April 17
IRAN----execution
Rapist hanged in public
An Iranian convicted of raping and abducting more than 40 schoolgirls was
hanged in public on Saturday but his teenage son accomplice was reprieved,
the local press reported.
Mousa Ali Mohammadi, 40, was hanged in a central square in Isfahan in an
execution watched by 5000 cheering people, the conservative daily Kayhan
reported in its afternoon issue.
His son Rasoul, who is reportedly between 16 and 17, escaped execution
because of "ambiguities" about his age, according to local judicial
officials quoted in the press.
Both were convicted of raping and stealing gold and jewellery from
schoolgirls aged 11 to 17, according to newspaper reports.
Iran is under strong international pressure, particularly from the
European Union, to stop the execution of minors.
Human rights organisation Amnesty International reported at least 159
people including 3 minors were executed in Iran last year, the highest
rate in the world after China.
It said 1 minor has gone to the gallows this year.
The judiciary announced in October that it would raise the age for
executions and floggings to over 18. But the bill has not yet been
submitted to parliament.
Since the start of this year, Iran has executed 13 people, according to
witnesses and reports in the Iranian press.
Murder, armed attacks, rape, apostasy and drug trafficking of more than
five kilograms are punishable by death in Iran.
(source: News 24.com)
SINGAPORE:
Amnesty urges Singapore to halt executions----Human rights group Amnesty
International has appealed for Singapore's Government to declare a
moratorium on executions.
A Melbourne man is currently on death row after being convicted for heroin
smuggling.
According to Amnesty, Singapore executes more people than any other
country relative to its population size.
It renewed the call for Singapore to abolish the death penalty by citing
unofficial figures that claim 6 people were executed by hanging last year.
Singapore's President, SR Nathan, is currently considering an appeal for
clemency in the case of Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van.
He was arrested with 400 grams of heroin at Changi Airport 3 years ago.
If the appeal fails, Nguyen will be hanged.
The 24-year-old has been helping a Federal Police investigation into an
Australia-based international drug syndicate in the hope that cooperation
would strengthen the pardon application.
(source: Amnesty International)
