Delara Darabi executed in Iran this May Day morning

by René | May 1, 2009 at 03:35 pm

1525 views | 105 Recommendations | 21 comments

Amnesty International claimed it was "a cynical move on the part of the authorities to avoid domestic and international protests which might have saved Delara Darabi's life."

Stop Child Executions sadly regrets to confirm that the Iranian female juvenile Delara Darabi was executed early morning today in the prison yard of the northern city of Rasht, Iran.
Delara Darabi was convicted of a alleged murder when she was 17 years old.

In violation of Iran's own laws, neither of Delara's attorney were informed of the execution. Delara was hanged only 11 days after Iran's judiciary had officially stated that Delara's execution was postponed for 2 months (http://scenews.blog.com/4837662/)

Delara was the most well known Iranian minor on the death row. She was also an artist and continued her art work in prison.

Her boyfriend, a man, got 10 years in prison, while the girl, who tried to deny her original confession, was hanged after years of abuse during her imprisonment.

"This indicates that even decisions by the Head of the Judiciary carry no weight and are disregarded in the provinces," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International.
Delara Darabi was convicted of murdering a relative in 2003 when she was 17. She initially confessed to the murder, believing she could save her boyfriend from the gallows, but later retracted her confession. She was being detained at Rasht Prison in northern Iran since her arrest in 2003, during which time she developed a significant talent as a painter.

Amnesty International does not consider her trial to have been fair, as the courts later refused to consider new evidence which the lawyer said would have proved she could not have committed the murder.

Amnesty International had campaigned for her life since her case came to light in 2006, urging the Iranian authorities to commute her death sentence and calling for a her re-trial in proceedings that meet international standards.

More about Delara.

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Amy Judd

at 15:45 on May 1st, 2009

This is sad, this poor woman - I'm sure she didn't get a fair trial at all.

René

at 16:05 on May 1st, 2009

It is sad when she was granted a stay of execution for two months and 11 days later they snuck her out in the early morning hours and hung her with no notification to lawyer or family.

Amy Judd

at 08:56 on May 2nd, 2009

Yes that's terrible, she deserved so much more than that.

Tina Kells

at 16:14 on May 1st, 2009

This is a tragic and very sad story! Thank you for the post.

René

at 16:58 on May 1st, 2009

I'm afraid this doesn't bode well for the American journalist Roxana Sabieri, imprisoned as a spy in Iran.

Tina Kells

at 20:06 on May 1st, 2009

That is a scary point.

René

at 08:24 on May 2nd, 2009

Here's what one Iranian blgger had to say about the Roxana case, which obviously applies here:

...having a fair trial has become such a scarcity in Iran that you may only have it if the president writes a letter for you! I thought it was a default process for any judicial system to observe fairness in trials(?) Imagine all those poor Iranians with only "one nationality" who won't have all these letters backing their cases.

israeli.agent

at 20:45 on May 1st, 2009

It is a general perception that Shia Muslims are victims because of their self beating ritual in remembrance of their martyr , Imam Hussein , who was killed along with his entire family , bye the hardliners.

Iran being the only Shia majority country should be preaching the more peaceful and tolerant version of Islam. But it is evident that whatever be the face they show to the world, in the core the rulers of country remain to be the same medieval militaristic cult what the Imam Hussein did not want them to be.

As long as Russia and China support them from the back door, and as long as they have all the oil to survive without any fear, they care coconut about the world opinion.

Poor Iranians.

.Agent.

René

at 08:27 on May 2nd, 2009

Ah, yes, like the Chritian flagellants, or Opus Dei, though (except for The DaVinci Code, a fictitious movie/book) I don't recall either of them advocating killing, bombing, raping or any of the rest of the violence these do.

rumana husain

at 17:16 on May 1st, 2009

'save delara from death' petition collected thousands of signatures but no one could save her. what a pity!

CynicalPatriot

at 00:16 on May 2nd, 2009

"Lord grant me the strength to change the things I can, the ability to accept the things I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference between the two."

- Serenity Prayer -

Or, for the agnostics and Atheists as a meditational....

I will find within myself the strength to change the things I can, the ability to accept the things I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference between the two.

The Cynical Patriot

Barbara McPherson

at 18:10 on May 1st, 2009

albertacowpoke

at 18:21 on May 1st, 2009

Now you can imagine how much chance an Iranian Western journalist will have with her review. I feel for her too.

Roy C

at 18:30 on May 1st, 2009

Is this the "Obama effect" ?

Seems to me that this represents a hardening of the values of the conservative and repressive mullahs in theocratic Iran.

What "Obama effect" is there? What have we gained so far?

albertacowpoke

at 19:22 on May 1st, 2009

Let's see what you have so far:

Korea launched a missile over Japan

You have North Korea threatening to do a nuclear test

You have the Taliban snubbing their nose at you in Pakistan and Afghanistan

You have Al Queida talking about smuggling anthrax into the US from Mexico

You have Spain doing an investigation on the Torture Memos

Would you like me to keep going?

Viri (not verified)

at 19:36 on May 1st, 2009

Is this the Obama effect?????

dont think so, we cant put the blame on the president for the laws that other country has, but we have to raice ur voice for it to be heard, this world is full of ignorant people and sadly we cant change that.

albertacowpoke

at 20:03 on May 1st, 2009

No, it.s not the presidents fault. It.s the fault of those that expect miracles. The world will do what it always does. None of these things are easily solved. The man has 100 days in office, a time in which we all barely learn a new job, yet alone be proficient.

Personally I think expectations are way too high. Imagine the bombardment of advice any President gets daily. He has to sort through it an try to make an intelligent decision. Hopefully a President can be right at least 60% of the time.

The key, in my mind is, that the Office of the President can.t be a popularity contest.

Old wise man once said:

You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all of them all the time.

QueensHart

at 21:02 on May 1st, 2009

Whoops, sorry . Wrong spot

tikun

at 21:24 on May 1st, 2009

Just the beginning folks. Realpolitik in the "real" world of the Middle East. If anyone thinks for a second that public pressure is going to get a rise out of Iran and its leadership then I have a bridge to sell you. The only thing that Iranian leadership and most of the leadership of Hamas and Hizbullah to name of few know is DIRECT pressure and/or intervention. As long as the West provides commercial opportunities and supplies it with the necessary elements for a bomb then it will continue to do what its sees best in its interest.

We are the fools and the sad characters in this very serious global play.

Edmund Jenks

at 22:43 on May 1st, 2009

EVIL DOES EXIST ... no matter how progressive thinking people want to sweep it under the carpet by calling it a crime and not WAR.

A human caused occurrence as opposed to TERRORISM!

Move along ... no compassion here, just move along ... there's nothing to look at.

CynicalPatriot

at 00:07 on May 2nd, 2009

Evil is as Evil does.

There is a concept they teach in various college coursework called "cultural bias". The politically correct belief that it is unfair to use your own cultures values and morals to judge another cultures morals and values. However, in matters of life and death there can be know substitute of conditional morality for absolute morality. Unlike others, I make no statement that I no she did not get a fair trail, because I in fact do not know the all the facts. What I reasonably believe I do know is that her execution was stayed for two months and that promise was broke. I dont buy the provinces ignore the high court. Regardless of their values, the power structure has the ability to inflict on that province and their leaders consequences for disregarding the central government. Imagine what would happen here if a state executed someone despite the Supreme court giving a stay or ruling otherwise. The "rogue" province arguement:" is just a smoke screen attempting to give plausible deniability to the Central Government. And then to not notify the girls attorneys... I can only imagine the terror she felt being led alone to the gallows. Just like our own government, when things are done without transparency, it is likely because their is something wrong, evil, amoral or unethical to hide. I think my arrival at a finding of evil reflects an unbiased assessment of the facts known to me. It is up to Iran to provide me with the credible, transparent facts to make me believe otherwise.

The Cynical Patriot

tikun

at 12:42 on May 2nd, 2009

Thanks cynicalPatriot,

But your education as far as I am concerned has been compromised. It is incumbent on all of us to make value judgments based on our cultural bias if something is evil or not. The stuff you learned in college is bogus and dangerous. Be open minded but when someone comes into your home to kill you finish the bastard then mourn the tragedy.

Remember, that if you become a professor at a university it usually means that you couldn't find a "real" job in the real world. Just kidding of course but I hope you get the gist. lol