Amnesty International Protests Execution of Shayan Saeidpour
Amnesty International has described the execution of Shayan Saeidpour as prohibited under international law and characterized it as vindictiveness by the Islamic Republic.
Amnesty International, in issuing a statement, described the execution of Shayan Saeidpour as another testimony to the complete disregard of Iranian authorities for the right to life, as Saeidpour “was sent to the execution squad for a crime committed during childhood”.
Shayan Saeidpour was executed on the morning of Tuesday, the second day of Ordibehesht, at Seqez Central Prison in Kurdistan province. Saeidpour was arrested in Mordad of 1394 (August 2015), while under 18 years old, on charges of premeditated murder during an altercation and was sentenced to death. The Supreme Court confirmed this sentence in 1395 (2016).
Diana Al-Tahawi, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa section at Amnesty International, described the imposition of the death penalty against Saeidpour, “who was a child at the time of the alleged crime with a long history of illness and psychological problems,” as prohibited under international law. She stated that with this execution violating international law, “Iranian authorities have once again mocked the juvenile justice system.”
Amnesty International in its annual report on the implementation of capital punishment worldwide has listed Iran as one of a handful of remaining countries in the world that continues to use the death penalty against juveniles.
Shayan Saeidpour was one of dozens of prisoners who, in early Farvardin of this year, during riots and protests over officials’ disregard for prisoners’ concerns about the spread of coronavirus in Iranian prisons, escaped from Seqez Central Prison. He was recaptured and detained several days later.
Amnesty International has suggested that Saeidpour’s execution “may have been a retaliatory measure by local prosecutors aimed at deterring other prisoners from considering similar escapes.”
In Amnesty International’s annual report on capital punishment worldwide released on Tuesday, it was emphasized that despite a reduction in the number of executions globally, Iran remains the second largest executor of capital punishment in the world after China.
According to Amnesty International’s statement, the organization has gathered information based on which, “the Seqez prosecutor recently pressured multiple times for the execution of the sentence and even asked the victim’s family not to pardon Shayan Saeidpour. According to Iranian law, the victim’s family has the right to forgive the killer in exchange for receiving blood money.”
Source: DW
