Confessions of a Judge Who Witnessed Executions
M.A., who held various positions in the Iranian Ministry of Justice for many years, resigned after he witnessed one of his colleagues draw lots to determine a suspect’s guilt. The choice involved two suspects, and M.A. had doubts about the guilt of both of them.
M.A. has witnessed the executions of many convicted murderers. Victims’ next of kin – set on revenge – and family members of the murderer, who beg for forgiveness on behalf of their relative, have also been present at many of these executions.
Unlike many human rights activists who believe that the death penalty must be abolished in every country and in every case, M.A. is of the opinion that the death penalty should be imposed only in limited cases.
He believes that Iran’s practice of executing children must be abolished unconditionally.
Here, in his own words, he tells his story to IranWire. For obvious reasons, he has asked to remain anonymous.
I support the death penalty for violent rape. Because somebody who violates the safety of someone else’s home or forces sexual intercourse in the streets is not an ordinary felon but a dangerous maniac whose very existence harms and endangers society.
I am against public executions. The judge can order the executions to be carried out in the prison yard so that it might provide a lesson to other felons. Unfortunately, many judges insist on public executions. They want to show off the power of the judiciary, but they are ignorant of the psychological harm that it inflicts.
In 2010, in Babol, a city in the province of Mazandaran, a murderer mercilessly killed a father, his wife and their two children. After about 10 days, authorities found the murderer and, after court proceedings, the judge ordered his public execution. The verdict was carried out a few months ago in a residential area. Unfortunately, the execution scene was surrounded by apartment buildings and I heard a mother complain that her small child had been overcome by psychological problems after witnessing the execution from their apartment’s window. I do not know who must answerable for inflicting such damage.
When I see that, in order to watch a hanging, my countrymen go at midnight to reserve a place and bring tea and snacks, I am disgusted and ashamed.
A Sheer crime
Executions may be an unavoidable part of our laws, but watching it is cruel and inhuman and taking small children to see it is a sheer crime. Can anybody calculate the damage that will be done the child’s mind, soul and future?
Experience has proven to me that the death penalty does not prevent crime. Any effect is temporary and passing, like giving a painkiller to a cancer patient. When they see an execution, many criminals become just a little more cautious or temporarily refrain from committing crimes. But such a preventive effect is strictly short term. The death penalty is not a cure for crime.
Executing children is especially inhuman. They are not mentally mature and, no matter what they have done, they should not face retribution or the death penalty.
The decision to execute a child, however, is often not made by a judge, but instead by the family of the victim [through the Islamic provision for “retribution”]. The power to make a decision to punish by death must be taken away from the next of kin. It is time to change the law and the culture.
For my own part, I tried hard to eliminate retribution against children, at least when the motive was self-defense or an emotional spur-of-the-moment reaction. Unfortunately, such punishments are rooted in sharia and cannot be changed easily. For this reason, on many occasions, my colleagues and I tried to persuade the family of the victim to forgive.
When I saw the movie Hush, Girls Don’t Scream [about a woman accused of murdering a man who abused her repeatedly as a child] , many memories came back.
[You can watch Hush, Girls Don’t Scream, released in 2013, on YouTube. David Chute’s review of the film is available on the Variety website.]
Only One Question
I have witnessed executions many times. Once, I witnessed the execution of a young woman, the second wife of a factory owner, who had killed her husband. She confessed in court and during investigations, reconstructing the crime scene. The judge condemned her and, according to the provisions of retribution, the brother of the husband, who held the power of attorney for his children, asked for her death.
The day of the execution in Evin prison, when she was put on a high stool to be hanged, the brother asked the presiding judge to ask the woman one question and then carry on with the sentence.
She was asked about her motive. He was impotent, she replied, and every night he brought a worker home to have sex with her. The presiding judge immediately suspended the verdict and ordered a review. Based on evidence and confessions by the workers, her claim was verified and the family relented.
You are wrong if you believe that all judges in the Iranian judiciary approve of capital punishment. I know firsthand that there are movements against capital punishment and for promoting forgiveness in retribution. But, of course, there are a variety of opinions within the judiciary.
Let me tell you a story about stoning to death. On a rainy night, a cab driver picks up a pregnant woman. He asks for her destination but the woman starts crying and says that she has nowhere to stay. The driver takes her home to his wife and three children. The next morning, however, the woman refuses to leave his home and makes a strange claim. She says that she is pregnant with his child. The quarrel escalates and ends up in court.
After the investigation, it turns out that the man is sterile and that all three of his children have been fathered by his brother. Based on the complaint by the cab driver, the judge orders that both the brother and the wife be stoned to death. In the course of stoning, the brother crawls out of the pit and starts running in the yard at Evin prison to escape. It was a painful scene but since, according to sharia, he had to die for engaging in illicit sex, they threw him back into the pit and killed him.
One of the reasons I resigned was because of these unbearable psychological pressures. I am now sleeping better at night. I am no longer responsible for anybody’s life. Having to decide whether somebody is guilty or not is frightening in itself, let alone when somebody’s life hangs in the balance.
I chose this profession because of my father’s ideals. Now that I’ve resigned, my nights are better.
The Social Trauma of Death as Spectacle
Why Would You Attend a Hanging?
Put Death Penalty to a Referendum: an Interview with Emadeddin Baghi
The Value of Human Life: An Interview With Mohammad Mostafaei
The Most Disadvantaged Groups at Risk of Execution
Mohammad Mostafaei’s 10 Steps For Abolishing The Death Penalty
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