AJC Alarmed at Reports of Iranian Woman's Imminent Execution

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Nov 30, 2010, 06:15 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Jewish Committee expressed alarm at reports that Shahla Jahed, an Iranian woman charged with murdering her alleged lover's wife, will be executed by hanging tomorrow, December 1. Jahed has consistently denied the accusation.

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"Shahla Jahed's confession was extracted under torture at Tehran's notorious Evin prison," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "We urge the international community to do everything in its power to secure a stay of execution. This case is another horrific demonstration of how the oppression of women has been institutionalized by the Iranian regime."

Jahed was alleged to have engaged in an affair with a leading Iranian soccer star, Naser Mohammadkhani. In 2002, she confessed to the murder of Mohammadkhani's wife, Laleh Saharkhizan. She later retracted the confession at her public trial, saying it had been forced on her.

Jahed has been held in Evin prison, infamous for its brutal conditions, for nine years. She reportedly told the judge at her trial: "If you want to kill me, go ahead ... if you send me back there (to Evin), I'll confess again and not only will I confess to killing her but I'd also confess that I killed those who have been killed by others."

AJC recently spoke out on behalf of another Iranian woman sentenced to death for adultery, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. Ashtiani faces execution by stoning.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee