Unjust Imprisonment Monthly: Nazanin Fatehi

Nazanin is an 18 year-old, Kurdish Iranian girl who is under sentence of death for murder in Iran. There are two problems. One, she was under 18 when she committed the alleged offense. Two, she claims that the man she stabbed was trying, with two accomplices, to rape her and her niece, Somayeh.

Nazanin, her niece, and their boyfriends were spending some time in a park in May 2006. Apparently, the three assailants started to throw stones at them. Their boyfriends fled (f*&%ing idiots). The three pushed Nazinin and Somayeh to the ground. Nazinin stabbed one of them in the hand, and she and Somayeh fled. The men attacked them once again, and Nazanin stabbed one in the chest, later killing him.

In many other jurisdictions, she would have got a slap on the wrist at worst. Iran's justice system has miscarried a lot, especially in the field of women who are raped or nearly raped. She was re-tried on August 30, but no verdict was given, and it seems she will be tried again. It was discovered that some evidence was faulty; apparently in the first trial it had been entered as evidence that her father had told the court she was a run-away and to go ahead and sentence her to death. Her father spoke in court at the second trial to repudiate this 'evidence'. And by the way, had she allowed she and her niece to be raped, she could very well still be charged with adultery.

I'm not sure if any Muslims are reading this, but if so, you must speak out. Iran's laws are the products of outdated and biased readings of Islamic law. Don't accuse me of anti-Muslim prejudice, I've lambasted my own religion enough.

There's a petition below, started by an unrelated namesake, Nazinin Afshin-Jam. She's an ex Miss World Canada and a singer, and she has spoken out worldwide on behalf of her namesake.

Sign the petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/Nazanin/petition.html

And join me in prayer:
For all people of the world who suffer persecution, unjust imprisonment, illnesses of all kinds, for those who are without a homeland and who live in constant danger,
Lord protect and heal them.
(Credit to the Episcopal Network for Evangelism for the prayer)