Holding the seventh-day memorial ceremony for Ali Mirrezaei, a Mazandarani singer, who was executed last week after being convicted in a murder case, has brought up again an old but important debate: when a person commits a grave wrongdoing, how should society deal with them, and what relationship should the death penalty have with punishment?

The large turnout of people at Mirrezaei’s seventh-day ceremony is naturally likely to affect part of society. The popularity of a singer, the memories people keep of him, and the bond he had with his audience can turn their mourning into a social event.

But this popularity should not lead to the erasing of another part of reality: if, during an altercation, a human life was lost and another person is identified as responsible, the victim and their family cannot be removed from the account because the accused is an artist or popular.

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