IRAQ: 77 PEOPLE EXECUTED LAST YEAR

January 5, 2010: Iraq executed 77 people last year, all of whom were convicted of terrorism-related offences, the country's supreme court said.
"Seventy-seven death sentences were enforced in 2009," the head of the court Medhat al-Mahmud said in a statement.
According to the court, the prisoners were found guilty in "cases related to terrorism" and their punishment was applied as a matter of priority.
Last month, human rights group Amnesty International said that at least 120 prisoners had been executed by Iraq in 2009, and a further 900 remained on death row.
There was no immediate explanation of the discrepancy between the court's figures and those given by the London-based watchdog. (Sources: Afp, 05/01/2010)