Iran: public hanging in Gilan province

October 22, 2008: A young man identified as Qanbar Kelari was hanged in public outside Nashtaroud prison in the northern province of Gilan. The 34-year-old Kelari cried, "I am innocent", but that did not save him from facing the gallows minutes later.

The crowd watching the hanging turned against the security forces and local judiciary officials carrying out the sentence. The clashes between Nashtaroud residents and State Security Forces lasted for hours stopping transfer of the prisoner's corpse from the scene.

On January 31, the mullahs' judiciary chief, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, ordered death penalty should be carried out behind close doors.

"We have repeatedly seen that people expressed sympathy with the person who was going to be hanged in public. People even expressed their abhorrence at the execution of the sentence," said the assistant prosecutor for sentences in Tehran's criminal prosecution office, the state-run daily Javan reported on January 31.

"With far less expenditure, executions could be carried out in prison," he added.

The state-run websites also admitted to the adverse effects of public hangings and noted that the victims' gestures before being hanged deeply affected the young people and left heroes image in their minds. These websites regretted that in addition to generating hatred among people, public hangings have also damaged the status of the regime in the world.

Source: NCRI, 22/10/2008

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