Supreme Court. In other words, in an illegal move, Maryam’s case file was sent from branch 4 of the Supreme Court, the place where the case file was supposed to be processed, to branch 17, the same branch that had initially processed Maryam’s death sentence. Legally, the case file should have remained in branch 4. Branch 17, in a haste and quick manner, rejected the request from the Supreme Court’s appeals court for a retrial. Maryam’s original case file is still in the possession of the Supreme Court.
According to reports from Adel Abad prison in Shiraz, Maryam is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday morning Tehran time.
MARYAM IS NOT A MURDERER
According to Mohammad Mostafaie, the actual murderer on the case is the son of the Birom Friday Prayer Imam. The murderer, who goes by the name of Alaminejad, was able to successfully put the murder blame on Maryam because of the level of influence he and his father have within the Iranian Judiciary and government.
When Maryam was arrested she was held for two months in Lameh, a detention center, where this helpless woman was barbarically raped by seventeen government officials. Among the rapists were the prison guards who were under the supervision of Colonel Soleimani. At the time of her arrest, Maryam was four months pregnant. The constant sexual abuse led to the death of her unborn baby. Maryam filed a complaint against her rapists, however, due to the involvement of government officials in such savage and brutish affairs, her complaint has not received due attention or bared results.
THE UNLAWFUL AND UNETHICAL PURSUIT OF MARYAM’S FILE
The review of Maryam’s file brings to light many instances of injustice and unlawfulness that requires further investigation. The investigative reports demonstrate that, from the beginning, Maryam was treated unethically and unlawfully; even the head of the judiciary contested that there were many problems with her file. However, surprisingly, even though the head of judiciary made such comments, Maryam was still issued a death sentence.
THE ABUSE OF POWER BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
While Maryam was in prison she was visited by Shiraz government officials who — through torture, false promises and intimidation– forced her to confess to a crime she never committed. Maryam was told that if she gave such a confession, they would be able to obtain the consent of the parents of the murdered individual to forgive her and ultimately have her released.
Having forced a confession out of her through false promises and torture, the government officials achieved their ends of having an innocent person confess to murder. It is evident that the review of Maryam’s case is incomplete. There are many inconsistencies and ambiguities that need to be addressed by the Judiciary– especially when a life is at stake.
Maryam is only moments away from execution as a result of an unjust ruling that was brought about through corruption. It is imperative for all those who call themselves human to take a stand against such cruelty and injustice. The international community is responsible to take a stance so that an innocent life is not stripped away at the hands of savages.
Click here for More information on Safieh “Maryam” Ghafouri
TAKE ACTION FOR MARYAM!
PLEASE URGE THE UN & WORLD FOREIGN MINISTRIES
TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST HER IMMINENT EXECUTION!
UN Officials and Heads of Government
[email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , : [email protected]
Foreign Ministries and the US State Department
[email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected]
Source: Persian2English