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Iran's parliament takes step to reduce drug-related executions

Xinhua, November 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Iranian lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favor of a motion under which some drug offenders would face imprisonment instead of execution, Tehran Times daily reported.

If the motion is ratified, the drug offenders who are not charged with armed smuggling and relevant capital crimes would face 25 to 30 years of imprisonment as a substitute for execution and life sentence, the report said.

"In the motion, emphasis has been put on replacing the execution of some drug traffickers with imprisonment," lawmaker Ezatollah Yousefian said.

Under Iranian law, those who commit capital crimes would face severe punishments, including death penalty.

In March 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council said that at least 966 people were put to death in Iran in 2015, adding that it's "roughly double the number executed in 2010 and 10 times as many as were executed in 2005." Iran denied the report as "incorrect." Endit