Four of the men accused in a gang rape have been sentenced to death.
The Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reports that Gholamreza Ansari, the head of the Esfahan Justice Department, told a press conference today that four of the accused in this case have been sentenced to death for rape and will be hanged in public in Khomeinishahr.
Three more accused have been sentenced to imprisonment and lashes and another was acquitted.
The accused in the case are charged with entering a private orchard in Khomeinishahr, Esfahan and raping the women after locking up the men in attendance.
Farid Salavati, the journalist who reported on the incident, was arrested and held for a week of interrogation.
The head of the Justice Department announced that the accused have 20 days to appeal their sentence.
In recent months, many political figures have sounded alarm bells over the deterioration of public safety in Iran. In response, many senior government officials, including Tehran’s Prosecutor, have lashed out against the media for overzealous reporting.
