Sept. 18
IRAN----execution
Iran hangs convicted drug trafficker
Iran on Sunday hanged a convicted drug trafficker at a prison in the
northwestern city of Qazvin, the Mehr news agency reported.
It identified the convicted trafficker as 39-year-old Elias Babai Chegini.
His hanging raises to 200 the number of executions reported in Iran so far this
year, according to an AFP tally based on media and official reports.
Iranian media reported 179 hangings last year but international human rights
groups say the actual number was much higher, ranking the Islamic republic
second only to China in the number of people it executed in 2010.
Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order, and that
it is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.
Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are among the crimes
punishable by death in Iran.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
INDIA:
Maoists apologize for slaying villager in Jharkhand
The CPI-Maoist, in an unusual move, has admitted that it had committed a
"mistake" by executing one Niyamat Ansari and "apologized" for it. The party's
Bihar-Jharkhand-north Chhattisgarh-UP territory regional committee blamed the
outfit's "lower-level committee" that served the death penalty order on Ansari,
who hailed from Jerua village in Jharkhand's Latehar district.
Ansari and one Bhukhan Singh, who managed to escape, were working with
development economist Jean Dreze and the Gram Swaraj Sanstha, a MGNREGA
initiative. Social activists Aruna Roy, Nandlal Singh and Gokhul Basant took up
the duo's cause, and the rebels in retaliation put up posters against them.
In a statement, dated September 1, issued by the party's regional spokesperson
Manas, the demand for action against Dreze, Roy and others have been withdrawn.
"...Members of our lower level committee without applying their mind put up
posters asking for action against these intellectual friends in our people's
court. Also some words were used in a pamphlet, which were nowhere near
correct.., with the most heart-felt self-criticism we take back the decree
issued by our lower committee members and apologize to all the justice loving
intellectuals for these mistakes," the party said.
Assuring that "no action will be taken on Bhukhan Singh for the time being,"
the Maoists said, "we assure that we will do an in-depth fact finding in this
matter and try to present the truth behind this incident at the earliest".
(source: The Times of India)
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