IRAN: Iranian cleric praises executions

Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati praises the country's judiciary for hanging 16 men convicted for various offences including rape and kidnapping. A senior Iranian cleric praised on Friday (July 27) the country's judiciary for executing 16 men convicted for various offences including rape and kidnapping. "The execution of those convicted was one of the best political and cultural actions that has ever taken place," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a conservative cleric who heads the constitutional watchdog the Guardian Council, told Friday prayer worshippers in Tehran. Some 12 men convicted of various charges including rape, kidnapping and drug-smuggling were executed on Sunday (July 22) inside Tehran's Evin prison, only a few days after four others were hanged for similar crimes. Iranian police have arrested dozens of people in recent weeks as part of a regular summer crackdown on "immoral behaviour". A number of women have also been arrested for flouting Islamic dress code, imposed since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Tehran public prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi told state television that 17 more criminals who have been arrested in the the crackdown would be hanged soon. Iran's 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi criticized the hangings in a statement saying her human rights group was worried that some people arrested for burning fuel stations were among those hanged. At least a dozen pump stations were attacked in June after the government started to ration fuel in the No. 2 OPEC oil producer. At Friday prayers, Jannati said there should be more executions and the public should support them. "Such actions should happen again and people should support and follow it," Jannati told gathered worshippers. Iran has one of the highest rates of execution in the world, according to Amnesty International. Since the beginning of 2007, at least 124 people have been put to death.

ITN Source | July 28, 2007

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