Abbas Hosseini in URGENT danger!

Source: Amnesty Internaitonal Index: MDE 13/018/2009  

Abbas Hosseini (m), Afghan national, aged 24, juvenile offender

Afghan refugee Abbas Hosseini is in danger of execution for a murder committed when he was 17. His death sentence was upheld on 29 December 2008 by Branch 33 of the Supreme Court, and has now been sent to the head of the judiciary for final approval. The victim's family is refusing to pardon in exchange of payment of diyeh (blood money).

Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), both of which expressly prohibit the imposition of the death penalty for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age.

Abbas Hosseini was sentenced to death in June 2004 by Branch 43 of the Public Court in Mashhad for a murder which he claimed to have committed "in a moment of insanity" after the victim attempted to rape him. On 30 September 2004, Branch 41 of the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence. Abbas Hosseini was due to be executed on 1 May 2005. He was granted a one-week stay of execution to give the victim’s family another opportunity to accept payment of diyeh. However, the Head of the Judiciary ordered the local judiciary in Mashhad not to proceed with the execution, and Abbas Hosseini’s case was sent for review. Branch 13 of the Supreme Court on 27 April 2008 did not confirm the verdict and sent the case for retrial on account of Abbas Hosseini’s age at the time of the crime. Nonetheless he was sentenced to death once again on 5 August 2008 by Branch 103 of the Public Juvenile Court in Mashhad.

Stop Child Executions encourages everyone to take action for Abbas Hosseini to have his death sentence stayed. 

Please send your urgent action by phoning or faxing the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations:

Mohammad Khazaee, Ambassador and Permanent Representative

622 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017
Tel: (212) 687-2020 / Fax: (212) 867-7086
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

And writing to the Head of Judiciary in Iran

His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran 1316814737,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Phone: [00 98 21] 391 1109
Fax: [00 98 21] 390 4986
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Salutation: Your Excellency

Other information previously written on our site about Abbas Hosseini:

15. Abbass Hosseini
In July 2003 Abbas Hosseini was reportedly helping a man, a member of the Revolutionary Guard, to move furniture in his house. He says the man made sexual advances to him. Abbas Hosseini then managed to leave the house by promising that he would return with his girlfriend. In a fit of rage he stabbed him once with a knife. The man died shortly afterwards as a result of his injuries.
Abbas Hosseini is held in the Mashhad Prison. According to his family and lawyer, he has displayed exemplary behaviour in prison from where he has completed his secondary education.