The following is the text of an email that was sent earlier today to Nazanin Afshin-Jam by Ali Alinejad about his brother : Reza Alinejad who is facing execution in Iran for an alleged murder at the age of 17.

Hello Miss Nazanin

I hope everything is good with you.
The file of Reza (Alijejad) came back from the office of Mr, Shahrudi to (city of) Fasa and the order is to resolve the case through the mediation council . I have enclosed the text of the order in (MS) word format.
The mediation councils have been formed in different cities in the past 2, 3 years and are operating under the supervision of the judiciary branch…….

thank you so much
Ali Alinejad  

Text of the order by Aytollah Shahrudi, the head of Iran’s judiciary, about Reza Alinejad:

“Considering the age of the convicted and the unintentional circumstances that he was faced, the file is ordered to be returned to judiciary court in (city of) Fasa. Through Mediation council or by any other means; more efforts and attempts must be made in order to bring a resolution between parents of the victim and the murder convict. Results are to be reported back.”

During her February 2007 speaking tour, Nazanin Afshin-Jam received an email titled “VERY URGENT” from an unknown sender named Ali Alinejad. She was shocked to learn from Ali that his brother Reza had been imprisoned for 5 years and was now facing imminent execution for a murder he claims he committed in self-defence when he was 17 years old. Nazanin had not heard of this case and it was not reported with Amnesty International. She immediately forwarded the message to Nazanin Fatehi’s lawyer Mr. Mostafaei to see if he could help in any way. After reviewing the file, Mr. Mostafaei agreed to take on Reza’s case.

Later Mr. Mostafai sent Nazanin a letter he had written to Ayatollah Shahroudi, head of judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, asking for an appeal and re-trial. In his plea, Mr. Mostafaei explained that Reza was eating with his friend Hadi Abedini on the sidewalk, in the city of Shiraz, when they were approached by two men named Esmail Daroudi and Mohammad Firouzi who started harassing them with profanities. They proceeded to attack Reza and his friend with a nunchaku (a Japanese weapon used in martial arts). Reza’s friend testified that the two attackers had surrounded them and they were not able to run away. Reza was seriously injured by a blow to the head. While Reza was defending himself, Esmail Daroudi was stabbed and killed. Another person who had witnessed what had happened testified that Reza was defending himself. The friend of the man who was killed allegedly also testified that the fight was initiated by them and that they attacked Reza and his friend with a nunchaku.

In his letter, attorney Mr. Mostafaei, concluded that the murder was unintentional. He stressed that due to the fact that Reza was only 17 years old at the time of offence, he should not be executed because Iran is signatory to UN covenants that prohibit the executions of minors for alleged crimes committed below the age 18.

to read more about Reza Alijenjad who was accused of murder at the age of 16 click on the following links:

https://www.stopchildexecutions.com/Reza.aspx    and    http://scenews.blog.com//Reza+Alinejad/