A woman was executed in the early hours of Wednesday in Iran for the alleged murder of her husband after being forced into marriage as a teenager. The death sentence against Sabsian caused international outrage – and is nonetheless indicative of the system of forced marriage in the Islamic theocracy…
Samira Sabsian was married by her parents to a much older man. In 2013, her husband was murdered and the then 19-year-old was sentenced to death. Her two children were only six and two years old, and custody of them was awarded to their father’s relatives.
The man’s family demanded his execution
Sabsian spent ten years on death row. Under Islamic law, the family of the murdered person could demand retribution in the form of a sum of money, but this was not met. According to Iranian NGO Iran Human Rights, the man’s family called for Samira’s death.
According to a report from the organization, their children were taken to jail on Tuesday so they could see their mother one last time. The next morning the woman, whose exact year of birth is unknown, was executed on the gallows.
“Victims of gender apartheid”
Human rights activists had sharply criticized the verdict and tried in recent days to apply pressure to stop its implementation.
Sabsian represents the system of ‘child brides’ in Iran and is a victim of ‘gender apartheid’ in Iran, criticized Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, chairman of Iran Human Rights. Countless women were put on death row because of this system because they would defend themselves against their forced marriages to sometimes violent husbands.
The number of executions is increasing
Human rights activists have criticized the death penalty in Iran for decades. According to their findings, the Islamic Republic’s judiciary executed significantly more people in 2023 than in previous years. There are no official figures on executions. According to estimates by the Norway-based human rights organization Hengaw at the end of November, 700 people have already been executed this year.
Source: Krone
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