IRAN. TEEN SET TO ESCAPE EXECUTION

July 25, 2007: an Iranian teenager awaiting execution for murdering a drug dealer while he was a minor was saved from the gallows after his family reached a financial settlement with the victim’s kin, his lawyer said. Sina Paymard, 19, was 16 when he murdered a drug dealer in a fight over drugs. Paymard’s family was unable to raise the “blood money” asked for by the victim’s family. The remaining 800 million rials (86,000 dollars), was donated by Dr Rassoul Ganji, a businessman and university professor.
“It is not the first time he has paid to save someone from execution,” lawyer Nasrin Sotudeh said. (Sources: Daily Times , 26/06/2007)