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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Iran: Man Hanged over Drug Charges in Shirvan, Man Hanged in Sari

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Iran Human Rights (IHR); August 24, 2019: A prisoner was hanged over drug-related charges at the central prison of Shirvan city, North Khorasan province Wednesday.

According to IHR sources, on the morning of Wednesday, August 21, a man was hanged at Shirvan Central Prison. His name was Morad Shahsavari.

“Morad Shahsavari was arrested for drug offenses. He had been in jail for three years and eight months before his execution,” a well-informed source told IHR. 

At least 110 people were executed in Iran in the first half of 2019; nine of them sentenced to death for drug offenses. 

Man Hanged in Sari City


Iran Human Rights (IHR); August 24, 2019: A prisoner was hanged for murder at a prison in the Iranian northern city of Sari Wednesday.

According to HRANA, on the morning of Wednesday, August 21, a man was hanged at a prison in the Iranian northern city of Sari, Mazandaran province. 

The man was identified as Abolhassan Ghorbani, 38. Abolhassan killed a man during a fight four years ago.

“Plaintiffs asked for money to forgive but the prisoner’s family were not rich enough to pay the blood money,” a well-informed source said.

According to the Iranian Islamic Penal Code (IPC) murder is punishable by qisas which means “retribution in kind” or retaliation. In qisas cases, the plaintiff has the possibility to forgive or demand diya (blood money). 

In this way, the State effectively puts the responsibility of the death sentence for murder on the shoulders of the victim’s family. 

In many cases, the victim's family are encouraged to put the rope is around the prisoner's neck and even carry out the actual execution by pulling off the chair the prisoner is standing on.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, August 24, 2019


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: Iran
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