FCO Minister appalled by public executions in Iran
Minister Alistair Burt says UK condemns the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.
Speaking today Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt said:
“I am appalled by reports that four men in Iran were publicly executed by suspension strangulation on a beach in Bandar Abbas on 20 April. I am concerned by the reports that two of the men were juvenile offenders. The United Kingdom condemns the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. Death by strangulation and the execution of juvenile offenders are particularly abhorrent.
Iran has already executed almost 200 people this year - more than any other country in the whole of 2010 except China. This is a worrying statistic and a further sign that the Iranian regime is systematically undermining the rights and lives of its own people. I call on Iran to cease the use of the death penalty.”