Iran: Teenager Sentenced To Death For Drinking

Tehran, 11 January 2003 (RFE/RL) -- An Iranian newspaper today reported that a teenage boy had been sentenced to death by a Tehran court for repeated drinking of alcohol. The "Iran" newspaper said that the 19-year-old boy, identified only as Davoud, had been twice arrested and whipped for having been caught drinking alcohol.

The paper said that a court in Shahre Rey in southern Iran sentenced him to death as required by the country's Islamic laws for a third drinking violation.

The judge has referred the case to head of the country's judiciary, however, to consider commuting the sentence after the boy had admitted his errors and promised to give up drinking habit.