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Iran: les pendaisons publiques soumises à l'accord du chef du pouvoir judiciaire

TEHERAN (AFP) 30/01/2008 12h02

L'Iran a décidé de soumettre la décision de pendre publiquement un condamné à l'accord du chef du pouvoir judiciaire, et de ne plus autoriser la diffusion d'images de ces exécutions publiques.

"L'application publique des sentences de pendaison est permise uniquement avec l'accord du chef du pouvoir judiciaire", l'ayatollah Mahmoud Hachémi Shahroudi, a affirmé son porte-parole Alireza Jamshidi dans un communiqué reçu par l'AFP.

Par ailleurs, le décret de l'ayatollah, entré en vigueur au 29 janvier, interdit désormais toute publication dans les médias d'images des pendaisons publiques.

Cette décision pourrait diminuer le nombre d'exécutions publiques, dont le chiffre exact reste inconnu faute d'information précise des autorités.

Sur les 28 exécutions tenues dans le pays en janvier, au moins six l'ont été en public, selon un décompte de l'AFP à partir d'informations de presse.

Le décret de l'ayatollah Shahroudi prévoit que la peine capitale sera appliquée publiquement "en fonction des besoins de la société", sans autre détail.

Les juges iraniens ont fait preuve depuis plus d'un an d'une sévérité accrue à cet égard, dans le cadre d'une campagne pour améliorer "la sécurité de la société".

2007 a connu au moins 298 exécutions en Iran, selon le décompte de l'AFP, contre 177 en 2006, selon Amnesty international.

Le communiqué du pouvoir judiciaire remarque que la peine capitale "n'est applicable qu'à un très petit nombre de crimes et ne devrait pas être infligée ou rendue publique d'une façon telle que cela perturbe la société, et particulièrement la jeunesse".

Cette formule peut laisser penser que le chef du pouvoir judiciaire n'approuve pas nécessairement la forte augmentation du nombre de condamnations à la peine capitale.

La trahison, l'espionnage, le meurtre, l'attaque à main armée, le trafic de drogue, le viol, la pédérastie (comprendre "l'homosexualité", note du webmaster de ce site), l'adultère, la prostitution et l'apostasie sont passibles de mort en Iran.

L'augmentation du nombre de condamnations à mort en 2007 a attiré sur l'Iran de nombreuses critiques d'organisations internationales et iraniennes de défense des droits de l'Homme.

Le groupe de l'avocate iranienne et prix Nobel de la paix 2003 Shirin Ebadi a ainsi fustigé les autorités début janvier, après la pendaison d'une mère de deux enfants qui avait tué son mari.

Le Centre des défenseurs des droits de l'Homme, que dirige Me Ebadi, avait dénoncé l'influence d'un "courant extrémiste au sein du système judiciaire".

Les autorités iraniennes ont toujours défendu la légitimité de la peine capitale, en arguant de sa fonction dissuasive, selon elles, et du fait qu'elle n'est mise en oeuvre qu'à l'issue d'un long processus judiciaire.

La peine de mort est décidée par un juge et doit être confirmée par la Cour suprême, qui se prononce sur la forme et le fond du procès.

Elle est le plus souvent appliquée à l'aide d'une grue ou d'une potence, dans une prison ou sur une place publique.

L'été dernier, les autorités avaient procédé à l'exécution sur une des avenues de la capitale de deux hommes reconnus coupables du meurtre d'un juge.

L'Iran utilise aussi, mais très rarement, l'exécution par un peloton d'exécution.

Enfin, la lapidation pour adultère reste inscrite dans le code de procédure pénale, même si son application est théoriquement suspendue sur ordre de l'ayatollah Shahroudi depuis 2002.

Le pouvoir judiciaire a démenti à plusieurs reprises qu'une seule peine de lapidation ait été appliquée en Iran depuis, alors que des activistes proches du groupe de défense des droits des femmes ont prétendu le contraire.

Un homme a néanmoins été lapidé à mort en juin dans le nord-ouest, les autorités judiciaires locales ayant décidé de passer outre l'ordre de l'ayatollah Shahroudi.

Source : AFP

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