“For 300 drug-related convicts, including those who were in
possession of at least 30 grams of heroin, execution verdicts have been
issued,” Sharq daily quoted Tehran prosecutor-general Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi
as saying on Monday.
Although the list was long it did not contain any big-time
traffickers or ringleaders, he said. All the convicts face death by hanging.
Amnesty International says Iran is second only to China for
the number of executions, with at least 252 people put to death last year.
As well as drug trafficking, murder, adultery, rape, armed
robbery and apostasy are all punishable by death under Shariah law practised
since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Iran dismisses criticisms of its justice system, saying it
is implementing Islamic law and accuses the West of double standards.
Drug trafficking and addiction are major problems in Iran
which has a long, porous border with Afghanistan, the world’s main source of
heroin. Iran hanged six convicted drugs smugglers last Thursday, when a total
of 11 criminal were executed, five of them in public.
