Reza, a child offender on death row accused of killing his friend, may not have much long to live.

Reza’s attorney appeared at Branch 74 of Iran’s Penal Court to obtain a pardon from the victim’s family. In the last hearing, the main Judge, Judge Hosseini Kukamareyi, along with 4 assistants, followed up on Reza’s file. The prosecutor first explained the incidence.

In February 2004 (Esfand 1382), 16 year old Reza got into a fight with a boy named Rahman and killed him with a knife in Malard, Karaj. His death sentence was then issued by Branch 71 of the Penal Court in Tehran. The verdict was confirmed by Branch 27 of the Supreme Court. The Department of the Chief of Justice sent the file to Branch 1186 of the public court specializing in juvenile cases. The juvenile court sent the file back to the Penal court stating that they were unqualified make an assessment.

Based on the evidence in the file documents as well as the confession of the accused, the Prosecutor recommended the courts sentence Reza with “ghesas”, the highest penalty.

Next, the attorney of the family of the victim took the stand and also requested for retribution in kind, death. 

When it came time for the defense to speak, Reza said:

“I was 16 years old. I was going to school and I had problems. I became depressed and quit school for this reason. Rahman who was my school friend came to see me once in a while. He was very curious and made me very nervous.  On the day of the incidence, I was near my home, when I saw Rahman and my nephew Sayad. Rahman approached me and started asking me many questions. I became exasperated and got into a fight with him. I drew a knife to scare him, but …”

The Judge interrupted Reza and said:

“In an earlier investigation, you had said that Rahman had written something against you on a wall. Do you agree?”

Reza answered: 

“Rahman wrote some things on a wall to agitate me and to try and make me come back to our circle of friends again”

Judge Kukamari then asked Seyed, the witness, to come forward and to tell the court what he saw that day.  Seyed said: “At that moment, Rahman ran and Reza followed him with the knife in hand. Believe me, I didn’t see anything else.” The Judge said “In an earlier testimony you said that Reza and Rahman started fighting and were hitting each other. Why are you saying a different story now?” Seyed replied  ”I don’t remember the whole thing and the main reason of their fight.”

Twenty-one year old Reza arrived today to Branch 74 of the Penal court to answer Judge Hassan Tardast in his last defence. The family of the victim, who were mourning of the death of their son, insisted on Reza’s execution. Reza said “I was only 16 years old at the time of offence. I am a youth, I beg you for your forgiveness”.

At the end of the court hearing, Reza’s lawyer asked the court for extra time in order to try and obtain a pardon from the family of the victim. The verdict should be decided soon.

Whereas the article above did not mention Reza’s surname, Stop Child Executions has  identified him as “Reza Padashi” listed as #120 on SCE’s death row list. Stop Child Executions recommends contacting the Head of Judiciary in Iran asking him to grant a stay of execution to Reza Padashi and a reminder of Iran’s obligation not to execute those who have committed an offence before the age of 18, under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Charter of the Rights of the Child to which it is state party. In SCE’s previous post on Reza Padashi http://scenews.blog.com/2416752/  , it was stated that medical officials had diagnosed him suffering from mental disorder and severe depression at the time of the crime as well as assesing him not being mentally mature at the time of the incident.