The Execution of Minors - Part 2

By Mohammad Mostafie

As part of our special series, “A Case in the Judiciary,” attorney and human rights activist Mohammad Mostafie discusses, in the second of a two-part article, the execution of minors.

The moral aspect of a criminal act is crucial to what constitutes a crime. In other words, the “will” and “criminal intent” [of the accused] must be gauged.

Unfortunately, however, Iran’s Islamic Penal Code does not make this distinction. This means that an unintentional killing is viewed and dealt with in the same manner as a first-degree murder; and both types of killings are subject to the maximum punishment.

In other countries, it has been scientifically established that people under the age of 18 have not reached rational maturity. In our country, anyone above the age of 15 is subject to capital punishment.

An example is a case I was indirectly involved with a few years ago. During a fight between a couple of teenagers in the town of Saveh (near Tehran), a young boy called Mansour was killed by another teenager called Mohammad. The fight was over something really stupid, unimportant and trivial.

Mohammad was one month shy of 15 when he committed the crime. Moreover, he was psychologically unstable and not quite sane. However, the authorities wouldn’t take these factors into consideration, even though the city’s medical examiner’s office found that the boy was mentally undeveloped and suffered from psychological problems.

We even went to a number of jurists and clerics who were legal experts; they agreed that such a person should not be subject to capital punishment.

Even though it was proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the boy was mentally and psychologically unfit and not fully formed (character wise), the court sentenced Mohammad to death—a verdict affirmed by the Supreme Court.

Ultimately, Mohammad was not executed because the Judiciary Chief intervened and the victim’s family consented to commuting the sentence. But that is not the point. The point is if there wasn’t a last-minute intervention, a minor with clear signs of mental problems would have been hanged.

The boy spent a few years in jail and is now free.