July 24, 2020
The former mayor of Tehran, Mohammad-Ali Najafi, who is being held in prison for the killing of his second wife, says he has paid 100 billion rials ($625,000) in blood money to the victim’s immediate relatives and acquired their forgiveness.
Under Iran’s Islamic criminal code, if a dead victim’s family accepts diyeh (blood money) from the killer, the death penalty is voided.
Speaking at the third round of his trial May 3, Najafi said the family of his wife was not going to request his execution, based on qisas, as the eye-for-an-eye law is known in Islamic countries.
MIT-educated Najafi, 67, shot his 35-year old second wife, Mitra Ostad, at their home in a posh neighborhood of Tehran in May 2019. Hours later, Najafi surrendered to the police.
Najafi was sentenced to six years and six months in prison for manslaughter and one year and three months for possession of an unlicensed firearm.
However, the Supreme Court overturned the trial court’s ruling, and the case was reopened, with the death penalty as an option.
Najafi also disclosed that he was hesitant to commit suicide or surrender to the police after the killing. He said he had brought a gun to intimidate his wife into granting a divorce and that the pistol went off when she tried to grab it.