Iran’s ‘medieval’ public execution slammed by rights groups
- A man convicted of the capital crime of ‘corruption on earth’ was executed in front of large crowds in East Azerbaijan
- Iran executes more people annually than any nation other than China, according to rights groups such as Amnesty International
Iranian authorities on Thursday executed a man in public in front of large crowds, a rights group said, denouncing a “medieval” practice as the Islamic republic presses on with a surge in hangings.
The man, who had been convicted of the capital crime of “corruption on earth”, was executed in the city of Maragheh in the northern province of East Azerbaijan, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said.
“The international community cannot endorse such medieval practices,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, adding the execution shows the “true face of a government that tries to prolong its life with cruelty, humiliation and intimidation of society”.
The images posted on Iranian news websites showed what appeared to be hundreds of people gathered to watch the execution, kept at a distance behind a security tape, as prosecutors addressed reporters.
The man was shown blindfolded next to his two executioners in balaclavas. Another image showed him standing on a chair ahead of the execution with the noose round his neck, and then hanging in the air from a rope attached to a crane once dead. The moment of death itself was not shown.
The convict, who was first arrested some five years ago and not named, had been found guilty of charges related to his relations with women although the specific nature of the alleged crimes was not immediately clear.