URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE
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14 October 2004
Further Information on UA 281/04 issued 7 October
2004 - Imminent execution
IRAN: Fatemeh Haghighat-Pajouh (f), aged 33
Fatemeh Haghighat-Pajouh was granted a stay of execution
on 12 October, the night before she was scheduled to be
hanged, according to a 13 October report by the Iranian
Student News Agency (ISNA). When a stay of execution is
ordered, the case is usually sent back to the sentencing
court for review.
The Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, apparently
ordered the stay of execution after reading a letter written
to him by Fatemeh Haghighat-Pajouh's daughter, entitled
''Don't render my hopes hopeless'', in which she appealed
for clemency for her mother
She had been sentenced to death for the murder of her
husband, whom she alleged was a drug addict who had
tried to rape her daughter from a previous marriage, who
was 15 years old at the time. Apparently he had previously
told her that he had lost the girl in a gambling match. She is
believed to have been in custody since approximately June
2001.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to
arrive as quickly as possible:
- welcoming the decision by His Excellency Ayatollah
Shahroudi to grant Fatemeh Haghighat-Pajouh a stay of
execution;
- asking whether a review of her case will be carried out,
and urging that her death sentence be commuted;
- stating that Amnesty International recognizes the right
and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those
suspected of criminal offences, but strongly opposes the
death penalty as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected] (mark 'Please
forward to HE Ayatollah Shahroudi')
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 649 5880 (please mark 'For the
attention of the Office of His Excellency,
Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei, Qom)
Email: [email protected] OR
[email protected] (on the subject
line write: For the attention of the Office
of His Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma
Khamenei, Qom)
President
His Excellency Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed
Mohammad Khatami
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
E-mail: [email protected] (please resend your
message if it does not get through the first
time)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Iran does not presently have an embassy in this country.
Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 965 4990
Fax: 202 462 5066
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the
Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm,
Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after
November 25, 2004.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: [email protected]
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE
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