Leadership Council for Human Rights

~ Feet in the mud, head in the sky ~

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Iranian youth appeals death sentence, case under review

The case of an Iranian minor sentenced to death for murder is under review after the youth appealed the ruling, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing judiciary officials.

The conviction of Saleh Taseb, who was reportedly born in 1992, prompted an outcry from the European Union, which issued a statement last week calling on Tehran to halt his execution, as well as those of several other juveniles on death row.

Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi maintained that Iran does not execute juveniles. “As I have said before, ‘qisas’ [The Islamic code of punishment or fair retribution] is a religious decree and we do not have execution under the age of 18,” Jamshidi said. “We often try to resolve the case through reconciliation and the payment of ‘diya’ [the payment of blood money] to avoid the implementation of the sentence [for a minor].”

As the article notes, “Amnesty International listed Iran as the world’s second most prolific executioner last year, with at least 317 people put to death.”

For the full article, click here.

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