JURIST - Paper Chase: Iran executes contractor convicted of corruption

[JURIST] An Iranian airport customs contractor convicted of corruption has been executed and three other customs workers are scheduled to face the death penalty [JURIST news archive], according to comments from the Iranian judiciary [official website] reported by Reuters Tuesday. The convicted individuals apparently accepted bribes totaling more than $1 million in connection with their positions at the Mehrabad airport in Tehran. Few other details were given about the offenses, described as "office corruption and other economic crimes" by Iranian judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi. Jamshidi could not confirm whether the execution was Iran's first administered for an economic crime. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [official profile; BBC profile] has taken a tough stance again corruption and bribery, but to date violators have reportedly been sentenced only to prison time and public lashings. An appeal is under review as the three workers seek to commute their death sentences to life in prison.

Last April, an Amnesty International report [text; JURIST report] named Iran as having one of the three highest execution rates in the world, along with China and Pakistan. Most executions in the country are carried out by hanging and are related to more traditional capital crimes including murder and rape. Reuters has more.

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