Mohammad Olyaeifard started serving a one year sentence on 1 May 2010. He was arrested because of an interview in which he spoke out against the execution of one of his clients, Behnoud Shojaee. Shojaee was 17 years old at the time of the murder he was eventually hanged for, and thus a minor according to international law. The Iranian authorities maintain that boys reach adolescence around their fifteenth birthday, and may be judged accordingly from that moment. There is a lot of opposition against this; because of his opposition, Olyaeifard has been convicted now. Olyaeifard has defended more death sentenced juveniles and is seen as a vocal critic of such violations of international norms.
