Friday , 29 March 2024

UN, Rights Groups Call On Iran To Stop Execution Of Man Convicted Of Murder As Teen

RFL/RE – United Nations rights officials joined Amnesty International in urging Tehran to stop the scheduled execution of an Iranian man who was convicted of raping and killing a child when he was a teenager.

An Iranian court sentenced Amirhossein Pourjafar, 18, to death in September 2016, a year after the crime was committed. He was 16 in April 2016 when he was arrested for raping and murdering a 6-year-old girl.

Pourjafar had originally been scheduled to be executed in October, but the execution was postponed after 11th-hour appeals from UN officials.

Iranian officials have now set a new date of January 4 to put him to death.

“The Iranian authorities must immediately halt the execution of this juvenile offender and annul the death sentence against him in compliance with their international obligations,” Asma Jahangir and Agnes Callamard, two UN special envoys, said in a joint statement.

Amnesty International also called on Tehran to halt putting Pourjafar to death, saying that Iran was a signatory to an international treaty banning the execution of people who commit crimes under the age of 18.

 

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