Punishment of Abetment of the Type of "imsak" in Shiite Jurisprudence and Criminal Law of Iran

One of the special instances of abetment in crime against individuals is "imsak" or holding a person to enable a third party to kill him; of course it is not only the crime of killing in which "imsak" is regarded as abetment in a crime, but it can also be found in such crimes as kidnapping, theft, assault and battery, unlawful imprisonment and arrest. Although the punishment of  abetment in crime is in general included in Articles 127 and 128 of the Islamic Punishment Law, "imsak" in murder cannot be an instance of these two articles, because the beginning part of Article 127 states that the punishment under this article includes the crimes for which no penalty has been determined in Sharia and law, while in Sharia the punishment of the abetment in murder has been determined and Shiite jurists have regarded "life imprisonment" as the punishment for the abetment in murder. Logically speaking, too, a striking difference in punishment applicable to different examples of abetment is not justifiable; therefore a unique precedent must be practiced. This research is a fundamental study with an analytical-descriptive methodology. The main question is what strategy would be suggested for carrying out a punishment in abetment-related crimes, especially abetment in murder. This research, upon a review of the viewpoints of jurists and lawyers about the nature of "imsak", has come to the conclusion that the crime of "imsak" is of the type of crimes related to private rights and is therefore forgivable and negligible. Moreover, the views of those who have  proposed special punishment for abetment in murder by the legislator have been more strongly justified. Therefore, in order to disambiguate the case in order to prevent the issuance of different verdicts for the similar offence and with regard to the necessity of the accord of all laws and regulations with Islamic principles, by virtue of the Fourth Principle of the Constitutional Law, the punishment of "life imprisonment" for the abetment in a deliberate murder is suggested to be included as a single article in the Islamic Punishment Law.