Iran justice minister expects fewer executions under revised drug law
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GENEVA - Iran's justice minister said on Tuesday a recent reform of its drug laws should lead to fewer executions after the UN Secretary General said he remained alarmed about their high number - nearly 500 last year.
As Ali Reza Avai addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council, protesters rallied outside against the senior official who is on European Union and Swiss sanctions lists over alleged involvement in violations including arbitrary arrests and a rise in executions while he was president of the Tehran judiciary.
Avai was a senior judiciary official during the 1980s and the Mujahedin-e Khalq, an Iranian opposition group, accuses him of playing a role in the Islamic Republic's execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.
