Yet another juvenile execution in Iran

Not economics and not any usual social topics. When I was younger I used to do a fair bit of anti-death penalty stuff. Don't do much and little shocks me. Still, Iran's habits still disgust me. Here is a quote about a recent execution from Hands off Cain (Nessuno Tocchi Caino):

Behnoud Shojaee was executed on October 11, at Tehran's Evin Prison. He was convicted of murdering another boy, Omid, in June 2005, when he was 17 years old. His execution had been halted five times earlier, due to international pressure and attempts by his lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei and other human rights defenders. Two times he was sent back just seconds before being hung. He was already outside in the courtyard, with the noose ready.

Three of Iran’s most prominent movie directors and actors opened a joint account to help raise money for his “diyeh” (blood money) and they raised 100 million toman (70,000 euro), convincing Omid’s family to grant the pardon. But in an unprecedented step, the Iranian judiciary froze the bank account, summoned the artists and threatened that “they shall be investigated” under special laws passed in 1997 against corruption, embezzlement, and misappropriation. Omid’s parents backed out and they were allowed to hang Behnoud with their own hands.

Here is the link to the story which is also on Iranian.com (where the photo of the evil murder came from).

Here in Lesotho the death penalty still exists. At the moment there are a few appeals going through to commute the death sentences of several people of the murder of a textile factory manager. It is not possible however, because the files/dockets have been lost. What a wonderfully professional way to deal with people's lives.