The robbery was carried out last August 26.
The regime uses periodic public executions in an effort to deter crime by showing its costs dramatically.
The condemned men were also shown on state television giving the standard warnings against a life of crime. Such displays date back to the previous regime.
One of the men said, “I am being punished and I deserve it. I really deserve it. This is because God gave me a chance to live, but I did not appreciate it.”
The second man said, “Anyone who commits a crime should think in advance of what awaits him later.”
The trio were taken to the roofs of buses parked under the highway overpass. The nooses were placed over their heads and the buses driven off, leaving the three men to strangle beneath the overpass as a crowd of hundreds of the curious gawked.
The gang consisted of 16 members. The ring leader was killed when the police located the gang. The three main henchmen were condemned to die and the other12 received prison terms, exile and lashings on charges of complicity in murder, armed robbery and giving shelter to the robbers.
