Witness Statement of Borna

IHRDC

2 days ago

Name: Borna*

Interviewing Organization: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC)

Date of Interview: March 9, 2024

Interviewer: IHRDC Staff

This statement was prepared pursuant to an audio interview with the sister of Mr. Borna. There are 23 paragraphs in the statement.

The views and opinions of the witness expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center.

*Pseudonym assigned to protect the witness’s identity.

Statement

My brother suffers from severe depression. He does not speak, so I speak on his behalf.
They got married about thirteen years ago, and almost six months later my brother’s wife started finding fault with everything and left the house. After some time, she also filed for divorce. Our father owns a workshop. What she wanted was for my father either to transfer that workshop into my brother’s name or give them money so that they could emigrate from Iran. My brother said that he could not make such a request because we have another brother as well. Of course, all of that was just an excuse. She wanted some asset to be in my brother’s name so that when she claimed her mehrieh [a marital financial entitlement owed by a husband to his wife], she could have it seized to satisfy the mehrieh financial obligation. She left the house. At the time, my brother did not file any complaint regarding her leaving the marital home. He thought he could make peace and reconcile with her. He never imagined what was going to happen or how quickly the divorce would take place. He used to say, “My wife would never do such things! She simply wants a workshop or a house to be in my name so that she can have peace of mind.”
No matter how many times we called, her family would not respond. There was only one occasion, close to Nowruz [Iranian New Year], when we arranged to speak with them and resolve the matter, but unfortunately they went back on what they had said. After a while, the woman’s father said that his daughter was willing to return, provided that my brother gave her the authority to divorce herself. My mother was not well, both physically and mentally. The doctor had said that any stress would be harmful to her. So my brother gave his wife the right to divorce herself so that she would return and my mother would not worry.
Once she had been given the authority to divorce herself, she returned. The very next day, when my brother went to work, she took every valuable item she could find, including gold and the money they had received as wedding gifts, since not much time had passed since their wedding, and left. Because she had the authority to divorce herself, she was able to obtain the divorce very easily by waiving one gold coin. She then filed claims for maintenance and mehrieh, but not for ojrat-ol-mesl [compensation claimed by a spouse for domestic services performed during the marriage beyond her legal obligations]. We were completely shocked. Later, we found out that she had already hired a lawyer and had been planning all of this two months before obtaining the authority to divorce herself. We later filed a complaint regarding the money and the gold, but she claimed that they had been gifts. She had already sold the gold, and nothing was ever recovered.
My brother’s ex-wife claimed that during their marriage, my brother had not paid any maintenance. Who were her witnesses? Her relatives, including close family members. My brother was ordered to pay 4.6 million Tomans in maintenance. We had bank statements showing that payments had been made, but the judge did not accept them and relied entirely on the witnesses’ testimony.
The wife’s mehrieh was 300 gold coins. If my brother had not applied for inability to pay, he would have been ordered from the outset to pay all 300 coins in one lump sum. However, after he applied for inability to pay, it was decided that he should pay five coins up front and then one coin every two months. Even so, he still has to pay the full 300 coins. 110 of those coins are subject to enforcement measures. As for the rest, any inheritance, salary, assets, or anything else my brother may have can be seized. My brother had a car. Even though a car is considered exempt property, it was seized. The ex-wife’s brother holds a position within the judiciary, and because of that they were able to do this quite easily. The car was not seized in relation to the 110 coins. It was seized in relation to the amount beyond that. In other words, my brother still has to pay the 110 coins, and later they can recover the remainder from any assets he may have. The mehrieh was not guaranteed by my father. Otherwise, our house and everything we owned could have been seized too.
My brother could not afford to pay one gold coin every two months or the maintenance that had been ordered. He was a worker. His application for inability to pay was based on his actual income. Contrary to his ex-wife’s claims that my brother had the financial means to pay, he owned nothing apart from a car. The house they lived in was not in his name. My father had provided it for them. As a result, he applied for inability to pay again. Every witness we wanted to bring to court to testify that my brother did not have the financial means to pay was contacted and threatened by his ex-wife’s brother, who holds a position within the judiciary. The witnesses would tell us, “We’re afraid and we’re not coming to court.” We were therefore forced to bring witnesses from more distant relatives, because a witness cannot be an immediate family member. Although, as I understand it, they have become less strict about this in recent years, and even a brother can now appear as a witness and give testimony.
In the end, after two years, the order was changed to one gold coin every four months. My brother had not been able to make any payments during that period and had fallen behind by 14 gold coins. As a result, a warrant was issued for his arrest. His father-in-law was constantly looking for him. My brother could not even go to work. He did not leave the house. He was forced to live in hiding for two years in very poor conditions, in what was essentially the hallway of a friend’s home. Eventually, this situation caused my brother to develop severe depression. He attempted suicide by throwing himself from the fourth floor of a building. He suffered multiple fractures to his jaw and face, as well as fractures to his pelvis and kneecap. All of his teeth were shattered as well. It is a miracle that he survived. He spent days in intensive care in a semi-conscious state, and after being discharged from hospital, he remained under treatment at home for a long time. Even after leaving hospital, his physical and mental condition was such that he was unable to go to court and make another application for inability to pay. He could not yet walk properly. One day, when he had dropped by my father’s workplace, his ex-wife suddenly arrived with her father, her brother and an enforcement officer. They broke down the door and arrested my brother under very distressing circumstances. After that, my brother spent about three years in prison.
According to the law, the amount of maintenance payable to a wife should be calculated based on the husband’s income, where he lives, and the standard of living the wife had in her father’s home. But all of that is just talk. My brother is a worker and does not earn a high income. He is considered unable to pay and should not be imprisoned. Even the court judgments state that my brother is unable to pay and does not have the financial means. Yet they say that he must pay the arrears before he can be released. When the judge has already determined that he is unable to pay, how is he supposed to pay those 14 gold coins? They should adjust the payment order so that he can be released, go to work, and earn the money to pay those 14 coins.
The trial court ruled that my brother did not have the financial means and should be released. The appeal court overturned that decision and ruled that he had to pay the arrears before he could be released. While my brother was in prison, the payment schedule was changed several times, first to one gold coin every five months and later to one every six months. So, even though they knew he could not afford to pay, they still insisted that he had to pay those 14 gold coins. The decisions were overturned several times. On one occasion, the trial court ruled that my brother should be released because the court office had entered the wrong case number. However, the appeal court overturned that decision as well. Injustice and cruelty can happen very easily.
All of this was because of the influence exerted by his ex-wife’s brother. Let me tell you about the final decision; it will make you laugh. They shamelessly abused the power they had. After some time, my brother was granted day release. This meant that he could spend a few nights at home each week and work during the day in a workshop without pay. Despite his physical condition, they gave him heavy work. He would leave at six in the morning and was often kept there until late in the evening. On Saturday mornings, when the prisoners on day release were being counted, they would handcuff my brother in front of the other prisoners and say, “If you don’t want us to take you back to prison, pay the gold coins.” They had no right to do that. The judge should have ordered that my brother pay the gold coins while on day release. A prisoner on day release should not be brought into prison in handcuffs. Every time we complained, we were told to go and get a written order from the judge so that the prison authorities would know what the judge had said. Each time, either my sick mother or I would go to court, and the court staff would tell us, “We never said any such thing. They have no right to do that.” Then we would go back to the prison and tell them what the court had said, but they would say, “No. The gold coins must be paid.” Things got so bad that even the manager of the workshop where my brother worked would call my father and say, “Just pay one gold coin, or five gold coins, so that the boy can be released for now.” And my father would say, “I don’t have it.” My brother’s case was being handled by Setad-e Diyeh [Prisoners’ Relief Foundation]. It had investigated his circumstances and concluded that he did not have the financial means to pay. The Foundation had even told his ex-wife that he was not in a good condition. He still needed medical treatment and had several operations to undergo. His treatment had been delayed for so long that his gums had been severely damaged. Later, we heard that his ex-wife had said, “I will wait until his father dies, and then I will take my mehrieh from his inheritance.” She had also said, “They should sell their house. I’ll take their lives if I have to, but I will not give consent, and I will get my mehrieh. So stop wasting your time.”
At first, we hired a lawyer, but his attitude soon changed. We were the ones doing most of the follow-up and keeping him informed about what was happening. He also failed to follow up properly on the issue of the car. It seemed that he too had been threatened. We hired another lawyer as well, but he did not do anything either. In the end, we realised that we were better off pursuing the matter ourselves.
Eventually, someone in the judiciary looked at my brother’s file and said, “Has he really been in prison for three years?!” We said, “Yes.” He said, “Tell him to apply on the grounds of inability to pay. I’ll tell the judge what ruling to make, and tell them to hold the hearing as soon as possible so he can get out.” Of course, this was during COVID, and they didn’t really have much choice. In the end, they ruled that he should pay one gold coin every six months. After he got out, we applied again on the grounds of inability to pay and they changed it to one coin every nine months. Even though he had spent three years in prison and it had been proven that he didn’t have the money, they still said he would have to pay those 14 coins afterwards. I had seen rulings where someone had a regular job and only had to pay one coin every two years. It was obvious that his ex-wife’s brother was using his connections. It was very obvious that my brother didn’t have a penny to his name. Four years later, he didn’t even have a bank account with any money in it. He didn’t even have insurance. The judge could have said he should pay one coin every two years, but he didn’t.
When my brother was about to be released from prison, Setad-e Diyeh [Prisoners’ Relief Foundation] saw that he genuinely could not afford to pay. They helped out and paid four million Tomans of the maintenance arrears, and we paid the rest ourselves. After my brother was released, we applied again on the grounds of inability to pay. They said he had to pay one gold coin every nine months. My brother went into hiding again. We managed to scrape together two coins and went to court, thinking we still had time before the next coin was due. Then they told us he had an overdue coin! We asked, “How have you worked that out?” They said, “He was supposed to have paid a coin one month before the ruling was issued.” We said, “The court announced the ruling late. That’s not our fault. We submitted the application on the grounds of inability to pay before the hearing.” They didn’t accept. No matter how much we pleaded and begged, they didn’t accept. They said, “It’s the wife’s right. He has to pay.” We said, “He doesn’t have it. Look at the state he’s in. Look at these photos. Look at his medical records.” They said, “If he doesn’t have it, he doesn’t have it. Now get out! He has to come up with the money, otherwise we’ll issue a warrant for his arrest.” They said, “Whether he has it or not, that’s not our problem. Now get out! He has to come up with the money, otherwise we’ll issue a warrant for his arrest.”
In the end, the appeal court ruled that he should pay one gold coin every 13 months. My brother’s ex-wife did not even attend the hearing because she had nothing to present to show that my brother had the means to pay. Later on, though, she claimed that she had not seen the court notice and submitted an appeal. Another hearing was held, and the court then ruled that my brother had to pay one coin every 12 months. That was just another example of them using their connections. My brother is still living in hiding and is still on the run.
Before the divorce, I think we saw this woman at our house only four or five times in total. It was as if she had never really wanted to marry my brother in the first place. Apparently, her family had told her, “Go ahead and get married for now, and we’ll figure something out later.” Even before the wedding, my brother had realised something was not right. But by then, all the arrangements had already been made, and they said if we had backed out, it would have damaged her reputation. On the day they got divorced, she told my brother that she had never wanted him from the very beginning. She said that all she had been looking for was a way to get some money together to leave Iran.
My brother has not yet been treated. He still has no teeth. He cannot eat. He has metal plates in both his legs and in his jaw. Because he used to do heavy blacksmithing work, he can no longer go back to his old job. Wherever he went to work, once they saw that his legs were swelling up and that he could not manage, they would say, “Don’t come back.” They have got another arrest warrant for him as well. At the moment, he has severe depression. He has been seeing a psychiatrist for the past year and a half and is taking tranquillisers. We keep an eye on him so that, God forbid, he does not commit suicide again. He has neither a disability insurance, nor a health insurance, so we have to pay all the expenses out of pocket. His treatment is both very lengthy and extremely expensive. The cost of his dental implants is around 300 million Tomans. Because he has suffered severe gum recession, the gum reconstruction work and the implant procedures take a very long time. We have no idea whether we would be able to afford the costs or not. At the moment, he is completely withdrawn and lives an isolated life. We do our best to look after him. We’ve worked so hard to help him. He was taking 20 tablets a day, in three doses, just to keep him asleep so that, God forbid, he would not try to take his own life.
Just today, we went to court to ask the judge to reduce that one overdue coin. My brother wasn’t there, of course, because if he shows up, they’ll arrest him on the spot. We’re now waiting for the judge’s decision. The judge did say, however, that the overdue amounts had to be paid. If even one coin is not paid, a notice is issued straight away, giving him three days to make the payment. If he doesn’t pay within those three days, an arrest warrant is issued. They don’t notify him about the arrest warrant either. The authorities issue the officers with authority to enter the property, very quickly and discreetly. Since this family has connections and influence, they can get these things done much more easily. They can get a warrant that allows them to arrest my brother wherever they find him.
If the price of the gold coin goes up significantly, you can apply again on the grounds of inability to pay. Usually, if a decision has already been issued, it depends on the judge. It’s a matter of discretion. The judge may say, “The order has only recently been made. You need to pay one coin first, and then you can apply on the grounds of inability to pay.” However, I think you can make that application two or three times a year. We applied once, but the judge said that the price of the gold coin had not increased significantly and rejected the application.
We have something called nim-oshr-e dolati [a government enforcement fee]. Right now (at the time of this interview), with each gold coin worth nearly 37 million Tomans, the court charges the husband nearly 1.5 million Tomans per coin. I think they take 25% of the mehrieh. So the wife simply says she does not have the financial means, and the husband has to pay it. The man who pays the mehrieh has to work from morning till night to pay for the house rent and the living expenses. In the end, even with a huge amount of overtime and hardship, he may only earn around 10 million Tomans a month. Effectively, that worker is no longer allowed to have a life of his own. He cannot remarry, because if he does, they say it is evidence that he has the financial means to pay. So for the rest of his life, he cannot have a family or a proper life. He has to live with stress and depression all the time, worrying that if he cannot come up with the money, they will arrest him, and his reputation will be ruined. Many people are employed. They lose their jobs, and their wages are seized. I do not know what kind of law this is. At the end of the day, that man also has a right to a life. I am saying, fine, perhaps he made a mistake. My brother genuinely never thought his wife would divorce him like this. When we were growing up, divorce was rare. It was a taboo. Nobody imagined that the mehrieh agreed at the time of marriage might one day have to be paid.
They say the husband has to provide the household furnishings. If the wife leaves the marital home and takes the household goods with her, the husband has to replace them. Then an expert has to come and confirm that everything has been provided. After that, the wife can come back and resume married life, and she can still complain about the household items. What kind of law is this? The husband has to pay the mehrieh, pay maintenance, provide the household furnishings, and shoulder all the household expenses. Then they say, “You shouldn’t have done it in the first place.” Something is wrong with the law. However, I say it’s a business that the government and the judiciary have created for themselves. If they were to reform the mehrieh laws, a lot of government employees would be out of work. Go to the judicial service offices and you’ll see that more than 80 percent of the people there are because of mehrieh and maintenance cases. The divorce rate is so frighteningly high. In the divorce case of someone we know, the judge granted the divorce based solely on the testimony of the wife’s immediate family members. The husband had transferred all of his assets into his wife’s name over the years of their marriage. She took everything and also receives very high monthly maintenance payments. After 20 years of marriage, the husband ended up back at his mother’s house with nothing but the clothes on his back. And the law supports this.
Over all these years that I’ve been dealing with my brother’s case in prison and in the courts, I’ve been treated very badly on many occasions. It was as if my brother were a thief or a murderer. They insulted and humiliated me.
The statistics the judiciary publishes about those imprisoned over mehrieh debts are a lie. If they published the real figures, they would be shocking. At the moment, many prisoners who are allowed out during the day are not included in the prison statistics. They say these people are free. But they still have to spend at least three nights [per week] in prison, and also have to work for the government without pay. There are many others who are on the run and have been forced to leave their homes and move to another city or even another country, without being able to see their children. Many people, like my brother, have reached the point where they want to commit suicide. A group of these people gathered outside Parliament on at least eight occasions to protest against the mehrieh Even though they were completely peaceful and orderly, some of them were arrested and forced to sign undertakings. They also spoke to members of Parliament, but all they received were promises. Nothing came of it. They asked that imprisonment for mehrieh debts be abolished at the very least. But there is little hope that the law would ever change. People who are planning to get married should not burden themselves with this kind of debt. They should learn from the experiences of others. It is genuinely dangerous. People talk about drug addiction ruining lives. I say that mehrieh can ruin lives as well.