Nicosia:
Iranian authorities executed on Friday a 23-year-old woman convicted of a murder allegedly committed when she was still a teenager, Amnesty International said, expressing outrage over the execution.
Delara Darabi was found guilty of murdering a relative during a burglary she carried out along with a friend at the age of 17.
"Amnesty International is outraged at the execution of Delara Darabi, and particularly at the news that her lawyer was not informed," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's deputy chief for the Middle East and North Africa.
The execution went ahead on Friday morning at the Rasht central prison, northwest of Tehran, "despite the legal requirement that he (the lawyer) should receive 48 hours' notice," she said.
"This appears to have been a cynical move on the part of the authorities to avoid domestic and international protests which might have saved Delara Darabi's life," Sahraoui added.
Amnesty said that Darabi who "developed a significant talent as a painter" during her imprisonment, was the second person executed this year "after being convicted of a crime she was alleged to have committed while still under 18."
She was "executed despite her having been given a two-month stay of execution by the head of the judiciary on 19 April," it said.