First court date for Hanieh’s child abuse case

The first court date took place in judicial branch 1184 for the case of a child, Hanieh, who was severely abused by her stepfather.

This court was presided by judge Zandipour. Welfare authorities were present in the courtroom as was the main defendant, Hanyeh’s stepfather. Even though many journalists were present outside the courtroom, they were not allowed inside and the session went on behind closed doors.

ISNA (Iranian Student’s News Agency) reported that Hanieh’s lawyer, Haleh Elsadatsari spoke of the case after the trial. “This was the first trial date for the case of child abuse of Hanieh. The defendant, her stepfather was present in the courtroom as were members of the welfare agency who were witnesses.”

She continued, “During the court session, various evidence was examined, then towards the end, the defendant made his first statement. Hanieh’s stepfather, who was sitting in the first row, admitted to all the charges against him, including breaking Hanieh’s hands. This defendant was charged with child abuse, assault, and inflicting burns on Hanieh’s body. She is only 8 years old.”

Hanieh’s lawyer said that unfortunately there was no official forensics present in the courtroom. She said, “The court will issue its verdict after obtaining the official forensic reports. Even though welfare officials with full knowledge of the case were present in the court, there was no legal representative of the State Welfare Organization present. We cannot fail to consider that the failure of notification by welfare agents has resulted in the delay of this court case.”

She continued, “According to the Islamic law, as soon as welfare agents have information about child abuse, they are obligated to immediately report it to judicial authorities. Our request in this case in accordance with Article 614 of the penal code, is blood money from the main suspect.”

She talked about Hanieh being present only at the beginning of the court session. “Due to her psychological distress, Hanieh only spent a few minutes in the court. When she testified, her stepfather was not present in the courtroom, and Hanieh did not speak of him. She only answered a few questions by the judge.”

Haleh Elsadatsari said. “An earlier court sentencing banned Hanieh’s mother from seeing her and she was not present in this court session.”

This lawyer ended by saying, “Tehran’s deputy prosecutor for women and children’s affairs was also present in the courtroom.”

Source: Human Rights House of IRAN