Iraqi authorities execute 11 convicted terrorists

Iraqi authorities on Thursday executed 11 people convicted in different terrorism cases, the country's justice ministry announced in a communique 

Baghdad: On Thursday, the Iraqi ministry announced that 11 convicted terrorists had been executed, the first such group to be put to death in 2014.

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This week, the authorities have so far executed 37 convicts in Iraq.

The 37 convicts were all Iraqis and among them was Adel al Mashadani, well-known for "his sectarian crimes in Baghdad," authorities said.

The new executions came despite the opposition of Iraqi and international human rights organisations, who criticised the application of the death penalty.

Justice Minister Hasan al Shamri recently responded to those criticisms, saying that the executions are "legitimate" and the result of definitive judicial rulings.

Iraq executed dozens of people sentenced for terrorism-related crimes last year under judicial procedures that "could be illegal", according to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

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