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| IRAN - Maryam Kargardastjerdi |
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IRAN - Maryam Kargardastjerdi, a special woman
May 2, 2022: Maryam Kargardastjerdi, a special woman.
Within the "ANNUAL REPORT ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN IRAN 2021", which HoC reported and summarized on 28 April, on page 102 there is a reference to the story of Maryam Kargardastjerdi to which we want to highlight.
The Forgiveness Movement
As mentioned under the section for qisas executions, according to the IPC, murder is punished by qisas, where the family of the victim can demand a retribution death sentence. But they can also demand blood money (diya) instead of a death sentence or can simply grant forgiveness. This opens an opportunity for citizens to counter the death penalty by promoting forgiveness without being subjected to persecution by the authorities. In the past four years, the movement for forgiveness has grown significantly. Ordinary citizens, celebrities, civil society groups such as the IAPSRS, LEGAM (Step by step to abolish the death penalty) and other local and national campaigns have been active in promoting forgiveness instead of the death penalty. When reported, we see a glimpse of the number of lives saved by individuals who set out to compassionately change the minds of the victims’ families. One such example is 42-year-old Maryam Kargardastjerdi, who met a mother trying to come up with the diya to save her son’s life from execution while making social rounds at old people’s homes. Since helping to save the woman’s son, Maryam has helped save the lives of 37 murder defendants from execution by talking to the victims’ families and helping to raise funds to pay the uncapped diya amounts with support from charitable organisations and individuals. And Maryam is not alone. The movement has resulted in the revocation of death sentences for hundreds of death row inmates in recent years. Additionally, the forgiveness movement has contributed significantly to promoting abolition and debate around the death penalty as a punishment. However, as the movement has grown, so have repressive measures, with both LEGAM and the IAPSRS being subjected to the authorities’ crackdown and persecution.
https://www.iranhr.net/en/articles/5170/
https://iranhr.net/media/files/Annual_Report_on_the_Death_Penalty_in_Iran_2021.pdf (Source: IHR)
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