February 26, 2021
The lawyer for an Iranian woman who died of a heart attack moments before she was to be executed said the hanging was carried out anyway to appease her alleged victim’s family.
Zahra Ismaili was convicted of murdering her husband, Alireza Zamani, but her lawyer, Omid Moradi, said she was defending herself against domestic violence.
Moradi, who said Zamani was an official in the Intelligence Ministry, posted online a description of his client’s ordeal.
He said Ismaili was in a line of people preparing for execution. She was, behind 16 men, and, while watching them being hanged ahead of her, she had a heart attack and died.
According to Moradi, the execution still went ahead so that Zamani’s mother could carry out the act of kicking the chair out from under Ismaili.
The execution was carried out in Rajai Shahr prison.