IRAN: WOMAN HANGED FOR MURDERING LOVE RIVAL
December 1, 2010: Iran hanged a woman convicted of murdering a love rival, her lawyer told the official IRNA news agency. Shahla Jahed was hanged at 5:00 am in the courtyard of Tehran's Evin prison after the verdict was confirmed by the supreme court and the judiciary chief, lawyer Abdolsamad Khoramshahi said.
The London-based rights group Amnesty International on November 30 called on Iran to halt Jahed's execution, saying "there are good reasons to suggest that she may have been wrongly convicted."
Jahed, who had a so-called "temporary" marriage with Nasser Mohammad Khani, a former striker for the Iranian national team, was convicted of stabbing to death his "permanent" wife eight years ago.
In the Shiite faith that is the majority religion in Iran, men and women can marry for an agreed period of time. Afterwards, the marriage is null and void, although it can be renewed.
Men can have up to four permanent wives, and any number of temporary wives. Women can only be married to one man at a time.
Amnesty said that in early 2008 the judiciary overturned the verdict and ordered a fresh investigation, citing "procedural flaws." However, Jahed was again sentenced to death in February 2009.
It has been said that Shahla was crying while she was taken to the gallows. According to the reports, the execution was performed by the family of Laleh Saharkhizan, the woman Shahla was convicted of murdering. (Sources: Afp, IHR, 01/12/2010)
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