An Iranian man who was arrested for murder at the age of 17 has been executed, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported on November 24, despite international appeals for his life to be spared.
Arman Abdolali, aged 25, was found guilty for the alleged murder of his girlfriend — who went missing in 2014.
The body of the alleged murder victim has never been found.
Abdolali’s execution had been postponed twice — the last time on October 16 — after rights groups warned that it would violate international conventions that Iran has signed which prohibits the execution of minors.
Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Abdolali confessed to the murder at the time of his arrest, but later he withdrew the confession.
Amnesty International has called his trial “grossly unfair” by a court that “relied on torture-tainted ‘confessions.'”
According to Amnesty International, Iran executed at least 246 people last year — retaining its place as the most prolific user of capital punishment in the region and the second worldwide after China.
IHR, which monitors the use of the death penalty in Iran, said at least 64 juvenile offenders have been executed in Iran over the past 10 years.
