Iran: Young man arrested as a child scheduled to be executed within days

Iranian authorities must stop the imminent scheduled execution of Mohammad Reza Azizi, a 21-year-old man, who was a 17-year-old child at the time of offence. Amnesty International has learned that the Iranian authorities plan to carry out his execution on Monday, 21 October 2024 in Shiraz, Fars province. His death sentence and planned execution contravene international law which strictly prohibits the imposition of the death penalty against individuals who were under 18 at the time of the alleged crime. In response, Sara Hashash, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “The planned execution of Mohammed Reza Azizi puts on full display the Iranian authorities’ cruelty. Their repeated flagrant disregard for the right to life is an abhorrent assault on children’s rights. Using the death penalty against someone who was a child at the time of the crime is prohibited under international human rights and customary law and violates Iran’s international obligations. “Mohammed Reza Azizi’s rights to a fair trial were violated, including by being interrogated without a lawyer and the court relying on his coerced ‘confessions’ as evidence to convict and sentence him to death. His execution would amount to arbitrary deprivation of life.“The Iranian authorities must immediately halt Mohammad Reza Azizi’s execution, quash his conviction and sentence, and grant him a fair retrial in full compliance with the principles of juvenile justice and international standards and without resorting to the death penalty. The international community, including UN bodies and the EU and its member states, must urgently intervene to save this young man’s life.”