Innocent minor in danger of death sentence

According to reports, a young man who has been jailed for more than 2 years on the fabricated charge of running over a member of the Bassij (government paramilitary forces known for their violent treatment of pro-democracy protesters) is in a state of limbo in prison and was recently tried.

Ali Nasiri, born in 1992, was only 17 years old when he was arrested. He was arrested along with his friend while they were in his car during the widespread demonstrations [in protest to the rigged presidential elections] on June 14, 2009 in Tehran. They were taken to the Shapour Criminal Intelligence Department and were released after eight days of detention. His car was impounded in Shapour.

At about 2:30 am on June 15, when Ali Nasiri was still in the police station, a number of Bassij forces in the Kaj Square were stopping automobiles and harassing the drivers and passengers when they were run over by an unidentified car which led to the death of a Bassij member identified as Hossein Gholam Kabiri.

Some time after his release, Ali Nasiri received a letter from the Shahpour Criminal Intelligence Department saying that he can get back his impounded automobile on July 31, 2009. He was arrested again when he went back for his car. Nasiri was initially detained in the Criminal Intelligence Department and was then sent to a correctional facility. He was subsequently transferred to the Gohardasht (Rajayi Shahr) Prison in Karaj. After two years of being kept in a state of limbo in prison, he was brought to court in June and was tried by Judge Aziz Mohammadi who has issued almost all the execution sentences in Tehran.

He was charged with complicity in the murder [of Gholam Kabiri] and not having a driving license.

Despite the fact that he was arrested before the incident actually took place, [regime forces] still insist on convicting this minor with murder.

The Fars state-run News Agency has in its latest reports tried to make this young man seem like a criminal by publishing lies. (Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran – Jun. 15, 2011)