For free, real-time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox, sign up for our breaking news emails
Sign up for our free breaking news emails
An Iranian woman convicted of murdering her violent husband was executed on Wednesday, an international NGO campaigning for her clemency said.
Samira Sabzian, a child bride who was married to her husband at the age of 15, was a victim of domestic violence. She was arrested in 2013 at the age of 19 and convicted of murdering her husband, the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said in a press release.
“Samira was a victim of gender apartheid, child marriage and domestic violence for years, and today she has become a victim of the killing machine of the incompetent and corrupt regime,” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Norway-based human rights group. “A regime that maintained itself solely through killing and instilling fear. Ali Khamenei and other leaders of the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for this crime.”
When she was arrested, she had two small children – one of whom was a newborn baby, whom she saw for the first and last time when they came to the prison to say goodbye before she was hanged in Ghezelhesar in the town of Karaj 20 km northwest of the Iranian capital Tehran.
Amnesty International was also shocked by the execution of the mother of two.
“Samira is the eighteenth woman executed in Iran this year, out of a total of 800 executions,” said Riccardo Noury, Amnesty International Italy spokesman. “Iranian laws allow forced and early marriages, fail to protect women from domestic violence, and then kill them if they try to rebel. Samira Sabzian is the tragic testimony of a system based on the oppression of women since childhood.”
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also expressed “concern” over Sabzian’s execution and called on Iran to abolish the death penalty.
“We once again call on Iran to introduce a moratorium on all executions in order to abolish the death penalty,” it said.
The United Nations previously raised concerns about the “alarming rate” of executions of people in Iran. A report published in November said the country killed at least 419 people in the first seven months of the year. That's an increase of 30 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern “at the lack of transparent and independent investigations into reported human rights violations, particularly in the context of recent nationwide protests.”