[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 15



VIETNAM:

Hanoi court sentences 3 heroin traffickers to death


3 people were sentenced to death after a Hanoi court found them guilty
Friday of trafficking 1.8 kilograms (4 pounds) of heroin, a court clerk
said. Judges in the 3-day trial also handed life prison terms to 2 others
and jail sentences of between 10 months and 20 years to four more gang
members, the clerk from Hanoi People's Court said.

The defendants, several of whom came from the same extended family, were
convicted of trafficking the heroin from the northern mountainous Son La
province to Hanoi between June and August last year. In communist Vietnam
anyone found guilty of possessing more than 600 grams of heroin or over 20
kilograms of opium is given the death penalty.

(source: China Post)






IRAN:

Arbitrary executions in Iran cause concern


Arbitrary executions in Iran continue unabated causing concern among human
rights bodies. The number of executions since the beginning of 2007 has
gone beyond 250 which far exceeds the total number throughout 2006. The
following report is by Amnesty International on September 13 expressing
fear of imminent executions:

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/111/2007

13 September 2007

Further Information on UA 57/06 (MDE 13/023/2006, 10 March 2006) and
follow-ups (MDE 13/073/2006, 29 June 2006; MDE 13/085/2006, 1 August 2006;
MDE 13/041/2007, 2 April 2007) Death Penalty/Fear of imminent execution

IRAN Nazem Buraihi (m)

Aliredha Salman Delfi (m)

Ali Helfi (m)

Moslem al-Hai (m)

Yahia Nasseri (m)

Abdulzahra Halichi (m)

Abdul-Imam Zaeri (m)

Abdulredha Nawaseri (m), aged 32

Jaafar Sawari (m)

Mohammad Ali Sawari (m), aged 37, teacher, his brother

Abdulredha Nawaseri was reportedly executed on 11 September, together with
brothers Mohammad Ali and Jaafar Sawari, in Karoun Prison, Khuzestan
province.

Mohammad Ali Sawaris family were reportedly told on 27 August that he
would be executed within the next few days. Following the executions, the
men's families were also reportedly told that the bodies would not be
handed back to them but would be buried by the authorities.

Abdulredha Nawaseri had reportedly been arrested in 2000, but was
eventually charged in connection with bombings that took place in Ahwaz in
October 2005. His brother Mehdi Nawaseri was executed on 2 March 2006,
along with Ali Awdeh Afrawi, after they were convicted of involvement in
these bombings. They were shown along with seven other men, including
Jaafar Sawari, "confessing" on Khuzestan Provincial TV the day before they
were hanged. Jaafar Sawari had reportedly been arrested in September 2005
and Mohammad Ali Sawari on or around 4 November 2005.

Abdulredha Nawaseri and Jaafar Sawari, along with nine other men,
reportedly had their death sentences confirmed on 10 June 2006 by Branch 3
of the Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz. The 11 men, all members of Iran's
Arab minority, were reportedly accused of involvement in the October 2005
bombings. They were reportedly charged with being mohareb (at enmity with
God), as well as with "destabilising the country", "attempting to
overthrow the government", "possession of home made bombs", "sabotage of
oil installations" and carrying out bombings in Ahvaz, which took place
between June and October 2005. By the end of July 2006, the Supreme Court
had reportedly upheld Mohammad Ali Sawari's death sentence.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Much of Iran's Arab community lives in the province of Khuzestan, which
borders Iraq. It is strategically important because it is the site of much
of Irans oil reserves, but the Arab population does not feel it has
benefited as much from the oil revenue as the Persian population.
Historically, the Arab community has been marginalised and discriminated
against. Tension has mounted among the Arab population since April 2005,
after it was alleged that the government planned to disperse the country's
Arab population or to force them to relinquish their Arab identity.
Hundreds have been arrested and there have been reports of torture.
Following bomb explosions in Ahvaz City in June and October 2005, which
killed at least 14 people, and explosions at oil installations in
September and October 2005, the cycle of violence has intensified, with
hundreds of people reportedly arrested. Further bombings on 24 January
2006, in which at least 6 people were killed, were followed by further
mass arrests. A total of 16 men have now been executed as a result of
their alleged involvement in the bombings.

(source: National Council of Resistance of Iran - Foreign Affairs
Committee)