Delara Darabi Sends New Paintings From Prison

Delara Darabi , 20 year old female artist on Iran's death row, provided her new paintings to human rights lawyer, Lily Mazahery, who is spearheading the international effort to save her life. here is the original post. I got the permission to repost them here, however.

Delara Darabi Has Lost Hope for Justice

Delara Darabi is suffering so much in prison that she is begging to be either executed or released from prison. You can read the article here

It pains me greatly that this beautiful and talented girl must suffer so much ... all for a love that never was. How could they subject her to so much pain and misery is beyond anything that I can ever understand.

Please let's do EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING possible to save Delara. She deserves to live the normal life of a 20 year old instead of the nightmare that she is going through. The least we can do is sign her petition.

Delara's Ex Boyfriend Withdraws his Objection to His Sentence to Escape Being Proven the Murderer

Amir-Hussain, Delara's ex boyfriend who talked her into accepting responsibility for the murder that he had committed, has withdrawan his legal objection to the charges against him, as well as the sentence that he received for having been found guilty of being Delara's "accomplice" in Mahin's murder.

On Sunday, June 10, 2007, Delara's lawyer, Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, contacted human rights lawyer, Lily Mazahery, who is spearheading the internatonal effort to save Delara from exectuion, to inform her that Amir-Hussain's defense lawyer had withdrawn his objection and had announced that his client has accepted the entirety of his sentence. Accordingly, Amir-Hussain, without objection to the validity of the charges against him, has been condemned to 13 years imprisonment and flogging.

Ms. Mazahery explained that while this has no direct bearing on Delara's case, it does demonstrate that Amir-Hussain did not want to risk an examination of the evidence in the case because such an evaluation would have shown that he was the one who delivered the fatal stabs to Mahin, not Delara. So, in order to prevent such a showing, Amir-Hussain chose to shut up and accept the 13 year prison sentence that he had received, and let Delara be punished for his crime instead.

Mazahery explains: "Amir-Hussain's withdrawal of his objection does not have any impact on Delara's own request for a new trial. Delara's lawyer remains hopeful that Iran's head of judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, will prevent the execution of his client without a trial where evidence is properly examined and evaluated."

Here's the link to the original report.

Here is the transcript of Mr. Khoramshahi's discussion with the SaveDelara campaign about this latest development:

Mino Hemati: Mr. Khoramshahi, hello. With respect to Amir-Hussain's withdrawal of his objection to his sentence, I want to know what impact this has on Delara.

Abdolsamad Khoramshahi: It doesn’t have any impact on Delara. However, it sheds light on my argument that he was the murderer, and to escape the punishment of execution, he is willing to stay in prison without any objections for 10 years. His crime of murder was apparent, but he came and accepted the punishment [that he has been given] in order to avoid the punishment of execution.

MH: I want to know whether this has any impact on your request to re-examine the case. Is that possible?

AK: No, no. This has no impact. They have set that aside. But this is for public opinion. A person who claimed he had committed no wrong, a person whose attorney claimed had no role [in the murder of Mahin], how could he now come and accept his sentence? Do you understand?

MH: Yes. Is this to Delara’s benefit?

AK: Yes. This, in public opinion, in public’s perception, is representative of our contentions and Delara’s claims. His attorney used to say he had no role whatsoever [in Mahin’s murder]. If he didn’t have any role whatsoever, how is it that he now comes and accepts his sentence and is willing to be in prison for 10 years?! Why did he go back and withdraw his objection?

. . . .

MH: Now what does this do?

AK: This has an impact on public opinion. Why would a person who claimed he had done no wrong take back his objection? This shows that he is the murderer. This is for our conscience, for your views, as this issue has truly been clarified. But from the larger perspective, no, [this has no impact on Delara’s case] because Amir-Hussain’s case is no longer before Mr. Shahroudi.
MH: Oh, Amir-Hussain’s case is not before Shahroudi. Is it?

AK: No, because he withdrew his objection and stated that he is willing to endure prison and that sort of thing.

MH: So what happens to Delara?

AK: Nothing. The case is now in Mr. Shahroudi’s office and they must examine it and see what will happen.

MH: So from a public opinion stand point, this is a positive thing for your argument and for your proof.

AK: Yes.

You can find the entire transcript here

Delara Darabi suffering from heat strokes in prison, her paintings to human rights lawyer confiscated

When human rights lawyer, Lily Mazahery, who is spearheading an international campaign to save Delara Darabi’s life, spoke to Delara’s mother and sister, Ghazale yesterday, she found both women to be extremely upset. They had visited Delara in prison earlier in the day and were highly concerned about Delara's emotional state.

Fighting back tears, Ghazal stated that Delara is only allowed to have visitors once a week for no more than 20 minutes. Delara is extremely distraught by the limited amount of time that she is allowed to spend with her family. The limitations on visitations are exacerbated by fact that Delara has been unable to call her loved ones by phone, as the prison phone was broken during a recent fight by the prisoners.

Additonally, Mrs. Darabi informed Ms. Mazahery that Delara had put together a notebook of letters, prose, and poetry and paintings that she had painted for Ms. Mazahery. However, the writings and paintings were confiscated by prison officials. Delara had again asked her mother and sister to inform Ms. Mazahery of this, and was extremely upset by the incident. You can read the full report here.

ABOUT DELARA DARABI

20 year old Delara, who has been imprisoned in Rasht, Iran, for the past 3 years, faces imminent risk of execution for a crime that physical evidence reveals she did not commit. Although Delara claimed responsibility for the murder of her father’s cousin immediately after the incident, she later explained that she only made the claim to save her 19 year old boyfriend, Amir-Hussain, who was the one who committed the crime. Amir-Husssain who had drugged Delara prior to the incident in question, had convinced Delara that because she was a minor at the time of the incident, she could not receive a death sentence.

However, in violation of international legal standards, as well as treaties to which Iran is a party, Delara was sentenced to death by public hanging when she was only 17 years old. Her death sentence was issued after a summary hearing, where her initial claim of responsibility was the only piece of “evidence” used by the court to convict her of murder. Delara was not presented by counsel during the hearing.

Delara’s repeated claims of innocence after her initial claim of responsibility have been rejected, and her death sentence has been approved by Iran’s highest court. Her case is in its last stage, as it awaits the order of Iran’s head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, to carry out the execution. Ayatollah Shahroudi has the discretion, however, to order a stay of execution and/or to commute Delara’s sentence altogether.

Delara is a talented pianist, poet, and artist. She has produced an impressive collection of paintings from prison, and has been nicknamed “prisoner of colors.” You can see Delara’s paintings here.

In prison, Delara has suffered from great emotional and physical abuse and difficulty. She suffers from extreme depression, and in January 2007, she attempted to take her own life. Delara's life was saved, however, because her cell-mate noticed what she had done and called for help.

An international campaign has been organized to save Delara Darabi, including a petition demanding a stay of execution and release.

Please visit the official website of the SaveDelara campaign at www.SaveDelara.com for information, news, and updates, and to sign the petition condemning the pending execution of young Delara.

Yanar Mohammed Meets with Members of SaveDelara Campaign and Joins Forces to Save Delara Darabi

In May 2007, members of the SaveDelara campaign had an opportunity to discuss Delara Darabi’s case with prominent Iraqi feminist, Yanar Mohammed during a meeting in Los Angeles, where Ms. Mohammed was being presented with the Eleanor Roosevelt Global Women’s Rights Award.

Mino Hemati of the SaveDelara campaign discussed the recent stoning of Du’a Khalil Aswad in Iraq with Ms. Mohammad, as they have joined forces with Ms. Mohammad and various other organizations around the world in condemning the 17 year old’s brutal murder and demanding severe penalties for those responsible for her public stoning.

Additionally, members of the SaveDelara campaign informed Ms. Mohammed of Delara Darabi’s case, and the brutal sentence to which Delara has been subjected. Ms. Mohammed expressed her support for the campaign and its efforts to save Delara from execution, and asked that her name be added to the petition to prevent Delara's execution. She also sat for an interview with Mino Hemati’s TV program, Rahai-Zan . Ms. Hemati's interview with Ms. Mohammed was broadcasted in English and Farsi throughout the world.

Yanar Mohammed is the director of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, a group that works to stop atrocities against Iraqi women and defend their rights. She also serves as the Editor in Chief of the newspaper Al-Mousawat which stands for "Equality."

Sign the petition for Delara Darabi's life: www.petitiononline.com/DL2222/petition.html


For more information, please visit:
http://www.savedelara.com/

Inquiries may be directed to: info@SaveDelara.com

Prison Officials Confiscate Delara's Letter to Human Rights Lawyer, Lily Mazahery

Delara Darabi's younger sister, Ghazal, contacted Lily Mazahery, the human rights lawyer who is leading the efforts to save the life of Delara Darabi, to let her know that prison authorities had taken away Delara's writings to Ms. Mazahery. Delara had informed her mother of the incident when her mother had visited Delara in prison a few days ago. Delara was quite upset about this occurrence, and had expressed her regrets.

It is clear that prison authorities are going out of their way to ensure that no accounts of the deplorable conditions to which they have subjected Delara gets out to Ms. Mazahery's attention, and subsequently through Ms. Mazahery to the attention of human rights organizations with whom she works. Despite the prison officials' attemtps to hide the truth, the SaveDelara campaign has learned a great deal about the inhumane and sub-standard conditions of the prisons to which Delara has been subjected through other direct sources.

Delara suffers from extreme heat and humidity, as the prison to which she is confined provides no air conditioning or even a simple fan. She is forced to share the same bathroom facilities with over 100 individuals. Her prison-mates are comprised of individuals who subject her to frequent abuse, both emotional and physical. She lacks adequate nutrition, despite the fact that her family pays for her expenses in prison. In fact, her family has made repeated requests to deliver adequate meals to Delara in light of the fact that the family pays her expenses while she is imprisoned. Yet, despite their repeated requests, they have been denied delivery of nutritious meals to Delara, and Delara is forced to consume the meals that are provided to her in prison, even though her medical needs demand otherwise. Consequently, Delara's health suffers significantly and continously. None the less, Delara's broken arm, which was brought about by severe beatings in prison, is reported to be on the mend.

Ms. Mazahery, who is in direct contact with Delara's family, Delara's attorney, and other related entities, will provide more information as needed.