During the last week of December, 3 men were stoned to death in Behesht Reza Cemetery in Mashhad for the crime of adultery. One of them, an Afghan citizen by the name of Mahmoud, managed to forcibly escape from the stoning pit and survived. Unfortunately, the other two men, one of whom is named Hushang Khodadaeh and another who remains unidentified, were killed, pounded mercilessly with stones. This is the latest such case since the stoning deaths of Jafar Kiani in June 2007, and Mahboubeh M and Abbas H in May 2006. In addition, there are presently at least ten others locked up in several prisons around the country who are in danger of being stoned to death:
