Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Omid, a memorial in defense of human rights in Iran
One Person’s Story

Rasul

About

Age: 45
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: January 3, 2007
Location of Killing: Evin Prison, Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Rape; Adultery
Age at time of alleged offense: 43

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Rasul was published on the websites of the Iran and Isca News newspapers on January 3, 2007.Additional information is taken from the Hambastegi newspaper (December 16, 2006), Khabar-e Jonub (June 9, 2006), and Iran and Sharq newspapers (May 15, 2006).Mr. Rasul was 45 years old and one of the respected and trustworthy people of his neighborhood.

Arrest and Detention

Mr. Rasul was arrested following a complaint filed by a woman and her husband claiming that the woman was threatened and harassed by Mr. Rasul.

Different news sources have mentioned the date of the woman’s complaint as either the Spring or October of 2004.

Trial

Branch 77 of Criminal Court of Tehran Province tried Mr. Rasul on  July 15, 2004.  There is no further information available on his trial.

Charges

The charges against Mr. Rasul were announced as "rape and adultery”. He was accused of threatening a woman to have a sexual affair.

The validity of the criminal charges brought against this defendant cannot be ascertained in the absence of the basic guarantees of a fair trial.  International human rights organizations have drawn attention to reports indicating that the Islamic Republic authorities have brought trumped-up charges, including drug trafficking, sexual, and other criminal offences, against their opponents (including political, civil society activists, as well as unionists and ethnic and religious minorities). Each year Iranian authorities sentence to death hundreds of alleged common criminals, following judicial processes that fail to meet international standards. The exact number of people convicted and executed based on trumped-up charges is unknown.  

Evidence of Guilt

The evidence presented against the defendant was his “confession,” and the statements by plaintiff.According to the plaintiff stated Mr. Rasul was harassing the woman through phone calls threatening him to divorce her husband and marry Mr. Rasul. The woman, eventually, decided to talk to Mr. Rasul in person and asked him to go to the woman’s aunt’s house which was vacant at the time. She thought she could convince him to give up but while they were talking, Mr. Rasul raped her one day, when Mr. Rasul knew the woman’s husband was away on a mission, forced her into a car and took her to the north of Iran for a week. She then decided to file a complaint against him upon returning to Tehran.

International human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its systematic use of severe torture and solitary confinement to obtain confessions from detainees and have questioned the authenticity of confessions obtained under duress. In the case of political detainees, these confessions are, at times, televised. The National Television broadcasts confessions during which prisoners plead guilty to vague and false charges, repent and renounce their political beliefs, and/or implicate others. Human rights organizations have also pointed to the pattern of retracted confessions by those prisoners who are freed.

Defense

No information is available on Mr. Rasul’s defense.

Judgment

Branch 77 of the criminal court of Tehran Province condemned Mr. Rasul to death on February 01, 2005 (Hambastegi) and the ruling was confirmed by Branch 33 of the Supreme Court. He was hanged in the Evin prison on January 3, 2007.

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