It's all relative

Report: Iranian adulterer stoned to death

From the article:

A man convicted of adultery was stoned to death last week in a village in northern Iran, a judiciary spokesman said Tuesday, the first time in years that the country has confirmed such an execution....

Death sentences are carried out in Iran after they are upheld by the Supreme Court. Under Iran’s Islamic law, adultery is punishable by stoning...

Under Islamic rulings, a man is usually buried up to his waist, while a woman is buried up to her neck with her hands also buried. Those carrying out the verdict then throw stones until the condemned dies.

Capital offenses in Iran include murder, rape, armed robbery, apostasy, blasphemy, serious drug trafficking, adultery or prostitution, treason and espionage.

Meanwhile, in Australia, civil rights types are griping that anti-terrorism laws don't have an automatic time limit on detention:

Terrorism law experts and civil libertarians called for a limit on the time a suspect can be held without charge under the Anti-Terrorism Act, while Dr Haneef's lawyer, Peter Russo, said his client had fewer rights than someone charged with a criminal offence, as he couldn't even apply for bail.

"That's the craziness in the legislation," Mr Russo said. "There should be a mechanism for review. We need to put some balance in the system that has got some accountability."

This despite the fact that extensions have to be approved by a court, which has already not been granting the length of extensions sought by the police. (The stoned Iranian adulterer, by the way, had spent 11 years in custody before he was killed.)

Call me when the Magistrate starts granting 3 months extensions, rather than 48 hour ones, and then I might care.