Iranian Clergyman Stoned to Death
An Iranian clergymen was stoned to death in Tehran today after being convicted of corruption, drinking alcohol and possessing narcotics, Tehran Radio reported.
It said Ali Shahidi was sentenced to die by a special Islamic court set up to try corrupt clergymen.
The broadcast, monitored in Nicosia, referred to Shahidi as a “pseudo-clergyman.”
He was the seventh Iranian to be executed in Tehran in the last two weeks.
Under Islamic law, execution by stoning is generally carried out when a person is convicted of sexual crimes, including homosexuality, prostitution and adultery.
It was the first execution by stoning reported in Tehran this year. Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group, said in its 1987 annual report that six men and two women were stoned to death last year on charges that included adultery, prostitution and murder.
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