Some Good News From Iran for A Change

Iran chief judge limits public executions

[JURIST] Iran's chief judge issued a ban [IRNA report] Wednesday against all public executions not specially permitted by the head of the judiciary. Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi [Wikipedia profile] also banned the publication of pictures and videos of executions and ordered state prosecutors to enforce the bans. Commentators said that Shahroudi probably wants to remove executions from the public eye [BBC report] following harsh international criticism of Iran's execution practices, including stoning [JURIST report] and the execution of juveniles [JURIST report]. Shahroudi, who is a moderate conservative, was also responsible for issuing a 2002 moratorium against stoning and declaring a ban on using torture to force confessions.