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<H1>Report: Serial Killers Cleared by Iranian Supreme Court as Victims'
Activities Were Un-Islamic</H1>
<P><STRONG>Sunday , April 15, 2007</STRONG></P>
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<P>The Iranian Supreme Court has vacated the murder convictions of a group of
serial killers because their victims were engaging in un-Islamic activities, the
British Broadcasting Corp. reports.</P>
<P>The men were convicted for a series of grisly killings in the southeastern
city of <A href="javascript:siteSearch('Kerman');"><B>Kerman</B></A> in 2002.
The vigilantes were said to believe that Islam condoned the killing of anyone
engaged in illicit activities if they issued two warnings to the victims, the
BBC reports.</P>
<P>At least 18 people were killed on the murder spree, but the men were only
tried for five of the deaths. Some of the victims were stoned, others were
suffocated and at least one man was buried alive, according to the vigilantes'
confessions.</P>
<P>These men told the court that their understanding of the teachings of one
Islamic cleric allowed them to kill <A
href="javascript:siteSearch('immoral people');"><B>immoral people</B></A> if
they had ignored two warnings to stop their bad behavior, according to the
BBC.</P>
<P>The <A href="javascript:siteSearch('Supreme Court');"><B>Supreme
Court</B></A> has overturned the verdict of a lower court that found all the men
guilty of murder five times, according to lawyers for the victims' families. The
vigilantes may still be liable for monetary damages.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>