The Accused in the Satayesh Quraishi Case to be Executed by Late October

With the announcement of the execution of the murderer of Satayesh Quraishi by late October this year, the defense attorney for the accused states that he is still under 18 years old and according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, he should not be executed. In April 2016, media reported the murder of a six-year-old Afghan girl in the village of Khairabad Varamin, who, according to her father, left home on April 22 to buy ice cream and did not return. In connection with this murder, a 17-year-old neighbor was arrested, and judicial authorities announced that after abducting Satayesh and assaulting her, he killed her. The accused is currently in a juvenile correctional facility in Tehran, and forensic medicine has confirmed his 'mental health.' On Tuesday (October 10), the Mehr news agency reported, citing the head of the Tehran judiciary, that 'the sentence for the murderer of Satayesh Quraishi will be executed in late October {from October 17 to 19}.' In response to this news, which coincides with October 10, the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the defense attorney stated that the execution date has not yet been communicated to him by judicial authorities. According to ILNA news agency, Mojtaba Farahbakhsh added that 'considering that the accused was born on December 17, 1999, if this sentence is carried out in October, it means that they are executing the sentence while he is under 18 years old.' Mr. Farahbakhsh continued, referring to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, stating that 'we should not execute individuals who committed crimes under the age of 18.' Mehr news agency also quoted Asghar Qasemi Eqbash, the lawyer for Satayesh Quraishi's family, stating that 'the new claim of the murderer of Satayesh Quraishi that he had an accomplice in committing the crime does not affect his punishment.' According to him, 'even if this claim is true, his accomplice has been arrested and will be tried separately.' The head of the Tehran judiciary stated on October 25 that 'the accused has a sentence of qisas (retribution) and a sentence of execution, which remains in effect even if the blood relatives agree to forgive.' The murder of Satayesh Quraishi had significant repercussions and strongly affected the Persian-speaking social media in Iran and Afghanistan. The Afghan Youth Civil Society Association warned the Iranian government that if the murderer of Satayesh Quraishi is not executed soon, they will close the Iranian embassy in Kabul with their civil movements. In contrast, human rights organizations oppose the execution of the death penalty in Iran, especially for individuals under 18 years old. In this context, the death sentence for the murderer of Satayesh Quraishi has been confirmed. The accused has been sentenced to 'two executions.'