Hamid Ahmadi, an Iranian man arrested as a juvenile, is at imminent risk of execution. He has been transferred to solitary confinement in Lakan prison in Rasht, northern Iran, in preparation for his execution on 4 February. He was 17 years old when he was arrested for the fatal stabbing of a young man during a fight between him and four others in 2008.
Hamid Ahmadi, now aged 26, was first sentenced to death in August 2009 following an unfair trial before Branch 11 of the Provincial Criminal Court of Gilan Province. The court relied on “confessions” he had made at the police station after his arrest, when he did not have access to a lawyer or his family.

Hamid Ahmadi has said that the “confessions” were obtained under torture and other ill-treatment. He says that police officers held him for three days in a filthy, urine-stained cell; tied his hands and feet together and pushed him face down on the cell floor; tied him to a pole in the yard; kicked his genitals; and denied him food and water. One officer told him that he should not fear execution and should just “confess” to the stabbing so that the investigation would be concluded as soon as possible. Hamid Ahmadi has said that the pain inflicted on him was so severe that he was willing to confess to anything to end it. The authorities are not known to have investigated his torture allegations.
Hamid Ahmadi, now aged 26, was first sentenced to death in August 2009 following an unfair trial before Branch 11 of the Provincial Criminal Court of Gilan Province. The court relied on “confessions” he had made at the police station after his arrest, when he did not have access to a lawyer or his family. Hamid Ahmadi has said that the “confessions” were obtained under torture and other ill-treatment. He says that police officers held him for three days in a filthy, urine-stained cell; tied his hands and feet together and pushed him face down on the cell floor; tied him to a pole in the yard; kicked his genitals; and denied him food and water. One officer told him that he should not fear execution and should just “confess” to the stabbing so that the investigation would be concluded as soon as possible. Hamid Ahmadi has said that the pain inflicted on him was so severe that he was willing to confess to anything to end it. The authorities are not known to have investigated his torture allegations.

Source: / iranfreedom /