Saeedi, an Afghan national, was transferred to solitary confinement since October 26 in preparation for his execution.
According to right groups he was 18 at time of the alleged crime. Saeedi is considered a juvenile offender by international law.
On October 21, the mullahs’ regime announced a new judicial directive that bans the execution of child offenders for drug crimes but keeps capital punishment for those convicted of murder.
Hossein Zabhi, Deputy State Public Prosecutor, said the judges are still required under Iran’s Islamic laws to issue death sentences for children convicted of murder if the victims’ family refuses financial compensation.
“The new directive bans execution of under age criminals only if they have committed crimes related to narcotics that carry death penalty,” Zabhi said. “We can’t deny a victim’s family of the legal right to ask for Islamic Qasas, or eye for eye retribution.”
At the same time, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern over the rights of women and minorities in Iran, as well as over the death penalty, including juvenile executions and stoning, in a new report to the General Assembly on the country’s In another non-binding circular, the judiciary has placed a moratorium on juvenile executions, but the sentences are still being applied, Mr. Ban said.
Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which obligate States parties to not impose the death penalty on those who commit crimes under the age of 18.human rights situation.