Iran halted the planned hanging of a man arrested for murder when he was just 17 following an outcry over the flouting of international rules on executing youngsters.
Hossein Shahbazi was due to be hanged on Monday at Adelabad prison in Shiraz but it was not carried out for unspecified reasons, said campaigners seeking a retrial.
UN experts and human rights groups had condemned the planned execution. It was not immediately clear if it had been delayed or cancelled.
Mr Shahbazi was convicted of stabbing a classmate after a mass brawl but campaigners say his confession was extracted after torture.
Police in Shiraz, Fars province, held him for 11 days without access to a lawyer and he showed signs of abuse when his family finally got to see him.
Iran continues to use the death penalty for crimes committed by people under the age of 18, despite signing a UN deal banning the practice in 1968.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights says: “The sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age and shall not be carried out on pregnant women."
The sentence was due to be carried out before Iran’s Supreme Court had ruled on a request for a retrial for Mr Shahbazi.
His case has been highlighted by Amnesty International and UN experts called on Iran to honour its obligations under international law and halt the execution as the Twitter campaign #SaveHossein gained traction online.
After his case was publicised, prison guards told Mr Shahbazi, now 20, that the victim’s family would be contacted to request a pardon.
Death sentences can be avoided in Iran if the convicted killer pays the bereaved family compensation. The penalty can then be replaced by a prison term.
Mr Shahbazi would have been the first person this year who was under 18 at the time of committing a crime to be executed.
Amnesty International said at least three juveniles were executed in 2020 and scores more are on death row. Iran executed 246 people last year, the second highest number for any country.
“The imposition of the death penalty in Iran contrasts with the current international trend of abolishing the death penalty and is contrary to its prohibition against child offenders,” said a group of three UN rights experts including Javaid Rehman, the UN’s investigator on Iran.
Mr Shahbazi is being held at the same prison as two brothers of Navid Afkari, the champion Iranian wrestler who was executed in secret in September 2020.
Vahid, 36, and Habib Afkari, 29, have been tortured, isolated and denied visits from their families after being detained in 2018 for joining protests against the regime.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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The team
Videographer: Jear Velasquez
Photography: Romeo Perez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
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Models: Meti and Clinton at MMG
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Social media: Fatima Al Mahmoud
'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'
Director:Michael Lehmann
Stars:Kristen Bell
Rating: 1/5
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
How to help
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• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
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• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
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9.30pm: Forever Young
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Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
Women%E2%80%99s%20Asia%20Cup
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
RACE CARD
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Avengers: Endgame
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
4/5 stars
The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
Fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit
As he spoke, Mr Aboul Gheit repeatedly referred to the need to tackle issues affecting the welfare of people across the region both in terms of preventing conflict and in pushing development.
Lebanon is scheduled to host the fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in January that will see regional leaders gather to tackle the challenges facing the Middle East. The last such summit was held in 2013. Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki told The National that the Beirut Summit “will be an opportunity for Arab leaders to discuss solely economic and social issues, the conference will not focus on political concerns such as Palestine, Syria or Libya". He added that its slogan will be “the individual is at the heart of development”, adding that it will focus on all elements of human capital.
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