An Iranian man who was arrested at age 15, was executed in secret earlier this week by Iranian authorities, according to Amnesty International.
Sajad Sanjari was arrested in 2010 for fatally stabbing a man who he said had tried to rape him. Sanjari said he had acted in self-defense after the man threatened him, but he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 2012.
The court rejected Sanjari's claims of self-defense as several witnesses testified about the deceased's good character, and due to the fact that Sanjari had been warned ahead of time and did not raise the matter with the authorities or seek help.
The case progressed through the Iranian court system for a few years, with the supreme court initially rejecting the conviction and the death sentence in 2012 due to flaws in the investigation process, but it then upheld it in 2014.
In January 2017, Sanjari's scheduled execution was halted due to an international outcry, including a statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Sanjari was hanged in Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah province in western Iran on August 2 without his family being notified until a prison official asked them to collect his body later that day, according to Amnesty.
"With the secret execution of Sajad Sanjari, the Iranian authorities have yet again demonstrated the utter cruelty of their juvenile justice system," said Diana Eltahawy, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International."The use of the death penalty against people who were under 18 at the time of the crime is absolutely prohibited under international law, and constitutes a cruel assault on child rights."
Two other Iranian men, Hossein Shahbazi and Arman Abdolali, have also been sentenced to death for crimes that took place when they were aged 17.
Shahbazi's execution was scheduled for July 25 but was postponed at the last minute amid an international outcry, according to Amnesty, which warned that his execution could be rescheduled at any moment.
Over 80 individuals are on death row in Iran for crimes that took place when they were children, according to Amnesty. At least three such people were executed last year.
Amnesty stressed that the real numbers of such people who are at risk of execution and have been put to death so far are likely to be higher.
Boys aged above 15 lunar years and girls aged above nine lunar years can be tried as adults in certain cases, including murder, and be punished with the death penalty.