Iran says man stoned to death for adultery

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TEHRAN, July 10 (AFP): Iran said Tuesday that a man convicted of adultery had been stoned to death in a village in northwestern Iran, the first time it has confirmed such an execution in five years.
"This case has been recently executed in the village that was mentioned," judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told reporters about the stoning of Jafar Kiani in a village in Qazvin province.
Under Iran's Islamic law, adultery is still theoretically punishable by stoning although in late 2002, judiciary head Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi had issued a directive suspending the practice.
In June, the Fars news agency reported that the judiciary had halted the stoning of a man and a woman in Qazvin province, believed to be the same man who has now been executed.
The judiciary had up until now vehemently denied any stonings since 2002, although rights activists and press reports have on occasion claimed that such verdicts have been carried out.
Under the punishment of stoning, a male convict is buried up to his waist with his hands tied behind his back, while a female offender is buried up to her neck with her hands also buried.