Amnesty International is urging the Iranian regime to halt the execution of a 24-year-old man is at imminent risk of execution, for a crime which took place while he was below 18 years of age.

Hamid Ahmadi, who has been convicted of fatally stabbing a man during a group fight that took place when he was 16 years old.

“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, but it is particularly troubling that in this case Iran is again set to violate the clear prohibition in international law of executing those who were children at the time of the alleged crime. If the execution goes ahead while the case is under review at Iran’s highest court, it would also be an appalling miscarriage of justice,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“The Iranian authorities should halt all plans to carry out this execution immediately.”

“Hamid Ahmadi’s death sentence contradicts, once again, Iran’s repeated claims that it does not execute juvenile offenders and displays the authorities’ blatant disregard for one of the clearest prohibitions on the use of the death penalty,” said Said Boumedouha.