Iran: 12 executed in Shiraz, 5 hanged in public

Iranian authorities carried out another 12 executions today, Sunday, in Shiraz. Five of the prisoners were hanged in public.

The Mehr News Agency reported that the executed people had been convicted of crimes that include “kidnapping, rape, armed robbery and drug smuggling.”

The seven prisoners convicted of drug charges were hanged at Shiraz Prison and the other five were hanged in public.

Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, the head of Iran’s judiciary, rejected criticism of the practice of public hangings. He insisted that the practice is based on Islamic law and is beyond reproach.

Human rights activists in Iran have been protesting capital punishment laws for years; however, Ayatollah Larijani, who took the helm of the judiciary in 2009, has shown less flexibility toward these protests. Iran has one of the world’s highest execution rates.

Source: radiozamaneh, January 15, 2012

12 executions in Shiraz (southern Iran); 5 executed in public

Iran Human Rights, January 15: According to the reports from Iran 12 prisoners were executed in the city of Shiraz (southern Iran) today January 15th.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) had earlier this week warned about the scheduled execution of nine prisoners in Shiraz.

According to the state run Iranian news agency Fars, five prisoners were hanged publicly in three different parts of Shiraz, while seven prisoners were were hanged in the Adelabad prison of Shiraz.

The five prisoners who were hanged in public were identified as:

1. Rahmat Heydari, convicted of kidnapping, murder and armed robbery. He was arrested four weeks ago and his judicial process lasted less than a month.

2. Esmaeil Hamidi Mahmood Abadi, convicted of armed robbery

3. Ali Hadavinia, convicted of armed robbery

4. Mohammad Nabi Tavakoli, convicted of kidnapping and rape

5. Ramin Darakhshan, convicted of rape and kidnapping

Age of none of the prisoners was mentioned in the report.

According to this report seven other prisoners were hanged in the Adelabad prison of Shiraz this morning. All these prisoners were convicted of drug-related offences and none of them were identified by name.

Along with todays’s executions at least 54 people have been executed in Iran in the first two weeks of January 2012.

Source: Iran Human Rights, January 16, 2012

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