EU condemns execution of juvenile offender in Iran

BRUSSELS

The European Union on Wednesday condemned the execution of a juvenile offender in Iran.

The EU condemned “in the strongest terms” the execution of Arman Abdolali who committed a crime when he was 17 years old, Peter Stano, the European Commission’s chief spokesperson in charge of foreign affairs, said in a statement.

“The European Union calls on Iran to refrain from any future executions and to pursue a consistent policy towards the abolition of capital punishment,” he added.

“It is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent to crime and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity,” the statement said.

The bloc also reminded Iran of its international obligations under the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child that prohibit the death penalty for people under the age of 18.

Earlier in the day, Abdolali, now 24 years old, was executed at Rajaei Shahr Prison in the city of Karaj, west of the capital Tehran.

He was sentenced to death in 2015 for murdering his girlfriend.

According to human rights watchdog Amnesty International, he was given the death penalty in a "grossly unfair trial” after “torture-tainted confessions.”

Last month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Iranian authorities to stop Abdolali’s execution.