http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=18348The authorities are unrepentant in spite of claims that some of the 15 men executed were convicted as a result of flawed trials. From IWPR.
By Hafizullah Gardesh in Kabul for IWPR (13/11/07)
Government officials are defending last month's execution of 15 prisoners, in spite of claims that convictions were unsafe and that the operation was a roadside slaughter.
The authorities have been severely criticized for the escape of Afghanistan's most notorious criminal Timor Shah, who was sentenced to death for kidnapping, rape and murder. It is not clear how Timor Shah managed to avoid the 7 October execution, which reportedly took place at 9:30pm by the side of a road on the outskirts of Kabul.
General Abdul Salam Esmat, head of Afghanistan's prisons, was evasive about the circumstances of the escape.
"It is said that Timor Shah was taken to the execution hall but disappeared because of technical reasons," he told IWPR. "Investigators are questioning those present on the scene."
A senior prosecutor, Sarbeland, told The Times of London that he was charged with observing the execution, and described a chaotic scene. As some of the shackled prisoners tried to run when Timor Shah jumped over a wall and fled, it took between five and 10 minutes for a firing squad to mow them down and finish them off, he said.
Even before details emerged, the incident drew criticism from human rights groups and foreign diplomats. But Afghan officials remain unrepentant, despite the controversy and an ongoing investigation.
"{Afghanistan} has full authority to implement its civil and Islamic laws," said the president's spokesman Humayun Hamidzada in an interview. "As long as Afghanistan's laws allow for execution, the government will implement it and will not be pressured by anyone."
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