The responsibility of the judiciary and police in the self-immolation of a young woman; from criminalizing watching football to ignoring the defendant's mental disorder
According to a report by Rokna News Agency, a 29-year-old woman who was arrested in March 2018 for attempting to enter Azadi Stadium set herself on fire after pouring gasoline on herself after leaving the court on September 1, 2019. Rokna News Agency has not published the name of the young woman.
The young woman's sister told Rokna News Agency: "My sister is going to Azadi Stadium in March 2018, and when my sister enters the stadium, the officers notice her, and when she resists, they arrest her." Rokna wrote: "After leaving the courthouse, this woman poured gasoline on herself while screaming and complaining about something." The news agency did not specify what she was shouting in protest or what she was demanding.
The self-immolation of a young woman who was arrested and prosecuted for trying to watch a football match is the latest example of the huge costs that Iranian society is paying for the imposition of illegal and unnecessary restrictions on women. According to her sister, this 29-year-old citizen was arrested and threatened with imprisonment for simply trying to watch a football match, which is the simplest daily activity of a young person in all parts of the world, and after six months of going back and forth between police stations, prisons, prosecutors, and courts, she set herself on fire due to her poor mental health. A significant part of the responsibility for this incident lies with the officials handling the case at the Moral Security Police, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the Guidance Court, because despite being aware of the defendant’s mental health, who had bipolar disorder, they did not take this issue into account in the way they handled and prosecuted the case.
The young woman's sister criticized the court's lack of attention to her being under medical care due to bipolar disorder, telling Rokna News Agency: "My sister has bipolar disorder and has been under the care of a doctor for two years. We have complete documents that we presented to the prosecutor's office, but after my sister cursed at her mother-in-law, they are investigating her like a healthy person." She added: "After being transferred to Varamin Prison, my sister is still suffering a lot of mental trauma and is afraid until she is released on bail. When she goes to the prosecutor's office to receive her phone, something happens there that she hears will have to stay in prison for 6 months. My sister set herself on fire in a state of mental illness and is now in a bad condition in the hospital."
Quoting a judicial official, and without specifying the name and position of the judicial official, Rokna described her as “injuring public modesty” and “insulting law enforcement officers.” Rokna wrote: “This young woman was arrested in March of last year for wearing a hijab and clashing with security police officers. The necessary documents in this regard were prepared by the officers and delivered to the Tehran Guidance Prosecutor’s Office. Thus, a legal case was opened against this woman for injuring public modesty and insulting law enforcement officers, but she was released after the judge issued a bail order.”
The judicial official stated that the reason for the young woman's protest and screams was the change in the court's time. Rukna quoted the judicial official as saying: "On Monday, September 1, the woman went to court for her first hearing, but since the court president was on leave at the time of her appearance due to the death of a relative, another time was set for her case to be heard. However, in protest of this, the young woman set herself on fire with gasoline she had prepared in advance after leaving the courthouse."
The young woman was transferred to Motahari Accident and Burn Hospital after the emergency services arrived. Dr. Mostafa Dehmardei, the head of the hospital, told Rokna about her latest condition: "The patient is a 29-year-old woman who was hospitalized due to severe burns caused by gasoline with 90% third-degree burns. She is currently breathing with the help of a machine and is being treated in the ICU; however, we are not authorized to provide information about other details of her case."
Legally, the responsibility for this disaster lies with law enforcement and judicial officials in two ways. First, the treatment of women who intend to enter stadiums to watch matches is not based on any law, and therefore any arrest or treatment is considered illegal and arbitrary. Iran is the only country that prohibits women from entering football stadiums. This unofficial policy has been implemented since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, at the insistence of religious groups and extremist politicians. The ban on women's presence in stadiums has never been approved or published in the form of any official law or circular. In other words, the authorities of the Islamic Republic, within the framework of a general policy of isolating and marginalizing women, have unofficially and in practice prevented their access to these places by not providing the necessary infrastructure for women's presence in stadiums.
However, according to the principle of innocence as stated in Article 37 of the Constitution and also based on the principle of legality of crimes, no act is a crime and punishable unless an approved law explicitly defines it as a crime and determines the punishment for the perpetrators. Article 2 of the Islamic Penal Code states: “Any behavior, whether an act or omission, for which the law has determined the punishment for it is considered a crime.” Therefore, no woman can be arrested, tried, or punished for entering a stadium to watch sports matches.
The second reason for holding the judicial and law enforcement authorities responsible for the self-immolation tragedy of this young woman is that the investigating authorities did not pay attention to her mental disorder (bipolar disorder) in the way they interrogated and treated the accused. As can be seen from the statements of this woman's sister, during the officers' confrontation with her to prevent her from entering the stadium, a fight broke out, and the officers accordingly filed a case against her on charges of "injuring public decency" and "insulting officers" and sent her to prison for a while without considering the possible risks to the life and health of the accused. Later, at the prosecutor's office, she was told that she would probably be sentenced to six months in prison. This is while, if the circumstances resulting from the defendant's mental disorder had been taken into account, the prosecutor's authorities might have exercised their legal right, as provided in Articles 80 and 81 of the Criminal Procedure Code, to archive the case or suspend the prosecution, provided that the accused regularly consults a psychiatrist and counselor. Based on these two articles, in minor crimes such as this one, if there is no private plaintiff and the defendant has no criminal record, judicial authorities at the prosecution office can either archive the case entirely or postpone the continuation of the prosecution until the defendant completes a series of corrective activities before sending the case to court.
Also, during preliminary investigations and prosecutions, judicial officers and authorities are required to take into account the physical and mental conditions of suspects and defendants and, if they need health and medical services, to provide this possibility. Article 13 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities obliges States Parties, including Iran, to provide appropriate facilities and necessary accommodations to ensure equal access to a fair trial for persons with disabilities, including persons with mental disabilities. For example, judicial authorities must consider that arrest and imprisonment, and even the threat of it, may lead a person with a mental disorder to a crisis or mental breakdown and lead to disproportionate reactions such as suicide. The same article stipulates that the State must train relevant officials on how to deal with persons with disabilities during judicial proceedings.
Source: Human Rights Campaign
