Teenager's execution suspended in Iran after lawyer files for case to be reinvestigated

Mohammad Boroughani was sentenced to death for allegedly setting a government building on fire and attacking a security officer with a knife

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tehran has been accused of failing to follow due process in trials involving protesters who took to the streets after the death of Mahsa Amini. EPA

A teenager's death sentence was suspended after his lawyer filed for the reinvestigation of his case, state-owned Iranian news agency Mizan has said.

Mohammad Boroughani, 19, was being tried in the Revolutionary Court, said Mizan, which is affiliated to the judiciary.

He was charged with sowing “corruption on earth” after allegedly setting a government building on fire and attacking a security official with a knife.

The charge is often levelled against anti-government activists and protesters, and often carries the death penalty.

Iran has been accused of failing to follow due process in trials that have resulted in capital punishment verdicts for protesters who took to the streets after the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in police custody last September.

The teenager's case was brought to light by international rights groups, which also criticised the lack of transparency in the sentencing process.

Last month, Iranian authorities executed Mohsen Shekari less than three weeks after his sentencing in what Amnesty International called a “grossly unfair sham trial”.

“The shocking way Mohsen Shekari’s trial was fast-tracked through Iran’s judicial system without allowing him the chance of a meaningful trial and appeal process is yet another illustration of the fact that the authorities are resorting to the death penalty as a weapon of political repression,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty's deputy director for the Mena region.

“The clear aim is to instil fear among the public in a desperate attempt to cling to power and end the popular uprising.”