EU calls for stay of execution for juvenile offender
Washington, 19 August (IranVNC)—The Presidency of the Council of the European Union called on Iran to stay the execution of Behnoud Shojaee, a young man who was arrested on charges of murder in June 2005 at the age of 17.
By: IranVNC
Published: Tuesday, August 19, 2008
16:00GMT—12:00PM/EST
IRAN – EXECUTION – EU
Washington, 19 August (IranVNC)—The Presidency of the Council of the European Union called on Iran to stay the execution of Behnoud Shojaee, a young man who was arrested on charges of murder in June 2005 at the age of 17.
“The Presidency urges Iran to comply with its international commitments and to take the immediate measures required to grant a stay of execution to Mr. Shojaee and all other minors facing death sentences,” the statement on the body’s website said.
The statement described Iran’s execution of juvenile offenders as a “gross breach of its international obligations and commitments.” Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention of the Rights of the Child, both of which outlaw the execution of individuals who committed a crime when under the age of 18.
Iran’s Judiciary chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, has postponed Shojaee’s execution at least twice in the past six months to allow Shojaee’s family to negotiate with the family of the boy he was convicted of killing. The family of the victim can grant Shojaee a pardon in exchange for the payment of “diyeh” [“blood money”].
Shojaee is also receiving support from a large number of journalists in Iran. According to Rooz Online, more than 200 journalists issued a statement published in a newspaper in Iran calling on people to make donations to a fund established for the victim’s family in order to spare Shojaee’s life.
The plan was proposed by three Iranian cinema personalities, who opened the fund in Iran’s Bank Melli in their name, Asr-e Iran website reports.
The two actors, Azatollah Entezami and Parviz Parastouie, and director Kiyoumars Pourahmad, have now been summoned to appear before Tehran’s prosecutor’s office for criminal affairs, the report says.
Sources: Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Rooz Online, Asr-e Iran website
© IranVNC 2008. All rights reserved.