March 6
SAUDI ARABIA:
Saudi Arabia Postpones Mass Execution, Crucifixion
7 young Saudi men received a stay of execution Tuesday.
They were due to be put to death for armed robbery.
The alleged ringleader was to be crucified.
The others, shot by firing squad.
It's not known why the executions were postponed, or for how long.
Human Rights Watch has protested the case.
Spokesperson Tamara al-Rifai said several of the men were legally children at
the time the gang allegedly robbed jewelry stores in 2005.
"Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child," says al-Rifai, "which prohibits the death penalty for those under
18."
She adds that according to the information received by Human Rights Watch, the
men were denied a fair trial, including being denied legal representation.
Saudi Arabia defends its handling of the case, saying Islamic law, or Sharia,
is "above all."
(source: The World)
IRAN:
Bankers Get Death Penalty After $2.6B Scandal
The outcome of the biggest banking fraud case in Iran's history was made
official on February 18. According to Associated Press, 4 bankers have been
sentenced to death in Iran for their role in a $2.6B scandal, while 2 more
bankers were given life sentences, and 33 more accomplices will spend up to 25
years in jail, the chief prosecutor was quoted as saying. This is the biggest
banking fraud in Iran's history, and the stiff decision reveals that the
bankers in Iran don't run the country.
Iran's Supreme Court upheld the sentence passed at the trial last summer.
Attorney General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei told reporters that the 4 bankers
were guilty of corruption and "disrupting the country's economic system." The
scandal involved the use of forged documents in order to receive credit from
banks, which enabled them to purchase state-owned companies.
Iran's PressTV said that, according to the indictment, the owners of Aria
Investment Development Company, which has 35 offshoots active in diverse
business activities, had bribed bank managers to get loans and letters of
credit.
The 4 people sentenced to death include Aria President Mahafarid Amir-Khosravi,
his legal adviser, Behdad Behzadi, his financial solicitor, Iraj Shoja and the
head of the Ahvaz branch of Saderat Bank, Saeed Kiani Rezazadeh. The president
of the Bank Melli branch in the city of Kish was sent to prison for life.
Former Deputy Minister Khodamorad Ahmadi has been sentenced to 10 years in
prison. Several others involved have also been slapped with heavy fines and
many have also been prohibited from holding public office.
These sentences should send a strong message to bankers across the globe, who
have been engaged in massive fraud and corruption. Political leaders spend a
lot of time debating over how to deal with our crumbling economy. Ending
systemic abuse would undoubtedly have a positive ripple effect. But no central
bankers have been arrested in light of the recent financial debacle.
It is of interest to note that Iceland, a country that successfully resisted a
targeted takeover by the bankers, has also found the political will to
prosecute bankers and high-ranking government officials involved in that
country's banking scandal, including Iceland's ex-prime minister.
In contrast, the United States has refused to sentence its own bankers, who are
responsible for the current economic crisis, or even fine them, although
overwhelming evidence exists of their guilt. Both Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan
Chase got a pass for having deliberately defrauded the American public of many
billions of dollars. Instead they got rewarded with a $700B taxpayer bailout
package in 2008 and also received trillions of dollars??? worth of
interest-free handouts from the Federal Reserve. The U.S. government is being
hypocritical when it declares Iran's central bank a criminal organization. In
truth, Iran is executing and jailing corrupt bankers, while our government is
rewarding them with trillions of dollars in bailouts, sweetheart deals and
interest-free loans.
(source: American Free Press)
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