Young man hanged in Iran prison

Young man HangingTehran, Iran, Aug. 18 – A 21-year old prisoner from the southern port city of Bandar Abbass was hanged in prison, a state-run daily reported on Thursday.

The young man, identified as Farshid Farighi, was hanged in prison after he was convicted of murder, according to the daily Javan.

Iran’s clergy-dominated Supreme Court upheld Farighi’s sentence and he was lashed 74 times before being hanged.

Farighi had attempted to escape from prison in July, according to the newspaper.

At least nine people have been executed according to reports by Iran’s state-owned press in the past eight days. Twelve death sentences have been handed down by Iran’s courts in the same period.

Human rights groups regularly express concern at the rising number of hangings in Iran, which has the highest rate of executions in the world after China.