Rights campaigners are watching Iran anxiously as the scheduled execution looms on October 13 of a man arrested at aged 17 and sentenced to death following what they regard as a “grossly unfair” trial.

Amnesty International publicly urged Iranian authorities this week to stop the execution of Arman Abdolali after he was moved to solitary confinement in a prison in Karaj, west of Tehran.

The London-based rights group noted that the death penalty against people who were under 18 at the time their offense is prohibited under international law.

Abdolali was sentenced to death for murdering his girlfriend, whose name was not given. She disappeared in 2014 and has never been found.

Iranian officials have twice postponed execution plans for Abdolali, most recently in July under international pressure.

Amnesty International has called his trial “grossly unfair” by a court that “relied on torture-tainted ‘confessions.'”

A retrial affirmed his criminal responsibility despite questions about his “maturity” at the time of the disappearance.

Amnesty International has demanded a retrial “with fair trial standards generally and those pertaining to children in particular.”

Source » rferl