Iran hangs 11 drug traffickers
2011-11-24 20:26
-
Lonely Planet Iran
Hardcore travelers are looking beyond the sensational headlines and continuing to explore this...
Now R309.00
buy now
Tehran - Iran on Thursday hanged 11 convicted drug traffickers in a prison of the southern city of Shiraz, the website of state broadcaster IRIB reported.
The 11, whose identities were not given, were sent to the gallows for possessing and trafficking in heroin, opium and morphine, the report said. It did not provide further details.
The hangings bring to 257 the number of executions in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on media and official reports.
Human Rights Watch counted 388 executions in Iran in 2010. Amnesty International put the figure at 252, ranking the Islamic republic second only to China in the number of people put to death last year.
Iran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order, and that it is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.
Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.
