Death Sentence Issued for Inmate Convicted of Murder Committed Before Age 18 in Iran
An inmate in Sanandaj who committed murder before the age of 18 has been sentenced to death by Iran’s judicial system.
“Shayan Saidpour,” the accused inmate in Sanandaj, was sentenced to death on October 23 of this year by the first branch of the criminal court of a Kurdistan province, after being arrested in August 2015 when he was under 18 years old, accused of killing a person during a confrontation.
Hrana News Agency, a news website of human rights activists in Iran, reported on this inmate sentenced to death: In addition to his young age, there is evidence showing that Shayan Saidpour was under psychiatric supervision before the killing occurred.
The defendant’s lawyer stated that Shayan’s death sentence was issued despite the fact that he was not only a minor at the time of the killing, but was also under the influence of alcohol, and two people testified to this in court.
Iran’s judicial system has previously issued death sentences for those who committed crimes in adolescence and executed some of them. For example, the execution of 24-year-old Zeinab Sekaanvand, who committed murder at age 15, can be mentioned. The execution of this girl received widespread coverage in international media.
As a signatory to the “Convention on the Rights of the Child,” Iran is obligated to declare death sentences for suspects under 18 years of age as illegal, but the practice of Iran’s judicial system has repeatedly drawn severe criticism from human rights organizations.
Iranian officials even rejected the travel request of Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, in September of this year.
Mr. Rehman stated that the purpose of this visit was “to gain a better understanding of the human rights situation in Iran.”
Source: Voice of America
