As a teenager sentenced to death

Dear Mr. Larijani,

According to our information, Mohammad Reza Haddadi was sentenced to death as a teenager and threatened for more than six years of the execution.

After his arrest, Mohammad Reza confessed to the crime, but rejected his confession  on 4 November 2003 again in a letter to the court. He stated that he had accepted responsibility for the murder, because the co-defendants would have provided his family for money. Mohammad Reza Haddadi, testified during the proceedings that he was not involved in the murder of the man. The co-defendants in the proceedings confirmed his innocence claim and withdrew their testimony. Yet he was sentenced to death by the court and to 15 years imprisonment for kidnapping and sentenced one year because of hiding the corpse. The co-accused at the time of the murder over 18 years old, received prison sentences.

The Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence in July 2005. Already five execution dates were set, which were repealed in the last minute. The fifth execution date was set on 7 July 2010.

We, the undersigned, therefore call for the abolition of the death sentence against Mohammad Reza Haddadi and the abolition of the death penalty in Iran, especially for crimes committed when minors.

Your faithfully