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Eight to hang in Tanzania for albino murders
[Daily Nation (Kenya)]  Tanzania's Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said Monday eight suspects have been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of albinos since a wave of witchcraft killings erupted in 2007.Pinda said in a report that 94 suspects had been arrested and 11 cases were before the courts. "Thanks to these efforts, attacks on albinos have considerably reduced," Pinda said. Last month, however, two albino teenagers were attacked and their body parts hacked off. More than 60 albinos have been murdered in Tanzania since 2007 and their body parts chopped off to be sold to witch doctors who concoct charms which some believe bring good fortune and prosperity. "This has tanished Tanzania's image," Pinda added. Tanzanian laws impose death by hanging for people convicted of murder and high treason, however, nobody has been hanged since the mid-1980s. Albinism is a genetically inherited condition resulting in the hair, skin and eyes lacking the melanin pigmentation that normally protects from the sun's ultraviolet rays. Posted by: Fred 2011-11-22 |
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