Rasoul Haloumi asked to pay blood money

JUVENILE OFFENDER AT RISK OF EXECUTION IN IRAN
Iranian juvenile offender Rasoul Holoumi is at risk of execution for allegedly causing fatal
injuries to a boy in a fight. He was 17 years old at the time. His death sentence has been sent
to the Office of the Implementation of Sentences in Ahwaz, and could be carried out at the
request of the family of the deceased victim at any time.
Rasoul Holoumi, now aged 22, was sentenced to death in October 2010 under qesas (retribution-in-kind) by Branch 17
of the Criminal Court of Khuzestan Province. The court convicted him of murder based on allegations that he threw a hard
object at the head of Nasim Nouri Maleki during the course of a fight in September 2009. The allegations have been made
by several of the people involved in the fight. The court documents indicate that Rasoul Holoumi initially admitted causing
the fatal head injuries. He retracted his admission after several weeks with statements that raise doubts about the events,
including the identity of the individual who struck the victim, the intentionality of the injuries caused, and even the
presence of Rasoul Holoumi at the scene of the incident.
Despite of his age at the time of the offence, the seriousness of the charge, and the risk of the imposition of the death
penalty, Rasoul Haloumi was not given access to a lawyer during the investigative phase nor was he provided with
adequate time and facilities to prepare effective defense through competent appointed counsel before and during trial. In
spite of this the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence in 2010 without justifying its decision.
The execution of Rasoul Holoumi was to be implemented on 4 May, but was stopped after the family of the deceased
victim agreed to forgo their request for qesas if Rasoul Holoum’s family transferred the deeds of their house and farm to
them and paid them 3.5 billion rials (135,323$) as diyah (blood money). Rasoul Haloumi is at imminent risk of execution
as the amount of diyah asked appears to be beyond his family’s means. Sentences of qesas are not open to pardon or
amnesty by the Supreme Leader, in breach of international law, but they can be temporarily stayed by the head of the
judiciary in order to allow the family time to raise the requested blood money.
Please write immediately in Persian, English, Spanish or your own language:
 Urging the Iranian authorities to immediately halt the execution of Rasoul Haloumi;
 Calling on them to ensure his case is reviewed urgently with a view to overturning his death sentence;
 Reminding them that execution of people for crimes committed under 18 is strictly prohibited under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), both of which Iran
has ratified;
 Reminding them that under Article 6(4) of the ICCPR, anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or
commutation of the sentence.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 22 AUGUST 2014 TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street- End of Shahid
KeshvarDoust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Twitter: @khamenei_ir
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
(Subject line: FAO
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Hassan Rouhani, The Presidency
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: media@rouhani.ir
Twitter: @HassanRouhani (English) and
@Rouhani_ir (Persian)