Zahra Bani Yaghoub
Zahra Bani Yaghoub (Persian: زهرا بنییعقوب, also mentioned in the media as Zahra Bani Ameri;[1] 16 October 1980[2] – 13 October 2007) was an Iranian medical doctor. She died in a prison in Hamedan after she was arrested by the Guidance Patrol. The incident gained attention in the press due to the possible police involvement in her death.[3]
Zahra Bani Yaghoub | |
---|---|
زهرا بنییعقوب | |
Born | |
Died | 13 October 2007 26) | (aged
Nationality | Iranian |
Occupation | Medical doctor |
Career
Born in Tehran, Bani Yaghoub studied at Tehran University medical school and worked as a volunteer physician in Hamedan Province. Zahra Bani Yaghoub was a distinguished young medical doctor and had several recognitions including her top rank in nationwide university entrance examination.[4] The police told her father: "Iran does not need such medical doctors."[4] Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi has taken the case and is currently the official lawyer of Zahra Bani Yaghoub's family.[5]
Death
In 2007, Iranian police launched a "Public Security Plan and Moralization Campaign". Many Iranian citizens including many women were arrested and questioned for "un-Islamic" behavior. That same year, Zahra was sitting on a park bench with her fiancé when Iranian police arrested the couple. This was considered by the Iranian judiciary to be a breach of modesty laws because the two were not yet married.[6] They were taken to jail and held in separate cells, and Yaghoub died under custody the following day.[7] Iranian officials claimed that the victim committed suicide by hanging herself.[8] However the lawyer did not accept the claims and requested investigations.[9]
Notes
- Kosoof – Arash Ashoorinia's Photography – 23 November 2007
- آفتاب – مرگ مشکوک پزشک جوان را پیگیری کنید
- Seeking Justice for Zahra Bani Yaghoub
- gooya news :: politics : روايتی ديگر از مرگ زهرا بنی عامری، دکتر زهرا به قتل رسيده يا خودکشی کرده است؟ کانون زنان
- روزنامه سرمايه
- Ottolenghi, Emanuele (2010). Iran: the Looming Crisis: Can the West live with Iran's nuclear threat?. Profile Books. p. 146. ISBN 9781847654571.
- Penketh, Anne (7 June 2008). "Iran's brutal morality police are growing in power, warns Nobel Prize-winner". Independent. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- Najibullah, Farangis (23 November 2007). "Iran: Female Doctor's Prison Death Causes Public Outcry". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- "خبر | روزآنلاین » وکیل زهرا بنی عامری:خواستار تحقیقات بیشتر شده ایم". Zanestan. 10 November 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
External links
- Iran: Female Doctor's Prison Death Causes Public Outcry
- (in Persian) It is unbelievable! by Masoud Behnoud
- (in Persian) BBC article