it’s ok to kill an unmarried couple walking together
New York Times - April 19, 2007
Iran Exonerates Six Who Killed in Islam’s Name By NAZILA FATHI
TEHRAN, April 18 =97 The Iranian Supreme Court has overturned the =
murder convictions of six members of a prestigious state militia who =
killed five people they considered “morally corrupt.”
The reversal, in an infamous five-year-old case from Kerman, in =
central Iran, has produced anger and controversy, with lawyers =
calling it corrupt and newspapers giving it prominence.
“The psychological consequences of this case in the city have been =
great, and a lot of people have lost their confidence in the judicial =
system,” Nemat Ahmadi, a lawyer associated with the case, said in a =
telephone interview.
Three lower court rulings found all the men guilty of murder. Their =
cases had been appealed to the Supreme Court, which overturned the =
guilty verdicts. The latest decision, made public this week, =
reaffirms that reversal.
“The objection by the relatives of the victims is dismissed, and the =
ruling of this court is confirmed,” the court said in a one-page =
verdict.
The ruling may still not be final, however, because a lower court in =
Kerman can appeal the decision to the full membership of the Supreme =
Court. More than 50 Supreme Court judges would then take part in the =
final decision.
According to the Supreme Court’s earlier decision, the killers, who =
are members of the Basiji Force, volunteer vigilantes favored by the =
country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President =
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, considered their victims morally corrupt and, =
according to Islamic teachings and Iran’s Islamic penal code, their =
blood could therefore be shed.
The last victims, for example, were a young couple engaged to be =
married who the killers claimed were walking together in public.
Members of the Basiji Force are known for attacking reformist =
politicians and pro-democracy meetings. President Ahmadinejad was a =
member of the force, but the Supreme Court judges who issued the =
ruling are not considered to be specifically affiliated with it.
Iran’s Islamic penal code, which is a parallel system to its civic =
code, says murder charges can be dropped if the accused can prove the =
killing was carried out because the victim was morally corrupt.
This is true even if the killer identified the victim mistakenly as =
corrupt. In that case, the law requires “blood money” to be paid to =
the family. Every year in Iran, a senior cleric determines the amount =
of blood money required in such cases. This year it is $40,000 if the =
victim is a Muslim man, and half that for a Muslim woman or a non- =
Muslim.
In a long interview with the Iranian Student News Agency, a Supreme =
Court judge, Mohammad Sadegh Al-e-Eshagh, who did not take part in =
this case, sought Wednesday to discourage vigilante killings, saying =
those carried out without a court order should be punished.
At the same time, he laid out examples of moral corruption that do =
permit bloodshed, including armed banditry, adultery by a wife and =
insults to the Prophet Muhammad.
“The roots of the problems are in our laws,” said Mohammad Seifzadeh, =
a lawyer and a member of the Association for Defenders of Human =
Rights in Tehran. “Such cases happen as long as we have laws that =
allow the killer to decide whether the victim is corrupt or not. =
Ironically, such laws show that the establishment is not capable of =
bringing justice, and so it leaves it to ordinary people to do it.”
The ruling stems from a case in 2002 in Kerman that began after the =
accused watched a tape by a senior cleric who ruled that Muslims =
could kill a morally corrupt person if the law failed to confront =
that person.
Some 17 people were killed in gruesome ways after that viewing, but =
only five deaths were linked to this group. The six accused, all in =
their early 20s, explained to the court that they had taken their =
victims outside the city after they had identified them. Then they =
stoned them to death or drowned them in a pond by sitting on their =
chests.
Three of the families had given their consent under pressure by the =
killers’ families to accept financial compensation, said Mr. Ahmadi, =
the lawyer.
Such killings have occurred in the past. A member of the security =
forces shot and killed a young man in 2005 in the subway in Karaj, =
near Tehran, for what he also claimed was immoral behavior by the =
victim.
A judge caused outrage in 2004 in Neka, in the north, after he issued =
a death sentence for a 16-year old girl for what he said were =
chastity crimes. After the summary trial, he had her hanged in public =
immediately, before the necessary approval from the Supreme Court.
Neither man has been punished.
“Such laws are not acceptable in our society today,” said Hossein =
Nejad Malayeri, the brother of Gholamreza Nejad Malayeri, who was =
killed by the group in Kerman. “That means if somebody has money, he =
can kill, and claim the victim was corrupt.”