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National Council of Resistance of Iran screens video of public hanging in Iran |
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Friday, 24 June 2005 |
 Media CoverageLONDON (AP) _ An Iranian opposition group screened a
gruesome video Wednesday showing two men being hanged before crowds in
Iran, saying the executions were punishment for adultery.
LONDON (AP) _ An Iranian opposition group screened a gruesome video
Wednesday showing two men being hanged before crowds in Iran, saying
the executions were punishment for adultery.
With hundreds gathered to watch, nooses hanging from lowered cranes
were placed around the men's heads. The arm of each crane was then
straightened, killing the men and leaving their bodies dangling.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran said the video footage was
shot in August 2004 in the Iranian town of Khoramabad by an opponent of
the government. It was smuggled out of the country several days ago,
the group said. The footage was screened in central London Wednesday.
Omid Daavati, shown being hanged in the video, pleaded with his
uniformed executioners to remove a white blindfold from his eyes. His
hands were tied behind his back and his feet bound together.
"I want to see the people," he said, according to a translation
provided by the council. "I have no fear. This has been my destiny."
Also shown was the hanging of a man identified as Ali Ilvanian. The
council said the two were hanged on the same day indifferent parts of
Khoramabad. The group said another man, Safar Khashiani, was executed
in the city on the same day, but it did not have footage of that
execution.
Amnesty International reported that Iranexecuted 159 people in 2004,
which it said was the second-highest number of executions in any
country. China had the most.
Convicts are hanged in public in Iran only ifa court deems that their
offenses deeply affected public sentiment. Iranian courts are
controlled by hard-liners.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg of human rights abuses in Iran,"
said Hossein Abedini, a member of the council's foreign affairs
committee. "The situation has badly deteriorated" in recent years, he
said.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran ispart of the
Mujahedin-e-Khalq, which is designated a terrorist organization by the
United States and the European Union.
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