Former Tehran Mayor Goes on Trial
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- The high-profile murder trial of a former Tehran mayor who confessed to killing his wife on national television opened on Saturday.
Reformist Muhammad Ali Najafi appeared in a Tehran criminal court, accused of shooting his second wife Mitra Ostad at their home in the upper-class neighborhood of Saadat Abad in northwestern Tehran.
The charge sheet read out in court included murder, assault, battery and illegal possession of a weapon.
Ostad’s body was found in a bathtub after Najafi handed himself in to authorities and confessed to killing her in May.
Speaking to journalists the same day, Najafi confessed to the murder, claiming his wife jumped on him as he held a gun only "to scare her”.
Najafi is considered a member of the reformist political faction, serving seven months as mayor of Tehran from August 2017 to April the following year before resigning.
A mathematician and professor, Najafi has also previously served as President Hassan Rouhani’s economic advisor and education minister.
Ostad’s family has appealed for the Islamic law of retribution to be applied - an "eye for an eye" form of punishment which would see the death penalty served in this instance.
Reformist Muhammad Ali Najafi appeared in a Tehran criminal court, accused of shooting his second wife Mitra Ostad at their home in the upper-class neighborhood of Saadat Abad in northwestern Tehran.
The charge sheet read out in court included murder, assault, battery and illegal possession of a weapon.
Ostad’s body was found in a bathtub after Najafi handed himself in to authorities and confessed to killing her in May.
Speaking to journalists the same day, Najafi confessed to the murder, claiming his wife jumped on him as he held a gun only "to scare her”.
Najafi is considered a member of the reformist political faction, serving seven months as mayor of Tehran from August 2017 to April the following year before resigning.
A mathematician and professor, Najafi has also previously served as President Hassan Rouhani’s economic advisor and education minister.
Ostad’s family has appealed for the Islamic law of retribution to be applied - an "eye for an eye" form of punishment which would see the death penalty served in this instance.