Juvenile Offender Executed in Miandoab

On May 18, 2024, 20-year-old Ramin Sa’adat was executed at Miandoab Prison for a murder committed when he was 16 years and five months old, reports Kurdpa.

Sa’adat was arrested after a fatal altercation. He maintained throughout his trial that he had not delivered the deadly blows.

No official sources or domestic media outlets within the country have provided coverage of these executions at the time of writing.

In 2023, the Department of Statistics and Publication of Human Rights Activists in Iran registered the execution of 767 individuals. Out of these, 7 were carried out in public. Among the executed individuals whose genders were identified, 21 were female. Additionally, 2 juvenile offenders, defined as individuals under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged crimes, were also executed. For a comprehensive examination of the details and statistics surrounding the executions in Iran, refer to HRANA’s annual report.

Suspicious Death of Juvenile Offender in Amol Prison

On December 24, imprisoned juvenile offender Abolfazl Shaabani lost his life under suspicious circumstances in Amol Prison. Shaabani was sentenced to death at age 16 for murder, but was able to recompense the victim’s family and was saved from execution.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, there is conflicting information regarding the cause of death. According to an informed source close to his family, he was killed during a quarrel in prison. However, another informed source told HRANA that he died by suicide using pills.

Shaabani was buried the next day.

On February 3, 2014, he was arrested for killing one of his friends in a fight. Thereafter, he was sentenced to death and his execution proceeded twice, sending him to the foot of gallows. Shaaabani was able to recompense the victim’s family and at the time of death, was serving time for convictions other than murder.

Juvenile Offender Arman Abdolali in Imminent Danger of Execution in Rajai Shahr Prison

Arman Abdolali, who was previously sentenced to death for a murder charge from when he was a child, is in imminent danger of execution in Rajai Shahr Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, despite his denial of having committed the crime, and despite the fact that the victim’s body was never found, the criminal court of Tehran Province sentenced Abdolali to death. The verdict was upheld twice by the supreme court of Iran.

Abdolali was reportedly transferred to a solitary confinement cell, as is the protocol for inmates on death row in the days before their execution, yesterday. In July of this year, his lawyer had informed about the forwarding Abdolali’s case to the Executive Branch of Tehran Criminal Court.

“Iran continues to use the death penalty for crimes committed by people under the age of 18, in violation of its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” Amnesty International expressed in a statement, calling for Iranian authorities to halt Abdolali’s execution.

In 2013, when he was underage, Arman Abdolali was indicted on the charge of murdering his girlfriend, Ghazaleh Shakur. During interrogation, he confessed to killing her but later on, he denied the charges and pleaded his innocence.

After the first confirmation of the sentence, Abdolali’s lawyer claimed him as innocent and asked for a retrial, which was granted by the Supreme Court of Iran. In the second retrial, the death sentence was upheld after six months both by the Supreme Court of Iran and thereafter by an appellate court.