A teenager who has committed murder is at the verge of execution, his lawyer has warned.
“My client was 15 when the murder happened,” Kalhori’s attorney, Hassan Aghakhani, told New York based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
“According to the medical examiner’s opinion, his action was not based on reason or logic and he was lacking mental development,” he added. “His adviser in the juvenile reform center also says that he didn’t have the mental ability to understand his action.”
“The case of Mohammad Kalhori is extremely concerning because Iran has yet again issued a death sentence to a person who was convicted as a juvenile in violation of international and UN standards,” said Hadi Ghaemi, CHRI’s executive director, “It also highlights the Iranian Judiciary’s lack of independence.”
Mohammad Kalhori stabbed his physics teacher, Mohsen Khashkhasi in the classroom on November 22, 2014.
The primary court sentenced Kalhori to seven years and paying blood money to the victim’s family.
“But the victim’s family appealed the decision [in September 2016] and Branch 31 of the Supreme Court struck down the ruling and ordered a new trial, which resulted in a death sentence against my client without regard to Article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code,” Aghakhani affirmed.
Article 91 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code stipulate that “If adolescents under 18 do not realize the nature of the crime committed or its prohibition, or if there is uncertainty about their full mental development, according to their age” they can be spared the death penalty.
The teenagers lawyer believes that his client is falling victim to the intervention from outside the court.
“We lodged an appeal and made two requests [in June and October 2017] for a judicial review by Branch 33 of the Supreme Court presided by Judge Mohammad Niazi,” Aghaghani affirmed, adding, “But [Judge Niazi] believes in retribution. When it was time to consider our appeal, unfortunately there was a letter from a deputy education minister and two letters from Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who is the member of Parliament from Boroujerd [the city where the murder was committed] and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for National Security and Foreign Policy, requesting that the judge to look after the victim, not the murderer.”
Furthermore, Aghhakhani told CHRI, “When it was determined that my client did not have sufficient mental development, we did not expect the political and security officials to get involved. This kid could have been saved if the law followed a normal course, without the court being influenced by the political climate, but unfortunately they interfered in this case.”
In February 2018, the UN rights chief urged Iran to halt executions of juveniles on death row.
“The execution of juvenile offenders is unequivocally prohibited under international law, regardless of the circumstances and nature of the crime committed,” the UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said in a news release on February 16.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in January 2018, three people – two male and one female – were executed in Iran for crimes they committed when they were fifteen or sixteen years old. A fourth juvenile offender, who was believed to be on the point of being executed on February 14, has reportedly received a temporary reprieve of two months.
The UN rights chief also noted that several other juvenile offenders are also believed to be in danger of imminent execution, with a total of some 80 such individuals reported to be currently on death row in Iran, after being sentenced to death for crimes they committed when they were under eighteen.
“Iran should immediately comply with explicit international norms and standards regarding the rights of children and halt the death sentence against Mohammad Kalhori and all juvenile defendants,” said Ghaemi.