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April 2, 2010

Saba Vasefi interviews Akram Mahdavi, female prisoner on death row.

Akram Mahdavi’s husband was murdered in July of 2006. Since then, Akram has been imprisoned as a co-defendant in her husband’s murder case. In a letter to Haj Kazem, Rajai-Shahr’s Prison warden, Akram says she wants her death sentence to be carried out if the family of the victim is not ready to consent. In 2007, Mina Jafari, who represents Akram, launched a website called Akram, trying to collect donations towards the blood money payable to the victim’s family in order to get their consent. Since then she has been able to gain the consent of 3 of the plaintiffs.

The following is the English translation of an interview with Akram Mahdavi originally published on the Committee of Human Rights Reporters’ website.

Why did you try to kill your husband?

Akram – I was 13 when I was forced to marry my cousin. I divorced him when I realized that he had taken a second wife. She was a wealthy woman who was older than him. After he became an addict, I was able to win the custody of our daughter, with great difficulty. I took my 11-year- old daughter with me to my second husband’s house. She always complained about her step father. “He is always touching me,” she said. He even went to her room one night.

My [second] husband was 75 and I was 21. Despite the fact that he could not satisfy me and I did not like him, I had to accept his mistreatments because I was poor. When my daughter got involved, I could not take it anymore. My own family was very poor. I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters. One of my sisters is paralyzed in one side of her body and I am epileptic.  All that my family could think of was to have one less mouth to feed. My second husband did not tell me that he had other wives. I found out about it through his children. One of his wives lives in Khomain, a second one lives in Tehran and the last one – now deceased – was the mother of the plaintiffs. I was his fourth wife. Deep in my heart, I was happy with my husband; after all, he was taking care of me. I was thankful to him; without him who would have paid for me and my daughter.

Did you ever try to divorce your second husband?

Akram – Yes, but I was unsuccessful. I remember when I went to court, the judge said, “What is it he has not provided that you want to divorce him?” I said, “It is not about money; he is 75 and I am embarrassed to walk with him in the street. I was forced to marry this old man. I always tell people that he is my father-in-law. My daughter is a young child. He will expose her to things that are inappropriate for her age.” The judge did not listen to me. My husband was the only party he addressed.

Why did your husband refuse to divorce you?

Akram – Well, I was younger than his other wives.

How did you kill your husband?

Akram – On Thursday, my partner [in crime] brought me 30 Diazepam pills. My daughter, Fatemeh was at school and my husband was at work. My partner came at 11 am and hid behind the stack of beddings. I was having second thoughts but he encouraged me. He reminded me of my husband’s mistreatments. At 1 pm, my husband came home. After he drank the syrup (Akram had mixed the pills with syrup), the spoon fell out of his hand and went to sleep.

My partner told me that I had to strike him first. I replied that I couldn’t. He said, “If you don’t, I will kill you along with your husband.” I threw the knife and it hit my husband in the neck. My husband regained consciousness and said, “Akram, is there a thief in the house?” I said, “no.”  My partner then stabbed my husband 36 times, killing him. After he killed my husband, he smashed his bloody fist on the wall and said, “The dog just wouldn’t die.”

I fled the house and left my daughter at my aunt’s place. When I returned to the house, my partner had set fire to everything. I was scared and left for the North [of Iran]. From there, I called my daughter. She had drunk the same syrup, and she told me while she was crying, “Haji has died. I don’t know who has killed Haji.”

Do you think that the sentence you’ve been given is fair?

Akram – The court should not have given me a Qisas ruling. I did not even stab him once; I should have only been convicted as an accomplice [to the murder].

Why did your accomplice insist on murdering your husband?

Akram – I think that my accomplice knew my husband – an antique dealer – and had unsettled business with him.

How were you arrested?

Akram – I turned myself in. 3 days after the incident, my father took me from Tehran to Azna so that I could be imprisoned in our city in the Lorestan province. When I went to the magistrate court in Azna, they said, “You have to turn yourself to the Tehran Police because they are the ones who are looking for you.” We came back to Tehran, where my father turned me in at the Shapoor police precinct at midnight.

How many days were you detained at the Shapoor precinct?

Akram – 9 days. I was kicked and punched for their entirety.

How did the case officer treat you, given your voluntary surrender?

Akram – The case officer, who was called Mr. Darzi, constantly beat me. I was hanged upside down in a dark room. I suffered 3 broken teeth.
Darzi would strike my face and say, “So, you wanted a young husband?” In response to the constant obscenities he told me, I once slapped him. As a punishment, I was put in shackles. Later, I was taken to Vozara [detention center]. There, an old woman who, God bless her, would give me food and water.
I want to ask why no trial was held for Mr. Darzi. Why did he not receive a ruling? Where in the law does it state that you can beat a person to a pulp after you have arrested them? My crime was clear, I confessed to it, and the punishment (Qisas) for such a crime is well defined. Where, then, is it stated that you can beat a death row convict like an animal? Mr. Darzi was the only person deserving of the obscenities he was telling me. What I did, I did to protect my daughter.  If God and the law exist, why don’t they apply to them? God and the law have to be shown to them as well. Where does it say in the law that the interrogator can make sexual advances toward the prisoners? “Become my Sigheh [temporary wife],” Darzi told me.

Did he change his conduct when you complained about it?

Akram – When I complained, they changed the case officer. Mr. Boustani was assigned to the case. He was a respectable man; he would only beat me, but he did not use obscene language.

How many years have you been in prison?

Akram – 5 years. I am now 34 years old. The plaintiff wants $30,000 [in return for consent]. I don’t even have a person to come and visit me in prison, let alone come up with the money. I am becoming another Shahla Daryooshi. I am happy to die.

How did they find your partner?

Akram – I didn’t have his address. I did not even know he was married and had children. Before they found my partner Behnam Zareyi, they were accusing my brother of being my partner in crime. I then remembered that my partner and I had once been involved in an accident on the highway to Qum. My partner had given his phone number and car ownership papers to the tow truck driver.

Were you employed after your divorce? Do you have any professional skills?

Akram – With the help of a friend, I became a certified hairdresser and opened a salon.

Have you ever gone to the gallows?

Akram – Yes, once.

How was the execution stopped?

Akram – At 6 o’clock, Ms. Esmailzadeh came and told me that I had a court hearing, but I knew she was lying; they wanted to carry out my sentence. I asked everyone for forgiveness. I was then taken to the suite. It was the night of October 10, 2009, and Behnoud Shojaee was with me. I went to the suite and performed a repentance ablution. I was taken to the gallows at 3 AM. Right there, the head of the women’s ward told me, “Your lawyer was able to obtain consent.” They took my dead body back to the ward. I will never forget that my family did not even come for my Qisas [execution]. I would not have been here if they had not discriminated against their daughters.