Amnesty InternationalIn the days leading up to 15 May, a worldwide campaign was mobilized to call for Alireza Tajiki’s execution to be stopped. It was halted in the final 24 hours before it was due to take place. The authorities did not explain the reasons behind their decision and may still reschedule the execution of Alireza Tajiki, who remains on death row.
Alireza Tajiki, now 19, was sentenced to death in April 2013 on charges of murder and “lavat-e be onf” (forced male-male anal penetration). He has consistently denied the charges and said that the “confessions” on which the Provincial Criminal Court in Fars Province relied to convict him were extracted through torture. The Supreme Court quashed the death sentence in April 2014 due to a lack of forensic evidence linking Alireza Tajiki to the sexual assault. The Supreme Court ordered the Provincial Criminal Court to carry out further investigations. It also instructed the lower court to examine Alireza Tajiki’s “mental growth and maturity” at the time of the crime in light of the juvenile sentencing provisions in Iran’s 2013 Islamic Penal Code.
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