Executed Political Prisoner’s Wife: They Didn’t Inform Me or His Lawyer

In a telephone interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Jafar Kazemi’s wife said that when she went to visit her husband at Evin Prison a few hours ago, she was informed that he had been executed earlier this morning. “They executed him without informing us or his lawyer. They took my husband last week and asked him to give a [television] interview. The interrogator told him ‘whether or not you give an interview, you will be executed in less than a week.’ My husband did not agree to give the interview. They took him from there to the Sentence Implementation Unit, where they put a noose around his neck, but then they changed their mind and returned him [to his cell]. This is supposed to have been a miracle,” Roudabeh Akbari told the Campaign.

The Campaign’sRelated Links:  97 Executions in 30 Days–The Iranian Judiciary Steps Up Executions The Campaign press release on “Iran on “Execution Binge;” Immediate Moratorium Urged”

“This morning we went to visit with him. We filled out a [visitation request] card, too. But they came back and told us that they had hanged him. They said ‘If we want to give you his body, we will call you. Go and take it easy. It’s all finished now.’ Of course, that’s if they want to give his corpse to us. Because in the case of Mr. Saremi, they took the body and buried it. It is very likely that they may want to do the same thing with my husband,” said Jafar Kazemi’s wife. “Please, I only ask you to tell the world what kinds of criminals and felons they are. Let the world know. How long does the world want to wait? How long do you want to issue statements and put up with them? Can you hear me?” said Roudabeh Akbari. “They hanged him at 4:00 a.m., because they perform [the executions] early in the morning. They had no evidence, only a few photographs or videos taken and sent during the post-election gatherings. Is the punishment for this the death penalty? According to their own Constitution…punishment for someone who propagates against the regime is one to six years in prison. Look at the sentences they have been handing out. But God is great and he is up there, and he will seek my and my children’s revenge,” said the political prisoner’s wife. “I went to the Prosecutor’s Office last Saturday to ask for an appointment. They said the Prosecutor has told them: ‘Don’t let this woman in here. We want nothing to do with her and we will not accept any letters from her.’ And now they want to threaten me again, saying ‘why do you interview?’ When they would not hear me at all, shouldn’t I have said what was happening to us?” she said about her recent efforts to pursue her husband’s case.