02 nov 2003

IRAN: REVOCATA PENA DI MORTE PER DONNA CHE SI DIFESE DA STUPRO

Teheran, 2 nov. (Adnkronos/Dpa)- Il capo del settore   giudiziario iraniano ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, ha revocato la   sentenza di morte contro una donna accusata di aver ucciso un ufficiale dei   servizi d'intelligence che aveva tentato di stuprarla.

Il caso di Afsaneh Noruzi, questo il nome della donna, aveva avuto vasta eco anche all'estero, dopo una denuncia di Amnesty International. Shirin Ebadi, l'avvocatessa iraniana premio Nobel per la Pace, aveva recentemente annunciato di volersi battere in suo favore. Tre deputate riformiste -Jamileh Kadivar, Aazam Nasseripur e Tahereh Rezazedeh- hanno inviato una lettera di ringraziamento all'ayatollah Shahroudi.

IRAN: Iran woman in death row case spared from execution

An Iranian woman condemned to death for killing a police officer she says was trying to rape her has had her case sent back to the supreme court by Iran's hardline-run judiciary, press reports said Monday.

The reports said the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahrudi, ordered that the death sentence be lifted following "doubts" over the original court ruling.

"I also have doubts regarding the case, so I want it to be reviewed," the judiciary chief was quoted as writing to the supreme court after intensive lobbying by female reformist MPs.

In March, a court condemned 32-year-old Afsaneh Noruzi to hang for the stabbing death of a high-ranking officer she testified had tried to rape her in his office on the Gulf island of Kish in 1997.

Last month, Noruzi was notified of her imminent execution, sparking protests from women's rights advocates and a group of female MPs who argued that she was merely fulfilling her Islamic obligation to defend her honour.

Noruzi's supporters also lobbied Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi -- a prominent lawyer and women's rights activist -- to take up the case.

Reports said 3 female MPs -- Jamileh Kadivar, Azam Nasirpour and Tehereh Rezazadeh -- had written to thank Shahrudi for his decision.