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Iran executes 29 in jail hangings | Iran executes 29 in jail hangings |
(21 minutes later) | |
Reports from Iran say 29 people have been executed by hanging in Tehran. | Reports from Iran say 29 people have been executed by hanging in Tehran. |
Among them were convicts found guilty of murder, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking, state television IRIB reported on its website. | |
All the executions took place on Sunday morning in Tehran's Evin prison, the report said. | All the executions took place on Sunday morning in Tehran's Evin prison, the report said. |
Amnesty International, the human rights group, said that last year Iran carried out 317 executions, a higher total than any other country apart from China. | |
The latest hangings were carried out after the death sentences were approved by the country's Supreme Court, IRIB reported. | |
"Twenty-nine drug smugglers and well-known bandits were hanged in Evin prison on Sunday at dawn," the statement said. | |
"These criminals had smuggled thousands of kilos of narcotics in the country and outside the country." | |
Human rights groups have accused Iran of making excessive use of the death penalty but Tehran insists it is an effective deterrent that is used only after a lengthy judicial process. |
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