Iran hangs 20 people convicted of drug trafficking

2009-07-04 19:13:03 -

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's official news agency reports that 20 people have been hanged in Iran on charges of drug trafficking.
IRNA said Saturday that all of the 20 had been convicted of buying, selling and possessing various kinds of narcotics.
The sentences were carried out at a prison in Karaj, 30 kilometers (20 miles) west of the capital Tehran.
The convicts ranged in age from 35 to 48 years old.
Two days earlier, Iran hanged another six people convicted of drug trafficking.
Murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's Islamic penal law. Iran has executed more than 120 people this year according to media reports.
The country does not publish official statistics on executions.