January 12, 2009	Monday	Muharram 14, 1430

TEHRAN, Jan 11: Two men have been stoned to death for adultery at a cemetery in the northeastern city of Mashhad while a third escaped with his life, the Iranian newspaper Etemad Melli reported on Sunday.

The reformist daily, quoting a statement from a group of lawyers and women’s rights activists, said the stoning was carried out at Behesht Reza cemetery in the first week of the Iranian month of Day, which runs from Dec 21 to 26.

“One of them named Mahmoud, an Afghan national, was able to save himself from the stoning hole with serious injuries, but two others died,” it said, identifying one of the men killed as Houshang Kh.

An Iranian newspaper reported earlier this month that a man named Houshang Kh. had been executed for rape and adultery. It said the man was a follower of the banned Bahai faith.—AFP