Sat Aug 21, 2004
TEHRAN (Reuters)
- Iran has hanged three drug smugglers in a public square in the southern
province of Kerman, the Jomhuri-ye Eslami newspaper reported on Saturday.
Under Iran's strict Islamic law, in place since the 1979 revolution, the
death sentence is usually reserved for murder, rape, armed robbery and drug
trafficking.
Police seized 3.5 tons of opium and morphine, 11 Kalashnikov rifles and
other weapons from two of the men who were ringleaders of a drug-running
group, the paper said.
Iran is one of
the main trafficking routes for heroin and opium from Afghanistan heading to
Europe.
Rights groups' tables of executions worldwide consistently place Iran among
the top three. Estimates for 2003 range from 76 to 154 executions.
Courtesy of
Reuters