Convict had
noose around his neck when victim's mother approached, slapped him in the face
and spared his life
The Guardian, Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Wednesday 16 April 2014
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| The noose is removed from around the neck of Balal. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi /Isna |
When he
felt the noose around his neck, Balal must have thought he was about to take
his last breath. Minutes earlier, crowds had watched as guards pushed him
towards the gallows for what was meant to be yet another public execution in
the Islamic republic of Iran.
Seven years
ago Balal, who is in his 20s, stabbed 18-year-old Abdollah Hosseinzadeh during
a street brawl in the small town of Royan, in the northern province of
Mazandaran. In a literal application of qisas, the sharia law of retribution,
the victim's family were to participate in Balal's punishment by pushing the
chair on which he stood.
But what
happened next marked a rarity in public executions in Iran, which puts more
people to death than any other country apart from China. The victim's mother
approached, slapped the convict in the face and then decided to forgive her
son's killer. The victim's father removed the noose and Balal's life was
spared.
 |
| Hosseinzadeh's mother slaps Balal. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi /Isna |
Photographs
taken by Arash Khamooshi, of the semi-official Isna news agency, show what followed.
Balal's mother hugged the grieving mother of the man her son had killed. The
two women sobbed in each other's arms – one because she had lost her son, the
other because hers had been saved.
The action
by Hosseinzadeh's mother was all the more extraordinary as it emerged that this
was not the first son she had lost. Her younger child Amirhossein was killed in
a motorbike accident at the age of 11.
"My
18-year-old son Abdollah was taking a stroll in the bazaar with his friends
when Balal shoved him," said the victim's father, Abdolghani Hosseinzadeh,
according to Isna. "Abdollah was offended and kicked him but at this time
the murderer took an ordinary kitchen knife out of his socks."
 |
| Balal's mother, left and Hosseinzadeh's mother embrace after the execution was halted. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi/Isna |
Hosseinzadeh
Sr has come to the conclusion that Balal did not kill his son deliberately.
"Balal was inexperienced and didn't know how to handle a knife. He was
naive."
According
to the father, Balal escaped the scene of the stabbing but was later arrested
by the police. It took six years for a court to hand down a death sentence, and
the victim's family deferred the execution a number of times. An date for
execution was set just before the Persian new year, Nowruz, but the victim's
family did not approve of the timing.
Hosseinzadeh
said a dream prompted the change of heart. "Three days ago my wife saw my
elder son in a dream telling her that they are in a good place, and for her not
to retaliate … This calmed my wife and we decided to think more until the day
of the execution."
Many
Iranian public figures, including the popular TV sport presenter Adel
Ferdosipour, had called on the couple, who have a daughter, to forgive the
killer. Although they did so, Balal will not necessarily be freed. Under
Iranian law the victim's family have a say only in the act of execution, not
any jail sentence.
 |
| The chair on the gallows. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi /Isna |
In recent
years Iran has faced criticism from human rights activists for its high rate of
executions. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, accused Hassan Rouhani of
doing too little to improve Iran's human rights, especially reining in its
staggering use of capital punishment.
As of last
week, 199 executions are believed to have been carried out in Iran this year,
according to Amnesty, a rate of almost two a day. Last year Iran and Iraq were
responsible for two-thirds of the world's executions, excluding China.
At least
369 executions were officially acknowledged by the Iranian authorities in 2013,
but Amnesty said hundreds more people were put to death in secret, taking the
actual number close to 700.
Iran is
particularly criticised for its public executions, which have attracted
children among the crowds in the past. Iranian photographers are often allowed
to document them.
Bahareh
Davis, of Amnesty International, welcomed the news that Balal had been spared
death. "It is of course welcome news that the family of the victim have
spared this young man's life," she said. "However, qisas regulations
in Iran mean that people who are sentenced to death under this system of
punishment are effectively prevented from seeking a pardon or commutation of
their sentences from the authorities – contrary to Iran's international
obligations."
She added:
"It's deeply disturbing that the death penalty continues to be seen as a
solution to crime in Iran. Not only is the death penalty the ultimate cruel,
inhuman and degrading punishment with no special deterrent impact, but public
displays of killing also perpetuate a culture of acceptance of violence.
"Public
executions are degrading and incompatible with human dignity of those executed.
In addition, all those who watch public executions – which regrettably often
includes children – are brutalised by the experience."
In October
last year an Iranian prisoner who survived an attempted execution and was
revived in the morgue was spared another attempt, though his family said he had
lost mental stability and remained in jail.
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