Final message of woman executed in Iran for killing 'attempted rapist': 'Dear mum, don't cry'
The final message of a woman executed in Iran for killing a man she said tried to rape her has been released, telling her mother she would have justice in “the court of God”.
Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, was hanged on Saturday despite an international campaign for her release over her seven years in prison.
She left her final will in a voice message to her mother, Shole Pakravan, in April, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which released the English translation.
Ms Jabbari recorded it on the day she learned she would be executed, saying she had “given in” to death.
"Dear Sholeh, don’t cry for what you are hearing," she said.
“The world did not love us - it did not want my fate.
“In the court of God I will charge the inspectors…and all those that out of ignorance or with their lies wronged me and trampled on my rights and didn’t pay heed to the fact that sometimes what appears as reality is different from it.”
She was sentenced to death by a Tehran court in 2009 for killing Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former employee of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence who she said tried to sexually abuse her, and the verdict was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court despite a legal challenge.
Judges ruled that she stabbed him in the back in 2007 after purchasing a knife two days earlier but although she admitted stabbing him once, she claimed another man killed him.
In her message, Ms Jabbari said she believed she would have been murdered that night if she had not fought back.
“My body would have been thrown in some corner of the city, and after a few days, the police would have taken you to the coroner’s office to identify my body and there you would also learn that I had been raped as well,” she said.
“The murderer would have never been found since we don’t have their wealth and their power.”
Her escape from death only led her to the “grave” of the notorious Evin Prison, where she claimed she was tortured by interrogators.
Her case drew international outcry and sparked a petition demanding her release, which collected almost 242,000 signatures.
Court documents said the execution was carried out after Sarbandi's family refused to pardon Ms Jabbari or accept blood money.
The campaign and world-wide media attention granted her a last minute stay of execution on 30 September, although the reason was never officials announced.
Her mother said she was granted just an hour with her daughter for their final meeting on Friday.
The execution was described as a “travesty” by Amnesty International.
Asking her mother to ensure her organs were donated after her death, Ms Jabbari said she did “not want to rot under the soil”.
“I am telling you from the bottom of my heart that I don’t want to have a grave for you to come and mourn there and suffer. I don’t want you to wear black clothing for me.
“Do your best to forget my difficult days. Give me to the wind to take away,” she said.
“I wanted to embrace you until I die. I love you.”
THE INDEPENDENT
Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, was hanged on Saturday despite an international campaign for her release over her seven years in prison.
She left her final will in a voice message to her mother, Shole Pakravan, in April, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which released the English translation.
Ms Jabbari recorded it on the day she learned she would be executed, saying she had “given in” to death.
"Dear Sholeh, don’t cry for what you are hearing," she said.
“The world did not love us - it did not want my fate.
“In the court of God I will charge the inspectors…and all those that out of ignorance or with their lies wronged me and trampled on my rights and didn’t pay heed to the fact that sometimes what appears as reality is different from it.”
She was sentenced to death by a Tehran court in 2009 for killing Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former employee of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence who she said tried to sexually abuse her, and the verdict was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court despite a legal challenge.
Judges ruled that she stabbed him in the back in 2007 after purchasing a knife two days earlier but although she admitted stabbing him once, she claimed another man killed him.
In her message, Ms Jabbari said she believed she would have been murdered that night if she had not fought back.
“My body would have been thrown in some corner of the city, and after a few days, the police would have taken you to the coroner’s office to identify my body and there you would also learn that I had been raped as well,” she said.
“The murderer would have never been found since we don’t have their wealth and their power.”
Her escape from death only led her to the “grave” of the notorious Evin Prison, where she claimed she was tortured by interrogators.
Her case drew international outcry and sparked a petition demanding her release, which collected almost 242,000 signatures.
Court documents said the execution was carried out after Sarbandi's family refused to pardon Ms Jabbari or accept blood money.
The campaign and world-wide media attention granted her a last minute stay of execution on 30 September, although the reason was never officials announced.
Her mother said she was granted just an hour with her daughter for their final meeting on Friday.
The execution was described as a “travesty” by Amnesty International.
Asking her mother to ensure her organs were donated after her death, Ms Jabbari said she did “not want to rot under the soil”.
“I am telling you from the bottom of my heart that I don’t want to have a grave for you to come and mourn there and suffer. I don’t want you to wear black clothing for me.
“Do your best to forget my difficult days. Give me to the wind to take away,” she said.
“I wanted to embrace you until I die. I love you.”
THE INDEPENDENT
