Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported that a young man who had been sentenced to death before reaching the legal age of 18 was hanged early Tuesday morning in Saqqez. He was among the prisoners who had escaped during a coronavirus jail unrest on March 27.

Shayan Saeedpour had been sentenced to death for killing a person during a street fight when he was 17. He managed to escape the prison during a protest against prison conditions amid the corornavirus outbreak but was arrested by security forces.

Saeedpour is the second among the 80 inmates who escaped the prison. On April 12 another inmate, the 53-year-old Mostafa Salimi, was hanged in saqqez prison. Salimi had fled to Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region. According to IHR he was extradited to Iran and rearrrested.

Iran Human Rights warned about Shayan’s imminent execution earlier this week and called for the international community’s urgent reactions.

Under Article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code, judges are allowed to issue alternative verdicts for the minors. The juvenile offenders whom a judge considers not mature enough to realize the nature of the crime committed can face prison terms.

According to IHR only after one question the forensic department ruled that he had been mature enough to realize the nature of his crime based on which he was sentenced to death. However, a source close to Shayan’s family said he suffered from mental illness and had been under psychiatric counseling when he committed the crime.

Despite being a signatory to the United Nations Children’s Rights Charter, Iran is one of the four countries in the world that executes juvenile offenders. The punishment is also carried out in Saudi Arabia, Huthi-controlled regions of Yemen and the Gaza Strip.

Human rights activists have also warned about the Iranian Judiciary’s plans to execute Shouresh Morovati, another inmate from the same prison who was rearrested after escaping Saqqez Prison.

Source » radiofarda