Letter of Rayhaneh’s Sister to Mother’s Against Execution Translated by: Shadi Paveh, Canada It has been a week that my sister’s execution was confirmed by the Supreme Court. It has been a week that I have been crying silently to myself and fallen sleep with tears on my face- every night. It is now Persian New Year and I have no interest in buying presents or doing anything life related in general. All I do is hold on to my childhood memories with my sisters. I remember that we would separate little sections of the house with ironing boards and call it “my” house. We would each have our own spoons and dishes and then invite our father for tea. I remember my parents riding their bicycles in the yard while we rode our tricycles. We three sisters would agree to meet at “Apple Street” which was only an old apple tree to just chat about nonsense. We called these “Sister Sessions”. We would go out with our Dad and would come back with a large bag of toys. Mother would always scold us for buying so many toys. We were so excited on those toy shopping days. Once we were so happy that we threw up from excitement of it all. I would go into Rayhaneh’s room and brush my hair in the morning. She would get mad at me for waking her up when I was getting ready to go school. Those days everyone knew me for my laughter; not for my tears of pain. God, I am not sure if you can hear my voice. I don’t want to complain. But I must defend her because she is my sister, my blood, my life. I do want to complain too because she has been separated from us. Can you please return her to us, to save my family, my mother’s life? I just want her back with us in our house again. I do not have the strength for this nightmare anymore….return her to us. March 2014 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Letter is translated by Shadi Paveh ============================== Campaign to save Rayhaneh Jabbari from execution Week of unity to save Rayhaneh Rayhaneh Jabbari is a 26 six year old woman who was convicted of murdering a man named Morteza in Iran who has been in prison for the last 7 years and is awaiting imminent execution[ by hanging]. Rayhaneh, an interior designer, was speaking on the phone about her work in a coffee shop, a conversation which was coincidentally overheard by Morteza who approached her for professional advice about renovating his office. They then set a date to meet at his office in order to see and discuss Morteza’s renovation project. On the day of the meeting, Morteza picked up Rayhaneh in his car. On the way to his office, Morteza stopped at a pharmacy, purchased an item (while Rayhaneh waited in the car), got into the car again and drove to his office. After arriving at their destination, Rayhaneh realized that the place did not look like a work place at all as it was a rundown house. Inside the house, Rayhaneh saw two drinks on the table, Morteza went inside and quickly locked the door from inside, put his arms around Rayhaneh’s waist and told her that “she had no way of escaping”. A struggle soon ensued. Rayhaneh trying to defend herself stabbed Morteza in the shoulder and escaped. Morteza died from bleeding. Lab analysis showed the drinks Morteza intended to serve to Rayhaneh contained sedatives. Regardless, Rayhaneh was arrested. There she was told by the authorities that the murder had been set up [by them] and was “politically motivated”. Nevertheless, Rayhaneh was tortured until she confessed to the murder, after she was given the death penalty which was upheld by the Supreme Court. As a result she is to be executed at any moment. The Campaign to Save Rayhaneh, asks that all individuals and organizations help support us in any way possible to save Rayhaneh. If you have any contacts or connections with media, human rights organizations, women’s rights advocates or government agencies, please support Rayhaneh’s campaign by writing to them. We declare the week of March 21 to March 28 the week of unity to save Rayhaneh. On March 28, 2014 there we will be holding meetings and protests for Rayhaneh in various cities. Please help us save her life by first signing this petition. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/ https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Catherine_Ashton_Ban_Ki_Moon_Ahmad_Shaheed_Save_26_year_old_woman_from_being_hanged_in_Iran/?fbss Nazanin Afshin-Jam Shadi Paveh Shabnam Assadollahi Mina Ahadi hamseda@gmail minnaahadi@gmail https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Catherine_Ashton_Ban_Ki_Moon_Ahmad_Shaheed_Save_26_year_old_woman_from_being_hanged_in_Iran/?sgoyhhb
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:22:04 +0000
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