Iran's Supreme Court gave the green light for a man convicted of kidnapping and murdering

Iran's Supreme Court gave the green light for a man convicted of kidnapping and murdering about 20 children in the desert south of Tehran to be executed but overturned a death sentence handed to his accomplice. In its ruling, the body agreed that Mohammad Bijeh was "corrupt on earth" and deserved the 16 death sentences handed to him. But rather than be hanged, the Supreme Court decided convicted accomplice Ali Baghi should serve a 15 year prison term. 
Their lawyer was quoted as saying there was "no reason" to make a further appeal. After a closed-door trial in November, the pair were found guilty of the murders of between 19 and 22 people, most of them young children, around the impoverished town of Pakdasht just south of Tehran. The initial trial saw only Bijeh sentenced to death, but a speedy re-trial ordered by the head of the judiciary -- an apparent response to anger from the families of the victims -- saw both get the death penalty. No explanation was given for the Supreme Court decision to return to the original sentencing. The pair were arrested in September 2004, and were quickly dubbed "hyenas" or "vampires of the Tehran desert" in the press. Over a period of more than a year, they reportedly lured children into the desert by saying they were going to dig out rabbits or foxes from their burrows. The pair reportedly stunned their victims with blows from a stone, sexually abused them and buried the bodies in shallow graves in the desert south of Tehran. They also allegedly placed dead animals near their victims' bodies to cover up the smell of the rotting corpses.