On 15 February, Saman Naseem, a young Iranian man set to be executed on Thursday, was once again brutally beaten up by men believed to be intelligence officials in a bid to make him “confess” again in front of a camera, which he refused to do, Amnesty International said.
“Time is running out for Saman Naseem. The fact that Iran is willing to execute a man who was tortured to confess to a crime he is accused of having committed when he was a child shows the state of injustice in the country,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“These wrongs can never be undone but it is not too late to immediately stop Saman Naseem’s execution and initiate a thorough judicial review of his case.”
Saman Naseem was sentenced to death following a grossly unfair trial in April 2013 by a criminal court in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, for “enmity against God” and “corruption on earth” because of his alleged membership of the Kurdish armed opposition group, Party For Free Life of Kurdistan, and taking part in armed activities against the Revolutionary Guards. He was 17-years-old at the time.
In a letter seen by Amnesty International, Saman Naseem, now 22 years old, described how he was kept in a 2 x 0.5 metre cell and constantly tortured before being forced, while blindfolded, to put his fingerprints on “confession” papers.
Saman could be executed as early as 19 February 2015 for crimes allegedly committed when he was 17 years old. He was sentenced to death after an unfair trial. Help us save Saman by tweeting the Supreme Leader of Iran @khamenei_ir urging him to stop the execution, which is unlawful under international law, given Saman’s age when he was arrested.
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#Iran must halt #SamanNaseem’s execution & end #DeathPenalty for juvenile offenders #SaveSaman #StopTorture http://bit.ly/1M8U9jQ @khamenei_ir
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