AI-27 April, Delara Darabi’s death sentence has been confirmed by the Supreme Court, according to a 25 April report in the newspaper Etemad. The verdict has apparently been sent to the office of the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, for consideration.
AI-27 April, Delara Darabi’s death sentence has been confirmed by the Supreme Court, according to a 25 April report in the newspaper Etemad. The verdict has apparently been sent to the office of the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, for consideration.
Her father has again requested that she be transferred from Rasht Prison to Evin, in Tehran, on the grounds that conditions in Rasht may have led in part to her January suicide attempt. Her life was saved by her cellmates, who alerted the prison authorities. According to recent reports, Delara Darabi has been beaten in Rasht Prison, leaving her with a broken arm, and she is in poor health. She reportedly also suffers from a pre-existing kidney complaint. It is not known whether she is receiving adequate medical care, but her condition has reportedly worsened in prison.
Delara Darabi, then aged 17, reportedly burgled the house of an elderly female relative on 29 September 2003 together with a 19-year-old man named Amir Hossein Sotoudeh. Amir Hossein allegedly killed the woman during the burglary. Delara Darabi initially confessed to the murder, but subsequently retracted her confession, claiming that Amir Hossein had asked her to admit responsibility for the murder to protect him from execution, believing that as she was under 18, she could not be sentenced to death. Iran is a state party to international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, that expressly prohibit the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by those under the age of 18.
Delara Darabi was sentenced to death by Branch 10 of the General Court in Rasht in 2005. The Supreme Court later found “deficiencies” in the case and sent it for retrial. Following further trial sessions in January and June 2006, Delara Darabi was sentenced to death for a second time. Amir Hossein Sotoudeh was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for complicity in the murder and both received sentences of three years’ imprisonment and 50 lashes for robbery, and 20 lashes for an “illicit relationship”. Delara Darabi’s death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 16 January 2007. According to the Etemad report, this sentence has now been further confirmed by Branch 7 of the Iran’s Supreme Court, sitting as a sentencing "discernment", or review, body (Sho’be-ye tashkhis).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Despite being a state party to international treaties which prohibit the use of the death penalty against anyone under the age of 18 at the time of offence, many child offenders are under sentence of death in Iran.
At least 177 people were executed in Iran in 2006, including one who was under the age of 18 at the time of execution, and at least three others who were under 18 at the time of the offences of which they were convicted.
On 14 January 200, judges in a Tehran criminal court cleared 19-year-old Mahabad Fatehi (known as Nazanin Fatehi) of premeditated murder, but ordered her to pay diyeh (blood money) to the family of the man
