Juvenile Offender Forgiven for Murder, Saved from Execution

A source close to Rauf tells Iran Human Rights: "The Hasani family and the family of the murder victim were present in court on September 14, 2016. At the hearing the murder victim's family agreed to forgive Rauf on the condition that he moves out of Saqqez and that he can only return in the event of a funeral for one of his immediate family members. The Hasani family agreed to the condition and the presiding judge confirmed it."

According to confirmed sources, Rauf Hasani, who was born in January 1997, was arrested by Iranian authorities in August 2013 in the city of Saqqez (Kurdistan province, northwestern Iran) on murder charges. Rauf, 16 years old at the time of his arrest, was sentenced to death in spring 2015 by the civil court in Saqqez.

Rauf, who has only completed school up to the fifth grade, is currently still held in the juvenile offenders ward of Saqqez Central Prison where he is awaiting a retrial.

Rauf Hasani is among seven death row juvenile offenders identified in a recent report published by Iran Human Rights.