Supreme Court Confirms Death Sentences for Main Suspect in the Murder of Mehrjouyi and Mohammadi Far

The Supreme Court of Iran has upheld the death sentences, imprisonment, and flogging for the defendants in the murder case of Dariush Mehrjouyi, a renowned writer and director, and Vahideh Mohammadi Far, a screenwriter and Mehrjouyi's collaborator and wife, rejecting the existence of any 'instigator' in the case. This news was reported by the newspaper Etemad on Thursday, March 23, citing Mousa Khani, the lawyer for the first defendant named 'Karim.' Dariush Mehrjouyi and Vahideh Mohammadi Far were murdered in their private villa in Zibadashteh, Karaj, in October 2023. The lawyer for Mehrjouyi's family recently stated that due to ambiguities in the case, 'there is likely an instigator involved.' The Criminal Court of Alborz Province sentenced the first defendant to death and the other three defendants, who are Afghan citizens, to long prison terms and flogging. This ruling was described by the family lawyer as 'very hasty.' After the death sentence was issued and an objection was raised regarding the overlooked possibility of an 'instigator' in the case, despite the judiciary's insistence that there were no signs of such, the case was sent to the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court also announced that after re-examining the case and finding no clues of 'instigation,' it confirms the initial sentences. The Iranian judiciary claims that the defendants acted out of 'personal disputes' and that there was no instigator involved. According to Mousa Khani, the lawyer for one of the defendants, the court sentenced Karim, the first defendant, to 'two instances of murder resulting in two death penalties, Mirwais, the second defendant, to 10 years imprisonment for attempted murder, 20 years for armed robbery, 1 year and 6 months for violent entry, and 3 years for illegal residency, along with 74 lashes.' He also stated that 'Iskandar, another defendant, was sentenced to 10 years for causing injury, 20 years for robbery, 3 years for illegal entry, and lashes, while Davood, another defendant, was sentenced to 1 year for attempted murder, 5 years for robbery, 1 year for violent entry, and 1 year for illegal residency.' These rulings come at a time when Manoush Manouchehri, the lawyer for Mehrjouyi's family, stated on March 9, 2023, that 'many calls and programs from the phones of the defendants and the victims have been deleted, and given the existing ambiguities, there is likely an instigator involved.' He noted that investigations by the Alborz Province Intelligence Department revealed that 'many of the calls made to the victims on their last day have also been deleted; likewise, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Instagram applications were deleted from the victims' and defendants' phones and were not present at all.' Manouchehri had previously stated that the four defendants in this case had 'no sufficient motive' for murder and that 'there is certainly another instigator involved.' Akbar Mohammadi Far, the brother of Vahideh Mohammadi Far, in an exclusive interview with Radio Farda, questioned the indictment against the defendants, stating that the murder of these two artists was an 'organized and complex intimidation act,' and in his opinion, the defendants committed the murder 'under the instigation of another individual or individuals.' The murder of Mehrjouyi and Mohammadi Far has sparked widespread protests among artists in Iran and has been compared to the serial killings of several cultural and artistic figures in the 1990s. In one of his last interviews, Dariush Mehrjouyi praised the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests and harshly criticized censorship under the Islamic Republic.