TEHRAN // Iran has spared the life of a convicted drug trafficker who survived a hanging, according to media reports on Wednesday quoting the Iranian justice minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi.
The reports follow calls from within Iran and appeals from international rights groups against the man found alive in a morgue facing execution for a second time.
“The convict who survived [the death penalty] will not be executed again,” Mr Pour Mohammadi said Tuesday in remarks reported by the official IRNA news agency.
“After putting much effort to prevent the second execution of this convict, we have received a positive response,” he said without elaborating.
All judicial affairs and decisions in the Islamic republic rest with the judiciary, which constitutionally operates independently from the government.
The convict, identified only as Alireza M, 37, was pronounced dead earlier this month by the attending doctor after hanging for 12 minutes from a noose suspended from a crane at a jail in north-east Iran.
But the next day, staff at the mortuary in the city of Bojnourd where his shrouded body was taken discovered he was still breathing.
Media later reported that he had fallen into a coma.
Mr Pour Mohammadi implied that a second execution would be damaging for Iran’s image. “If he survives, it is not expedient to hang him again,” said the minister.
The incident led to a heated debate between jurists, with some arguing against a repeat hanging and others for.
According to the media, a petition signed by jurists and attorneys was sent to judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, appealing for a stay in the exceptional case.
Amnesty International also called for an immediate stay of execution for Alireza M.
Iran has one of the highest rates of execution in the world, with more than 500 cases last year and some 508 executions so far this year, according to Human Rights Watch.
* Agence France-Presse
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The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe
Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads
Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance
They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
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