Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi is an 18 year old Iranian girl currently facing execution. Her crime? Defending herself from being pack-raped. In the process, she stabbed one of her attackers in the chest, killing them.
In New Zealand - or any other civilised country - this would be considerd "self-defence". In Iran, its considered murder. Ironically, if she'd submitted to the rape, she'd still be facing punishment - though not the death penalty - for pre-marital sex. And this somehow is considered "justice".
The Save Nazanin website has a number of suggestions of things you can do to stop this, including signing an online petition and writing to the Iranian government. For New Zealanders, there are also two things you can do locally. The first is to write to the Iranian Resident in Wellington, Kambiz Sheikh Hassani, protesting Nazanin's sentence and asking that she be pardoned. The address is:
His Excellency Mr Kambiz Sheikh Hassani
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
PO Box 10 249
Wellington
Phone: (04) 386 2976
Fax: (04) 386 3065
Email: info@iranembassy.org.nz
The second is to write our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters, or the man who really pulls the foreign policy strings, Phil Goff, asking them to lobby the Iranian government on Nazanin's behalf. As DPF points out, international pressure has saved people from execution in the past. We just have to hope that it is successful in this case.
[Hat tip: DPF]
1 comments:
Neither the Prime Minister - Helen Clark, Foriegn Affairs Minister - Winston Peters, Dunedin North Electorate MP - Pete Hodgson, Labour Party Foriegn Affairs - Phil Goff or National MP Bill English have replied to my emails asking for their immediate action to ensure the execution does not go ahead. Bunch of slack cunts, Nazanin's life is important enough for them to get thier arses into gear and save, however nothing seems to be getting done.
Posted by Anonymous : 5/23/2006 12:27:00 AM
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