IRAN: FOUR PEOPLE HANGED IN PUBLIC ON A BEACH IN BANDAR ABBAS

April 21, 2011: Four people were hanged in public in the city of Bandar Abbas, south of Iran, this morning. At least two of those who were hanged were 17 years old at the time of the alleged offence. Three of the men were convicted of murdering a 15 years old boy on November 30th 2008. Another man was convicted of raping a girl on May 8th 2009. The three men in the murder case were arrested few months after the alleged offence. At that time they were identified as "S. N." (18 years old), "A. N." (17 years old) and "H. B." (17 years old). It is not clear whether "S.N." was 18 or 17 years old at the time of the alleged offence which was several months prior to the arrest. The person who was convicted of raping a 17 years old girl in 2009 was identified as "S. M." (22 years old). The men were hanged in the popular beach area of "Bostan-e saheli-e Ghadir" under strict security measures.
"Bostan-e- Saheli-e Ghadir" is a popular beach area used for beach sports or photographing the sunset. (Sources: Iran Human Rights, 25/04/2011)