Iran 'adulterer' stoned to death

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The Iranian judiciary says a man has been stoned to death for adultery - the first time it has confirmed such an execution in five years.

Jafar Kiani was executed last week in a village in north-west Qazvin province.

Amnesty International said Mr Kiani and Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, 43, were convicted of adultery more than a decade ago.

The human rights group has appealed for Ms Ebrahimi to be spared. Adultery is a capital offence, punishable by stoning, under Iran's Islamic law.

In 2002, the judiciary suspended the practice.

To execute a woman for adultery in this cruel way simply beggars belief Kate Allen Amnesty International

But Mr Kiani was reportedly executed on 5 July in Aghche Kand.

Mr Kiani and Ms Ebrahimi were said to have been married to others at the time of their arrest.

Buried to waist

They were sent to Choubin prison, Qazvin, where Ms Ebrahimi is thought to remain with her two children.

Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said: "To execute anyone by stoning is barbaric and disgraceful. To execute a woman for adultery in this cruel way simply beggars belief.

"Iran should abolish the sentence of stoning once and for all."

Under the punishment of stoning, a male convict is buried up to his waist with his hands tied behind his back, while a female offender is buried up to her neck with her hands also buried.

The stoning brings to at least 110 the number of executions carried out in the Islamic republic so far this year, most of them by hanging and often in public.