|
Adulterer stoned to death
10/07/2007 22:42 - (SA)
Tehran - A man convicted of adultery was stoned to death last week in a village in northern Iran, an Iranian judiciary spokesperson said on Tuesday, the first time in years that the country has confirmed such an execution.
Jafar Kiani was stoned to death on Thursday in Aghchekand, 200km west of Tehran, said spokesperson Ali Reza Jamshidi.
Death sentences are carried out in Iran after they are upheld by the Supreme Court. Under Iran's Islamic law, adultery is punishable by stoning.
Jamshidi did not elaborate on how the stoning was carried out. Under Islamic rulings, a man is usually buried up to his waist, while a woman is buried up to her neck with her hands also buried. Those carrying out the verdict then throw stones until the condemned dies.
International human rights groups have long criticised stoning in Iran as a "cruel and barbaric" punishment.
The reported execution came two weeks after international pressure caused Iranian officials to delay carrying out the sentence against Kiani and his female companion, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, who also was sentenced to death by stoning. It was not known if a date had been set for her execution.
The couple reportedly had been in prison for 11 years.
- AP
|
News
