A court in the southern Iranian city of Kerman condemned...

A court in the southern Iranian city of Kerman condemned a gang of six men to hang publicly for committing a series of murders in a bid to clean up on social vices, the Etemad newspaper reported.
On September 3, the same court had had its initial ruling imposing the death penalty overturned by Iran's Supreme Court, which said the confessions from the gang members had been extracted by force. The Supreme Court returned the case to the Kerman judiciary and ordered a review.
The six - who press reports said were members of the Islamist Basij militia, a volunteer army attached to the Revolutionary Guards - had initially been sentenced to death on May 11 for killing five people.
The gang, aged between 19 and 22, reportedly confessed to killing some victims by tying them up and throwing them into swimming pools, while others were stoned to death, the reports said.
Among their victims was an unmarried couple apparently intercepted while driving in Kerman, though one local justice official was quoted as saying there was no evidence those killed were "corrupt" in any way.
The Etemad newspaper had earlier reported that 13 other people were killed in recent months in Kerman in a mysterious manner.