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Iranian woman accused of killing attempted rapist executed

Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, was executed Saturday for the killing of Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, whom she says tried to rape her.

By Fred Lambert
Reyhaneh Jabbari (Facebook photo)
Reyhaneh Jabbari (Facebook photo)

TEHRAN, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- An Iranian woman accused of killing a man she said tried to sexually assault her was executed by the Iranian government Saturday, despite international pleas for mercy.

Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, was hanged in Evin prison in Tehran after years of litigation. In 2007 she was arrested for the murder of Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former Iranian intelligence official and a doctor. Jabbari said that Sarbandi attempted to rape her, and she addmitted to stabbing him in the neck in self defense. Jabbari contended, however, that a third person at the scene had actually killed Sarbandi.

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Jabbari was sentenced to death by a criminal court in 2009, but her case underwent multiple reviews after her lawyers argued that Sarbandi's cause of death wasn't properly investigated.

The execution was delayed twice before, once in April and again in September, after the United Nations, Amnesty International and several activists leveled criticism against Iranian courts over the matter.

An online petition to save Jabbari had reached 241,459 signatures by Saturday.

Jabbari's mother said on a Facebook page dedicated to Jabbari that her daughter had a fever when she was taken to the gallows.

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"Three people stood next to the gallows. Mother and .... and Jalal Sarbandi. I dont know if they were sad or angry," Sholeh Pakravan said. "I dont know if I am patient or thinking."

A post on the same page blamed the Iranian government and the Sarbandi family for the outcome. According to Iranian Sharia Law, Jabbari's execution could have been avoided with a pardon from the victim's family within 10 days. None was secured within that deadline.

The State Department condemned the execution on Twitter and called on the Iranian government to respect its own laws:

Groups such as Human Rights Watch have made similar accusations, noting that Jabbari was held for long periods in solitary confinement without access to her lawyer or family, and her family was not notified in advance of the two previously scheduled executions in accordance with Iranian law.

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