Child Offender Sajad Sanjarī Executed in Diesel Abad Prison, Kermanshah
On Monday, the 11th of Mordad, the execution order for Sajad Sanjarī, a child offender, was carried out in Diesel Abad Prison in Kermanshah. He was arrested in 2011 at the age of 15 on charges of murder and was ultimately sentenced to death.
According to a report by Hrana news agency, citing Amnesty International, early morning on Monday, the 11th of Mordad 1400 (August 2, 2021), child offender Sajad Sanjarī was executed in Diesel Abad Prison in Kermanshah.
Based on this report, his execution order was carried out without prior notice and without any meeting with his family.
Diana El-Tahawi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, stated: “With the secret execution of Sajad Sanjarī, Iranian authorities once again demonstrated the absolute cruelty of their judicial system. The use of capital punishment against individuals who were under 18 years of age at the time of committing the crime is absolutely prohibited under international law and constitutes a cruel attack on children’s rights.”
Pointing out that “secret executions without family visits are a troubling pattern by Iranian authorities who conduct executions secretly or in the short term to minimize the chances of public and private intervention [to prevent execution],” she called on Iranian authorities to reform their laws and stop executing individuals who were under 18 years of age at the time of committing the crime.
In 2011, when Sajad Sanjarī was only 15 years old, during a confrontation, he killed a peer teenager. A dispute between two children that resulted in the death of one party, with Sajad becoming the killer. Imam Ali Society pursued Sajad’s case, and the victim’s family eventually agreed to accept blood money (diya) as compensation. The blood money was collected through public donations, but the victim’s family withdrew their agreement, saying Sajad should be executed.
This is while Sajad committed the murder when he was under 18 years old, and according to international human rights law, his execution is illegal. Furthermore, Sajad did not have a proper psychological condition. It should be noted that there is also a scenario suggesting that Sajad killed in response to the other party’s attempt to sexually assault him.
It is worth recalling that in December 2015, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the Islamic Republic authorities to halt the death sentence of Sajad Sanjarī, a teenager accused of murder.
According to a report by the Statistics, Publishing and Works Center of Human Rights Activists Collection in Iran for a one-year period (January 1, 2020 to December 20, 2020), at least 236 citizens were executed and 95 others were sentenced to death. Among those executed, reference should be made to the execution of 2 child offenders, as well as one execution that took place in public.
According to this same report, more than 72 percent of executions carried out in Iran are not announced by the government or the judicial institution, which human rights organizations technically call “secret” executions.
Source: Hrana
