Skip to main content

Iranian Man’s Retribution Acid Blinding Punishment Set for Sunday, July 31, in Tehran

Iran Human Rights, July 30: According to reports from Iran, the blinding sentence of Majid Movahedi will be implemented in Tehran early Sunday morning. Acid is set to be dripped in both his eyes.

In November 2008, a court in the Iranian capital Tehran sentenced Majid Movahedi to “blindness in both eyes” by ten drops of sulfuric acid for splashing acid on Ameneh Bahrami’s face in 2004. She had allegedly spurned his marriage proposals. Ameneh Bahrami’s face became disfigured and she lost the sight in both eyes as a result of the injury. The sentence was approved by the Iranian Supreme Court in February 2009.

The sentence was scheduled to be implemented on May 14th but was postponed, probably due to the massive international attention the case received.

According to Alarabiya, Iranian authorities have decided to implement the verdict before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins on August 1st. The news has also been confirmed on the Ameneh Bahrami Facebook page. It stated: “Ameneh’s retribution sentence will be implemented at 6:00am tomorrow.”

The sentence was approved by the Iranian Supreme Court in February 2009.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemned what he called a “barbaric and grotesque” punishment. He said, ”The international community must not let this barbaric punishment to happen.” He added, ”Leaders of the Iranian regime should be held responsible for the barbaric and grotesque punishment of dripping acid in Majid’s eyes. These types of sentences are only meant to spread fear among the people and will, without a doubt, promote even more violence in the Iranian society.”

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam has asked the assigned doctors to not take part in the barbaric act of retribution because, if they do, they will be breaking their professional oath.

Regarding the discriminatory laws against women in Iran, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said, “By being a woman, Ameneh is also a victim of the Iranian regime’s gender apartheid politics. Iranian authorities encourage violence against women. According to the Iranian laws, a woman who is not covered properly can be lashed up to 74 times, so the authorities are also responsible for the growing violence against women in the Iranian society, like Ameneh’s case.”

Background:

In 2004, Majid Movahedi was convicted of pouring acid on the face of Ameneh Bahrami, 27, a young woman he allegedly wished to marry.

As a result of the injuries, Ameneh Bahrami lost her sight in one eye and most of her sight in the other eye. She has been going through numerous surgical operations on her face and eyes to reverse the damage.

In 2008, a court in Tehran sentenced Majid Movahedi to Qesas (retribution, eye-for-an-eye). He was sentenced to lose the sight in both his eyes and to provide Ameneh Bahrami with economic compensation.

The Iranian Supreme Court approved the sentence in February 2009. According to the sentence issued by the court, ten drops of sulfuric acid will be dripped into each of Majid Movahedi’s eyes.

The punishment is set to take effect on the morning of July 31st.

Source: Iran Human Rights, July 30, 2011 - [فارسى]

Acid blinding sentence of the man who attacked with acid to be carried out tomorrow

Majid Movahed, the defendant in the acid attack case, has been transferred from the Rjaei Shahr Prison to the central investigation unit of the Police Station.

The Prosecutor has informed Majid Movahed’s lawyer that his sentence has to be carried out before the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. One more day is left until the sentenec is carried out.

According to the Human Rights House of Iran, the sentenec is to be carried out tomorrow at 6 am and the man is to be blinded in both eyes.

Movahed had thrown a jar of acid in the face of Ameneh Bahrami after she refused his marriage proposal. She lost both her eyes in the incident.

Recently, Parliament member Soleiman Zaker had said that “blinding with acid is is the application of the sharia’s “eye for an eye” laws.” He had added that “delay in the execution of the sentence and the ignorance of victims and their families has led to more acid attacks.”

He had requested that the victims of acid attacks should not ignore the Qisas sentence.

Ameneh Bahrami has retuned to Iran last week in order to carry out the sentence.

Persian Article: http://www.rahana.org/archives/42927

Source: rahana, July 30, 2011


Jul 31, 2011 UPDATE


Related articles:
May 14, 2011
"Regardless of how horrific the crime suffered by Ameneh Bahrami, being blinded with acid is a cruel and inhuman punishment amounting to torture, and the Iranian authorities have a responsibility under international law ...
Dec 15, 2008
ameneh bahrami refused to accept "blood money." she insisted instead that her attacker suffer a fate similar to her own "so people like him would realize they do not have the right to throw acid in girls' faces," she told the tehran ...

Comments

Most viewed (Last 7 days)

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester.  Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

UK | Lindsay Sandiford back in London

Two British drug convicts, including a grandmother who had been on death row in Indonesia for more than a decade, arrived back in the UK on Friday. Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws, but has moved to release more than half a dozen high-profile detainees in the last year. Lindsay Sandiford, 69, was sentenced to death on the tourist island of Bali in 2013 for smuggling $2.14 million worth of cocaine into Indonesia. She was released on humanitarian grounds along with Shahab Shahabadi, 36, who had been serving a life sentence for drug offences after his arrest in 2014.

Tennessee | Death row inmate refuses to choose between electric chair and lethal injection

Harold Nichols is scheduled to die in December for raping and murdering a student Harold Wayne Nichols, a death row inmate in Tennessee, has declined to select his preferred execution method for his scheduled December 11 death. That means that the state will proceed with lethal injection. Nichols received his death sentence in 1990 after being found guilty of the rape and murder of Karen Pulley, a 21-year-old student at Chattanooga State University, which occurred two years prior.

‘I’ll be executed on Tuesday’: families reveal panicked last calls from foreigners on Saudi’s death row

Relatives share with the Guardian final words of those killed amid ‘horrifying’ surge in capital punishment under Mohammed bin Salman’s rule In the city of Tabuk in the far north of Saudi Arabia, neon lights flicker on in an overcrowded ward of a prison marking the start of a new day. The prisoners are waiting. When the guards enter, they know someone is about to be taken away. An execution squad of about 20 guards will approach an inmate quietly, whisper something in their ear and escort them out. Some break down in tears, others simply ask for forgiveness.

Florida | Military vets are third of inmates executed in Florida this year, report finds

A new report finds that five of the 15 people executed in Florida this year were military veterans. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is defending his modern-era record for executions this year, saying he is bringing justice to the families of victims. But a new report reveals some troubling data: Five of the 15 convicted murderers executed this year in Florida were military veterans.

Alabama Execution Witnesses Report ​“Violent Thrashing” of Prisoner and More Than 225 ​“Agonized Breaths” in Nitrogen Gas Execution

On October 23, 2025, Alabama exe­cut­ed Anthony Boyd, despite his unwa­ver­ing claim of inno­cence and a fiery dis­sent authored by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, renew­ing the seri­ous con­cerns that have been con­sis­tent­ly raised about the state’s use of nitro­gen gas. Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, dis­sent­ed from the Court’s October 23, 2025, denial of a stay of exe­cu­tion, writ­ing that Alabama’s use of nitro­gen gas ​“vio­lates the Constitution by inflict­ing unnec­es­sary suf­fer­ing[.]” Justice Sotomayor not­ed sev­en peo­ple have been exe­cut­ed by nitro­gen gas since the January 2024 exe­cu­tion of Kenneth Smith , and argued that the Court should have pre­vent­ed Mr. Boyd from becom­ing the eighth.

Syria | Man to be hanged for harrowing murder of eight-year-old girl, in first death sentence since Assad ouster

A court in northeast Syria has sentenced a man to death by hanging after finding him guilty of raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl. Youssef al-Dahham, 25, was convicted of raping and murdering the child in the village of Muhkan in Deir az-Zour governorate. Security forces announced on 13 August the arrest of Dahham, who reportedly confessed to the crime after interrogation. The crime dates back to August, when Dahham snatched the girl outside her home, raped and murdered her.

Meet the man who has witnessed every Florida execution since Ted Bundy’s

John Koch has covered 100 executions since 1989 John Koch’s colleagues know him by a different name: Dr. Death.  The radio news journalist has witnessed over 100 executions since the start of his career 50 years ago, according to his own count. He documented infamous killer Ted Bundy’s last moments alive and every other death row inmate’s in Florida’s execution chamber since. Now 76, he has no intentions of stopping.

Woman who watched nearly 300 executions explained moment she had to give it up

Michelle Lyons' job wasn't for the fainthearted A woman who watched nearly 300 death row executions take place over 12 years opened up about how her macabre career impacted her life. For more than a decade, it was part of Michelle Lyons' job description to observe the final moments of hundreds of prisoners in the US state of Texas. She says the process never 'become mundane or normal', although she did become acclimatized to it - as she went on to watch so many executions that she 'can't recall' a lot of them.

Japan’s death penalty in the spotlight after Hakamada's acquittal

Dubbed the “Twitter Killer”, Takahiro Shiraishi trawled social media for posts by suicidal young women and lured them to his apartment outside Tokyo. Before being caught in 2017, he had murdered nine people, including three teenage girls, who he also raped and mutilated. His Twitter handle loosely translated as “hangman”.