Iran rushed an execution of a boy. He was 20 years old, but 13 when he was charged with, and jailed for, rape. His confession had been coerced. His accusers had changed their minds. The authorities had rescinded the decision. But the local authorities executed him anyway.
Discredited international bodies, such as Amnesty International, tried to intervene. It is possible that Amnesty has committed too much of its resources, protecting international terrorist wannabes, to be of much help to the boy.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Trumped Up Charges
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Iranian hanged despite judiciary order
from news.com.au
A YOUNG man has been hanged in Iran for crimes committed while he was reportedly still a minor, in defiance of an order by the judiciary chief to stay the execution verdict, a report said overnight.
The 20-year old man was hanged for rape, at the prison in the western city of Kermanshah yesterday morning, the Etemad Melli newspaper said, quoting his lawyer.
The newspaper identified the convict as Makouan. However, the man's case has attracted widespread attention over the past months from Western rights groups who identified him as Makouan Mouloudzadeh.
The paper said Mouloudzadeh had spent seven years in jail after he was arrested at 13 for raping three teenagers, who later withdrew their complaint. The same version of events has been reported by Western rights groups.
"On November 11... the head of the justice administration of Kermanshah received an order from the judiciary head, Ayatollah (Mahmoud) Hashemi Shahroudi, to stop the implementation of the verdict," lawyer Saeed Eqbali was quoted as saying.
"But the case, which was supposed to be reviewed in Tehran, was sent back from there to Kermanshah and the execution was carried out quickly (without any revision)," the lawyer said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch had earlier issued a statement urging the local Kermanshah judiciary to obey Ayatollah Sharoudi's order, alleging that Mouloudzadeh's trial had been "filled with irregularities".
It said that as well as the witnesses withdrawing accusations against him, Mouloudzadeh himself in the trial testified that any confessions he made were coerced and false.
"They are rushing to execute a young man for crimes that even his accusers now admit never took place," the group said.
The statement was later updated with confirmation of the execution.
Amnesty International had also earlier this year called for his conviction to be quashed.
The apparent defiance of an order from the central judiciary was reminiscent of the stoning to death of a man for adultery in July in the north-western province of Qazvin, despite a 2002 directive to suspend the practice.
The latest execution brings to at least 280 the number of people hanged in Iran this year, according to an AFP count compiled from local press reports. Many are hanged in public.
Iran executed at least 177 people in 2006, according to Amnesty International. The Islamic republic is the most prolific practitioner of the death penalty in the world after China.
Capital offences in Iran include murder, rape, armed robbery, serious drug trafficking and adultery.
Western rights groups accuse Iran of continuing to execute convicts for crimes committed while they are minors. However Iran insists that executions are only carried out after an extensive judicial process.
The Islamic republic has noticeably stepped up executions in recent months as officials enforce a campaign to protect society against what the authorities call "thugs", such as drug traffickers, extortionists and rapists.
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