Three more executed in Iran

SMCCDI:

By AFP - World News

Aug 10, 2005, 05:12

TEHRAN - Three Iranian men convicted of drug trafficking have been hanged in the western city of Hamedan, the Etemad daily reported Wednesday.

The men only identified as Hamid Reza, Nosratollah and Reza were hanged Tuesday by the Hamedan revolutionary court for possession and sale of more than 10 kilos (22 pounds) of opium and heroin, the report said without specifying whether the hangings took place in public.

So far this year, Iran has executed at least 46 people, according to an AFP tally based on witness and press reports.

In 2004 at least 159 people were executed in the Islamic republic -- the highest rate in the world after China -- according to Amnesty International.

Iran's capital offences include murder, rape, armed robbery, apostasy, blasphemy, serious drug trafficking, repeated sodomy, adultery or prostitution, treason and espionage.

SMCCDI Note: Islamic regime uses labels, such as above, in order to qualify most of its arrested armed opponents. Such policy help its European and Asian partners to justify, vis a vis their public opinion, the continuation of their economic relations with a repressive regime.