UN Experts Call for Halt to Execution of Mohammad Kalehri

UN human rights experts urged Iran to refrain from executing Mohammad Kalehri, who allegedly committed murder at the age of 15. According to reports, on November 22, 2014, Mohammad Kalehri fatally stabbed Mohsen Khoshkhashi, a physics teacher at Hafeziyeh High School in Borujerd. Hassan Aghakhani, Kalehri's lawyer, stated last Esfand that his client was transferred from a juvenile correction center in Lorestan to Borujerd prison upon turning 18, and due to the finality of the sentence, he could be executed 'at any moment.' The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights announced on Tuesday, June 18, that based on received information, there is a possibility of Kalehri's execution shortly after Ramadan. The Office added that according to international standards, issuing a death sentence for individuals who were under 18 at the time of the crime is prohibited. UN human rights experts issued a statement requesting Iranian authorities to halt Kalehri's death sentence in accordance with Iran's international commitments. The statement emphasized: 'By signing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran has committed to prohibiting the use of the death penalty for anyone under 18. Therefore, this death sentence is illegal and arbitrary.' The experts also reminded that in 2013, Iran allowed judges, in cases where there is any doubt about the 'mental state' of the juvenile offender at the time of the crime or if the nature of the crime is indeterminate, to impose alternative penalties. The report noted that according to forensic reports, Kalehri was 'not psychologically mature' at the time of the crime, and the initial court had sentenced him to prison and compensation. However, following an appeal and apparent letters from a government official and a member of parliament, the Supreme Court issued a death sentence for him. Reports indicate that Kalehri was initially sentenced to three years in prison and compensation on March 17, 2016, but the 31st branch of the Supreme Court annulled this ruling upon the victim's family's objection and sent it to a parallel branch. The parallel branch then issued a retribution sentence for Kalehri in Bahman 1395. Kalehri's lawyers had previously warned about 'political and security influences' in this case, stating that the Ministry of Education and Aladdin Boroujerdi, the representative of Borujerd and chairman of the National Security Commission of the Parliament, had sent letters to the judiciary demanding 'the harshest punishment' for their client.