www.stopchildexecutions.com

Unfortunately 16 Year Old is NOT a CHILD

The excuse of "Mazdak fell on Ali's knife" reminds me of the joke where a driver told the judge "But your honor, the pedestrian ran under my car" !
Experience shows that when someone is capable of murdering another human being, he/she usually commits that act again if the same situation occurs. I was 16 too and I clearly understood not to stick a knife into anyone's belly.
Assuming that Ali Mahintorbi has been fairly judged and proven to have intentionally committed the murder, I think he should, at the minimum, spend 10-20 years in jail even though releasing him will put everyone in his contact in danger because he has proven to be capable of murder.

Azarin nice letter

 Really a very good letter.

solh

My email to Ayatollah Khamenei

As an example of a personal letter that you can send to Ayatollah khamenei to support Ali, voila my email to him: 

Dear Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei  - Leader of the Islamic Republic,

I am writing to you regarding the execution of Ali Mahin Torabi. he is facing the execution in Iran / Karaj at any time, for a crime that he is alleged to commit when he was only 16 years old.

He is the nephew of one of my friends (who is actually 9 months pregnant). She is extremely worried and depressed about the situation of her nephew that she considers like her own son. Ali is truly innocent and we are afraid that by his execution he will pay for someone else's crime.

His lawyer thinks that there are serious doubts in his guilt, so I would truly appreciate if you could take urgent steps to cancel his death sentence and accept his appeal.

Having two boys myself (who are the pearls of my eyes as the beautiful peresian expression says) still I cannot imagine how desperate and how helpless Ali's parents should be feeling right now.

You are the only one with this power to stop their pain. I am sure your experience and your good heart would be able to change the father of victim's mind and your wise words would show him the path to forgiveness. 

Thank you for your understanding and compassion,

Sincerely,
Azarin Sadegh

I think Ali is right..........

 I think Ali is right. This is not the time to aggravate the Iranian government in your letters for clemency for this young man or any other prisoner on death row. It is time to put the hate aside for the IRI (at least while you write your letter; you can then go back to hating them after you are done), use wisdom and  the knowledge if any of the Quran to find passages that will prove the case for mercy. We are trying to change their views and attacking them at this particular time is not going to do that.

So please, please, please think wisely. Ali thank you for the verse. 

solh

Another argument that you can use:

If you write letter to Iranian authorities, in order to convince them better you can also mention the verse in the Quran which state that "Justice and kindness" must be combined (sooreyeh Nahl, verse 90):

ان الله یامر بالعدل والاحسان

Therefor, carrying the sentence alone and taking revenge does not fulfull that requirement. It might be "adl" alone but no "kindness"

PS: People, don't reply with comments saying that Islam should be eradicated from Iran or that all our problems are due to Islam...etc I posted this verse for the sake of the argument, not to debate anyone about Islam.

About carrying knives...

I'm not so sure about other countries but many many Iranian children, especially under 18, carry knives in their pockets. Why do they do that? It is worth some research but I remember sooo well... when I was a kid in Iran I think some 15% of my own colleagues had carried a knife in their pocket at least for a while. Why did they do that? I'm pretty sure education is one aspect. Children from many of Iran's lower social rank families (i.e. less educated and relatively poorer) resort to very nasty fights with each other very often. The whole socio-economic situation, the educational system, and of course as one of our fellow Iranians very well mentioned here, lack (huge and really huge lack) of entertainment facilities cause this sad reality. Boys usually do not have girldfriends. Girls have a good effects on boys, not just sexually, but also through their balancing of their lives by the sentimental approach toward issues. And teenagers in general have very few options to keep busy, to have fun and to enjoy life. So they often very easily resort to violence.

Curious Joe:

Let's take a look at the fact that Iran is a signatory of an international UN treaty which states that no one accused of a crime committed before the age of 18 can be punished by death penalty.  That makes it a law.

If you support IRI in breaking this law then they don't have to observe other laws either.  You support the death of Zahra Kazemi, Atafeh, and others, the imprisonment of countless dissidents and journalists, the stonings, all of it. You buy into the whole package.

You seem to have contempt for Ali's mother for praying to Allah so I assume you have no great love for the IRI regime.  Why do you want to support a situation where they don't even have to obey their OWN laws, which are already harsh enough...death for being caught drinking alcohol three times?  If anyone should die in Iran for a crime they were accused of at 16 in violation of this treaty, why not just execute people in Iran for drinking alcohol ONCE?  Why not do it from a crane in a public square after flogging and stoning too?  Why not?

Care for a beer?
Robin

To Dear "Curious" Joe

Hi Joe,

I think I have repeatedly told Ali's story (in detail) and I don't want to repeat myself, but since it seems you are "Curious" and  that you haven't read those other blogs, I think it desn't hurt to repeat the story. But this is the link to the full story told by Ali in Farsi:

//ali-mahintorabi.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html

I can summarize the important points in English so all Iranian.com readers can read it. These points helped me to believe in his innocence, otherwise I might have remained very quiet.

1) Ali is an excellent student academically, but socially he doesn't have many friends. His ONLY friend is Milad. And it is Milad who had started the fight in the morning with Mazdak the victim .

2) The knife was not Ali's. It was Milad who insisted that Ali take the knife that Milad had brought to school(that explains why Ali's father was so mad at him for taking part in the defense of Milad)

3) Mazdak --as even described by his own mother -- was more of  a bully. He (and a few of his friends) attacked Milad in the morning and after the school ended.

4) Ali wanted to escape and didn't care if Mazdak and his friends found them to be coward or "Tarsoo". But Milad refused to leave so Ali stayed to defend his only friend. 

5) I think there is a high probability if Milad gave Ali a knife, he should have had also another knife for himself. Because during the last fight that caused Mazdak's injury, Ali was fighting with victim’s friends and Milad was fighting with the victim, right before he fell on Ali. 

6) Ali and Mazdak were standing back to back when Milad pushed back Mazdak, who fell on Ali (Ali had his knife in his hand toward other kids to scare them). The injury was not in the back of the victim.

7) When Mazdak realized he is injured, everybody ran away except Ali who tried to find a way to take him to hospital. It took a long time before one of the teachers accepted to take him to the hospital. At the hospital, at first doctors thought he was injured at stomach (and not close to heart) but when the moment they realized the gravity of the cut, it was alreday too late and he had lost too much blood.

8) As soon as the teacher took Mazdak to the hospital, Ali presented himself to the school office, where he told that he might have accidentally injured Mazdak.

9) The forensic examination of Ali's knife showed that there was no DNA on his knife.

So now Dear Joe, what would you think, if you were in the jury? Would you declare him guilty, beyond any reasonable doubts?

I am no lawyer -- still I have read lots of Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot books!) -- but I think a good lawyer shoud be able to prove his innocence. Mazdak's death in all possible cases is tragic and unfair but it is not a premeditated death. No parent is supposed to go to the funeral of his/her child. I am a mother of two boys (13 and 11), so I can imagine the degree of anger and helplessness of Mazdak's parents, still this anger and helplessness should not justify the execution of an innocent. 

The only thing that Ali's parents are asking from the Justice sytem is to accept Ali's appeal, so he can get the chance of having another trial and to prove his innocence, but this time with a good lawyer and a fair judge.

Ali has already spent 5 years of his life in prison, so I think he has already paid for his crime of accepting Milad’s knife and taking part in the fight.

By the way, Ali’s parents are not Basiji, but they aren’t rich either and they have no good connection in the Iranian Justice System. They made also the mistake of leaving him alone for 20 days. The scar of these horrifying 20 days of solitude (for a 16 years old kid) would somehow remain forever. If Ali is saved, he would never be able to forget the darkness of those days and if he dies his parents will never be able to forgive themselves for letting their son down.  

Now dear Joe, I wonder what you would have done if you were Ali's father?  

Thanks,

Azarin  

to: Curios Joe: Everyone carries a knife ...almost everyone..

From many different reports we have received last few years, due to unsafe environment, most young people carry knives in their pockets/bags and if you follow the crime incidents, you will notice that knife is the most favored, cheapest and easiest weapons to carry in Iran.
The issue is socio-economy; parents have to work mostly more than a job, kids are left out in streets, with no sport facilities, no entertainment, not a real educational, no supervision, no entertainment TV program. Government pushing for Shia Islamic agenda everywhere, and in schools; parents say and act differently at home while their act are different outside and with friends, compare to what government portray for an Islamic society, teachers are either brained washed or pretend following the systems' agenda, books and subjects in schools are softly pushing Islamic propagandas. Most teachers are in same situation as the rest of population, where they have to have second or third jobs, therefore there is not that much of interest in education or enough care for "Amouzesh" let alone for "Parvarsh".
Regarding your other comment; regardless of any circumstances, a sixteen years old individual's brain development, behavior, experience, understanding and many other subjects including what mentioned above is not functioning the same as an adult; granted a young individual at age 17, and 11 month would be the same person at age of 18 and 2 days, but again there must be a cut-of-date for the sake of separation of youth and adulthood.
It is extremely sad to see a young kid is dead, I can not even imagine how the parent feel, but killing the second kid as punishment is not correct, no matter what and how we try to justify it. Having said all that, I think the society, the government is to be blamed for all atrocities and oppression occurring in IRAN AND EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THIS WORLD.

aka curious joe

read Ali's blog and his first letter . He did NOT not own a knife nor took one to school ...read the facts ... or dont judge without knowing them

Ali was a child and should not be executed. PERIOD. Rest is irrelevant. 

If I was Ali's father ...

When I first read Ali’s story, I was outraged that a government and its justice system could execute a young innocent man.  Then, the more I looked into the story, I found that the little Ali did in fact confess that he took a knife to his school at age 16.  He did get into an argument with little Mazdak , but yet, Ali says he is innocent. While declaring a not-guilty plea, Ali says he has no idea who killed little Mazdak – who died that day from knife wounds.

Why a 16 year old was carrying a knife to a school is never discussed.  I remember the 1999 Columbine High School story in Colorado.  Almost everyone blamed the parents for bringing up the kind of children who took weapons to scholl and caused the massacre.  So, let’s take a look at Ali’s parents that brought up a child who admittedly carried a killing-knife to the school.

Maybe,Ali’s parents were one of the very Chaghoo-kesh Basijis that IRI governments admires and sends by bus loads to the universities and schools to maim and kill innocent kids like Mazdak.  If Ali’s father wants justice and forgiveness, he should start by putting the blame on the very government who rewards and puts on payroll a bunch of Chaghoo-kesh called Basijis.

As long as people like Ali’s mother revert to “praying to Allah”, then Ali’s father has no need to read Richard Dawkins’ book “The God Delusion”, or the 2007 Farsi book by Shoja-e-din Shafa, which is in its second printing in Spain, and is currently banned in Iran.   Ali’s parents can get the book via: //shopping.ketab.com/addprod.asp?id=17583&pgs=1&cat=1&all=Shojaedin

Great News! I hope and pray

Great News!
I hope and pray that now with the outpouring of
support of the Iranian people inside Iran, and the news all across the nation, the IRI will be forced under public pressure to show a positive reaction to this case.

How You Can Help:

by SCE Campaign on Wed Dec 12, 2007 08:35 PM PST

Please refer to the two urgent action calls by :

Stop Child Executions Campaign  and  Amnesty International

and here is more information about How you can Help.

Thank you for Caring

SCE Campaign