Iranian authorities hanged three men in public on Wednesday after they were convicted of Moharebeh (waging war against God) for armed robbery in Shiraz, south-central Iran. The first defendant was also accused of killing a policeman.
The victims who were identified by the state media as Siamak Eslaminia, Kourosh Gholizadeh and Foad Ghanemi were hanged at the city’s Payam square.
“Tens of children between 3 to 10 years old were among crowd along with their parents,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
The video of the scene published by the state media highlights the use of public executions, in which officials publicly hang convicts from a large crane or a high place in front of crowds.
Iranian authorities have acknowledged public executions of at least 10 people so far this year.
Iran is one of the countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty.
In a report released on April 12, Amnesty International said “more than half (51%) of all recorded executions in 2017 were carried out in Iran.”
Iran ranks second in the world after China in terms of executions and has “carried out 84% of the global total number of executions with Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.”
