UN human rights experts are demanding Iran call off the planned execution of Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, a sixty-seven year old electrical engineer held in Lakan Prison. They detailed a list of severe legal breaches, from an arrest without a warrant and long-term solitary confinement to a trial by video call that lasted under ten minutes. The experts stated she was blocked from using her own lawyer and given no time to mount a defense, rendering any conviction unsafe.
They argued that carrying out the death sentence for the charge of armed rebellion, or baghi, would be an arbitrary killing. The case reportedly hinges on her possessing a protest slogan and an unpublished audio file, which the experts say does not meet the international legal standard for a most serious crime warranting capital punishment. They framed this as part of a systemic pattern, citing over fifty other individuals also facing execution on similarly vague national security charges like waging war against God, following trials that lack basic fairness.
This appeal from special rapporteurs represents a direct but non-binding challenge to Iranian authorities. It highlights the immediate risk to Tabari amid a broader human rights crisis in the country centered on the use of the death penalty to suppress dissent. The experts are in direct contact with Iranian officials, but the final outcome for Tabari and the dozens of others in similar jeopardy remains unclear.
They argued that carrying out the death sentence for the charge of armed rebellion, or baghi, would be an arbitrary killing. The case reportedly hinges on her possessing a protest slogan and an unpublished audio file, which the experts say does not meet the international legal standard for a most serious crime warranting capital punishment. They framed this as part of a systemic pattern, citing over fifty other individuals also facing execution on similarly vague national security charges like waging war against God, following trials that lack basic fairness.
This appeal from special rapporteurs represents a direct but non-binding challenge to Iranian authorities. It highlights the immediate risk to Tabari amid a broader human rights crisis in the country centered on the use of the death penalty to suppress dissent. The experts are in direct contact with Iranian officials, but the final outcome for Tabari and the dozens of others in similar jeopardy remains unclear.
