News and Updates (as of 12/22/96)
MAY 27, 2023:
TEXAS----female to face death penalty
Texas prosecutors want to put twin mom to death for allegedly stabbing her 5 kids in heinous massacre at home
Prosecutors revealed their intent to pursue the death penalty against an Italy, Texas, mother charged with murdering 3 of her children and the wounding 2 more in a horrific stabbing at home 2 months ago.
Shamaiya Deyonshanaye Hall, 25, faces 3 charges of capital murder and 2 charges of aggravated assault in the Ellis County deaths of a 6-year-old boy, 5-year-old twins, Alayiah Martin and Ayden Martin, and the woundings of a 4-year-old boy and 13-month-old girl. Hall allegedly stabbed the children on March 3 as a Texas Child Protective Services caseworker attempted to remove them from the home, where the victims were living with a relative.
The case was made all the more shocking when it was revealed that Hall had a violent history and was not just the mother of twins but is a twin herself with a sister in a state mental hospital. That twin sibling, Troyshaye Hall, allegedly confessed to murdering her 7-year-old daughter Madison Petry and wounding a teen boy in an unprovoked stabbing nearly 2 years earlier. Madison was stabbed more than 30 times. The sibling was was found incompetent to face capital murder charges in October 2021, however, and taken to North Texas State Hospital, which provides “inpatient psychiatric services to adults, children and adolescents.”
After Shamaiya Hall’s arrest, her grandmother’s pastor said in an interview with Fox 4 that the “unbelievable and unexplainable” murders were the “end result of a mental instability that’s gone awry.”
On Wednesday, May 24, Hall was indicted by a grand jury for “intentionally and knowingly caus[ing]” the deaths of three children under the age of 10.
Prosecutors followed that up with a notice of intent to seek the death penalty in the case.
“COMES NOW, the State of Texas, by and through the undersigned County and District Attorney, and gives notice that the State intends to seek the death penalty in the above numbered cause,” the brief filing from Ellis County & District Attorney Ann Montgomery said.
Family said that Legend Chapelle was “a happy and healthy six-year-old boy” who “loved Spider-Man,” “loved his siblings,” and “loved school” when his life was “violently cut short by his own mother,” who “brutally stabbed Legend and all of his siblings.”
“Sadly, Legend and two of his siblings succumbed to their injuries, while his two remaining siblings are still battling for their lives,” said the GoFundMe campaign started on March 4.
(source: lawandcrime.com)
***************
State to pursue death penalty for Tyler man accused in murder of 17-year-old
A court hearing in the case of a Tyler man accused of capital murder revealed the state’s intent to pursue the death penalty.
Andres Urrutia, 21, was arrested in July 2021 following the shooting death of a 17-year-old on Omega Drive in Tyler. On Friday, he appeared in Judge Austin Jackson’s court, and the state submitted their intention to pursue the death penalty against Urrutia.
Urrutia and his codefendant, Lorenzo L. Martinez, 23, also of Tyler, were each charged with capital murder and booked into the Smith County Jail on $1 million bonds. Urrutia was also charged with aggravated robbery, unauthorized use of a vehicle, deadly conduct and criminal mischief, for an additional collective bond of $900,000.
A third suspect, Jason Edward Rhodes, 22, was arrested in December 2022 on a warrant issued in August 2021 for the same capital murder charge. Rhodes was found after having crashed his car in Tyler and fleeing on foot. He was arrested and booked in the Smith County Jail on a $1 million bond.
It has not been announced whether the state will pursue the death penalty for Urrutia’s codefendants.
Urrutia’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 12.
(source: KLTV news)
*****************
Eye For An Eye: The Executed Death Row Inmates of Lubbock, Texas
In the state of Texas, the death penalty is a subject of heated debate. The Lone Star state claims the top spot for inmates sentenced to die. And Lubbock, Texas can claim several inmates who committed crimes heinous enough for a jury of peers to sentence them to death.
In Texas, the definition of Capital Murder is found in the Texas Penal Code in Chapter 19's 'Offenses Against the Person'. A capital murder charge is one that meets the following criteria when a murder is committed:
The person murders a peace officer or fireman.
The person intentionally commits the murder in the course of committing (or attempting to commit) another assaultive offense.
The person commits the murder as part of a "murder for hire" plot.
The person commits the murder while incarcerated or while escaping or attempting to escape from a penal institution.
The person murders more than one person during one criminal act
The person murders an individual under 10 years of age.
The person murders another person in retaliation for or because of their capacity in the judicial system (a judge, attorney, etc)
The TDCJ website has a whole section dedicated to facts and information about Texas Death Row. The following facts are as listed by TDCJ
20 total inmates from Lubbock County have been sentenced to death
13 of those inmates on death row from Lubbock County have been executed
Currently, the only inmate on death row from Lubbock County is Brian Suniga, who's information can be found here.
The last death row inmate from Lubbock County to be executed was Rosendio Rodriguez in 2018.
Below are summaries for the 13 executed death row inmates from Lubbock County.
EXECUTED DEATH ROW INMATES OF LUBBOCK COUNTY
The following is a look at the 13 Texas Death Row inmates who have been executed for crimes committed in Lubbock County
Rosendo Rodriguez - March 27, 2018
Date of Offense----09/13/2005
Age at Time of Offense----25
Native County----Wichita
Prior Occupation----Food Service, Office Clerk.
Prior Prison Record----None
Summary of Incident
On 09/13/2005 in Lubbock County, Texas, a 29 year old white female body was found deceased in a suitcase. The subject had sexually assaulted the victim and then caused death by striking the victim with or against a hard object and then choking the victim. This also resulted in the death of the victim's 5 week old fetus.
Date of Execution----3/27/2018
Last Statement:
First I would like to say I have been here since September 2005. I had the honor and privilege to know many prison guards and staff. I want to thank all of them. I would like for everyone to write the people on death row as they are all good men and I am very happy I got to know them. All of their lives are worth knowing about.
Secondly on February 14th the medical examiner and the chief nurse were engaged in numerous false illegal acts. They tried to cover up that thousands were wrongfully convicted by Matt Powell, district attorney. This needs to be brought to justice.
I call upon the FBI to investigate Matt Powell and the Lubbock County Medical Examiner. Lastly, I was born and raised Catholic and it was not lost upon me that this is Holy Week and last Sunday was Palm Sunday. Yesterday was my birthday. Today is the day I join my God and father. The state may have my body but not my soul.
In order to save my brothers on death row I call upon Pope Francis and all the people of the world.
Lastly, I want everyone to boycott every single business in the state of Texas until all the businesses are pressed to stop the death penalty.
With that Lord I commend my spirit.
Warden I am ready to join my father.
**
Michael Yowell - October 9, 2013
Date of Offense----05/09/1998
Age at Time of Offense----28
Native County----Lubbock
Prior Occupation----Steel Fabrication, Cook, Laborer
Prior Prison Record----#505775, 8-year sentence for 1 count of Possession of a Controlled Substance; 06/16/89 released on Pre-Parole; 09/19/89 release on Parole; 02/22/97 received Clemency Discharge.
Summary of Incident
On 05/19/98 in Lubbock, Texas, Yowell shot his father, strangled his mother with a cord, and set fire to their house. The victim's grandmother died several days later from injuries sustained because she was disabled and unable to get out of the house.
Date of Execution----10/09/2013
Last Statement:
I love you. To Gerald: you're a zero. I love you Mandy, Tiffany. I love you, too.
**
Vaughn Ross - July 18, 2013
Date of Offense----01/31/2001
Age at Time of Offense----29
Native County----St. Louis (Missouri)
Prior Occupation----Architecture Design, Clerical
Prior Prison Record----n/a
Summary of Incident
On 01/31/2001, in Lubbock, Ross shot and killed an 18 year old black female and a 53 year old white male. The bodies of the victims were found in a car in a ravine.
Date of Execution----7/18/2013
Last Statement:
Yes, I want to thank my family for supporting me through this. I love ya'll. I don't fear death. I'm fine, I'm OK. To my friends and my loved ones, Miriam, I love you, thanks for being here for me. This is what it is. I know this is hard for ya'll, but we are going to have to go through it. We know the lies they told in court. We know it's not true. I want you to be strong and keep going.
Michael Rosales - April 15, 2009
Date of Offense----6/04/1997
Age at Time of Offense----23
Native County----Kit Carson (Colorado)
Prior Occupation----Unknown
Prior Prison Record----None
Summary of Incident
On June 4, 1997, Rosales was in the process of committing burglary of a habitation when he entered the home of a 60-year-old female. Rosales claims he did not know she was home, and he was subsequently discovered while committing burglary. Rosales grabbed a kitchen knife from the victim's kitchen, stabbed her 137 times, and struck her with a hard object resulting in her death.
Date of Execution----4/15/2009
Last Statement:
No, I love you. May the Lord be with you. Peace, I'm done.
**
Robert Madrid Salazar, Jr - March 22, 2006
Date of Offense----04/23/1997
Age at Time of Offense----18
Native County----Lubbock
Prior Occupation----Laborer
Prior Prison Record----None
Summary of Incident
On 04/23/97, in Lubbock, Texas, Salazar fatally injured a 2-year old Hispanic female. The subject was babysitting the victim. Salazar inflicted wounds consisting of a fractured skull, bruised heart, fractured ribs, and ruptured intestines. After injuring the victim, Salazar placed her in her crib and left the residence. The victim's mother arrived from work, finding the victim in her crib, and Salazar was absent. The victim was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Date of Execution----3/22/2006
Last Statement:
Yes. Yes, I do. Do I just talk to the front? O.K. To everybody on both sides of that wall--I want you to know I love you. I am sorry that the child had to lose her life, but I should not have to be here. Tell my family I love them all and I will see them in Heaven. Come home when you can. I am done. Love you all.
**
Mack Oran Hill - August 8, 2001
Date of Offense----3/03/1987
Age at Time of Offense----33
Native County----Tarrant
Prior Occupation----Paint & Body
Prior Prison Record----TDC #325229, received 10/01/1981 from Tarrant County with 12-year sentence for aggravated robbery with deadly weapon, paroled to Lubbock County on 6/10/1985
Summary of Incident
Convicted in the March 1987 robbery and murder of 43-year-old Donald Franklin Johnson. Johnson's body was found wrapped in plastic inside a 55-gallon drum that had been filled with concrete and submerged in Amon Carter Lake in Montague County.
The drum, labeled "Calcium Carbide" was found by a game warden 5 months following Johnson's disappearance. An autopsy revealed that Johnson had been shot in the head with a .25-caliber pistol.
Johnson and Hill had previously been partners in several unsuccessful business ventures. Following Johnson's disappearance, Hill was seen in possession of his truck and camper trailer.
Hill was also involved in the theft of equipment from Johnson's paint and body shop in Lubbock and the sale of the equipment at flea markets.
Date of Execution----8/8/2001
Last Statement:
First, I would like to tell my family that I love them. I will be waiting on them. I am fine. I hope that everyone gets some closure from this. I am innocent. Lubbock County officials believe I am guilty. I am not. Travis Ware has the burden on him to prove that he did not commit felonies. He needs to be stopped or he is going to do it time and time again. The power is invested in you as a public official to do your job. That's all Warden. I love y'all. June 25, 2008.
**
Adolph Hernandez - February 8, 2001
Date of Offense----9/30/1988
Age at time of offense----38
Native County----Lubbock
Prior prison record----Convicted of burglary in 1978 in Lubbock County, sentenced to 9 years TDC, granted parole in 1980. Convicted in 1981 of burglary of habitation in Lubbock County, granted parole in 1985; returned as parole violator with concurrent 15-year sentence for UUMV, paroled 1988.
Summary of Incident
Convicted in the murder and robbery of 69-year-old Elizabeth Alvarado of Slaton. Alvarado was beaten to death with a baseball bat inside her home at 515 East Division. Hernandez stole a purse from the home that contained $350 in cash. The victim's daughter confronted Hernandez as he attempted to flee the scene and managed to wrestle the bat from him and strike him with it. Hernandez was arrested at his Slaton residence after being found with blood stains on his shirt, pants, and shoes.
Date of Execution----2/08/2001
Last Statement:
I want to thank my family for their help and moral support and for their struggle. It would have been a lot harder without their love. So, I am just going home. I will see ya'll one of these days. Just don't rush it. I will be there always. I 'll always be watching over you. I love you. Okay? Y'all be strong. God bless you. That is where I am going. I love y'all huh. I'll see y'all in Slayton, Texas.
Dios te mandas contigo mi espiritu. (Spanish - God, I command my spirit to go with you.)
Alabamos a Dios todos. (Spanish - We all praise God.)
Amen Cuida mi familia. (Take care of my family.)
I love you. That's it Warden.
**
Jack Wade Clark - January 9, 2001
Date of Offense----10/16/1989
Age at Time of Offense----26
Native County----Miller (Arkansas)
Prior Occupation----Press Operator
Prior Prison Record----None
Summary of Incident
Convicted in the October 1989 rape and murder of 23-year-old Melisa Ann Garcia of Slaton, Texas. Garcia suffered 2 fatal stab wounds to the chest after she was taken to an isolated area and raped by Clark.
Date of Execution----1/09/2001
Last Statement:
First, I would like to say to the family that I am sorry, and I do ask for forgiveness. There will be also a funeral mass at St. Thomas and I would like to invite all of those from the State and the family to be there if they would like to come. My last words will be: And He was the light that shineth in the hearts of all man from the foundations of the world. If we confess our sins He is just and true to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Peace and goodness.
**
Orion Cecil Joiner - July 12, 2000
Date of Offense----12/17/1986
Age at time of offense----37
Native County----Crisp (Georgia)
Prior Occupation----Truck Driver
Prior Prison Record----None
Summary of Incident
Convicted in the 1986 slayings of 26-year-old Carol Lynette Huckabee and 29-year-old Eva Marie Deforest, two Lubbock waitresses who shared an apartment at 4616 67th St.
Both women were bound by duct tape inside their apartment and stabbed repeatedly. Huckabee, who reportedly was also raped, suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest, back, and face and her throat was slashed. DeForest was beaten, stabbed 41 times in the chest and her throat cut. A broken knife blade was found sticking out of her chest.
Joiner lived next door to the women and told police he saw two black men running from the apartment complex after discovering their bodies. He was arrested after telling police conflicting stories about how he found the murdered women.
Last Statement:
Kathy, y'all take and I bless all of you and I am glad I have had y'all in my life. As I have said from the very first thing, I am innocent of this crime and God knows I am innocent and the four people that was murdered know I am innocent and when I get to heaven I'll be hunting you and we'll talk. I feel sorry for the families that's had to suffer and my family and I have 'em all in my prayers. I love you all. Y'all take and y'all look after Sheila and Shannon and them, call 'em and get the pictures to 'em and everything and, ah, again, like I said, I feel sorry for the families, but if it takes my death to make them happy, then I will bless them. I have no hard feelings toward anyone cause the Lord feels that it is my time to come home to Him, my work on earth is done and that, ah, like I said, I am just sorry for, but they will have to go through this one time again, cause sooner or later, whoever did this crime is going to be caught and they'll have to come down here and do this again and they will realize they witnessed an innocent man going to be with Jesus Christ.
**
Michael Lee McBride - May 11, 2000
Date of Offense----10/12/1985
Age at Time of Offense----23
Native County----Kings (California)
Prior Prison Record----None
Summary of Offense
Convicted in the October 1985 shooting deaths of Christian Fisher and James Alan Holler, both 18, in Lubbock. Fisher, McBride's ex-girlfriend, and her companion were shot to death with a .30-caliber rifle outside McBride's residence at 1903 26th street. Witnesses said Fisher had gone to the residence to pick up some things and was killed by a volley of shots after challenging McBride to shoot.
McBride then walked to the victims' car and shot Holzler, who was seated in the driver's seat, in the head and chest. Both died at the scene.
McBride then turned the rifle on himself, shooting himself once in the head. Police found him lying on the ground and reaching for the rifle.
Date of Execution----5/11/2000
Last Statement:
Written: The following is the personal final statement of and by Michael L. McBride. The Beatitudes: Jesus lifted up his eyes on His disciples, and said, "Blessed be the poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for behold, your reward is great in Heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall moan and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. The supremacy of love over gifts: I Corinthians, Chapter 13: 4-8: Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous, love does not brag and is no arrogant, does not act unbecoming; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there tongues, they will cease. Now abide faith, hope, love, these three: but the greatest of these is love. Poem: Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there I do not sleep. I am the diamond glints in the snow, I am the sunlight on the ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush, I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight, I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there. I did not die. Signed Michael L. McBride #903 May 11, 2000 Huntsville, Texas
Spoken: Thank you, um, I anticipated that I would try to memorize and recite beatitudes New Testament, more or less, Luke's beatitudes, I should say, and a , a chapter on love in 1st Corinthians chapter 13, ah, I pretty much knew that I would not be able to memorize so much. There was also a poem that went along with it and in anticipation of not being able to, um, fulfill that desire, I provided a written statement that will be made available to anybody that wants it, I believe. Isn't that correct? So, uh, I wanted you to hear me say that and I apologize and for any other grief I have caused you know, including the, ah, what you're about to witness now. It won't be very long. As soon as you realize that appear I am falling asleep. I would leave because I won't be here after that point. I will be dead at that point. It's irreversible. God bless all of you. Thank you.
**
Odell Barnes, Jr. - March 1, 2000
Date of Offense----11/29/1989
Age at Time of Offense----21
Native County----Wichita
Prior Occupation----Construction Worker
Prior Prison Record----TDCJ #460908, received 9/11/1987 from Wichita County with 8-year sentence for robbery, placed on shock probation 12/04/1987.
TDCJ #477899, received 4/7/1988 with new conviction for robbery, 10 year sentence, paroled 11/8/1989
Summary of Incident
Convicted in the November 1989 robbery and murder of Helen Bass. Bass was killed inside her home at 1221 Harding. She was beaten with a lamp and rifle, stabbed in the neck and then shot in the head. Her nude body was found on her bed, where she had been sexually assaulted prior to her death. Barnes stole a .32 caliber pistol and an undetermined amount of money from the home. He was later observed trying to sell the stolen gun to different people.
Date of Execution----3/01/2000
Last Statement:
I'd like to send great love to all my family members, my supporters, my attorneys. They have all supported me throughout this. I thank you for proving my innocence, although it has not been acknowledged by the courts. May you continue in the struggle and may you change all that's being done here today and in the past. Life has not been that good to me, but I believe that now, after meeting so many people who support me in this, that all things will come to an end, and may this be fruit of better judgments for the future. That's all I have to say.
**
Samuel Hawkins - February 21, 1995
Date of Offense----2/03/1976
Age at Time of Offense----33
Native County----Jefferson (Georgia)
Prior Occupation----Meat Trimmer
Prior Prison Record----Colorado State Penitentiary - Rape - Paroled 1971
Oklahoma State Penitentiary - Attempted Burglary - paroled 1973
Summary of Incident
Sentenced to death for the slaying of Abbe Rogus Hamilton, 19 of Borger. She was 6 months pregnant when she was allegedly raped and stabbed to death with a hunting knife.
Date of Execution----2/21/1995
Last Statement:
None (declined to make a last statement)
**
Doyle Skillern - January 16, 1985
Date of Offense----10/23/1974
Age at Time of Offense----38
Native County----Not Listed
Prior Occupation----Not Listed
Summary of Incident
Skillern was convicted of Capital Murder for the October 23, 1974 shooting death of Texas Department of Public Safety Narcotics Officer Patrick Allen Randel during an undercover drug buy at the town of George West
Date of Execution----1/16/1985
Last Statement:
I pray that my family will rejoice and will forgive, thank you.
(source: KFYO news)
FLORIDA:
Jury recommends death penalty for Florida man who killed girl and her babysitter in 1990
Jurors in southwest Florida have recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of killing an 11-year-old girl and her babysitter more than 30 years ago. The recommendation came following a trial in which Joseph Zieler yelled at the jury and made vulgar gestures while he was on the witness stand.
The Lee County jury voted 10-2 in favor of death for Zieler on Wednesday night after about five hours of deliberations, according to court records. The same panel found Zieler, 60, guilty last week of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder.
A judge will make the final decision in whether Zieler will be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison following a June 26 hearing. Florida law had previously required a unanimous jury recommendation for a convicted murderer to face the death penalty, but a new law signed last month by Gov. Ron DeSantis requires only an 8-4 vote in favor of execution.
Zieler was jailed on an unrelated assault charge in 2016 when his DNA matched to the cold-case murders of Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Story, 32, authorities said.
The girl and the woman were found in a Cape Coral apartment in May 1990, officials said. Robin's mother had been out for the night and discovered the suffocated bodies when she returned the next morning. Investigators said both victims were sexually assaulted.
Cape Coral is about 100 miles south of Tampa.
CBS affiliate WINK-TV reported that Zieler stunned the courtroom when he claimed he had slept with Cornell's mother a few months before the murder.
"I thought the only way my DNA could have got there was from me sleeping with Jan Cornell," he said. Then he called Cornell a pig: "She's calling me a rapist and a murderer, and I'm calling her a pig because she doesn't wash her sheets."
WINK-TV also reported that Zieler screamed at the jury and made vulgar gestures while on the stand.
"I mean, everyone's talking about the finger," his attorney, Lee Hollander, said. "His conduct on the stand did not help. If you're in a hole, stop digging. That's what I wanted to say right then and there."
Hollander continued: "I'm back behind counsel table. And he's up in the in the witness chair. And it was like, sitting down watching a train wreck."
(source: CBS News)
ALABAMA:
Former Republican and Democratic Governors from Alabama Critique State’s Death Penalty and Express Regret
“[W]e have come over time to see the flaws in our nation’s justice system and to view the state’s death penalty laws in particular as legally and morally troubling,” wrote 2 former governors of Alabama in an op-ed for the Washington Post. Republican Robert Bentley and Democrat Don Siegelman agree that the 146 people whose death sentences were imposed by non-unanimous juries or judicial override should have their sentences commuted. “We missed our chance to confront the death penalty and have lived to regret it,” they wrote, “but it is not too late for today’s elected officials to do the morally right thing.”
In support of their recommendation, the authors acknowledged the racist underpinnings of non-unanimous verdicts as a Jim Crow practice dating from the 1870s. Alabama had been the only state to allow a person to be sentenced to death by this legal relic. They noted 115 people were sentenced to die by non-unanimous jury verdicts, and an additional 31 people were sentenced to death by judges who overrode jury recommendations for life. The authors cited research by the Equal Justice Initiative that indicates judicial overrides may have been influenced by judges’ political concerns. Judicial overrides made up “7 % of death sentences in a nonelection year but rose to 30 percent when Alabama judges ran for reelection.”
The former governors recommend that the 146 people sentenced under the outlier practices of non-unanimity and judicial override receive reduced sentences, “and that an independent review unit should be established to examine all capital murder convictions.”
The governors also discuss the link between official misconduct and wrongful convictions, pointing to the exoneration of Walter McMillian, as well as the cases of 2 men on death row who may be innocent and whose sentences involved both misconduct and outlier sentencing practices. Toforest Johnson was sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury after prosecutors withheld evidence that the key witness against Johnson received a secret $5000 reward. Rocky Myers, “was never connected to the murder scene, and even though the jury recommended life without parole, the judge overrode the recommendation and ordered his execution.” Siegelman also wrote that he is “personally haunted” by his decision to allow the execution of Freddie Wright in 2000, because he now believes Wright is innocent.
During the 2023 legislative session, Rep. Chris England (D - Tuscaloosa) proposed a bill to allow the death penalty only when a jury unanimously recommends it. Under existing law, a death sentence can be imposed if at least 10 jurors recommend death. The bill would retroactively reduced the death sentences of the 146 people discussed in the op-ed - those whose death sentences were non-unanimous, and those who were sentenced under judicial override. At a May 24, 2023 hearing on the bill, Mae Puckett, who served as a juror in the trial of Rocky Myers, said, “What was the point of us ever being there if we weren’t going to matter? Why did we have to sit and listen to these horrible things? And see those pictures that we had to see? He was accused of stabbing a woman to death. I don’t understand why we had to go through that for this man to have just turned around and say, ‘No, it doesn’t matter, I know what we need to do.’ And this man has been on death row for 25 years.” The bill did not receive a vote before time ran out for it to be considered this legislative session.
(source: Death Penalty Information Center)
OKLAHOMA:
Former U.S. Attorneys, Prominent Business Leaders, Write Op-Eds in Support of Richard Glossip
Former federal Oklahoma prosecutors Patrick Ryan and Daniel Webber co-authored an editorial in The Oklahoman on May 17, 2023 expressing serious concerns about Richard Glossip’s conviction and death sentence. The writers noted that a prosecutor’s duty “is not to win a case, but to ensure justice is done,” and concluded that “the state did not follow these fundamental principles in obtaining Richard Glossip’s 1998 and 2004 convictions and death sentences.” The former prosecutors collectively served Oklahoma between 1995–2001, and Mr. Ryan prosecuted and sought the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols after the Oklahoma City bombing. Reflecting on their experience with capital prosecutions, the authors emphasized that “the only way to truly serve the victims and people of Oklahoma was to run a clean and honorable process. To do anything less would be a disservice to the entire community.” Regarding Attorney General Gentner’s extraordinary request to vacate Mr. Glossip’s conviction, they wrote that AG Drummond “has done the only just and honorable thing here. In our opinion, it is constitutionally required. All prosecutors, as ministers of justice, should stand behind him.”
Sir Richard Branson also penned an op-ed in The Oklahoman on May 18, criticizing the state not just for the way it has handled Mr. Glossip’s case, but also its execution protocol more broadly. After two botched executions in 2015, Oklahoma formed an independent commission to review its execution protocols, which suggested the state pause executions until it implemented 46 recommendations to “[prevent] wrongful capital convictions and death sentences and [reduce] arbitrariness” in the death penalty system. Very few of the recommendations were implemented.
Sir Branson’s op-ed discussed the possible repercussions involving business interests in Oklahoma. “The current situation raises material questions for all those dependent on the rule of law and a justice system that is fair. Business is no exception. To operate successfully, we need functioning and impartial institutions, committed to fairness, transparency, accountability and justice. When institutions fail to function in the way they should, especially when it comes to an irreversible punishment like the death penalty, we are left to wonder, ‘What else could possibly go wrong?’” He further argued that “[the] continued spotlight on the death penalty and its flawed practice casts a dark shadow on the state’s commitment to good governance and high standards of legal practice. It’s a fear shared by many. Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of Oklahoma lawmakers called for a moratorium on executions. Faith groups across the state and the nation are expressing growing concerns. Last October, the ambassadors of 27 EU countries, representing a key market for Oklahoma’s economy, signed a letter calling on the governor to halt executions indefinitely. And now, the attempt to execute a man who the state admits did not receive a fair trial might be the breaking point.”
Mr. Glossip’s most recent execution date, May 18, was stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court as it considers his petitions for certiorari, which are based on the evidence that the prosecution allegedly suppressed during his prior trials, and raise claims that the state violated his right to due process.
(source: Death Penalty Information Center)
***********
Protesters say evidence points to Oklahoma death row inmate's innocence----Anthony Sanchez was convicted for the 1996 murder of Juli Busken, a ballerina at the University of Oklahoma.
Protestors came together on Thursday in hopes of halting an Oklahoma death row inmate's execution.
Anthony Sanchez was convicted for the 1996 murder of Juli Busken, a ballerina at the University of Oklahoma. However, one group says Sanchez is innocent.
Those speaking out against the death penalty said there is evidence that proves Sanchez is innocent, like a footprint that was two-and-a-half sizes smaller than his foot.
"I was promised justice and resolve and healing, and I was lied to, and I was used," said Lindsey Barnett, the granddaughter of the Cantrells, who Scott Eizember was convicted of murdering.
Eizember was executed in January. Barnett witnessed his executions, and she thought that day would bring peace.
"What I watched was not a healing process, and no one was concerned about my healing, the suffering of our family or any kind of resolve at all," Barnett said.
(source: KOCO news)
**********
Supporters launch campaign to save Oklahoma death row inmate
Supporters of an Oklahoma death row inmate launched a campaign to prove his innocence and save his life Thursday with a press conference at the state’s Capitol.
Anthony Sanchez’s supporters gathered at the Capitol and asked state legislators and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond to give Sanchez, a member of the Choctaw Nation, the same treatment they are giving to the case of death row inmate Richard Glossip, a white man.
“We pray that they will be equally engaged for Anthony Sanchez,” Abraham Bonowitz of Death Penalty Action said during the Thursday press conference. “In other words, for some people, disposable. Anthony Sanchez is not disposable.”
Sanchez was convicted of 1st-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Jewel Jean “Juli” Busken. Court documents state Busken, of Benton, Arkansas, was a ballerina and recently finished her last semester at OU when she was abducted from her Norman apartment on Dec. 20, 1996.
Busken’s body was found at Lake Stanley Draper in Norman with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head and she had been raped.
Sanchez is set for a clemency hearing Aug. 9 and is scheduled to be executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on Sept. 21.
Attorneys for Sanchez earlier this year asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for a new hearing based on DNA evidence they claimed proved the man’s innocence and that his father, Glen, committed the murder. Attorneys also alleged Glen previously confessed to a woman who claims she was too scared to come forward until after he died in 2022.
The Attorney General’s Office said there are “many reasons not to believe” the woman’s statements and new DNA testing confirms Glen Sanchez did not commit the murder.
“The testing further determined that there is a 99.9% probability that petitioner’s father is the father of the individual whose sperm was on Juli Busken’s leotard,” the AG’s office wrote in response.
OCCA denied the request for a new hearing last month, ruling the woman’s statement was considered hearsay and referred to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office test results.
“Considering the evidence against Anthony Sanchez, this is hardly surprising,” OCCA wrote in its opinion. “This new information does not impeach the consistent and compelling evidence of his guilt noted by every court that has reviewed this case.”
Sanchez maintained his innocence last month in a phone interview with the News-Capital from death row.
“You start digging down in my case, it’s like, one mistake after another mistake after another mistake,” Sanchez said. “It doesn’t look right.”
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, Sanchez’s spiritual advisor, said the reason for a large push at this stage of Sanchez’s case is that attorneys for Sanchez did not speak with the death row inmate for 6 years.
Sanchez’s attorney, Mark Barrett, said he was neither appointed nor hired to represent Sanchez from November 2016 to June 2020 — when the attorney was appointed to represent him for clemency action.
Barrett said although he was not appointed during that time frame, he did file a motion in 2017 that was later denied by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and helped lead Sanchez to join a lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma over its lethal injection protocols.
“I was neither appointed nor hired to do anything on Anthony’s behalf. I tried to represent his interests anyway and undertook the communications necessary for that representation,” Barrett said. “When the clemency budget was approved by the federal court, there was a pandemic going on and I did not make nonessential visits to clients for some time. Randy Coyne and I then visited Mr. Sanchez early in 2023 in connection with a fourth successor post-conviction which I filed on Anthony’s behalf.
Sanchez and his supporters say there is more evidence in the case than the DNA to consider, including shoe prints, fingerprints, police sketches, and ballistics evidence.
The death row inmate argues his shoe size is an 11 and a half with the shoe print obtained by investigators a 7 1/2 to an 8 shoe size.
“If my lawyers had sized my foot, they would have known that I’m a size 11 and a half,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez’s supporters also argue no fingerprints that belonged to him were found at the crime scene and that a police sketch looks more like his father than Sanchez.
“There’s never been no murder weapon found or linked to me or my family,” Sanchez said. “No ballistics has ever been linked to me or my family.”
Court records state a medical examiner identified the death wound as a contact gunshot to the rear of Busken’s skull. The medical examiner recovered the bullet and later identified it as a .22-caliber. Ballistics analysis showed the weapon’s barrel marked it with 16 lands and grooves and a right-hand twist.
Witnesses testified at the trial that Anthony Sanchez on occasion carried a .22-caliber weapon and often fired a weapon inside an apartment where investigators said the Sanchezs previously lived and discovered a bullet of similar caliber to the one recovered at the scene.
But court documents state attempts to prove both bullets were fired from the same weapon “proved inconclusive.”
Hood said that he truly believes Sanchez is innocent and that most death row inmates he works with “are guilty.”
“The difference is there are questions that have never been answered,” Hood said. “I am opposed to executions under any circumstances. But at the same time, if the state is going to have a death penalty, shouldn’t it have it devoid of questions?”
(source: The Ponca City News)
IDAHO:
Kohberger evidence impacts death penalty decision: expert
Prosecutors involved in the Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger case have less than 2 months to decide if they’re going to seek the death penalty.
Former homicide prosecutor Matt Murphy said Friday on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” that the evidence against Kohberger case is “overwhelmingly awful” and will factor into their decision.
“I think there’s gonna be a lot of pressure within the DA’s office to actually seek the death penalty,” Murphy said.
Idaho murder victim’s dad on death penalty
There are 2 key factors that prosecutors look for: overwhelming evidence and the “shocking nature” of the crime, according to Murphy.
He also noted that Kohberger is entitled to a “death-qualified jury.” If the selected jurors cannot answer a questionnaire related to Idaho law correctly, they’ll be excluded “for cause.”
Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students, declined to enter a plea in court Monday, electing to remain silent at his arraignment. That choice led the judge to enter not guilty pleas for the murder and burglary charges Kohberger is facing.
If prosecutors decide yes on the death penalty, a jury would have to unanimously agree to execute Kohberger. This could be done in an Idaho “execution chamber,” with seating for witnesses and victims’ families to watch. Or he could be killed by firing squad in Idaho.
Kaylee Goncalves’ father told NewsNation he’s working with the government in Idaho to ensure that the university killings never happen again.
“You can’t just hunt our babies,” Steve Goncalves said during a Monday appearance on NewsNation’s “Banfield.” You can’t come to our state and hurt our people. It’s unacceptable.”
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in an apartment shared by the three women in November, 2022. The deaths of the 4 University of Idaho students sent shockwaves through the small community of Moscow, Idaho.
Idaho law says victims’ families have a voice in whether the prosecution seeks the death penalty, but ultimately, the decision comes down to Latah County prosecutor Bill Thompson.
Kohberger’s parents called to testify in front of grand jury
NewsNation requested information about Thompson’s experience with death cases, but his office declined our request and cited the gag order connected to Kohberger’s case.
Only 3 people have been executed in Idaho since 1977, and it may be challenging to get a death verdict in Latah County, where the college murders happened. Death verdicts have to be unanimous, and because of the university, Latah County is a very progressive area.
Criminal defense attorney Richard Blok told “Banfield” Friday night he doesn’t think politics will play into Thompson’s decision-making. Blok has also suggested that the case be moved out of Latah County to ensure it’s fair.
“This is a very small community where everybody is attached to the university somehow. It would be smart for them, from my perspective at least, to move it,” Blok said.
(source: newsnationnow.com)
CALIFORNIA:
When the State Kills the Innocent: the Death Penalty Can Be a Mistake That Can’t be Fixed----As many as 30 inmates on California's death row may be innocent, statistics show.
When Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a halt to all executions in California, a moratorium he announced on March 13, 2019, he cited racial and economic discrimination in the way death sentences were handed down. He also pointed to the lack of evidence that capital punishment serves as an effective deterrent to crime, and to the “billions of taxpayer dollars” it costs to maintain a death row. But the final factor that pushed Newsom to impose the moratorium was more personal.
“I couldn’t sleep at night,” Newsom said at the time. He described being haunted by the possibility that, of the 737 inmates waiting on death row in 2019, many may actually be innocent. In fact, citing statistics from a study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Newsom said that “if we move forward executing 737 people in California, we will have executed more than 30 people that are innocent.”
The NAS study cited by the governor was published in 2014 and based on 3 decades of data that included all 7,482 death sentences handed down in the United States from 1973 to 2004. The study focused only on death row because false convictions are more likely to come to light in capital punishment cases, due to the long appeals process and resources devoted to examining the trials and procedures involved. The NAS found that 4.1 % of all convicts condemned to death are likely innocent of the crimes that brought them the death penalty.
The U.S. Supreme Court Approach to Executing the Innocent
In 1972, when the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Furman v. Georgia ruled the death penalty unconstitutional based on the “arbitrary and capricious” way it was handed down and carried out, the possibility of executing an innocent person was definitely foremost in the mind of Justice Thurgood Marshall.
“No matter how careful courts are, the possibility of perjured testimony, mistaken honest testimony, and human error remain all too real. We have no way of judging how many innocent persons have been executed but we can be certain that there were some,” Marshall wrote in his concurring opinion. “Surely there will be more as long as capital punishment remains part of our penal law.”
In 1993, the Supreme Court decided that evidence of actual innocence was simply not relevant to a death penalty case.
Just four years later the court reconsidered, in the case Gregg v. Georgia. The court, by a 7-2 majority, found that in that remarkably short period of time state laws had been updated enough that they were no longer arbitrary and capricious. Executions could resume—which they did with the execution in Utah of convicted killer Gary Gilmore in January of 1977 by firing squad.
In the Gregg decision, the possibility that an innocent defendant might be executed was not much of a factor. But in 1993, the court handed down a rather astonishing decision in the case Herrera v. Collins, when it decided that evidence of actual innocence was simply not relevant to a death penalty case.
Leonel Herrera was a Texas drug dealer convicted in 1982 of murdering two police officers. Several years later, persuasive evidence including eyewitness testimony emerged that the real cop-killer was Herrera’s brother, Raul, who by that time had himself been killed.
Lionel Herrera’s appeals for a writ of habeas corpus reached the Supreme Court, where a 6-3 majority decided that “claims of actual innocence based on newly discovered evidence" simply didn’t matter in death penalty appeals unless they were accompanied by “an independent constitutional violation.” In other words, executing an innocent person was not, in itself, a violation of the Constitution.
On May 12, 1993—barely 3 months after the Supreme Court issued its decision in his case—Leonel Herrera was indeed executed by lethal injection, the 202nd person to be executed since the Gregg decision in 1976.
So, Has California Ever Executed an Innocent Person?
Thomas Thompson was a Laguna Beach man who was convicted in the brutal rape-murder of a 20-year-old woman, Ginger Fleischli, in 1981. Thompson was convicted largely on the evidence of 2 jailhouse informants who claimed that he had confessed to them, informants who later proved unreliable. Thompson had no criminal record or history of violent behavior when he was tried and convicted in 1984.
Evidence was also later uncovered pointing to Thompson’s then-roommate, David Leitch—who was Fleishi’s boyfriend and did have a violent past, including threats against his girlfriend—as the actual killer. But even though the Ninth Circuit U.S. District Court overturned Thompson’s conviction, the Supreme Court reversed that decision, citing a supposed violation of a procedural rule.
Thompson was executed on July 13, 1998, the 5th of 13 people executed by the state of California since 1978.
Since 1978, 5 California death row inmates have been exonerated.
Whether any of the other 12 are innocent can never be known, and the same holds true for the 709 people known to have been executed in California between 1778 and 1972, when the state Supreme Court temporarily halted executions.
But since 1978, 5 California death row inmates have been exonerated of the crimes that brought them the death penalty. The most recent, in 2018, was former Kern County farm laborer Vicente Benavides, who was convicted in 1993 of an especially heinous crime. Prosecutors clained that he raped, sodomized and beat to death a 21-month-old girl, the daughter of his then-girlfriend.
Benavides, who was mentally disabled, always denied the horrendous accusation, and eventually every expert (but one) who testified about the child’s injuries recanted, now saying that the little girl had not been raped at all. Her fatal head injuries were likely sustained in an accident, the new evidence showed.
In 2005, the state Supreme Court upheld his conviction, but after Benavides attorneys filed a 395-page habeas corpus petition, the state Supremes threw out the conviction after all, citing evidence of false medical testimony and incompetent defense counsel. Among other issues, at his initial trial, Benavides' lawyers never brought up the fact that he had the intellectual capacity of a 7-year-old child.
In the 2002 case Atkins v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities violated the Eighth Amendment ban on “cruel and unusual punishments” and was therefore unconstitutional.
Why Are Innocent People Sentenced to Death?
How frequently are innocent people wrongly convicted and sentenced to die? Again, there's no real way to know for sure. But according to nationwide statistics compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center, there have been 192 death row inmates exonerated since 1973, an average of almost 4 per year (3.94 to be exact). With 1,569 people executed in that same time period, that means for approximately every 8 people put to death, 1 has been exonerated.
Black defendants are 7 times as likely as whites to be wrongly convicted of murder.
Why are so many people wrongfully convicted? According to data from the Georgia Innocence Project, race plays a significant role. While Black Americans make up only 13 % of the country’s population, they are 40 percent of the prison population—and 60 % of all wrongful convictions established by DNA evidence. Black defendants are 7 times as likely as whites to be wrongly convicted of murder, the data shows.
Of course, wrongful conviction is not exclusive to any one race or ethnic group. Findings from exonerations across the board, not only from death penalty cases, have shown that forensic “junk science” has been a frequent source of wrongful convictions, according to research published by the Virginia Law Review in a 2009 study.
Faulty forensic analysis of such evidence as “bite mark, shoe print, soil, fiber, and fingerprint comparisons” and even DNA analysis played a role in 60 percent of convictions of defendants who were later found to be innocent, according to the study.
Defense lawyers rarely challenged the invalid evidence, according to the study. Which brings up another major cause of wrongful convictions—incompetent or inadequate lawyers. In many cases defense attorneys, especially public defenders, are simply underfunded, according to an American Bar Association report. As a result, they tend to be overworked, underpaid and unable to provide fully competent defense for their clients.
Other major causes of wrongful convictions include false accusations and perjury by witnesses—factors in 60 % of exonerations, according to the Korey Wise Innocence Project at the University of Colorado-Boulder—as well as false confessions. While it seems unbelievable that people would confess to crimes they know they did not commit, it happened in 12 % of convictions that have been proven incorrect. In many cases, coercive interrogation techniques used by police induces suspects to confess, hoping that they can end the psychological or even physical abuse by their interrogators.
For that matter, misconduct by police or prosecutors has played a role in 54 percent of known wrongful convictions, the University of Colorado data shows. And in 28 %, mistaken eyewitness testimony has caused an innocent person to be convicted of a crime.
(source: California Local)
USA:
Is the Death Penalty Effective? An Anabaptist Critique
In my last post, I corrected a misunderstanding of the Anabaptist position on capital punishment. While Daryl Charles has argues that the early Anabaptists supported the death penalty, I showed that his claim is misleading. Anabaptists and the early church recognized the role that capital punishment played in secular society, but they would not practice it themselves.
However, correcting this mischaracterization could seem to be a purely academic issue. A more pertinent question is why the Anabaptist position should inform a discussion on the death penalty.
I suggest that understanding what is or isn’t “outside the perfection of Christ,” as the Schleitheim Confession puts it, can help us come to a more properly Christian response to violence, a response to violence that doesn’t sit well with supporting the death penalty. This article will argue that support for the death penalty undermines the goals of Christianity, as well as, I would hope, any civilized individual. However, the Anabaptist position should not be construed as taking a stance for or against the death penalty as executed by secular authorities. Capital punishment is the ultimate response that law enforcement can bring to an ultimate crime. Still, Christians (and I hope others as well) will see several issues with the death penalty.
The death penalty can be conceived of as either preventing future violence or rewarding past violence, but it is unsatisfactory in either case. First, though societies throughout history have used it effectively as a deterrent for crime, the death penalty is actually worse than useless as a deterrent for some violent crimes. For example, I was surprised by Charles’s suggestion that capital punishment is a prudent response to mass murder, as that seems the last place where the death penalty would be effective. Mass murderers haven’t given the impression of being deterred by the possibility of death—many mass shooters have actually killed themselves or died in a shootout. Typically, they are seeking death rather than trying to escape it. For one reason or another, they wish to gain notoriety by any means possible, and/or wish to hasten their own deaths. The death penalty could easily incite mass violence, since it would provide a perfect assurance of receiving “death by police” and a well-publicized trial and execution. As those who wish to see mass violence end, the death penalty shouldn’t be our preferred solution.
Daryl Charles’s own position seems to be the second potential reason I offered for the death penalty—it is intended to reward past violence. To support this, Charles suggests a social contagion theory of murder, citing David Gelernter as a major proponent of this view. The effect of their shared view is, according to Charles, that “the community needs catharsis” to reconcile society with a murder that has taken place, since “deliberate murder embodies evil so terrible that it defiles the community.” I do not dispute that a murderer deserves the death penalty, but the reason Charles gives is disturbing.
Christians live alongside many unregenerate aspects of society, which no society’s law enforcement has ever stamped out. If our concern is to gain catharsis through killing whoever “defiles the community,” it will therefore open up quite a range of serious abuses. This is no longer just an academic question. The contagion theory has been used to justify ethnic cleansings and religious purges—in fact, this was the reality of the authors of the Schleitheim Confession. The secular governments in their locality saw them as being a religious contagion that would destroy society. Michael Sattler, the drafter of the confession, was executed the very year it was accepted. This is not to say that it is not the state’s right to do capital punishment, but that it seems incumbent on Christians not to use such disturbing lines of reasoning in order to bolster the state’s authority.
In the next post, I will discuss why we risk dehumanizing ourselves and others by supporting the death penalty.
(source: Lynn Michael Martin, patheos.com)
GLOBAL:
WHICH COUNTRIES IMPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY ON GAY PEOPLE?
Around the world, queer people continue to face discrimination, violence, harassment and social stigma. While social movements have marked progress towards acceptance in many countries, in others homosexuality continues to be outlawed and penalised, sometimes with death.
62 countries continue to criminalise homosexuality in their legal codes, several of which also outlaw forms of gender expression.
In many cases, the laws only apply to sexual relations between two men, but 38 countries have amendments that include those between women in their definitions.
These penalisations represent abuses of human rights, especially the rights to freedom of expression, the right to develop one's own personality and the right to life.
WHICH COUNTRIES ENFORCE THE DEATH PENALTY FOR HOMOSEXUALITY?
SAUDI ARABIA
The Wahabbi interpretation of Sharia law in Saudi Arabia maintains that acts of homosexuality should be disciplined in the same way as adultery - with death by stoning. Homosexuality or nonconformant gender expression can also be punished by corporal punishment, flogging, imprisonment or forced ‘conversion’ therapy.
In 2019, the Saudi Arabian government orchestrated a mass-execution of 37 men who were accused of espionage or terrorism, five of whom were also convicted of same-sex intercourse after one was tortured into confessing.
IRAN
Homosexuality is illegal in Iran and carries severe punishment under the country's Islamic penal code. Consensual same-sex sexual activity is considered a crime, and those convicted can face imprisonment, flogging, and even the death penalty. In 2022, for example, two men were convicted of having carried out homosexual relations and were hanged in prison. The death penalty does not apply to same-sex relations between women, but gay women are nevertheless punished with lashings and fines.
The Iranian government has justified its stance on homosexuality by citing religious and cultural reasons, claiming that homosexuality is a sin and goes against Islamic values. As a result, LGBTQ+ individuals in Iran face systemic discrimination, harassment and violence, both from the government and from society at large.
YEMEN
In Yemen, homosexuality is illegal and is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years. Article 264 of the country's penal code criminalises "sodomy" and defines it as sexual intercourse between two men and the law also criminalises any act of "indecency" or "immorality" between individuals of the same sex, including between women.
In addition to imprisonment, those who are found guilty of homosexuality may also face fines, public flogging, or other forms of punishment, such as capital punishment. Between 2012 and 2014, at least 35 people were executed or murdered for their gay identity by the Ansar al Sharia militant group, which is affiliated with al Qaeda. In 2020, a trans woman was detained, tortured and whipped in chastisement of her gender expression before fleeing the country.
BRUNEI
The Syariah Penal Code in Brunei permits the administration of the death penalty for acts of sodomy; however, the country has had a moratorium on executions since 1996, and instead punishes homosexuality with whipping and up to 30 years of prison for men and 10 years for women.
NIGERIA
Nigeria’s federal penal code imposes a penalty of 14 years of imprisonment for homosexuality. However, in 12 northern states, the regional penal code adopt Sharia law, which penalises homosexual acts with death or flogging. While the death penalty is not commonly used in these states, gay men are often detained, tortured and extorted by authorities, and harassed by community members.
MAURITANIA
In Mauritania, which follows a Sharia-based criminal code, sexual acts between people of the same sex are criminalised and may be punished with death; however, Mauritanian officials have noted that there is a de facto moratorium on the death penalty, which has not been administered since 1987. Nevertheless, queer people in the country face persecution, imprisonment, and harassment.
WHICH OTHER COUNTRIES OUTLAW HOMOSEXUALITY?
AFRICA
Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Occupied Palestinian Territory (Gaza Strip), Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
ASIA
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan
CARIBBEAN
Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines
OCEANIA
Cook Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu
DE FACTO ILLEGALITY
It’s important to note that while the countries listed above have explicit legislations outlawing homosexuality, some other countries that legally permit same-sex relations nevertheless persecute LGBTQ+ people.
This intolerance can take the form of outlawing expressions of LGBTQ+ identities and culture, imposing stigma and discriminating in employment, housing or access to healthcare.
RUSSIA
Homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993, but the government has nevertheless implemented several laws that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and activists.
On 5 December, Putin enacted a law that criminalises favourable public depictions or mentions of LGBTQ+ topics, for which violators can receive fines, imprisonment or expulsion from the country.
INDIA
Same-sex relations were decriminalised in India in 2018, but LGBTQ+ individuals still face significant discrimination and violence, and the country has yet to enact comprehensive anti-discrimination laws to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.
INDONESIA
Homosexuality is technically legal in Indonesia, but LGBTQ+ individuals still face significant discrimination and persecution. Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country, and many people in the country hold conservative views on sexuality and gender.
The government has enacted laws that restrict LGBTQ+ rights and expression, including a 2018 law that criminalises the promotion of "deviant" sexual acts, which has been used to target LGBTQ+ individuals and organizations.
PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PUNISHMENTS
The penalties for homosexuality vary widely among the rest of the countries where it is still criminalised. In some countries, the punishments imposed are less severe, such as fines, while in others they can be violent, including imprisonment, flogging, whipping and forced psychiatric treatment.
At least 9 countries allow for punishment by life in prison for same-sex relations: Pakistan, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Guyana, Gambia and Bangladesh.
In addition to the legal penalties, LGBTQ+ individuals in these countries often face discrimination, harassment and violence from their communities, including their families, neighbours and even law enforcement officials.
For example, LGBTQ+ individuals may be denied access to housing, employment and healthcare, and may be subjected to verbal and physical abuse. They may also be forced to conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity, which can lead to social isolation, depression and other mental health issues.
In some cases, LGBTQ+ individuals may be targeted by vigilante groups or mobs, who may beat or kill them with impunity. When they seek help from authorities, they may be further victimised, as police and other officials may ignore their complaints or even arrest them on charges of homosexuality.
ORGANISATIONS PROTECTING LGBTQ+ LIVES
The criminalisation of homosexuality also has a suffocating effect on LGBTQ+ activism and advocacy. LGBTQ+ individuals and organisations may be subject to surveillance, harassment and intimidation by authorities, and may face legal penalties for their work.
However, NGOs across the world continue their mission of providing resources to LGBTQ+ people, in some cases helping them flee their homecountries to escape persecution.
The Rainbow Railroad: This organisation helps LGBT+ individuals escape state-sponsored or social violence in countries where homosexuality is illegal. They work to identify individuals who are in danger and provide them with support to flee to safer locations. In 2022, they received 10,000 requests for assistance from LGBTQ+ people.
OutRight International: This organisation engages in advocacy, research and education to promote change and support the LGBTQ+ community. They work to advance inclusion of marginalised people and to pressure governments to endorse protective laws.
ILGA: This organisation empowers other networks of human rights organisations and promotes the protection of LGBTQ+ people through research, empowerment and advocacy work.
(source: fairplanet.org)
GHANA:
Death penalty is too final – Chief Justice nominee calls on legislature for review
Chief Justice nominee, Gertrude Torkornoo, has called for a review of capital punishment in the country’s constitution.
Speaking in Parliament during her vetting on Friday, she said that for her as an individual, the death penalty sentence handed to convicts seems too definitive.
Justice Torkornoo thus called on parliament to take a review of the death penalty.
“As a justice of the Supreme Court, I am mindful of the fact if cases come to court. It will be my duty to preside over it. But on a personal level, I do think the death penalty is too final and I would be grateful if the legislative body would begin to look at it,” Justice Torkornoo said.
When asked if as a judge she should not be firm in handing down death sentences, especially to convicted murderers, she noted “sentencing is always guided by law, so long as the law says it I can’t dispute it.
For years, some civil society organisations have called for the abolition of the death penalty. In Ghana, capital punishment is a mandatory sentence for certain offenses including murder, treason and genocide.
However, Ghana last executed convicts on death row in 1993, the year of Ghana’s return to civilian rule. Twelve people convicted of armed robbery or murder were executed by firing squad.
According to a report by Amnesty International, as of the end of 2020, 160 people – 155 men and 5 women – were under sentence of death. These included six foreign nationals, one from Benin, two from Burkina Faso and three from Nigeria.
Amnesty International cited a lack of effective legal representation among others for the plight of some convicts on death row.
“The death penalty in Ghana has been frequently used in violation of international law and standard, affecting predominantly those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, as shown by research carried out by Amnesty International. It is high time the authorities of Ghana acted to fully abolish it.”
“Conditions for men and women on death row do not meet international standards. Both men and women reported overcrowding, poor sanitary facilities, isolation, and lack of adequate access to medical care and to recreational or educational opportunities available to other people in detention. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception,” parts of the research read.
Among other things, they are calling for an express abolishment of death penalty for all crimes, commuting the death sentences of all death row prisoners to terms of imprisonment; reviewing the cases of all death row prisoners to identify any potential miscarriages of justice and providing all death row prisoners, regardless of means, with adequate and effective legal aid to pursue any appeals against their convictions and death sentences.
Meanwhile, In June 2021, Francis Xavier Sosu, a member of Parliament for Madina Constituency in Ghana, initiated a proposal for the introduction of a bill to remove the death penalty from the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). The proposal seeks to abolish the death penalty for most capital offences under national legislation.
The move is seen as a unique opportunity for Ghana to make significant steps towards the abolition of the death penalty for all crimes. You can support abolition in Ghana in three simple steps.
(source: myjoyonline.com)
INDIA:
‘Terror Funding’ Case: NIA Seeking Death Penalty For Yasin Malik
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Friday approached the Delhi High Court seeking death penalty for separatist leader Yasin Malik, who was awarded life term by a trial court here in a militancy funding case.
The plea by the agency has been listed for hearing on May 29 before a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh.
On May 24, 2022, a trial court here had awarded life imprisonment to Malik, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief, after holding him guilty for various offences under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the IPC.
The trial court, which had rejected the NIA’s plea for capital punishment, had said the crimes committed by Malik struck at the “heart of the idea of India” and were intended to forcefully secede Jammu and Kashmir from Union of India.
“These crimes were intended to strike at the heart of the idea of India and intended to forcefully secede J&K from UOI. The crime becomes more serious as it was committed with the assistance of foreign powers and designated terrorists. The seriousness of crime is further increased by the fact that it was committed behind the smokescreen of an alleged peaceful political movement,” the trial court had said.
It had noted that the case was not the “rarest of rare”, warranting death penalty.
The maximum punishment for such an offence is death penalty.
The life term was awarded for two offences – section 121 (waging war against government of India) of IPC and section 17 (raising funds for terrorist act) of the UAPA.
According to the Supreme Court, life imprisonment means incarceration till the last breath, unless the sentence is commuted by the authorities.
The court had awarded Malik 10-year jail term each under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 121-A (conspiracy to wage war against the government of India) of IPC and sections 15 (terrorism), 18 (conspiracy for terrorism) and 20 (being member of terror organisation) of UAPA.
It had also awarded 5-year jail term each under sections 13 (unlawful act), 38 (offence related to membership of terrorism) and 39 (support given to terrorism) of UAPA.
Malik had on May 10 last year told the Delhi court he was not contesting the charges levelled against him that included acts of terrorism and sedition.
The court had framed the charges against Kashmiri separatist leaders including Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate, Shabbir Shah, Masarat Alam, Md Yusuf Shah, Aftab Ahmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Khan, Md Akbar Khanday, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Abdul Rashid Sheikh and Naval Kishore Kapoor.
A charge sheet was also filed against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, both of whom have been declared proclaimed offenders in the case and are living in Pakistan.
(source: Press Trust of India)
*************
Yasin Malik’s fate hangs in balance as India again seeks death penalty----Senior official in Srinagar confirmed petition is scheduled to be heard on Monday
In a recent development, India’s top anti-terrorism investigation agency has once again requested the death sentence for Yasin Malik, the chief of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), following his previous conviction of life imprisonment.
Official sources have confirmed that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the court seeking capital punishment for Malik, who had earlier admitted to funding the separatist movement.
Last year, Yasin Malik pleaded guilty to financing the separatist cause, while refusing to accept a government-appointed lawyer or defend himself against the charges.
Despite the NIA’s initial plea for a death sentence, the court rejected the request, stating that such a punishment is reserved for crimes that “shock the collective consciousness” of society.
Undeterred by the court’s decision, the NIA filed a fresh petition with the High Court on Friday, urging them to reconsider and grant the death penalty to Malik. A senior official in Srinagar confirmed that the petition is scheduled to be heard on Monday when the fate of the JKLF leader will be decided.
The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front played a significant role in spearheading armed resistance in India-held Kashmir back in 1989. In response, the Indian government launched a military campaign, resulting in the loss of numerous lives, including civilians and security personnel.
(source: samaaenglish.tv)
***************
Section 53A CrPC | Samples Collected From Accused Must Be Sent To Laboratory As Soon As Possible : Supreme Court
(see: https://www.livelaw.in/supreme-court/supreme-court-death-sentence-overturned-dna-sample-chain-custody-section-53a-crpc-229579)
************
NIA moves Delhi High Court seeking death sentence for Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik----The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday moved the Delhi High Court seeking a death sentence for Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday moved the Delhi High Court seeking a death sentence for Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik.
NIA had sought a death penalty for Yasin Malik, who was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment, before the trial court, but it was rejected.
The Delhi HC bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh will hear the plea by NIA on Monday.
In May 2022, Malik, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court and was convicted under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a terror funding case. Yasin chose not to contest the charges and instead pleaded guilty.
Others who were charged were Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Salahuddin, Rashid Engineer, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, Shahid-ul-Islam, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Khan and Farooq Ahmad Dar.
The case was related to alleged terrorism and secessionist activities that disturbed the Kashmir Valley in 2017. He was arrested by the NIA in 2019 in connection with a case.
(source: India Today)
MALAYSIA:
[From the May newsletter of the WEorld Coalition to Abolish the Ddeath Penalty]
In April 2023, the Malaysian parliament put an end to the mandatory death penalty. I hope that the abolition of the mandatory death penalty gave a little more hope for those on death row and their families. For the rest of us, I hope it is a moment to ponder and reflect on what the move towards abolition means.
It has been a privilege to be working with the people around me and the countless number of advocates that have led us to this moment. I will never be able to fully express the appreciation for the trust given to us at ADPAN by the families and the community we serve; but I hope to be able to do so one day. You know who you are and thank you for what you have done for all of us.
I don’t think I have ever met a death row family that demands anything more than giving those on death row a chance to be heard; to give them a second chance and an opportunity to be with their loved ones. These are things every one of us yearn for in our lives.
Detractors would like to paint those on death row purely as monsters that have committed heinous crimes and deserve nothing but the worst we can give them – but the world is anything but black and white. The mandatory death penalty had only been sustaining such an illusion.
One of the few things that are certain in life is that people make mistakes; and behind each mistake is an untold story of how things came to be. This was only further perpetrated by the mandatory death penalty, and as a result, those on death row suffer from this enforced illusion of monstrosity.
This convenient illusion – painting those on death row as monsters – also propagates an idea that executions do serve justice. It salvages society’s conscience based on a mistaken belief that we have put an end to evil.
In the coming months, when the abolition of the mandatory death penalty is gazetted, we no longer have this illusion to fall back on -- and good riddance. It is high time for us as a society to face the monsters we have created. For us to hear and understand the motives behind crimes, and the tragedy that unfolds from that single point of interaction between those on death row and the victims. Or, perhaps more accurately, from a point in time where the lives of the victims, those on death row, and their families get thrown in a direction in which they have no control over. Everyone in this equation suffers harm, yet society’s the one who gets to craft a convenient story of good and evil to explain why an eye needs to be paid with another eye.
Hopefully, in the months to come, the 1300+ individuals on death row will have their chance to be heard in court -- a chance for them to make appropriate mitigation and representations that should have never been denied. A chance for truth to prevail over illusion.
The government has a duty to protect and make lives better for ALL. It cannot be the platform to exact revenge, nor should it inflict harm and cause more tragedies. This starts with the abolition of the mandatory death penalty.
I can only hope the change today will honour the memory of those that have been wrongly or unjustly executed. I hope what happened today has lived up to your hopes for tomorrow. Each and every one of your stories has done its part to make today possible.
I am sorry we could not do more, and I wish there had been more we could have done. I hope your families can rest a little easier, knowing that the pain and loss they suffered in losing you will no longer be inflicted on others.
All of you will be on my mind tonight as I prepare for the journey tomorrow. A journey towards a world without the death penalty.
(source: Editorial, ADPAN)
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Saudi national executed for joining military camp in ‘hostile’ country
A Saudi national in the Eastern Province was executed on Tuesday for communicating with a “hostile country” and joining a military camp there, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Ahmad bin Ali Bin Maatouq al-Badr received the death penalty for illegally departing the Kingdom and joining a military training camp in a “hostile” country.
He was also found guilty of smuggling a weapon to carry out a “terrorist attack” in the Kingdom.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Al-Badr was found guilty by a court and a royal order was issued to carry out the death sentence.
On Monday, 3 Saudis were executed in the Eastern Province for joining a military camp outside the Kingdom to serve a “terrorist organization.”
They were identified as Hassan bin Issa bin Ahmad al-Mahanna, Haidar bin Hassan bin Abdullah Moways and Mohammed bin Ibrahim bin Jaafar bin Amoways.
Al-Mahanna and Moways purchased a boat to help people wanted on security charges flee the Kingdom, according to SPA.
Both helped a number of wanted men escape. They were also found guilty of possessing weapons and ammunition that were intended to “tamper with security.”
In addition to joining the military camp outside the Kingdom, Amoways was also found guilty of receiving money in exchange of aiding men wanted on security charges flee the country via the sea.
(source: english.alarabiya.net)
IRAN----executions
Ali Piri Executed for Murder in Urmia
Ali Piri who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been executed in Urmia Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Urmia (Darya) Central Prison on 25 May. His identity has been established as 40-year-old Ali Piri who was sentenced to qisas for murder.
An informed source told Iran Human Rights that Ali Piri was arrested around 3 years ago.
At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
***************
Iran Human Rights Demands Strong Response to Public Execution in Maragheh
A man sentenced to death for charges of efsad-fil-arz(corruption on earth) was publicly hanged in Maragheh today. State media published graphic videos of the public hanging that shows children in the audience.
Warning of the resumption of public executions, Iran Human Rights demands a serious response from the international community to stop these state crimes.
Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Today’s public execution and its publication by state media shows the true horrifying face of a government that’s trying to prolong its reign with cruelty, humiliation and intimidation of society.”
“The international community cannot tolerate such medieval practices in 2023. Electing the representative of such a government as Chair of the UN Human Rights Council’s Social Forum has severely undermined the Council’s credibility,” he added.
According to Rokna, a man was publicly hanged in Maragheh on 25 May. The unnamed man was sentenced to death for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) through “widespread corruption and prostitution.” He was arrested around 8 years ago per the report.
2021 was the first year in over a decade during which no public executions were carried out by the Islamic Republic. This followed 2020 when only 1 execution was recorded, which was the lowest number since 2016, when Iran Human Rights started its systematic monitoring of executions in Iran. We have no indication that the decline in the number of public executions were the result of policy change, but rather a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. In 2022, public executions returned to the streets of Iran with 2 people publicly executed. At least 5 other men have been sentenced to public executions, including Afghan nationals Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeim Hashem Ghotali.
*************
4 Men including 2 Baluch Executed in Kerman
4 men have been executed for drug-related charges in Kerman Central Prison.
According to Hal Vash, four men were executed in Kerman Central Prison on 25 May. Their identities have been reported as Baluch minorities Ali Shahriari, 40 and Ghaderbakhsh Dehani, 39, and Abdolrasould Jamishidi, 55 and Ali Salari.
They were all sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. Ghaderbakhsh Dehani was on death row for around 5 years and Abdolrasoul Jamishidi was arrested around 3 years ago.
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-6% of Iran’s population.
Baluch minorities also represented almost 1/2 of drug-related executions in 2022. 47.3% of the 256 people executed for drug-related charges were Baluch.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 256 people were executed for drug-related offences in 2022, a more than 2-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and 10 times more than 2020 (25).
(source for all: iranhr.net)
***************
Maragheh- The brutal execution of a prisoner in public
Mahmoud Nemati, Public Prosecutor and Maragheh Revolution announced the execution of a prisoner in public.
According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, on Thursday, May 25, 2023, a prisoner was hanged in public in the city of Maragheh in an inhuman act. The name of this prisoner was Amir Mahdi.
According to Fars news agency, Mahmoud Nemati, the public prosecutor and Maragheh revolution, announced the execution of this prisoner named Amir Mahdi in an interview with this news agency.
He accused this prisoner of spreading corruption and prostitution. Amir Mahdi has been imprisoned in Maragheh prison since 2016 and was sentenced to death for this charge.
Public execution is one of the methods of increasing the atmosphere of terror in the society and further repression, and this trick of the system is condemned.
************
Gohardasht prison, mass transfer of 10 prisoners for execution----10 prisoners sentenced to death were transferred from Gohardasht prison to solitary confinement to serve the sentence
According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, today Friday, May 26, 2023, following the killing of prisoners, 10 prisoners sentenced to death were transferred to Gohardasht prison to carry out the death sentence. This transfer indicates that these prisoners will be executed in the coming days.
According to a reliable source, the names of 3 of these prisoners are Yadullah Ajamian, Nader Nouri Sarkhez, and Hossein Rusta Voldebigi.
There is no information about the names and charges of the other transferred persons.
Iran’s judicial system has started killing people in prisons to suppress people and prevent the continuation of protests and uprisings. During the past 5 days, at least 15 prisoners have been executed, 5 prisoners per day.
While condemning these executions, the Iranian human rights Society considers it a mass killing and massacre.
Iran’s human rights Society has warned against the rapid increase in the execution of death sentences and demands an end to these crimes.
Iranian Human Rights Society repeatedly condemns the execution prisoners in prisons in Iran.
**********
Amnesty International’s warning regarding the threat of execution of child prisoner Hossein Shahbazi
Amnesty International’s warning about the execution of child criminal prisoner Hossein Shahbazi, requested the suspension of this sentence.
According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, on Friday, June 26, 2023. Hossein Shahbazi, a child criminal prisoner, scheduled to be executed on Sunday, June 28, 2023, in Adel Abad Prison, Shiraz.
Amnesty International issued a statement to prevent the execution of this prisoner and warned about this imminent execution.
On Thursday, June 25, 2023, Amnesty International warned about the imminent execution of the 22-year-old Hossein Shahbazi, who was 17 years old when he committed the crime, and announced: “The execution of Hossein Shahbazi is scheduled for Sunday.”
Amnesty International writes in its statement that Hossein Shahbazi not allowed access to a lawyer for eleven days since his arrest and has been interrogated daily.
About Hossein Shahbazi:
Hossein Shahbazi arrested on December 30, 2018, and sentenced to death on January 13, 2020. Following a severely unfair trial by Branch 3 of the Criminal Court of a Fars province. After his arrest, he was denied access to a lawyer and his family for 11 days, while he was detained and interrogated in the Shiraz Detention Center.
He then transferred to a juvenile detention center, but he was still denied access to his family for several days. He was then able to have a meeting with his mother. According to sources familiar with his case, at the time of this meeting, bruises were visible on Hossein Shahbazi’s face and he had apparently lost weight.
Part of the evidence for his conviction includes “confessions” that, according to him, were obtained from him through torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in the detention center.
His death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court on June 16, 2020. In this ruling, the judicial authorities have acknowledged that he was under 18 years old when the crime occurred. But they have stated that, according to the evaluation of the Forensic Medicine Organization, he was mentally mature.
The intelligence police arrested him on December 30, 2018, in Shiraz. Amnesty International’s report indicate. Hossein Shahbazi not allowed access to a lawyer for 11 days since his arrest and interrogated daily.
(source for all: en.iranhrs.org)
***************
Victims’ Families Call For Global Action To End Executions In Iran
Over 80 families of those killed by the Iranian regime called for immediate global action to stop the recent execution spree in Iran.
In a statement on Saturday, the petitioning families called the recent wave of executions in Iran a revenge by the Islamic Republic on the people for anti-regime protests.
They also called on all activists and organizations defending human rights in the world to do their best to end the death penalty in Iran and save the lives of prisoners at risk.
“Suffering from the deep wounds of losing our loved ones, whether on the street or at the gallows, we cry out to stop the executions and killings of people. End all death sentences immediately. Executions for any reason and for any crime must be stopped. We don't let you kill our loved ones anymore,” read the statement.
The wave of executions carried out by the Islamic Republic in recent weeks has led to yet another global outcry against the Iranian regime.
After the execution of Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaqoubi and Saleh Mirhashmi, 3 protesters imprisoned in Isfahan (Esfahan) on May 19, people in different Iranian cities took to the streets and chanted slogans, burning symbols of the regime to express their determination to overthrow the clerical rulers.
Iranian expats in different countries also held protest rallies against the Islamic Republic on May 20, to slam the recent wave of executions in Iran which has taken the lives of 110 people in the past month.
(source: iranintl.com)
***********
Iran oil workers: ‘Death penalty threatens everyone’
The May 19 execution of 3 men active in “Women, Life, Freedom” protests in Isfahan has fueled demonstrations against the death penalty in Iran and around the world.
The government alleged that Saleh Mirhashemi, a karate champion and coach; Majid Kazemi, a welder; and Saeid Yaqoubi Yaqoubi, a real estate agent, had killed two members of the Basij militia and a police officer during a protest action Nov. 16.
Family members say the 3 were tortured into giving false confessions and were denied lawyers of their own choosing.
There has been a sizable increase in executions in Iran — already among the highest in the world — since the start of protests against the death of young Kurdish woman, Zhina Amini, after she was arrested by the “morality” police for not adhering to the regime’s reactionary dress code.
Most of those executed have been for alleged criminal, not political, activity, especially drug trafficking. They are disproportionately from oppressed nationalities, including Baluchs, Kurds and Arabs.
“These executions are a threat to all of us, the workers and the people, who cried out for freedom for women and protested against the murder of Mahsa Amini for violating the hijab law,” said the Council of Oil Contract Workers in a May 20 statement.
Thousands of contract oil workers are on strike, demanding a 79% wage increase to keep up with soaring inflation and more humane work schedules.
The rulers “carry out executions to impose wages that are several times below the poverty line, to push back the striking oil workers whose lives have been exhausted by discrimination, inequality and intimidation by contractors, and to silence the retirees who after years of work and hardship are still struggling with poverty,” the union said. “We demand the abolition of the death penalty and executions forever.”
Family members of those sentenced to death protested in the days leading up to their executions outside prisons in Isfahan, Karaj, just north of Tehran, and in Bandar Abbas. Students at the University of Tehran and elsewhere held protests. Despite an attack by the regime’s security forces, several hundred students at Beheshti University protested for over an hour.
The day before the executions thousands of Bakhtiaris, an oppressed nationality, in Junqan commemorated the life of Jamshid Mokhtari, who was killed by the regime a year ago during protests against a sharp rise in bread prices.
There were protests against the executions in over 40 cities around the world, from Australia to Germany, the U.S. and Canada May 20.
(source: The Militant)
MAY 26, 2023:
TEXAS----female to face death penalty
Italy mom to face the death penalty for allegedly stabbing 5 children
Prosecutors in Ellis County, south of Dallas, said they’ll seek the death penalty for a woman accused of killing her 3 children and injuring 2 others.
A grand jury indicted Shamaiya Hall Wednesday on 3 counts of capital murder and 2 counts of attempted murder.
Investigators said Hall stabbed her children in March after a Child Protective Services caseworker decided to remove them from their home in Italy.
According to court documents, the caseworker called 911 after she saw Hall enter the home and then come back outside with what she believed to be blood on her hands.
Newly released court documents reveal more information about the deadly stabbings in Italy, Texas, where 25-year-old Samaiya Hall is charged with killing 3 of her children and injuring 2 others.
Police found the children in a back bedroom of the home unresponsive with what they believed to be multiple stab wounds in the abdominal area, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
A 6-year-old and 5-year-old twins died. A 4-year-old boy and a 13-month-old girl were hospitalized but survived the attack.
Hall had a history of violent crime convictions and didn’t have custody of the children. They had been living with her grandmother, who wasn’t home at the time of the incident.
A pastor for the heartbroken family told FOX 4 he believes Hall has a mental illness that led to the children’s murders.
"And this is the end result of a mental instability that’s gone awry," Pastor Preston Dixon of Mt. Gilead Baptist Church said. "We’re trying to wrap our minds around it."
A pastor to the caretaker of the children murdered in Ellis County believes the mother accused of killing 3 of her kids and wounding 2 more is obviously mentally ill. She remains in jail on capital murder charges. Meanwhile, the kids who survived are still fighting for their lives.
Shockingly, the stabbings are all too familiar to the family.
In 2021, Dallas police say Hall’s twin sister confessed to brutally stabbing her 7-year-old daughter to death. The sister is in a mental hospital. Her case has not gone to trial.
(source: Fox News)
***************
El Paso District Attorney decides to pursue the death penalty in state’s case against Walmart shooter
El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks has decided to pursue the death penalty in the state's case against accused Walmart shooter Patrick Crusius. Hicks is leading the state's prosecution against Crusius.
Crusius plead guilty to federal murder charges earlier this year. His sentencing date is set for June 30. Federal prosecutors have already said that they will not pursue the death penalty.
Crusius is charged with killing 23 people and injuring dozens others at the Cielo Vista Walmart August 3, 2019.
(source: KVIA news)
FLORIDA----new death sentence
Duval County jury votes for death sentence in 'buried alive' case----Michael Jackson was convicted of two counts of first degree murder, two counts of robbery, and 2 counts of kidnapping to commit a felony in 2007.
A Duval County jury has recommended death for Michael Jackson, one of the defendants found guilty in the 2005 murder of Reggie and Carol Sumner, according to the State Attorney's Office.
The jury verdict was 8 to 4. Florida law was recently changed to say that the jury does not need to be unanimous for a death sentence. Instead, the majority of jurors must vote in favor of the death penalty. Under the previous law, Jackson would not have received a death sentence.
Jackson was convicted for 2 counts of 1st degree murder, 2 counts of robbery, and 2 counts of kidnapping to commit a felony in 2007.
Judge Michael Weatherby will formally sentence Jackson at a later date, said a release from the SAO. His sentencing is currently scheduled for August 11.
Jackson was the ringleader of a group of 4 who buried a Jacksonville couple alive in 2007.
It was a heinous crime that has been mentioned in several TV documentaries. The couple, both 61, were bound and buried alive in a shallow grave. When they were discovered by police, the couple had broken out of their binds but was only able to embrace before dying.
It was Jackson who prosecutors said had the idea for the crime. He was initially sentenced to death, along with co-defendants Alan Wade and Tiffany Cole. But a Florida law change that altered the requirement for a defendant to be sentenced to death allowed Jackson to appeal his original sentence.
The Sumners were Cole's neighbors in South Carolina before they moved to Jacksonville. Jackson, the mastermind of the crime and Cole's boyfriend, targeted the couple because of their money.
Despite the couple handing over passcodes for multiple bank accounts, Jackson murdered them to "eliminate them as witnesses" according to the SAO release. When police began searching for the couple, Jackson tried to conceal their death.
This is the 2nd time Jackson has appealed -- he asked for his case to be re-considered in 2009, but his conviction and sentence were upheld.
“This remains one of the most shocking and evil crimes our community has ever suffered — cold, calculated, premeditated, heinous, atrocious, cruel," said State Attorney Melissa Nelson. "Despite the passage of time, law enforcement and the prosecution, led by Alan Mizrahi, have remained steadfast in their commitment to this case and to the friends and family of Reggie and Carol Sumner."
Jackson was supposed to be re-sentenced along with co-defendant Wade in June 2022. But a judge separated the two cases after an emotional outburst from Wade.
Wade began crying during jury selection, prompting Jackson's attorneys to ask that he be tried separately.
“I don’t see any alternative than simply reset Mr. Jackson’s [case] at some point,” Senior Judge Michael Weatherby said. He said he was skeptical anyway about the possibility of seating 2 juries from the remaining pool after two days of jury selection.
“I am concerned enough about the logistics of this that we are not going to get [2] jur[ies],” he said. “The emotional outburst is not the only reason I’m concerned.”
Wade was tried under an old law requiring a unanimous jury for death (and escaped a death sentence).
(source: First Coast News)
*************
Jury recommends death penalty for Florida man who killed girl and her babysitter in 1990
Jurors in southwest Florida have recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of killing an 11-year-old girl and her babysitter more than 30 years ago. The recommendation came following a trial in which Joseph Zieler yelled at the jury and made vulgar gestures while he was on the witness stand.
The Lee County jury voted 10-2 in favor of death for Zieler on Wednesday night after about 5 hours of deliberations, according to court records. The same panel found Zieler, 60, guilty last week of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder.
A judge will make the final decision in whether Zieler will be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison following a June 26 hearing. Florida law had previously required a unanimous jury recommendation for a convicted murderer to face the death penalty, but a new law signed last month by Gov. Ron DeSantis requires only an 8-4 vote in favor of execution.
Zieler was jailed on an unrelated assault charge in 2016 when his DNA matched to the cold-case murders of Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Story, 32, authorities said.
The girl and the woman were found in a Cape Coral apartment in May 1990, officials said. Robin's mother had been out for the night and discovered the suffocated bodies when she returned the next morning. Investigators said both victims were sexually assaulted.
Cape Coral is about 100 miles south of Tampa.
CBS affiliate WINK-TV reported that Zieler stunned the courtroom when he claimed he had slept with Cornell's mother a few months before the murder.
"I thought the only way my DNA could have got there was from me sleeping with Jan Cornell," he said. Then he called Cornell a pig: "She's calling me a rapist and a murderer, and I'm calling her a pig because she doesn't wash her sheets."
WINK-TV also reported that Zieler screamed at the jury and made vulgar gestures while on the stand.
"I mean, everyone's talking about the finger," his attorney, Lee Hollander, said. "His conduct on the stand did not help. If you're in a hole, stop digging. That's what I wanted to say right then and there."
Hollander continued: "I'm back behind counsel table. And he's up in the in the witness chair. And it was like, sitting down watching a train wreck."
(source: CBS News)
****************
Death penalty sought for MS-13 member accused of decapitating Uber Eats driver
Florida prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the “demonic” MS-13 gang member accused of decapitating an Uber Eats driver — revealing that the innocent family man had been stabbed 35 times.
State Attorney Bruce Bartlett filed a “notice to seek the death penalty” against Oscar Adrian Solis Jr., 30, on Friday, the same day the gangbanger was indicted for 1st-degree murder and abuse of a dead human body, both felonies, court records show.
The aggravated circumstances listed included that “the capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Bartlett told the Tampa Bay Times.
“I cannot focus on how an individual can be so vile,” he said of the MS-13 gangster and his seemingly random slaughter.
Solis was caught on security video yanking Randall Cooke, 59, into his home in Holiday as he delivered food on April 19, according to officials.
Inside the house, Cooke was stabbed 35 times, Bartlett told the local outlet.
He was chopped up and dismembered, with a “human foot wearing a black sock” among body parts found in trash bags Solis was seen dumping with another man, he told the Tampa Bay paper.
“I cannot for the life of me believe he was so nonchalant in what he did,” Bartlett said of footage allegedly showing Solis disposing of body parts.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco previously detailed how Cooke had just been a working man trying to make “his last delivery of the night.”
“And this person killed him for no reason and took him away from his family,” the sheriff said at the time.
Solis was caught on security video yanking Randall Cooke, 59, into his home in Holiday as he delivered food on April 19 where he was stabbed 35 times, chopped up and dismembered.
“You always say the word evil, but this is demonic.”
Solis had only moved to Florida in January, when he was paroled after serving 4 years in an Indiana prison for assault and burglary.
He has a lengthy rap sheet that also includes stabbing a fellow inmate in prison.
That record was also listed as an aggravated circumstance justifying the death penalty, Bartlett wrote in his notice.
“The defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person,” he wrote.
Solis remains in custody ahead of an arraignment scheduled for June 6, records show.
(source: New York Post)
***********
If the state of Florida is for protecting life, it should be against executing Duane Owen
In a certainly unforeseen turn of events, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued a temporary stay of execution to allow psychiatrists to assess the sanity of Duane Owen, who was scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 15.
The governor’s original signing of Owen’s death warrant came just days after he signed into law a bill that allows for the death penalty for perpetrators of sexual violence against children in Florida.
We, the thousands of members of L'chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, join countless others who believe this law is wrong – and who also believe it would be wrong to eventually execute Duane Owen.
Our group has periodically corresponded with Duane, who was sent to death row at the age of 23. Duane was born to alcoholic parents. His mother died of cancer; shortly thereafter, his father committed suicide when Duane was just 9.
Duane was then sent to an orphanage where he was sexually and physically abused, including by those who were supposed to protect him. The sexual trauma that Duane Owen experienced as a child left an indelible impact that led him to a life of crime. This culminated in the heinous rape and murder of Karen Slattery (who was 14 years old) and Georgianna Worden (who was the mother of 2 children).
May their memories be everlasting blessings.
Initially, DeSantis chose to respond to this chronology of horrors with the scheduling of yet further killing, this time by the state. We respectfully submit that this approach fits the well-known definition of insanity that has often been attributed to Albert Einstein (a prominent Jewish figure who also opposed the death penalty): "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
In signing the death warrant for Duane Owen, DeSantis sought to perpetuate very same cycle of violence and death that he claims to hope to end through the wanton political pursuit of barbaric laws allowing for state-sanctioned murder.
The death penalty demonstrably has failed to deter crime. Instead, it continues to create new victims, including the executed, their loved ones and the executioners forced to carry out the killings.
We at L’chaim are keenly aware of this reality and oppose every execution without exception. This includes the case of Robert Bowers, who has been charged with the October 2018 shooting deaths of 11 Jewish worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Together with our partners at Death Penalty Action, we fight against each execution in the United States, and we also vociferously advocate against the increasing calls for executions in Israel.
Our opposition to state murder is grounded in the fact that, like one of our co-founders, many of us at L’chaim are direct descendants of Holocaust survivors. Among those who survived was Elie Wiesel, the celebrated writer and Nobel Prize winner – and the following words by Wiesel are what guide us at L'chaim:
“With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don’t think it’s human to become an agent of the angel of death.”
We also follow in the footsteps of renowned Jewish theologian Martin Buber and other Jewish human rights luminaries who opposed the execution of the Nazi mass murderer Adolf Eichmann.
Our Jewish tradition teaches us the following: “Whoever destroys a life, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5)
If the state of Florida professes to be “pro-life,” then the planned, state-sponsored killing of any defenseless human being should be anathema – and that should apply to the life of Duane Owen.
L’chaim – to Life!
(source: Opinion; Cantor Michael Zoosman is an ordained member of the Jewish clergy in Maryland. He is a co-founder of the group L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty----Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
ALABAMA:
Clock runs out on Alabama bill to require unanimous jury for death penalty
A bill that could change some death sentences in Alabama to life in prison drew supporters to a public hearing in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday but has run out of time to pass during this session.
Those who spoke to the committee included a juror who regrets voting for a guilty verdict almost 30 years ago and the daughter and brother of a murder victim who opposed the execution of the killer.
Under Alabama law, capital murder cases include 2 phases that require jury decisions. It takes a unanimous jury for a guilty verdict. But in the penalty phase, a jury can impose the death penalty on a 10-2 or 11-1 vote.
HB14 by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, would change the law to require a unanimous jury decision for the death penalty. The bill would apply retroactively, so that inmates sent to death row by less than a unanimous jury during the sentencing phase could have their sentences changed to life without parole.
HB14 would make another retroactive change. In 2017, the Alabama Legislature changed the law to make juries, not judges, the final decision-makers on whether a defendant convicted of capital murder received the death penalty or life without parole. Before that change, juries made a recommendation, but judges had the final say and could impose the death penalty after a recommendation of life, a practice called judicial override. Alabama was the only state that allowed a judge to override a jury’s recommendation when sentencing capital murder cases.
HB14 would apply the ban on judicial override retroactively and allow inmates already on death row as a result of a judicial override to have their sentences changed to life without parole.
The House Judiciary Committee held the public hearing on HB14 one day after former Alabama Govs. Don Siegelman and Robert Bentley co-wrote an op-ed published by the Washington Post about the same issues addressed in HB14, people sentenced to death by non-unanimous jury decisions and by judicial override. The former governors said they now see those sentences as unjust and would commute them to life sentences.
Mae Puckett of Athens told the committee about convicting Robin “Rocky” Myers of murder in 1994, the stabbing death of his neighbor, Ludie Mae Tucker in 1991. Struggling to keep her voice steady as she spoke to the lawmakers, Puckett said she and eight other jurors thought Myers was innocent. She said three jurors were convinced of guilt. Puckett said she agreed to a conviction because the jury could recommend life without parole. She said she and others who believed Myers were innocent were concerned that if the trial ended in a hung jury, Myers could be sentenced to death in a second trial.
“We weren’t going to prove him innocent because the three weren’t going to budge,” Puckett told the committee. “But we decided since we had the power that we could find him guilty and recommend life in prison. He seemed to be a good father. We heard testimony. We wanted him to have a good relationship with his kids.”
Puckett said a couple of weeks after the trial, a fellow juror called her and told her the judge had done an override and sentenced Myers to death.
“When I found out that the judge had overturned our recommendation, I was infuriated, because why?” Puckett said. “What was the point of us ever being there if we weren’t going to matter? Why did we have to sit and listen to these horrible things? And see those pictures that we had to see? He was accused of stabbing a woman to death. I don’t understand why we had to go through that for this man to have just turned around and say, ‘No, it doesn’t matter, I know what we need to do.’ And this man has been on death row for 25 years.”
Former state Sen. Dick Brewbaker, a Republican from Montgomery, sponsored the 2017 bill that ended judicial override. Sen. Hank Sanders, a Democrat from Selma, had championed the same bill for years. Brewbaker, speaking to the committee in support of HB14, credits Sanders for those years of work raising awareness of the issue. Similarly, he urged the Judiciary Committee to continue to work on the issues in HB14 until they can become law.
“This is not a vote against the death penalty per se,” Brewbaker said. “This is a vote that says you think jurors should be given the respect due to their deliberations. A jury listened to all the evidence and decided that death, the capital sentence, was not appropriate. And I think we as legislators should respect that.”
Jefferson County Circuit Judge David Carpenter told the committee he supports requiring a unanimous jury to impose the death penalty, as well as the retroactive application of the ban on judicial override.
“This is a power that should be left to the same people who determine whether or not somebody is guilty to begin with,” Carpenter said. “They have heard all the evidence in the case. And in the case of these defendants that are currently on death row because of judicial override, there is a record of what the jury recommended. So, it’s not difficult to go back and just go by that record, what they recommended originally. So, I would encourage you do to that, would encourage you to pass this bill.”
Toni Hall of Birmingham, joined by her uncle, Helvetius Hall, read a statement to the committee expressing their support for HB14. Faith Hall, who was Toni Hall’s mother and Helvetius Hall’s sister, was murdered in August 1994 by Joe Nathan James Jr., her former boyfriend, who was sentenced to death. The Hall family contacted Gov. Kay Ivey asking that his sentence be commuted to life without parole. James was executed by lethal injection in July 2022.
“It’s a jury’s job, and the jury’s alone, to sentence someone to death in Alabama,” Toni Hall said. “And this legislature agreed a few years ago that judicial override is no longer appropriate, it realized we must value the voice of our jurors and trust their judgment. It does not make sense to continue to ignore the voices of the jurors who voted for life sentences in capital cases before 2017. We need to right this wrong, and retroactively correct the old judicial override verdicts.”
“Likewise, everyone in this room knows that a life and death verdict is the most important decision that a jury in our state can make,” Hall said. “It only makes sense to listen to every voice on that jury, even those in disagreement to the majority, and enact a death sentence only in unanimous cases.”
Before the public hearing, House Judiciary Chair Jim Hill, R-Moody, announced that the committee would not vote on the bill. Hill noted that it is the committee’s standard procedure not to vote after public hearings but to wait until the next meeting. That means the bill remains in the committee, and with only 6 meeting days left in the Legislature’s annual session, all but assures that the bill cannot pass during the session.
Rep. Penni McClammy, D-Montgomery, urged Hill to allow a vote after the hearing, pointing out that the issues discussed by the speakers were not new to lawmakers. Hill declined to allow a vote and noted that some bills take years to pass.
After the meeting, England said he believes the public hearing on the issues still served a good purpose.
“Even if the bill doesn’t pass, the conversation is extremely important,” England said. “Because in order to get rid of judicial override, it took years of that conversation happening over and over and over again before we made the realization that it’s fundamentally unjust to allow one person to override a jury’s recommendation. All these things have to happen. There are steps to it. And this is just one of those steps.”
(source: al.com)
************
Bill to provide relief to death row inmates sentenced by judicial override stalls----Judges have been barred from overriding the jury in death penalty sentencing since the Legislature passed a law to that effect in 2018.
On Tuesday, former Alabama Governors Robert Bentley and Don Siegelman published an opinion in The Washington Post expressing doubts and regrets about their terms as governor presiding over executions.
On Wednesday, former Republican state Sen. Dick Brewbaker explained his support of the bill to the House Judiciary Committee, stating that the original 2018 law to end judicial override was meant to be applied retroactively, but politics got in the way.
At the same public hearing, a woman who formerly served on an Alabama jury that she said was 9-3 in favor of not guilty recounted how the 3 “guilty” votes wouldn’t budge, and how they decided to find the defendant guilty in hopes to prevent the man from another jury sentencing him to death.
And the family of the victim of Joe Nathan James Jr., whose execution last year drew criticism about the state’s transparency and process, explained their frustration of seeking to prevent his execution.
And a local reverend shared his thoughts on the balance of justice, and how this bill balances justice and mercy.
And a woman who has fought against the death penalty for years pleaded for the committee to focus on forgiveness.
And a Tuscaloosa judge said that in the case of the highest penalty the state can hand down, a jury’s decision should not be overridden by a judge, and a jury should need to be unanimous.
And committee chair Jim Hill, R-Moody, thanked the opponents for speaking and adjourned the committee without offering up a vote, citing the committee’s procedure to always allow a week between a hearing and a vote.
It’s true that it has been a longstanding practice of Hill’s Judiciary Committee; however, just last week the committee voted through a bill by Rep. Ben Robbins, R-Sylacauga, that would require pornography distributors to implement age verification to access content despite having a public hearing on the same day, ostensibly for the same reason that a request was made by Rep. Penny McClammy, D-Montgomery, to take a vote on this bill— with no time left in the session to account for delays.
Regardless, England said he doesn’t expect his bill would have survived a vote by the committee, and this all but ends the bill’s journey in the House this year.
There are currently 31 men awaiting execution by the state because a judge overrode a jury who decided against the death penalty.
Judge David Carpenter of Tuscaloosa said that those numbers correlate with election years, representing a 30 to 40 percent increase in the number of judicial overrides.
“This would remove that political element from the process,” Carpenter said.
Brewbaker said that most of the Senate members approved of applying the bill retroactively at the time, but the bill was up against the end of the session, and one Senator threatened to filibuster if the retroactive provision was not dropped.
“There was only one ‘no’ vote in the Senate, and that senator had me in a barrel over time,” Brewbaker said.
Brewbaker did not name the senator, but records show that Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, made the amendment.
Brewbaker asked the committee to pass, if nothing else, that provision of the bill.
“When it’s all over and you’re through with he amendatory process, those 31 individuals do not need to be treated differently than all the people from 2018 forward,” Brewbaker said. “Those 31 people don’t need to be the only people who are subjected to having their sentence changed from a life without (parole) to a capital sentence.”
Mae Puckett often had to pause due to being choked up from tears to share her story of bargaining in the jury room to prevent the death sentence, only to be overridden by a judge.
“When I found out the judge had overturned our recommendation, I was infuriated,” Puckett said. “Because—why? What was the point of us ever being there if we weren’t going to matter. Why did we have to sit and listen to these horrible things, see these pictures that we had to go through?”
Joe Nathan James Jr. was not sentenced to death by judicial override, so he would not have been provided relief under this bill.
However, the victim’s family expressed their overall disappointment in the system that would allow a man to be executed against the wishes of the family of the victims.
When Gov. Kay Ivey ordered a moratorium on executions last year, she said it was to make sure the executions are carried out properly for the benefit not of the people facing death, but for the family of the victims.
England said he will be bringing the bill back again in the next session.
(source: alreporter.com)
***************
Bill requires unanimous jury for death penalty, resentencing for judge-imposed executions
Mae Puckett recalled the day she and 11 other jurors released a verdict claiming that Robin "Rocky" Myers was guilty of stabbing a Decatur, Ala., woman to death in 1993.
?While she and 8 other jurors believed that Myers was innocent of the crime, three others believed he was guilty and refused to switch to the majority of the jurors to avoid a hung jury.
Puckett testified before the House Judiciary Committee May 25 that the majority of the jurors felt that if the case ended in a mistrial, Myers would be retried and be sentenced to death.
“We decided since we had the power, that we could find him guilty and recommend life in prison,” a tearful and visibly nervous Puckett testified. “He seemed to be a good father. We wanted him to have a good relationship with his kids. And believe me is not easy to sit there and listen to an 8 to 10 year-old-boy crying, begging us not to kill his daddy. Especially when you know he's not guilty of what he was accused of.”
The jury recommend life in prison, she said, after jurors cried and deliberated for hours. But weeks later, the judge enacted judicial override and sentenced Myers to death.
“When I found out the judge had overturned our recommendation I was infuriated because, why? What was the point of us even being in there if we weren't going to matter,” Puckett said. “Why did we have to sit and listen to these horrible things? I don't understand why we had to go through that for this (judge) to have just turned around and said, ‘No, it doesn't matter.’”
In 2017, Alabama lawmakers approved a law that abolishes a judge’s ability to override a jury sentencing recommendation. Alabama was the last state in the nation to do so, has the highest death sentences per capita than any other state, according to the Equal Justice initiative.
Now, Rep. Chris England (D-District 70) is sponsoring a bill to allow Alabama prisoners who were sentenced under judicial override to be resentenced, as the 2017 law did not apply retroactivity to prisoners sentenced by judicial override.
The bill, House Bill 14, would also require a jury to be unanimous when providing an advisory verdict to a judge for a death sentence — a proposal that had been considered unsuccessfully in previous legislative sessions. Under current law, jurors in a capital murder case can advise a death sentence in a vote of 10 of 12 jurors.
“It's always been my position that if it requires an unanimous jury to convict, that it also should require an unanimous jury to put someone to death," England said. "If we're going to be a state that puts people to death. It should be the absolute hardest thing that we do."
England said requiring an unanimous jury decreases the likelihood that an innocent person would be sentenced to death — and increases the burden to take a life.
“For us, a state that says in its constitution that we value life, it's not necessarily a life only when it's convenient,” England said. “If your constitutional rights and your belief in humanity matter to you, you have to protect the life when it's inconvenient as well.”
David Carpenter, presiding judge of the criminal division for 10th Circuit Court in Jefferson County, said he has 60 pending capital murder, murder or manslaughter cases that defendants are looking to appeal.
Carpenter said the lengthy appeals process costs the judicial system financially and in resources, and passage of HB 14 could help cut back on unnecessary burdens on the court system.
He added the many defendants who were sentenced to death via judicial override likely involved politics. In election years, the number of judicial overrides for death sentences increased 30 or 40 percent, he said.
“Over half of the overrides were in election years, so that tells you that there's a political element involved here — and we can take that out,” Carpenter said in support of HB 14. “That political element affected the sentence of these 31 men who are currently on death row, and we have the opportunity to correct that."
Toni Hall, whose mother, Faith Hall, was shot to death in 1994 by Joe Nathan James Jr., has been vocal against the death penalty before and after James’s July 2022 execution.
"I don't think it will surprise any one of us to hear that while we hated Joe James, we could never understand why he did what he did," Hall said. "But as more time passed, our feelings changed. Today, although we still do not understand his actions, we have learned so forgive him.”
Hall said her family pleaded with the governor, attorney general and other state leaders to stop James’s execution, calling it "another senseless killing" that caused the Hall family to relive the tragedy.
“Everyone knows a life-and-death verdict is the most important decision that a jury in our state can make,” Hall said. “It only makes sense to listen to every voice on the jury and only enact a death sentence in unanimous cases."
HB 14 seems unlikely to pass with only five legislative days left of the Alabama Legislative session following the May 24 public hearing on the bill in a committee; The bill must be voted out of the committee, on the House floor and the Senate floor before the 30th legislative day.
Democrat Rep. Patrice McClammy implied that due to the importance of the bill, the committee should not delay a vote until the next meeting as procedure requires. She referenced the state's 2017 bill banning judicial override should have included retroactivity.
“We’ve left 5 years going already with 31 individuals who may possibly have the opportunity to have life outside of prison,” McClammy said. “It just does not seem as though this bill and this public hearing would be justice, in my opinion, if we come back and say, ‘Thank you for coming. We hear all you have to say,’ ...knowing that this would not be something that we will have an opportunity to go through this session.”
Committee Chair Jim Hill (R-District 50), however, was unwilling to break procedure to expedite the bill.
“We've always run things on a procedure. And when we get bills, we try to give the members of this committee an opportunity to consider that which we've done,” Hill said. “Sometimes these bills take years to work through this system.”
(source: itemonline.com)
LOUISIANA:
Death penalty, despite high cost and few executions, stays put in Louisiana----Lawmakers reject bill that would have eliminated capital punishment
A legislative effort to eliminate the death penalty as a form of criminal punishment in Louisiana failed Wednesday, despite the state not having executed anyone involuntarily in over 20 years.
Advocates for ending capital punishment stressed that 11 death row inmates have been exonerated or had their convictions reversed, compared with 28 executed, since Louisiana reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The probability of an error-prone prosecution provides ample reason to end the death penalty, they argued.
Proponents of ending executions also made religious appeals to the conservative-dominated House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice, noting supporting the death penalty doesn’t sync with “pro-life” Christian values.
“It’s easy to have someone else carry out that punishment,” Rep. Kyle Green, D-Marrero, said before the vote on his House Bill 228. “I would tell you you’re not pro-death penalty until you’re willing to carry out that punishment yourself.”
It wasn’t enough to sway members, who rejected the proposal in a 4-11 vote. Opponents insisted, even though it’s seldom used, the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent that should remain accessible to district attorneys.
Defense costs scrutinized
State Public Defender Rémy Starnes, who’s officially neutral on the proposal, appeared before the committee to share information. He pegged the annual cost for his agency to defend capital cases at around $7.7 million. If that money could be reallocated to other needs, it would be “the biggest step we could take toward the solvency” of the state’s public defender system short of some miracle funding source, Starnes said.
Louisiana public defenders handle roughly 80% of all defendants in the state, or approximately 146,000 clients a year, according to Starnes. Excluding the money needed to continue representation for current death row inmates, he said eliminating capital punishment would save the state $6.2 million annually that could be used elsewhere within his cash-strapped agency.
Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, took issue with Starnes’ fiscal analysis, adding that she had no problem with appropriating $7 million a year to fund the death penalty. She criticized the state public defender’s office for hiring expensive “boutique law firms” to handle capital cases. Starnes said he hasn’t hired any such firms since he took charge three years ago, which led Villio to question why so much was spent on the three death penalty trials it handled in that time.
A former prosecutor, Villio also questioned the public defenders’ practice of designating all first-degree murder charges as capital cases before a district attorney declares whether they will pursue the death penalty. This provides more work for the “boutique” firms, even if prosecutors don’t pursue a capital case, she said.
Starnes said he’s modified that procedure since assuming his role a few years ago. Now, local public defense attorneys are assigned to murder cases, and private contracted lawyers are brought on only once a prosecutor decides to seek the death penalty.
Death row exonerees testify
Among several proponents of Green’s bill that committee members heard from was Shareef Cousin. As a 16-year-old in 1995, he was mistakenly identified as the suspect in a fatal shooting in New Orleans, convicted of murder the following year and sentenced to death.
The submission of evidence withheld at trial led to Cousin being paroled from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in 2005, making him the 77th person exonerated from death row in the United States. The fact that nearly 30% of death row inmates in Louisiana have been exonerated over 47 years is reason enough to end capital punishment, he said.
“Can you tell me right now that those numbers are fair, that we can continue to perpetuate a system with those numbers alone?” Cousin asked committee members.
Ryan Matthews was 17 when he was sentenced to death for a 1997 Jefferson Parish murder he did not commit. His sister, Monique Coleman, told the committee an inexperienced public defender contributed to his conviction, which was overturned when DNA evidence on a mask worn by the actual shooter cleared Matthews. He spent five years at Angola before he became the country’s 115th person exonerated from death row.
“We are collateral damage of the death penalty,” Coleman said, who explained her brother was attending his daughter’s graduation Wednesday.
“What you see is the trauma that our families and those death row exonerees have experienced,” she continued. “They are often released back into society with no significant or comprehensive reintegration program. Two decades after Ryan’s release, we are still reintegrating Ryan.”
Corey Williams of Shreveport told the committee how he was sentenced to death at age 16 for a 1998 murder he did not commit, despite having an intellectual disability. His sentence was later reduced to life in prison because of his mental capacity.
Williams’ conviction was eventually thrown out when it was learned a prosecutor had altered summaries of witness interviews, which had actually cleared Williams, to make him look guilty.
Judge Ross Foote of Rapides Parish, now retired, told lawmakers how he had originally sentenced a 17-year-old to death until he was made aware the defendant had an IQ of 67, a score in the mildly mentally impaired or delayed range.
“Is that who we want to be executing?” Foote asked the committee.
‘They’re never leaving Angola’
Tony Clayton, district attorney for Iberville, Pointe Coupee and West Baton Rouge, shared graphic accounts from rape and murder trials he has prosecuted with the committee to express his opposition to Green’s proposal.
Clayton, who is Black, also took issue with proponents who pointed out racial disparities in the inordinate number of people of color sentenced to death compared with white defendants.
“I’ve walked and been on many crime scenes,” Clayton said, “and when a mother cries, she’s not crying Black tears or white tears. She’s crying tears of pain behind these senseless murders.”
He also took issue with arguments on the high cost of trying capital cases that can span years and the expense of incarcerating condemned people indefinitely.
“You want to save money? Take them off death row and put them in general population,” Clayton said. “They’re never leaving Angola.”
Also representing the opposition was John Sinquefield, Louisiana’s chief deputy attorney general and a former prosecutor in East Baton Rouge Parish. He said 27 other states and the U.S. military have the death penalty, although 3 — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have placed moratoriums on executions.
Louisiana would be the only state in the Deep South without capital punishment if Green’s bill was approved, and the state would “become a magnet for pedophile killers, serial killers, gang-related killers,” Sinquefield said.
Although they didn’t address the committee, the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association and the anti-abortion Louisiana Family Forum were also opposed to Green’s legislation.
The final person to speak in opposition to the bill was Wayne Guzzardo, father of one of the two employees killed during the 1995 robbery of a Baton Rouge restaurant. Todd Wessinger was sentenced to death for fatally shooting Guzzardo’s daughter, Stephanie, manager of the Calendar’s location, and cook David Breakwell. Another employee was also shot in the back and survived. Wessinger’s gun jammed when he tried to shoot a fourth worker.
Wessinger, who was condemned to die in 1997, remains one of 62 people on death row in Louisiana, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The last person put to death in Louisiana was in 2010, when Gerald Bordelon waived his right to appeals and asked to be executed. Ten years earlier, he kidnapped and killed his 12-year-old stepdaughter.
Prior to Bordelon, Leslie Dale Martin died by lethal injection in 2002 for the 1991 rape and murder of a 19-year-old McNeese State student.
One of the more poignant moments of the hearing came when committee member Rep. Vanessa LaFleur, D-Baton Rouge, informed Guzzardo she had gone to high school with his daughter and remembered her fondly.
LaFleur, who told the committee that her father was a murder victim, was the lone Democrat who joined all of the Republicans on the committee in voting against Green’s bill.
(source: Louisiana Illuminator)
***************
Bill to abolish the death penalty fails to pass House committee
A House committee on Wednesday rejected a bill, 11-4, to abolish the death penalty.
Rep. Kyle M. Green, Jr., D-Marrero, presented House Bill 228 to the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice, citing the “racial bend” toward African Americans, the financial benefits to the state and the risk of wrongful conviction in his arguments for abolishing the death penalty.
“It is my personal belief that the death penalty is a barbaric practice that has no place in a modern, civilized society,” Green said. “It is a punishment that is irreversible, final and often applied unfairly.”
Green said the death penalty has been shown to be racially biased because people of color are more likely to be sentenced to death than white people. He said Louisiana has the highest rate of per capita death sentences in the U.S. and that minorities make up a disproportionate number of those sentences.
Green added that it costs the state almost $6 million per year to administer the death penalty. Today, there are 55 people on death row in Louisiana.
“Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, Louisiana has exonerated 11 individuals off of death row who were wrongfully convicted of capital crimes,” Green said. “These individuals were nearly put to death for the crimes that they did not commit.”
Rep. Raymond E. Garofalo, Jr., R- Chalmette, voted in opposition of the bill, expressing his belief that the death penalty does act as a deterrent for murder.
Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, the vice chairman of the committee, voted in opposition along with the Republican majority.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, urged the Legislature in April to abolish the death penalty, saying that it should not be considered part of a pro-life agenda. Only one person has been executed by the state since 2002, and that was in 2010.
Many individuals who testified in support of Rep. Green’s bill referenced religious beliefs as a reason for opposing the death penalty.
Ralph Capitelli, who has been practicing law for almost 50 years, testified that he used to be a supporter of the death penalty but has changed his opinion because he believes it does not work.
Capitelli said that the years that lapse between the conviction and the execution of the perpetrator causes suffering for the victims’ families. “Justice delayed is truly justice denied,” Capitelli said.
Shareef Cousin, who was sentenced to death at age 16 in New Orleans before becoming the 77th person to be exonerated from death row in the U.S., testified in support of the bill.
“I come before you to ask that you abolish the death penalty,” Cousin said. “And I’m going to keep asking that until anyone can demonstrate to me the infallibility of human judgment.”
Like others who opposed the bill, Tony Clayton, the district attorney for the 18th Judicial District west of Baton Rouge, said the death penalty has nothing to do with race but with the deterrence of heinous murders.
“The murder rates in this state are so high now that if you advertise that you’re taking the death penalty off the table, these guys will celebrate because they read,” Clayton said.
John Sinquefield, the state’s chief deputy attorney general, said that if Louisiana becomes the only state in the Deep South without the death penalty, it would become “a magnet for pedophile killers, serial killers, gang-related killers.”
Rep. Alonzo Knox, D- New Orleans, said his position on the death penalty changed recently.
He said the possibility of executing an innocent person is too high of a risk.
Rep. C. Denise Marcelle D- Baton Rouge sided with Rep. Knox. She voted for the bill along with Rep. Marcus Anthony Bryant, D-New Iberia, and the committee’s chairman, Rep. Joseph A. Marino III, I-Gretna.
(source: Minden Press-Herald)
INDIANA:
Indy man accused of killing IMPD officer claims insanity days after court rules he could face death penalty
Less than 10 days after a judge ruled he could face the death penalty, a man accused of killing an Indianapolis police officer now says he will raise an insanity defense.
Elliahs Dorsey faces multiple charges, including murder, in the shooting death of Indianapolis Metropolian Police Department Ofc. Breann Leath.
Leath responded to a domestic violence call on April 9, 2020, when prosecutors say Dorsey fired through an apartment door and shot the officer twice in the head, killing her.
On Wednesday, attorneys representing Dorsey filed a notice to the court saying their client will be raising an insanity defense to the alleged charges.
Dorsey’s attorneys also said that they have received evidence that proves their client was suffering from “mental illness” when the shooting occurred.
The evidence for insanity listed in court documents filed May 24 includes:
--A mental health evaluation Dorsey underwent on Sept. 8, 2020
--Jail records from two facilities Dorsey stayed at
--Dorsey’s records from a Plainfield diagnostic center
--A text sent by a woman to Dorsey’s family on April 8, 2020
The insanity defense and evidence filings come less than 2 weeks after courts ruled that Dorsey could face the death penalty if convicted.
On May 15, Marion County Superior Court Judge Mark Stoner denied a motion to dismiss the death penalty case being brought against Dorsey by the State and Prosectutor Ryan Mears.
In the court documents filed Wednesday, Dorsey’s attorneys acknowledge that the insanity defense filing is “belated.” However, they argue that, as their client was arrested in April of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the delay.
Dorsey’s next court appearance, a pretrial conference, is scheduled for 10 a.m. on June 2. His jury trial is set to start at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 18.
(source: Fox News)
OKLAHOMA:
My Ex Admitted Killing Juli Busken—So Why Is His Son Still on Death Row?
Anthony Sanchez waits on death row, his execution just months away. He is going to pay the ultimate price for a rape and murder he did not commit, according to his father's former girlfriend, who says Sanchez Sr. confessed to the crime to her.
Speaking to the media for the 1st time, Charlotte Beattie told Newsweek that Thomas Glen Sanchez repeatedly admitted to killing Jewell "Juli" Busken before his death.
"He told me about it a few times, saying that he had to hogtie her 'cause she squealed," she said. "He said after he finished the job with her, he just shot her in the head."
She feared the same fate would befall her if she ever told anyone. "I was afraid, because he'd say that he could end up doing to me as he did to Juli Busken," she said.
Busken, a 21-year-old ballerina from Benton, Arkansas, had just finished her final semester at the University of Oklahoma when she was abducted from her apartment in Norman on December 20, 1996. Her body was found near Lake Stanley Draper that evening. Authorities said she had been bound, raped and shot in the back of the head.
After eight years of few leads, police charged the then 25-year-old Sanchez Jr. in 2004. Investigators said a DNA sample taken from him when he was imprisoned for burglary had matched DNA recovered from the pink leotard found on Busken's body.
2 years on, he was convicted and sentenced to die. Now 44, he is set to receive a lethal injection on September 21. He has always maintained he did not kill Busken, telling Newsweek from prison that he was convicted "on pure circumstantial evidence."
Beattie and others who believe in his innocence are now scrambling to save his life.
Jewell "Juli" Busken was found shot in the head near Lake Stanley Draper in Oklahoma in December 1996.
How the Doubts Were Dismissed
An attorney for Sanchez Jr. asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for an evidentiary hearing earlier this year, alleging that his father was the actual killer.
In the court filing, Mark Barrett wrote that Beattie first heard Sanchez Sr. confess in July of 2020 but was too afraid of him to come forward while he was alive.
The filing noted that neither of the 2 eyewitnesses identified Sanchez Jr. as the perpetrator during their testimonies and that evidence taken from Busken's vehicle—including 49 fingerprints and hair—were not matched to him.
Importantly, the filing said, a police sketch crafted with the help of a witness who saw Busken and the perpetrator appears to match a photo of Sanchez Sr. taken in 1996.
The court last month rejected the claim, with Judge David Lewis writing in a ruling: "Indeed, considering the remaining evidence, even if Glen Sanchez had confessed his guilt on the witness stand under oath at Anthony Sanchez's murder trial, no reasonable fact finder would have acquitted Anthony Sanchez of killing Juli Busken."
In a statement to Newsweek, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the evidence is "overwhelming that Anthony Sanchez brutally raped and murdered Juli Busken. Instead of expressing remorse, he made the cowardly decision to try blaming the crime on his deceased father—a ludicrous allegation thoroughly discredited by DNA analysis.
"What makes this claim all the more despicable is that it makes a mockery of how advances in DNA evidence have exonerated wrongly convicted individuals in recent years. Just as DNA evidence has helped clear the innocent, it can also conclusively show guilt. Anthony Sanchez is guilty beyond any conceivable doubt, and I will ensure justice is served."
Advocates for Sanchez have questioned the DNA evidence used to secure the conviction, saying it was mishandled and manipulated, and argue other evidence, including ballistic evidence, was not credibly connected to Sanchez Jr.
Speaking to Newsweek from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Sanchez maintained his innocence. "I was convicted of murdering Juli Busken on pure circumstantial evidence," he said. "There was no physical evidence at all.
He said he had been let down by his trial lawyers, who he said didn't check his alibis or even his address. He didn't live a mile from Busken at the time of her murder like prosecutors alleged, he said, but in the next town over.
Prosecutors at trial said Busken's missing cell phone was used to call a number belonging to an ex-girlfriend of Sanchez Jr.'s. He insists it wasn't the right number.
An Abusive Alcoholic
Sanchez Jr. was a boy "who had to raise himself," Beattie recalled.
She remembers his father as an alcoholic and opioid abuser with a short temper who physically and sexually abused her for years. He took his own life on her front porch on the evening of April 24 last year, she said. He was 68.
Beattie met Sanchez Sr. in meat-cutting school in the early 1990s but they lost touch when she moved. In 1994, she said he contacted her and told her he had divorced.
"I started going around with him and we just went places and we had a nice time," she said. The following year, she gave birth to their son, now 27.
Just months earlier, he had met another woman who would go on to become his 3rd wife.
But he "kept on coming back and forth," Beattie said, adding that he often "mooched" off her to pay for his drinking. And over the years, he "started getting more hateful," she said.
He took his anger out on her, she said, describing in graphic terms the sexual assaults he subjected her to. "If I screamed, he'd go further," she said. He was also impotent, she remembered, which often made him more vicious in his abuse.
Beattie said Sanchez Sr. first mentioned Busken's killing to her several years ago, but then kept on bringing it up.
"He'd say, 'I'll hunt you down and I'll kill you if you say something,'" she said. "That's how he was whenever he was telling me about Juli Busken... there were a few times he talked about it sober. He just kept on talking about it."
Sanchez Sr. was diagnosed with cancer in February last year, Beattie said. A lump on his neck grew to the size of a baseball by the end, meaning he couldn't talk much.
He never expressed remorse, she said. "He just kept on saying that at least Anthony's a man...I'd say, 'Why would you want him to suffer for it?' He said, 'Well because he's young, and he can handle it.'"
David Ballard, an investigator hired by Sanchez Jr.'s attorney and death penalty opponents to examine the case, said he found that many who knew Sanchez Sr. described him as paranoid, and that most who knew him were affected by his abuse.
That includes Cathy Hodge, who married Sanchez Sr. in 1980 when Anthony was a little over a year old. "I raised him," she told Newsweek.
She spoke of the physical abuse she regularly suffered over the course of the 14-year marriage. "It started off just a slap here, slap there, and it got worse and worse," she said. "During the week, everything was normal. It was usually on the weekends when he started drinking, and he would get to a certain point and then he got real abusive."
Her former husband pulled a gun on her a number of times, she said, but she was not sexually abused.
She recalled how on one occasion after a night out, he beat her in the car. "I had two black eyes swelled shut," she said.
While Hodge is convinced the man she considers her son is innocent, she hesitates to definitively point the finger at his father. "I know he was abusive, but I wouldn't have never seen him as a murderer," she said. "But I don't know if he changed after I left."
But what many who knew the father and son agree on is that the police sketch looks a lot like Sanchez Sr. and nothing like his son.
That sketch shows an apparently older man with hollowed cheekbones and shoulder-length hair. Sanchez Jr. was a teenager with hair down his back at the time of Busken's killing.
"It did resemble Glen. It didn't look anything like Anthony," Hodge said. "I believe in his innocence, 100 percent. There's too many things that prove he didn't do it."
Sanchez Jr. does not want to believe his father committed the crime he may soon pay the ultimate price for, but he concedes that the sketch does resemble his dad.
"I have very mixed emotions about it," he said. "It does look like my father. It does."
#AnthonySanchez, a member of the #ChoctawNation, deserves the same vigorous reinvestigation and passionate advocacy that was received by #RichardGlossip, a White man. #Oklahoma deserves the truth.https://t.co/kTWbXTBezM #Oklahoma25 #FreeAnthonySanchez — Death Penalty Action (@DeathPenaltyAct) May 23, 2023
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation in February compared Sanchez's DNA to that recovered from Busken's leotard, The Oklahoman reported, and concluded the DNA did not match that from Busken's leotard.
The state's attorneys said the new tests were conducted "in an effort to fully and unequivocally debunk" the new claim.
Ballard, the investigator hired by Sanchez Jr.'s lawyer, questioned the DNA handling and profiling—a technology in its infancy at the time—that was done in the case. The testing and results were "questionable at best," he said. "It needs to be redone."
A spokesperson for the attorney general's office said there was no evidence to suggest the DNA was not properly collected or stored.
The spokesperson said the profile obtained from Busken's leotard by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation in 2000 matched exactly to a DNA profile separately obtained by Oklahoma City police. Sanchez Sr. was excluded, but the testing found that it was highly likely to belong to the biological father of the attacker.
Anthony Sanchez, 44, is scheduled for execution on September 21.
Ballard, president of Valour Investigations LLC, of Norman, said he feels confident that Sanchez Jr. did not kill Busken, noting that the heinous crime pointed to someone with a propensity to violence.
"He didn't match the profile, the physical evidence isn't there and there's just a lot of conjecture on his case," Ballard said.
"There are things right now that can be done on the Anthony Sanchez case that could very much clear his name that we're not in possession of."
Fingerprints, skin cells and hair found in Busken's vehicle should be tested against Sanchez Sr.'s, he said.
Sanchez Jr.'s attorneys and advocates also dispute the state's assertion that a shoe print at the crime scene was connected to him. They never found the shoe, Ballard noted, but an ex-girlfriend told authorities that he owned a similar pair.
The print was of a size 9, Ballard says. "If they checked my foot, they would have known I was size 11 and a half," Sanchez Jr. said.
"And it's a mass produced shoe," Ballard added. "There's so many unanswered questions, and a lot of the evidence was inconclusive, but labelled as, this matches."
Ballard said a detective had looked at Sanchez Sr. as a more plausible suspect early on in the investigation but was "shut down."
The Rev. Jeff Hood, who met Sanchez Jr. last summer, told Newsweek he was initially skeptical of Sanchez's innocence claim. It was the sketch that made him delve deeper and team up with Death Penalty Action, a nonprofit organization that works to stop executions and abolish the death penalty, to raise funds to pay for the investigator.
Hood said he feels the state jumped to test Sanchez Sr.'s DNA earlier this year without being ordered to do so in a bid to "cut us off before we were able to present evidence of what we feel like was DNA manipulation at the very beginning."
He argued that Sanchez Jr., who is Native American, has as strong an innocence claim as another inmate on death row in Oklahoma: Richard Glossip, who is white. Glossip was accused of ordering the 1997 killing of motel owner Barry Van Treese but has maintained his innocence, and there have been persistent doubts about the evidence against him.
"We want the Glossip treatment," he said. "We want a person of color who has an innocence claim in Oklahoma to be taken as seriously as a white person who has an innocence claim in Oklahoma."
Abraham Bonowitz, Death Penalty Action's executive director, praised legislators and Oklahoma's attorney general for exploring Glossip's case.
"The real test," Bonowitz said, is if Oklahoma's political leaders will similarly step up for Sanchez. "His life is valuable too. There are real and urgent questions about his guilt also," Bonowitz said. "He deserves every bit as much of a re-investigation as Glossip got."
Hood has already accompanied two men to the death chamber this year—Scott Eizember in Oklahoma and Arthur Brown Jr. in Texas— and watched as the lethal injection coursed through their veins. He doesn't want to do it again with Sanchez Jr.
On Thursday morning, he and others will gather at the Oklahoma State Capitol to launch a campaign aimed at saving Sanchez's life.
Sanchez is a test, Hood said, of "whether there is even a modicum of morality left in the governance of the State of Oklahoma. If they can't stop themselves from killing a demonstrably innocent man, I pray that God damns them all."
(source: newsweek.com)
************
Protesters say evidence points to Oklahoma death row inmate's innocence----Anthony Sanchez was convicted for the 1996 murder of Juli Busken, a ballerina at the University of Oklahoma.
Protestors came together on Thursday in hopes of halting an Oklahoma death row inmate's execution.
Anthony Sanchez was convicted for the 1996 murder of Juli Busken, a ballerina at the University of Oklahoma. However, one group says Sanchez is innocent.
Those speaking out against the death penalty said there is evidence that proves Sanchez is innocent, like a footprint that was 2 1/2 sizes smaller than his foot.
"I was promised justice and resolve and healing, and I was lied to, and I was used," said Lindsey Barnett, the granddaughter of the Cantrells, who Scott Eizember was convicted of murdering.
Eizember was executed in January. Barnett witnessed his executions, and she thought that day would bring peace.
"What I watched was not a healing process, and no one was concerned about my healing, the suffering of our family or any kind of resolve at all," Barnett said.
(source: KOCO news)
******************
Supporters launch campaign to save Oklahoma death row inmate
Supporters of an Oklahoma death row inmate launched a campaign to prove his innocence and save his life Thursday with a press conference at the state’s Capitol.
Anthony Sanchez’s supporters gathered at the Capitol and asked state legislators and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond to give Sanchez, a member of the Choctaw Nation, the same treatment they are giving to the case of death row inmate Richard Glossip, a white man.
“We pray that they will be equally engaged for Anthony Sanchez,” Abraham Bonowitz of Death Penalty Action said during the Thursday press conference. “In other words, for some people, disposable. Anthony Sanchez is not disposable.”
Sanchez was convicted of 1st-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Jewel Jean “Juli” Busken. Court documents state Busken, of Benton, Arkansas, was a ballerina and recently finished her last semester at OU when she was abducted from her Norman apartment on Dec. 20, 1996.
Busken’s body was found at Lake Stanley Draper in Norman with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, and she had been raped.
Sanchez is set for a clemency hearing Aug. 9 and is scheduled to be executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on Sept. 21.
Attorneys for Sanchez earlier this year asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for a new hearing based on DNA evidence they claimed proved the man's innocence and that his father, Glen, committed the murder. Attorneys also alleged Glen previously confessed to a woman who claims she was too scared to come forward until after he died in 2022.
The Attorney General’s Office said there are “many reasons not to believe” the woman's statements, and new DNA testing confirms Glen Sanchez did not commit the murder.
“The testing further determined there is a 99.9% probability that petitioner’s father is the father of the individual whose sperm was on Juli Basken’s leotard,” the AG’s office wrote in response.
OCCA denied the request for a new hearing last month, ruling the woman's statement was considered hearsay and referred to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office test results.
“Considering the evidence against Anthony Sanchez, this is hardly surprising,” OCCA wrote in its opinion. “This new information does not impeach the consistent and compelling evidence of his guilt noted by every court that has reviewed this case.”
Sanchez maintained his innocence last month in a phone interview with the News-Capital from death row.
“You start digging down in my case, it's like, one mistake after another mistake after another mistake,” Sanchez said. “It doesn’t look right.”
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, Sanchez’s spiritual adviser, said the reason for a large push at this stage of Sanchez’s case is that attorneys for Sanchez did not speak with the death row inmate for 6 years.
Sanchez’s attorney, Mark Barrett, said he was neither appointed nor hired to represent Sanchez from November 2016 to June 2020, when the attorney was appointed to represent him for clemency action.
Barrett said although he was not appointed during that time frame, he did file a motion in 2017 that was later denied by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, and that the helped lead Sanchez to join a lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma over its lethal injection protocols.
“I tried to represent his interests, anyway, and undertook the communications necessary for that representation,” Barrett said. “When the clemency budget was approved by the federal court, there was a pandemic going on, and I did not make non-essential visits to clients for some time. Randy Coyne and I then visited Mr. Sanchez early in 2023 in connection with a 4th successor post-conviction, which I filed on Anthony's behalf."
Sanchez and his supporters say there is more evidence in the case than the DNA to consider, including shoeprints, fingerprints, police sketches, and ballistics evidence.
The death row inmate argues his shoe size is an 11-1/2, while the shoeprint obtained by investigators is a size 7-1/2 to 8.
“If my lawyers had sized my foot, they would have known that I’m a size 11-1/2,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez’s supporters also argue no fingerprints that belonged to him were found at the crime scene and that a police sketch looks more like his father than Sanchez.
“There’s never been no murder weapon found or linked to me or my family,” Sanchez said. “No ballistics has ever been linked to me or my family."
Court records state a medical examiner identified the death wound as a contact gunshot to the rear of Busken's skull. The medical examiner recovered the bullet and later identified it as a .22-caliber. Ballistics analysis showed the weapon's barrel marked it with 16 lands and grooves and a right-hand twist.
Witnesses testified at the trial that Anthony Sanchez on occasion carried a .22-caliber weapon and often fired a weapon inside an apartment, where investigators discovered a bullet of similar caliber to the one recovered at the scene.
But court documents state attempts to prove both bullets were fired from the same weapon "proved inconclusive."
Hood said he truly believes Sanchez is innocent and that most death row inmates he works with are guilty.
“The difference is there are questions that have never been answered,” Hood said. “I am opposed to executions under any circumstances. But at the same time, if the state is going to have a death penalty, shouldn’t it have it devoid of questions?”
(source: Tahlequah Daily Press)
UTAH:
Layton man could face death penalty after allegedly killing wife and in-laws
The Layton man accused of killing his wife and her parents before calling 911 and posting on Facebook could be facing the death penalty.
Jeremy Lake Bailey, 34, was arrested after allegedly shooting his three family members and three of their four dogs in their home near 1800 East Gentile Street on Friday, May 19.
Bailey has now been charged with 3 counts of capital criminal homicide aggravated murder, 2 1st-degree felony counts of felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury, and 3 3rd-degree felony counts of torture of a companion animal.
According to charging documents, Bailey had called 911 to report a “murder-suicide.” He allegedly told police that he had shot his wife, his mother-in-law, his father-in-law, and 3 of the 4 family dogs.
Police arrived at the Layton home while Bailey was still on the phone with 911 operators, where he was taken into custody.
Officers found the bodies of his wife, Anastasia Stevens, 36, and her parents, Donald, 73, and Becky, 61, Stevens, in various upstairs rooms of the home. According to charging documents, both Anastasia and Becky were found with 2 gunshot wounds and Donald was found with 1.
Through an investigation, officers believe Bailey shot and killed his family and left for an outdoor sporting goods store to purchase more ammunition before posting about what he had done on his wife’s Facebook page and calling 911.
Charging documents say Bailey had a “reddish/brown substance” that appeared to be dried blood on his pant leg. While in a holding cell, police said Bailey could be heard saying “I can’t believe I did it.”
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Utah is 1 of 27 states that currently allows the use of capital punishment. According to the DC-based Death Penalty Information Center, the last time the death penalty was carried out in Utah was on June 18, 2010, when the state executed Ronnie Gardner by firing squad.
Jerrod Baum, the man who was found guilty last year of murdering 2 teens, was the last man who faced capital punishment in Utah. The charges were eventually amended in September 2021 to no longer seek the death penalty after the prosecutor said: “It’s time to change course.”
Since then, a coalition of Utah district attorneys and county prosecutors have moved to repeal the death penalty in the state.
(source: ABC News)
ARIZONA:
Canal killings trial: Miller deserves death sentence for brutal murders, judge told
It's possible, prosecutor Vince Imbordino said Thursday, that he was was about to try to persuade Judge Suzanne Cohen to make a decision she didn't want to make.
It might be true, Imbordino said, it might not be.
"Obviously," he told the judge, "none of us know what you're thinking."
Cohen's face gave nothing away.
The decision Imbordino was referring to is whether Cohen will sentence Bryan Miller to death for the murders of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas in Phoenix 30 years ago.
The judge is in the unusual position of deciding alone if Miller will receive the death penalty, a decision whose moral weight is typically borne collectively by jurors.
He was found guilty of the 2 murders in April after a 6-month bench trial, at which he pleaded not guilty for reasons of insanity.
Imbordino said Miller's defense attorney Richard Parker had argued the day prior that a death sentence wasn't necessary for justice.
"(He argued) that the defendant is a broken man and that he doesn't deserve to be executed," Imbordino said. "My response to that is, who deserves to be executed depends upon what they did."
What Miller did deserved execution, he said.
'This murder was horrific'
Brosso was stabbed in the back on the evening of Nov. 8, 1992 as she cycled along a bike path close to her apartment home by Cactus Road and Interstate 17.
After inflicting the fatal wound, Imbordino said, Miller, then 20, dragged her off the path to a darker area and "butchered" her.
"I know we don’t like looking at these pictures, but this is what he did to Angela," he said, as he displayed a photo to Cohen, the image hidden from the public.
"Just think of the time and the effort that was required to butcher this young woman, to have to turn her over side to side in order to try to transect her body and her lower spine," he said. "And take off her head."
Brosso's body was found where she was mutilated, and her head located 11 days later in the Arizona Canal.
Imbordino said it was unknown if Miller had carried her head to the canal the night he killed her or kept it somewhere for a period of time.
"You could take the position that every murder is bad," he said. "This murder was horrific."
On Sept. 21, 1993, he killed Bernas, by the I-17 underpass near Castles and Coasters, close to where Brosso's head was found.
The 17-year-old high school student is also believed to have been cycling along the canal when she was attacked.
Miller stabbed her, dragged her over the asphalt, cut across her neck and carved letters and a cross into her chest before dressing her in a turquoise bodysuit and dumping her into the canal, Imbordino said. The prosecutor suggested the carvings were a deliberate choice to mislead investigators, the bodysuit and disposal of her cut clothing clear signs of conscious planning.
Bernas, like Brosso, was also sexually assaulted during the attack, Imbordino said.
"The evidence not clear whether she was alive or dead, but most likely dead. Thank goodness," he said, before adding: "Hard to say that."
'He did not give them a chance'
"He did not give them a chance to live their lives," Imbordino said. "He chose to take that from them for his own sexual pleasure."
The murders were driven by Miller's sexual sadism, Imbordino said, not by anger he harbored toward his mother, whose parenting was a significant focus of the trial.
"A sexual sadist, and this defendant is such, has the ability to control their urges," he said. "He chose not to control them when he murdered Melanie and Angela."
Imbordino asked where Miller's humanity and empathy — qualities Parker pointed to on Wednesday — were when he murdered Brosso and Bernas.
"You may decide that today they're there," he told Cohen. "But they weren't there when it mattered the most."
In a brief statement delivered to court Monday, Imbordino said, Miller had expressed no remorse for the murders.
"I didn't hear him say he was remorseful for killing Melanie and Angela," he said. "I didn't hear those words. And somebody could say, 'Well, you have to read between the lines.'"
But Cohen had to decide if Miller was deserving of mercy, Imbordino said.
"One might say that if you're asking for mercy, perhaps — perhaps — it might be more warranted if you admitted what you did, if you took responsibility for what you did," he said.
"Just to say, 'I'm sorry.'"
Mitigating circumstances questioned
Imbordino cast a skeptical eye over a list of 86 mitigating circumstances submitted by the defense.
He suggested it had been inflated, giving as an example that three separate entries — "traumatic death of father", "loss of parental figure" and "death of parent at an early age" — appeared to all address Miller's father dying when he was 5.
"I don’t mean to minimize the loss of your father at an early age," Imbordino said. "My point is they listed 3 mitigating circumstances for what was 1."
Other things on the list were unproven (Miller's autism spectrum disorder) or irrelevant (his being an only child) or contradicted by other parts of the defense case (the fact he had positive friendships), Imbordino said.
He wasn't trying to say Miller's childhood was normal, Imbordino said, though he reminded Cohen that Miller's mother Ellen, who died in 2010, has not been able to defend herself against the claims of physical and emotional abuse.
In a brief rebuttal, Parker said Imbordino seemed to love using the phrase "sexual sadist."
"They're painting Brian as a sexual sadist because they want you to think of him as a monster," he said. "That's the framing they want you to use when making a life and death decision."
In fact, Parker said, sexual sadism disorder is a mental health disorder, and one of many reasons for a life sentence.
"The world is not black and white," Parker told Cohen, as he argued Miller's actions were shaped by his traumatic childhood. "Bryan was not born a sexual sadist."
'They didn't get to choose'
Imbordino told Cohen that whatever mitigating circumstances she felt existed, they did not warrant leniency.
"What he stole from these young women deserves execution," he said. The planning, the thinking, the brutality, the gravity of the murders, the impact on the families — it all had to be considered.
"This will sound harsh, I'm sure," Imbordino said, as he drew to a close.
"Angela and Melanie didn't get to choose when they died. They didn't get to choose the day, the hour, the moment."
"This defendant deserves to know the day, the hour, of his death, for what he did."
Cohen said she is aiming to hand down the sentence on June 7, but the date may change.
(source: azcentral.com)
USA:
Prayer warriors against the death penalty
Sr. Eileen Reilly said relatives of crime victims often serve as the strongest advocates against the death penalty. "If I lost my daughter to murder, is murdering your son going to help at all? No, it isn't," said Reilly, religious engagement associate for Catholic Mobilizing Network.
The organization, based in Washington, D.C., works to abolish the death penalty nationwide and promotes restorative justice rather than punishment.
Praying at execution sites can be powerful, Reilly said. "It brings it into our hearts in a way that's important."
(source: Global Sisters Report)
GAZA:
Human rights foundation demands Hamas to cease issuing death sentences
Al Dameer Foundation for Human Rights expressed its deep concern over the ongoing issuance of death sentences by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In its statement, the foundation reiterated its demands for the abolition of the death penalty, emphasizing that this does not exempt criminals from accountability and punishment.
Furthermore, the foundation stressed the importance of adopting alternative and deterrent punishments, as well as fulfilling the obligations of joining the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which aims to abolish the death penalty.
In its statement, the foundation called upon Palestinian official authorities to comply with international obligations outlined in the international human rights agreements that Palestine has joined, particularly the Second Protocol appended to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1989.
The foundation also urged the relevant authorities in Gaza to halt the death penalty and replace it with alternative punishments, while enacting modern laws in line with international agreements and treaties on human rights.
Lastly, Al-Dameer called on the courts in Gaza to cease issuing death sentences and instead impose alternative and deterrent penalties.
On Tuesday, May 23, the High Criminal Court unanimously issued a death sentence by hanging to a defendant convicted of intentional murder based on the provisions of the law.
The High Criminal Court in Gaza convicted the detained defendant (M.G.), a 46-year-old resident of Gaza, Al-Zaytoun, of the charges related to the murder of the citizen Saliba Khalil Musa Abu Nusaira, a 64-year-old.
The defendant deliberately stabbed the victim multiple times in the chest and body, leading to his immediate death, as stated in the autopsy report. This act was committed with intent and unlawfully, in violation of the law.
The number of death sentences issued by the courts in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the year has now reached two sentences from the Supreme Judiciary Council and three sentences from the Military Judiciary.
(source: Jordan News)
MAY 25, 2023:
FLORIDA----new death sentence
Jury recommends death penalty 10-2 for man who killed 2 Cape Coral girls in 1990----Joseph Zieler killed 11-year-old Robin Cornell and Lisa Story in May 1990MO<
A jury has recommended the death penalty, 10-2, for Joseph Zieler, the man who killed 2 girls in a Cape Coral home 33 years ago.
This recommendation comes on day 2 of the penalty phase in Zieler's trial. Because of a new law, only 8 jurors, rather than 12, are needed to recommend the death penalty. However, the judge is still in charge of sentencing Zieler. Judge Robert Branning must put heavy weight on the jury's recommendation. He can also sentence Zieler to at least 25 years in prison with the possibility of parole.
Zieler was found guilty on 2 counts of 1st-degree murder on May 18. He murdered 11-year-old Robin Cornell and 32-year-old Lisa Story in their home on May 10, 1990.
During closing arguments, state prosecutors argued aggravating factors they had to prove to constitute the death penalty as an option. They claim the killings were targeted and Zieler could've made the decision to stop killing Robin and Lisa, but didn't.
"What was Robin Cornell thinking at that moment? Get out of here, who are you? There's a pillow over my face, it's getting dark. I can't breathe. Why is this guy touching me? Get off of me, leave me alone," said Dan Feinberg, the state attorney explaining what Robin Cornell was potentially thinking the night of the killings.
Meanwhile, the defense fought for Zieler's life. Doctors claim he has traumatic brain injuries and cognitive impairment, among other disabilities.
The defense said some mitigating circumstances include Zieler's age, medical diseases and mental health disabilities.
It's factors like these the defense wanted jurors to take into consideration, asking the jury if they really want to sentence a 61-year-old man with mental health issues to death.
"Mr. Zieler does not deserve for you to forget what happened, but Joseph Zieler does deserve your forgiveness," said Kevin Shirley, Zieler's attorney. "This is not that special case that requires you to vote for death. Do what you need to to save Mr. Zieler's life."
For 2 days, jurors heard from family members of Cornell and Story. They also listened to hours of testimony from doctors, who evaluated Zieler.
Neurologist Dr. Mark Rubino for the defense diagnosed Zieler with Parkinsonism, which shows symptoms of Parkinson's, but isn't that disease and doesn't respond to treatment. Rubino said he has cognitive impairment.
"He has significant cognitive impairment, he has a movement disorder that this not Parkinson’s disease, but it is Parkinisom," Rubino said.
However, state prosecutors questioned a psychologist, Dr. Karim Yamout, who did several tests on Zieler. He later diagnosed him with mild neuro-cognitive impairment.
"Even though that impairment is executive functioning, I wouldn’t even say that whole domain is impaired," Yamout said. "It’s very subtle, mild subsections of a subsection of his cognitive function. Everything else is normal."
Despite Rubino saying he has a traumatic brain injury, Yamout completely disagrees. He says Zieler doesn't meet the prongs to truly diagnose him with it.
This is the second death penalty case in the state since the new law passed in April. The first case happened in Marion County where jurors voted unanimously for death. However, in this case, it's the first one where jurors did not vote unanimously, but was still able to recommend death.
Ultimately, it's still up to the judge to decide Zieler's fate, though he must take the jury's recommendation into high consideration.
A pre-sentence investigation for the case will be held on June 26.
(source: Fox News)
ALABAMA:
Juror of Alabama death row inmate speaks on new death penalty bill----A woman who served on a death row trial spoke to Alabama lawmakers about a new death row bill.
About 2 dozen people came before Alabama lawmakers to share their thoughts on a new death penalty bill.
Right now, a person can be put to death without a unanimous jury vote. HB 14 would require the entire jury to be in support of imposing the death penalty.
This bill would also open up the opportunity to reevaluate inmates who are currently on death row because of a judge and not a jury, per Rep. Chris England.
“If we’re going to be a state that puts people to death, it should be the absolute hardest thing that we do,” England said.
About 25 years ago, Mae Puckett sat on a jury for the capital murder trial of Robin “Rocky” Myers. He was sentenced to death for the fatal stabbing of a Decatur woman in 1991.
“I never for a minute thought he was guilty, but I voted guilty, and there’s reasons for that,” Puckett said to lawmakers.
She said she wanted to avoid a retrial that could have put Myers’ on death row.
“Believe me, it’s not easy to sit there and listen to a 8- to 10-year-old boy cry and beg us not to kill their daddy, especially when you know he’s not guilty,” Puckett said.
She said she hoped the jury’s recommendation of life in prison would keep him alive.
The judge overrode the jury’s recommendation, placing Myers on death row anyway.
“This is just a horror I’ve had to live with, and I know some of the other jury members have had to live with it too,” Puckett said.
The Equal Justice Initiative reports that 80% of people on death row in Alabama did not receive a unanimous jury verdict.
With less than 5 legislative days left, there is not enough time for the House bill bill to pass this session.
(source: WSFA news)
LOUISIANA:
Louisiana lawmakers reject bill to abolish death penalty after emotional hearing
Louisiana will keep the death penalty for at least another year after a House committee on Wednesday rejected a bill to abolish executions after a hearing filled with emotional testimony on both sides.
Democratic Rep. Kyle Green of Marrero said he filed House Bill 262 for a 2nd straight year knowing it faced long odds of passage.
"It's important enough to continue to bring this debate every year until we can convince our colleagues that this is not the best version of who we are," Green said in an interview with USA Today Network. "For me as a Christian, I can't sit back and not try to repeal this abhorrent institution."
Members of the House Criminal Justice Committee killed the bill on an 11-4 vote.
Louisiana is 1 of 27 states where the death penalty still exists, though it's been 13 years since a prisoner was executed.
The state last carried out an execution on January 7, 2010, putting Gerald Bordelon to death by lethal injection after he waved his appeals. His execution was the 28th in Louisiana in the modern era of the death penalty.
Since then corrections officials have said they've been unable to secure the drugs necessary to carry them out.
Those supporting the abolition of the death penalty cited their Christian faith and the inability to reverse fatal mistakes made by the justice system with 11 death penalty exonerations in Louisiana alone.
"Vengeance doesn't restore; it doesn't repair," said the Rev. Alexis Anderson, a prison reform activist.
Shareef Cousin of New Orleans and Corey Williams of Shreveport are among the 11 Louisiana exonerations. Both testified Wednesday.
"I can speak to the mental anguish I still suffer 28 years later," Cousin said. "It's embarrassing to me to have to sit here and beg you to end this."
"I don't think I'll ever be right," Williams said. "Mentally the scars will never leave."
Susan Weishar of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University in New Orleans said "the dignity of life" is a core tenet of the Catholic faith.
"Every human being is a child of God," Weishar said. "It's impossible to be anti-abortion and pro death penalty. Ask yourself, 'Who would Jesus execute?'"
Sister Helen Prejean, a decades-long advocate to abolish the death penalty in Louisiana, is surrounded by students from St. Joseph's Academy in the state Capitol, during a press conference to support bills that would eliminate executions in the state.
But there were others of the Christian faith like Gene Mills with Louisiana Family Forum who turned in green cards supporting keeping the death penalty in place and family of victims who believe the death penalty is an appropriate punishment.
Louisiana's district attorneys and sheriffs also opposed the bill, saying the death penalty is an "important tool" for their work.
Wayne Guzzardo's daughter Stephanie was murdered by Todd Wessinger in 1995. Wessinger remains on death row.
"She begged for her life and he said, 'Shutup b---- and shot and killed her," said Guzzardo, who wiped tears from his eyes during the hearing. >
Guzzardo said he was offended by those concerned about the ongoing state costs, about $7 million per year, to defend death penalty cases. "It insults me to put a price tag on my baby's life," he said.
And Iberville Parish District Attorney Tony Clayton, who is Black, dismissed statistics that the justice system is biased against the Black population, calling it "hocus pocus" and saying it was offensive.
"It doesn't matter whether you're Black or white," Clayton said as he described heinous crimes in graphic detail. "If you killed somebody you deserve the death penalty."
Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards for the first time in his 8-year tenure said he supports abolishing the death penalty, but the term-limited governor will leave office without the chance to sign a repeal.
Only once, in 2019, has a bill to abolish the death penalty even made it out of a House or Senate committee for full debate in either chamber. Even then, former Democratic state Rep. Terry Landry shelved the bill when it became clear he didn't have the votes in the House.
(source: The Monnroe News-Star)
*************
Lawmakers vote to kill bill to eliminate death penalty----Tensions grew high while lawmakers debated one of Louisiana’s most controversial laws, the death penalty, on Wednesday, May 24.
Tensions grew high while lawmakers debated one of Louisiana’s most controversial laws, the death penalty, on Wednesday, May 24.
“One of the questions I get all the time is, ‘Why don’t you guys in the legislature do something about this? Why can’t you protect us? Why can’t you make us feel safe when we go to sleep at night?’” said Rep. Raymond Garofalo Jr., R-Chalmette.
For the second year in a row, HB228 by Rep. Kyle Green Jr., D-Marrero, was shot down.
Louisiana is 1 of 27 states that still have the death penalty, but it has not executed anyone in the last 13 years. That’s why Rep. Green said he keeps trying.
He also cites his faith in God and the fact Louisiana has had 11 death row exonerations as reasons he and others want it gone.
“You are really not pro-death penalty until you can take that life yourself. Someone could kill my four kids, kill a member of my family, and I don’t care what they’ve done, I could not do it,” explained Rep. Green.
“Nobody understands how the family is impacted, the trauma that my brother has experienced over the years and continues to two decades later,” I mean my biological father was murdered, but it was black on black crime, so nobody was brought to justice for it,” said Monique Colemen, who drove down from Texas to talk about her brother.
He was 1 of the 11 exonerated cases on death row in Louisiana.
It’s been said the death penalty has a racial component attached to it because most on death row are African American, which was quickly rejected by 18th JDC District Attorney Tony Clayton.
“Some of you asked the question about whether are there any Black families asking for the death penalty, any white families,” said Clayton. “I’ve walked and been on many crime scenes. And when a mother cries, she’s not crying Black tears or white tears, she’s crying tears of pain.”
He and others involved in law enforcement said the threat of getting the death penalty works as a deterrent to keep criminals from killing police officers and children.
“If we are the only state in the deep South that abolishes the death penalty, we’re gonna become a magnet for pedophile killers, serial killers, gang-related killers,” added John Sinquefield with the Louisiana Department of Justice. “We’re gonna be a magnet if we’re this little island right down in the middle with no death penalty.”
So, the death penalty will still be around in Louisiana for at least another year but don’t be surprised if we see the same proposal return to the State Capitol next year.
(source WAFB news)
****************
Legislation to abolish La.’s death penalty prompted emotional testimony
A bill to abolish Louisiana’s death penalty elicited passionate debate at the state capitol on Wednesday (May 24).
Shareef Cousin, a man who was sentenced to death row in Louisiana as a teenager spoke in favor of doing away with execution.
“My name is Shareef Cousin. I’m number 77 and that’s the 77th person to be exonerated from death row in America. At the tender age of 16, I was sentenced to death in Louisiana, in New Orleans for a crime I didn’t commit, so I come before you from a different perspective, from a perspective of being that person that was almost executed for a crime I didn’t commit,” said Cousin.
Cousin was sentenced to death and sent to Angola State Penitentiary for the 1995 murder of Michael Gerardi who was killed outside a French Quarter restaurant.
But in 1998, the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned the conviction. Cousin maintained all along he did not kill Gerardi.
As the House Criminal Justice Committee weighed HB 228 by Rep. Kyle Green, D-Marrero, Cousin was among the members of the public to give testimony.
“Committee, I have seven kids under the age of 16. Had I been executed I would not see none of their beautiful faces. I come before to ask that you abolish the death penalty and I’m going to keep asking that until anyone can demonstrate to me the infallibility of human judgment.” Green said the crime problem is not lost on him but the death penalty is not the solution.
“Don’t think for one second that my family has not been touched by crime or murder,” said Green.
On the legislative session’s opening day, Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, urged lawmakers to abolish Louisiana’s death penalty and expressed support for Green’s bill.
“We’ve shown that the state gets it wrong more times than not. There’s a likelihood that there’s a person currently on death row who is probably innocent of the crime they were convicted of.”
But death penalty supporters also had their turn at the witness table.
West Baton Rouge Parish D.A. Tony Clayton expressed his support for the death penalty.
“I believe that if you go and you kill someone then you are justifiably, you deserve the death penalty,” said Clayton.
Wayne Guzzardo spoke of losing his daughter who was killed while working at a Baton Rouge restaurant.
“My daughter was murdered in 1995,” said Guzzardo.” At 9:47 on a Sunday morning.”
John Sinquefield, chief deputy attorney general, also said the death penalty is needed in Louisiana.
“All of the states in the Deep South have the death penalty, if we are the only state in the Deep South that abolishes the death penalty we are going to become a magnet,” he said.
There were also arguments about whether or not the death penalty is a deterrent to crime/
“They know, the defendants know because they’ve told me it deters them from killing police officers and children,” said Clayton.
But Green pushed back on that notion at the end of the meeting.
(source: WVUE news)
MISSOURI----impending execution
MO Supreme Court denies stay of execution for Michael Tisius, supporters call for clemency
The Missouri Supreme Court clears the way for the execution of a man convicted of killing two Randolph County jailers to proceed.
In March, the Missouri Supreme Court set a June 6 execution date for Michael Tisius. He’s facing 2 death sentences for fatally shooting Leon Egley and Jason Acton in June of 2000.
Tisius and his friend, Tracie Bulington, went to the old Randolph County Jail to help Roy Vance escape. Egley and Acton were shot to death during that attempt. Vance is currently serving a life sentence without parole in the case. Bulington is serving 2 life sentences.
Attorneys for Tisius filed a motion for a stay of execution, but the Missouri Supreme Court denied that motion Tuesday. The organization, Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, says another motion for a stay of execution has been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court. The group is also calling on Governor Mike Parson to grant clemency to Tisius and convert his sentence to life in prison.
Attorneys for Tisius also say his brain development was below typical levels for his age due to childhood abuse and neglect. They argue that Vance had significant influence over Tisius and manipulated him into pulling the trigger. They also say 1 juror in the trial was not able to read or write, as required by state law.
(source: kjluradio.com)
OKLAHOMA:
Oklahoma Investigator To Detail Evidence of Innocence of Anthony Sanchez (Execution date 9/21/23)----Victim Family Member Witnessed Last Oklahoma Execution, Now Calls For Abolition
David Ballard, President of Valour Investigations LLC, of Norman, will detail the results of investigations he has personally conducted, including alternative DNA interpretation as well as multiple other issues, which leads him to assert the innocence of Anthony Sanchez, who is scheduled to be executed in Oklahoma on September 21, 2023 in revenge for his alleged 1996 murder of Juli Buskin. This presentation will take place in a press conference in the rotunda on the 2nd floor of the Oklahoma State Capitol at 10am CDT on Thursday, May 25, 2023. This event will officially launch the #FreeAthonySanchez campaign, whose goal is exactly that: Halt the execution and free an innocent man who has been on Oklahoma's death row nearly 20 years for a crime he did not commit.
The event will be live streamed via Zoom. Click here to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/re
Also Participating or Present:
Lyndsey Barnett, Granddaughter of the victims (The Cantrells) of the last person executed, Scott Eizember. She witnessed the execution of the killer of her grandparents, for whom there is no question of his guilt, and is now calling for a halt to all executions.
Abraham Bonowitz, Executive Director, Death Penalty Action
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, Anthony Sanchez’s Spiritual Advisor, covener of Clergy United Against the Death Penalty and head of the #FreeAnthonySanchez campaign
Multiple family members and friends of Anthony Sanchez
Additional information is at https://www.freeanthonysanchez.org
(source: Death Penalty Action)
CALIFORNIA:
Ineffective Assistance Claim Saves Estonian From Death Sentence; Brutally bludgeoned victim to death with ax----Lawyer didn’t adequately investigate mitigating factors
An Estonian immigrant, who was given asylum in the US after escaping from the Russian army, but was later convicted for murdering the California woman who provided him a place to live, is entitled to relief from the death penalty, the Ninth Circuit said.
Tauno Waidla’s lawyer provided ineffective assistance by failing to adequately investigate mitigating factors during the sentencing phase of his trial, the per curiam opinion said Tuesday.
(source: Bloomberg News)
USA:
Death sentence is reduced to life for Sjodin’s murderer
The death sentence for a Minnesota man who killed a North Dakota college student 20 years ago has been officially changed to life in prison.
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ralph Erickson signed the sentence amendment for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. last week, according to court records.
Rodriguez, a sex offender, was convicted in 2007 of kidnapping 22-year-old Dru Sjodin on Nov. 22, 2003, from a Grand Forks shopping mall. He then sexually assaulted her, cut her throat and left her to die in a ravine near Crookston, Minnesota.
The body of Sjodin, who was a University of North Dakota student, was found 5 months later.
U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider in North Dakota filed a notice in federal court in March withdrawing his effort to seek the death penalty. He said he did so at the direction of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
That left life in prison without parole as the only possible sentenced for Rodriguez.
Rodriguez’s death sentence was overturned in September 2021 by Erikson, who found that Rodriguez’s constitutional rights were violated during the trial by misleading testimony from the coroner, the failure of lawyers to outline the possibility of an insanity defense, and evidence of severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
Rodriguez was still listed as a death row inmate at a maximum security penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Tuesday. A message was sent to the prison to find out if he had been moved and where he might be held.
In 2021, Garland announced a moratorium on federal executions after the Justice Department was criticized by death penalty opponents for pursuing the sentence despite President Joe’s Biden’s opposition to capital punishment.
(source: Minnesota Lawyer)
IRAN----executions
Jiroft and Urmia – 3 prisoners executed
3 prisoners were executed in Jiroft and Urmia prisons. During the last 4 days, at least 7 prisoners were executed in Iranian prisons.
According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, on Thursday, May 25, 2023, 3 prisoners accused of drugs and murder were executed in Jiroft and Urmia prisons.
The sentence of Mehdi Salari and Mohammad Daraei, who were previously sentenced to death on drug-related charges, was carried out in Jiroft Prison.
Mehdi Salari from Jiroft was executed after 3 years in prison, and 30-year-old Mohammad Daraei (Ahmad Golbache) from Zahedan was in prison for 4 years.
Also, a 40-year-old prisoner named Ali Piri was executed in Urmia Central Prison on the charge of murder.
It should be noted that in the last Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1402, including the 3 recent executions, at least 123 people, an average of 4 people per day, were executed in Iranian prisons.
*****************
Dastgerd of Isfahan- 2 prisoners executed
2 prisoners accused of murder and drugs executed in Dastgerd prison in Isfahan. Also, the news indicates that at least 2 prisoners transferred to execute the death sentence.
According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, citing the Human Rights Organization, on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. 2 prisoners executed in Dastgerd prison in Isfahan.
These 2 prisoners Majid Sharifi accused of drug possession and Ali Tabib accused of murder.
Also, 1 prisoner from Urmia Prison and another prisoner from Jiroft Prison transferred to solitary confinement to execute the death sentence. There is a possibility of their execution in the coming days.
On May 6, 2023, Amnesty International announced regarding the increase in executions in Iran that Iran has executed 83% more than last year in the new year.
This report states: “In 2022, at least 883 people were executed in the world, which is 53 % more than in 2021. The reason for this terrible jump is the killing policy in Iran and Saudi Arabia. The number of executions in Iran has increased by 83% and in Saudi Arabia it has tripled. By executing 576 people, Iran is responsible for 65% of all executions in the world.
(source for all: en.iranhrs.org)
******************
Unnamed Man Executed in Bandarabbas
State media have reported the execution of an unnamed man for efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) charges for drug offences in Bandarabbas Central Prison.
According to the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency, a man was executed in Bandarabbas Central Prison on 23 May. The unnamed man was sentenced to death for efsad-fil-arz charges as well as qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the murder of a policeman. The report does not specify which sentence was carried out.
Mojtaba Ghahremani, the Hormozgan Prosecutor is quoted as saying: “According to the sentence, the convict was sentenced to death for charges of efsad-fil-arz through armed smuggling of narcotics and sentenced to qisas for the murder of Rahim Ghassemi Shiri…”
In the past few days, 3 other men were executed for efsad-fil-arz charges for drug-related offences. Shahab Mansour Nasab, Samad Geravand and Saeed Geravand were executed in Qezel Hesar Prison on 20 May.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
***************
Saeed Najafi and Borzou Chogharzardi Executed in Kermanshah
Saeed Najafi and Borzou Chogharzardi who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, have been executed in Kermanshah Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, 2 men were executed in Kermanshah (Dizel Abad) Central Prison on 17 May. Their identities have been established as 28-year-old Saeed Najafi (pictured) and 45-year-old Borzou Chogharzardi who was sentenced to qisas for murder.
An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Saeed Najafi was arrested for murder 5 years ago and sentenced to death. He was accused of committing the murder during an altercation. He was under interrogations in police custody for 4 months. He said he had confessed under police torture and had been under medical care as a result of the torture.”
“Borzou was a father of 3 and had been arrested and sentenced to death for murder 6 years ago.”
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
***************
Saeed Mohammadi Executed in Kermanshah
Saeed Mohammadi who was sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been executed in Kermanshah Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least one man was executed in Kermanshah (Dizel Abad) Central Prison on 22 May His identity has been established as 46-year-old Saeed Mohammadi who was sentenced to qisas for murder.
Two other men are reported to have been executed along with Saeed, which Iran Human Rights is working to verify.
According to Hengaw which first reported news of his execution, Saeed had been on death row for 12 years.
At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
(source for all: iranhr.net)
**************
Iran Continues Aggressive Use of Death Penalty Despite International Condemnation
Iran continues to use the death penalty in violation of international law, including death sentences for crimes failing to meet the “most serious” crime threshold, the use of torture, and performing public executions. According to Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), there have been at least 277 executions thus far in 2023, with at least 106 executions in the first 20 days of May, constituting the “bloodiest month” in more than 5 years.
“What we’re witnessing in Iran are not executions, but extrajudicial mass-killings to create societal fear to maintain power. In order to stop the Islamic Republic’s killing machine, firm and concrete action is needed by the international community and not just expressions of regret and condemnations,” stated IHRNGO Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.
Death sentences for drug-related crimes, efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth), moharabeh (waging war against god), and other non-lethal offenses violate international human rights law that limits the use of capital punishment to the “most serious crimes.” Amidst a high number of executions for drug-related charges in May 2023 – in line with trends from the previous year in which 44% of executions were for drug-related charges – 3 protestors were executed on May 19, sparking widespread international condemnation. Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaghoubi were arrested during nationwide protests sparked by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Jina Amini. All 3 were convicted of moharabeh allegedly based on false confessions obtained through torture. According to a family member, 2 days after Mr. Kazemi’s execution, Iranian agents visited the family, assaulted his brothers and parents, and arrested three of his siblings.
Members of both government and civil society condemned these executions. The U.S. envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, tweeted that such actions were “an affront to the human rights and basic dignity of all Iranians.” Along with condemnation, the European Union called on Iran to abolish its death penalty.
The United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission established to investigate human rights violations by the Iranian government released a statement that said they were “deeply alarmed at the continuing executions of protesters pending investigations of alleged human rights violations,” and regarded the executions of the 3 protestors as “profoundly concerning,” especially due to “allegations of their having been convicted and sentenced through confessions obtained under torture.” Meanwhile, UN experts “urge[d] the Iranian Government to stop this horrific wave of executions.” Earlier this month, on May 9, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk regarded the conservative average of 10 executions in Iran a week as “an abominable record,” and urged a moratorium with view towards abolition; in a letter dated May 10, UNHRC President Vaclav Balek announced the appointment of Ali Bahreini, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations to chair the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Social Forum in November 2023.
Trends in the previous year demonstrated a spike in executions following the protests of teachers in May 2022 and following protests sparked by Ms. Amini’s death.
Commenting on the Iran Human Rights 2022 report, Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “The international reactions to the death sentences against protesters have made it difficult for the Islamic Republic to proceed with their executions. To compensate, and in order to spread fear among people, the authorities have intensified the execution for non-political charges. These are the low-cost victims of the Islamic Republic’s execution machine. In order to stop this machine, the international community and civil society inside and outside Iran must show the same reaction to each and every execution.”
IHRNGO warns that two Afghan nationals are at risk of public executions in violation of Articles 6 and 7 of the ICCPR. Iran conducted two public executions last year, along with the execution of at least three juveniles (ages 17 and 16 at the time of the crime), though more are suspected. According to IHRNGO, the juveniles were kept in prison until they reached the age of 18 and then were executed.
(source: Death Penalty Information Center)
*************
BAHA’IS OF IRAN----Shirin Dalvand: Her Love for Iran Ended at the Gallows
“Granny arranged bail for her granddaughter with difficulty, but she was happy that Shirin would be released in an hour. Rouhi, Shirin’s close friend, had been released on bail the day before, but she could not arrange bail for Shirin and posting bail was delayed by a day. When she went to post bail, the person responsible for registering it told her that no Baha’i could be released on bail. ‘But yesterday a few were released on bail and my granddaughter is one of them,’ said Granny. The guy said that those released on bail must return as well! The grandmother said nothing at all. Earlier she had been thinking about the food that Shirin likes so she could cook it for her that night.”
The “Granny” was the grandmother of Shirin Dalvand, a 26-year-old woman and a native of Shiraz, who was executed on June 18, 1983, along with nine other Baha’i women, because of their faith.<
Shirin Dalvand, whose given first name was Shahin, was born in Shiraz to a Baha’i family on January 4, 1957. A part of her childhood was spent in Mashhad and the rest in Shiraz. Shahin’s family affectionately called her “Shirin”, Persian for “Sweet,” when she was a child, and her friends and acquaintances called her by the same name. Shirin finished primary school and high school in Shiraz and, after receiving her high school diploma, continued her education at Pahlavi University in Shiraz in sociology.
Her university career was interrupted with the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the shutdown of universities across Iran. Shirin and her family emigrated to Britain but, after the universities were reopened, she and her father returned to Iran. Shirin resumed her studies in Shiraz and graduated with high grades. Her dissertation, “A study of the characteristics of a group of drug addicts and the reasons for their addiction,” caught the attention of her professors who invited her to participate in a TV program on the subject, although this did not happen because she was a Baha’i.
Shirin’s father returned to the UK. He asked Shirin go with him, now that she had graduated, but she told him during a telephone call that she wanted to remain in Iran despite all the problems that the Baha’is were facing after the Revolution.
Executions, arrests, confiscation of properties, destruction of Baha’i cemeteries, expulsion from government jobs, expulsion from education or academic roles, hate speech against Baha’i beliefs and desecration of Baha’i religious sites had all arrived with the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Iran’s new government knew that the home of Bab, the founder of the Babi faith and forerunner of the Baha’i faith, was in in Shiraz and that it was a sacred place for Baha’is in Iran and around the world. The authorities believed that if they confiscated and destroyed this home, they could hasten the disintegration of Iran’s Baha’i community.
The harassment of the Baha’is in Shiraz had, in fact, already begun a few weeks before the culmination of the Islamic Revolution with the torching and destruction of 165 Baha’i homes.
Shirin saw these events with her own eyes but, despite the dangers threatening the community, she wanted to stay in her birthplace or, as she put it, to stay and serve Iran. She lived at her grandparents’ home from the time that her father left until she was arrested.
Shirin managed her father’s business affairs in Shiraz in his absence. She also dedicated time to visiting and comforting the families of Baha’is who been imprisoned or executed. And she tried, as much as she could, to help Baha’i villagers who had been driven out of their homes.
Shirin’s Arrest
On the evening of November 29, 1982, Shahin and her close friend Rouhieh (Rouhi) Jahanpour went to Rouhi’s home after visiting with another Baha’I, Ms. Gohar-Riz, whose husband was in prison. The Revolutionary Guards had arrested 40 Baha’is in Shiraz in that month alone and Ms. Gohar-Riz’s husband was one of them.
On their way to Rouhi’s home, the 2 noticed that a man was following them. When they reached the Jahanpour home, Shirin called her grandmother and told her that she would spend the night there. Then, at about 11pm, Revolutionary Guards agents banged on the door and, after the door was opened, 7 or 8 of them pushed their way in. Without producing any warrants, they searched the home, confiscated religious books and pictures and, in the end, arrested Shirin and Rouhi.
The agents used offensive language and called the residents “unclean”. Rouhieh Jahanpour says that when they were arrested the agents told them: “We have no doubt that we are doing the right thing because we are preparing the way for the return of Holy Mahdi [the 12th Shia Imam]. We must get rid of all of you because the only reason that he has not returned is the existence of you, the unclean.”
On that night, 40 Baha’is in Shiraz were arrested at their homes by the Revolutionary Guards. The agents went to the home of Shirin’s grandmother as well and left after searching the residence and confiscating Baha’i books and pictures.
Shirin’s Interrogation
The arrested Baha’is were taken to the detention center of the Revolutionary Guards in Shiraz, where they were interrogated, harassed, threatened and mistreated in other ways. The interrogators had 2 goals: forcing the Baha’is to recant their faith and extracting the names of other Baha’is. In her memoirs Olya’s Story, Olya Roohizadegan, another of the detainees, writes that after a couple of days they took her and other women out of their cells, blindfolded them, and stood them against a wall for hours as they showered them with insults. “Are you still Baha’is?” the agents screamed at them, and when all of them, without exception, answered that they were, the Guards shouted “Kill these heathens! Fire!”
Shirin was a calm, polite and shy young woman, according to those who remember her, and she had never claimed to be brave or strong. But she he resisted the threats and violence of the interrogators who wanted her to renounce her faith and convert to Islam. When the interrogators failed to force the detainees to recant their Baha’I faith, the interrogations turned into debates, in which one side would use violence to prove its points.
Adel Abad Prison and the “Project to Repent”
Around the end of December, the Baha’i detainees were transferred to Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz, where there was a ward for women. By order of the prison warden, each floor of this ward held a specific group of inmates. One floor was for the “repentant”, those who had renounced their religious or political beliefs. The next floor was for “waverers” and the third floor was for inmates who were called the “villains”. Baha’is were kept among the “villains”. On this floor were around 70 to 80 women who had been imprisoned on various charges. By order of Zia Mir-Emadi, the revolutionary prosecutor, only the “repentant” inmates were allowed to receive visitors and take leaves of absence or be eligible for parole.
The questioning of Baha’is by an examining magistrate started after they were transferred to Adel Abad Prison. The sessions were part of a project to convince the Baha’is to “repent” – an effort that had begun in the Revolutionary Guards detention center. The magistrate threatened Baha’i inmates that they must expect they death penalty if they refuse to convert to Islam. Prison guards also participated in this project. They repeatedly went to the cells of Baha’is, summoned prisoners, or spoke to them in the prison yard in an attempt to “guide” them to repent. The Baha’is, like other inmates, were also required to visit the prison library to study Islamic books and treatises.
Shirin’s Bail Denied
After the examining magistrate had finished interrogating Baha’i prisoners, bail was set for several of them. Shirin’s property bond was set at 500,000 tomans. Her grandmother was unable to post the bail on the same day; but the next day, when she went to court to post it, she was told that the bail had been canceled and her granddaughter must remain in prison.
By the order of Majid Torabpour, Adel Abad’s warden, only immediate relatives could visit prisoners and, as a result, Shirin was the only Baha’i inmate who received no visitor for a long time. On the days when prisoners had visitors, she was alone in her cell until her cellmates returned from meeting their families. Shirin’s grandmother continuously brought food and clothing, but she was not allowed to meet her granddaughter. Shirin always spoke about her grandmother, while in prison, and eagerly awaited the day when she would be allowed to see her. One day, at least, after the other visitors were gone, she was summoned and finally met her grandmother after several months. That day may have been Shirin’s sweetest moment while in prison.
The Kangaroo Court
As with other Baha’is, the trial of Shirin Dalvand lasted only a few minutes, behind closed doors, and she was not allowed to have a lawyer. Hojatoleslam Ghazaei, the Sharia judge of Shiraz and the head of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court, would announce at the end of each trial of a Baha’i: “Islam or death!”
A cellmate of Shirin was able to capture the conversation between her and the judge.
“Was she going to remain faithful to her faith until the moment of execution” the judge asked.
“I hope that, with the grace of God, I will stay resolute in my faith until the last moment of my life,” Shirin replied bravely.
“You dying has nothing to do with the grace of God. You want to be executed,” said the judge in anger.
“Your honor, we Baha’is believe that even a leaf does not fall off the tree unless it is God’s will. My will or your will does not make a difference. God’s will is always the only factor,” replied Shirin.
The Day 22 Baha’is Were Sentenced to Death
On February 12, 1983, a local newspaper, Khabar-e Jonoub, reported that 22 Baha’is had been sentenced to death. On February 22, in an interview with the same newspaper, Hojatoleslam Ghazaei confirmed the report and threatened the Baha’is that if they did not embrace Islam, soon enough the nation of Islam would do its Sharia duty and the Baha’is must know that they would be “uprooted”.
These statements by Hojatoleslam Ghazaei contradict repeated claims by the Islamic Republic officials that Baha’is are not arrested and executed because of their religious beliefs.
When news of the death sentences reached inside the prison, nobody imagined that Shirin would be among them. The inmates themselves had made lists of those whom they believed could be put to death. Shirin’s name was on none of these lists.
Zia Mir-Emadi, Revolutionary Prosecutor of Fars Province, made a final attempt to coerce the Baha’is into recanting their beliefs, by announcing that he would give the Baha’is who had been sentenced to death 4 chances and, if they did not, they would be hanged. But he got nowhere with it and none of them, including Shirin, renounced their beliefs or converted to Islam. “I accept Islam, but I am a Baha’i,” they wrote, when they were asked for their decisions.
On March 17, 1983, 6 of the Baha’is from the men’s ward were executed. And at 5pm on Saturday, June 18, 10 Baha’i women met with their families without knowing that it would be for the last time. During this meeting that they learned of the execution of the 6 Baha’i men. As the prisoners were returning to their cells, Majid Torabpour, Adel Abad’s warden, separated Shirin and nine other women and sent them to a room.
One of Shirin’s cellmates describes what took place: “I was standing next to Torabpour. He had a list in his hand and, on that list, the names of the men who had been executed were crossed off. Mr. Torabpour called the name of each woman, each of whom answered with a smile. He ordered them to a room across from where we were. I followed each one of them with my own eyes from the paper to that room. When the list was finished, some of us remained, and Mr. Torabpour ordered one of the guards to return us to the ward. I looked to that room for a last time. I saw only Shirin, leaning against a table, speaking with the others. When she noticed me, I bid her farewell with my head and she waved her hand at me.”
Shahin (Shirin) Dalvand was 26 years old when she was hanged. The Revolutionary Guards buried her and the other nine women, without informing their families, and without religious rites. One eyewitness later told the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center that these 10 Baha’i women were hanged one by one.
(source: iranwire.com)
**************
Supreme Court confirms death penalty on 2 persons involved in Shah Cheraq attack
Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld death sentence against 2 persons involved in the terrorist attack on the Shah Cheraq shrine in the city of Shiraz in October 2022, the court’s public relations office announced on Wednesday.
The attack on the shrine in the evening prayer time on October 26 resulted in the death of 15 people and injury of 20 others. The Islamic State, also called Daesh, carried out the terrorist attack.
3 schoolchildren were martyred in the attack. Martin, a 6-year-old boy, lost all his family members.
CCTV footage showed the attacker entered the shrine after hiding an assault rifle in a bag and shooting as worshippers tried to flee and hide in corridors.
The gunman, identified as a citizen of Tajikistan, later died in a hospital from injuries sustained during the attack.
The 2 men sentenced to death said during the trial they had been in contact with the Islamic State in neighboring Afghanistan and helped organize the attack.
Daesh also conducted deadly twin attacks in 2017 in Tehran that targeted the parliament and the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.
(source: Tehran Times)
*************
Rights Group Urges Global Governments To 'Radically' Increase Pressure On Iran Over Executions----Amnesty International said in a report earlier this month that Iran drove a global spike in executions last year with 576, almost double the previous year.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) says it has sent a letter to 75 governments around the world asking them to "radically increase" pressure on Tehran to cease the "flagrantly unlawful executions" of protesters and others that are surging in the country.
“The Islamic republic is hanging young protesters -- after torturing them into making ‘confessions’ and convicting them in sham trials -- and targeting minorities for executions for lesser crimes, in order to cow its restive population into silence,” Hadi Ghaemi, CHRI's executive director, said in a statement on May 24.
Officials have launched a brutal crackdown in Iran amid a wave of unrest sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in September while in police custody for an alleged infraction of the country's mandatory hijab law.
Iran's judiciary, at the urging of senior leaders, has taken a hard-line stance against demonstrators, executing at least seven protesters, including three on May 19. Several others currently wait on death row for their sentences to be carried out.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group says that so far this year at least 277 people are confirmed to have been executed in Iran, including at least 90 in the last three weeks, making May the "bloodiest month" in the country in the last 5 years.
Amnesty International said in a report earlier this month that Iran drove a global spike in executions last year with 576, almost double the previous year.
“Unless world leaders join forces to raise the cost to the authorities in Iran of these state-sanctioned killings, which severely violate international laws governing the death penalty, the Islamic republic’s killing machine will gather steam and more people will unjustly die on the gallows in Iran,” Ghaemi said.
(source: rferl.org)
GAZA:
Hamas upholds executions against three Palestinian ‘collaborators’ in Gaza----Rights organizations have repeatedly condemned Hamas for issuing and carrying out death sentences without the approval of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
A military court affiliated with the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip upheld on Tuesday death sentences issued against three Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel.
The Ministry of Interior in Gaza said on its website that the defendants were found guilty of “communicating with hostile foreign entities” in violation of Article 131 of the Palestinian Penal Code of 1979.
It remains unclear when the initial death sentences were issued.
One of the defendants is a 67-year-old man from the northern Gaza Strip who was arrested in February 2015 for allegedly spying for Israel. According to the ministry, the man, who was not identified, was recruited by Israeli intelligence in 1997 to provide them with information on Hamas members and their positions in the enclave. He was sentenced to death by hanging.
The second man, a 44-year-old from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, allegedly began working with Israel in 2000 and provided Israeli intelligence with information on Hamas and its tunnels network. The ministry said the defendant was also asked by Israel to open a car dealership in Gaza in order to sell Hamas members cars equipped with listening devices. He was also sentenced to death by hanging.
The last defendant, 36, also from Khan Yunis, was sentenced to death by firing squad after he was found guilty of working with Israel since 2011 and providing it with sensitive security and military intelligence during the 2 wars on Gaza in 2012 and 2014.
The court has yet to set a date to carry out the executions.
Hamas has issued numerous death sentences since taking control of Gaza after the 2007 Palestinian split. Dozens of death sentences have also been carried out since then.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned Hamas’ actions as violating Palestinian law, which prohibits the execution of any death penalty without the approval of the president.
According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Hamas-controlled courts in Gaza have issued 194 death sentences since 2007 and carried out 33 of them.
Hamas executed 5 men in September 2022 — 3 were convicted of murder and 2 of collaborating with Israel. The executions were the first since 2017.
On Wednesday, the PCHR reported that a man accused of killing another man during a family dispute was sentenced to death. While also condemning crimes of murder, the organization said perpetrators must receive fair trials.
“The death penalty is not the only [means] to achieve justice or deter crimes,” it added in a statement.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) last carried out five death sentences in 1995. Since then, no executions have occurred in the West Bank. In March 2019, Palestine joined the 1989 UN Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which aims to abolish the death penalty.
In a separate development on Tuesday, the body of a Palestinian fisherman was found off the coast of Gaza City days after he went missing at sea. According to the Palestinian Naval Police in Gaza, Rami Ezzat Bakr went missing on Saturday after his boat was struck by an Egyptian gunboat near the maritime borders with Egypt in the south. Another fisherman who was on board the boat sustained injuries in the incident and was moved to a hospital in Rafah, according to local reports.
Egypt has yet to comment on the news.
According to the Gazan Fishermen's Syndicate, around 4,500 fishermen from Gaza are subject to almost daily attacks, including arrests and shootings, by the Egyptian and Israeli navies under the pretext of fishing outside the designated zone. As part of its siege on Gaza, Israel has restricted the fishing area for Gazans to about 12 nautical miles.
In September 2020, 2 Palestinian fishermen were killed and another injured after the Egyptian navy shot at their boat off the coast of the southern city of Rafah.
(source: al-monitor.com)
************
New Death Sentence in Gaza: PCHR Calls on Authorities in Gaza to Respect Palestine’s International Obligations
The Higher Crime Committee in Gaza unanimously issued a death sentence by hanging against (H. J.) after being convicted of killing (M. W.) and (Kh. W.) on grounds of a family dispute.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) reiterates its condemnation of all murder crimes and its total support with the families of victims of these heinous crimes, stressing the importance of prosecuting the perpetrators and bringing them to justice. In the meantime, PCHR emphasizes that death penalty is not the only mean to achieve justice or deter crimes, bearing in mind Palestine’s accession to the 1989 Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.
With the issuance of this sentence, the death sentences issued by the Court of First Instance since the beginning of this year have risen to 3: 2 issued by the civil courts and the third one issued by the military court, in addition to four other sentences issued in affirmation of former death sentences. Thus, the number of the death sentences issued in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas since 1994 has risen to 283: 253 in the Gaza Strip, and 30 in the West Bank. Of those issued in the Gaza Strip, 194 have been issued since the 2007 Palestinian political division.
Since the establishment of the PA in 1994, 46 death sentences were executed: 44 in the Gaza Strip, and two in the West Bank. Of those executed in the Gaza Strip, 33 were conducted without the ratification of the Palestinian President in violation of Palestinian law. In this context, PCHR stresses the need to perpetuate the policy of refraining from ratifying death sentences in a prelude to abolishing this punishment from the Palestinian legislations.
PCHR stresses that the Second Optional Protocol to ICCPR is binding to the authorities in Palestine, including the Gaza Strip. Therefore, use of death penalty must stop in a prelude to abolish it from the legislations. PCHR calls on the authorities in the Gaza Strip not to use the death penalty and replace it with a life sentence with hard labor.
PCHR also calls upon the Palestinian President to issue a law by decree to repeal any legal articles in the Palestinian Law that contradicts Palestine’s accession to the ICCPR Protocol aiming at abolishing the death penalty.
(source: pchrgaza.org)
SAUDI ARABIA----executions
Saudi executes 4th detainee in less than 24 hours
The Saudi Interior Ministry yesterday announced that it had carried out the death penalty against Ahmed Al Badr, who is from the Shia minority in the east of the country, making him the 4th detainee to be executed in less than 24 hours.
The ministry explained that Al Badr was found guilty of "communicating with an enemy country, leaving the kingdom illegally, and joining one of that country's [training] camps."
He was also found guilty of "receiving training in weapons and bombs, returning to the Kingdom and covering up those who had smuggled him and his companions to receive military training, possessing weapons, and smuggling other weapons to implement his terrorist plan to breach the kingdom's security," according to the same source.
The charges are very similar to those attributed to the 3 young men whom the Saudi authorities executed on Monday.
The European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights said Al Badr's execution has raised the number of those executed in the kingdom since the beginning of 2023 to 36.
Amnesty International has recently condemned the high rate of executions in Saudi Arabia. The number of executions in Saudi Arabia has increased from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022.
(source: Middle East Monitor)
************
MBS, Saudi Arabia Execute 4 after Tortured Confessions
On the signature of Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia executed between 22 and 23 May 2023 4 young men from Al Qatif, 3 on Monday 22 May and 1 on Tuesday 23 May, for exercising their freedom of expression. Hassan Issa al Muhanna, Haidar Hassan Mowes, Mohammed Ibrahim Mowes , and Ahmed bin Ali bin Mutoq Al Badr , were subjected to excruciating acts of torture in order to coerce confessions. They were convicted on charges that would ordinarily not be considered death-eligible under international law, including training in the use of weapons, intent to smuggle, and association with a terrorist organization. This latest execution brings the total number of persons killed to 36 this year alone.
Hassan AlMahanna and Haidar Al-Muwees were both arrested in 2013 and were brutally tortured, physically and mentally, until they were forced to sign a confession. They were executed without notice. Similarly, Mohamed Al-Muwees: was arrested by Saudi security forces, after they set a trap and was sentenced to death but was later replaced. However, he was then executed on terrorism charges. Ahmed Al Badr was also executed on terrorism charges after he was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. His sentence was replaced with the death sentence.
The move comes as the latest in a long string of executions dating back to last year. Prior to these executions, Saudi Arabia had promised to end the execution of children and persons who were convicted for offenses they allegedly committed as minors, and had also placed a moratorium on executions for the death penalty – a practice which disproportionately affects immigrant men, who often perform services as drug mules for criminal organizations led by Saudi citizens.
Executions in the Kingdom cannot occur without permission from the King or, in his absence, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – known internationally by his acronym, MbS. The Crown Prince has been leading the country for over half a decade on behalf of his ailing father, King Salman al-Saud.
MbS was cast out by the international community in the wake of his alleged involvement in the murder of the Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. President Biden went as far as to pledge to treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” during his campaign. Yet after the onset of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Western Europe and the United States allowed Mohammed bin Salman back onto the world stage. MbS responded by immediately executing 81 people, going on to murder a further 115 over the course of the remaining year – and even re-sentencing another child to death.
“This latest mass execution leaves no doubt, if any remained at all – this is MbS’s Saudi Arabia,” said ADHRB Executive Director Husain Abdulla. “Far from the promises of reform designed to draw in international investment, or the bright and shiny mirror cities that make up his fever dreams, the Crown Prince’s vision for his Kingdom is far more brutal. His Saudi Arabia kills old men for confessing to smuggling drugs under excruciating acts of torture. His Saudi Arabia murders journalists that he personally doesn’t like. His Saudi Arabia executes children by firing squad.”
ADHRB condemns the death penalty in all forms, as well as the recent monumental increase in the number of executions taking place in Saudi Arabia. We call on the Government of Saudi Arabia to place a general moratorium on the death penalty with a view towards eventual abolition, in line with its commitments under the Convention against Torture and evolving international law.
(source: worldcoalition.org)
DR CONGO:
Kenyan terror fugitive handed death sentence in DRC----The trial began in November last year and in March, a verdict was released
A court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) sentenced Kenyan terror suspect Salim Mohammed, alias Chotora or Turki Salim to death.
His lawyer Yusuf Ababukar said in Kenya he was sentenced to death by hanging after undergoing trial for the murder of a Congolese soldier in March.
The lawyer said he had requested the Congolese government to supply his family with the judgment to enable them to appeal the sentence.
The trial began in November last year and in March, a verdict was released by the Congolese Judiciary, and he was sentenced to hang after he was found guilty of murder, he said.
After his arrest, the Congolese government, through Interpol Counter-Terrorism Border operations, approved Mohammed’s trial for the murder of the soldier.
Prior to his trial, anti-terror police detectives drawn from Mombasa and Nairobi, alongside officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), had traveled to Congo to interrogate and record statements from Mohammed to establish his terror links, networks and connections within East Africa, West Africa and Syria.
Kenya had sought to have Mohammed extradited to enable the authorities to gather more details and information in relation to his terrorism activities and his accomplices who are at large and further charge him locally.
The suspect came into the limelight in January 2022 when a video of the killing of a Congolese soldier using a machete surfaced online.
During his arrest in Congo in January 2022, he was fighting for the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) which has been in operation since 1996 and is responsible for hundreds of deaths of civilians and soldiers in Uganda and DRC.
Mohamed had been arrested by anti-terror police in June 2019 at the Moi International Airport, Mombasa while trying to flee the country.
He was facing charges of being in possession of terrorist materials in the Ngomeni area in Kwale county.
He was arrested by the Congolese army on suspicion he was part of the Allied Democratic Forces rebel group that has been conducting raids in northern DRC near the border with Uganda.
Mohamed is a Mombasa resident and a suspected terrorist on whose head Kenya had placed a Sh10 million bounty.
The suspect had also joined the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP).
Several Kenyan youths from the Masjid Musa Mosque were last seen in the Goma and Butembo cities in DRC after getting temporary unofficial jobs as truckers.
According to officials, Mohamed recruited the youths and planned their logistics to DRC by getting them temporary jobs as turn boys for trucks destined for the 2nd largest country in Africa.
Freight forwarding companies owned by some Yemeni businessmen are often allegedly exploited during such terrorist operations.
Police say he was released on bond in 2020 over terrorism charges before he went missing.
Mohamed, who was linked to various criminal activities in Mombasa, is believed to have joined the Islamic State in Mozambique at the time.
In a video, Salim can be seen explaining to DRC residents that he and two other associates were en route to South Africa in the hopes of starting over.
Mohamed, 29, jumped bail in 2021 in a terror-related case. His family says they do not know his whereabouts.
His friends, neighbours and former schoolmates were shocked after seeing him in an undated video beheading an alleged Isis traitor.
He was sent to Turkey to study computer engineering after scoring an A-minus in the 2014 KCSE but was later deported. Mohamed fled to Mozambique to join the Isis and later sneaked to DRC.
He was described in a probation report as an intelligent man who has wasted his chances in life and chosen to engage in a dangerous trade.
Mohamed went to Qubaa Nursery in Mvita and later joined Qubaa Primary School, before being transferred to Abu Hureira Academy, where he sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam in 2010 and passed.
He joined a private secondary school in Mombasa in 2011 and sat his KCSE exam 4 years later, emerging as one of the top candidates.
Mohamed was selected to join the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology but was not interested.
He was later enrolled at the Technical University of Mombasa to study computer engineering but dropped out after the 1st year.
He later enrolled in a certificate course in computer studies at Abraar Muslim School, after which he went for computer engineering studies at Istanbul Kultur University in Turkey.
He was deported from Turkey on suspicion of being a member of Isis after being found at the border headed to Syria.
He was charged with the offence at Shanzu Law Court in 2017 but was acquitted for lack of evidence.
In 2019, he was arrested at the Moi International Airport over terror links and charged in court.
He was accused, together with others not before the court, of being a member of the al Shabaab terror group.
Mohamed was also charged with being in possession of items used to make improvised explosive devices.
This was after he was found with twin stranded wires, batteries connected in a series using a piece of carton secured by an elastic string, inductor coils, black particles and white explosive powder used in the making of improvised explosive devices.
Police said he was found with the materials on March 8, 2019, at Ngomeni in Kwale county.
After spending days in remand, the suspect secured a Sh1.5 million bond with one surety of a similar amount after Mombasa senior resident magistrate Rita Amwayi said the prosecution did not have valid reasons to have him kept in custody pending the conclusion of his case.
He later vanished, and his disappearance was reported to the police in December 2020.
By then, at least 8 witnesses had given evidence in the case, and an arrest warrant was issued.
Police later arrested one Richard Lazarus Kivatsi, who had been communicating with Mohamed, and another suspect, Alfan Ali Juma, who was said to be in Mozambique.
According to the police, the two escaped to Mozambique after the court granted them bond.
(source: the-star.co.ke)
INDIA:
SC sets aside death penalty given to man for rape, murder of 6-year-old girl in 2010----A Thane sessions court had sentenced the man to death in 2014, which was confirmed by the Bombay High Court in 2015.
The Supreme Court in a recent order has set aside the death penalty given to a man for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Thane district in 2010, stating that there are “numerous lapses and “yawning gaps” in the evidence.
A Thane sessions court had sentenced the man to death in 2014, which was confirmed by the Bombay High Court in 2015. The apex court has now ordered to set him at liberty — 13 years since his arrest — with nearly nine years spent on the death row.
“…The circumstances, forming the chain of commission of crime, cannot and do not point conclusively to the appellant in a manner that he may be punished for the same, much less with the sentence of being put to death,” said the Supreme Court in its May 19 order.
The accused — Prakash Nishad — was earlier found guilty, mainly based on DNA analysis.
The top court said that there were various irregularities and illegalities on part of the investigation agency. “Unfortunately, the courts below did not go into all aforesaid aspects, and presumptuously assumed the guilt of the appellant, and held him to have committed the crime,” said the Supreme Court.
On June 12, 2010, the 6-year-old victim was playing outside her Bhayander home after dinner. When she did not return home, her family members started searching for her, and found her body inside a nearby nullah (drain). Investigation had revealed that she was raped and killed, and then the accused disposed of her body in the nullah in a bid to destroy evidence.
The victim’s family had initially said that “they did not suspect anyone”, and police registered an FIR against an “unidentified person” on charges of rape, murder, and destruction of evidence under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Police on June 13 claimed that they had “certain inputs”, and arrested Nishad from his workplace. He lived in the same vicinity as the victim. The same day, police conducted a search at Nishad’s house — a small room of 8.5 feet X 6.5 feet — which he shared with another person. Though police did not say that they had any conclusive evidence against Nishad, three days later, a new investigating officer appointed in the case led another search.
On June 16, police claimed that an underwear belonging to the victim was found in the house, with semen stains on it. Police had also claimed that during the search, a vest and a pair of shorts — belonging to the accused — had the victim’s blood stains. Based on this, police said that there was incriminating proof that the rape and murder was committed by Nishad.
The Supreme Court, in its May 19, 2023, order, said that if the house — which was just a small room — was thoroughly searched on June 13, 2010, the question of recovery of the articles on June 16 does not arise. “The police team, in the absence of appellant, had microscopically scanned the said room, and yet could not find any material allegedly recovered on June 16, 2010,” the apex court said, adding that even the recovered articles did not sufficiently proved Nishad’s involvement in the crime.
According to the court, there was nothing on record to establish who had taken the samples from Nishad for DNA analysis or when such samples were taken. “…We noticed that none of the police officers have testified to the formalities of keeping the samples safe and secure being complied with,” the Supreme Court said, adding that while the first set of samples after the initial search was sent on June 16, the second set of samples after the next search were sent only a month later, on July 20, 2010, even as forensic guidelines say that it should be done without a delay.
The court stated that there was no explanation for the delay, and a possibility of contamination cannot be ruled out. “In the present case, even though the DNA evidence, by way of a report was present, its reliability is not infallible, especially not so in light of the fact that the uncompromised nature of such evidence cannot be established…,” it said, adding that the case was based on circumstantial evidence as there are no witnesses who had seen the accused with the victim or the duo at any of the spots of the crime.
It added that there were discrepancies in the statement of the witnesses, including the investigating officers, who were changed thrice — without any explanation. The court said that police neither shed any light on why the accused was a suspect nor the statement of those living with the accused were recorded. “Needless to state, such responsibilities would be all the more heightened in crime cases involving severe punishments such as imprisonment for life or death sentence. Considering the nature of the case, police ought to have — even more than usual — taken steps, precautions, and decisions to safeguard fact-finding and investigation exercises,” the court said.
According to the Supreme Court, the act was dastardly, and the victim may have suffered great pain and trauma. She had suffered 15 injuries, said the court, adding that the numerous lapses blot the entire sequence of the event, and that the larger picture emerging is that that the person — whoever they may have been — committed the offence, “remains unpunished to this day”.
(source: The Indian Express)
INDONESIA:
Home Ministry: Prison Dept is not considering public flogging for drug offences as alternative to abolished mandatory death penalty
The Prison Department has no plans to impose public flogging for drug offenders as a replacement for the mandatory death penalty that was recently abolished, the Home Ministry said.
In a Parliamentary written reply yesterday, the ministry told the Dewan Rakyat that the Prison Department is not determining the method of punishment as it is usually decided by the judiciary.
“For the time being, the Malaysian Prison Department does not have any plans to carry out flogging for drug trafficking offenders in public.
“The jurisdiction of the Malaysian Prison Department is only to carry out punishments as stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Code Section 286, unless stated otherwise in the punishment warrant issued by the Court,” it said.
Section 286 of the Criminal Procedure Code states that when the accused is sentenced to whipping only, the sentence shall be executed at such place and time as the court may direct.
The statement was a response to Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Hulu Langat lawmaker Mohd Sany Hamzan whether the government would carry out flogging in public against drug trafficking offenders to give awareness to the public and deter them.
Last month, a Bill proposing to make the death penalty an option and no longer mandatory was passed via a voice vote after it was tabled for its third reading in Parliament.
Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Alice Lau called for the vote after Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Ramkarpal Singh’s winding-up speech on the Bill.
The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Bill would give judges discretion on the death penalty rather than requiring them to do so when convicting on offences that made them mandatory.
The amendments in the Bill also include replacing life and natural life imprisonment (until death) as an alternative to the mandatory death sentence, with the new alternative of jail of between 30 and 40 years as well as no fewer than 12 strokes of the cane.
(source: The Borneo Post)
MAY 24, 2023:
FLORIDA:
Uber Eats murder suspect could face death penalty if convicted----Suspect charged in murder of Uber Eats driver; Pasco authorities have arrested the suspect involved in the gruesome murder of an Uber Eats driver.
Prosecutors say they want the man accused of brutally murdering and dismembering a Pasco County Uber Eats driver as he made a delivery to die for the crime if found guilty.
The prosecution says it intends to seek the death penalty against murder suspect Oscar Solis.
Solis has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Uber Eats driver Randall Cooke, who was reported missing after he didn’t make it home from making his last delivery.
According to Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco, Cooke was last seen on security footage making a delivery to a home on Moog Road in Holiday that was being rented by Solis.
"When you watch the video, he’s just standing there, just waiting. And he probably was thinking to himself, ‘am I at the right house?’" Sheriff Nocco said. "Because nobody was answering. But then the camera goes off."
It’s unclear what exactly unfolded after this, but Pasco County deputies said that was the last time Cooke was seen alive.
"This person just yanked him in and killed him," Sheriff Nocco said.
The affidavit said when Cooke’s wife couldn’t get in touch with him, she started to worry. It said her messages to him eventually no longer showed as "delivered." Detectives said they later tried to ping Cooke’s phone, but it appeared to be off.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco provides additional information after detectives arrested a man who just moved to Florida in January. They said the suspect murdered an Uber Eats driver who was making a delivery to the home he was living in.
In the affidavit, detectives said they also looked at security footage the day after Cooke’s disappearance from a camera in the back of the house on Moog Road.
"Oscar Solis was carrying trash bags with another individual, and you can see them carrying these trash bags around the side of the house," Sheriff Nocco said.
Detectives said Cooke’s remains were later found in those trash bags. Detectives said they found the victim's wedding ring and car keys inside the Moog Road home.
Investigators said they also talked to Solis’ roommate, who also lived in the home with his wife and child. They said the roommate heard a loud noise coming from Solis’ bedroom the night Cooke was seen on video delivering to the home.
According to the affidavit, the roommate told detectives he and his family left the next morning to stay in a hotel because they felt uncomfortable.
As detectives searched the home, they said they found blood spattered throughout the kitchen, living room and Solis’ bedroom and bathroom. Investigators also found Cooke’s wedding ring, wallet and car key fob inside the home.
"This is just a random person," Sheriff Nocco said. "It could’ve been anybody."
A potential motive for the crime is not clear.
Solis has been indicted for 1st-degree murder and abuse of a dead body and was appointed an attorney from the public defender’s office.
(source: Fox News)
ALABAMA:
Opinion We oversaw executions as governor. We regret it.
Robert Bentley, a Republican, served as governor of Alabama from 2011 to 2017. Don Siegelman, a Democrat, was governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003.
Alabama currently has 167 people on death row, a greater number per capita than any other state. As far as the two of us are concerned, that is at least 146 people too many. Here’s why.
As former Alabama governors, we have come over time to see the flaws in our nation’s justice system and to view the state’s death penalty laws in particular as legally and morally troubling. We both presided over executions while in office, but if we had known then what we know now about prosecutorial misconduct, we would have exercised our constitutional authority to commute death sentences to life.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, since 1976, nationwide, one person on death row has been exonerated for every 8.3 executions. That means we have been getting it wrong about 12 percent of the time. If we apply those statistics to the 167 people on Alabama’s death row, it means that as many as 20 could have been wrongfully charged and convicted.
The DPIC has found that wrongful convictions are “overwhelmingly the product of police or prosecutorial misconduct or the presentation of knowingly false testimony.” Judge Alex Kozinski, former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, has said the withholding of exculpatory evidence by prosecutors is “epidemic” in the United States. Shamefully, such misconduct most frequently involves Black defendants (87 %).
Alabama has not been spared miscarriages of justice. The first known exoneration from the state’s death row was of Walter McMillian, whose case was highlighted by Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson in his book “Just Mercy.” But there are other death row convictions that should haunt Alabama’s leaders.
In 1998, a non-unanimous jury convicted Toforest Johnson of killing an off-duty sheriff’s deputy based on the testimony of someone who, unknown to the defense, was later paid a $5,000 reward. The case of Rocky Myers, convicted of murdering his neighbor, is even more disturbing. Myers was never connected to the murder scene, and even though the jury recommended life without parole, the judge overrode the recommendation and ordered his execution.
One of us, Don Siegelman, is personally haunted by the case of Freddie Wright, whose execution he could have commuted, but did not, in 2000. 23 years later, Siegelman believes Wright was wrongfully charged, prosecuted and convicted for a murder he most likely did not commit.
Since 1976, when the Supreme Court granted prosecutors immunity from civil liability, it has been common for prosecutors to get close to 99 percent of the indictments they seek from grand juries. One reason for this is that grand juries are secret proceedings, with no lawyers present and no judge to oversee what prosecutors are doing. In this stealth setting, prosecutors have free rein to present false testimony or false evidence, or to withhold exculpatory evidence to get the outcome they want.
Before 1976, the U.S. incarceration figure hovered around 200,000. After 1976, the number skyrocketed to more than 1.6 million. With the legal cover of the 1976 decision, President Barack Obama’s solicitor general argued to the Supreme Court in January 2010 that “U.S. citizens do not have a constitutional right not to be framed.” Ending unjust convictions will involve rethinking prosecutorial immunity.
Meanwhile, in 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that a unanimous verdict is required to convict someone of a capital crime warranting death. The court highlighted the racist underpinnings of non-unanimous verdicts as a Jim Crow practice dating from the 1870s. Alabama had been the only state to allow a person to be sentenced to death by this legal relic and currently has 115 people scheduled to die based on non-unanimous jury verdicts. Because the court’s ruling didn’t explicitly extend to the sentencing phase, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), using “tough on crime” rhetoric, recently signed a law that now allows a jury to recommend a death sentence on an 8-4 vote.
Alabama was also the last state to ban judicial overrides, a practice whereby judges were able to overrule jury verdicts of life without parole and order death. The Equal Justice Initiative had raised a concern about this practice, finding that “the proportion of death sentences imposed by override had often been elevated in election years.” Judicial overrides accounted for 7 % of death sentences in a nonelection year but rose to 30 percent when Alabama judges ran for election.
In 2017, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed a law banning judicial overrides. But it was not applied retroactively, so 31 Alabamans, including Myers, are still scheduled to die based on this outlawed practice.
Alabama is 1 of 27 states that still retain the death penalty. Of those, 14 have not conducted an execution in 10 years, according to the DPIC, and the governors of 5 states (Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon and Pennsylvania) have said they will not perform an execution during their terms.
As governors, we had the power to commute the sentences of all those on Alabama’s death row to life in prison. We no longer have that constitutional power, but we feel that careful consideration calls for commuting the sentences of the 146 prisoners who were sentenced by non-unanimous juries or judicial override, and that an independent review unit should be established to examine all capital murder convictions.
We missed our chance to confront the death penalty and have lived to regret it, but it is not too late for today’s elected officials to do the morally right thing.
(source: Opinion; Washington Post)
OHIO:
Insanity plea filed in death penalty case
The attorneys representing the Columbus man charged with murder filed a motion last week calling their client’s sanity into question and asking for an evaluation.
William Sean Roberts, 30, of Columbus, is currently charged with aggravated murder, an unclassified felony; attempted aggravated murder, a 1st-degree felony; attempted murder, a 1st-degree felony; kidnapping, a 1st-degree felony; 2 counts of having weapons while under disability, 3rd-degree felonies; aggravated robbery; a 1st-degree felony; 4 counts of robbery, second-degree felonies; and 1 count of tampering with evidence, a 3rd-degree felony. He pleaded “not guilty” to the charges at an arraignment in August 2020 and has been awaiting trial ever since.
According to the indictment, the charges stem from events that transpired on the night of July 20, 2020, south of Polaris. Roberts allegedly shot and killed his 1-year-old daughter, identified in the indictment as R.R. Roberts, and also allegedly shot the baby’s mother, identified in the indictment as E.F. Roberts. Roberts was reportedly arrested after he attempted to carjack several vehicles and flee the scene.
After the indictment, prosecutors announced they would be seeking the death penalty for Roberts, a first for the county in nearly 20 years.
Roberts’ attorneys, Diane M. Menashe and Kort Gatterdam, filed a motion on May 17 asking for an evaluation of Roberts’s competence and asking to enter a plea of “not guilty by reason of insanity.”
In the motion, the attorneys lay out the basis for the insanity plea.
“Based on (conversations with Roberts and his family), review of available mental health records, review of available discovery, as well as recent investigation, it is clear that there is a valid question about Roberts’ present ability to meaningfully assist in his defense as counsel have had difficulty communicating with Roberts and are concerned with his current mental well-being,” the motion says. “Accordingly, counsel are now convinced that a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity is appropriate and that an evaluation of Roberts’ competence to stand trial is warranted.”
The attorneys asked that the evaluation determine a variety of things, including if Roberts is capable of understanding the nature and objective of the proceedings; if Roberts presently has a mental illness; as well as what his mental state was a that time of the crime.
The motion asks that all proceedings in the case be waived until after the evaluation is completed. The next date in the case would be a status conference on July 28 at 10 a.m. Roberts’ trial is currently set for Nov. 1 with a pretrial hearing scheduled for Oct. 9 at 1:30 p.m.
The aggravated murder charge carries several specifications, including a death penalty specification. Other charges carry firearm or repeat violent offender specifications, which would add mandatory prison time to any sentence Roberts would receive if convicted.
Roberts was denied bail at his arraignment and has been in the Delaware County Jail ever since. Since the arraignment, there have been more than 50 motions filed by attorneys in the case, and numerous hearings have been held.
Judge James P. Schuck had not yet ruled on the motion by press time Monday.
(source: delgazette.com)
TENNESSEE:
State spends millions of dollars on death row inmates----Speaker tells Oak Ridge group money could be better spent on families of crimes' survivors; mental health
Tennesseans are spending millions of tax dollars on a broken, failing system – the death penalty. According to Rev. Stacy Rector, executive director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP), state tax revenues could better be spent on supporting surviving families and other victims of violent crime and expanding access to mental and behavioral health services.
During a talk to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge recently, she mentioned a recent report by Knoxville’s WBIR-TV that cited a study released almost 20 years ago by the state comptroller’s office. According to the analysis, a death penalty trial typically costs almost 50% more than trials of defendants who receive sentences of life without parole or life with the possibility of parole.
Reasons for the higher expenses include the increased number of agencies involved, more preparation time spent by both the prosecution and defense, and more steps in the appeals process. The WBIR report also cited a 2016 study at Susquehanna University. It found that “on average death row inmates cost $1.12 million more than general population inmates.”
Rector, an ordained Presbyterian minister, said that in Tennessee the convicted murderers most likely to receive the death penalty are people of color who have low incomes, who live in certain counties (primarily, Shelby County, the location of Memphis), who have killed a white person, and who may be mentally ill.
She provided evidence that Shelby County was “among the 25 counties in the United States with the most recorded hangings without a trial of Black persons between 1807 and 1950.
"The history of lynching tracks with the locations of the people most likely to get the death penalty," Rector said.
She expressed gratitude that the Tennessee General Assembly did not pass a bill to bring back the firing squad to execute Tennesseans on death row. She added that one lawmaker “in utter seriousness asked to amend that bill to include hanging by tree.”
Another problem with the death penalty, she added, is the risk of executing an innocent person.
“We just don’t get it right all the time,” she said. “Since 1972, 190 people have been released from death rows across the country after evidence of their innocence came to light. For every 8 executions in the United States since 1972, we’ve let somebody go because we were wrong.”
Since 1972, she added, 67% of the individuals on death row who were later shown to be innocent were convicted partly because of “official misconduct” by the police and prosecutors. “Official misconduct was much higher in cases involving defendants of color.”
Rector said the existence of the death penalty in Tennessee exerts harmful impacts on the mental and physical health of the families of murder victims and the individuals on death row, as well as on attorneys, judges and jurors in capital trials.
“Any of us in this room could be asked to decide whether a person lives or dies based on whatever evidence happens to be presented, which we may find out later isn’t the full story,” Rector said.
She noted that 3/4 of the states have repealed the death penalty (23 states, including Virginia in 2021, the first Southern state) or not used it in the past decade (14).
The good news, she remarked, is that since 2013 only 3 people in Tennessee have been sentenced to death.
“The 49 people on our state’s death row were sentenced in a very different time back in the 1980s and 1990s," she said.
One of the men on death row was Pervis Payne. TADP publicized the need to get him off death row because of his intellectual disability. Thanks to the work of his lawyers and lawmakers, a court finally ruled in 2021 that he should not be executed for that reason.
According to Rector, a Vanderbilt University poll last year showed that 53% of Tennesseans support alternatives to the death penalty when given the options of the death penalty and its alternatives. Many people she has talked with agree that the death penalty does not make people safer, does not help prevent future violent crimes and does not provide better access to mental and behavioral healthcare (especially for children exposed to abuse and trauma, as usually had been the case for many on death row).
The death penalty also causes mental health problems for poorly paid staff in the Department of Corrections who must carry out executions, she said. They got a break last year because Gov. Bill Lee stopped the planned executions of five men by lethal injection. The reason: the governor became aware of violations in the protocol of testing and handling the drugs. Rector lauded the lawyer Lee hired for his excellent report on the state’s “horribly broken lethal injection situation.”
Knowing that it’s “a system in disarray,” TADP and other organizations have been pushing for transparency concerning this execution method. “We want to remove the secrecy around lethal injection in Tennessee,” Rector said. “We want to know who sells the drugs to the state, what the state pays for the drugs, where they come from and if they’re legal.”
Lee recently hired a new commissioner of corrections from the state of Arizona, Frank Strada.
“He has fought very hard to keep everything secret,” Rector said. “We are not going to give up on getting the information. If you’re going to execute people, it should be done in the light of day, so citizens of this state know what’s happening.”
She cited Radley Balko’s chilling opinion piece in the Washington Post. It gave an example of a Supreme Court ruling that “expediency and procedure trump getting to the truth (of a person’s innocence), administering actual justice and ensuring that innocent people are not executed.” In the 6-3 Shinn v. Ramirez ruling in which Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion, the Supreme Court legalized “an unthinkable position.”
Even though it did not find unpersuasive the innocence claims of Barry Lee Jones, a man on Arizona’s death row, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal courts were barred from considering them, Rector said.
Balko wrote, “Every court to consider the actual merits of Barry Jones’s innocence claim has ruled that he should never have been convicted of murder. And every court to rule against Jones did so for procedural reasons without considering the new evidence. If Jones is executed, it will not be because there is overwhelming evidence of his guilt. It will be because of a technicality.”
“I feel like we’re in trouble and we’ve lost our way,” Rector concluded. “There should be no circumstance where innocence is beside the point in our justice system.”
(source: The Oak Ridger)
MISSOURI----impending execution
Missouri man set for execution did not get good enough defense, state agency says
Missouri’s public defender system failed to adequately represent Michael Tisius, who was sentenced to death and is scheduled for execution next month, the head of the state office said.
In the latest bid to halt Tisius’ June 6 execution, Mary Fox, director of the Missouri State Public Defender’s office, urged Gov. Mike Parson to commute Tisius’ sentence to life in prison.
Tisius was 19 years old when he murdered 2 Randolph County jail guards during a botched escape attempt in 2000.
During post-conviction proceedings, the court found evidence of prosecutorial misconduct and granted Tisius a new sentencing hearing. The case was handed over to another public defender, who was paid $10,000 up front on a flat-fee basis.
Fox said that attorney failed to investigate relevant mitigating evidence and failed to present expert testimony on Tisius’ mental health diagnoses and adolescent brain development.
In July 2010, the death penalty was again handed down.
The flat-fee arrangement “disincentivizes the attorneys from performing the essential mitigation investigation, trial preparation, and trial presentation work necessary to effectively represent a person charged with a capital offense,” Fox wrote in the May 22 letter to Parson.
The payment structure, discouraged by the American Bar Association in capital cases, is no longer used by Missouri’s public defender system in death penalty cases.
Had the attorney presented mitigating evidence, jurors may have returned a life sentence instead of the death penalty, Fox said.
5 jurors interviewed by Tisius’ legal team agreed they would be satisfied with a life sentence, according to a clemency application sent to Parson’s office last week.
During resentencing, jurors did not hear much about Tisius’ early childhood traumas, assaults committed by his brother that resulted in concussions or his epilepsy, all of which doctors said affected his brain development. Some jurors noted that his attorney did not present enough information about the role of his co-defendant Roy Vance, who reportedly convinced Tisius to help him escape from the jail.
“I remember Mr. Tisius’ defense attorneys presented very little,” one juror said.
Others noted his good behavior in prison and their belief in a second chance.
Last month, lawyers for Tisius said they discovered that one of the jurors was not able to read or write. Under Missouri law, jurors are required to be able to read so they can understand jury instructions, evidence and reports.
Research has also shown that the brain is still developing through a person’s mid-twenties. The American Bar Association has asked states to ban executions of anyone 21 years old or younger when the crime was committed.
“Clemency is an opportunity to acknowledge the growth that Michael Tisius has experienced in the Department of Corrections, to recognize that as his brain has matured that he has changed, and to admit the dignity and sacredness of not just his life, but of all human life,” Fox wrote.
In addition to Fox and the five jurors, the American Bar Association, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, a personal representative of Pope Francis, have called on Parson to grant clemency.
Parson has not commuted a death sentence. In the past six months, three people have died by lethal injection in Missouri. The state is one of four that has carried out executions this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
(source: Kansas City Star)
OKLAHOMA:
Oklahoma pastor advocates for life of convicted man on death row
Oklahoma Southern Baptist pastor John-Mark Hart is part of a multifaith coalition advocating for the life of death row inmate Richard Glossip on grounds of biblical mercy and the pursuit of impartial criminal justice.
In the ongoing battle, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed Glossip’s execution that was scheduled for May 18, marking the 6th time since 2014 that Glossip’s execution has been delayed in his conviction for hiring an accomplice to murder his boss in 1997.
“There’s just such a strong chance that he’s innocent,” Hart, pastor of Redemption Church in Oklahoma City, told Baptist Press, “and (Gentner Drummond) the attorney general of the state is saying this man did not receive a fair trial.
“Right now, we’re in kind of a holding pattern waiting on the (U.S.) Supreme Court’s decision,” Hart said. “Are they going to take up his case? If they choose not to take up his case, then there are very limited options. Really, the only option I’m aware of to save him at that point would be to reinstate a moratorium” on the death penalty in Oklahoma.
Hart is among at least 3 Southern Baptist pastors advocating for Glossip in particular and broader criminal justice reform in Oklahoma in general. They are among 26 initial signers of the November 2022, online statement “Christ and Capital Punishment,” that has since gained about 300 signatures.
Hart authored the statement, he told Baptist Press, which includes signers Matthew Beasley, pastor of Hope Community Church in Norman, and M.L. Jemison, pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. Other Southern Baptists among the initial signatories are Reid Hebert, executive director of Christ Community Health Coalition, and Jared Stevenson, a member of the staff of the Oklahoma City office of Navigators discipleship ministry. Both Hebert and Stevenson are members of Redemption Church.
Ongoing disparities in the criminal justice system are causing many, including white evangelicals, to rethink biblically based justifications for the use of capital punishment, Hart asserts.
“If Richard Glossip was not a part of this situation, we still would have written Christ and Capital Punishment and would be advocating for this change,” he said, “because we wanted a more merciful, a more gracious and redemptive approach to criminal justice in Oklahoma in general. But situations like what’s happening with Richard Glossip bring the system problems to the fore in a very powerful way.”
Signers of the statement vary in their perspectives of capital punishment, Hart said, ranging from Hart who staunchly objects to the death penalty as a defense of the sanctity of human life, to others who advocate for use of the punishment only in the most grievous cases where guilt is clearly proven.
“We’ve got people from a variety of perspectives saying the way we’re coming together to do things right now cannot continue,” Hart said of the statement. “For us, we’re people of faith. Sometimes there are morally compelling public issues that as people of faith, we feel the responsibility to say we need to have a morally grounded dialogue about this.”
Hart has not ministered to Glossip. Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun opposed to the death penalty, is Glossip’s spiritual adviser, Hart said.
In calling for a moratorium on the death penalty in Oklahoma, the statement asserts the state’s “past and present practice of capital punishment is complicit in a deeply troubling national history of unjust and inequitable application of the death penalty,” noting racial disparities in the use of the death penalty that adversely impact Blacks and Hispanics.
“Perhaps the gravest miscarriage of justice is to execute someone who is innocent,” the statement reads in part, “but in the last 50 years 190 former death-row prisoners [in the United States] have been exonerated of all charges related to the wrongful convictions that had put them on death row, including 10 wrongfully convicted prisoners in the state of Oklahoma.”
Messengers to the 2000 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting passed the resolution “On Capital Punishment,” recommending it be used only when the guilt of the accused is clearly proven.
“We urge that capital punishment be administered only when the pursuit of truth and justice result in clear and overwhelming evidence of guilt,” the resolution reads, and “because of our deep reverence for human life, our profound respect for the rights of individuals, and our respect for the law, we call for vigilance, justice, and equity in the criminal justice system.”
The 2000 resolution acknowledges imperfect justice systems in a fallen world, but points out that “God authorized capital punishment for murder after the Noahic Flood, validating its legitimacy in human society (Genesis 9:6).”
(source: Baptist Press)
IDAHO:
Challenge to Ross’ death penalty allowed
Second District Judge Mark Monson granted a motion this month to challenge the death penalty for Richard Ross, citing Idaho’s new law on firing squads as a method of execution as the reason for objection.
Monson made the decision at a motion hearing May 2 at the Nez Perce County Courthouse, where attorneys appeared by Zoom, and also granted the release of property to Ross.
Ross, a 57-year-old former Grangeville resident, is facing the death penalty and a 1st-degree murder charge for the death of his former brother-in-law Michael Devin, and Devin’s mother, Edwina “Eddy” Devin.
In the motion filed by Ross’ attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, she requested that the court allow the challenge to the death penalty in addition to other challenges.
“This motion is made on the grounds that Idaho is adopting the firing squad as an alternative method of execution and Mr. Ross intends to file challenges to Idaho’s new statute,” Ross said, according to court documents.
The prosecution represented by Nez Perce County Chief Deputy Prosecutor April Smith didn’t object to Monson granting the challenge.
Ross is charged in the case that began when Eddy Devin’s body was found in her home in Grangeville on Sept. 30, 2021, and the next morning first responders found the remains of Michael Devin inside a burning pickup truck in Lewiston. Both were strangled and had duct tape on their faces.
Ross is also the lead suspect in the strangulation deaths of Bruce and Lynn Peeples, who died in their home in Grangeville in 1994. He hasn’t been charged in the case, but it was reopened.
The Nez Perce county prosecutor’s office filed a notice in District Court seeking the death penalty in February 2022. According to previous reporting in the Tribune, the death penalty notice in the Ross case cites that the alleged murders took place while another crime was being committed, such as a burglary, arson or kidnapping, and that the killing was with “reckless indifference to human life.” Therefore, Ross was a continuing threat to society .
According to Idaho’s death penalty rules, an attorney with experience representing defendants in felony cases and selected from the Idaho State Public Defense Commission Public Defender roster has to be appointed as representation. The defendant also is required to have at least two qualified trial attorneys, including a death penalty-certified attorney. Taylor is the chief public defender in Kootenai County and has the death penalty certification. She is also handling the case of Bryan Kohberger, who is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of four University of Idaho students.
The Idaho Legislature passed a law in March allowing death by a firing squad as a method of execution if no lethal injection drugs are available. Drugs for lethal injection have been harder for states to obtain from pharmaceutical companies, which can delay executions.
As the case has moved through the court system, Ross had declined to participate in a competency evaluation hearing to determine if he was able to assist in his defense, and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. According to the probable cause affidavit, he was planning to turn himself in and die in a “suicide by cop” by pulling a weapon in front of officers before family members notified law enforcement and he was arrested without incident.
Trial is set Jan. 16, 2024.
(source: Idaho County Free Press)
ARIZONA:
I Watched My Brother’s Lethal Injection----No one understands what this is like.
This is a part of Disorder in the Court, a weeklong series on the legal press and the most explosive Supreme Court in generations: how we cover it, how we’ve failed, and how we can do better. In these installments, we’re looking specifically at those who have suffered at the hands of SCOTUS decisions, as their stories are too frequently overlooked.
When the federal death penalty was formally reinstated in 1988, the country didn’t rush to use it. In 2001 the U.S. executed Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, and followed that up with 2 more executions later that year and in 2003. The federal government did not execute anyone else until 2020, when, under the Trump administration, 13 prisoners were killed in just 6 months. This spree would not have been possible without Barr v. Lee, a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that swatted away a lower court’s concerns that lethal injection’s potential for respiratory distress could count as “cruel and unusual” and lifted that court’s injunction on the procedure.
The case is just one instance of a Supreme Court decision’s having profound consequences for real people. To get an understanding of the human toll that executions can have on those left behind, Slate spoke with Christine Towery, 61, of Portland, Oregon. Towery lost her brother, Robert, in 2012, after the state of Arizona executed him by lethal injection. Robert had been convicted of murdering a 68-year-old man during a home robbery in 1991. Robert, who was 47, was the 2nd person executed in Arizona in 8 days. This as-told-to essay has been edited and condensed for clarity. —Molly Olmstead
My brother was the only boy in the family. He was the baby, and we were very close. He’d like to hang out with me and my friends. When we were kids, we had fun in Louisiana going fishing with my grandpa, swimming in the bayou, stuff like that. But those memories are very, very few. Most of it was just trauma.
Our mom was abusive. Physically, emotionally. We were beaten pretty much every day, for whatever reason. The first memory I have is, once, when Robbie was being too noisy, my mom tied him up, duct-taped his mouth shut, and threw him on the floorboard of the car. I was so little my feet didn’t even hit the end of the seat. And Robbie was looking at me, begging me to help, but I was so afraid she’d kill me, literally, that I couldn’t help him.
When my stepdad was around, everything was sort of OK. We were still being abused, but Robbie was fine. But then my parents divorced, and he had no adult male in his life to steer him in the right direction. When Robbie was probably 12, some man in his 20s came into his life. He was working on my mom’s car. But in the meantime, he was teaching my brother how to steal cars. So this older person just started taking him down the wrong road.
When he was about 16, he and my mom moved to Louisiana. He got in some trouble there. I forget what the crimes were; I think it was theft. That’s when he first went into juvenile detention. And then, when he came out, they extradited him back here [to Oregon], and he spent five years in prison here.
He got out when he was 25. The institutions do not provide a reassimilation program. Now there’s a place called Hope for Prisoners that helps people get back on their feet, but my brother didn’t have that. Still, he was doing really well. And then he had a motorcycle accident. And when that happened, he sort of just went back to what he knew best.
All of us coped with the pain of our childhood in different ways, and my brother ended up doing crystal meth to the degree that the amount of methamphetamines he was doing should have killed him. He was out of his mind. So he killed the guy. He was on drugs, and that was that.
During the trial, I was very upset that there was our side and their side. I kept looking at the victim’s sister, and all I could think about was, “She lost her brother, and now I’m losing my brother.” People tend to assume that the family members of the person who committed the crime are also bad people. So, on the elevator the day of the sentencing for my brother, I handed her a sympathy card and I said, “I’m sorry for the loss of your brother. Today I lost mine too.” She looked at me kind of weird. And then, once they read the verdict that they were going to execute, I stood up and looked at her, and people just moved out of the way. It was movie-esque. She and I met in the courtroom, and we hugged each other and cried together.
Then it was 20 years of visiting him in the institution, pretending like he wasn’t actually going to be killed.
I started taking my kids to visit him when they were babies because he needed to see family, even though we were always behind glass doors. He mentored my son; in fact, my son, Christian, who’s 29 now, refers to him as his pseudo-dad. Because Robbie gave him advice: how to be a man, how to be a good father and husband one day, and just how to be a better person than Robbie was.
When you come from a broken home, what you want more than anything is to create a family unit and create something that you didn’t have. And that was Robbie’s mission. He dated this woman and was the adopted father of her kids. He was loyal to a fault. He loved very, very hard. And he wanted so much to be better. After about 5 years in prison, once he was sober, he was not the same guy. He totally took responsibility for all that he had done.
He was loyal to a fault. He loved very, very hard. And he wanted so much to be better.
At the clemency hearing, the attitude was: “He had an abusive childhood—so what? He was on drugs. So? Why should he be special?” And my response to the clemency court was: “Every one of these people should be considered special and given the help they need.” If he had had a mentor in his life, or if he had had somebody to help him with his addiction early on when he first started getting in trouble, instead of just putting him back in jail—I want people to know that execution is not the solution. It’s just murder for murder. You’re just killing one more person and creating this whole set of victims because they’re suffering a loss.
When they tell you they’re going to execute somebody, in the beginning you don’t think about it. But then every time I went to visit him, it was like something that was on the back burner came to the front burner, and the reality smashed me in the face. Every time I left, I was depressed again.
Usually you get one date, which isn’t the right date, and then you get the second date, which is the real date. They gave him the first date for October, and he’s like, “Don’t worry. That’s not going to happen.” But then, when they set the March date, we knew it was going to happen. We found that out in January, and those three months were just torture.
I watched Dead Man Walking with Susan Sarandon, where she plays Sister Helen Prejean, and I remember her saying, “I want the last thing you see to be eyes of love.”
I decided, right then and there, that I was going to be there. I had to fight him; he didn’t want me to be there. Obviously he was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to handle it. And my son actually witnessed it with me. He was 18 at the time. He was like, “Mom, you’re not going through this by yourself.” And I’m like, “Man, this is going to change you.” And he’s like, “Yeah, but we have no choice. This is what we do for family.”
The night before, I knew what he was going to eat for dinner. So we drove around and found a restaurant so we could have the same exact meal he had at the same exact time.
Then, the next morning, we went through the execution. I had thought that you’d get to see them. On television, you get this family meeting before they go, right? You say your goodbyes and all that. But one day I asked, “When do I get my final meeting where I can hug him and all that?” One of the attorney assistants goes, “Oh, that doesn’t happen in Arizona.” I’m like, “Are you kidding?” I started crying. I wanted to tell him goodbye. I wanted to hold him.
I was dating someone at the time, Jason, and he drove us there. He was like, “If Christian is going to be there for you, I’m going to be there for both of you.” It was just me, Jason, my son, and the attorneys. I kept thinking, “Why are there no people here?” At the end, 20 years [after the murder], the guy who had died—his sister was gone. There was no one there from the family.
That day, I was sort of in soldier mode. “I’m here to do this thing for my brother.” When you walk in there, there’s a huge side for government officials, newspaper reporters, and the victim’s family, and then there’s a tiny little section past that for the family of the person being executed. When I got in there, they had guards with us to make sure we didn’t freak out or do something stupid. My brother wore glasses, so when they opened the curtains and I saw he didn’t have his glasses on and I was so far to the right, I was like, “He can’t see me. And I need him to see me.” I wanted to move forward, but I was so afraid I would get kicked out. He definitely knew I was there, but I don’t think he could see me.
When they finally opened the curtains and I looked at my brother, I knew they had done something wrong.
My brother apologized to us. He apologized to Mark’s family, who wasn’t there, but he apologized anyway. When they were inserting the lines, it was delayed over an hour. And when they finally opened the curtains and I looked at my brother, I knew they had done something wrong.
What happened was apparently they couldn’t find a vein. He ended up with a femoral artery insertion. And on the autopsy, he had over 15 to 20 poke marks on his arms. So he was tortured just getting the lines in. My brother’s attorney took that to court, and now they videotape the insertion of lines to make sure it’s not cruel.
Execution by lethal injection is not painless. They paralyze them, and then they start to drown in their own fluid in their lungs. And then they stop their heart after that. And I think people just need to understand that. I don’t think anyone leaves that room feeling like justice was served or anything was resolved. It’s just sort of like doing one more murder, creating a whole lot more victims.
After, I was so numb. We just drove home, and we drank tequila. And I passed out from crying.
If I were to be really honest, I would say that I shut down the processing of it completely in the beginning. What happens is so clinical, so sterile, so wrong that there’s no words. It’s so weird and dark and surreal. You can’t manage it other than just to shut it down. And there was no one to talk to who really knew. After witnessing the execution, there was literally nobody. We met with one counselor who the attorneys sent over. It was the very next night after, and that guy was saying, “Oh, you know, you’re going to have to move on at some point.” I Googled resources for helping cope with execution, and there are none. A regular therapist can empathize. But they don’t know. No one knows. I went 11 years before I found anyone that actually knew what it was like.
The trauma of my childhood actually helped me to power through. It was spring break; I had to go back and teach my students in a week. So I had to get it together and get back into my job and take care of my students and my family. Inside my heart—I call it “the box”—all that pain that I felt that day is locked away and I don’t open it. I’ve never opened it because if I do, I don’t know that I’ll come out of it. It’s just such a depth of anguish and sorrow.
My sister paid for him to be cremated at a mortuary in Florence [Oregon]. After he passed away, I reached out to them and asked, “Can I see the body at all?” They said, “We’re not sure if we can make that happen.” And I’m like, “Please.” So the director of the mortuary called me one day and said, “If you can get out here, you can see him.”
That day was probably the hardest day. They set him up like it was a funeral viewing, but it was just me in the room. They had taken his head off, and covered his head because they do autopsies to find out, I don’t know, what happened in his brain during [the execution] or whatever. I went up to him and I touched him. And I had this really strange sensation of “Oh my God, he’s free.” I couldn’t leave. I would cry and hold his hand and kiss his face. And then I would sit down for a minute and go, “OK, I’m going,” but I couldn’t get out of that room. I just couldn’t. At one point I’m thinking, what is it, Weekend at Bernie’s, where they take the dead body everywhere? I’m like, “He’s on wheels; I could take him home.” I wanted to. I went back and forth. Finally, I went out and just walked out the building. Jason took me home.
I honestly didn’t think it took that great of a toll on me until the BBC put out a documentary about how it affected me. All my friends that they interviewed had said, “She’s not the same.” Only, I didn’t notice that.
It just created this feeling inside of me that if one more bad thing happened that hurt my heart, I would be gone.
The biggest thing is, I’ve never been able to feel love for new people. I can still feel love for people who I loved before that day, but I’m unable—or unwilling, I guess—to take risks again and have my heart broken, because I don’t think I’d survive it. It just created this feeling inside of me that if one more bad thing happened that hurt my heart, I would be gone. I haven’t seriously dated anybody since Jason. When I moved to Portland in 2015, I dated someone for a few months, but I couldn’t love them. It’s been seven years since I even dated anyone and probably 10 years since I had anything serious.
My son went down a pretty dark road afterward. He ended up doing drugs to cope. He started smoking heroin. When he got caught, I took him to rehab, and he’s been fine since then. But that was a real shocker because Robbie kept him doing the right thing. I think my son was just trying to cope and get rid of the pain in his way.
Trying to convince people is difficult. My brother, when he was sober, would never, ever have hurt anyone. He was out of his mind. Most people think people in prison are just bad people. And they’re not. They did bad things, but they’re not necessarily bad people. But it’s really hard to convince people. Our civilization is very detached from prisons. Once you go in, you’re not a human, in the eyes of most people. You’re just labeled bad or evil. I was working at a restaurant, and I heard from another server I was working with that the bartender had said to her, “Well, he deserves to die.” I wanted to jump across the bar and take her out. I ended up quitting the job because of it, because I couldn’t be around her anymore. And she knew me.
They used to do public executions, and they stopped because it was too horrific for people. But I feel like now, if somebody were to watch an execution live or even on television, they’ll change their mind. You can’t watch that and not change your mind. Unless you actually experience and witness, there’s no way to understand how incredibly tragic all of this is.
(source: Molly Olmstead, slate.com)
USA:
PA congressmembers introduce federal death penalty bill
U.S. Representatives Matt Cartwright and Glenn Thompson recently introduced Eric’s Law, a bill that aims to strengthen federal death penalty sentencing.
Eric’s Law is named for Eric Williams, a federal correctional officer who was murdered by an inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary Canaan in Wayne County who was already serving a life sentence for murder. Following a trial, the inmate was found guilty and received a 2nd life sentence, despite 11 out of 12 jurors voting in favor of the death penalty.
Current law requires a unanimous decision by the jury to impose the death penalty. The bill will allow prosecutors to impanel a second jury for sentencing if the first jury in a federal death penalty case fails to reach a unanimous decision on a sentence.
“Our corrections officers face tremendous risk to their safety each and every day,” said Cartwright, who represents Pennsylvania’s eighth Congressional District, which includes Pike, Wayne and Lackawanna Counties and portions of Luzerne and Monroe Counties. “Sadly, we have lost too many good officers and the loss of Eric Williams still weighs heavy on our hearts. We must do everything in our power to prevent this kind of tragedy from recurring, and that is why I am proud to co-sponsor this legislation. Eric’s Law will ensure justice is served in those horrible incidents where a correctional officer’s life is taken by an inmate.”
“Eric Williams was tragically killed, and his murderer’s sentencing was an injustice,” said Rep. Thompson, who represents the commonwealth’s 15th district. “It is a stark reminder of the danger and extreme violence our officers face every day in our nation’s federal prisons. Eric’s Law will help provide additional protections for our corrections officers, affirm the option for review of the case and allow for a final, definite decision in death penalty cases that our victims and families deserve.”
“At the trial for the murder of my son, I was in disbelief that under current federal law one lone juror can make a biased decision that becomes irreversible. As a father, it was devastating,” said Donald Williams, father of Eric Williams and founder of Voices of J.O.E., a law enforcement advocacy group. “As an American who values our judicial system, I was stunned. A ‘trial by jury’ is at the heart of our rights. Eric’s Law allows prosecutors to retry the sentencing phase of the case to allow for the fair and equal court system that all Americans deserve.”
Cartwright and Thompson’s push will mark the 4th time that the issue has been presented on a federal level. A similar bill was introduced by Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey in 2018, but it never went to vote. Toomey tried again in 2021, and it was reintroduced by senators Ted Cruz, Mike Braun and Tom Cotton in February of this year.
(source: Pike County Courier)
***************
Death sentence for Alfonso Rodriguez, who killed Dru Sjodin, changed to life in prison----Prosecutors said a hearing would serve no purpose since the only possible punishment left after the death penalty was overturned was life in prison.
The death sentence for a man who kidnapped and killed Dru Sjodin 20 years ago has been changed to life in prison.
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ralph Erickson signed the sentence amendment for 70-year-old Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. on Thursday, May 18. The signature ends decades of court proceedings in connection to the 2003 death of Sjodin.
As of Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons had Rodriguez classified as a death row inmate at a maximum security penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. It’s unclear when Rodriguez will be moved off death row and where he will serve the remainder of his sentence.
"Per Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy specific designation information, including location and timing, is not releasable until after an individual arrives at his or her destination," BOP spokesman Benjamin O'Cone said in an email to The Forum.
A jury had sentenced Rodriguez in 2007 to death for kidnapping Sjodin on Nov. 22, 2003, from Columbia Mall in Grand Forks. Rodriguez sexually assaulted the University of North Dakota student before marching her down a ravine near Crookston, Minnesota, according to prosecutors.
He then slashed the 22-year-old’s throat and left her for dead in the snow. Her body was found 5 months later.
Erickson, who oversaw the jury trial and sentencing hearing when he was a U.S. judge in North Dakota, overturned the death penalty for Rodriguez in September 2021. The circuit judge said defense attorneys should have done more to challenge a medical examiner’s findings on Sjodin’s death and explore Rodriguez’s mental health problems that could have mitigated the death sentence.
In March, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland withdrew authorization for federal prosecutors to seek capital punishment in the case. Rodriguez’s current attorneys and North Dakota U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider agreed last week to amend the sentence without a hearing.
"Speaking for our office, I will say that a hearing would serve no purpose because the only possible legal outcome is a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole," Schneider said in an email to The Forum.
(source: inforum.com)
GLOBAL:
The Lancet Editorial: Physician Involvement in Executions Violates Medical Ethics
A May 20, 2023 editorial in a leading medical academic journal concludes that physician participation in executions “goes against the ethical foundation of the physician’s role” and argues that doctors and medical associations should oppose capital punishment.
The editorial in The Lancet describes how many physicians currently participate in executions: Doctors “clinically assess mental competence for execution; physically examine and monitor vital signs before, during, and after execution; and certify death. In extreme cases, physicians take the role of executioner and are implicated in illegal organ procurement from executed prisoners.” The authors note that some physicians may participate out of a desire to reduce suffering and others may be coerced into participating. But The Lancet agrees with the views of the World Medical Association, American Medical Association, Physicians for Human Rights, and other human rights groups that explicitly oppose medical professionals’ participation in capital punishment because it violates medical ethics. The Lancet concludes that, “Physician involvement [in executions] enables this continuing abuse of human rights and undermines the 4 pillars of medical ethics—beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice.”
The editorial also broadly criticizes the biased application of the death penalty around the world. Citing Amnesty International’s report on the global use of the death penalty in 2022, the editorial explains, “executions frequently correlate with areas where dictatorial regimes prevail, often silencing political protest and enforcing views on issues such as drug use and LGBTQ+ identities. …The death penalty is the most brutal form of structural, state-sanctioned discrimination, racism, and homophobia.”
(source: Death Penalty Information Center)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Sacked anti-trans teacher Joshua Sutcliffe claims ‘all sin deserves the death penalty’
Former teacher Joshua Sutcliffe, who was banned from the profession following a series of allegations regarding misconduct, has said “all sin deserves the death penalty”.
During a segment on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show, Uncensored, on Tuesday (22 May), Sutcliffe spoke about his advocacy against abortion rights and his devotion to biblical teachings.
Questioning Sutcliffe’s reliance on the scriptures, Morgan said: “Well, the Bible also teaches to stone people to death but we don’t do that in civilised places any more.”
Sutcliffe replied: “Well, that’s the penalty for sin, Piers.”
Morgan pushed a bit further, asking: “You think it’s right to stone people to death?”
To which the former teacher responded: “I think that all sin deserves the death penalty. Jesus died on the cross for sinners.” He then confirmed that he views adultery as a sin.
“All sin is punishable by death,” he added, to which the TV host replied: “That’s nuts, mate”.
Sutcliffe was barred for life from working in English schools after a ruling by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found him guilty of unacceptable conduct.
He refused to refer to a transgender student by their preferred pronouns in class, and also appeared on ITV show This Morning, where he again misgendered the child, which the TRA found “made it likely” that the pupil could have been identified.
The former maths teacher was also found to have expressed his views against same-sex marriage when asked by a pupil, as well as allegedly encouraging pupils to watch “inappropriate” videos about masculinity.
The misconduct panel also heard he shared videos on his YouTube channel, in which he claimed Muslims have a “false understanding of God” and that Muhammad was a “false prophet”.
The TRA upheld a number of allegations but claims he encouraged pupils to watch a video about false prophets were “not proven”.
The panel found he “failed to treat his pupils with dignity or to build relationships rooted in mutual respect” and “failed to have regard for the need to safeguard his pupils’ well-being”.
Sutcliffe is said to be determined to appeal the ruling.
During the Talk TV interview, Morgan said he agreed with Sutcliffe’s views on pronouns as he has “a big concern about the number of kids who are putting their hands up and saying: ‘I’m a man, I’m a woman’, when they’re not”.
Referring to Sutcliffe’s belief that all sin is punishable by the death penalty, Morgan said: “There’s no one left, there’s only you left, and I don’t feel comfortable about a world with only Joshua Sutcliffe alive.”
Morgan, who stepped down as anchor man of Good Morning Britain in March 2021 over his continued attacks against Meghan Markle, has a history of attacking some members of the LGBTQ+ community live on TV.
(source: thepinknews.com)
SOUTH KOREA:
Prosecutors appeal to give death penalty to Lee Ki-young
Prosecutors appealed to the court to give the death penalty to Lee Ki-young, the 32-year-old sentenced by a lower court to life for murdering a taxi driver and his ex-girlfriend.
The Goyang branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office appealed Friday's court decision sentencing Lee to life imprisonment and demanded the death penalty for the convict Wednesday.
"Lee elaborately murdered two victims and used their money for his entertainment, showing a contempt attitude toward human life," the prosecution said in its appeal. "Integral psychological analysis revealed high-risk levels of recidivism."
The pain and grief suffered by the victims' families, anxiety and shock felt by the public and the need to defend society by preventing similar crimes all validate the maximum penalty allowed by law, it added.
The Goyang Branch of the Uijeongbu District Court on Friday sentenced Lee to life in prison for murder and body dump.
However, the court said it didn't sentence Lee to death, given that he had pleaded guilty to all of the charges and deposited 30 million won ($22,500) for the victim's family.
(source: Korea JoongAng Daily)
INDIA:
What Is Mitigation Investigation For Death Row Convicts?
A mitigation investigation in death penalty cases involves the consideration of mitigating circumstances or factors that can encourage the judge to be more lenient with sentencing.
In its order dated May 11, the Kerala High Court directed the Director General of Prisons to place on record reports from the jail authority concerning the convict’s “conduct, nature of works done by them in the jail concerned”.
The court also clarified that Project 39A’s services will be pro bono, or free of cost, and that their services have been “frequently availed by the Apex Court” as well.
The Kerala High Court has directed that a “mitigation investigation” be conducted while considering the death sentence references of two convicts, Nino Mathew and Muhammed Ameer-ul-Islam. A mitigation investigation in death penalty cases involves the consideration of mitigating circumstances or factors that can encourage the judge to be more lenient with sentencing.
A Bench of Justices Alexander Thomas and C Jayachandran directed the state authority concerned to file a report with relevant details of the two convicts, such as their age, family background, socio-economic background, criminal antecedents, employment history, and psychological history. Adding that this report would be referred to before confirming the accused(s) capital punishment, the court made it clear that “the reports shall be filed by the prosecution before this Court in a sealed cover”, which will not be perused by the judges “till the issue of conviction is decided in these appeals.”
In its order dated May 11, the Kerala High Court directed the Director General of Prisons to place on record reports from the jail authority concerning the convict’s “conduct, nature of works done by them in the jail concerned”.
Additionally, the court appointed CP Sruthy and Nooriya Ansari, both associated with Project 39A of the National Law University, Delhi, to make an independent assessment regarding matters relevant to the case while asking them to submit a report before it “preferably within 2 months”. For this, the court allowed them to visit the convicts in prison and conduct interviews. The court also clarified that Project 39A’s services will be pro bono, or free of cost, and that their services have been “frequently availed by the Apex Court” as well. The court also left it open for the state to conduct its own mitigation investigation.
Directing the mitigation investigation to commence before it began hearing the convicts’ appeals against the Sessions Court orders, the Court reasoned that “there is no legal bar in the High Court, at the appellate stage, to commence mitigation study efforts, even before the commencement of the hearing process on the issue of conviction”. Reasoning that this would help in avoiding an unduly protracted hearing, the court also expressed concerns that if mitigation efforts are undertaken only after the conviction is over, there could be allegations of delay and possible deprivation of the convicts’ “effective and meaningful opportunity of hearing”.
What Are Nino And Muhammad Convicted Of?
Nino Mathew is a convict in the Attingal twin murder case, where a software engineer was arrested on charges of conspiring with her alleged lover (Nino) to get him to murder her 4-year-old daughter and mother-in-law in Thiruvananthapuram. Additionally, the engineer’s husband was also grievously injured.
Meanwhile, migrant worker Muhammed’s death conviction was in a 2016 rape and murder case of a 29-year-old Dalit law student.
How Were The Amicus Reports Filed?
On December 15, last year, a Kerala HC Bench of Justices Alexander Thomas and Sophy Thomas appointed advocates Mitha Sudhindran and Saipooja as amicus curiae and sought their assistance in the mitigation investigation. The court’s decision to seek the assistance of amicus curiae stemmed from a submission made by one of the Nino Mathew’s counsel, advocate Sri. Sasthamangalam S. Ajithkumar.
During the hearing, Ajithkumar submitted that “in view of various later rulings of the Apex Court, the process of mitigation investigation may have been conducted by this Court to assess and evaluate the aggravating circumstances and the mitigating circumstances” for finally determining the issues in the Death Sentence Reference, etc.
After this, on December 22, 2022, the same Bench passed another order where the amici’s submissions were highlighted, stating that “the matter of mitigation investigation in the death sentencing process is a duly developing area, which is in its infancy stage in India”.
Informing that “Project 39A, attached to the National Law University, Delhi, is a pioneering agency in the area of mitigation investigation” which deals with various aspects of death penalty laws, the amici suggested availing the services of the said expert agency for “effective conduct of mitigation investigation”.
In light of this, the court asked the amici curiae to apprise it about the “feasibility” of investigating through Project 39A, at what stage the investigation would commence and be completed, and whether it would happen now or after hearing the appeal on its merits. On the aspect of case law that the court could use, it directed the amici to submit the same and to seek the assistance of the director of Project 39A on the practice of mitigation in various High Courts.
Last year, while observing that a “uniform approach” is needed for “granting real and meaningful opportunity” to convicts on death row, and noting “a clear conflict of opinions” between some of its earlier decisions in such cases, the Supreme Court referred the matter to a 5-judge Constitution bench.
What Has The SC Said On Mitigation Investigations?
In September 2022, a Bench of the then Chief Justice of India UU Lalit and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia recalled earlier SC rulings on the issue of death sentences and said: “The common thread that runs through all these decisions is the express acknowledgment that meaningful, real and effective hearing must be afforded to the accused, with the opportunity to adduce material relevant for the question of sentencing”.
“What is conspicuously absent is consideration and contemplation about the time this may require. In cases where it was felt that real and effective hearing may not have been given (on account of same-day sentencing), this court was satisfied that the flaw had been remedied at the appellate (or review stage), by affording the accused a chance to adduce material and thus fulfilling the mandate of Section 235(2),” said the Bench.
The Bench, however, pointed out that its 1980 ruling in the “Bachan Singh vs. State of Punjab case,” where it upheld the constitutional validity of the death penalty for murder while restricting it to the rarest of rare cases, requires consideration and clarity as the court had not addressed the question of what constitutes sufficient time at the trial court stage.
Section 235(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code says that “if the accused is convicted, the Judge shall, unless he proceeds in accordance with the provisions of Section 360 (order to release on probation of good conduct or after admonition), hear the accused on the question of sentence, and then pass sentence on him according to law”.
In 2022, the SC in “Mohd Firoz vs. State of Madhya Pradesh” reduced the death sentence awarded to a man for raping a seven-year-old girl to life imprisonment after taking on record the report of a mitigation investigator.
Following this, the top court registered the suo motu petition titled “In re-framing guidelines regarding potential mitigating circumstances to be considered while imposing death sentences” to streamline the process of considering mitigating circumstances in such matters. However, the five-judge Bench verdict on this plea remains awaited.
(source: indiatimes.com)
IRAN----executions
4 Inmates Executed for Drug-Related Crimes in Ghezel Hesar Prison
On May 20, 2023, 4 inmates convicted of drug-related crimes were executed in Ghezel Hesar prison, Karaj.
HRANA has identified them as Saeed Geravand, Samad Geravand, Shahab Mansouri Nasab and Shahram Sharghi.
A knowledgeable informant speaking to HRANA revealed that a number of inmates had initiated a hunger strike in protest of the escalating number of executions. Prior to their scheduled executions, these four inmates, along with three others, were relocated to solitary confinement, as reported by HRANA earlier.
At the time of writing, no official sources or domestic media outlets within the country have reported on these executions.
In recent weeks, the number of execution has been alarmingly raised.
In 2022, the Department of Statistics and Publication of Human Rights Activists in Iran registered 457 reports related to the death penalty. This included 92 death sentences, including the conviction of 6 people to public execution and 565 execution sentences were carried out, 2 of which have been carried out in public. Based on the announced identifications of some of the executed individuals, 501 were male and 11 were female. In addition, 5 juvenile offenders were executed in 2022, meaning they were under the age of 18 at the time they committed the crime.
*****************
Iranian Supreme Court Overturns Death Sentence of Protestor Javad Roohi
The Iranian Supreme Court has overturned the three execution sentences and other punishments previously imposed on Javad Roohi, who was arrested during nationwide protests in Nowshahr.
Roohi’s lawyer, Majid Kaveh, confirmed that Branch 9 of the Iranian Supreme Court responded to Roohi’s request for a retrial and annulled the verdict issued by the Sari Revolutionary Court. The case has now been referred to another court branch for further review.
Back in January 2023, Roohi was handed 3 death sentences on charges including “spreading corruption on earth,” “enmity against God (Moharebeh)” for burning the Quran, blasphemy, arson and destruction of property, as well as “insulting people to unrest and assembly and collusion against national security.”
One of the main accusations against Roohi was setting fire to a traffic police station using a Molotov cocktail in Nowshahr. The judge further alleged that he played a leading role in the “unrest” and considered his participation in street dancing during the protests as a criminal act. Roohi has vehemently denied all these accusations. Despite presenting a strong defense, the court dismissed Roohi’s arguments as “pointless” and sentenced him to death.
Background on the 2022 Nationwide Protests
The arrest of Mahsa Amini by Tehran Morality Police for her improper hejab and her suspicious death on September 16 sparked protests sweeping across Iran. Protesters came to the streets with the central slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” in protest against the performance, laws and structure of the regime. During the nationwide protests, thousands of people, including journalists, artists, lawyers, teachers, students and civil rights activists, were arrested.
(source for all: en.hrana.org)
****************
Committee of Romanian Representatives Calls for International Action to Stop Atrocities in Iran
The Committee of Romanian Representatives for Free Iran has released a statement condemning the ongoing executions in Iran, which are aimed at suppressing the spreading uprising and maintaining the regime’s grip on power. The statement highlights the continuous public protests and the regime’s brutal response, including the killing of hundreds of people, injuring and blinding many more, and arresting tens of thousands. The regime has resorted to holding unfair public hearings and issuing executive orders to silence protesters. The statement calls on the international community, particularly the European Union, to not only denounce these grave human rights violations but also take decisive political actions to prevent further atrocities in Iran. It emphasizes the need for political and economic relations with the Iranian government to be conditioned on respect for human rights and the freedom of political prisoners. The Committee of Romanian Representatives for Free Iran also urges the EU to condemn the recent executions and the historic massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988.
Below is the full text of this statement:
Executions continue to prevent the spread of the uprising in the horror of the regime’s downfall.
More than 8 months have passed since the death of Mahsa Amini, and public protests are continuing with the aim of overthrowing the Mullah’s regime. In the early days of the uprising, the religious fascists ruling Iran, have killed 750 people, over 700 people were injured and blinded with shotguns, and more than 30,000 people were arrested.
But the news we hear is about the continuation of the protests, and this is the main reason for the regime’s executions, to stop the uprising.
The Mullah regime, in the last months, has started to hold public hearings, the accused were arrested without a lawyer behind closed doors, and the judges ordered the security apparatus to issue an execution order for the protestors. During the current month, more than 100 people were executed in different cities in Iran, and hundreds of other execution orders were issued. The international community should not only punish these crimes but also take serious political decisions to prevent medieval crimes in Iran. The regime of Iran for the past 44 years has proven that it does not intend to reform, and acts of terror and executions have been carried out more and more, even against Western policies.
We demand that the EU makes all political and economic relations with the government of Iran conditioned on respect for human rights and the freedom of political prisoners.
We want the EU to condemn the recent executions in Iran and the murder of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988.
The Committee of Romanian Representatives for Free Iran
(source: ncr-iran.org)
**************
Anxiety about the execution caused the death of a prisoner in Tabriz Central Prison
A prisoner in the central prison of Tabriz suffered a stroke and died due to the Anxiety caused by the execution of the death sentence.
According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, on Monday, May 22, 2023, a prisoner named Milad Bahman Zadeh suffered a heart attack and died in Tabriz prison due to the anxiety caused by the execution of the sentence.
On Sunday, May 21, 2023, this prisoner was transferred from the triple ward to the special ward of Tabriz prison. But a few hours after the transfer, he had a stroke.
Milad Bahman Zadeh died on Monday, May 22, 2023, in the infirmary of Tabriz prison.
It should be noted that during the last month, at least 127 prisoners were executed in Iranian prisons.
***************
Confirmation of death sentence of Mohammad Qabadlo in the Supreme Court
Confirmation of death sentence of Mohammad Qabadlo, one of the detainees of the nationwide protests, in the Supreme Court.
According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, quoted by Shargh newspaper, on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, the Supreme Court of Iran approved the death sentence of Mohammad Qabadlo.
According to this report, Amir Raisian, his lawyer, said that the retrial is open, but the retribution case rejected in the criminal court.
22-year-old Mohammad Qabadlo, the son of Mohammad Ali, is one of those arrested in the nationwide protests of 2022. He accused of “corruption in the earth through extensive action against police officers by hitting a car and killing Sergeant Farid Karampour Hasanvand and injuring 5 policemen.”
On Saturday, December 24, 2022, his death sentence confirmed. But later on January 23, the Supreme Court announced that it had registered his lawyer’s appeal.
His lawyer had already announced that the accused’s case has many deficiencies and insufficient documents to prove the charges.
On Sunday, January 8, 2022. Mohammad Broghni and Mohammad Qabadlou transferred to solitary confinement in Gohardasht prison to carry out the death sentence. In the first hours of the morning of Monday, January 9, 2022, people gathered in front of Gohardasht prison, chanting anti-government slogans, demanding the cancellation of the death sentence of Mohammad Broghni and Mohammad Qabadlou, and for this reason, this sentence not carried out until now.
(source for all: en.iranhrs.org)
***************
4 Tortured Protesters Face Death Penalty over "Killing" of Basij Member
On November 16 last year, 3 men named Ali Abbasi, Morad Bahramian and Muslem Hoshangi were shot and killed by security agents during mass protests in Samirom, a city in Isfahan province.
On December 31, which coincided with mourning ceremonies marking 40th days since their death, the streets of Samirom witnessed a surge of protests against the Islamic Republic amid heavy presence of security and military forces throughout the city.
Clashes resulted in the alleged death of Mohsen Rezaei, a member of the paramilitary Basij force.
In response, hundreds of special police forces were deployed to various points across Samirom starting from the morning of January 1, according to information received by IranWire.
Raids were conducted on the homes of some of the victims' families and arrested a number of people, including Abbasi's sister and Bahramian's 2 brothers.
IranWire understands that four people arrested for participating in the protests face the death penalty.
Since the November 16 incident in Samirom, security forces have intensified pressure on the families of the deceased and other demonstrators.
On the morning of January 1, alongside reports of arrests in Samirom, Morteza Amomehedi, the deputy commander of the Isfahan Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed that a Basij member named Mohsen Rezaei had been killed during the previous night's protests.
The authorities alleged that the arrests were made in connection with this incident.
What Happened in Samirom on December 31?
During the first months of the "Women, Life, Freedom" protest movement, Samirom was the scene of widespread street protests.
On December 31, while mourners were gathered at the grave of Abbasi, his sister compared the youth of Iran to a resilient "phoenix."
"It's hard to believe, Ali, that no one has had the courage to hang your obituary on the door or the wall yet. Just a few days ago, your Mandatory Military Service Completion Card arrived by mail,” she said.
“But now the drums of war have started to beat.”
A resident of Samirom told IranWire that a large crowd attended the mourning ceremony for Abbasi.
“The following day, a significant number of citizens gathered in front of the governor's office to protest against the killings and oppression of the people.”
“At around 5 a.m., security forces launched an attack on Ali Abbasi's house with the intention of arresting his sister, who had delivered a speech at the gravesite. However, Ali's uncle resisted their actions. Mr. Shiri, Ali Abbasi's uncle, managed to help his sister escape, but during the confrontation with the officers, they threw him from the roof, resulting in a broken arm and leg."
According to the witness, Ali Abbasi's uncle was transported to Samirom Hospital by his relatives, but the hospital was swiftly surrounded by security forces.
The witness added that the authorities “attempted to apprehend Mr. Shiri…but the people prevented them from entering the hospital.”
“Mr. Shiri underwent surgery that night. However, on the same night, the agents arrested the two brothers of Murad Bahramian, who had lost his life during the recent protests."
What is the condition of the detainees?
According to IranWire’s source, Fazel and Mehran Bahramian, the brothers of Murad Bahramian, a close relative named Younes Bahramian and another man named Dariush Saadi have been subjected to torture to extract confessions related to the alleged murder of the Basij militiaman.
“Nearly 1,000 security forces and special units were dispatched from Isfahan to Semirom to apprehend these individuals, outnumbering the protesters on the streets,” the source said.
The Chief of Justice of Isfahan province claimed that Mohsen Rezaei was killed during "illegal" gatherings in front of the Semirom governorate.
"These citizens are well-known and highly respected in Semirom,” an informed source told IranWire. “The families of the victims are grieving and outraged over the killing of Mahsa Amini and the spilt blood of their loved ones.”
The bereaved families remain silent, fearing for the lives of those arrested. They are not allowed to hire legal representation. The authorities informed them that their sentences have not been announced to avoid further disturbance in Semirom.
Based on information received by IranWire, Fazel and Mehran Bahramian were transferred to solitary cells at the Isfahan IRGC Intelligence Department, located in Dolat Abad, 10 days after their arrest.
According to a reliable source, the 2 prisoners endured severe torture until March 19, after which they were moved to Ward A of Dastgerd prison in Isfahan.
The Bahramian family had no knowledge of their condition until 2 months after their arrest.
Since April, they have been allowed 1-minute phone calls, but any discussion regarding their physical condition and the torture they endured results in the immediate end of the calls.
IranWire has received information that Mehran suffered broken ribs and a torn eardrum due to beatings and torture, with no medical treatment being provided. Fazel Bahramian has informed his family that he sustained severe injuries to his head and face.
Dariush Saadi, was arrested on March 25, while he was returning from Borujen to Semiram. Simultaneously, IRGC intelligence agents raided the house of Yunus Bahramian and arrested him.
Both men are currently held in solitary confinement at the IRGC intelligence detention center in Dolat Abad, Isfahan province, with limited communication permitted with their relatives.
"Although no trial has taken place for these four individuals, the interrogators have informed them verbally that they are accused of waging war and corruption, leaving them with no choice but to confess to the charges leveled against them," a source told IranWire.
Both charges carry a death sentence.
“The people of Samirom are deeply concerned for the fate of their fellow citizens and urgently call upon freedom advocates worldwide to amplify their voices in support of these detainees before it is too late,” the source said.
(source: iranwire.com)
******************
Amid Global Outcry Iran Is About To Execute Another Protester
Amid global outcry over the Islamic Republic’s execution spree, which has seen over 200 people hanged this year alone, the regime has finalized the death sentence of another protester.
Amir Raisian, one of the lawyers of Mohammad Ghobalou, said Tuesday that the supreme court has upheld his client’s death sentence regardless of the objections and documents that could potentially exonerate him.
The judiciary claims that Ghobadlou "killed an officer and injured several others" by running over them with his car during protests. He was given the death sentence in initial hearings on charges of "corruption on Earth"and “Moharebeh” in a session without the presence of his lawyer. Later, a court in Tehran issued a verdict, sentencing him according to the Islamic criminal code to ‘qisas,’ or punishment in kind.
Moharebeh (also transliterated as muharebeh) is an Islamic-Arabic term that in the lexicon of the Iranian regime means "fighting God” or “war against God,” and carries the death penalty. “Corruption on earth” is also another term that carries the death penalty. ‘Qisas' is a Quranic principle similar to “an eye for an eye” or the law of talion.
His lawyer added that the court rejected their appeal, saying that documents issued by the forensic and legal medicine authorities about Ghobalou’s mental health, as well as footage of CCTV images, are not related to this stage of the procedure. Raisian said the court did not inform them about the timing of his execution.
Ghobalou’s family and his lawyers have published medical documents, proving that he has been under treatment for bipolar disorder for at least 7 years.
According to Dadban, a team of volunteers who provide legal advice to activists and protest victims, the circumstances surrounding the death of the police officer – identified as Farid Karimpour Hasanvand – reeks of contradictions, adding that Ghobalou was not involved in any fatal accident. “The forensic report shows that the police officer was killed as a result of being hit on the head by a hard object and definitely in a fight, not an accident,” a narrative that had been confirmed by police commanders at the officer’s funeral.
Clara Anne Bünger, founder and board member of Equal Rights Beyond Borders, a Greek-German human rights organization enforcing has taken on the political sponsorship of the 22-year-old.
“The EU must ensure that judges like him never find a safe place in the EU,” Bünger had said in a tweet.
The Islamic Republic has intensified its killing trend in recent weeks, fueling further protests across the country. Unrest this week followed the hanging of demonstrators Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaghoubi and Saleh Mirhashemi on May 19.
The deaths brought to at least seven the number of protesters hanged since nationwide protests broke out in September 2022 following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The unrest posed the biggest internal challenge to the Islamic Republic since its establishment in 1979.
Also on Tuesday, Amnesty International said at least seven individuals in Iran face the death sentence in connection with protests, while dozens of others are at risk of being sentenced to death.
“The authorities have violated their fair trial rights and subjected many to torture and other ill-treatment, including floggings, electric shocks, death threats and sexual violence,” the human rights group added.
In a letter to Iran’s chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, Amnesty said, “On 19 May, authorities arbitrarily executed Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi, who were unjustly convicted and sentenced to death in a trial that relied on torture-tainted 'confessions’ and which bore no resemblance to meaningful judicial proceedings.”
So far, around 500 civilians have been killed by security forces and at least 20,000 arrested. While many have been released, around 1,500 face criminal charges, and at least 80 detainees face the death sentence.
According to unconfirmed reports, at least 10 underage protesters are also facing death sentences for the “moharebeh” and “corruption on earth”.
(source: iranintl.com)
SAUDI ARABIA----executions
Saudi Arabia executes 3 men in eastern region----Riyadh puts to death men over 'terrorism' charges, without having previously published any information on their cases
Saudi Arabia has executed 3 men in the eastern region of the country, without having previously published any information on their cases.
The interior ministry released a statement on Monday confirming that Saudi nationals Hassan bin Issa al-Muhanna, Haidar bin Hassan Muwais and Mohammed bin Ibrahim Muwais had been put to death.
They were alleged to have joined a camp outside the country "in service of... terrorist organisations against the kingdom", possessed and been trained in the use of weapons and bombs, stored arms with the intent of "violating internal security", and smuggled wanted individuals outside the country.
"The three cases were not monitored at any of the judicial stages, as the Saudi government did not publish any official news about the arrest or their being wanted," the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), an NGO with offices in London and Berlin, said in a statement.
The rights group condemned the decision, stating that according to international law, countries that still implement the death penalty should only use it in the most "serious cases", namely premeditated murder.
"ESOHR's monitoring of death sentences and executions in Saudi Arabia is the gold standard, drawing on a comprehensive list of public sources," Jeed Basyouni, who leads the work in Middle East and North Africa for Reprieve, told Middle East Eye.
"It was not reported anywhere that these men had been arrested, tried, convicted or sentenced - the first announcement of any sort was that they had been executed."
'Brazenly breaking international law'
The oil-rich eastern region of Saudi Arabia, including the Qatif area, is home to many of the country's Shia minority.
There have been sporadic protests in the region for years, over accusations of widespread discrimination. Demonstrations intensified following the execution of top Shia imam Nimr al-Nimr in January 2016.
"Saudi Arabia's justice system is secretive by design, particularly the Specialised Criminal Court," said Basyouni.
She added that while the court nominally heard "terrorism" cases, it was often used to convict those critical of the government on trumped-up charges, after being "tortured into confessing to 'crimes' they didn't do".
"That all we know about these cases is the official list of charges, released after the men were executed, shows how brazenly the Saudi regime is willing to break international law."
Earlier this month, UN experts expressed alarm at the imminent execution of 3 members of the Howeitat tribe in the Tabuk province of northwestern Saudi Arabia, for resisting eviction to make way for the Neom megacity project.
35 death sentences have been carried out so far in 2023, while 63 detainees, including nine minors, currently face execution in the kingdom, according to ESOHR.
Last month, the kingdom reportedly carried out an execution during the holy month of Ramadan for the 1st time in 14 years.
In March 2022, Saudi Arabia executed at least 81 people in a single day, including seven Yemenis and one Syrian, convicted of various crimes, including kidnapping and rape.
"Saudi Arabia has never shied away from using the death penalty in an increasingly discretionary manner and especially to target religious minorities," Falah Sayed, human rights officer at MENA Rights Group, told MEE.
"This increased margin of discretion that is left for judges to order the death penalty is paving the way for a generalised practice of mass executions in total impunity."
(source: middleeasteye.net)
************
Saudi national executed for joining military camp in ‘hostile’ country
A Saudi national in the Eastern Province was executed on Tuesday for communicating with a “hostile country” and joining a military camp there, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Ahmad bin Ali Bin Maatouq al-Badr received the death penalty for illegally departing the Kingdom and joining a military training camp in a “hostile” country.
He was also found guilty of smuggling a weapon to carry out a “terrorist attack” in the Kingdom.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Al-Badr was found guilty by a court and a royal order was issued to carry out the death sentence.
On Monday, 3 Saudis were executed in the Eastern Province for joining a military camp outside the Kingdom to serve a “terrorist organization.”
They were identified as Hassan bin Issa bin Ahmad al-Mahanna, Haidar bin Hassan bin Abdullah Moways and Mohammed bin Ibrahim bin Jaafar bin Amoways.
Al-Mahanna and Moways purchased a boat to help people wanted on security charges flee the Kingdom, according to SPA.
Both helped a number of wanted men escape. They were also found guilty of possessing weapons and ammunition that were intended to “tamper with security.”
In addition to joining the military camp outside the Kingdom, Amoways was also found guilty of receiving money in exchange of aiding men wanted on security charges flee the country via the sea.
(source: english.alarabiya.net)
CHINA----executions
Convicted rapists executed after top court's review
3 people convicted of raping juveniles were executed on Tuesday after China's top court approved their sentences.
The 3 rapists were Ni Duqun, Wang Xiaoshan and Sun Baochang, and their executions were carried out by courts in the provinces of Hubei, Shandong and Henan, respectively, according to a statement released by the Supreme People's Court.
In China, death sentences made by lower courts should be submitted to the top court for a review before executions are conducted.
On Tuesday, the top court summarized the cases of the 3 convicts, stating Chinese courts have kept the protection of children as a top priority, with harsher punishment meted out to those harming juveniles.
It revealed the convicts contacted victims through the internet and then abducted them, mostly from primary and middle schools.
In the case in Hubei, Ni, who ran a company in the province, was found to have raped 7 girls, including 6 under the age of 14, by luring them to meet through QQ, an instant messaging tool, from January 2017 to August 2019.
Of the victims, 4 were raped multiple times, and 2 became pregnant and miscarried. Ni was also determined to have manipulated these victims, instigating them to seek other girls for him to victimize.
In the case in Shandong, Wang was found to have raped 5 girls, including 3 under the age of 14, molested 14 others and assembled a crowd to engage in promiscuous activities from late 2017 to January 2019.
Wang first asked girls to send naked photos and videos through QQ, then told them he would disclose the pictures if they refused him.
Sun, the convict in Henan, engaged in similar acts from October 2017 to August 2018. In addition to luring girls and asking them to send naked pictures online, Sun also filmed his crimes and used the contents to threaten victims into submission.
Before the acts were discovered, Sun had been penalized for the crime of rape.
The top court said the 3 rapists have seriously harmed victims' physical and mental health, adding their behavior has had great negative impact on society.
"Chinese courts do not tolerate people harming children, and for those who should be sentenced to death, we'll give the capital penalty without hesitation," it added.
The execution of the 3 rapists has demonstrated the country's determination and effort to protect children, it said, adding teachers, parents and cyberspace departments should strengthen supervision of internet behavior for juveniles and provide them with a safer online environment.
(source: chinadaily.com.cn)
MAY 23, 2023:
TEXAS:
Texas rally demands ‘Free condemned prisoner Rodney Reed now!’
Rodrick Reed, told a crowd demonstrating for his brother Rodney Reed’s freedom May 19: “25 years is a long time to have your family ripped apart and unjustly so. 25 years is a long time for anybody to be down there on death row for a crime they did not commit. All we’ve ever asked for out of the gate is a fair trial.”
A large crowd of Reed’s family and his supporters from around Texas and around the U.S. was listening outside the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin. They had come to remember the 25-year anniversary of Rodney Reed’s death sentence and to shine a light on the racist injustice that led to it.
Rodney Reed, who is African American, was tried and sentenced to death on May 18, 1998, for the murder of Stacy Stites, who was white. The rally held May 19 culminated two days of actions for the condemned prisoner. A social media blitz May 18 preceded the rally.
The rally was opened by Angie Agapetus, an activist with the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement in Houston, who commemorated the execution of her dear friend Quinton Jones on this day 2 years earlier.
Delia Perez-Meyer spoke passionately about her brother, Louis Castro Perez, who is on Texas death row and whose case points to his innocence. In fact, the Innocence Project in New York is working on both her brother’s case as well as Reed’s.
Rodney Reed has been trying for years to get evidence from the crime scene tested for DNA, including the belt used to strangle Stites. Texas courts and the Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals in New Orleans have only ruled that Reed waited too long to ask for the testing.
Finally, in April, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Reed’s request was within the legal time frame and sent the request for testing back to the Fifth Court of Appeals.
Reed’s guilt ‘impossible’
In an unusual development, former police detective Kevin Gannon, a 20-year veteran with the New York City Police Department, became an independent investigator for Reed and is now an advocate for his freedom. Gannon, who now lives in Seattle, visited Bastrop, Texas, where the Reed family lives. He carried out his own independent investigation of Stites’ murder.
Gannon stated his conviction that Reed is innocent: “It is physically impossible that Reed could have committed this murder. Other experts, forensic pathologists, agree with me. It is just not possible with the facts we now know about the timeline of her killing.”
Student Minister Robert Muhammad with the Nation of Islam in Austin, and a longtime supporter of Reed, presented an emotional talk about the injustice the whole Reed family has suffered.
Herman Lindsey, the executive director of Witness to Innocence, was a keynote speaker at the rally. Lindsey, who spent several years on death row in Florida before being exonerated, said, “I just want to say to those who have the control to fix this for Rodney, they need to do it. It’s okay to fix a wrong. The wrong done to Rodney must be fixed.”
State Rep. Jolanda Jones of Houston rushed out of the Texas capitol across a grassy area to join the rally to be with the Reed family. Jones comes from a family of activists and has a long history of fighting oppression. As a radical lawyer, a Black woman and a lesbian, she knows firsthand how the injustice system works against people of color and poor people.
“I came out of the legislative session for a minute,” said Jones, “because I’m opposed to the death penalty and know that Rodney Reed was framed up because he was dating a white woman. Justice delayed is not justice, because you can never get back the time a person is wrongfully locked up. I stand with the Reed family and all of you here today. Just never give up. Keep the pressure on. Texas is hardheaded, and justice is hard to find.”
‘I will not be quiet’
Sandra Reed, Rodney’s mother, has supported her son’s struggle since the moment he was sentenced to die. She has spoken for him around the country, from her small town of Bastrop to Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles. And she has spoken every year at Texas’ annual death penalty march and rally.
Sandra Reed has gained the support of activist and author Sister Helen Prejean, one of the best-known death penalty abolitionists.
“No matter how old my kids are, they are still my babies. And our family has not been whole since they did this to Rodney, I will not be quiet. Never will I shut my mouth. I will fight until the day that Rodney walks out of the prison a free man,” Sandra Reed told Workers World.
A cousin to the Reed brothers, Jonathan Piper, ended the event by doing a rap song he wrote for Rodney in 2015 and has performed at numerous rallies. <>P>
This 25th anniversary was filled with love, anger, hope, passion, disgust, commitment and frustration. But as Sandra Reed told supporters afterward: “I love all of you so much and am so grateful that our family is not alone. We did it today. We had a great rally. We had lots and lots of media there. I can’t wait to tell Rodney how good it went. He will be thankful and happy. We are going to win. I know it in my heart.”
(source: Gloria Rubac is a founding member of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement----Workers World)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
Death penalty notice filed in killing of Florence airport police officer
The Twelfth Circuit Solicitor's Office filed earlier this month a Notice of Intent To Seek The Death Penalty against James Bell in the killing of a Florence airport police officer, according to Solicitor Ed Clements.
Jackson Winkeler was shot between 9 to 11 times following a traffic stop at the airport.
Deputies charged Bell with murder, armed robbery, discharging a firearm into a vehicle and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime.
Clements said the facts of the shooting meet the criteria for the death penalty.
"It was one of the most egregious, brutal, homicides I’ve ever seen. Without there being any need for it. When you shoot somebody, like, that many times in the phase. That’s just severe overkill. So the facts were really bad. It fits the statutory requirements for aggravating circumstances. When you kill a police officer, during the exercise of his duties. And this is exactly what happened in this case," said Clements.
A warrant against Bell reads as follows:
"On January 5, 2020, Florence Regional Airport Officer Winkeler initiated a traffic stop on a 2014 Chrysler 200 vehicle with a S.C. registration of FGS166 on airport property located in Florence, South Carolina. During the traffic stop, James Bell shot and killed Officer Winkeler. When additional officers arrived Officer Winkeler was found deceased and lying on the ground outside of his vehicle. Officer Winkeler‘s department-issued weapon was missing and said the vehicle was not on scene. Officers found an additional empty 9mm handgun near Officer Winkeler that did not belong to him and had more than 30 spent shell casings. Officer Winkeler‘s vehicle had a bullet entry near the driver-side mirror. Deputies with the FCSO located Bell in said vehicle near Highway 52 in Florence County, South Carolina. While performing a traffic stop for these procedures, deputies located Officer Winkeler‘s department-issued weapon on Bell’s person and a magazine consistent with the additional handgun left near Officer Winkeler."
Clements said now that a death penalty notice has been served, the S.C. Court Administration will assign a S.C. Circuit Court judge to preside and handle the case.
"They will appoint the judge to this case. And he will handle everything in his case from scheduling to every motion. Everything that has something to do with this case, this one judge will handle it all.
On a death penalty case, we never control the setting of schedules. That’s always the judge. Who is in charge of the case. So, it will move along at the pace of the judge. The thing about the death penalty case is that they’re either slow or more than slow. But, they have to be. Because you’re talking about someone’s life. And it has to be very meticulous," explained Clements.
A mental evaluation was ordered in February of 2021, but we're still waiting to learn the results.
ABC 15 reached out to Bell's public defender for a statement, but he has yet to respond.
(source: WPDE news)
FLORIDA----stay of impending execution
Gov. Ron DeSantis temporarily halts scheduled execution of Duane Owen----Psychiatrists tapped by governor to determine competency of man convicted of Palm Beach County murders in 1984
The upcoming execution for death row inmate Duane Owen has been put on pause pending a psychiatric evaluation after his lawyers argued that he may be insane.
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Monday to temporarily stay the convicted murderer's execution until after three psychiatrists examine Owen's mental condition.
DeSantis signed Owen's death warrant earlier this month.
Owen, 62, was set to die by lethal injection June 15, but his attorneys claim that a neuropsychologist's recent evaluation of Owen "meets the criteria for insanity."
Owen's lawyers unsuccessfully sought a Palm Beach County circuit judge to grant a stay of execution, but the request was denied, in part, because the governor hadn't yet "made a determination of sanity."
According to a neuropsychologist's report provided by Owen's attorneys, Owen believed that he was a woman in a man's body and "was trying to fully become the woman he really was."
Owen was convicted of murdering Karen Slattery, a 14-year-old high school freshman, and Georgianna Worden, a mother of two, in separate Palm Beach County attacks in 1984.
Owen broke into a Delray Beach home in March 1984 and attacked Slattery while she was babysitting. Slattery was repeatedly stabbed and sexually assaulted.
2 months later, Owen broke into a Boca Raton home, where he beat Worden to death with a hammer and sexually assaulted her. The 38-year-old mother's body was found by her two children the next morning.
Owen was arrested that same year and confessed to the crimes. He was later convicted of first-degree murder and sexual battery with a deadly weapon for both crimes and sentenced to death.
The governor's order claims that the "allegations" in the neuropsychologist's evaluation "are insufficient assertions of insanity," but because his "solemn duty to execute a duly imposed sentence of death requires the exercise of utmost caution," DeSantis appointed three psychiatrists to examine Owen's mental condition.
Drs. Wade Myers, Tonia Werner and Emily Lazarou comprise the "Commission to Determine the Mental Competency of Duane Eugene Owen." They'll be tasked with determining whether Owen "understands the nature and effect of the death penalty and why it is to be imposed upon him."
According to the order, the examination will take place Tuesday, after which time the commission "shall promptly" report its findings to the governor no later than Wednesday.
If DeSantis decides that Owen has the mental capacity to understand the death penalty and why it's being imposed on him, the execution will continue as scheduled. Should DeSantis decide that Owen doesn't have the mental capacity, Owen will be committed to a Florida Department of Corrections mental health treatment facility "until such time as he has been restored to sanity and the sentence of death may be executed."
(source: WPTV news)
************
Death penalty will be sought in Uber Eats driver slaying
A suspect charged with murder and other offenses in the slaying and dismemberment of an Uber Eats driver faces a possible death penalty.
Prosecutors said Monday they would pursue the death penalty against Oscar Adrian Solis Jr., 30.
Solis was indicted on 1 count of 1st-degree murder and one count of abuse of a dead body, according to court documents.
Bryan Sarabia, a prosecutor with the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office, told our news partner Tampa Bay Times, "I cannot focus on how an individual can be so vile.”
Solis Jr. is charged with killing the driver during a delivery April 19 at a home in Holiday.
The remains were found at the house in trash bags and a cooler, which also contained a receipt with Solis' name on it, according to a police affidavit.
Sheriff Chris Nocco called the killing "demonic."
The victim had been reported missing by his wife after he never came home from his Uber Eats deliveries.
(source: baynews9.com)
MISSOURI----impending execution
American Bar Association calls on Missouri governor to halt execution of Michael Tisius
The American Bar Association has joined calls to stop the execution of Michael Tisius, a Missouri man scheduled to be put to death on June 6.
The bar association, a large network for lawyers, does not take an overarching stance on the death penalty, but opposes its use in some situations.
Tisius’ legal team and opponents to the death penalty say the execution should not go forward, arguing that he regrets his actions and was manipulated by an older man, which led to the killing of two jail guards in 2000.
Five jurors now say they support commuting his death sentence to life without parole. Recently, lawyers for Tisius also said they discovered that one of the jurors was not able to read or write. Under Missouri law, jurors are required to be able to read so they can understand jury instructions, evidence and reports.
In 2018, the bar association passed a resolution urging states with capital punishment to prohibit the execution of anyone 21 years old or younger when the crime was committed. They cited research showing the brain is not fully developed until an individual’s mid-twenties, which results in an underdeveloped sense of responsibility and an increased susceptibility to negative influences. In a Missouri case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, youth under 18 cannot be given the death penalty.
Tisius was 19 when he fatally shot two Randolph County jailers during a botched escape attempt.
In a May 22 letter addressed to Gov. Mike Parson, the ABA said Tisius’ development at 19 was below even typical levels for his age.
“Michael experienced delayed maturation of adolescent brain functioning due to the childhood physical abuse and neglect he suffered,” the letter said. “Compounding his brain immaturity, multiple experts have found that Michael had neurological deficits at the time of his crimes.”
Tisius suffered beatings and neglect as a child, lead poisoning and brain damage, his attorneys said in a clemency application sent to Parson last week.
That made him susceptible to co-defendant Roy Vance’s influence, the ABA letter continued.
Tisius was jailed on a misdemeanor theft charge when he met Vance, who was 27 at the time. Once Tisius was released, Vance reportedly convinced Tisius to help him escape.
In the course of the escape, Tisius shot and killed deputies Jason Acton and Leon Egley.
The letter goes on to say that as an adult, Tisius has been an “exemplary prisoner.”
“He has learned self-control, has empathy for others, shows empathy for the men he killed, is no longer impulsive, and is seeking to make the best life he can in his current situation,” a psychiatrist said.
The letter also said Tisius was represented by a public defender during the sentencing phase who was paid on a flat-fee basis. The ABA cautions against the use of flat fee arrangements in capital cases because of the “unacceptable risk that counsel will limit the amount of time investigated in the representation in order to maximize the return.”
The attorney failed to conduct depositions and did not present evidence about Vance’s significant influence over Tisius. Vance was charged with first-degree murder and is serving life without parole.
Last month, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a resolution calling for Tisius’ execution to be halted.
17 people are on death row in Missouri. In addition to Tisius, Johnny Johnson also has an execution date scheduled for this year. In the past six months, the state has executed 3 people. Parson has not granted clemency on a death penalty case.
(source: Yahoo News)
ARIZONA:
Suspect in death of Lauren Heike indicted on 1st-degree murder charge
The man accused of killing Lauren Heike while she was going for a walk near her north Phoenix residence last month has been indicted on a charge of 1st-degree murder, authorities said Monday.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it was reviewing the case to determine if prosecutors will pursue the death penalty for Zion William Teasley.
“Every 1st-degree murder case is assessed to determine if the state will seek the death penalty,” Jennifer Liewer, chief of staff for Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, told KTAR News 92.3 FM in a statement. “The office reviews mitigating and aggravating factors in each case that are outlined in state law. The county attorney has not yet made a decision in this case.”
Heike, 29, was found dead in a desert area near a hiking trail around 10:45 a.m. on April 29. She lived near 66th Street and Mayo Boulevard, about half a mile from where she was killed.
Teasley, 22, was arrested May 4 after police used DNA evidence collected at the scene and surveillance video to connect him to the scene.
Teasley was booked into jail on a murder count and also was being held on a probation violation. A grand jury indicted him on May 15.
His arraignment hearing was scheduled for Tuesday morning. The trial is scheduled to begin in January.
“My heart goes out to the victim’s family and the pain they are experiencing losing their loved one in this manner,” Mitchell said in a press release. “Our office will work diligently to seek justice for Lauren and her family.”
Police said she was walking near 65th Place and Libby Street on April 28 when she was attacked, but her body wasn’t spotted until the next day.
She was stabbed 15 times and may have been chased over or through a barbed wire fence before she was killed, according to court records.
According to corrections department and court records, Teasley was released from prison Nov. 13, 2022, after serving time as part of a plea deal for multiple felonies.
(source: KTAR news)
USA:
Republicans’ push for death penalty embraces the politics of the past----In a move ripped from the 1980s and 1990s, Republicans are arguing for the death penalty at a moment full of anxiety over crime.
As the 2024 presidential primary season kicks off, Republican candidates (announced and anticipated) are touting their support for the death penalty amid heightened concern over crime.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) recently signed two bills expanding capital punishment. One eliminates the requirement that juries unanimously recommend death sentences, while the other makes child rape a capital offense, defying a 2008 Supreme Court decision that such a law is unconstitutional. Last month, former vice president Mike Pence told gun enthusiasts at the National Rifle Association’s annual summit that he wanted to expedite the death penalty for “mass shooters.” And former president Donald Trump — who oversaw an unprecedented spate of executions in the final days of his presidency — has vowed to swiftly execute drug dealers if reelected. In private, Trump has reportedly proposed that the federal government bring back group executions and the guillotine, and televise executions, potentially even the grisly footage of inmates’ death throes.
These Republicans are not the first to use the death penalty as a political tool. Their tactics hark to the 1980s and 1990s, when America had a “political climate” where elected officials “who covet[ed] higher office” had to “constantly profess their fealty to the death penalty,” to quote a 1995 dissent by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Capitalizing on fears of crime, politicians from both parties endorsed the death penalty with vigor — and to great electoral success. The political memory of this era helps explain why Republicans are embracing capital punishment amid febrile anxiety over crime.
In 1972, the Supreme Court held that death sentences as they were then carried out violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment. That halted death sentences in the United States for four years — until the court reversed course, upholding new death penalty laws in 1976.
The latter decision, which had the practical effect of letting states reinstate the death penalty, came during a combustible moment of rising crime rates, sensationalized coverage of crime and social unrest that left many voters on edge. To them, the “ultimate punishment” came to represent the ultimate opposition to lawlessness and disorder. Ambitious politicians who embraced the death penalty won their favor. Those who didn’t, risked defeat.
No one mastered this political balancing act better than Bill Clinton. In 1980, Clinton lost his bid for reelection as governor of Arkansas after Republicans painted him as a Democrat who was “soft” on crime. They attacked Clinton for reducing sentences, including the life sentences of nearly 40 people convicted of first-degree murder. It was, by all accounts, a watershed moment. Mounting a comeback bid in 1982, a chastened Clinton promised to be harsher. He won, and drastically cut the number of commutations he doled out in the years that followed. Over the next 10 years, in fact, he meted out zero commutations to people serving life sentences.
As Clinton learned, being perceived as soft on crime was dangerous. By contrast, it was almost impossible for a candidate to be too tough on crime, with the death penalty symbolizing true toughness. In 1986, California Gov. George Deukmejian (R) made capital punishment the centerpiece of his reelection campaign, stoking anger against state Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird for reversing death sentences. He won, with over 60 % of the vote, carrying 56 of the state’s 58 counties. By contrast, Bird, who faced a retention vote that year, lost every county in the state.
Bird’s defeat inspired a nationwide push to remove liberal judges perceived as insufficiently supportive of the death penalty. And elected judges who weren’t removed got the message: Rule against capital defendants, or lose your job.
In 1988, the conventional political wisdom on the death penalty solidified after Republicans attacked the Democratic presidential nominee, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, portraying him as soft on crime. A conservative outside group ran a notorious ad showcasing William Horton, a Black man previously convicted of murder in Massachusetts who was serving a life sentence in prison. Horton was let out of prison on a weekend furlough as part of a program that Dukakis supported as governor, which enabled him to escape to Maryland, where — a narrator in the commercial explained, as Horton’s glowering face dominated the television screen — he broke into a couple’s home and committed assault, armed robbery and rape. The narrator and graphics also emphasized that Dukakis opposed the death penalty.
During his acceptance speech for the presidential nomination at the Republican convention that year, Vice President George H.W. Bush asked, “Should society be allowed to impose the death penalty on those who commit crimes of extraordinary cruelty and violence?” Bush then told listeners he was a “yes” and Dukakis was a “no.”
Dukakis made matters worse when CNN’s Bernard Shaw asked him in a debate whether he would favor the death penalty if his wife were raped and murdered. He said no — a principled answer that proved politically ruinous. Dukakis’ phlegmatic, policy-based response fell flat with voters, who wanted to see him express some fire at the thought of his wife being brutalized. Even the candidate quickly grasped that his dispassionate answer would haunt his campaign.
In 1992, Clinton ran for president and set out to show Democratic primary voters that he was no Dukakis. He said Democrats “should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent” and bragged about personally supervising the first executions in Arkansas since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
By happenstance, the execution date for Ricky Ray Rector, a Black man who had struggled with severe mental illness his entire life, fell just before the New Hampshire primary. After murdering a White police officer, Rector had shot himself in his left temple, and the surgery that followed amounted to an effective lobotomy. He was still sentenced to death by an all-White jury.
Rector was left, in the words of his lawyer, a “zombie.” He was unable to grasp what he did and what was happening around him. In prison, he was known for howling throughout the day and screaming into the night; for thinking that prison guards were releasing chickens and alligators into his cell; and, according to prison guards, for “barking like a dog,” then cheerfully dancing and laughing. During his last meal, Rector said he put aside a slice of pecan pie “for later.”
Given Rector’s condition, activists like Jesse Jackson and even some family friends implored Clinton to grant him clemency. Clinton refused. Instead he flew home to preside over Rector’s execution. This macabre stagecraft was a political boon to Clinton, solidifying his tough-on-crime credentials. His strong performance in New Hampshire turned around his fledgling presidential campaign.
As president, Clinton gave voters what they wanted. In 1994, he signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which dramatically expanded the federal death penalty. 2 years later, he signed the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which restricted when federal courts can review the merits of state convictions.
Yet, by the end of Clinton’s presidency in 2001, the death penalty had begun to fade as a galvanizing wedge issue. Multiple factors softened support: falling crime rates, high-profile exonerations (some because of the increased availability of DNA technology), increased logistical and legal challenges in conducting executions, and a growing recognition the death penalty was disproportionately applied against poorer people and those of color. Application also varied by jurisdiction. Support for capital punishment didn’t collapse, but the brazenly tough-on-crime playbook of prior decades lost its punch.
Over the past 20 years, support for capital punishment has begun to fall, especially among Democrats. Executions have dropped even more sharply. Eleven states have abolished the death penalty; governors have put a hold on executions in another 5. And the United States has only become more of a global outlier for its use of capital punishment, which every other Western democracy has abandoned.
But now Republicans are showing that not everything has changed. Fearmongering around crime remains a potent political weapon. Over-the-top fealty to the death penalty still resonates with some voters. And as long as it does, opportunistic politicians will exploit these impulses to gain power.
(source: Duncan Hosie is a writer and civil rights lawyer. A graduate of Yale Law School, he previously was a Marshall scholar at the University of Oxford, where he received a master's degree in history----Washington Post)
***************
Death Row USA Summer 2022 Report: Death-Row Population Continues Long-Term Decline
The number of people sentenced to death or facing the possibility of a death sentence in pending capital retrial or resentencing proceedings continued its more than 2-decade decline in the 3rd quarter of last year, according to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) Summer 2022 quarterly census of death rows across the United States.
In its recently issued Summer 2022 edition of Death Row USA (DRUSA), LDF reported that the number of people on U.S. state, federal, or military death rows or facing possible capital resentencing had fallen to 2,394 — 80 less than the previous year. LDF also found that the capital convictions or death sentences of 195 people listed in its 2021 report have been reversed.
As of July 1, 2022, LDF reported that 876 people, or 36.6% of those on death row or facing capital resentencing were in states with moratoria on executions. Including those persons in other states whose death sentences have been reversed, LDF calculated that there were 1,373 currently enforceable death sentences, comprising 57.4% of all active cases in which a death sentence has been imposed.
(source: Death Penalty Information Center)
PHILIPPINES:
Padilla bill pushes death penalty for elective officials, law enforcers involved in illegal drugs
Padilla said the leniency of current laws has caused a "sorry state of affairs where law enforcers are now unafraid to be involved in illegal drugs," and that government must "respond with a staunch and decisive measure" by changing the law.
"It is an incontrovertible truth that the illegal drug trade and prevalence become so entrenched and systematic that its rot sets in the very core of our public institutions,’’ he pointed out.
“To reinstate the rule of law and rebuild the trust of the Filipino people, we must re-impose the death penalty as a strong deterrent to grave offenders from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), any uniformed or law enforcement agency, or an elective official who are entrusted with the public power by the people," he added.
The bill seeks to amend Sections 27 and 28 of RA 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022, seeking to impose the death penalty when the offender is an officer or member of the AFP, PNP "or any other uniformed or law enforcement agency.”
The measure states that any elective local or national official found to have benefited from the proceeds of drug trafficking or received financial or material contributions or donations from those found guilty of trafficking dangerous drugs shall suffer the penalty of death without prejudice to removal from office and perpetually disqualified from holding government positions.
But the death sentence shall not be inflicted upon a woman while pregnant or one year after delivery; or any person over 70 years of age, it stated.
Last week, Padilla filed a bill amending Sec 4 of RA 10845, known as the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, thereby imposing death penalty when the offense is committed by personnel of the BOC (Bureau of Customs), AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), PNP (Philippine National {Police) or any other uniformed or law enforcement agency.
"Why did I do this?) Because during our hearing, the one seated to me does not only appear to be connected to the Mafia but the Mafia, itself," he said during a public hearing by the Senate agriculture and food committee on the unabated smuggling of agriculture produce.
"We have to send a strong message that the large-scale agricultural smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel of agricultural products perpetrated by the officers and employees of the Bureau of Customs, are heinous and a threat to the very foundation of our society. Hence, there is a compelling reason to impose death penalty," he said in his bill.
PAKISTAN:
Court awards death sentence to murderer
An additional district and sessions court awarded death sentence to a man in a murder case, here on Monday. The court sources said that on October 28, 2021, one Muhammad Abbas, a resident of Jinnah Colony, had gunned down his opponent, Muhammad Arshad Iqbal, over a minor dispute. Jhal Chakian police had arrested the accused and presented challan against him in the court. After proving the charges, Judge Muhammad Ijaz awarded death sentence, along with a fine of Rs 300,000 as compensation money, to the killer. The killer was shifted to Sargodha jail for execution.
(source: nation.com.pk)
**************
Christian teens charged with blasphemy in Pakistan, could face death penalty
Babar Sandhu Masih was resting after lunch last Thursday afternoon when he heard a commotion outside his house in the Qurban Lines neighborhood of Lahore, Pakistan.
Masih went outside to find his neighbor, policeman Zahid Sohail, beating his son and another Christian boy. His son Adil, 18, and 14-year-old Simon Nadeem Masih, who lives nearby, had been engaged in light-hearted banter when Sohail accused them of committing blasphemy, he said.
“Sohail initially alleged that he was walking past the two boys when he overheard them ‘disrespecting’ prophet Muhammad and then laughing over it,” Masih said. “He started beating Simon, and when Adil tried to save him, Sohail attacked him too.”
Masih, a Catholic who paints cars at a local auto workshop, said neighbors soon gathered, and Sohail repeated his accusations.
“Both boys flatly denied Sohail’s allegation and said they had said nothing that involved a mention of the Muslim prophet,” Masih told Morning Star News. “When local elders of the neighborhood asked Sohail to substantiate his accusation, he failed to satisfy them and left.”
The father of 4 children, Adil being the youngest, said that Race Course police station officers raided his house later that evening and arrested Adil. They also took Simon into custody, saying that Sohail had registered a case against the 2 under blasphemy statutes.
“We were shocked to learn the contents of the First Information Report [FIR] in which Sohail alleged that Simon had called a puppy ‘Muhammad Ali,’ and both boys then joked about it,” Masih said.
They were charged with blaspheming Muhammad under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes, which calls for the death penalty. Muhammad Ali is a common name in Pakistan, the first name attributed to Islam’s prophet and the last to Hazrat Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law and the 4th caliph.
Masih said the allegation was “completely baseless,” as Sohail had made no mention of a puppy when he first raised the issue.
“No one in our street has dogs, and neither was there a puppy in the street when this incident took place,” he said. “Sohail cooked up a false accusation against our children after failing to convince the locals about his earlier allegation.”
Masih said that his wife was a heart patient and also has suffered 2 strokes.
“She doesn’t know yet that Adil has been arrested on such a serious charge, and I don’t know how long I’ll be able to withhold this news from her,” he said on Thursday. “She’ll be devastated.”
Adil left school a few years ago and was training with him to become a car painter, he said.
“I was able to meet Adil briefly on Friday, when police brought him to the court for obtaining the boys’ judicial remand,” Masih told Morning Star News. “Both boys were in a state of shock and fear and are still unable to understand why Sohail had gotten them arrested.”
At least 500 Christian families live in the Qurban Lines neighborhood, and there had been no religious tension in the area in years, he said.
“Sohail does not have a good reputation in the locality, which is why many locals did not take his allegation seriously,” Masih said. “Our Muslim neighbors have known us for years, and they know we would never indulge in anything that could hurt their religious sentiments.” >
Police should have investigated the veracity of the allegation before arresting Adil and Simon, he said.
“Now we don’t know how long our children will be made to suffer in prison due to this false charge — this is sheer injustice,” Masih said.
Napolean Qayyum of the Pakistan Center for Law and Justice said that they were helping the two families in arranging legal support for their children.
“The FIR registered by the complainant reeks of mala fide, yet the police showed traditional haste in arresting the two boys,” he said. “We are hoping that the boys will be released on bail soon.”
False accusations
Several people have been lynched over false accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan.
At least 57 cases of alleged blasphemy were reported in Pakistan between Jan. 1 and May 10, while four blasphemy suspects were lynched or extrajudicially killed during the same period, according to the Lahore-based Center for Social Justice and People’s Commission for Minorities Rights (PCMR).
The data shows that 8 incidents occurred in January, a significant increase to 17 cases in February, seven cases in March, another surge to 19 cases in April, and 6 cases in May (up to the 10th), totaling 57 accused individuals.
The highest number of blasphemy cases, 28, were reported in Punjab Province, followed by Sindh Province with 16, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with eight, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir with 5.
In response to these alarming figures, retired Justice Nasira Javaid Iqbal, the patron-in-chief of PCMR, urged the government to stop the misuse of the harsh laws.
“The blasphemy laws have been consistently misused to settle personal disputes, persecute minority groups, and incite mob violence and hatred,” she said in a press statement. “We demand prompt action and a collective effort by the government to address these human rights violations.”
Last week, a court released on bail a Christian woman charged with blasphemy after she and a Muslim co-worker were accused of intentionally burning papers containing Quranic verses.
Mussarat Bibi, 45, and Muhammad Sarmad worked at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in 66-EB village, Arifwala tehsil of Pakpattan District. On April 15, both workers were told to clean the school’s storeroom filled with paper and other scrapped items. The duo reportedly gathered the wasted paper and other scraps in a corner of the school and set them on fire. Some students later noticed that the burnt items also contained holy pages.
They were charged under Section 295-B of the blasphemy statutes and sent to Pakpattan Jail on judicial remand. Section 295-B states, “Whoever willfully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Quran or of an extract therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punishable with imprisonment for life.”
They were released from prison on bail on May 13.
Pakistan ranked 7th on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, up from 8th the previous year.
(source: christianpost.com)
MAY 22, 2023:
ALABAMA:
Animal Passion, Alabama Death Sentences, and HB 14
Unintentionally, in 2016, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet explained how mammoth the stakes will be when the Alabama House of Representatives takes up House Bill 14—Representative Chris England’s latest attempt to reform Alabama’s constantly-in-crisis criminal “justice” system.
In his 2006 introduction to the Penguin Classics reissue of “Twelve Angry Men”—screenwriter Reginald Rose’s brilliant study of the American jury system—Mamet wrote, “the jury sets aside its prejudices, to aspire to the highest state of humanity: the capacity to use reason to overcome animal passion.”
House Bill (HB) 14 seeks to ensure the “animal passion” of life sentence-overriding judges—most of whom were, in most instances, looking to score political points—as well as the far-reduced “state of humanity” a non-unanimous jury offers, never undergird death sentences, and ultimately, executions in Alabama; the text of HB 14 says it “would provide that a defendant may be resentenced if a judge sentenced him or her to a sentence other than the jury’s advisory sentence[,] and if his or her death sentence was not unanimous.”
The ACLU explained in a tweet: “House Bill 14 proposes a unanimous vote by a jury [be] required to impose [a] death sentence[,] and provides that an individual may be resentenced if a judge overruled a jury’s original sentence to issue the death penalty. This is an act known as ‘judicial override,’ which Alabama abolished in 2017 (the last state to do so). Now, over 30 individuals remain on death row in Alabama because a judge sentenced them to death despite the jury’s recommendation.”
HB 14 modestly seeks to make an obviously just moral principle the law: If there must be a death penalty in Alabama (a wrongheaded premise subject to devastating attack beyond the scope of this column), no one should ever be put to death due to the vote of a non-unanimous jury, or, a judge’s dictator-like decision to disregard and override a jury’s considered decision to impose life in prison—instead of death.
“If we’re going to do it, I want to make sure that it’s reserved for the worst of the worst, and it is as hard as you would believe it would be for the state to take someone’s life,” Representative England said.
Giving voice also to this belief, famed death penalty attorney Stephen Bright, former President and Senior Counsel of the Southern Center for Human Rights—on CNN recently to promote his forthcoming new book, “The Fear of Too Much Justice”—unwittingly like Mamet, but also, colorfully and persuasively like Mamet—explained why it is so critical for justice reform in Alabama that Representative England’s reasonable, reform-minded, and most importantly, “just” bill become law.
Concerning Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s legislation allowing non-unanimous juries to sentence people to death, Bright said: “[W]hat the Florida legislature passed at Governor DeSantis’s insistence was a law that says a jury with a vote of 8-4 can impose the death penalty. No other state has that. In fact, in every other state the jury has to be unanimous. Except Alabama, where it has to be at least ten jurors.”
Highlighting the racial injustice of Florida and Alabama’s death penalty regimes, Bright continued: “When you have a unanimous jury, it means that every person has the same amount of power. Every person has to be heard. When you have non-unanimous juries—when you say you can disregard…jurors…very often [those are the] people of color [that] are on the jury.”
HB 14 seeks to ensure that when Black and brown citizens sit on juries in Alabama, and are forced to decide whether a fellow human being should be put to death or not, their voices are respected. (Mamet wrote, “In the courtroom we see a poor man or woman—perhaps a criminal, perhaps a victim—caught in the awesome engine of the State, and we are told that, for the period of our service, we are the State.”)
Conscientious, justice-loving Alabamians, tired of being the butt of bad jokes around the country, and, even worse, sober and merited criticism internationally, for constant lethal injection “botches” (really, at this point, foreseeably torturous and freakish fumbling by ghoulish prison officials)—literally slicing and sticking condemned men, as Dr. Joel Zivot and I wrote about at the end of last year—HB 14 is the bill for you! Ditto for those of you embarrassed and ashamed by Alabama’s abominable pursuit of nitrogen gassing, as the next state-sanctioned murder-mechanism.
To help Rep. England make HB 14 the law in Alabama—Alabamians, and all other Americans concerned about Alabama’s laws, too—now is the time to make your voices heard. Now is the time to flood the members of Alabama’s House of Representatives with your demand HB 14 be passed. Now.
(source: Stephen Cooper is a former D.C. public defender who worked as an assistant federal public defender in Alabama between 2012 and 2015----counterpunch.org)
OHIO:
New trial ordered for man who spent 15 years on death row in death of 3-year-old boy
A new trial has been ordered for a man who spent more than a decade and a half on Ohio's death row in the 2006 death of the 3-year-old son of his former live-in girlfriend.
Lamont Hunter, 54, was convicted of aggravated murder, child endangering and rape in the death of Trustin Blue, who authorities said was sexually assaulted and died from blunt impact and shaking injuries to his head. Hunter said he was doing laundry in the basement when the boy fell down the stairs and landed on the concrete floor.
Prosecutors agreed to a new trial after the deputy coroner who initially ruled the boy's death a homicide changed that opinion two years ago after reviewing evidence she hadn't previously been given. She said the cause of death was undetermined and also said injuries she had attributed to sexual assault were accidentally inflicted at the hospital.
A hearing Friday on whether Hunter could be freed on bond while awaiting a new trial ended with no decision after prosecutors sought a delay in the proceedings. Prosecutors said the county coroner’s office is re-reviewing the entire case, including more than 700 pages of records from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
Defense attorney Al Gerhardstein told reporters outside the courtroom that such work should have been done 16 years ago. He expressed optimism that his client would be "out on bond by the end of the month.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that it was revealed at the hearing that prosecutors have offered Hunter a plea deal that would apparently lead to his release with a sentence of the time he already has spent in prison.
(source: ABC News)
IDAHO:
Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger arraignment: What to expect----Arraignment comes after grand jury indictment negated his plans to fight the charges at a June hearing
Prosecution in Idaho students’ murder case should be ‘laser focused’ on finding Kohberger motive: Mark Smith----Attorney Mark Smith unpacks what to expect from University of Idaho quadruple murder suspect Brian Kohberger’s court appearance Monday.
Bryan Kohberger, the 28-year-old criminology buff accused of ambushing sleeping college students with a large knife in November, is expected to be arraigned Monday morning on murder and other charges.
And if he finally enters a plea, it would trigger a countdown – giving prosecutors two months to officially announce that they are seeking the death penalty in connection with the ambush slayings of Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21, as well as Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, 20.
"Upon entry of plea, the most morbid of all clocks starts ticking – the prosecuting attorney has 60 days to file, in writing, a notice of intent to seek the death penalty," said Edwina Elcox, a prominent Boise-based defense attorney who previously represented "cult mom" Lori Vallow.
There are several potential outcomes – although experts say surprises are always possible:
Possible scenarios in court Monday:
He’ll likely plead not guilty or not enter a plea at all.
A guilty plea would be highly unlikely given Kohberger's defense team just added the high-powered Elisa Massoth, according to Elcox.
Massoth once attended the same college as the four victims, is certified to defend death penalty cases and boasts of being "one of the top criminal defense lawyers in Idaho."
One of her previous cases includes the overturning of a conviction for a man accused of attempted murder and kidnapping. The case appeared on "America's Most Wanted," and he received four consecutive life sentences plus 50 years, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
If the entry of a plea is postponed, he would likely be due back in court in a couple of weeks.
If he does enter a plea, the 60-day countdown begins for prosecutors to formally file their intent to seek the death penalty.
Idaho recently reinstated the firing squad as an option.
Whether Kohberger enters a plea or not, another countdown will also kick off – a six-month deadline for his constitutionally protected right to a speedy trial, Elcox told Fox News Digital.
If there's a plea deal in the works, it's likely not going to be announced Monday.
The best the defense could hope for in this case would be to plead to the murder charges while avoiding the death penalty, Elcox said.
A scheduling conference and hearing on a defense motion to compel discovery are also on the calendar, although the arraignment may bump them back.
"I do not think we get many surprises," said Paul Mauro, a New York-based attorney and former NYPD inspector. "If I had to guess: He pleads not guilty; we do not get a ruling on the discovery motion regarding the DNA…[and]we do get some scheduling dates."
It's been almost five months since Kohberger's Dec. 30 arrest at his parents' house in Pennsylvania's Poconos Mountains – and 7 months since police allege he entered an off-campus home and stabbed four University of Idaho students inside, with two others narrowly escaping.
The suspected killer was a student at the nearby Washington State University, less than 10 miles away, where he was trying to get a Ph.D. in the department of criminal justice and criminology.
But on Nov. 13, around 4 a.m. on a Saturday as both schools were approaching Thanksgiving break, police allege that Kohberger crept into the King Road home with a knife, massacred the students and slipped out the back door.
One housemate saw a masked man with "bushy eyebrows" after hearing sounds of a struggle, according to court documents, and detectives alleged that Kohberger returned to the crime scene once again hours after the murders.
For months, he has sat in the Latah County Jail in Moscow, Idaho, where Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall ordered him held without bail.
After a grand jury indicted him on 4 charges of 1st-degree murder and a count of felony burglary, his plans to fight the evidence used to arrest him at a preliminary hearing scheduled for the end of June are out the window.
The indictment means prosecutors don't have to convince Marshall that police had sufficient probable cause to arrest Kohberger – and it spares the surviving housemates from having to face cross-examination from Kohberger's defense team in what Kootenai County Public Defender Anne Taylor expected to be a five-day preliminary hearing.
Kohberger could face the death penalty on any of the 4 1st-degree murder charges.
There's a chance that the sides could reach a deal for Kohberger to plead guilty to the murders in exchange to be spared from death row, Elcox said.
But things could also go the other way.
"Potential surprise is that the state puts death penalty on the table, no deals," she said.
(source: Fox News)
CALIFORNIA:
Why California is dismantling its death row
After decades locked alone in small cages in California’s San Quentin prison, men sentenced to die are now being moved off death row. Sam Levin investigates
For decades, the notorious San Quentin prison in California has been home to some of the US’s most dangerous criminals, sentenced to die for their offences. But California has not had an execution since 2006. In March, the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, announced he would be transforming San Quentin into a “rehabilitation centre” modelled after facilities in Norway, which have few restrictions and prioritise comfortable conditions and preparing people to come home.
Newsom, who halted executions in 2019, has pledged to close the housing units that make up death row, the largest in the country, to make way for the “pre-eminent restorative justice facility in the world”. As Sam Levin tells Hannah Moore, the 546 San Quentin residents on death row will continue to have death sentences but will be transferred to the general population of prisons across the state – which is likely to give them some basic amenities and small freedoms of movement they’ve been denied for decades.
(For information about listening to the podcast, see: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2023/may/22/why-california-is-dismantling-death-row-podcast)
(source: The Guardian)
GLOBAL:
Capital punishment and the law of nations----While the increase in opposition to the death penalty in modern society does indeed reflect a moral revolution, it is precisely a revolution away from the Catholic understanding of human dignity, not a deeper appreciation of it.
What is the nature of Pope Francis’s 2018 change to the Catechism’s teaching on capital punishment? Does it amount to a reversal of traditional teaching? A development of doctrine that is consistent with that teaching? A prudential judgment? And if the latter, is assent to the new formulation binding on the faithful? Barrett Turner offers an important analysis in his Nova et Vetera article “Pope Francis and the Death Penalty: A Conditional Advance of Justice in the Law of Nations.” Let’s take a look.
The text of the revision, at paragraph 2267 of the Catechism, reads as follows:
Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.
Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.
Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”, and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.
The crux of this passage is the statement that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.” Turner identifies 3 basic ways to interpret this.
3 interpretations
The 1st would be to read it as teaching that capital punishment is intrinsically immoral. This would amount to an outright reversal of the traditional doctrine of the Church, and thus an endorsement of the position of “new natural law” theorists like Germain Grisez, John Finnis, and E. Christian Brugger, who have long argued for such a reversal. Turner rejects this interpretation. In a letter announcing the change to the Catechism, Cardinal Ladaria, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated that the revision was not in contradiction with prior Church teaching and instead reflected a change in historical circumstances. As Turner points out, he could not have said this if the revision had been intended as an endorsement of the view of Grisez, Finnis, and Brugger that past teaching was wrong and that the death penalty is intrinsically evil.
(It is worth noting that Finnis, despite his own view that capital punishment is intrinsically immoral, agreed that the revision did not change past teaching and was very critical of the reasoning behind it. In any event, as Joseph Bessette and I show in our book By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment, the arguments of Grisez, Finnis, and Brugger fail, and their position cannot be reconciled with Catholic orthodoxy. Turner indicates that he agrees with us about this much.)
A 2nd interpretation of the revision identified by Turner would be to regard it as an erroneous or at best imprecise prudential application of Catholic teaching. As Turner points out, this interpretation cannot be dismissed out of hand, because the revision falls into the category of non-definitive acts of the ordinary Magisterium. Moreover, if the revision is not intended to contradict past doctrinal principles and reflects instead a change in judgement about how to apply those principles to concrete circumstances, then this current judgement could, in the nature of the case, hardly be more definitive than the past judgments it replaces.
Toward the end of his essay, Turner identifies several respects in which Pope Francis’s teaching on this subject is indeed problematic. However, the bulk of the essay is devoted instead to exploring a third possible interpretation of the revision to the Catechism. On this interpretation, the revision, on the one hand, does not reflect any change in the fundamental doctrinal principles concerning capital punishment. It remains Catholic teaching that the state has the right in principle to execute offenders for sufficiently grave offenses.
But on the other hand, the revision is more than merely a prudential application of these fundamental principles to concrete contemporary circumstances. It is a prudential judgment of a deeper kind than that, one concerning what the Thomistic natural law tradition calls the ius gentium or “law of nations.”
The law of nations
The law of nations is a middle ground level of moral principles, coming in the between the fundamental and immutable principles of natural law on the one hand and the various local laws and customs of individual political communities on the other. Its function is to mediate the application of the former to the latter. Like local laws and customs, it is contingent and changeable. Unlike them, it has universal application, and a higher degree of durability even if it falls short of strict immutability. It is a kind of conventional wisdom about how best to apply the principles of natural law, and widely regarded as more or less settled even if not infallible.
Turner offers a few examples, including the practically universal agreement today that subjecting those defeated in a just war to servitude is not morally acceptable. Even if such servitude were theoretically justifiable as punishment of those guilty of unjust aggression, the moral downside of such a practice is so grave that it is better simply to rule it out as beyond the pale in a decent society. As Turner notes, a change in the law of nations (such as the change from permitting this kind of servitude to abolishing it once and for all) can reflect not merely a change in circumstances, but a deeper application of distinctively Christian moral principles.
Now, there is a further distinction to be drawn here, because as Turner also notes, there are, within the Thomistic natural law tradition, two ways that the ius gentium has been interpreted. On the first interpretation, the law of nations is concerned with entirely man-made principles that are practically indispensable for applying the natural law. The ius gentium is, on this view, essentially a matter of positive law rather than the discovery of anything strictly there in natural law itself. Turner associates this interpretation with thinkers like Francisco de Vitoria, Domingo de Soto, Melchior Cano, and Domingo Banez. On the second interpretation, the ius gentium goes a bit deeper than this, and involves the discovery of what justice strictly requires given certain civilizational conditions. Turner associates this interpretation with thinkers like Jacques Maritain and Yves Simon.
The basic idea here (as I understand it) is that on the second interpretation, the principles of the ius gentium are absolutely binding given certain conditions; whereas on the first interpretation, they are never absolutely binding but can nevertheless be, under certain conditions, binding for all practical purposes (and to such an extent that it is as if they were absolutely binding). Either way, as Turner points out, the ius gentium reflects a moral conventional wisdom that runs so deep that it can “feel” as binding as the natural law – even to educated people who know the difference, and certainly to the average person who does not.
Turner’s proposal, then, is that the revision to the Catechism reflects a prudential judgment about the law of nations, specifically. In particular, it reflects the judgment that, in light of both the adequacy of contemporary non-lethal means of protecting society and the higher demands of the Gospel as applied to the law, the principle that resort to capital punishment is never justifiable in practice ought now to be regarded as part of the ius gentium. Turner also indicates, though, that this is better understood in terms of the first interpretation of the ius gentium (i.e. the one associated with de Vitoria, de Soto, Cano, and Banez) rather than the second, stronger interpretation (i.e. the one associated with Maritain and Simon). For the latter interpretation might give the impression that the Magisterium was teaching grave error prior to the 2018 revision.
Still a flawed prudential judgment?
As Turner notes, though this interpretation attributes to the revision a deeper alteration to the Church’s teaching than most prudential judgments involve, it still amounts to a kind of prudential judgment, and a non-definitive one that is arguably problematic in several respects. All the same, it is, in his view, the most plausible understanding of what the revision intends –namely, something less radical than a doctrinal reversal or development, but more radical than other prudential judgments tend to be.
As an interpretation of the pope’s and the CDF’s intentions, Turner’s view seems to me interesting and plausible. And it may be the only plausible way to read the statement that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” in a manner that rescues it from the charge of doctrinal error. For the appeal to “the inviolability and dignity of the person” gives the impression that the problem with capital punishment goes beyond mere contemporary circumstances – and thus involves some intrinsic evil. The ius gentium interpretation opens the door to a middle ground reading, on which the problem does go beyond contemporary circumstances but nevertheless does not entail intrinsic evil.
But even if this is indeed the Catechism’s position, it doesn’t follow that that position is well-founded or unproblematic. And in fact it is neither. Turner himself notes several problems with it. One of them is that the assumption that capital punishment is absolutely never needed today for the protection of society is undefended and open to serious objections. Turner notes, for example, that without the deterrent effect of capital punishment, some prisoners are threats to the lives of fellow prisoners and of prison guards. In a recent article, I discussed other ways in which the total abolition of capital punishment threatens innocent lives. In that case, though, incorporation of such an abolition into the ius gentium could hardly facilitate a more just society.
A second problem noted by Turner is that Pope Francis’s frequently reiterated position that life sentences should be abolished partially undermines the rationale for the Catechism’s revision. For the claim that capital punishment is unnecessary today for the protection of society rests on the idea that locking the most dangerous offenders up indefinitely provides an alternative way to incapacitate them. (As I have argued elsewhere, there are also other serious problems with this particular teaching of the pope.)
A third problem identified by Turner concerns the revised Catechism’s appeal to “a new understanding… of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state.” It is not clear exactly what is meant by this. Is the claim that retributive justice is no longer among the considerations to be weighed when deciding what punishments are suitable? Turner notes that this would contradict the traditional teaching of the Church – and as Joe Bessette and I show in our book, the teaching that retributive justice is among the purposes of punishment is also irreformable.
It is worth adding that Pope Pius XII, who taught more systematically and at much greater length about the topic of punishment and criminal justice than any other pope, explicitly addressed the view that modern times call for a new understanding of punishment that deemphasizes retribution and emphasizes instead the protection of society and rehabilitation. And he explicitly rejected this position as contrary to Scripture and the traditional teaching of the Church. (See pp. 128-34 of By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed, which quotes extensively from the relevant documents.)
If the revision of the Catechism is taking the opposite view, we would have a contradiction between Pius XII’s teaching and Francis’s teaching. But Pius XII’s teaching is very clear, is expounded and defended in detail, and is firmly grounded in Scripture and Tradition. But Francis’s teaching on the purposes of punishment – if indeed that teaching is meant entirely to abandon retributive justice in favor of rehabilitation and the protection of society (which is not obvious) – is not clearly expressed, is merely asserted rather than supported with arguments, and is difficult to reconcile with Scripture and Tradition.
These problems, which Turner himself acknowledges, are serious enough. But there are yet other grave problems with the view that the ius gentium should now be understood as absolutely ruling out the death penalty in practice. The revision to the Catechism says that “today… there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person” rules out such a penalty. But is contemporary opposition to capital punishment in fact generally motivated by an increased awareness of human dignity? Does it reflect moral common ground between the Catholic faith and the secular world?
Some of the most influential contemporary Catholic opponents of capital punishment themselves acknowledge that that is the opposite of the truth. For example, Finnis warns:
We should be under no illusions: the organs of the European Council, the United Nations, and the European Union, unconcerned to exclude from human society all intent to kill, and disdainful of God’s lordship over life and death, are devoted to the opaque language of dignity. They deploy it constantly, bureaucratically, to promote their rejection of capital punishment but equally their indulgence towards euthanasia, suicide, and the many forms of anti-marital sex, and the radically unjust promotion of gender fluidity and same-sex parodies of marriage. And the educational institutions and programs they promote are nearly unanimous in denying or ignoring the justice of retribution, with its attention to the continuing and often justly decisive relevance of past deeds to present entitlement and conduct, attention and relevance essential to the truth of the Christian faith.
Similarly, Cardinal Avery Dulles, who supported the abolition of the death penalty, acknowledged that most opposition to capital punishment today reflects, not deeper moral insight but a move away from Christian morality:
Many governments in Europe and elsewhere have eliminated the death penalty in the twentieth century, often against the protests of religious believers. While this change may be viewed as moral progress, it is probably due, in part, to the evaporation of the sense of sin, guilt, and retributive justice, all of which are essential to biblical religion and Catholic faith. The abolition of the death penalty in formerly Christian countries may owe more to secular humanism than to deeper penetration into the gospel.
Arguments from the progress of ethical consciousness have been used to promote a number of alleged human rights that the Catholic Church consistently rejects in the name of Scripture and tradition. The magisterium appeals to these authorities as grounds for repudiating divorce, abortion, homosexual relations, and the ordination of women to the priesthood. If the Church feels herself bound by Scripture and tradition in these other areas, it seems inconsistent for Catholics to proclaim a “moral revolution” on the issue of capital punishment.
Nor is the connection between opposition to capital punishment and hostility to Catholic morality a recent phenomenon. As Brugger acknowledges, when the modern movement to abolish capital punishment got started among European intellectuals two centuries ago, it was closely associated with various doctrines at odds with Catholicism, such as utilitarianism and skepticism about the afterlife. Hence, he writes:
The early organized public efforts to eliminate (or limit, with a view to eliminating) capital punishment, at least for ordinary or “lesser” crimes, were almost exclusively secular phenomena. Early spokesman for the cause include Montesquieu, Voltaire, Robespierre, and Diderot in France, Hume and Bentham in Britain, and Fichte in Germany – all harsh critics of the Catholic Church and its orthodox teaching… [The] social movement to abolish capital punishment… became associated in the minds of many Catholic thinkers with opposition to orthodox belief and to the Church. (Capital Punishment and Roman Catholic Moral Tradition, pp. 130-31)
In short, while the increase in opposition to the death penalty in modern society does indeed reflect a moral revolution, it is precisely a revolution away from the Catholic understanding of human dignity, not a deeper appreciation of it.
Now, the revision to the Catechism offers three justifications for the change: (a) “an increasing awareness [of] the dignity of the person,” (b) “a new understanding… of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state,” and (c) “more effective systems of detention… which ensure the due protection of citizens” without recourse to capital punishment. But as we have just seen, all three of these are seriously problematic.
And there is yet another serious problem with the revision. Again, the statement that “the death penalty… is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” seems, considered in isolation, to be saying that capital punishment is intrinsically evil. To be sure, it need not be read that way, and there are good arguments for not reading it that way. But it takes theological learning and analytical skill to see that. To the average person, the statement seems to be lumping capital punishment in with abortion, euthanasia, and murder in general. Much of the other recent rhetoric of popes and bishops has the same effect. And while popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI at least occasionally qualified these statements by explicitly acknowledging that capital punishment is not intrinsically evil, Francis does not do so. Indeed, he and other bishops have ignored pleas for clarification.
The problem with this is that the Church now thus appears to many people to be contradicting the teaching of Scripture and of her own past Magisterium. For orthodox believers, this can cause a crisis of faith. Meanwhile, heterodox Catholics are emboldened, hopeful that a change in teaching on capital punishment will open the way to changes to other traditional teachings. Again, the revision does not actually have the implications that orthodox believers fear and that the heterodox welcome. But Catholics should not have to have special theological expertise in order to see this. For a magisterial document to require such expertise in order to see its continuity with Scripture and Tradition is thus a serious defect.
As I have discussed in detail elsewhere, the CDF instruction Donum Veritatis and the Tradition of the Church acknowledge that non-definitive acts of the Magisterium can sometimes be defective in this way, and may, accordingly, be met with respectful criticism. I submit that the revision to the Catechism provides as clear an example as there has ever been of a case where the norms of Donum Veritatis apply.
A binding prudential judgment?
There is one further question to address. Again, Turner takes the revision to amount to a non-definitive prudential judgement, and acknowledges that it is problematic. Now, some prudential judgments require only respectful consideration by the faithful, but neither assent nor obedience. Cardinal Ratzinger, acting as head of CDF, stated in a 2004 memorandum that papal opposition to capital punishment was an example of such a prudential judgment. But as Cardinal Dulles noted in his book Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith, there can also be prudential judgments which “require external conformity in behavior, [even if they] do not demand internal assent” (p. 94). He gives as an example past Vatican instructions to theologians concerning which methods of biblical exegesis were permissible. Some such restrictions, says Dulles, were excessive and later relaxed. But though some theologians even at the time may have had good reasons for disagreeing with the restrictions, they were nevertheless obligated to abide by them in their published work. (For a detailed treatment of the different kinds of magisterial statement and their levels of binding force, see pp. 144-57 of By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed.)
Now, some might argue that even if the revision to the Catechism is flawed, and even if Catholics are permitted respectfully to raise criticisms of it, it nevertheless requires “external conformity in behavior” (to borrow Dulles’s phrase). In particular, it might be claimed that the permission to support the actual use of capital punishment that Cardinal Ratzinger affirmed in the 2004 memo has now been rescinded. Hence, it might be argued, every Catholic public official must now work to implement a policy of abolition of capital punishment, even if he is at liberty to think this policy mistaken.
It seems this might be Turner’s view, though this is unclear. He notes that the precepts of the ius gentium, though they lack the absolutely binding character of the precepts of natural law, are nevertheless “existentially indistinguishable from the precepts of the natural law to the common person in any given age” (p. 1047). That is to say, in practice they are generally perceived as having the force of natural law, even if strictly speaking they do not. And Turner later goes on to say that with respect to the abolition of capital punishment, the pope “is within his office to make such a prudential judgment and to enshrine that judgment in the Catechism as existentially binding” (p. 1049). This characterization of the revision as “existentially binding” seems to imply that Catholics are obligated to conform their behavior to it even if they may raise legitimate questions about it – though again, Turner does not say this in so many words.
In any event, there is a serious problem with this interpretation, which I spelled out in a recent article. The Catechism, in line with the traditional teaching of the Church, states that war can be justifiable when necessary to protect citizens against violent aggression. But it also states that the responsibility for making a prudential judgment about when the criteria for just war are actually met lies with public authorities. The reason is that it is public authorities (and not churchmen) who have the duty under natural law to protect citizens, and it is public authorities (and not churchmen) who have the relevant expertise concerning how best to do this.
Now, when addressing capital punishment, the Catechism – both in the versions promulgated by Pope St. John Paul II and in Pope Francis’s revision – states that whether the death penalty is ever justifiable depends on whether it is necessary in order to protect society. The difference is that John Paul thought it was only rarely necessary, and Francis thinks it is never necessary. But, as in the case of war, it is public authorities (and not churchmen) who have the duty to protect citizens from violent aggressors, and public authorities (and not churchmen) who have the relevant expertise. Hence, in the nature of the case, it is hard to see how the Church could make a binding prudential judgment where resort to capital punishment is concerned, any more than she could make a binding prudential judgment where the application of just war principles is concerned. In the one case as in the other, to do so would be to usurp the responsibility that the natural law puts on public authorities, not on the Church.
An attempt to bind public authorities to abolishing capital punishment thus smacks of a kind of clericalism – in particular, of an interference of the Church with the legitimate functions of the state, which the Church has otherwise been moving away from in the period since Vatican II. The Church no longer calls upon the assistance of the state to safeguard people’s souls (since, it is said, the state has no competence in that area). What sense does it make, then, for the Church to interfere with the state’s right to protect people’s bodies (where, the Church says, the state does have competence)?
Furthermore, the revision to the Catechism has been presented as just an extension of what John Paul II already taught and of his reasons for teaching it (such as the adequacy of non-lethal means of protecting society and a better understanding of human dignity). The difference, again, is just that John Paul thought the death penalty was rarely if ever needed and Francis thinks that it never is. But as Ratzinger’s 2004 memo makes clear, John Paul II’s teaching was not of such a nature that Catholics were obligated to behave in accordance with it. So, how can Francis’s teaching, which differs from John Paul’s in degree but not in kind, impose any stricter obligation?
For these reasons, then, it seems to me that the claim that Catholics are obligated to show the revision “external conformity in behavior” is theologically problematic. All the same, this is, of course, not my call to make. Like the other difficulties I’ve described, it is ultimately a matter for the Magisterium of the Church to clarify. I suspect we will have to wait for a future pontificate before that happens.
(source: Dr. Edward Feser, The Catholic World Report)
UNITED NATIONS:
Abolition of the death penalty at the United Nations Human Rights Council 52nd session
The United Nations Human Rights Council met for its 52nd Regular Session from February 27 to April 4, 2023. If you missed it, here is what happened regarding the abolition of the death penalty!
DURING THE DEBATES
Opening his first session as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk delivered, at the occasion of the biennial High Level Panel on the question of Death Penalty, a statement calling for the abolition of the death penalty. He urged countries that had not done so yet to establish a moratorium on executions, and reiterated the international standards which are irreconcilable with the use of mandatory death penalty for non-capital offenses. More information on the High Panel, as well as the statements delivered by members of the World Coalition, can be found at: https://worldcoalition.org/2023/03/14/un-high-level-panel-on-the-death-penalty-and-limitation-to-the-most-serious-crimes/.
Belgian Foreign minister Hadja Lahbib also announced during the session that Belgium, along with other countries, is currently working on a new UN resolution on death penalty which will be submitted to the Human Rights Council in September.
During the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus on March 22, Nada Al- Nashif, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, highlighted the changes made to the Criminal Procedure Code in 2022. These changes allowed for trials in abstentia, to permit the targeting of activists abroad. She also spoke about the widening of the scope of the death penalty in broadly defined cases of terrorism and treason against the state, which includes acts that do not meet the standards of most serious crimes under international law.
The European Union also made an oral statement on situation in Belarus, highlighting the introduction of death penalty for “attempted acts of terrorism” and the subsequent risks of “politically motivated executions.” The EU reminded Belarus of its obligations pursuant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and called for the introduction of a moratorium on executions as a first step towards the abolition of the death penalty.
The death penalty was also mentioned by UN High Commissioner Türk during the Interactive dialogue on Myanmar, where he spoke about the expansion of martial law to large parts of the country. He highlighted how this denies civilians’ right to appeal, even in cases of imposition of the death penalty. He also condemned the widespread use of torture and mock executions across the country.
During the Interactive dialogue on the Democratic Republic of Congo on March 30, UN High Commissioner Türk welcomed the recent legislative reforms adopted in 2022 and encouraged the DRC to implement them as well as promptly adopt pending bills, notably one regarding the abolition of the death penalty.
CIVIL SOCIETY ORAL STATEMENTS ON THE DEATH PENALTY
On the occasion of this 52nd session, several members of the World Coalition against the Death Penalty presented 17 oral statements on the death penalty.
During the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, 4 oral statements focused on the death penalty: one co-signed by ECPM and Iran Human Rights, one co-signed by Harm Reduction International, the World Coalition, ECPM and Capital Punishment Justice Project, and another by the International Bar Association.
The FIDH also delivered a joint statement regarding the situation of protests, freedom of assembly and the death penalty in Iran, highlighting the increasing number of arrests, death sentences and executions since September 2022. It condemned the “utter disregard” that the Iranian government has shown for its international obligations and for human rights.
During the Interactive Dialogue on the OHCHR Report on Belarus, the International Bar Association delivered a joint oral statement, highlighting how Belarus has repeatedly increased offences carrying the death penalty, even for less serious crimes.
Culture pour la Paix et la Justice, ECPM, the International Federation of ACATs (FIACAT), and the World Coalition made a joint statement during the Interactive Dialogue on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to stress the increasing number of death sentences handed out, and the calls for a return to executions by parliamentarians. They called for a commutation of death sentences, an official moratorium on executions, an amendment of the Criminal Code regarding death penalty and the respect of international standards of fair trial.
During the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the International Bar Association (IBAHRI), along with Lawyers for Lawyers, delivered an oral statement condemning the military junta’s “executions of four political prisoners in July 2022 following summary and unfair trials, and the military government’s use of capital punishment as a tool to crush democracy activists.”
During the Interactive dialogue on the report of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the International Commission of Jurists also delivered a statement.
The Advocates for Human Rights delivered two statements on South Sudan, one during the High Commissioner’s report on technical assistance and capacity-building and one during the enhanced interactive dialogue on report of Commission of Human Rights in South Sudan.
During the adoption of the Universal Periodic Outcome on India, the FIDH and the World Organization against Torture (OMCT), in partnership with Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, delivered a joint statement calling for India “to reconsider its position on the large number of recommendations to abolish the death penalty and to make a serious commitment to ratify the UN Convention against Torture.”
During the adoption of the Universal Periodic Outcome on Algeria, the Advocates for Human Rights delivered an oral statement calling onto the State to commute the death sentences of all individuals currently on death row, diminish the number of crimes resulting in a death sentence and ratify the Second Protocol to the ICCPR aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.
During the adoption of the Universal Periodic Outcome on Tunisia, the Advocates for Human Rights delivered an oral statement highlighting how the current “criminal legal system does not consider the context of gender-based violence, even when women are at risk of being sentenced to the death penalty.”
During the adoption of the Universal Periodic Outcome on Bahrain, the Advocates for Human Rights delivered an oral statement calling onto the State to commute the death sentences of all individuals currently on death row and immediately restore a moratorium on executions.
In an oral statement during the Interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s update on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, the FIDH, along with the Sudanese Human Rights Monitor and the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies, condemned the human rights violations enacted by the security forces, and highlighted the alarming number of death sentences (2,700 people including 11 children), as well as the lack of access to fair trials.
SHAMS and the Advocates for Human Rights delivered a joint statement during the General debate on the human rights situation in Palestine calling onto the state to “cease immediately the trying of civilian crimes in military tribunals and abolish the death penalty.”
During the General Debate on Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention, Reprieve made a statement about the “complete disregard” shown for human rights and international law by Saudi Arabia, notably regarding its extensive use of the death penalty and torture.
RESOLUTION ADOPTED
The Human Rights Council adopted 43 resolutions, including one on drug policies and human rights, and 14 decisions and appointed 10 mandate holders.
SIDE EVENTS
Multiple side events were organized by members of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
The IBAHRI, the Permanent Mission of Belgium and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) co-hosted a side event on the role of defense lawyers in death penalty cases during the High Level panel on the question of the death penalty.
A side event on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia was co-hosted by Reprieve and the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights on March 8.
The Advocates for Human Rights organized a side event on the death penalty in the UPR 43 on March 9.
ECPM co-organized one side event with Iran Human Rights about the death penalty in Iran on March 20.
Impact Iran, Article 19, Front line defenders, Amnesty international, Iran Human Rights documentation center et ECPM co-hosted a side event on the state of play 6 months after the beginning of the protests in Iran on March 21.
Finally, the FIACAT and ECPM co-hosted a side event of human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo on March 30.
The 53rd regular session of the Human Rights Council is scheduled to take place in Geneva from June 19 to July 14 2023.
(source: worldcoalition.org)
NIGERIA:
Blasphemy: Kano cleric’s followers allege gang-up against death sentence appeal
The followers of a cleric, Sheikh Abduljabbar Kabara, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy, have alleged gang up against an appeal filed in respect of his case.
Addressing a press conference at the NUJ press centre in the state on Sunday, Kabara’s followers said those behind the gang-up were working against efforts expended on getting justice for the cleric in the ongoing appeal against his death sentence.
One of the followers, Ibrahim Warure, said some clerics responsible for Kabara’s ordeal had been making efforts to disrupt the appeal filed in respect of his case.
The PUNCH had reported that a Sharia Court in the state sentenced Kabara to death by hanging, prompting his followers to file an appeal before a High Court of Justice.
(source: punchng.com)
BANGLADESH:
Police on manhunt for 124 fugitive war criminals----Of the fugitives, 37 were sentenced to the death penalty, life-term or different terms in jail
At least 124 people who are facing charges, under trial, or convicted of committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War have long been on the run due to the lack of a specific law enforcement unit to arrest them.
The Police Headquarters recently gave special instructions to all its units to arrest these persons at the earliest, providing a list.
According to the Police Headquarters and the investigative agency of the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICT-BD), investigations against six of the fugitive accused and trials against 81 accused are ongoing.
37 of the fugitives were sentenced to death penalty, life-term or different terms in jail.
Among them, the whereabouts of 4 convicts have been found, so far. They are Razakar leader Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar of Faridpur (death sentence), currently in Pakistan; al-Badr leaders Chowdhury Mueen Uddin (death sentence) of Feni, now in the UK, and Ashrafuzzaman Khan (death penalty) of Gopalganj, now in the USA; and Razakar leader Zahid Hossain Khokon alias MA Zahid Hossain alias Khokon Razakar (death penalty) of Faridpur, said to be in Sweden.
Some of the fugitives have been arrested by law enforcement officials, including the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
Since its inception in 2009, the tribunal has handed down verdicts in over 50 cases. Most of the cases are now pending with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court as the convicts have filed appeals against the verdicts.
The Supreme Court has disposed of appeals in 10 cases, and 6 convicted war criminals have been hanged, so far.
At a meeting between senior police officers and the representatives of the war crimes investigation agency, it was also decided to send the complete and updated list to the Special Branch of the police so that the accused could not escape abroad. Besides, the meeting also decided that any unit can conduct operations to arrest the fugitives.
Police Headquarters DIG (Operations) Haider Ali Khan said arresting the accused under warrant is part of the regular work of law enforcement. However, instructions have been given with special emphasis on the arrest of people accused of crimes against humanity.
M Sanaul Haque, coordinator of the tribunal's investigation agency, lamented that the arrest warrants had not been implemented even though trials in many of the cases were completed.
He said: “Many are on the run or living a comfortable life. For this reason, the list has been sent to the Police Headquarters. A request has been made for the speedy arrest of the absconding accused.”
Sanaul, also a former police chief, said: “Police are busy with various tasks. That may be why there has been a laxity in the arrest of people accused of crimes against humanity. Now they have started to act. The absconding accused should be quickly arrested and brought to justice.”
Of the fugitives, investigation is underway against 6 people from Satkhira: Korban Ali Gazi, Abdul Jalil Gazi, Abul Hussain Gazi, Surat Ali Gazi, Abdul Aziz alias Aziz Commander and Nawab Ali Gazi alias Noba.
The other death-row convicts now on the run include Engineer Abdul Jabbar of Pirojpur, Nasir Uddin Ahmed alias Nasir alias Captain ATM Nasir of Kishoreganj, Abdul Aziz Mia alias Ghora Mara Aziz of Gaibandha, Moulvibazar Razakar commander Neshar Ali.
(saource: dhakatribune)
**************
RAB arrests fugitive war crimes suspect in Dhaka
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a warranted war crimes suspect after 8 years of being a fugitive from the city's Ashulia area on Sunday (21 May).
The arrestee is Md Azhar Ali Shikdar, 68, son of late Hazi Ahmed Ali Shikdar of Kachua upazila under Bagherhat district.
The elite force said in a media release on Monday that during the Liberation War in 1971, Azhar Ali Shikder and his associates were directly involved in crimes against humanity such as murder, genocide, rape, illegal detention, torture, kidnapping, looting and arson in Kachua and Morelganj areas of Bagerhat.
Acting on a tipp-off, a team of RAB-2 conducted a drive in the Ashulia police station area of Dhaka yesterday and arrested him. During interrogation, the arrestee confessed to his involvement in the crimes.
(source: tbsnews.net)
MYANMAR:
A triple death sentence handed out to some political prisoners
Political prisoners who were arrested for engaging in anti-coup activities have faced prosecution by the Military Council on multiple charges in some cases, and death penalty has been imposed not just once but in some cases been sentenced to death 3 times.
As of May 19th, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has compiled lists revealing that 114 individuals presently incarcerated in prisons and sentenced to death in relation to their involvement in the Spring Revolution, and the anti-Junta movement.
There are also an additional 42 individuals who have been sentenced to death in absentia. The total count of people condemned to death by the Military Council stands at 156, as reported by AAPP.
According to AAPP, on May 18th, the special court at Insein Prison pronounced delivered verdicts against 5 young men, resulting in a combination of death sentences and life imprisonments. Among them, one individual faced a second death sentence, while the remaining four were handed a combination of death sentences and life imprisonment.
These young individuals were arrested under allegations of shooting at a train with security police personnel on board that circled Yangon in August 2021. Their arrest took place in September of the same year, and after a duration of over a year, the Military Council handed down the verdict.
U Than Soe Naing, a political analyst told the Than Lwin Times " the significant number of death sentences is a clear indication of the deliberate repression by the Military Council against individuals associated with the Spring Revolution, displaying brutality serves as a menacing tactic to suppress dissent and instill fear among the population. It appears that the Military Council remains convinced of its ability to independently orchestrate the upcoming election. As a preemptive measure, they are employing severe punishments to eradicate any affiliation with opposition forces”.
From an analysis of AAPP's list the Than Lwin Times found that a total of 186 individuals have received life imprisonment sentences. Additionally it was determined that a minimum of 9 people have faced the imposition of both death sentences and life imprisonments.
Furthermore, 7 individuals who had initially been sentenced to life imprisonment have now received sentences ranging from 3 to 10 years in prison. It is alarming to note that there are 5 individuals who have been subjected to the harsh sentence of death three times each.
Even though they have already faced the death penalty once, there are still 4 political prisoners who have been sentenced to additional prison terms ranging from 3 years to over 200 years.
A Union Supreme Court lawyer expressed the view that a thorough evaluation of the entire legal process is necessary to determine the fairness of a death sentence before it can be considered for examination and approval.
"From a legal perspective, it is essential to conduct a comprehensive analysis of each case to determine whether the punishments align with fairness and adhere to the prescribed laws. Approaching judgments solely from a political standpoint undermines their fairness and consistency with the law. Therefore all applications, submissions, and judgments should
undergo meticulous scrutiny on a case-by-case basis, ensuring the identification of a fair and consistent perspective”, he pointed out.
Last year, on July 23rd and 24th, the Military Council carried out the execution of democracy activists Ko Jimmy (Ko Kayw Min Yu), Ko Phyo Zayar Thaw, Ko Aung Thura Zaw, and Ko Hla Myo Aung, all of whom had previously received death sentences.
The executions conducted by the Military Council elicited strong protests and condemnation from both the domestic population and foreign nations. As a consequence, additional international sanctions were imposed on the Military Council in response to their actions.
Despite facing significant pressure and condemnation, the Military Council persistently defies these circumstances and continues to impose death sentences and additional penalties upon individuals affiliated with the resistance forces engaged in anti-Junta activities.
(source: bnionline.com)
INDIA:
Supreme Court acquits death row convict from Mumbai over procedural lapses in probe against him----The SC bench, comprising Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, set aside the order of conviction passed by the trial court and Bombay High Court, while directing that the appellant be set at liberty, if not required in any other case.
The Supreme Court, on Friday, acquitted a convict who had been awarded the death penalty by Bombay High Court after being held guilty of raping and murdering a 6-year-old girl living in a Bhayandar slum in 2010.
Bhayandar police arrested man for rape, murder of minor
On June 11, 2010, the girl, who lived with her family, went missing when she stepped out of their tenement, to play after dinner. The following day, the body of the child was found in the gutter, with multiple injuries on her private parts. An autopsy confirmed rape and murder. The Bhayandar police registered an offence (FIR 109/2010) under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offences), 302 (murder) and 201 (causing the disappearance of evidence of offence), on June 12, 2010.
Investigations led to the arrest of a neighbour, identified as Prakash Nishad, 24, on June 13, 2010, for his alleged involvement in the crime. Police claimed to have found blood-stained tiles in Nishad’s room and his questioning led to the discovery of his blood-stained clothes and the undergarments of the girl, which he is alleged to have hidden at a flat in Vasai.
Accused first convicted in sessions court
On November 27, 2014, the sessions court convicted the accused in connection with all the offences and imposed capital punishment for murder and sentence of imprisonment for other crimes. The verdict was upheld by the high court in October 2015.
Supreme Court points out several procedural lapses
While hearing the petition, the SC pointed out several procedural lapses and yawning gaps – like key witnesses not being cross-examined, creating a gap in the chain of circumstances, no spot map or any ocular evidence to prove the presence of the appellant at the crime scene, the lack of understanding of the language causing prejudice to the appellant, no clarity on who drew the blood samples and other tests of the appellant for DNA confirmation, the possibility of contamination due to the delay and gaps in the chain of custody of crucial medical evidence.
Noting that no reasons were given for non-compliance with the requirement of Section 53 A (examination of accused by medical practitioner) of the Criminal Procedure Code, a ‘glaring lapse’ was caused in the investigation, the SC said.
Moreover, none of the relatives disclosed either the complicity of the appellant in the crime or the reason for their suspicion towards him, leading to the possibility of all hypotheses.
Having scrutinised the material on record, the court said the very basis of the appellant being a suspect in the first instance remained a mystery, as persons who may have shed light on this essential aspect were not examined by the prosecution.
The SC bench, comprising Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, set aside the order of conviction passed by the trial court and Bombay High Court, while directing that the appellant be set at liberty, if not required in any other case.
The SC said the offence against the innocent child was not in dispute and could not be deprecated enough even in the most severe terms. “However, the circumstances forming the chain of commission of do not point conclusively to the appellant in a manner that he may be punished for the same much less, with the sentence of being put to death,” the bench said.
(source: freepressjournal.in)
************
Supreme Court acquits man on death row for minor's rape-murder
(see: https://www.deccanherald.com/national/supreme-court-acquits-man-on-death-row-for-minors-rape-murder-1220745.html)
PHILIPPINES:
Robin Padilla wants death penalty vs law enforcers, elective exes involved in illegal drugs
Senator Robin Padilla is again pushing to reinstate the death penalty in the country, this time targeting law enforcement and elected officials implicated in illegal drugs.
Padilla filed Senate Bill No. 2217 to amend the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 to include capital punishment for drug-related offenses by members of the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and other uniformed or law enforcement agencies.
Under Padilla’s proposal, elected officials who contribute, donate, or profit from drug trafficking shall likewise be executed “without prejudice to removal from office and perpetually disqualified from holding government positions.”
But, he noted, that capital punishment “shall not be inflicted upon a woman while pregnant or one year after delivery, or any person over 70 years of age.”
The Philippines, according to Padilla, is in a “state of insecurity” due to a startling surge of illegal drug cases involving law enforcers and elective officials.
“The present law has demonstrated its futility to deter offenses relating to drugs. Our law’s leniency has brought us to this sorry state of affairs where law enforcers are now unafraid to be involved in illegal drugs. The situation is dire which requires our government to respond with a staunch and decisive measure: the law must be changed,” the senator said.
He decried the “incontrovertible truth that the illegal drug trade and prevalence become so entrenched and systematic that its rot sets in the very core of our public institutions,” – thus, underscoring the need to re-impose capital punishment to deter drug offenders from law enforcement agencies and public offices.
The proposed law’s ultimate goal, he said, is “to reinstate the rule of law and rebuild the trust of the Filipino people.”
Senate Bill No. 2217 is Padilla’s 3rd bill in the 19th Congress that calls for reviving the death penalty for specific crimes in the Philippines.
He earlier filed proposed measures seeking capital punishment for security personnel engaged in committing murder and officers of the Bureau of Customs and other law enforcement agencies found guilty of violating the anti-agricultural smuggling law.
The death penalty for heinous crimes was first imposed in the Philippines in 1993. But this was stricken off the list of penalties prescribed by penal laws in 2006 during the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
In 2007, the Philippines ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, requiring nations to abolish capital punishment.
(source: newsinfo.inquirer.net)
ISRAEL:
How Likely Is the Return of the Death Penalty in Israel?
Early 2023, the newly elected government of Israel announced an ensemble of judicial reforms; including a new bill that would introduce the death penalty for acts of terrorism. As of May 2023, the judicial reforms have been put on hold by the PM Netanyahu. This article takes a historical perspective to recontextualize the issue of the death penalty in Israel, as well as the views of civil society organizations on the subject.
In January, the newly elected government of Israel announced an ensemble of judicial reforms which would modify the entire Israeli judiciary system. As part of this reform package is a law trying to instate mandatory death penalty for those deemed “terrorists” by the State. Specifically, the law targets anyone who “intentionally or out of indifference causes the death of an Israeli citizen when the act is carried out from a racist motive or hate to a certain public… and with the purpose of harming the State of Israel and the rebirth of the Jewish people in its homeland.” In essence, the law would only apply to Palestinians Israeli citizens accused of killing a Jewish Israeli citizen, but not in any other case.
The law has been found unconstitutional by Chief Justice Barak, as it contradicts with the right to life embedded in Israel Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was also set to oppose the law on constitutionality grounds. Despite this, the Penal Bill (Amendment – Death Penalty for Terrorists) was approved in a preliminary reading by the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) Plenum and sent to the House Committee on 1st March 2023.
As of May, however, the entirety of the judicial reforms package has been put on hold by Prime Minister Netanyahu, following massive demonstrations and a general strike.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN ISRAEL
Historically, capital punishment has been present in Israeli law since the inception of Israel in 1948, inherited from the British Mandate legal code.
The first recorded official execution in Israel was that of an Israeli army officer, Meir Tobianski, in 1948, who was found guilty of espionage and treason by court martial and executed by firing squad. However, Tobianski was later exonerated posthumously, highlighting the deep flaws of death penalty as an irreversible punishment.
In 1954, the Knesset, abolished the death penalty for murder, but has retained it for war crimes, crimes against humanity, Nazi crimes against Jewish people, treason and in certain cases under military law. It also remained on the books under emergency regulations inherited from the British Mandate. The last person to be executed was Adolf Eichmann, architect of the Holocaust, in 1962. He was sentenced using the 1950 Nazis and Nazi Collaborators Punishment Law.
Israel has been classified by Amnesty International as an abolitionist country for ordinary crimes since 1954. It has not signed nor ratified the Second Optional Protocol aiming at the abolition of death penalty.
After the occupation of the Palestinian Territories following the 1967 War, Israel declared that the military courts it established there could impose the death penalty. However, the policy since then has been to systematically commute the death sentences though the military chain of command, a feature that would become much more complicated if the new proposed law were to pass.
Overall attitudes in Israel have mostly been against death penalty, partly due to multiple factors. Firstly, power of deterrence for death penalty against Palestinians accused of killing Jewish Israelis is dubious at best, since many of these missions are usually suicide missions. There is also a fear of Palestinian martyrdom from Israel, which is a well research phenomenon within Palestinians terror and resistance groups alike.
Secondly, there is a fear of international outcry, since Israel, which groups itself with Western countries, would be the 1st to ever bring back death penalty. The law proposal already attracted a lot of criticism from European countries and the UN.
Until 2018, the demand for death penalty had never garnered momentum or the endorsement of any major parties in Israel. Since then, political instability and coalition building have made demands for the return of the death penalty part of public discourse.
CIVIL SOCIETY REACTION TO THE PROPOSED BILL
The proposed judicial reforms attracted massive public protest and demonstrations, including members of parliament and many civil society organizations. Physicians for Human Rights Israel, a non-governmental organization founded in 1988 by a group of Israeli physicians has recently asked to join the World Coalition. It said it wants to “mobilize local civil society against an imminent abhorrent and discriminatory attempt to introduce the death penalty in Israel.”
They stated that the proposed bill “and the rhetoric surrounding it demonstrate clear discriminatory intent, as it will only be used against Palestinians in all areas of Israeli control. It thus further contributes to an already existing process of dehumanization of Palestinians, manifested already in extra-judicial killings by the Israeli security apparatus, and puts both Palestinian individuals and communities at increased risk.”
They also stressed the importance of the coming months, highlighting that “a wide cross-section of the Israeli public, which is likely to support the bill, ignores its implications – that there are judges living among us willing to implement state-mandated murder, individuals willing to serve as executioners, physicians ready to administer lethal injections, and firing squads prepared to aim their rifles and kill.”
Calling onto other civil society actors to follow their lead, they stated that they “firmly believe that all associations representing health and medical professionals must unequivocally oppose the death penalty and not only prohibit their participation in its implementation.”
(source: worldcoalition.org)
IRAN----executions
6 prisoners executed in Ghezel Hesar, Zahedan, and Gohardasht prisons----3 prisoners of Ghezel Hesar prison, whose family’s protest rally was suppressed by police forces, also executed
According to the Iranian Human Rights Center, on Saturday, May 20, 2023. 6 prisoners executed on charges of drugs, murder, and money laundering in Ghezel Hesar, Zahedan, and Gohardasht prisons.
Statistics show that in the new year, more than 300 prisoners executed in Iranian prisons.
On Saturday, May 20, 2023, 4 prisoners named Saeed Gravand, Shahab Mansouri Nesab. Shahram Sharqi, and Samad Gravand were executed in Ghezel Hesar prison on charges related to drugs.
These prisoners transferred to prison quarantine the day before. Their families and relatives protested this by gathering in front of Ghezel Hesar prison. But the officers confronted them with beatings, firing tear gas and bullets, and dispersed them.
Families and relatives protested this by gathering in front of Ghezel Hesar prison, but the officers confronted them with beatings, firing tear gas and bullets, and dispersed them
.
On the same day, a prisoner named Shahroz Sokhanveri. A prisoner accused of money laundering and human trafficking, executed in Gohardasht prison. On May 17, 2023, he transferred to solitary confinement to execute the death sentence.
In addition, on the same day. Asef Shah Bakhsh, 30 years old, from Dezap Zahedan, executed on the charge of murder. He has been in prison since 2020.
Including the execution of these 6 prisoners, more than 300 people executed in Iranian prisons in the new year.
On May 16, 1402, Amnesty International announced regarding the increase in executions in Iran that Iran carried out executions in the new year by 83% more than last year.
This report states: “In 2022, at least 883 people executed in the world, which is 53 % more than in 2021. The reason for this terrible jump is the killing policy in Iran and Saudi Arabia. The number of executions in Iran has increased by 83% and in Saudi Arabia it has tripled. By executing 576 people, Iran is responsible for 65% of all executions in the world.
(source: en.iranhrs.org)
**************
EU approves new sanctions on Iran after protesters executed----Latest package aims to punish Tehran for human rights abuse, says top European diplomat
EU foreign ministers on Monday approved proposed sanctions on five Iranians and two entities after the execution in Iran last week of 3 men convicted of killing security force members during protests last year.
Those targeted include Salman Adinehvand, commander of the Tehran police relief unit of Iran's law enforcement forces and Saeed Montazer Al Mahdi, Iranian police spokesman.
In a press statement, the EU council said Mr Al Mahdi had repeatedly downplayed widely reported schoolgirl poisonings by claiming the "majority" of those alleged were "not real".
The co-operative foundation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is among the entities targeted by the new sanctions, according to the statement.
The EU said the foundation was responsible for managing the IRGC's investments and funnelling money into the violent crackdown on last year's demonstrations.
Nationwide protests erupted after the death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini on September 16.
She had been arrested by the morality police in Tehran after wearing her hijab “improperly”.
The other group targeted was the Student Basij Organisation (SBO), a branch within the Basij organisation that acts as the IRGC's "violent enforcers on university campuses", the EU said.
The SBO "used live ammunition and opened fire on students", the bloc added.
The Basij was created as a paramilitary volunteer militia by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, former Iranian supreme leader, in 1979.
It has a presence in every Iranian university, monitoring people's dress and behaviour.
This is the 8th time since October that Brussels has imposed sanctions on Iranian people and entities involved in the repression of protesters.
Sanctions include frozen assets and a travel ban to the EU.
Josep Borrell, the bloc's foreign affairs and security chief, linked Monday's announcement to last week's execution of three men over their alleged role in the anti-government protests.
“Remember that three people have been executed," Mr Borrell said in Brussels as he arrived at a meeting of foreign ministers.
On Friday, Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were hanged in the central city of Isfahan.
They had been sentenced to death in January after being found guilty of “moharebeh” – waging “war against God” – for allegedly killing two members of the Basij paramilitary force and a police officer on November 16, according to the Iranian judiciary.
They were the sixth and seventh Iranians executed in connection with the protests, which Tehran has described as foreign-instigated riots.
Thousands of Iranians were arrested and hundreds of people killed, including dozens of security personnel.
The country hanged 75 per cent more people in 2022 than the previous year, the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty said in a joint report in April.
At least 582 people were executed in Iran last year, the highest number of executions in the country since 2015 and well above the 333 recorded in 2021, the 2 groups said.
But the pace of executions this year has been even higher so far, IHR now counting at least 260 executions since the start of the year.
(source: thenationalnews.com)
*******************
Iranian Authorities’ Terrorising Campaign Continues; 2 Afghan Nationals at Grave Risk of Public Execution
he Fars province’s prosecutor today announced that the death sentences of Afghan nationals, Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeim Hashem Ghotali have been upheld and will be publicly carried out in Shiraz imminently. The Afghans were sentenced to death for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) and baghy (armed rebellion) based on torture-tainted confessions, without due process and fair trial rights. No evidence of guilt has been presented in the case against the 2 men.
Iran Human Rights calls for practical punitive measures in order to stop the Iranian authorities’ killing machine.
Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “In the last 20 days, Iranian authorities have executed 106 people Including 2 people for expressing their opinion, one kidnapped Swedish-Iranian dual citizen, and 3 protesters. The international community’s response has been limited to condemnations, with no practical consequences. Now the authorities are taking their campaign of terrorising people one step further by plans of publicly executing 2 Afghans. Unless they are met with strong punitive consequences, the atrocities will intensify, as there is no limit for how far the regime is willing to go in order to prolong its rule.”
According to IRNA, the Fars province Prosecutor, Seyed Kazem Mousavi stated today that the death sentences of the defendants in the “Shahcheragh” case had been upheld and would be carried out on Shiraz’s “9 Dey Street” imminently.
On 15 February, the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported that Afghan nationals Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeim Hashem Ghotali were sentenced to death for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth), baghy (armed rebellion) and action against national security by Branch One of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court.
1st defendant in the case, Mohammad Ramez Rashidi in court and in his aired forced confessions
On 26 October 2022, Iranian state media reported a terrorist attack on a shrine called “Shahcheragh” in Shiraz which they claimed the protests had paved the way for. Shortly after, they claimed ISIS was responsible for the attack. In the published video footage of the attack, one shooter was identified as a lone wolf. According to the authorities, he was injured at the scene and later died of his injuries in hospital. However there are discrepancies about the shooter’s identity and nationality. Days later, official sources reported the arrest of six others. Mohammad Ramez Rashidi’s torture-tainted forced confessions were first aired on 2 November but he could not be identified in any of the videos aired as evidence of his involvement. In a documentary named “For ISIS,” which was aired on 9 December, Mohammad’s forced confessions were aired along with three Tajik nationals, one Uzbek and an Azeri national.
Mohammad Ramez Rashidi seated on the far left. It is not clear which of the other four defendants Naeim Hashem Ghotali is, though from the seating order, he could be the defendant sat next to Mohammad Ramez Rashidi.
However, when the trial was reported on 15 February, Mohammad Ramez Rashidi was the only defendant from the documentary, and his co-defendants were all Afghan nationals. Of the five, Mohammad and Naeim Hashem Ghotali Hashem received death sentences. They were denied due process and fair trial rights by the Revolutionary Court and their forced confessions used as proof of guilt. There is no information available about the men prior to their arrests.
The two men were tried along with three other Afghan nationals in the “Shahcheragh” case. Mohammad Rahmani was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, Mostafa Jan Amani to 15 years and Hamid Ala Kaboli to 5 years.
On 12 May, Iran Human Rights warned of the imminent execution of 12 political prisoners including Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeim Hashem Ghotali. Three others were executed on 19 May.
It is important to note that Afghan nationals constitute the largest group of non-Iranian executions and death row cases in Iranian prisons. In 2021, no execution of Afghan nationals was recorded until September, when five men were executed in the space of 35 days. On 10 October 2021, Iran Human Rights expressed its concern that the Taliban takeover in August had facilitated the execution of Afghan nationals. That number more than tripled in 2022, with 16 Afghan nationals including a juvenile offender and a woman executed. At least six Afghans have been executed in 2023 so far, with four executed in May.
(source: iranhr.net)
*****************
2nd Night of Protests in Tehran, Mashhad, and Abdanan Against Execution of Uprising Prisoners Ordered by Khamenei
Protests by the people in various cities against the heinous execution of 3 uprising prisoners, Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaqoubi, who were executed by Khamenei’s order on May 19, continued on the evening of Saturday, May 20, in Tehran and other cities, including Mashhad and Abdanan.
In different areas of Tehran, such as Tehransar, Chitgar, Ekbatan, Zafar, Janat Abad, Sattar Khan, and Tehranpars, brave youths initiated demonstrations and protests, chanting slogans such as “Bloodthirsty Khamenei, we will bury you,” “Death to the murderous rule,” “We have not sacrificed to compromise and praise the murderous leader,” “We are back, the uprising continues,” “We swear on the blood of our comrades, we will persist until the very end,” “Poverty, corruption and high prices, we will continue until the regime is overthrown,” and “Freedom, freedom, freedom.”
In Mashhad, courageous youths protested with the slogan “So long as the dictator is in power, the uprising continues.” In Abdanan, brave youths expressed their opposition to the judiciary’s criminal executions by chanting “Death to the dictator” and setting fire to a car belonging to the regime’s mercenaries.
(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) )
*****************
Iran summons Swiss ambassador over executions condemnation
The Iranian foreign ministry on Sunday summoned Switzerland’s ambassador to Tehran to protest a tweet from the Swiss Embassy condemning the recent spree of executions in the Islamic republic.
On Friday, Iran executed 3 men for their involvement in the wave of nationwide protests at the end of last year. The Swiss Embassy in Iran condemned the executions, calling on Tehran to reduce carrying out the death sentence, while using a picture which included the flag of the overthrown Pahlavi dynasty.
Iran’s “dissatisfaction” and “protest” was conveyed to Swiss Ambassador Nadine Olivieri Lozano, saying that the “unusual act” contradicted the friendly relations between Bern and Tehran.
Spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry Nasser Kanani also condemned Switzerland’s “intrusive” stance on Saturday, saying that it was “ridiculous” for Western countries to accuse Iran of restricting freedom of expression when they themselves “have a heavy record of gross human rights violations against other nations and are openly engaged in violating the rights of their citizens in their own country.”
Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, 22, died in police custody last September after being detained for allegedly violating the strict dress code that requires women to cover their hair. Authorities claimed that the cause of death was a heart attack, but human rights activists and witnesses said she had been beaten inside the police van, leading to her death.
Amini's death sparked nationwide protests initially calling for greater freedoms, before growing into a revolution with calls for the overthrow of the Islamic regime. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its paramilitary Basij led a violent crackdown against the protesters, killing hundreds of people and wounding thousands others.
The protests have been quietened, but Iran's crackdown was harshly condemned by the international community.
(source: rudaw.net)
MAY 21, 2023:
TEXAS:
It’s OK to Drop Charges if You’ve Got the Wrong Person. ‘It’s Called Doing Your Job.’
Ms. Belkin was a reporter at The Times for more than 25 years and is the author of the forthcoming book “Genealogy of a Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night.”
In March of 1989, I spent 2 days sitting in a Dallas courthouse among a group of journalists watching justice being blocked.
Randall Dale Adams, who had served 12 years for the murder of a police officer, had been granted a new trial by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. This was a year after the filmmaker Errol Morris essentially proved that he was innocent — and that another man, who confessed to the murder on film in Mr. Morris’s documentary “The Thin Blue Line,” was guilty.
In a damning ruling, the appeals court accepted the findings of a lower court that Dallas County prosecutors had suppressed evidence favorable to Mr. Adams, deceived the court on the whereabouts of a witness and knowingly used perjured testimony. But prosecutors were still disinclined to let Mr. Adams go.
At a bail hearing, they played games for 2 days with the court, demanding that the sitting judge be removed from the case, requiring a second judge to fly in from Waco, Texas, only for the court to rule that the 1st judge could in fact stay. Then the district attorney, John Vance, argued for bail that Mr. Adams could not afford nor probably raise.
“I don’t think Randall Dale Adams ought to be out on the street,” he said of the man his office had railroaded.
Nearly 36 hours after the hearing began, Mr. Adams finally left the building on bail, pending a new trial, after his conviction had been overturned. I have kept a photo of the moment across from my desk for nearly 35 years. Wearing borrowed clothes as he walked to a waiting car, his hands held out in front of him as if still in handcuffs, Mr. Adams was asked by one of the sea of reporters and photographers how it felt to be back in the world.
“I’m not out of Dallas yet,” he said, and seemed to walk faster.
I thought of Mr. Adams often as I kept track of the recent news from Tallahassee, Fla., where the lawyer for Leo Schofield, 57, stood before a room packed with spectators at a parole hearing two weeks ago. Many of those spectators vehemently believed him innocent of the 1987 murder of his wife, Michelle.
The thread that connects the 2 men is the apparent unwillingness of their prosecutors, despite new evidence, to accept even the possibility that the men they convicted were innocent.
Like Mr. Adams, Mr. Schofield had spent much of a lifetime — 35 years in his case — trying to regain his freedom. As in the Adams case, there was new evidence discovered: Fingerprints that were not tested for 17 years turned out to belong to a man who has been convicted of murder, and that man has confessed to Michelle Schofield’s murder. As in the Adams case, it took an outsider to bring Mr. Schofield’s case attention, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Gilbert King, whose nine-part podcast, “Bone Valley,” has been downloaded more than 6 million times.
Most of all, as in the Adams case, the district attorney’s office, this time in Polk County, Fla., spent years fighting Mr. Schofield’s release. At a parole hearing, a few years ago, the state was represented by a former prosecutor who appeared to take the case personally.
“We investigated this thing upside down,” said Jerry Hill, a retired state attorney, in a “Bone Valley” interview with Mr. King’s co-host, Kelsey Decker, minutes after the board denied parole to Mr. Schofield in 2020. “Leo Schofield is a coldblooded murderer. And if I have my way, he’ll never get out of prison.”
“The past is obdurate. It doesn’t want to change,” Stephen King wrote in his opus “11/22/63.” That could have been describing the scene in either Dallas or Tallahassee. As Mr. King’s central character in “11/22/63,” a time traveler, gets closer to preventing the assassination of John Kennedy, the past throws ever larger obstacles in his way. And so it went in the Adams and Schofield cases, as the prosecutors all but physically barred the jailhouse door.
Much has changed in the American judicial system since Randall Dale Adams walked out of that Dallas jail. For some prosecutors, exoneration has become a point of pride — a sign that the prosecutorial machinery is confident enough to review its own work and admit mistakes. Conviction integrity units, also called conviction review units, are particularly robust in some cities, including Detroit and Philadelphia, said Barbara O’Brien, a professor at Michigan State University College of Law. Ms. O’Brien is also editor of the National Registry of Exonerations, which since its founding in 2012 has reported more than 3,000 exonerations that have taken place since 1989, including more than 230 in 2022 alone.
Where prosecutors are not re-evaluating their own convictions, a layer of what Ms. O’Brien calls “professional exonerators” has grown up — groups like the Innocence Project, law school clinics and lawyers working on cases pro bono.
But there are still prosecutors who won’t admit they were wrong, even in the face of substantial evidence. There was no expression of regret from the prosecutors who convicted Randall Dale Adams in Dallas. Nor does one seem likely from the Polk County district attorney’s office, where any defense of Leo Schofield appears to have been seen by its prosecutors as an attempt to subvert the jury’s decision and, by extension, justice.
“It happens less, because back awhile you would regularly see where it was a small town and the state attorney could be the cousin of the sheriff, and who they decided was guilty, was guilty,” said Herman Lindsey, executive director of Witness to Innocence, which provides assistance to exonerated death row inmates. (Mr. Lindsey himself spent three years on death row before the Florida Supreme Court concluded the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction. He is one of 30 death row inmates in Florida to be exonerated since 1972, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.)
But these wrongful convictions still happen, and not every prosecutor is willing to reconsider a conviction. “While yes, there are more prosecutors willing to be proven wrong, there are still those who show an almost Disney-villain level” of not budging, Ms. O’Brien said, adding that “the Schofield case is beyond the pale, one of the worst I have seen.”
How to explain this stubborn insistence on guilt despite what others perceive as proof of innocence or, at least, enough evidence to warrant another look?
Ms. O’Brien blames “the fact that we have an adversarial system rather than an inquisitorial one,” meaning that the court does not take part in investigating the facts but is rather assumed to be an impartial forum in which the prosecution and the defense present their opposing arguments. It can attract people who “see things as very black and white, there’s good guys and bad guys, where the goal is the win rather than the truth,” she said.
In other words, it takes absolute certainty to go to work every day and send people to prison for up to a lifetime. And certainty is tricky to surrender. Allowing for the probability that you were wrong once allows for the possibility that you have been wrong often, and opening that door is often unthinkable.
Scott Cupp has seen how prosecutors learn to shut the mental gates against doubt. He was a prosecutor in Florida for 17 years. “I put a lot of folks in prison,” he said, adding, “but before I did, I made damn sure I was right.” Several times during his tenure, he said, he was presented evidence that he had the wrong person and faced reluctance among some of his prosecutors to drop the charges, “but we ended up doing so — it’s called doing your job,” he said.
Then Mr. Cupp became a defense lawyer. In fact, he was Mr. Schofield’s lawyer off and on until he was offered a position as a judge on the 20th Judicial Circuit Court in Charlotte County, Fla., in 2014. The case haunted him while on the bench, and when he heard Gilbert King speak at an event in Naples, Fla., in 2018, he told the reporter to go read the case transcript because his client was “not just wrongly convicted. He’s an innocent man.” In March, Mr. Cupp stepped down from his position on the court to defend Mr. Schofield again, full-time and free.
“The system is made up of human beings, and human beings are flawed,” he said. “In this case, you add a relatively small town where law enforcement and prosecution is a big fish in a little pond. It’s ego pure and simple.”
When there is progress in such “small ponds,” therefore, it can be incremental. Hints of such an evolution, however glacial, were visible in the room at the latest Schofield parole hearing, Mr. Cupp said. (Parole has been abolished in Florida, one of 16 states to do so, but because that happened after Mr. Schofield was sentenced, he is still entitled to parole.) The room was filled with journalists and sympathetic spectators.
This time, it was Jacob Orr, an assistant state attorney in the 10th Judicial Circuit, who stood to speak; he had not been involved in the original prosecution. “If we thought that Leo Schofield, or any other inmate, was innocent, we would take immediate action to right that injustice,” he told The New York Times in January. “However, the state cannot ignore the overwhelming amount of evidence that has proven Leo Schofield guilty.”
But at the hearing he appeared to pivot a bit. While his predecessors had called Mr. Schofield names, handed grisly autopsy photos of Michelle Schofield to the panel members and argued Mr. Schofield should not be released because he refused to express remorse, Mr. Orr simply asked that “you treat this inmate the same as any other,” in determining whether to grant parole.
And so they did. Longtime prisoners in Florida are routinely required to spend a year or two in a unit designed to prepare them for life in the world, and though the panel denied the request for parole, it did order Mr. Schofield to spend 12 months in a transition program at the Everglades Correctional Institution near Miami. Successful completion of the program is likely to result in his release at his next parole hearing in 1 year.
Perhaps then he will be able to live a quiet life, as Mr. Adams did after his release. When Mr. Adams died in 2010, at age 61, he had spent 1/5 of his life in prison and had come within 3 days of being executed for a crime he did not commit.
Mr. Schofield, who has spent 2/3 of his life in prison for a crime another man says he committed, should have been sent to the lifers program “in 2020 when Jerry Hill came and insisted Leo would die in prison instead,” Mr. Cupp said. But better now than never, he added.
News reports after the hearing “described it as a negative thing, denied parole, and that’s factually correct,” Mr. Cupp said. “But there were positive things that came out of it. The state attorney’s office clearly signaled that they were backing off.”
Finally.
(source: Opinion; Guest Essay....Lisa Belkin was a reporter at The Times for more than 25 years and is the author of the forthcoming book “Genealogy of a Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night.”----New York Times)
FLORIDA:
Hillsborough’s top seniors urge common sense on death penalty----Read the 3 winning entries in the 2023 R.F. “Red” Pittman Tribune Scholars essay contest.
It’s a controversial question that has dominated political debates about criminal justice for the past year.
Florida requires a jury to be unanimous in its decision to sentence a prisoner to death. Should the state roll back its stance on unanimity and allow for an 8-4 majority to rule? Should the state continue to utilize the death penalty or dismiss it entirely?
A total of 96 Hillsborough County high school students responded as part of the annual R.F. “Red” Pittman Tribune Scholars program, named for a publisher of the former Tampa Tribune newspaper and now sponsored by the Tampa Bay Times.
Only those at the top 3% of their class were asked to write a 250-word essay in response to the question.
The judges this year were Stephen Lambert, English professor and quality enhancement plan director at Hillsborough Community College; Yuly Restrepo, assistant professor of English at the University of Tampa; and Jim Verhulst, deputy editor of editorials for the Tampa Bay Times.
Each winner received a scholarship for $1,300. They winners were Kaylee Greelish, Sickles High School; Kaylee Matteis, Newsome High School; and Alexsandra Wilkes, Gaither High School.
Kaylee Greelish, Sickles High School
Kaylee plans to attend the University of Central Florida’s Burnett Honors College to study engineering.
Florida should not roll back its stance on unanimity regarding the death sentence. The first state to reinstate the death penalty after Furman v. Georgia in 1972, Florida has since pushed its limits, violating multiple constitutional amendments and even executing minors. Furthermore, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled Florida’s death penalty practices to be unconstitutional numerous times. Prior to 2017, only a majority vote was required to impose the death sentence; Case histories show that if no unanimous vote is required, jurors don’t take time to thoroughly deliberate on a sentence. Additionally, Florida leads the country in death row exonerations. By abolishing the unanimity requirement, more innocent people may be convicted. All 12 jurors should have to agree to impose the death sentence to protect potentially innocent people and ensure that more rulings are constitutional.
Death penalty cases are far more complex, lengthy and expensive than other legal cases. In Florida, some of the more complicated trials can cost taxpayers $41 million, approximately 80 times more than a life sentence without parole. This takes funds from the organizations working to solve underlying causes of violence, creating a downward spiral in society. Additionally, research indicates that there is no evidence of a deterrent effect linked to death penalty law. In an analysis of 2020 homicide data, the Death Penalty Information Center found states with the death penalty had significantly higher murder rates than states without it. The death penalty should be eliminated altogether since it is expensive and may not be an effective deterrent.
Kaylee Matteis, Newsome High School
Kaylee plans to attend Duke University to study economics.
Carlos DeLuna. Ruben Cantu. Troy Davis. These names are among the many whom Lady Justice has horribly failed. At the cost of decades on death row and the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives, research today suggests that these men may have never committed the crimes they were executed for. Even if their names were cleared, to quote the novelist Mary E. Pearson, “Truth that came too late was as useful as a meal to a dead man.”
Since 1973, the Death Penalty Information Center reports that 190 death row prisoners have been exonerated of their crimes. Florida has the highest number of any state, with a whopping 30 wrongfully accused persons being found innocent after serving on the condemned row. Further horrifying to consider is the multitude of individuals whose true stories followed them to the grave, remaining undiscovered for eternity. And for a country that prides itself for “establishing justice” in the preamble of its Constitution, the United States has far to go before it can truthfully practice what it preaches.
This staggering statistic itself proves that Florida ought to reevaluate its procedures regarding the death penalty. Undoubtedly, the notion of rolling back current restrictions for this punishment in the Sunshine State laughs in the faces of those wrongfully accused and put to death. Until the Florida justice system can most accurately distinguish the innocent from the guilty, it might be best to repay the death penalty with what it has erroneously given to others: the capital sentence.
Alexsandra Wilkes, Gaither High School
Alexsandra plans to attend the University of South Florida and major in Health Sciences with the goal of becoming a pediatrician.
Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer, once said, “The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is: ‘Do we deserve to kill?’”. The state shouldn’t abandon its commitment to unanimous decision-making and permit an 8-4 majority to take control. The legal system’s objective is to ensure justice is done, and ensuring unanimity in instances involving the death penalty is crucial in achieving that goal. This is not a “popcorn or slurpee” type decision; we are talking about life and death here. Although I am not old enough to be a juror just yet, I can’t imagine the pressure of being on a jury deciding one’s fate. As stated by the American Psychological Association, the jurors felt more certain that their verdict choice was the right one, and they are convinced that their decision did justice. These decisions aren’t easy to make. If the decision wasn’t unanimous, would they question if there was something more they could do to convince others to spare someone’s life? Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars”. Without further bloodshed, we may remember the victims.
(source: Tampa Bay Times)
ALABAMA:
Killer who battered man dead saved from death row thanks to his incredibly low IQ----Joseph Clifton Smith has been on Death Row for nearly 25 after murdering Durk Van Dam, but a battle rages on about whether or not his very low IQ should save him from the death penalty
A bloke has been saved from death row after it was decided that his very low IQ meant killing him would be “unconstitutional”.
Joseph Clifton Smith, 52, was convicted of the 1997 murder of Durk Van Dam.
The victim had a shocking 35 blunt-force injuries on his body, and he was found dead in a pickup truck in Atlanta, Georgia, US.
Smith was given the death penalty and remained on death row for nearly 25.
However, he has now been given a reprieve thanks to his very low IQ, which is just 72.
This, it was ruled, means that he is “intellectually disabled and, as a result, that his death sentence violates the Eighth Amendment”.
For those not fully aware of what the Eight Amendment is, it was signed in 1791 and protects against imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments.
According to the New York Post, a 2002 US Supreme Court ruling meant that anyone with an IQ of 70 or below was deemed to have “significant or substantial deficits in adaptive behaviour” – and could not be put to death.
Senior US District Judge Callie said: “This is a close case, but the evidence indicates that Smith’s intelligence and adaptive functioning has been deficient throughout his life.”
However, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshal is not happy about the ruling, and plans to appeal it.
He said: “Joseph Smith brutally murdered Durk Van Dam in 1997, and for that, he was sentenced to death.
“Smith’s IQ scores have consistently placed his IQ above that of someone who is intellectually disabled.
“The Attorney General thinks his death sentence was both just and constitutional.”
The appeal date has not yet been set, but the man's fate is now up in the air as a result.
(source: dailymirror.co.uk)
OHIO:
New trial ordered for man who spent 15 years on death row in death of 3-year-old boy
A new trial has been ordered for a man who spent more than a decade and a half on Ohio’s death row in the 2006 death of the 3-year-old son of his former live-in girlfriend.
Lamont Hunter, 54, was convicted of aggravated murder, child endangering and rape in the death of Trustin Blue, who authorities said was sexually assaulted and died from blunt impact and shaking injuries to his head. Hunter said he was doing laundry in the basement when the boy fell down the stairs and landed on the concrete floor.
Prosecutors agreed to a new trial after the deputy coroner who initially ruled the boy’s death a homicide changed that opinion 2 years ago after reviewing evidence she hadn’t previously been given. She said the cause of death was undetermined and also said injuries she had attributed to sexual assault were accidentally inflicted at the hospital.
A hearing Friday on whether Hunter could be freed on bond while awaiting a new trial ended with no decision after prosecutors sought a delay in the proceedings. Prosecutors said the county coroner’s office is re-reviewing the entire case, including more than 700 pages of records from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
Defense attorney Al Gerhardstein told reporters outside the courtroom that such work should have been done 16 years ago. He expressed optimism that his client would be “out on bond by the end of the month.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that it was revealed at the hearing that prosecutors have offered Hunter a plea deal that would apparently lead to his release with a sentence of the time he already has spent in prison.
(source: Associated Press)
UTAH:
Layton man commits triple homicide, held without bail
3 individuals were found dead inside a Layton home near 1800 E Gentile Street yesterday, May 20, with gunshot wounds.
Police say Layton man called 911 after killing his wife, in-laws
According to a probable cause statement from the Layton City PD, 34-year-old Jeremy Bailey called Layton dispatch around 9:45 a.m. reporting a murder-suicide.
Bailey told dispatch that he killed his wife, his father-in-law, and his mother-in-law, along with 3 of the 4 family dogs.
He said the killings occurred following a domestic violence dispute with his wife.
The statement says upon the officer’s arrival, Bailey called dispatch to let them know he was exiting the home. He was safely taken into custody.
Officers located the 3 deceased individuals identified as 36-year-old Anastasia Stevens, the suspect’s wife. And Anastasia’s parents, Donald Stevens and Becky Stevens.
Layton Fire Department personnel determined all victims were deceased.
The suspect is being held without bail on a felony charge of Domestic Violence.
What lead to the incident is still unknown and the investigation continues.
The probable cause statement says that Bailey admitted to the killings multiple times to officers. Also, he expressed wanting the death penalty over a life sentence.
(source: KSL news)
IRAN----executions
5 Executions Carried Out on Saturday, Total of 122 Executions in the Past 30 Days
The relentless cycle of executions and killings orchestrated by Khamenei continues unabated, fueling the growing anger of the people and exacerbating the prevailing crises. In yet another day of brutality, Khamenei’s executioners hanged Asef Shah-Bakhsh, a Baluch prisoner, in Zahedan prison, as well as Saeed Gravand, Samad Gravand, and Shahab Mansouri Nasab Gravand in Qezelhessar prison. Additionally, another prisoner was executed in Gohardasht.
It has been reported that Abdul Hossein Emamizadeh was executed in Gohardasht prison on May 3, bringing the total number of recorded executions to at least 122 prisoners in the past 30 days.
(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) )
*********
Iran hangs 3 on drug charges amid criticism----The latest executions were carried out after offenders were reportedly caught with large quantities of heroin.
Iran has hanged 3 people on drug charges amid continued criticism of its execution practices and increased death penalty sentences.
The 3 men, identified as Shahab Mansournasab, Samad Geravand and Saeed Geravand, were hanged after more than 39 kilogrammes (86 pounds) of heroin and precursors and processing equipment were confiscated from them, the judiciary’s official website said on Sunday.
They were charged with “corruption on Earth” after they admitted they planned to sell the drugs in the capital, Tehran, and the Supreme Court confirmed their sentence, it said.
Iranian law dictates that any person holding more than 30 grammes (1 ounce) of heroin should receive capital punishment and have most of their wealth seized.
The news comes one day after Iran’s judiciary announced it had executed a man identified as Shahrouz “Alex” Sokhanvari for running a human trafficking network and prostitution ring active across the region.
On Friday, Iran executed three men in a case linked with the protests that had erupted across the country after the September death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by morality police for allegedly not adhering to a mandatory dress code.
The men were hanged after being convicted of “moharebeh” or “waging war against God” for allegedly killing a police officer and two members of the paramilitary Basij group during the unrest.
Iranian activist stages protest as she walks out of prison
Friday’s executions, which took the number of people executed in cases linked with the protests to seven, were criticised by the European Union and the United States.
Iran’s foreign ministry denounced the criticism as “ridiculous” on Saturday and said the West needed to listen to the protests of their own citizens instead of “intervening” in other countries’ affairs.
The United Nations and human rights organisations have warned of a significant rise in the number of executions in Iran, with UN human rights chief Volker Turk saying Iran has an “abominable” track record of executions this year.
The UN says the number of executions in Iran this year is on track to be the highest since 2015 when 972 death sentences were carried out.
Iran executes more people annually than any other country except China, according to human rights organisations including Amnesty International.
Most executions are carried out on drug offences. Iran executed a man dubbed the “Sultan of Cocaine” earlier this month.
(source: Al Jazeera)
**************
Baluch Asef Shehbakhsh Executed in Zahedan
Asef Shehbakhsh, a Baluch man sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed in Zahedan Central Prison.
According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man executed in Zahedan Central Prison on 20 May. His identity has been reported as 30-year-old Asef Shehbakhsh. He was sentenced to qisas for murder.
He was transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution on 18 May.
According to the report, Asef Shehbakhsh was previously transferred for execution on 18 December 2022 but had managed to buy time from the victim’s family.
At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
*********
Abdolhossein Emamzadeh Executed for Drug Charges in Karaj
Abdolhossein Emamizadeh was executed for drug-related charges in Rajai Shahr Prison 17 days ago.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Rajai Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison on 3 May. His identity has been established as Abdolhossein Emamizadeh who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.
He was arrested around 3 years ago and transferred from Qezel Hesar Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison on 1 May for execution, per informed sources.
At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Iran Human Rights previously reported the executions of Saeed Saleh, Hossein Amirabadi and 2 unidentified men at the prison that day. The execution of Abdolhossein Emamizadeh now brings the number of executions to 5 that day.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 256 people were executed for drug-related offences, a more than 2-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and 10 times more than 2020 (25).
***********
Shahrooz Sokhanvari Executed After Interpol Extradition to Iran
State media have reported the execution of Shahrooz Sokhanvari who authorities claimed was arrested by Interpol in Malaysia and extradited to Iran in 2020.
Condemning the executions, Iran Human Rights demands Interpol be held accountable for handing Shahrooz Sokhanvari to Iran authorities.
Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “If, as Islamic Republic authorities claim, Interpol was involved in handing over Shahrooz Sokhanvari to Iran, they are complicit in his execution and must be held accountable.”
In a statement published in August 2022, Iran Human Rights questioned Interpol about its involvement in Sokhanvari’s extradition to Iran which was never answered.
According to the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency, a man was executed in Rajai Shahr on 20 May. His identity has been reported as 40-year-old Shahrooz Sokhanvari who was sentenced to death for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) for “human trafficking for prostitiution.” He helped sex workers travel abroad for work, per the report.
Shahrooz Sokhanvari was arrested by Interpol in Malaysia in September 2020 and deported to Iran. Iran Human Rights previously questioned Interpol about their role in his deportation.
Did Interpol Hand Over Man Facing Death Penalty in Iran?
Shahrooz Sokhanvari’s death sentence by the Tehran Revolutionary Court was reported by a Judiciary spokesperson on 16 August 2022. It is not clear when his sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court.
Due to the vague definition, the charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) are used for a wide range of offences. Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code lists “establishing and running centres of corruption and prostitution” as one of the charges leading to the death penalty for efsad-fil-arz. Additionally, as it is within the Revolutionary Courts’ jurisdiction, there is considerable subjectivity in the judgements made in the cases.
(source for all: iranhr.net)
***************
UN Human Rights Council’s fact-finding panel condemned unjust execution of Iranian protesters
UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding panel condemned the unjust execution of Iranian protesters In a statement, the fact-finding panel of the United Nations Human Rights Council announced that the confessions obtained under torture have no legal value and are a violation of international law. According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, on Saturday 30th of Ardibehesht of the Iranian month of 1402, equal to May 20, 2023, the UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission issued a statement. In this statement, the unjust execution of 3 protesting youths is strongly condemned and recognized as a violation of international law. The statement adds: "There is serious evidence that shows that the execution of Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashmi and Saeed Yaqoubi was unjust. These people are accused of participating in nationwide protests that started in Iran last September. And their accusations are based on confessions obtained through torture. And these confessions obtained under torture have no legal value." In an obvious crime, 3 political prisoners from the nationwide protests, Saleh Mirhashmi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaqoubi, were executed in the morning of Friday, May 19, in Dastgerd prison in Isfahan. Their accusation was the murder of 3 Basij members during the nationwide demonstrations in Isfahan. This was while their confessions were taken under the most severe torture. We remind you that in March 2023, the United Nations Human Rights Council extended the mission of the Special Rapporteur on Iran. Also, in November 2022, the Human Rights Council appointed a fact-finding panel to investigate cases of human rights violations related to the uprising of the Iranian people.
In a statement, the fact-finding panel of the United Nations Human Rights Council announced that the confessions obtained under torture have no legal value and are a violation of international law.
In a statement, the fact-finding panel of the UN Human Rights Council announced the confessions obtained under torture have no legal value and are a violation of international law.
According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, on Saturday 30th of Ardibehesht of the Iranian month of 1402, equal to May 20, 2023, the UN Human Rights Council’s fact-finding mission issued a statement. In this statement, the unjust execution of 3 protesting youths strongly condemned and recognized as a violation of international law.
The statement adds:
“There is serious evidence that shows that the execution of Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashmi and Saeed Yaqoubi was unjust. These people are accused of participating in nationwide protests that started in Iran last September. And their accusations are based on confessions obtained through torture. And these confessions obtained under torture have no legal value.”
In an obvious crime, three political prisoners from the nationwide protests, Saleh Mirhashmi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaqoubi. Executed in the morning of Friday, May 19, in Dastgerd prison in Isfahan. Their accusation was the murder of three Basij members during the nationwide demonstrations in Isfahan. This was while their confessions taken under the most severe torture.
We remind you that in March 2023. The United Nations Human Rights Council extended the mission of the Special Rapporteur on Iran. Also, in November 2022, the Human Rights Council appointed a fact-finding panel to investigate cases of human rights violations related to uprising of Iranian people.
Iran’s human rights Society has repeatedly warned against the rapid increase in the execution of death sentences and demands an end to these crimes.
(source: en.iranhrs.org)
**************
The protest gathering of the families of death row prisoners in Qezel Hesar Prison turned into violence with the intervention of plainclothes agents and special police guards.
The families of death row prisoners in Qezel Hesar Prison gathered on Friday, May 18, 2023, outside this prison in Karaj. With chants of “Do not execute,” they urged the authorities to refrain from executing their loved ones.
Several women in this protest were brutalized. The security forces used tear gas to disperse the crowd. They also used pellet guns and fired at the protesters, a few of whom were wounded.
Some women were brutalized and wounded.
The violence by security forces led to the closure of shopping malls and shops in the Second Square of the city of Gohardasht.
The clerical regime has executed over 120 prisoners over the past month to deter the uprisings.
On Friday, May 18, they executed 3 young protesters in the Dastgerd Prison of Isfahan despite widespread domestic and international outcries, leading to anti-regime protests in dozens of cities nationwide.
The 3 young protesters executed in Isfahan were Saleh Mir-Hashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeid Yaghoubi.
(source: women.ncr-iran.org)
Ministry: Death Sentence of 200 Afghans in Iran Commuted to Imprisonment
Haqqani noted that a committee was established by the Islamic Emirate to handle the issues of Afghan prisoners in Iran.
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) said on Sunday that the death sentence of 200 Afghan prisoners in Iran was recently commuted to imprisonment and they were handed over to the current Afghan government.
The ministry's spokesperson, Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, said that more than 2,000 of the 6,000 Afghan prisoners in Iran had been released and sent back to the country.
Haqqani noted that a committee was established by the Islamic Emirate to handle the issues of Afghan prisoners in Iran.
“The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation is a member of this committee and with the efforts of this committee, more than 2,000 Afghans who were imprisoned in Iran have been released and were sent back to the country. In addition, 200 prisoners who had been given death sentences in Iran recently received jail terms instead and were sent back to Afghanistan,” Haqqani added.
In the meantime, some political analysts said that in order to prevent the citizens of the country from going abroad, it is necessary to provide employment opportunities to the people.
“Despite the fact that there are nearly 6,000 Afghan immigrants in Iran's prisons, the agreements made were only on some of these immigrants,” said Asifa Stanikzai, an immigrant rights activist.
“First, employment opportunities for Afghans should be created within Afghanistan. When Afghans have work in their homeland, they will not go to another country,” said Wahid Faqiri, an international relations expert.
According to figures from Iran's foreign ministry, there are more than five million Afghan immigrants in the neighboring country.
Previously, an Iranian human rights organization said that in the last five months, seven Afghan immigrants were executed in Iran.
(source: tolonews.com)
JAMAICA:
Khanice Jackson's murder — a story of evil
EVERY murder is disturbing, even when a killer is murdered.
They may not all generate equal emotion, but they are all unsettling. Why? They all leave in their wake a mourner who wears dread on his or her face.
A mother losing her offspring can't process information like that. It's just not how mammals are made up.
Some murders hurt law enforcement officers more than others do. Some murders tear them to shreds. Khanice Jackson's murder was one that did that to me.
Was it because she was young? Most victims are, so no. Was it because she was beautiful? She was, but that isn't what shook me. It was because it was senseless!
Usually murders have defined motives. The most common is "dunce conflict" — that's gang conflict without any tangible gain. Sometimes murder is driven by one person's desire to steal another's possessions.
There is also, of course, murder driven by passion. However, in this case the victim and the perpetrator were not intimately involved. It is bewildering that someone who has no criminal history or history of violence could do something this extreme.
This was not a sex crime so why the hell did this loser feel the inclination to kill someone he was attracted to? It's inexplicable.
How could a monster like this live and breathe among us and hide his true self so well and for so long? What stopped him from doing something like this before? Or has he done it before without being found out? There are many unanswered questions.
The investigation was quite fascinating to observe. I have been involved in many criminal investigations in my career, some even before joining the police force. I wasn't involved in this one so I was just observing as the case moved through the various stages.
It was a lesson in homicide investigation. Most know of the tragedy and the outcome, few know how well it was investigated.
I was trained as a homicide investigator at the Metropolitan Police Training Institute in Miami, Florida. This is the training arm of the Miami-Dade Police Department. I received tuition from some of the greatest detectives in the United States of America (USA). Dr Henry Lee was one of them.
This may surprise you but there are Jamaican investigators who can match wits with the best anywhere in the world. When it comes to our environment, none of the investigators who lectured me overseas are better than Jamaican detectives Homer Morgan and Wayne Hunt. Their knowledge of our system and their acumen as investigators make them a formidable force.
There are also other great detectives in the St Catherine South Police Division so this sociopath didn't stand a chance.
Did you realise that within 24 hours of this suspect being taken into custody the investigators knew not only where he had dumped the body, but also every place he had moved it to?
They recovered the rope he used to commit the crime and the items he stole that were dumped in Kingston. They uncovered the murder scene, the method, and the motive.
My specialty is high-risk entry; I am a trained expert in this area. I am also a trained investigator, but I am always in awe when I see the patience and systematic adherence to procedures and protocols that are followed by the men and women who only do investigations.
It gives me an appreciation of why the top brass many years ago separated operations and operators from investigations, although I must admit that I didn't agree with the decision when it was taken.
Another extremity with this case was the formal press and their reaction to this murder. You felt their genuine interest and passion in getting to the bottom of it. Why this one and not others? It's hard to say. Maybe it was the family's pain that resonated with them.
The finality of death always jolts me. I have responded to hundreds of murders in my career. I have seen the still bodies and the broken relatives. Death is truly irreversible.
So why kill someone you desire, whose company you enjoy? Why did Robert Fowler kill Khanice Jackson?
It still haunts me — the irrationality of it, the evil, the total disregard for her life and her family's grief.
What also haunts me is the question of: Why can't we, in good conscience, execute this man? What right does he have to live and even be free one day whilst Khanice remains dead?
Does supporting the death penalty in cases such as this make me evil or a killer? Some would say so. However, they wouldn't say the same about their Parliamentarians who still refuse to repeal capital punishment.
If this man doesn't deserve death, no one does. I would hate to see him one day walk free.
Khanice's mother will never be free. I heard Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck speak to a 40-year minimum sentence for murder. I agree with him.
So is it something in our system that I don't understand that resulted in this animal getting a minimum before possibility of parole of only 22 years?
Is it because we fear the Privy Council reducing our sentences? Is it this same fear that prevents us from seeking the death penalty?
Normally I don't agree with courts sentencing people to death. Why? Because there is the possibility of error and they know they're not perfect. But I believe it should remain on the books and it should be used in specific circumstances.
Was this one such circumstance? Emotionally speaking, yes. That's the hate in me, that's the human in me. The pragmatist in me realises the risk. If the system had held out for the death penalty there would be no guilty plea and, despite overwhelming evidence, you could lose the case. How? Why?
The reason is that there are persons who will not participate in another's death. Sometimes it's for religious reasons, other times it's just a point of principle. This case, as good as it was, could have been lost if the wrong person or persons ended up on that jury.
People aren't practical when they truly believe or oppose something. I'm guilty of that myself. Try to argue criminal rights with me. I just can't see that point of view. Well, most people can't.
I am pleased and proud that the investigative team solved this case. You should be too. Don't take it for granted. This case could have played out in many other ways and that animal could have still been out there.
Who can say how many more people he would have killed? Who can say how many he may have killed before?
As a criminologist I ask myself: How can I spot the next Robert Fowler?
I can, with reasonable certainty, predict the future killers for 2036 in my police environment. It's not magic, it's simply studying specific households and what they have produced before.
If nothing changes they yield the same product, generation after generation. It's nurture, not nature.
On the other hand, I still can't figure out a formula for spotting a senseless sociopath like Robert Fowler — and that bothers me more than you can imagine. I guess I can see evil built, but not born.
(source: Dr. Jason McKay, Jamaica Observer)
GHANA:
GBA must be at the forefront of legal reforms – Xavier Sosu
Mr Francis Xavier Sosu, Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, has urged the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) to take a lead role in legal reforms in the country.
Speaking at the launch of the 2022 Death Penalty Report by Amnesty International (AI) Ghana, in Accra, he wondered why the GBA had not yet made an input on the Death Penalty Bill since the legislation was advertised.
“The Ghana Bar Association must provide leadership in terms of legal reforms, where every legal reform that borders on human rights, must be something that should border the Bar Association, and we must necessarily have their inputs into those laws.
“We hope that between now and the time the laws are passed, the Bar Association will come out boldly, state their opposition, and also provide support for those reforms for the betterment of the country,” he said.
Mr Sosu said the Death Penalty bill, together with the anti-witchcraft bill, aimed at promoting human rights in the country, was at the consideration stage in Parliament.
He said it was critical for the nation to move away from the death penalty, especially when the judiciary, the police, the armed forces, and religious bodies had agreed that capital punishment should be scrapped from Ghana’s penal code.
Mr Francis Nyantakyi, Board Chair, AI Ghana, said the organisation last year engaged the Judicial Committee of Parliament, the media, CHRAJ, faith-based organizations, and other institutions to submit memoranda to the legislature on the death penalty bill.
He said AI Ghana also met with the Speaker of Parliament and recently engaged the office of the Chief Justice, who were all in support of the campaign to abolish the death penalty in Ghana.
Mr Nyantakyi said on November 4, 2022, AI Ghana met with President Akufo-Addo and appealed to him to vote in favour of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly draft resolution on the moratorium on the use of the death penalty, which he did.
Madam Genevieve Partington, Director, AI Ghana, said the report represented a comprehensive examination of the state of capital punishment worldwide for 2022.
She said between 2021 and 2022, there had been a 53 per cent increase in executions globally, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, where a total of 883 people were known to have been executed across 20 countries, with most of them charged with drug-related offences.
Ms Partington said the total number of recorded death sentences imposed on people, however, remained the same, with a slight decrease from 2,052 in 2021 to 2,016 in 2022.
“In Ghana, 7 people were convicted of murder charges, and so by the end of 2022, a total of 172 people were on death row, counting six women and six foreigners,” she said.
Ms Partington also said that prison conditions continued to remain deplorable while some prisoners on death row suffered mental health issues from not knowing when they would be executed.
She urged the government to reimagine a justice system that prioritized rehabilitation, addressed the root causes of crime, and ensured the safety and well-being of all citizens.
(source: businessghana.com)
NIGERIA:
Blasphemy: Groups beg Buhari for Singer Sharif-Aminu’s life
Unchained Vibes Africa, in collaboration with Nigerian, African and worldwide groups, has urged the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), to commute the death sentence of Nigerian Sufi singer, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who has been imprisoned since 2020.
Sharif-Aminu from Kano was detained without bail in March 2020 after being charged with blasphemy for allegedly defaming Prophet Muhammad (PHUB) in two WhatsApp audio conversations.
A mob set fire to his home while he was in custody.
He was found guilty of breaking section 382(b) of the Kano State Sharia Penal Code Law without the benefit of a lawyer during his trial and was sentenced to death by hanging in August 2020.
Sharif-Aminu’s conviction was reversed by a different court, but a retrial was mandated, where he would probably be sentenced to death.
On the grounds that 382(b) is unconstitutional and in breach of international law, particularly the African Charter, he is currently appealing his case before the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The teenage singer was sentenced to three years in prison for his “peaceful and brief remarks that merely expressed his religious beliefs,” according to a statement signed by Unchained Vibes Africa and various Nigerian, African, and international organisations.
The group claimed that the Nigerian Constitution as well as the African Charter, which both safeguard freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, were violated by Kano State’s blasphemy statute.
The statement read, “The African Charter and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also require that the death penalty be reserved only for the most serious crimes in those States that have not abolished the death penalty. In no sense can the mere posting of peaceful audio messages expressing one’s beliefs amount to a severe crime warranting death, or even any crime at all.
“International observers have condemned the continuing prosecution of Yahaya Sharif-Aminu and called for his release. On April 20 of this year, the European Parliament overwhelmingly called on Nigeria to immediately release Sharif-Aminu and found that Nigeria’s blasphemy laws “are in violation of its international human rights commitments, the African Charter and the Nigerian Constitution. Officials from the United Nations have similarly raised concerns over his prosecution and called for his release, as have the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Yahaya Sharif-Aminu should never have been arrested and imprisoned in the first instance. Instead, he has had to suffer mob violence and spend years in prison for simply and peacefully sharing his belief with others.
“A democracy cannot function when the most basic freedoms are not protected, and as the largest democracy in Africa, Nigeria’s example matters.”
Nigeria, the group said, can set a strong example of its willingness to protect the rights of its citizens through Buhari’s immediate release of the Kano singer.
(source: punchng.com)
MAY 20, 2023:
TEXAS:
Rally held to push for Rodney Reed's freedom, others on death row
This afternoon, family members and supporters of Rodney Reed rallied outside the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Those who believe he’s innocent are pushing for his freedom.
This week marks 25 years since Reed was sentenced to death for the murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop. Since then, he’s been granted a stay of execution and remains on death row.
“All we’ve ever asked for is a fair trial,” said Roderick Reed, Rodney’s brother.
Supporters at Friday’s rally say they are also speaking out for everyone on death row and hope to spark a larger conversation on the death penalty. Multiple families with loved ones they believe are wrongly on death row spoke as well.
That includes the sister of Louis Castro Perez, who’s been on death row since 1999.
“25 years is too long and it’s time to bring our brothers home,” said Delia Perez Meyer.
Herman Lindsey was exonerated from death row in Florida. He also spoke at Friday’s rally.
“You can never walk in our shoes to understand how we feel, but it’s okay to fix someone else’s mistake,” said Lindsey.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Reed’s team should still have the opportunity to test crime-scene evidence. Now, supporters are waiting for the Court of Criminal Appeals to take action.
“Do what we have to do to see justice is not just had In my brother’s case, but to see that justice is had for the Stites’ family,” said Roderick.
Stacey Stites’ cousin Heather Stobbs provided CBS Austin with this comment:
Unfortunately, I could not attend the rally today. For many years, I have believed that Reed deserves, at the minimum, a new trial and testing of the DNA. He did not get a fair trial 25 years ago. My heart truly goes out to my Aunt Carol, my cousins, Stacey’s daughter, and all the others that love her. My aunt is a woman of deep faith, and I am sure that beneath her pain, grief, and trauma, there lies a seed of doubt about whether the right man is in prison. The medical and scientific evidence points to Jimmy Fennell. There is no harm in the TCCA ordering a new trial for Reed. I am hopeful that will be the outcome. - Heather Stobbs
(source: CBS News)
FLORIDA----impending execution
Duane Owen Given June 15, 2023 Execution Date in Florida
Duane Eugene Owen is scheduled to be excepted at 6 pm local time on Thursday, June 15, 2023, at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida. 62-year-old Duane is convicted of murdering 14-year-old Karen Slattery on March 24, 1984, in Delray Beach Florida. He is also convicted of murdering 38-year-old Georgianna Worden on May 28, 1984, in Boca Raton, Florida. Duane has been on Florida’s death row for the last 37 years.
Duane Owen had a difficult childhood. His parents were alcoholics and Duane was exposed to and experienced sexual and physical violence. Duane had a history of drug and alcohol use from a young age. He briefly served in the US Army.
Karen Slattery was babysitting on the evening of March 24, 1984. After putting the children to sleep, someone broke into the home by cutting through a screen in a window in the master bedroom. Karen’s body was discovered in the master bedroom. She had been stabbed 18 times with a knife and there was evidence of sexual assault. The children Karen had been babysitting were unharmed.
On May 28 or 29, 1984, an intruder broke into the home of Georgianna Worden while she slept. She was struck over the head with a hammer, killing her. Evidence indicated she had been sexually assaulted after her death.
On May 30, 1984, Duane Owen was arrested on burglary charges unrelated to the two deaths. Eventually, Owen confessed to both crimes. His fingerprints were also found on objects at one of the crime scenes.
Owen was convicted of each murder and given separate death sentences.
Please pray for the families of Karen Slattery and Georgianna Worden. Please pray for strength for the family of Duane Owen. Pray that if Duane is innocent, lacks the competency to be executed, or should not be executed for any other reason, that evidence will be provided before his execution. Pray that Duane may come to find peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
(source: theforgivenessfoundation.org)
****************
Stay of execution for Duane Owen denied by Palm Beach County circuit judge----Judge Jeffrey Gillen says request to halt scheduled execution 'premature,' court 'without jurisdiction'
A South Florida judge has denied a motion seeking a stay of execution for a man convicted of killing and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a mother of 2 in separate Palm Beach County attacks nearly 40 years ago.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen on Friday issued his written order denying the stay of execution sought by attorneys for Duane Owen.
The 62-year-old death row prisoner is set to be executed next month for the 1984 murders of Karen Slattery and Georgianna Worden.
Owen broke into a Delray Beach home in March 1984 and attacked Slattery, 14, while she was babysitting. Slattery was repeatedly stabbed and sexually assaulted.
Two months later, Owen broke into a Boca Raton home, where he beat Owen to death with a hammer and sexually assaulted her. The 38-year-old mother's body was found by her two children the next morning.
Owen was arrested that same year and confessed to the crimes. He was later convicted of first-degree murder and sexual battery with a deadly weapon for both crimes and sentenced to death.
Attorneys for Owen had filed several motions seeking to halt the impending execution to allow for a determination of his competency and conduct an evidentiary hearing on the matter.
However, Gillen said during a case management conference Thursday afternoon that he didn't find an evidentiary hearing to be "necessary or warranted."
In his written order, Gillen ruled that the request for a stay of execution "is premature" and that the court "is without jurisdiction."
(source: WPTV news)
ALABAMA:
Alabama can’t execute ‘intellectually disabled’ death row inmate, appeals court rules
A man set to die in Alabama for the 1997 brutal slaying of a Mobile County man can’t be executed because he’s intellectually disabled, an appeals court ruled Friday.
Joseph Clifton Smith, 53, has been on Alabama death row for over 25 years. The U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision Friday means, unless overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, he won’t be put to death. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office has not yet responded to requests for comment if they would appeal to the Supreme Court.
Smith’s court battle has been waged in the federal court system for years, with his lawyers from the Federal Defenders for the Middle District of Alabama arguing Smith is intellectually disabled and can’t be put to death under precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court.
In May 2017, Smith testified at an evidentiary hearing in the U.S. District Court in south Alabama.
Senior U.S. District Judge Callie Granade ruled in August 2021 that Smith was intellectually disabled and “cannot constitutionally be executed.”
“As the Court stated previously, this is a close case, but the evidence indicates that Smith’s intelligence and adaptive functioning has been deficient throughout his life,” the judge wrote. “Smith intelligence falls at the low end of the Borderline range of intelligence and at worst at the high end of the required significantly subaverage intellectual functioning.”
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office appealed that ruling to the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and oral arguments were held on the case this spring.
The appeals court’s Friday ruling means, if not appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Smith will be automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Smith was convicted in 1998 and sentenced to death for the November 1997 murder of Durk Van Dam. Police found Van Dam’s body badly beaten near his pick-up truck in an isolated area of Mobile County. Smith confessed to the killing, according to court records, and initially told police conflicting versions of the crime.
During trial, a forensic pathologist testified that Van Dam died as a result of 35 different blunt-force injuries to his body.
Currently, there are 167 inmates on Alabama death row.
(source: al.com)
************************
Alabama death row inmate cannot be executed due to intellectual disability, appeals court rules
An appeals court has ruled the state of Alabama cannot execute man with an intellectual disability who was sentenced to death for murdering a man in 1997, upholding a lower court’s decision.
The US Eleventh Court of Appeals’ decision on Friday means that 53-year-old Joseph Clifton Smith cannot be executed unless the decision is overturned by the US Supreme Court.
In a statement released after the appeals court decision, Amanda Priest, communications director for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, said, “Smith’s IQ scores have consistently placed his IQ above that of someone who is intellectually disabled. The Attorney General thinks his death sentence was both just and constitutional.”
“The Attorney General disagrees with the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling, and will seek review from the United States Supreme Court,” the statement concluded.
Alabama to resume executions after multiple failed injections prompted system review, governor says
In 2021, a US District Court judge ruled that due to his intellectual disability, Smith could not “constitutionally be executed,” and vacated his death sentence.
The judge referenced the district court’s finding that Smith’s “intellectual and adaptive functioning issues clearly arose before he was 18 years of age,” according to the 2021 appeals court ruling, which agreed with the lower court.
Court cites struggles in childhood, at school
Smith confessed to murdering Durk Van Dam, whose body was found “in an isolated area near his pick-up truck” in Mobile County in southwest Alabama, according to the court’s Friday ruling. Smith “offered 2 conflicting versions of the crime,” the ruling says – first admitting he watched Van Dam’s murder and then saying he participated but didn’t intend to kill the man.
The case went to trial and the jury found Smith guilty, the order states. During his sentencing proceedings, Smith’s mother and sister testified that his father was “an abusive alcoholic,” according to the ruling.
Smith had struggled in school since as early as the 1st grade, the order says, which led to his teacher labeling him as an “underachiever” before he underwent an “intellectual evaluation,” which gave him an IQ score of 75, the court said. When he was in 4th grade, Smith was tested again and placed in a learning-disability class – at the same time as his parents were going through a divorce, the court said.
“After that placement, Smith developed an unpredictable temper and often fought with classmates. His behavior became so troublesome that his school placed him in an ‘emotionally conflicted classroom,’” the ruling states.
Smith then failed the 7th and 8th grades before dropping out of school entirely, the ruling says, and he then spent “much of the next fifteen years in prison” for burglary and receiving stolen property.
One of the witnesses in Smith’s evidentiary hearing held by the district court to determine whether he has an intellectual disability was Dr. Daniel Reschly, a certified school psychologist, the ruling says.
The court ultimately determined that Smith “has significant deficits in social/interpersonal skills, self-direction, independent home living, and functional academics,” the ruling says.
In its conclusion, the appeals court wrote: “We hold that the district court did not clearly err in finding that Smith is intellectually disabled and, as a result, that his sentence violates the Eighth Amendment. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment vacating Smith’s death sentence.”
“This case is an example of why process is so important in habeas cases and why we should not rush to enforce death sentences—the only form of punishment that can’t be undone,” the office of Smith’s federal public defender said in a statement after the appeals court decision.
“Originally, this same District Court denied Mr. Smith the opportunity to be heard, and it was an Eleventh Circuit decision that allowed a hearing that created this avenue for relief,” the statement said.
(source: CNN)
LOUISIANA:
Urge your representative to pass HB 288 to end the death penalty
The Louisiana House of Representatives will soon vote on HB 288 submitted by Rep. Kyle Green to end the Death Penalty in Louisiana. In 1722, Louisiana carried out its first recorded legal execution. Since then, we have dealt with this stain of the death penalty carried out by our state in the names of its citizens. This legislative session will allow us to move beyond this dark reality of our state’s history and to a state that affirms life without exception.
The Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops published the following statement. “We have consistently, authentically, and resolutely defended and affirmed the sacredness of life from conception to natural death.
“We remain deeply aware of the pain and grief that victims suffer, especially those who have lost a loved one through the crime of murder or crimes of violence. We pledge to deepen our commitment to persons who have suffered such violence, anguish and pain. Our opposition to the death penalty is not intended, in any way, to diminish what victims and their families have suffered. It is a statement that affirms the lives of those lost and the ultimate value of life overall.
“Saint Pope John Paul II proclaims ‘that not even a murderer loses his personal dignity, as God himself pledges to guarantee this. Whoever attacks human life, in some way attacks God himself’ and that we are to uphold human dignity that does not discriminate between the innocent and the guilty.
“In keeping with this teaching, Pope Francis in 2018 approved a revision to the Catechism of the Catholic Church as follows: ‘Today there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. We have developed more effective systems of detention that ensure the due protection of citizens and simultaneously, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption. Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible.’”
The Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops humbly asks that, in good faith, we search our hearts, to seek mercy and love, and to support the repeal of the death penalty and to affirm the culture of life in the State of Louisiana.”
In a 2015 letter to the President of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty, Pope Francis stated that the death penalty “is an offense against the inviolability of life and dignity of the human person that contradicts God’s plan for man and society. It does not render justice to victims but fosters vengeance. The death penalty represents a failure as it obliges the state to kill in the name of justice. Killing a human being can never establish justice.” What we fear, violence itself, has forced us to become proponents of violence. Just as vengeance should never pervert the pursuit of justice, fear should never darken the ever-shining light of life.
Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical The Gospel of Life, discussed the distinction between a culture of life and a culture of death. Our culture often mirrors a culture of death rather than one of life. The use of the death penalty does not serve as an instrument to address the deep-rooted issues that are the cause of widespread violent crime within our society. It is a “solution” that seduces us into believing that the taking of a life solved a problem when, in fact, it forces us further into a culture of death.
Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong? Stand up for life. Urge your representative to pass HB 288 to end the death penalty in the state of Louisiana.
(source: Rev. Wilmer L. Todd, Lafourche Gazette)
OHIO:
Butler Twp. quadruple murder: What's next for this death-penalty case?
May 18—A case involving a man facing more than 20 charges in deaths of 4 people — including a husband and wife and a mother and her 15-year-old daughter — in Butler Twp. last year is continuing as the court waits for the results of a 3rd competency evaluation.
Stephen Marlow, 40, was indicted on 12 aggravated murder charges, 8 aggravated burglary charges and 1 count each of tampering with evidence and having weapons while under disability, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. previously said the death penalty is "on the table" in the case.
The indictment stems from the deadly shootings of 4 neighbors on Aug. 5, 2022:
· Clyde W. Knox, 82
· Eva "Sally" Knox, 78 (Clyde's wife)
· Sarah J. Anderson, 41
· Kayla E. Anderson, 15 (Sarah's daughter)
A 3rd competency evaluation report was due to the court on Wednesday. Here's where the case stands and what is coming next.
What happened?
Around 11:35 a.m. on Aug. 5, 2022, Marlow is accused of walking into an open garage at 7120 Hardwicke Place and shooting Sarah Anderson. He then walked into the house and shot Kayla Anderson multiple times before returning to the garage and shooting Sarah Anderson again, according to a Vandalia Municipal Court affidavit.
Marlow allegedly went to 7214 Hardwick Place next and entered a detached garage and shot the Knoxes multiple times.
One witness heard gunshots and looked out the window and saw a man who matched Marlow's description get into an SUV, according to the affidavit. The witness went to 7214 Hardwick Place, where he found the Knoxes dead in the garage.
Marlow was arrested the next day in Lawrence, Kansas.
Who is Stephen Marlow?
A grand jury indicted Marlow on 22 charges in connection to the 4 homicides in November 2022.
Investigators collected home security footage from 7120 Hardwicke Place. They also served a search warrant Marlow's parents' home, where he lived, and found a manifesto on what was believed to be Marlow's computer.
The manifesto included his name and address and discussed conspiracy theories and beliefs his neighbors were sleeper cell terrorists, according to court records. He also reportedly mentioned hearing voices in his head that spoke to him.
Marlow used a storage unit on Dixie Drive to keep firearms and hide them from his mother, according to court records.
Where does the case stand?
A third competency report was due Wednesday, but the findings were not clear as of Thursday morning.
In December, Marlow's defense filed a not guilty by reason of insanity plea and motioned to request a mental competency and serious mental illness evaluation, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas records.
A competency report was due to the court by Feb. 1 with a disposition scheduled for Feb. 7.
On Feb. 10, Judge Dennis Adkins signed an order for a second opinion for competency and sanity. The order noted there was a question as to Marlow's present competence and if he could work with his defense team, as well as a question to his sanity at the time of the incident.
The second report was due March 29. On April 10, the judge filed an order for a 3rd opinion, which was due Wednesday.
What is next?
The doctor who performed the third evaluation is expected to determine if Marlow is competent to stand trial. If he is found to be incompetent, the doctor will determine if he is currently mentally ill or intellectually disabled.
If Marlow is determined to be intellectually disabled, he could be ordered to live at an institution. If he is determined to be incompetent, the doctor will report if Marlow's competency could be restored following treatment, according to court records.
The doctor will also establish Marlow's sanity at the time of the homicides and whether or not he could determine right from wrong. If the doctor reports Marlow was not sane, they will recommend the least restrictive commitment alternative while considering Marlow's needs and public safety, according to the court order.
When Marlow was indicted in November 2022, Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said the death penalty was a possibility in the case. If it's determined Marlow has a serious mental illness, he will be ineligible for the death penalty under Ohio law.
(source: Yahoo News)
INDIANA:
Judge Rules Prosecutors May Pursue Death Penalty For Suspect Accused Of Killing Indianapolis Cop
A judge refused to grant an accused cop-killer’s request to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against him in the event he is found guilty at trial later this year.
Elliahs Dorsey, 28, has been charged with murder, criminal confinement, battery, and 4 counts of attempted murder in connection with the April 9, 2020, shooting death of 24-year-old Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Officer Breann Leath, WISH reported.
Officer Leath, a mother of 1, was fatally shot as she was responding to a report of a domestic disturbance at the Harrison Terrace Apartments that day, according to WBIW.
Dorsey’s trial is slated to begin on September 18, WTHR reported.
In cases involving the murder of a law enforcement officer, prosecutors must prove the killer was aware the victim was a law enforcement officer at the time of the offense in order to seek the death penalty, according to WXIN.
Dorsey’s attorneys filed a petition asking Marion County Superior Court Judge Mark Stoner to dismiss the potential death penalty in his case, claiming their client had no idea the person he was shooting at was a police officer, WTHR reported.
They claimed the officers who responded to the residence did not announce themselves, and that their client said “that ain’t the police” before he fired a gun through a closed door, striking Officer Leath.
Stoner heard evidence from both prosecution and defense before he ultimately denied the defense’s motion on May 12, WTHR reported.
“In reviewing the exhibits, the Court does find there is some evidence… that the State could argue to a jury that the Defendant had actual knowledge,” the judge said, according to WISH. “The evidence must be entered as substantive evidence against the Defendant, and the jury would have to determine what value to give it.”
The fatal shooting occurred at the Harrison Terrace Apartments in the 1800-block of Edinburgh Square, southwest of 21st Street and North Franklin Road, at approximately 2:50 p.m. on April 9, 2020, WBIW reported.
IMPD Chief Randal Taylor told reporters at a media briefing that the suspect began shooting “through the structure” as soon as officers arrived on the scene.
Officer Leath and a female victim at the scene were both shot.
Chief Taylor said that other officers pulled Officer Leath and the wounded victim out of harm’s way and down a staircase to safety.
The female civilian who was wounded survived the shooting, WXIN reported.
Officer Leath was quickly transported to Eskenazi Hospital where “despite the best lifesaving techniques, she was pronounced deceased, Chief Taylor said.
Chief Taylor described the fallen hero as “an example of the type of officer we want on this department,” and said she was the mother of a young son.
Officer Leath, an Army National Guard veteran, joined the IMPD 2 1/2 years prior to her murder, WXIN reported.
“She heard the call and went toward that which could do her harm because she knew if she didn’t, harm may come to others,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said.
The lifelong Indianapolis resident had always dreamed of following in her father’s footsteps and becoming a law enforcement officer, WXIN reported.
Both of her parents have worked for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
Her father was a deputy, and her mother was a 911 dispatcher.
“Officer Leath was kind and loving as a mother of a young child herself,” Chief Taylor said, according to WXIN. “She is the daughter of a family that’s been devoted to public safety and a lifelong resident of Indianapolis.”
(source: policetribune.com)
ARKANSAS----female to face death penalty
Jury trial postponed until January for Pine Bluff woman accused of killing Pea Ridge police officer
A circuit judge granted a defense attorney's request to postpone for 6 months the jury trial for a woman accused of killing a Pea Ridge police officer.
Shawna Cash, 23, of Pine Bluff is charged with capital murder, escape, fleeing, 2 counts of aggravated assault, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, criminal mischief, obstructing governmental operations and reckless driving. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for her.
She's accused of killing officer Kevin Apple on June 26, 2021.
Her jury trial was scheduled to begin July 31. Her defense attorneys filed a motion seeking a delay in the trial. Prosecutors filed a response objecting to the delay.
Judge Brad Karren presided over a hearing Friday concerning the motion.
He said the court was in a difficult situation since the prosecutors say it's been 2 years since Apple's death and his family and the community want a resolution of the case, but he had to balance that with Cash's due process rights to ensure she receives a fair and impartial trial.
No one wants to try the case twice and Cash's attorneys need the time for her defense, Karren said.
Katherine Streett, one of Cash's attorneys, said the defense is trying to get additional records related to the case's penalty phase. Streett said the defense is trying to get records from the San Diego Police Department and will need the assistance of a California judge to get the information.
Joshua Robinson, senior deputy prosecutor, said he learned of an incident involving Cash that may be mitigating information for the defense. Robinson said he assisted with getting information and photographs from the San Diego police.
Neither Streett nor Robinson went into specific details about the information and the photographs.
Streett said the defense received 600 pages of records from the Arkansas Department of Human Services. She said there are over 100 names of people in the records the defense have to rule out as potential witnesses.
Streett said the defense is working on it, but it's taking a long time due to the amount of records.
Robinson said the victim's family and friends wanted the murder case tried. He suggested a September trial date if the judge granted the motion to delay the case.
If not September, Robinson said, "It may be another year."
Streett said a September trial may still be too soon for the defense. She was concerned about the number of people the defense needed to contact by September. Lee Short, Cash's other attorney, has another capital murder case set for trial in September, she said.
Streett also objected to Robinson using the word "murder." She said a jury determines whether a murder was committed.
"We are going to object to it each time he says it," Streett said.
Robinson said it's appropriate for him to use the word murder, just like it's appropriate for prosecutors to use the word "victim" in cases.
Karren denied Streett's request and said it's the prosecutors' theory that Apple was murdered and he's not going to prohibit prosecutors from using the word.
Karren said it's inappropriate for him as the judge to use the words "murder" or "victim" and that's why he uses the words "accuser" or "alleged victim."
Karren said there's no way he could try the case in September because of his case load.
Robinson is on Gustavo Peraza's capital murder case. The jury trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 29, but Robinson said it could be resolved short of a trial.
Peraza, 31, is accused of killing his former girlfriend's 2-year-old son. Robinson said Peraza's attorneys may need more time.
Karren scheduled Cash's trial to begin Jan. 29.
Apple and fellow Pea Ridge officer Brian Stamps responded to a call about 11:30 a.m. on June 26, 2021, to be on the lookout for a Jeep fleeing from Rogers police. They spotted the Jeep at the White Oak Station in Pea Ridge, according to a probable cause affidavit. Cash was in the driver's seat and Elijah Michael Andazola was a passenger, according to court documents.
The 2 officers parked on both ends of the Jeep, which was parked at the gas pumps, and attempted to speak with Cash and Andazola, according to the affidavit. Cash rammed 1 of the Pea Ridge police vehicles, then drove over Apple -- dragging him 149 feet -- and fled west on Slack Street, according to court documents.
Apple, 53, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Andazola, 20, is charged with accomplice to capital murder and escape. Prosecutors have waived the death penalty in his case.
Andazola's jury trial is scheduled to begin July 18, but it will be rescheduled since prosecutors want to try Cash first.
Cash and Andazola are both being held without bail in the Benton County Jail.
(source: The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
MISSOURI----impending execution
Missouri Clemency Petition Highlights Prisoner’s Extraordinary Artwork
Michael Tisius is an artist. He is also a death row prisoner who is set to be executed by the state of Missouri on June 6, 2023. His unusual petition for executive clemency prominently features the artwork he created during his time on death row, some of which now decorates the prison where he is held. Mr. Tisius explains that “[i]n a world where I felt I had no control, art has given me that control and has allowed me to connect to my emotions, as well as other individuals,” and “[m]y hope is to erase some of the darkness of my past and to bring some beauty to this world, while I can.”
Mr. Tisius’s application for clemency includes a letter from the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, on behalf of Pope Francis, testimonials from fellow prisoners about the positive impact he has had on them while in prison, and a letter from the former death row warden stating that although he had never written such a comment before, he found Mr. Tisius to be a model inmate and did not “foresee this changing if he was incarcerated for the rest of his life.” The clemency petition also featured affidavits from jurors in his case stating that they would reconsider—or change—their verdicts of death, if they had learned more about Mr. Tisius’s abusive childhood, mental illness, and brain damage.
On April 16, 2023, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a resolution urging “precautionary measures” for Mr. Tisius. The IACHR requests precautionary measures “to avoid irreparable harm and protect the exercise of human rights.” In Mr. Tisius’s case, the IACHR, which has non-binding authority in the United States, requested as a precautionary measure that the state delay his execution until it has an opportunity to consider his petition more fully. Mr. Tisius’s legal team is also continuing to challenge to his death sentence in proceedings at the Missouri Supreme Court.
If Mr. Tisius is executed on June 6, he will be the 3rd person executed in Missouri in 2023, and either the 12th or 13th person executed nationwide (James Barber of Alabama is scheduled for execution on June 3, though the date may be subject to change). Missouri also has a 4th execution scheduled for August 1, Johnny Johnson. Missouri is 1 of only 4 states to carry out executions this year so far.
(source: Death Penalty Information Center)
INDIA:
What is mitigation investigation for death row convicts, what has the Kerala HC ordered----Why is the Kerala HC order important? What has the SC said on mitigation investigations? We explain.
In its order dated May 11, the Kerala High Court directed the Director General of Prisons to place on record reports from the jail authority concerning the convict’s 'conduct, nature of works done by them in the jail concerned'.
The Kerala High Court has directed that a “mitigation investigation” be conducted while considering the death sentence references of two convicts, Nino Mathew and Muhammed Ameer-ul-Islam. A mitigation investigation in death penalty cases involves the consideration of mitigating circumstances or factors that can encourage the judge to be more lenient with sentencing.
A Bench of Justices Alexander Thomas and C Jayachandran directed the state authority concerned to file a report with relevant details of the two convicts, such as their age, family background, socio-economic background, criminal antecedents, employment history, and psychological history. Adding that this report would be referred to before confirming the accused(s) capital punishment, the court made it clear that “the reports shall be filed by the prosecution before this Court in a sealed cover”, which will not be perused by the judges “till the issue of conviction is decided in these appeals.”
What did the Kerala High Court order?
In its order dated May 11, the Kerala High Court directed the Director General of Prisons to place on record reports from the jail authority concerning the convict’s “conduct, nature of works done by them in the jail concerned”.
Additionally, the court appointed CP Sruthy and Nooriya Ansari, both associated with Project 39A of the National Law University, Delhi, to make an independent assessment regarding matters relevant to the case while asking them to submit a report before it “preferably within 2 months”. For this, the court allowed them to visit the convicts in prison and conduct interviews. The court also clarified that Project 39A’s services will be pro bono, or free of cost, and that their services have been “frequently availed by the Apex Court” as well. The court also left it open for the state to conduct its own mitigation investigation.
Directing the mitigation investigation to commence before it began hearing the convicts’ appeals against the Sessions Court orders, the Court reasoned that “there is no legal bar in the High Court, at the appellate stage, to commence mitigation study efforts, even before the commencement of the hearing process on the issue of conviction”. Reasoning that this would help in avoiding an unduly protracted hearing, the court also expressed concerns that if mitigation efforts are undertaken only after the conviction is over, there could be allegations of delay and possible deprivation of the convicts’ “effective and meaningful opportunity of hearing”.
What are Nino and Muhammed convicted of?
Nino Mathew is a convict in the Attingal twin murder case, where a software engineer was arrested on charges of conspiring with her alleged lover (Nino) to get him to murder her four-year-old daughter and mother-in-law in Thiruvananthapuram. Additionally, the engineer’s husband was also grievously injured.
Meanwhile, migrant worker Muhammed’s death conviction was in a 2016 rape and murder case of a 29-year-old Dalit law student.
How were the amicus reports filed?
On December 15, last year, a Kerala HC Bench of Justices Alexander Thomas and Sophy Thomas appointed advocates Mitha Sudhindran and Saipooja as amicus curiae and sought their assistance in the mitigation investigation. The court’s decision to seek the assistance of amicus curiae stemmed from a submission made by one of the Nino Mathew’s counsel, advocate Sri. Sasthamangalam S. Ajithkumar.
During the hearing, Ajithkumar submitted that “in view of various later rulings of the Apex Court, the process of mitigation investigation may have been conducted by this Court to assess and evaluate the aggravating circumstances and the mitigating circumstances” for finally determining the issues in the Death Sentence Reference, etc.
After this, on December 22, 2022, the same Bench passed another order where the amici’s submissions were highlighted, stating that “the matter of mitigation investigation in the death sentencing process is a duly developing area, which is in its infancy stage in India”.
Informing that “Project 39A, attached to the National Law University, Delhi, is a pioneering agency in the area of mitigation investigation” which deals with various aspects of death penalty laws, the amici suggested availing the services of the said expert agency for “effective conduct of mitigation investigation”.
In light of this, the court asked the amici curiae to apprise it about the “feasibility” of investigating through Project 39A, at what stage the investigation would commence and be completed, and whether it would happen now or after hearing the appeal on its merits. On the aspect of case law that the court could use, it directed the amici to submit the same and to seek the assistance of the director of Project 39A on the practice of mitigation in various High Courts.
Last year, while observing that a “uniform approach” is needed for “granting real and meaningful opportunity” to convicts on death row, and noting “a clear conflict of opinions” between some of its earlier decisions in such cases, the Supreme Court referred the matter to a five-judge Constitution bench.
What has the SC said on mitigation investigations?
In September 2022, a Bench of the then Chief Justice of India UU Lalit and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia recalled earlier SC rulings on the issue of death sentences and said: “The common thread that runs through all these decisions is the express acknowledgment that meaningful, real and effective hearing must be afforded to the accused, with the opportunity to adduce material relevant for the question of sentencing”.
“What is conspicuously absent is consideration and contemplation about the time this may require. In cases where it was felt that real and effective hearing may not have been given (on account of same-day sentencing), this court was satisfied that the flaw had been remedied at the appellate (or review stage), by affording the accused a chance to adduce material and thus fulfilling the mandate of Section 235(2),” said the Bench.
The Bench, however, pointed out that its 1980 ruling in the “Bachan Singh vs. State of Punjab case,” where it upheld the constitutional validity of the death penalty for murder while restricting it to the rarest of rare cases, requires consideration and clarity as the court had not addressed the question of what constitutes sufficient time at the trial court stage.
Section 235(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code says that “if the accused is convicted, the Judge shall, unless he proceeds in accordance with the provisions of Section 360 (order to release on probation of good conduct or after admonition), hear the accused on the question of sentence, and then pass sentence on him according to law”.
In 2022, the SC in “Mohd Firoz vs. State of Madhya Pradesh” reduced the death sentence awarded to a man for raping a 7-year-old girl to life imprisonment after taking on record the report of a mitigation investigator.
(source: The Indian Express)
*****************
SC sets aside conviction, death penalty awarded to man in rape-cum-murder case
The Supreme Court has quashed the conviction and death penalty awarded to a man for the alleged rape and murder of a 6-year-old girl in 2010, saying "multitudinous lapses" in the investigation have compromised the quest to punish the doer of such a barbaric act in absolute peril.
Referring to the manner in which probe into the case was undertaken by the Maharashtra Police, the apex court said numerous lapses blot the entire map and there were "yawning gaps" in the chain of circumstances rendering it far from being established.
A bench headed by Justice B R Gavai delivered its verdict on the appeals filed by the accused against the October 2015 judgement of the Bombay High Court, which had affirmed the conviction and death sentence awarded to him by a trial court.
While allowing the appeals, the top court quashed the verdict convicting the accused and directed that he be set at liberty forthwith, if not required in any other case.
The bench, also comprising justices Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, said it was true that the unfortunate incident did take place and at a tender age of 6, a life for which much was in store in the future was terrifyingly destroyed and extinguished.
It said the parents of the victim have suffered an unfathomable loss, a wound for which there is no remedy.
"Despite such painful realities being part of this case, we cannot hold within law, the prosecution to have undergone all necessary lengths and efforts to take the steps necessary for driving home the guilt of the appellant and that of none else in the crime," the bench said in its judgement delivered on Friday.
"There are, in fact, yawning gaps in the chain of circumstances rendering it far from being established-pointing to the guilt of the appellant," it said.
The apex court noted that an FIR was lodged in June 2010 at Thane in Maharashtra and the trial court, in November 2014, had convicted the accused and imposed capital punishment for the offence of murder.
It said the courts below had concurrently found the prosecution to have established the case beyond reasonable doubt that the accused, after sexually assaulting the minor girl, had put her to death and thrown the body in a drain to destroy the evidence.
The apex court noted that it was a case of circumstantial evidence, as none has witnessed the crime for which the appellant stands charged.
"The prosecution case is primarily based, not on ocular evidence but on the confessional statement of the appellant leading to the recovery of incriminating articles and through scientific analysis establishing his guilt. The sheet-anchor of the case being the DNA analysis report…," it said.
The bench said even though the DNA evidence by way of a report was present, "its reliability is not infallible, especially not so in light of the fact that the uncompromised nature of such evidence cannot be established; and other that cogent evidence as can be seen from our discussion above, is absent almost in its entirety."
The bench said the reasons why the investigation officers were changed time and again were "surprising and unexplained".
It noted there was unexplained delay in sending the samples collected for analysis, the alleged disclosure statement of the appellant was never read over and explained to him in his vernacular language and what was the basis of him being a suspect at the first instance, remains a mystery.
"….such multitudinous lapses have compromised the quest to punish the doer of such a barbaric act in absolute peril," the bench said.
It said the crime committed against the minor child was unquestionably evil and wrong on its own, without the prohibition of law making it so.
"This fact, coupled with the duty upon the investigating authorities not only to protect the citizens of the country, but also ensure fair and proper investigations into crimes affecting the society, as in the present case, casts upon such authorities, in the considered view of this court, not only legal but also a moral duty to take all possible steps within the letter of the law to bring the doers of such acts to the book," the bench said.
(source: tribuneindia.com)
BANGLADESH:
State Minister Kamal seeks death penalty for food adulterators
State Minister of Industries Kamal Ahmed Majumder has said that traders who adulterate food should be jailed for life or hanged for their crimes.
"White sugar is made with chemicals that have the potential to cause cancer," he said while speaking as the special guest at a Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) organised discussion marking the World Metrology Day on Saturday (20 May).
There is a need for collective efforts against those who adulterate food items and use inaccurate weighing scales, he added.
Majumder urged BSTI to play an important role in closing down factories that are making juice with colours that are very harmful to humans.
"A few factories have been shut down in the past and journalists should play their part in this regard," he said.
"A group of profit-mongers, anti-Liberation War people want to drag down the progress of the country by adulterating food," the state minister furthered.
Meanwhile, speaking as the chief guest at the event, Minister of Industries Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun said that businessmen need to fix their mindset and put in a sincere effort to ensure food safety.
"When our country achieves LDC graduation in the future, we will need to improve the qualify of our food items," he said adding, "People who adulterate food products should be excluded from the trade associations and blacklisted."
(source: The Business Standard)
IRAN----executions
Unidentified Afghan National Executed in Karaj
Official sources have reported the execution of an unnamed man for murder charges in Rajai Shahr Prison.
According to Iran newspaper, a man was executed in Rajai Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison on 18 May. The unnamed man was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.
Rokna has reported his identity as Saeed, an Afghan national who was arrested 4 years ago for the murder of a woman during a theft.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
Afghans constitute the largest group of non-Iranian execution and death row cases in Iranian prisons. In 2021, no execution of Afghan nationals was recorded until September, when 5 men were executed in the space of 35 days. On 10 October 2021, Iran Human Rights expressed its concern that the Taliban takeover in August had facilitated the execution of Afghan nationals. That number more than tripled in 2022, with 16 Afghan nationals including a juvenile offender and a woman executed. At least 5 Afghans have been executed in 2023.
******************
Several Prisoners Transferred for Execution in Karaj
At least 5 prisoners have been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions in Rajai Shahr and Qezel Hesar prisons in Karaj.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, 4 men were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions in Qezel Hesar Prison on 19 May. They were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.
Their families have gathered outside Qezel Hesar prison in Karaj in an attempt to save their lives.
Furthermore, at least one prisoner has been transferred for execution in Rajai Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison. They were sentenced to death for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) for alleged human trafficking.
Their executions are expected to be carried out within days.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 256 people were executed for drug-related offences, a more than 2-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and 10 times more than 2020 (25).
(source for all: iranhr.net)
***********
'Cycle Of Violence': Prominent Iranian Photojournalist Protests Death Penalty
Amnesty International said in its annual report on the death penalty released on May 16 that the number of recorded executions in Iran soared from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022.
Yalda Moayeri spent years photographing public hangings in Iran, one of the world's top executioners.
Haunted by her experiences, the award-winning photojournalist is now protesting against the death penalty amid an alarming spike in the number of executions in the Islamic republic.
"I hope the death penalty is abolished for good," the 42-year-old told RFE/RL in a telephone interview. "All the executions I have documented in my life have made me oppose the death penalty."
The turning point for Moayeri came in 2013, when she photographed the execution of a 24-year-old man who was convicted of murdering two women and injuring five others. Identified by Iranian media only by his first name, Ali, he was known as the "The Hunter of Girls."
Ali was hanged in Tehran in the early hours of the morning, when executions in Iran are usually carried out. The execution was attended by the man's family, relatives of the victims, and a crowd of onlookers.
A male family member of one of the victims climbed up to the platform and kicked away the stool that Ali was standing on.
"It was shocking," said Moayeri. "He hit the stool looking happy and his family members started to dance. I couldn't control my feelings. I had seen executions before, but I had never experienced so much hatred."
Under Iran's Islamic laws, the concept of "qisas," or retributive justice, allows a victim's relatives to kill or forgive a murderer.
It was the last time Moayeri photographed an execution in Iran, saying the harrowing experience broke her. In recent years, the authorities have reduced the number of executions they carry out in public and barred journalists from documenting them.
On May 12, Moayeri shared a photo she took of the 2013 hanging on her Instagram page to protest the soaring number of executions in Iran.
'Frighteningly High'
Amnesty International said in its annual report on the death penalty released on May 16 that the number of recorded executions in Iran soared from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022. Most of the those executed were convicted of drug-related crimes, the rights group said.
The authorities also execute those convicted of murder, rape, treason, and terrorism. In a rare move, Iran also executed two people convicted of blasphemy earlier this month.
The United Nations said on May 9 that at least 209 people have been executed in Iran so far this year. The world body blasted what it said was the "frighteningly high number of executions" in the country.
On May 19, Iran hanged 3 men after convicting them of involvement in a shooting attack that killed 3 security forces in the city of Isfahan during monthslong antiestablishment protests that erupted in September.
Rights groups said Saleh Mirehashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaqoubi faced an unfair trial, were denied access to lawyers of their choice, and were subjected to torture.
It brought to 7 the number of protesters hanged in connection with the recent protests, the biggest challenge to Iran's clerical regime in decades. Human rights groups have accused Tehran of using the executions to sow fear in society.
Moayeri was among the dozens of journalists who were arrested for covering the protests. Some were later released but others remain in prison.
'Don't Execute'
In recent years, an increasing number of Iranians have taken to social media to express their opposition to the death penalty.
In July 2020, Iranians launched a massive social-media campaign calling for Iran to halt state executions. The online protest was joined by many Iranians -- including ordinary citizens as well as intellectuals, former politicians, and prominent artists.
Using the Persian-language hashtag #Don't_Execute (# ?????_?????), the campaign appeared to be unprecedented in its scope and the level of participation of Iranians both within and outside Iran.
Moayeri said the authorities' use of executions has normalized violence in Iranian society.
"I have tried repeatedly to put myself in the place of families [who seek retributive justice]," she said. "I don't judge them. It must be very difficult to decide. But I think it creates a cycle of violence."
(source: rferl.org)
*******************
Executions of tortured protesters must trigger a robust reaction from the international community
Responding to the execution of 3 tortured protesters – Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi – following a grossly unfair trial that bore no resemblance to meaningful judicial proceedings, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“We are horrified by the chilling execution of these protesters this morning. They were sentenced to death less than 2 months after their arrest and executed just weeks after the Supreme Court rubber-stamped their unjust convictions and sentences without any regard for the lack of evidence and serious allegations of torture. The shocking speed at which these men were ushered to their deaths illustrates the Iranian authorities’ flagrant disregard for the rights to life and a fair trial.”
“These executions are designed by the Iranian authorities to send a strong message to the world and the people of Iran that they will stop at nothing to crush and punish dissent. In the absence of a robust international response, the authorities will continue to revel, unabated, in their impunity with lethal consequences for people in Iran.”
“Governments must urgently denounce these executions, in the strongest possible terms, through public statements and demarches. However, in the face of the Iranian authorities’ unrelenting use of the death penalty, this is not enough. People in Iran don’t have the luxury of time – they are being arbitrarily deprived of their lives at a horrific rate under the guise of judicial executions.”
“We urge all states to exercise universal jurisdiction over all Iranian officials against whom there is sufficient admissible evidence of criminal responsibility for torture and other crimes under international law.”
“The Iranian authorities must understand, in no uncertain terms, that the world will not simply stand by as they intensify their use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression.”
BACKGROUND
Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were arrested in November 2022 following their participation in protests in Esfahan city amid the nationwide protests triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini.
According to informed sources, the 3 men were subjected to torture while forcibly disappeared and forced to make incriminating statements, which formed the basis of the criminal case against them. Sources said that interrogators suspended Majid Kazemi upside down and showed him a video of them torturing his brother, whom they also detained. They also subjected Majid Kazemi to mock executions at least 15 times by standing him on a chair and putting a rope around his neck, only to pull him down at the last moment. In the days leading up to the trial, they threatened to kill his brothers if he did not accept his charges and “confess” to whatever they said.
In an audio message from inside Dastgerd Prison, where the men are held, Majid Kazemi said: “I swear to God I am innocent. I didn’t have any weapons on me. They [security forces] kept beating me and ordering me to say this weapon is mine… I told them I would say whatever they wanted, just please leave my family alone. I did whatever they wanted because of the torture.”
The men were put on trial in December 2022 and January 2023 and sentenced to death on the vaguely worded and overly broad charge of “enmity against God” (moharebeh). The authorities imposed the charge based on unfounded allegations stemming from torture-tainted “confessions” that the men used firearms in an incident during protests in Esfahan during which three members of the security forces died. However, they did not charge them or convict them of murder for these deaths. On 10 May, the authorities announced that their convictions and sentences had been upheld by the Supreme Court despite due process violations, significant procedural flaws, lack of evidence, and torture allegations that were never investigated. According to informed sources, the authorities had told the men’s families on several occasions before the Supreme Court’s decision that they would be pardoned and released due to lack of evidence.
The authorities buried the men in 3 separate locations under strict security presence. After the authorities executed Majid Kazemi this morning, they arrested one of his brothers.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution; because the death penalty violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
(source: Amnesty International)
***************
UN experts urge Iran to stop “horrific wave” of executions
UN experts* today condemned the executions of Mr. Majid Kazemi, Mr. Saeed Yaghoubi and Mr. Saleh Mirhashemi and urged the Government to halt the appalling wave of executions in Iran.
“We are alarmed by reports of unfair proceedings in the case and deeply disturbed that these men have reportedly been subjected to torture or other forms of ill-treatment to extract forced confessions,” the experts said.
The 3 men were reportedly arrested on 21 November 2022 during protests in Esfahan city following the uprising sparked by the death of Mahsa Jina Amini on 16 September. Accused of participating in the killing of 3 Iranian officials, they were sentenced to death and charged with moharebeh (“enmity against God”).
“The executions of the 3 men this morning underlines our concerns that the Iranian authorities continue to have scant regard for international law,” the experts said. “The death penalty has been applied following judicial proceedings that failed to meet acceptable international standards of fair trial or due process.”
Reports indicate that the extent of the defendants' alleged involvement in the deaths of the police officers remains highly uncertain and questionable. The officers were allegedly killed by gunshots during the protests in Isfahan Province on 16 November 2022. Yet the charges against the defendants do not explicitly accuse them of “murder”. The 3 men appealed the verdict on 6 May 2023, but the Supreme Court upheld their death sentences, despite a pending request for judicial review. On 17 May, their families were called in to visit and were told by the prison authorities that this would be the final meeting.
“The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment,” the experts said.
The experts noted that at least 259 executions have reportedly been carried out since 1 January – mostly for drug-related offences and including a disproportionate number of minorities. The exact number of executions is unknown due to a lack of Government transparency, and the figure is likely to be higher, they said.
“We are shocked that the authorities went ahead with the executions despite the pending judicial review,” the experts said. “We urge the Iranian Government to stop this horrific wave of executions.”
* The experts: Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; and Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
(source: ohchr.org)
*****************
Protests Erupt After Iran’s Regime Executes Arrested Protesters
Iran’s vicious regime hanged three arrested protesters today at dawn in Isfahan, despite a global outcry against their death sentence. Hoping to quell a restive society with these executions, the ruling theocracy found itself once again engulfed by protests.
After several months of physical and psychological torture, the clerical regime hanged Saleh Mirhashmi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaqoubi. They were arrested during the nationwide uprising, which erupted in September following the state murder of Mahsa Amini in police custody in Tehran.
The three victims were charged with Moharebeh, or “Waging war on God,” based on confessions obtained under torture. While the regime made much fanfare and, in sham trials, accused the trio of murdering several security forces, they were not charged with any degree of murder.
Their death sentences were met with both a domestic and international outcry. The Iranian regime, mainly the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, had planned to execute these protesters almost 2 weeks ago, in line with the killing spree he has started in the past two months, sending nearly 120 prisoners to the gallows since April 21.
In the past few days, people in several cities across the country, mainly in Isfahan, held protests demanding the release of Majid, Saleh, and Saeed. International organizations and several Western governments condemned the death sentence of the arrested protesters and urged the regime to halt their execution.
Absent a meaningful international reaction, the religious fascism, desperate to quell the restive society through executions and intimidation, hanged Majid, Saleh, and Saeed on May 19 at dawn. A few hours later, protests erupted in a dozen cities.
In Tehran, people expressed their outrage and held protests or chanted slogans from their houses. In several districts of Tehran, including Ekbatan, Tehransar, Shahrziba, Negin Gharb, Tehranpars, Saadat Abad, and Apadana, citizens chanted slogans denouncing Khamenei. They chanted slogans such as: “Death to Khamenei, the killer,” “Death to the republic of execution,” and “Death to Khamenei, damned be Khomeini.”
In Karaj, west of Tehran, locals marched and chanted anti-regime slogans. In Isfahan, where the uprising arrestees were executed, citizens held nightly protests, chanting slogans against Khamenei.
These reactions, with people holding Khamenei mainly responsible for the killings, indicate the regime’s failure to control the wave of dissent across Iran.
Like his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, who ordered the mass executions of dissidents in the summer of 1988 to guarantee the future of his regime, Khamenei has started a wave of executions since late April in a bid to control Iran’s society somehow.
When different tactics, such as promoting pseudo alternatives or bolding false solutions of “civil disobedience,” failed, the recent executions were Khamenei’s last-ditch effort.
The recent executions epitomize Khamenei’s frantic endeavors to stave off the impending collapse of his regime as the protests have metamorphosed into an unyielding democratic revolution. However, society’s resolute response has thwarted his nefarious scheme.
Despite the resounding global condemnation, the recent executions persist unabated under Khamenei’s brutal regime. Words of support, eloquent resolutions, or verbal denouncements are insufficient to halt his relentless slaughter. Tyrants of his ilk comprehend only the language of coercion.
Urging the regime to stop executions is like asking an arsonist to put out the fire. The moment has arrived for Western democracies to tangibly bolster the Iranian people’s revolution by severing all ties with Tehran, closing its embassies, expelling its operatives, and acknowledging the inherent right of the Iranian populace to self-defense. These measures undeniably undermine Khamenei’s oppressive machinery, rendering it feeble in the face of resistance.
(source: ncr-iran.org)
MAY 19, 2023:
TEXAS----foreign national may face death penalty
San Jacinto County DA may seek death penalty for accused mass shooting suspect
The 411 State District Courtroom in the San Jacinto County Courthouse fell silent on Thursday as accused killer Francisco Oropeza was escorted in by Sheriff Greg Capers for his1st hearing on 5 capital murder charges before the Honorable Judge John Wells III.
Represented by Houston-based attorneys Anthony Osso and Lisa Andrews, Oropeza quietly stood before Judge Wells as his attorneys discussed his case with SJC District Attorney Todd Dillon. They talked about the DA’s tentative plans to seek the death penalty for Oropeza, accused of the April 29, 2023, shooting deaths of 5 people, including a 9-year-old boy, at a home in Trails End Subdivision near Cleveland.
Despite the gravity of the situation, there were no protestors outside and it appeared that nobody showed up to support the accused, a Mexican National who has entered the United States illegally after being deported 4 or more times.
Due to the massive manhunt that followed the shooting deaths, which involved more than 220 law enforcement officers and a dozen agencies, the volume of documents and evidence likely to be part of the case intake is mind-boggling. All bodycam videos and written reports must be submitted in order for the DA’s office to move forward first with the indictment against Oropeza. Dillon said he expects Oropeza will be indicted by his next court date on Aug. 10.
To seek the death penalty, the DA’s office has to be able to prove that capital murder was committed in a willful, deliberate and premeditated way, along with an aggravated circumstance such as a victim being younger than 10 years of age, having multiple victims or the murders being committed in the commission of another crime. There are other aggravated circumstances, but Dillon is confident he can prove those 3.
Dillon said nothing is for certain as mitigating circumstances could change his mind about seeking the death penalty.
“One of the mitigating circumstances could be a deficiency in IQ,” said Dillon. “After reviewing all the information, we may look at the case and say, ‘Hey, if we go to trial with this, the jury may not be likely to give him the death penalty.’ What we might get instead is death by prison sentence instead of death by needle. We are not there yet though. Once we get all the information in, we are first going to have to become experts on Mr. Oropeza.”
DEATH MAY BE MORE COSTLY THAN LIFE SENTENCE
Death penalty cases are expensive to prosecute, which generally deters most small, rural counties like San Jacinto County from seeking a death penalty. However, because of the horrific nature of the crimes allegedly committed by Oropeza, it has risen to the level of a death penalty case for the DA’s office.
Capital murder cases are very complicated, taking longer to go to trial, requiring numerous experts for forensic evidence and mental health, and additional security. In most capital murder cases, defendants require court-appointed attorneys. They also receive an automatic appeal, if convicted and sentenced to death row, meaning a whole new set of appellate attorneys will be assigned for the appeal. Most of these costs come at the taxpayers’ expense.
“One of the partial funding sources is a grant through the Governor’s Public Safety Office-Criminal Justice Division. The Texas Indigent Defense Commission also is able to make payments for situations like this,” Dillon said.
MULTIPLE MURDER CASES STILL NEED TO BE TRIED
Since October 2022, San Jacinto County has 8 murders, according to Dillon. In addition to Oropeza, a couple of defendants in other murder cases appeared in court on Thursday.
David Fulcher, the Coldspring defendant in the October 2022 shooting death of his sister, received an August trial date, though Dillon said it is too early to tell if that case will be ready to actually go to trial on that date.
“There is some plea bargaining going on in that case,” Dillon said.
In the case of Thoron and Daniel Keepers, the Cleveland area father and son accused of murdering an 18-year-old Onalaska woman in December 2022, Dillon said they were just recently indicted.
A third, more-recent murder case involves defendant Joshua Escobar. He is accused of the March 2023 shooting of the new boyfriend of his former girlfriend. Like the Keepers’ cases, the prosecution of Escobar is well into the future.
Unlike many larger counties, San Jacinto County has a shared District Attorney and County Attorney, meaning that not only does the DA’s office prosecute felony cases, they handle all misdemeanor cases, while also advising county government officials on contracts and other matters.
It is a heavy load for Dillon and his two prosecutors, Rob Freyer and Tony Dodson. Freyer and Dillon also serve as protem prosecutors in counties where the DAs have to recuse themselves from certain cases. Freyer has 2 upcoming cases in Liberty County as a protem prosecutor and Dillon has four cases, scattered among Polk, Nacogdoches and Houston counties.
(source: bluebonnetnews.com)
FLORIDA:
Jury selection underway in YNW Melly's double murder trial in Broward County
As jury selection enters a 4th week in the upcoming double murder trial in Broward County of Jamell Demons, the Gifford rapper known as YNW Melly, a judge is being asked to decide whether Florida’s new death penalty law will apply, if he’s convicted of the 2018 shooting deaths of two recording partners.
That’s because the new statute signed into law April 20 by Gov. Ron DeSantis – 10 days after jury vetting began for Demons’ trial – reduces from 12 to 8 the number of juror votes required to recommend a defendant guilty of capital murder be put to death.
Demons, 24, and his childhood friend and recording partner Cortlen Henry, 24, of Gifford, are charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder with a firearm in the shooting deaths of friends Anthony Williams — aka YNW Sakchaser — and Christopher Thomas Jr. — aka YNW Juvy.
Demons and Henry were both 19 when Thomas, 19, of Gifford, and Williams, 21, of Fort Pierce, were shot and killed on Oct. 26, 2018. The homicides occurred during what authorities later called a staged drive-by shooting.
Anthony Williams Jr, 21, also known as YNW Sakchaser (left), and Christopher Thomas Jr., 19, also known as YNW Juvy
The 4 men grew up together and were members of the same hip-hop group.
Police and prosecutors have said at about 4:35 a.m. Oct. 26, 2018, Henry pulled into Memorial Hospital Miramar with the bodies of Williams and Thomas in the passenger seats of a bullet-riddled Jeep Compass.
He originally told police the 2 were killed by unknown assailants in a drive-by shooting, but police later said Henry and Demons had orchestrated the killings, with Demons pulling the trigger and Henry assisting a cover-up.
Both Demons and Henry, who is being tried separately, have pleaded not guilty.
Demons is in the Broward County Jail. Henry is not facing the death penalty; he was released in 2020 on bail and conditions of house arrest.
Legal battle over the death penalty
Jury selection for Demons’ trial began April 11 and could continue into June when testimony is expected to start.
Aaron Savitski, a spokesperson with the Broward County State Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors could begin presenting the state's case as early as June 7, but that depends on the time needed to select a 12-member jury, plus alternatives.
For nearly a year, there’ve been back-and-forth of legal filings between both sides after Demons’ defense team attempted to have the death penalty thrown out. Circuit Judge John J. Murphy III on May 2 denied the defense’s latest attempt.
On April 24, prosecutors filed papers asking Murphy to permit the state to proceed using Florida’s new death penalty statute that dropped a requirement that all 12 jurors vote in favor of execution before a judge could impose the death penalty.
Prosecutors argued there’ve been no talks of the death penalty or punishment with the 700 jurors summoned to court between April 10 and 19, and therefore the new law would not jeopardize Demons’ case or defense preparations.
Demons’ lawyers, however, in an April 26 filing, rejected the state’s position, arguing that when the new statute was enacted, jury selection was already underway.
“Applying the new law on a retroactive basis would be changing the rules after the game has begun,” his lawyers wrote, “thereby violating (Demons’) right to procedural due process.”
Court records show a hearing on the matter is scheduled for May 30.
(source: tcpalm.com)
*************
Florida Supreme Court rejects Bay County murderer’s appeal
The Florida Supreme Court rejected a local murderer’s attempts to have his death sentence tossed out Thursday.
They’ve upheld the death penalty for 62-year-old Roderick Orme.
Orme raped, beat, and then killed Lisa Redd, a local nurse, at a Panama City motel room in 1992.
Redd was trying to help Orme overcome his drug addiction and Orme called her for help.
He was convicted at his 1st trial in 1993 and sentenced to death.
Orme has since received 2 more sentencing trials and received the death penalty during both.
In February, his attorneys’ argued before the state supreme court, saying Orme sitting on death row for 30 years constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and asked the justices to throw out his death sentence.
The court has refused to do so.
Orme is 1 of 6 Bay County men currently awaiting execution in Florida.
(source: WMBB news)
********
Joseph Zieler convicted of murdering Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Story, 32
On Thursday evening, Joseph Zieler was convicted of murdering Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Story, 32.
Zieler testified in his own defense Thursday, May 18. He faces the death penalty for the 1990 murders of Lisa, 32, and Robin Cornell,11. Both victims were beaten and sexually assaulted.
When Zieler’s lawyer questioned him, he denied he was even in Cape Coral when the murders took place.
When the state attorney started to ask about the key evidence in the case, Zieler’s DNA at the crime scene, Zieler stunned the courtroom when he said he had slept with Jan a few months before the murder.
“I thought the only way my DNA could have got there was from me sleeping with Jan Cornell,” he said. Then he called Cornell a pig: “She’s calling me a rapist and a murderer, and I’m calling her a pig because she doesn’t wash her sheets.”
Zieler held up a piece of evidence his attorneys had not yet introduced and addressed the jury directly.
“If you continue to act like this, I will have contempt proceedings. Is that clear? Is that in any way unclear?” Cornell said. “I have never, ever had to speak to a defendant like this, and I regret you put me in this position, Mr. Zieler.”
(source: WINK news)
*******************
Defense for man charged with murdering Nassau County deputy aims to challenge Florida’s new death penalty law
The attorneys for a man who pleaded guilty to killing a Nassau County deputy in 2021 told the judge Thursday that a motion would be filed arguing that Florida’s newest death penalty law was unconstitutional.
Patrick McDowell, who admitted to shooting Nassau County Deputy Joshua Moyers, was not in court but is set for trial in the penalty phase in September.
The defense will also file an additional motion to require the sentencing guidelines to require a unanimous jury recommendation. As it stands, Florida’s newly updated death penalty law requires only an 8-4 jury vote. When McDowell was initially charged, a jury had to be unanimous in sentencing a person to death.
McDowell shot Moyers twice during an early morning traffic stop on U.S. 301 on Sept. 23, 2021. Moyers, 29, died from his injuries on Sept. 26, 2021.
Prosecutors said they intend to seek the death penalty if McDowell is convicted.
A hearing for these motions is scheduled for July.
The State Attorney’s Office said a challenge to the new law has already been filed with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and denied by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Judge James Daniel acknowledged, “It’s not optimal, as far as having some certainty” as to what the outcome will be. The last thing anyone wants, he said, is to go through a penalty phase and then have to do it twice.
McDowell also pleaded guilty to injuring a police dog and eight counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
(source: news4jax.com)
OHIO:
Judy Malinowski was burned alive and testified at her killer's trial from the grave. She said that he didn't deserve the death penalty.
Judy Malinowski was burned alive by her boyfriend after he poured gasoline over her body.
She died of her injuries — but had already testified against her killer from her hospital bed.
Her mother and other loved ones talk about Malinowski's tragic case in a documentary.
With 95% of her body covered in burns, Judy Malinowski's pain was apparent when she testified from her hospital bed against the man who poured gasoline over her body and set her aflame.
The gut-wrenching video of her deposition was played in court a year after her death at the sentencing of her on-and-off boyfriend Michael Slager. Slager faced the death penalty for aggravated murder.
Still, Malinowski showed her killer mercy from the grave. She told the judge that she didn't want Slager to be executed for his crime but to spend the rest of his life in jail.
"Judy was not an angry or vengeful person," her mother, Bonnie Bowes, told Insider. "That was her true nature."
Malinowski became one of the first people to testify at her own murder trial.
'Judy's Law' was established in Malinowski's honor to protect other people affected by domestic violence
Malinowski's story is told in the 2022 documentary "The Fire That Took Her," which will be available to stream on Paramount+ on May 23. It chronicles her fate — and fight for justice — in a series of interviews with the 31-year-old's loved ones, including Bowes.
It also features the legal teams of both the victim and perpetrator, and it pays tribute to Malinowski by highlighting her legacy, known as Judy's Law. The legislation, introduced in her home state of Ohio in 2017, imposes more serious and longer sentences to attackers like Slager who intentionally disfigure their victims.
"Judy's courage and strength made me so proud," Bowes said, noting that her daughter's pain medication had been reduced so she was deemed more "lucid and reliable" when she delivered her deposition from the burns unit.
"She spoke up, not only for herself but for other people affected by domestic violence," Bowes went on.
Slager doused Malinowski with gasoline on August 2, 2015, during an argument outside a gas station in Gahanna, Ohio. Malinowski gave evidence that her boyfriend shouted, "See what I'll do to you, bitch" and "How do you like this?" while emptying a can of gasoline over her entire body.
"He backed away from me for about 30 seconds, and I kept telling him to please help me and stop," she said in her testimony.
As security-camera footage of the attack showed, Slager went to his truck to get a cigarette lighter. Malinowski described how he walked toward her while she was "crying and begging for help" and "lit me on fire."
"After I was set on fire, he backed away, and his eyes just turned black," she recalled in the deposition. She said that he ignored her screams and "did nothing" before witnesses rushed to the scene carrying fire extinguishers.
Bowes told Insider that she took a dislike to Slager when Malinowski introduced them in January 2015. She said that her daughter had successfully overcome an addiction to opioids but was still vulnerable.
"I thought, 'No, this isn't good,'" Bowes said. "I looked at Judy and thought, 'She's clean and sober. She's beautiful.' His intentions did not seem right to me."
Doctors in the burn unit said that Malinowski would die within hours of the fire
Bowes said the relationship was "toxic." She said Slager beat up Malinowski, who repeatedly called the police but never pressed charges. She said her daughter relapsed and depended on Slager for money to buy heroin, which Bowes said she was unaware of at the time. "He was very manipulative," she said.
Bowes — who cared for Malinowski's 2 young daughters after she died — said that she drove to the hospital as soon as she learned that her daughter was injured. "They said there had been an accident, and they wanted to know if we had any religious preferences not to intubate Judy," she said.
She gave her permission and was later allowed to visit. Malinowski's blisters were covered with ointment and dressings. The head of the burn unit told Bowes that 95% of her body was covered in burns and they expected her to die within hours.
"Other people said they couldn't recognize her, but all I could see was my child," Bowes told Insider. "I kept screaming, 'Tell me there's hope!' but nobody would."
Malinowski was in a coma for eight months. She was in excruciating pain when she gained consciousness, especially when her dressings were changed twice a day.
Malinowski was devastated when Slager agreed to a plea deal in 2016. His lawyers entered a so-called Alford plea, in which he didn't admit guilt but acknowledged there was enough evidence for a jury to convict him.
He was sentenced to 11 years for aggravated arson. "Judy was all prepped, but she didn't get to testify because there was no contest," Bowes said.
"Michael's strategy was to silence her," she said. "Judy is not the only woman whose abuser took that kind of plea and never got to tell her story publicly."
Malinowski's pain medication was lowered before she gave her deposition
But Malinowski did not give up. She knew that she was dying, and when she did, Slager could be charged with murder. She was "determined to testify and prove that Michael had acted on purpose," Bowes said. She filmed the deposition — which included questioning by the prosecution and a cross-examination by the defense — from her hospital bed. She reduced her pain medication before she testified so she'd be considered a more reliable witness.
Bowes said that the effort took its toll on her daughter's body. She succumbed to her injuries on June 27, 2017, nearly 2 years after the attack.
But she was to get justice from the grave. The film of her deposition was played at Slager's sentencing hearing in July 2018. He had changed his plea at the last minute from not guilty to guilty of aggravated murder. Even though the offense carried the death penalty, Malinowski asked for leniency. Slager was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
"Judy had forgiven him, and it was rightfully her decision," Bowes said. "I know that she was hoping that he would somehow find God or figure out his way out of the darkness."
Malinowski's younger daughter helps John Kasich, the governor of Ohio at the time, sign "Judy's Law" in 2017, shortly before her mother died. AP
She said the family honored Malinowski by establishing the nonprofit Judy's Foundation shortly before she died. It is campaigning to change laws relating to domestic violence at a federal level.
"Judy's legacy should be that with strength and courage, you can overcome bad situations and stand up for change," Bowes said. "She fought hard to overcome challenges that were deemed impossible."
(source: insider.com)
TENNESSEE:
Death row inmate challenges new Tennessee law allowing state attorney general to argue certain capital cases----Death row inmate Larry McKay is asking a judge to disqualify Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti from representing the state in McKay's effort to get a new trial.
A Tennessee death row inmate is challenging the newly expanded authority of the appointed state attorney general to argue certain capital cases, a power that lawmakers shifted away from locally elected prosecutors under a new law after some expressed reluctance to pursue the death penalty.
The law passed in April by the GOP-led Tennessee Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee has generated opposition from attorneys and Democratic lawmakers. They say the change violates the state Constitution, bypasses the will of voters and targets progressive-minded district attorneys who have defied lawmakers in the past.
The statute is the latest example of attempts by GOP governors and legislatures in several states to take on locally elected officials who have de-prioritized enforcement of laws they deem unnecessary.
Lawyer Robert Hutton has filed a motion for Larry McKay, asking a judge to disqualify Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti from representing the state in McKay's effort to have a judge hear new evidence and grant another trial.
McKay was convicted of two murders during a robbery and sentenced to death 40 years ago. McKay's motion claims new scientific methods have revealed that firearms evidence presented at trial was unreliable and a ballistics expert's conclusions cannot stand.
Skrmetti was handed authority over the case from the local prosecutor, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy, under the law passed this year.
The handoff involves collateral proceedings in death penalty cases before a trial court, which apply to issues related to new evidence, DNA testing and intellectual disability, for example. They don't fall under the appeals process, which the attorney general oversees.
Mulroy in Memphis and Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk in Nashville both have said they oppose the death penalty. Both have also said that they would make prosecuting doctors under the state's abortion ban a low priority and that state laws targeting the LBGTQ+ community are unnecessary.
In recent years, other district attorneys around the country have refused to prosecute some Republican-passed state laws, from voting restrictions to limits on certain protest activity. In Georgia, lawmakers passed a bill in March establishing a commission to discipline and remove prosecutors who Republicans believe aren't sufficiently fighting crime.
In Florida, former state attorney Aramis Ayala clashed with Republican governors Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis for refusing to seek the death penalty. Both governors reassigned death penalty cases to other prosecutors.
Richard Dieter, the Death Penalty Information Center's executive director, said tension exists in capital cases where the district attorney has said the death penalty is flawed and that they will almost never seek it.
"Governors and attorney generals have taken steps toward removing individual cases from the local DA's authority and even have sought to disqualify the DA from all potentially capital cases," Dieter said.
Dieter said "it would make sense" for district attorneys to handle collateral challenges, which typically begin in trial courts.
Mulroy supports McKay's motion, which argues that the new law hurts the district attorney's ability to fulfill his responsibilities as an official elected locally under Tennessee's Constitution. The attorney general is picked by Tennessee's Supreme Court.
"The new statute also violates the voting rights of such voters," Mulroy's filing states.
Tennessee has put seven inmates to death since 2018, the most recent occurring in February 2020.
In 2019, Funk agreed to seek a sentence reduction to keep Black death row inmate Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman in prison for life. Abdur'Rahman had petitioned a judge to reopen his case on claims that trial prosecutors treated Black potential jurors differently from white ones.
Republican Sen. Brent Taylor, the sponsor of the bill passed in April, argued that under the previous law, district attorneys could be unfamiliar with the sometimes decades-old death penalty cases under appeal. That means the post-conviction challenges "lose their adversarial characteristic that ensures justice," Taylor said.
He also contended that the attorney general should control more of the cases that his office already handles through appeals. Additionally, Taylor said victims' families would be better off communicating with just the attorney general's office.
Sen. Raumesh Akbari, the Democratic minority leader, said the law shouldn't be changed because of possible dislike for the "policies of our more liberal district attorneys."
"When you come for an entire office and change how things proceed based on who holds that seat at that time, that's when you're making bad policy," Akbari said on the floor last month.
Mulroy, a Democrat, has said he opposes the death penalty "as a policy matter" and that he would vote against it if he were a legislator.
Still, Mulroy is pursuing the death penalty against Ezekiel Kelly, who is charged with killing three people during a Memphis shooting rampage. In announcing the decision, Mulroy said it's his duty to follow the law in Kelly's case but maintained his general opposition to the death penalty.
Funk also has said he personally opposes the death penalty.
"I still follow the law, in that I review those cases and have a team of assistant DAs to work through the case to then provide any recommendations" about whether to seek death, the Democrat told The Associated Press in 2021.
McKay has always maintained his innocence. His motion notes that the district attorney can seek a lesser penalty if case circumstances change, a possibility that would benefit McKay if he were granted a new trial.
Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan is presiding over McKay's motion. She previously ruled that death row inmate Pervis Payne was intellectually disabled and unfit to be executed, removing him from death row.
Attorneys fear the state could use the law to step into other matters in capital cases and argue against consideration of DNA evidence and intellectual disabilities.
"The Attorney General's intervention bill is fiscally irresponsible, unconstitutional, and an attack on the voters of Shelby and Davidson County, which will result in an unnecessary delay in the adjudication of death penalty cases by an entity that is not accountable to the voters," said Kelley Henry, Payne's lawyer.
The attorney general's office said it will file its response to McKay's motion but declined further comment. Skahan set a June 2 hearing about the motion.
(source: localmemphis.com)
MISSOURI----impending execution
Man scheduled to be executed soon in Missouri is fighting for his life
A man scheduled to be executed soon in Missouri is fighting for his life behind prison walls.
42-year-old Michael Tisius has asked Governor Mike Parson for mercy.
He is scheduled to be put to death on June 6 at the state prison in Bonne Terre.
Tisius was convicted in the killings of 2 Randolph County jail workers in a plot to break out an inmate in 2000.
After being admitted to the jail in Huntsville, Tisius pulled a gun he was hiding in his pants and shot to death Leon Egley and Jason Acton.
The guards were both unarmed.
(source: newstalkkzrg.com)
SOUTH DAKOTA:
Death Penalty Dispute Could Go To The South Dakota Supreme Court
Prosecutors in Lincoln County want the state Supreme Court to decide if it’s constitutional to seek the death penalty for a man defense attorneys say is intellectually disabled.
Second Circuit Presiding Judge Robin Houwman ruled in late April that the state’s standards for intellectual disability do not comport closely enough with medical standards to pass constitutional muster.
The decision may take the death penalty off the table for Amir Beaudion Jr., who’s accused of kidnapping, raping and killing Pasqalina Badi in January of 2020. A hearing is set for late July, at which Beaudion’s lawyers intend to argue that their client is intellectually disabled.
Earlier this month, Judge Houwman denied a motion to reconsider her April ruling. This week, Lincoln County State’s Attorney Tom Wollman filed a petition to put her ruling under review by the state’s high court.
The issue hinges on a handful of details in South Dakota law that defense lawyers say bar people like Beaudion Jr. from claiming immunity from capital punishment due to intellectual disability. Those with such a disability have been exempt from a death sentence since 2002, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that such a sentence would violate the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
Beaudion Jr.’s lawyers say the state’s standards are too restrictive. The law not only requires a person to have an I.Q. score below 70, but also that the I.Q. score and its relation to a person’s “subaverage” adaptive skills be documented before a defendant reaches 18 years old.
Beaudion Jr. was 19 at the time of the homicide and has no such documentation. He does, however, have an I.Q. score of 60, according to court documents.
Houwman’s April ruling sided with defense attorneys, who referenced case law showing that courts are typically bound by guidance of the medical community in determinations of intellectual disability.
In 2021 and 2022, after Beaudion Jr.’s alleged crime, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) updated its guidance on intellectual disability in a manner the defense said qualifies their client for immunity from execution. The DSM no longer ties together I.Q. and adaptive function as a requirement for a diagnosis of intellectual disability.
Defense lawyers had also tried to bar the death penalty for their client because of his young age at the time of the crime, but Judge Houwman rejected those arguments.
In this week’s appeal on the question of intellectual disability, Wollman wrote that Beaudion Jr. cannot legally challenge state laws on the death penalty, as he has yet to be convicted of a crime for which the death penalty is a possibility.
Houwman ruled that the individual laws in question aren’t unconstitutional on their face but become so when taken together to create a legal definition of intellectual disability. They are “inseparably connected,” Houwman wrote.
Wollman’s petition makes the case that courts need to meet a higher standard before upending laws passed by the legislative branch.
It’s also relevant, Wollman wrote, that the state’s high court has yet to clearly define the bounds of an intellectual disability claim in South Dakota death penalty cases.
“As it stands today,” the petition says, “There is currently no standard or statutory allowance for a defendant to claim an intellectual disability as a bar to the death penalty.”
Going forward with a hearing on Beaudion Jr.’s intellectual disability this July without such a standard in place, the petition says, would make Houwman “step into the shoes of the legislature to determine proper procedure, determine which party bears the burden, what that burden is, and ultimately what the standard is to define intellectual disability.”
The South Dakota Supreme Court has yet to decide whether to hear Wollman’s appeal.
(source: Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan)
ARIZONA:
Opinion: Hiker’s slaying demands killer’s quick end
It has become fashionable among the intellectuals and bleeding hearts who work in newsrooms to rail against the death penalty. We must have compassion, they argue. Lethal injection is so barbaric, so cruel, so unusual, the process so rife with inexactitude and the possibility of human error.
Better to let every murderer live, goes their reasoning, than to execute a single innocent man.
To which I consider the stone-cold murder of 29-year-old Lauren Heike, a Scottsdale woman who went for a hike on April 28 and ended up stabbed 15 times, and shake my head in disgust.
You want to argue against the death penalty? Don’t emote for some poor killer who went into heart palpitations or felt pain in his final moments because the 3-drug cocktail took too long to work.
Instead, dissect the case of Zion William Teasley, Heike’s 22-year-old accused murderer, and give me one good reason he shouldn’t be put to death after his slam-dunk case is tried and his appeals are exhausted in, oh, about a half-lifetime from now.
Let’s get the formalities out of the way: Teasley has not yet been tried. He has not yet been found guilty.
At this moment, he is merely an alleged killer, entitled to the presumption of innocence — even if the case against him looks airtight, given that his DNA was all over the scene and that cell phone records and surveillance video put him at the site of the crime in North Scottsdale.
Currently, Teasley is being held on charges of 1st-degree murder and probation violation. The latter stems from his previous convictions for armed robbery, robbery and disorderly conduct.
Apparently, this one-man crimewave stuck up 2 North Phoenix convenience stores seven times between May and July 2020, waving a gun, jumping behind the counter and forcing employees to put money on Google Play cards.
For this, he served a whopping 16 months in state prison, plus a year in county jail awaiting his sentence. Teasley was released last November with 4 years’ probation ahead of him.
5 months after he went free, Teasley was caught on surveillance video skulking along 36 seconds behind Heike as she went out for a hike.
Heike was stabbed 15 times, the court documents say, with lacerations up to 3 inches deep, plus defensive wounds and cuts she sustained fleeing through a barbed wire fence that borders the trail.
Teasley identified himself in the video, police reported, then later recanted that particular piece of damnation.
“Lauren was … beautiful inside and out,” said Heike’s mother, Lana, during a press conference at Phoenix Police headquarters just two days before Teasley’s arrest. “She had such a kind heart. Everybody who met her loved her. She was super funny. She was just this sweet child, just everything to us.”
Lana looked away from the camera then. Her eyes flitted back up looking full and moist.
“I talked to her every single day, at least once or twice a day. Every phone call ended, ‘I love you, Mom.’”
This is what Teasley stands accused of subtracting from the world: a mother’s sweet daughter, a young woman who loved to move her body, to exercise, to be in nature.
“She was my little girl,” said Heike’s father, Jeff. His other thought: “I just hope that they find whoever did this to her.” It seems they have. And if one day in a court of law Zion William Teasley is found guilty of this depraved 1st-degree murder, I hope the state of Arizona arranges a fast journey for him.
Not back to a prison cell, where he can rot in peace. But straight to hell, the way vicious murderers so richly deserve.
(source: Columnist; David Leibowitz, Glendale Star)
USA:
Pittsburgh synagogue shooter faces death penalty in trial set to start May 30----Robert Bowers accused of killing of 11 worshipers in 2018 attack; some victims’ relatives pushing for execution, but two of three community leaders oppose it
The trial of the alleged shooter in the Pittsburgh synagogue attack is slated to begin May 30.
Jury selection for the federal trial began last month and is expected to end next week, according to the Pittsburgh Union Progress, a local publication, and the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, which are jointly covering the trial. The defendant, Robert Bowers, is accused of killing 11 worshippers from three congregations who were praying together on Oct. 27. 2018. He faces the death penalty.
Most observers expect the defendant to be convicted, which would result in a 3rd phase of the trial focused on sentencing during which victims’ family members and other community leaders would testify. Some relatives of the massacre’s victims have pushed for Bowers to be executed, while leaders of 2 of the 3 congregations have previously advocated against the death penalty.
The start of the trial, more than 4 years after the attack took place, has surfaced a mix of emotions for residents of Squirrel Hill, the heavily Jewish neighborhood where it occurred. While many hope conviction will bring a sense of closure, there are concerns that the trial will re-traumatize survivors, families of victims, and the broader community. In the lead-up to the trial, Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, has tracked an “uptick in hate speech” online, according to the Associated Press.
The alleged shooter is just the fourth person in Western Pennsylvania to ever face a federal death penalty. None of the other 3 were executed.
(source: The Times of Israel)
GLOBAL:
The death penalty: a breach of human rights and ethics of care
“The death penalty is, in our common experience, an atavistic relic from the past that should be shed in the 21st century”, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk in April, 2023, during the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council. The death penalty has existed since the Code of Hammurabi, with its history seeped in politics and discrimination. Physicians have been involved throughout this history. In the eyes of the public, the medicalisation and very involvement of physicians renders execution palatable, eroding any natural sense of abhorrence. Yet capital punishment is ineffective as a deterrent and morally wrong. At its core, execution is a barbaric practice that goes against the ethical foundation of the physician's role, and draws medical professionals into the state-sanctioned murder of civilians.
On May 15, Amnesty released their global report on death sentences and executions, warning that figures are at their highest for 5 years. Officially documented executions increased by 53%, from 579 in 2021 to 883 in 2022. The world's most prolific executioners in 2022 were: China (thousands), Iran (576), Saudi Arabia (196), Egypt (56), and the USA (18). 93% of global executions, excluding China, were carried out in the Middle East and north Africa. Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, an international human rights treaty adopted in 1966, prohibits the use of the death penalty “only for the most serious crimes”. However, executions frequently correlate with areas where dictatorial regimes prevail, often silencing political protest and enforcing views on issues such as drug use and LGBTQ+ identities.
In 2022, Amnesty recorded 325 executions for drug-related offences, including 255 in Iran and 57 in Saudi Arabia. Worldwide, 11 countries threaten the death penalty for those in the LGBTQ+ community. Uganda's recent introduction of capital punishment for what it terms “aggravated homosexuality” is being closely followed by other countries in the region. There is no question that capital punishment discriminates intersectionally. The Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights says that at least 45 people from Iranian minority ethnic groups have been executed in recent weeks. Worldwide, those who are from low socioeconomic backgrounds are disproportionately led to death. The death penalty is the most brutal form of structural, state-sanctioned discrimination, racism, and homophobia.
Physicians are involved in executions in several countries. They clinically assess mental competence for execution; physically examine and monitor vital signs before, during, and after execution; and certify death. In extreme cases, physicians take the role of executioner and are implicated in illegal organ procurement from executed prisoners. Many professional bodies have debated and condemned physician participation. The World Medical Association affirms: “it is unethical for physicians to participate in capital punishment, in any way, or during any step of the execution process, including its planning and the instruction and/or training of persons to perform executions”. The American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics speaks directly to a physician's ethical responsibility, stating that they should not participate in legally authorised executions, and yet numerous US physicians assist in death row executions. Several human rights organisations, including Physicians for Human Rights, vehemently oppose the participation of health-care professionals in executions.
Why then do physicians continue to be complicit? Some argue that they are simply trying to ensure a person's final moments are as safe and pain-free as possible—a moral obligation to reduce suffering. Others assert that in repressive states, physicians are coerced and acting under duress. In many countries that still impose the death penalty (eg, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia), medical associations remain silent on the ethics of physician involvement. WHO's position on the death penalty is unclear. Its press team was unable to direct The Lancet to any public statements or clarify the organisation's stance before we went to press. This uncertainty creates a dangerous vacuum where global health leadership is urgently needed.
The death penalty is inhumane and violates the fundamental right to life. Physician involvement enables this continuing abuse of human rights and undermines the 4 pillars of medical ethics—beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice. Universal condemnation of the death penalty, by physicians and medical associations alike, is an essential step on the path to abolition.
(source: Editorial The Lancet, VOLUME 401, ISSUE 10389, P1629)
**************
Why are Iran and China Executing Thousands?
Recorded executions in 2022 reached the highest figure in 5 years, as the Middle East and North Africa’s most notorious executioners carried out killing sprees, Amnesty International said Tuesday as it released its annual review of the death penalty.
“Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life. The number of individuals deprived of their lives rose dramatically across the region; Saudi Arabia executed a staggering 81 people in a single day. Most recently, in a desperate attempt to end the popular uprising, Iran executed people simply for exercising their right to protest,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
Iran and China are at the top of the list. Just this month alone, Iran executed 10 people. Iran Human Rights (IHR) said in a report that four people convicted of rape were hanged at the Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Tehran, according to Al-Monitor. In a separate case, three other men were hanged at the Ghezal Hesar prison, also in Karaj, on drug charges.
At least 582 people were executed in 2022, up from 333 in 2021, a joint report by IRH and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty showed last month. The United Nations says more than 200 people have been executed this year so far.
The Amnesty numbers differ slightly from those by IRH and Together Against the Death Penalty. According to Amnesty, 90% of the world’s known executions outside China were carried out by just 3 countries in the region. Recorded executions in Iran soared from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022; figures tripled in Saudi Arabia, from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022 — the highest recorded by Amnesty in 30 years — while Egypt executed 24 individuals.
“On average so far this year, over 10 people are put to death each week in Iran, making it one the world’s highest executors,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said recently.
While the precise number of those killed in China is unknown, it is clear that the country remained the world’s most prolific executioner, ahead of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and, apparently according to Amnesty, the USA.
This is not the first time Iran and China made it to the top of the list of global executioners. In 2016, they were also recognized as being the top executioners, with China executing more people than all the countries in the world put together. According to the Al-Jazeera report, “it is difficult to get a clear number as Beijing classifies most information related to the death penalty as ‘state secrets.’ It is estimated to be in the thousands each year.”
Iran is the world’s second-largest executioner after China, according to Amnesty International. Most of those executed — many belonging to minority groups — are charged with murder or drug-related offenses. Others are convicted of vaguely worded charges, including “spreading corruption on earth” and “enmity against God,” Amnesty said in a March report.
“The world must act now to pressure the Iranian authorities to establish an official moratorium on executions, quash unfair convictions and death sentences, and drop all charges related to the peaceful participation in protests,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
As noted by the Al-Monitor article, the surge in death sentences and executions occurred concurrently with a countrywide uprising against the Iranian government, which began in September following the tragic death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody. The protest movement faced brutal suppression, as security forces resorted to violence, resulting in the deaths of numerous demonstrators and the arrest of thousands. According to a report by IHR in December, approximately 100 individuals received death sentences in connection with their involvement in the protests.
Rights groups accuse Iran of using the death sentence as a tool of repression and intimidation against the public.
“Iran’s authorities demonstrated how crucial the death penalty is to instill societal fear in order to hold on to power,” the joint IHR and ECPM report said.
Thousands of Iranian citizens have been jailed over the last year alone, and hundreds have been executed, usually by hanging – a notably tortuous death. The victims often do not have access to a lawyer or legal representation.
The fact that Amnesty places the United States in the category of top executioners around the globe is questionable since the US executed 18 people in 2021 by lethal injection – a number quite distant from the thousands being executed in China. Still, each state in the US should review its policies with regard to executions as even 18 is a high number, is not morally justified, and does not deter crime.
While it is clear that some states in the US implement the death penalty as a punishment to the individual for his or her crimes, Iran and China utilize executions as a warning to the public; step out of line, and we will kill you. Amnesty’s reports have no effect on Iran and China. They continue to sit in United Nations bodies and their diplomats and leaders are welcomed in international fora. Iran and China use executions to control the population and ensure total authority. As long as they remain dictatorships, nothing will change and innocent people will continue to die.
(source: Chloe Atkinson is a climate change activist and consultant on global climate affairs----counterpunch.org)
POLAND:
Polish ruling camp restarts capital punishment debate
Following the gruesome death of an 8-year-old child at the hands of his stepfather, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki reopened the topic of reinstating the death penalty, with over 1/2 of Poles supporting the idea despite the legal impossibility of implementing it.
Earlier this month, 8-year-old Kamil died in a children’s hospital in Upper Silesia, Western Poland, after being in a coma for 35 days after being forced to stand atop a gas stove and pouring boiling water on his body by his stepfather. An investigation revealed that the 27-year-old man had been torturing the child for a long time.
“The penalties for the worst degenerates are much too low,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted on 10 May. “Personally, I am in favour of reinstating the death penalty for the most brutal criminals!” he said, commenting on Kamil’s case.
He added that penalties should be much higher for “monsters,” who not only destroy children’s lives but do that with premeditation. Consequently, he asked Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro to put forward amendments to the Polish Criminal Code.
The court practice shows that offenders too often receive low sentences, which the government cannot agree to, said Family and Social Policy Minister Marlena Malag.
Reinstating capital punishment gained popularity in the government
It was not the 1st time that Morawiecki spoke in favour of reinstating capital punishment. In January, he said that the death penalty should be permissible for the most severe crimes.
Polish ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party traditionally sympathises with the Catholic Church, which, after the revision of its Catechism in 2018, teaches that in the light of the Gospel death penalty “is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” and in no circumstances can be permitted.
Even if he considers himself Catholic, Morawiecki admitted that he disagreed with the Church on this point. To his mind, capital punishment should be “thought over” in Poland, contrary to the contemporary world that wants to eliminate it too fast.
The government’s spokesman, Piotr Müller, later explained that the prime minister only expressed his own opinion and reinstating the death penalty is not a part of PiS’ political agenda nor a matter of discussion in the government.
Still, Morawiecki has followers on that issue even in his government, especially among the members of Sovereign Poland, PiS’ Eurosceptic junior coalition partner, the leader of which is the Minister of Justice Zbigniew Tadeusz Ziobro.
Shortly after Morawiecki’s January statement, Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Warchol said he also supports reintroducing the death penalty into the Criminal Code, which he believes would reduce the number of crimes.
The prime minister faced criticism for his controversial views from top Polish lawyers. Morawiecki’s approval of the death penalty is another step to withdraw Poland from the European Union, said Professor Andrzej Zoll, criminal law expert, as quoted by Rzeczpospolita news outlet.
Most Poles want capital punishment back
However, the latest poll by United Surveys for Wirtualna Polska showed that over half of Poles, although a narrow majority, agree with Morawiecki about the need to bring back the death penalty.
In the survey, the results of which were published on Wednesday (17 May), 48.3% of respondents said they support the prime minister’s position, and one-third of them strongly believe capital punishment should be reinstated.
46.3% of the survey’s participants spoke against the death penalty, with 35% strongly convinced that it should not be restored. 5.4% did not have a clear opinion.
The support for the death penalty proved to align with political views. Among the supporters of the ruling coalition, 76% agree with Morawiecki’s views. Among the opposition’s supporters, 65% do not want the death penalty reinstated.
The most divided were the voters with no established political sympathy. 48% support the death penalty, while 38% oppose it.
Death penalty prohibited in EU
The last death sentence was performed in Poland was in 1988 at a jail in Kracow. Despite asking for a pardon, 29-year-old Stanislaw Czubanski was executed for the brutal rape and murder of a woman.
Under Communist rule, which ended in Poland in 1989, one could be sentenced to death for high treason, acts of terror, particularly brutal murders and serious economic crimes. In 1989, the parliament adopted an amnesty act, under which anyone sentenced to death who has not been executed yet, had their sentence replaced with 25 years in jail.
Both Morawiecki and Müller insisted that reinstatement of capital punishment is impossible in Poland due to the country’s obligations as a member of international organisations: the European Union and the Council of Europe.
The European Charter of Human Rights, which came to force in 1953 and which Poland signed in 1993, states in Article 2 that “no one shall be condemned to the death penalty or executed.”
In 2000, the Council of Europe declared itself a zone without the death penalty. Currently, no member state maintains this type of penalty in its criminal code.
Last year, in a joint statement on the occasion of the European and World Day against the Death Penalty, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell and Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, called the death penalty “cruel, inhuman and ineffective punishment.”
European governments speak against
Unlike in Poland, in most EU countries, the reinstatement of capital punishment is a rare subject of public debate, and the governing parties do not bring it up.
This is the case in France, where only Eric Zemmour, far-right presidential candidate for the 2022 elections, said he did not think it was right to abolish capital punishment. Still, in his presidential programme, he did not include a proposal to restore it.
Also, in Portugal, the first modern sovereign state in Europe to abolish the death penalty, the issue is off the political agenda. Even the far-right party Chega, who in 2020 decided to put the issue to an internal referendum, saw it rejected by its members.
In Belgium, the death penalty was abolished officially in 1996, and its prohibition has been enshrined in the Constitution. In 2016, the parliament refused to discuss a bill proposed by the far-right Flemish party Vlaams Belang (Identity and Democracy).
The party considered the penal system “too lax” and proposed to rehabilitate life imprisonment without the possibility of early release, which would not lead to executions, but leave the option to “banish permanently” some individuals, including terrorists and child abusers, from society.
Still, in 2020, the party abstained on the vote on removing the last reference to the death penalty in Belgian law.
In Finland, where the last execution took place in 1944, even it was abolished only in 1972, in 2011, Helsingin Sanomat carried out a survey where as much as 19% of respondents supported capital punishment, 48% were against, and 29% said that it could be used in certain exceptional cases. Most support came from the then-rising Finns Party.
In the Netherlands, where the death penalty was scrapped from the constitution in 1870, the SGP, an opposition conservative Calvinist party, openly advocated for capital punishment until 2017, when it omitted the measure from its election programme for the 1st time in 100 years. Nonetheless, party members continued advocating for capital punishment as recently as February 2023 during a debate in the Dutch Senate.
A survey from 2008 showed that 59% of Dutch citizens rejected the implementation of the death penalty under any circumstances, 26% deemed it justifiable in “special cases”, and 13% for “extreme criminal acts”.
In Germany, the country’s centre-left government has made it clear that pushing for abolition in other countries is an important mission.
The abolition of capital punishment in Germany has been enshrined in the Basic Law of the Federal Republic since 1949, a provision that legitimised the death penalty in severe cases remaining in the constitution of the land Hesse until it was officially abolished via a referendum. Bavaria abolished a similar clause in 1998.
Also, most Italian politicians, as does the Catholic Church, oppose capital punishment. Even Matteo Salvini, the controversial leader of the right-wing Lega party, spoke against the death penalty in 2015, opting for life imprisonment and forced labour for terrorists instead.
Until 2019, 142 countries abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. In 2021, a minority of 18 states, 9% of the total number of UN Member States, still carried out executions, according to the Council of Europe.
(source: euractiv.com)
SOMALIA----executions
Southwest executes 2 men in Baidoa
Baidoa (Horn Observer) Southwest State of Somalia has on Thursday executed 2 men who were found to have committed murders in the regional state, according to the prosecutors.
They were sentenced to death by the Bay Regional Court earlier last month. They were executed by a firing squad on Thursday morning in a public square in Baidoa, the capital of Bay Region.
The men are: Adan Ali Abdi and Mohamed Gedow Nurow.
Adan Ali Abdi was found guilty of murdering the late teacher Dahir Abdullahi Mukhtar, according to the Bay region court.
Mohamed Gedow Nurow was also accused of killing the late Jamal Abdikarin Maadey and was finally found guilty of it.
In the square where the two men were shot, there were officials from the Southwest State and locals who were called there to witness the executions.
The capital punishment remains as a legal punishment in Somalia. It is widely used by both the government and al-Shabaab terror group. Most of executions in Somalia are carried through shooting by a firing squad, but al-Shabaab also uses beheading and stoning.
(source: hornobserver.com)
NIGERIA:
Over 200 Human Rights Groups, Individuals Write Buhari, Demand Immediate Release Of Islamic Singer, Sharif-Aminu On Trial For Alleged Blasphemy
The signatories to the letter comprise at least 45 Nigerian and international organisations, 75 Nigerians and foreigners and 89 Leaders of Chapters of the Christian Law Students’ Fellowship of Nigeria (CLASFON).
Agroup of individuals and local and international human rights organisations has written to President Muhammadu Buhari, expressing grave concern at the continued detention of Kano-based Islamic singer Yahaya Sharif-Aminu over blasphemy allegations.
The signatories to the letter comprise at least 45 Nigerian and international organisations, 75 Nigerians and foreigners and 89 Leaders of Chapters of the Christian Law Students’ Fellowship of Nigeria (CLASFON).
The group demanded the immediate release of Sharif-Aminu and the withdrawal of all charges levelled against him.
Sharif-Aminu, a Sufi musician in Kano State was arrested in March 2020 on charges of blasphemy. He was accused of insulting Prophet Muhammad in two WhatsApp audio messages.
SaharaReporters had reported that a Sharia court in Kano State passed a death sentence by hanging on Sharif-Aminu but a high court overturned it, but however, denied the musician bail and ordered his re-trial before another Sharia court judge due to irregularities in the original trial.
The musician approached the appeal court to overturn the order for his retrial for blasphemy. His lawyer argued that he ought to be removed from detention but the appellate court did not rule in his favour.
In the letter to President Buhari, the group said around the time Sharif-Aminu was arrested, a mob burned down his home and that no member of the mob had been prosecuted.
“During his trial, he was not afforded a lawyer. He was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging in August 2020 for violating Section 382(b) of the Kano State Sharia Penal Code Law.
“While a court later overturned the conviction, he was ordered to a retrial, where he would face the same potential death penalty,” the letter read in part.
The group noted that though Sharif-Aminu has appealed the court ruling at the Supreme Court to find Section 382(b) unconstitutional and in violation of international law, including the African Charter, “He has spent over three years in prison for his peaceful and brief remarks that merely expressed his religious beliefs.”
The group said, “Kano State’s blasphemy law violates both the Nigerian Constitution and international law. The Nigerian Constitution protects the freedoms of thought, conscience, religion, and expression, and that includes the ability to peacefully share with others the tenets of one’s beliefs, even if others may strongly disagree with them.
“International law, including the African Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, similarly protect freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief. It also requires that the death penalty be reserved only for the most serious crimes in those States that have not abolished the death penalty. In no sense can the mere posting of peaceful audio messages expressing one’s beliefs amount to a severe crime warranting death, or even any crime at all.
“International observers have condemned the continuing prosecution of Yahaya Sharif-Aminu and called for his release. On April 20 of this year, the European Parliament overwhelmingly called on Nigeria to immediately release Sharif-Aminu and found that Nigeria’s blasphemy laws “are in violation of its international human rights commitments, the African Charter and the Nigerian Constitution.”
“Officials from the United Nations have similarly raised concerns over his prosecution and called for his release, as have officials from the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Nigeria is also one of only 7 countries in the world—including Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, and Saudi Arabia—with criminal blasphemy laws for which a person can be sentenced to death.
“Yahaya Sharif-Aminu should never have been arrested and imprisoned in the first instance. Instead, he has had to suffer mob violence and spend years in prison for simply and peacefully sharing his beliefs with others.
“A democracy cannot function when the most basic freedoms are not protected, and as the largest democracy in Africa, Nigeria’s example matters. But now, Nigeria and Your Excellency have an opportunity to set a strong example that you will work to protect the rights of your citizens, not disregard them.
“For all of these reasons, we reiterate our call that Nigeria immediately release Yahaya Sharif-Aminu,” the letter added.
The groups include 21Wilberforce, Accountability Lab Nigeria, ADF International, Alliance of Inclusive Muslims, Anglican Persecuted Church Network, Avocats Sans Frontières France (Lawyers Without Borders France), Boat People SOS, Buddhist Solidarity Association, Center for Pluralism, CHAT-PRAY-ACT, Christian Solidarity International, Church of Scientology, National Affairs Office Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) and Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam.
Others include Coptic Solidarity, Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience, Culture Advocates Caucus, Elixir Trust Foundation, Ex-Muslims of North America, Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA), GAFCON Suffering Church Network, Genocide Watch, Global Christian Relief, Global Peace Foundation Nigeria, Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE), Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam and International Christian Concern.
The individuals include Eedris Abdulkareem, Nigerian Rapper, Singer, Activist and Olympics Torchbearer; Jackie Abramian, Founder, Global Cadence; Segun Adefila, Nigerian Actor and Culture Activist, Artistic Director, Crown Troupe of Africa; Folu Agoi, President, Nigerian Centre of PEN International (PEN Nigeria); Toyin Akinosho, Nigerian Writer, Co-Founder, Committee for Relevant Art (CORA); Sola Alamutu, Research & Advocacy Manager, Unchained Vibes Africa and David Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, KCSG, KCMCO, Member of the House of Lords (UK).
(source: saharareporters.com)
KENYA:
Not even Shakahola should make us to reverse decision on death penalty
Many people, including leaders, members of the public and social media commentators, have been horrified by the deaths in Shakahola.
Several people have publicly advocated reintroducing the death penalty in Kenya to punish those responsible for the over 210 deaths.
For many death penalty supporters, it should be applied to the most heinous crimes such as murder, robbery with violence, treason, terrorism, defilement, and others.
Even though death penalty has been part of Kenyan law since independence and even after the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution, no one has been executed since 1987. Therefore, Kenya is a de facto (in practice) abolitionist country but de jure (by law) retentionist country. Although we have shelved the death penalty, it can be revived at any time depending on the administration in power, which may be moved by public sentiment.
People are continually found guilty of capital offences every year and sometimes sentenced to death, such as the officer who was recently convicted of murdering lawyer Willie Kimani, his client, Josephat Mwendwa and their driver, Joseph Muiruri.
According to Amnesty International's Annual Death Penalty Report (2023), 79 men and 1 woman were sentenced to death in Kenya, bringing the total number of people on death row to 656. Within the same period, 10 people were exonerated of the death penalty.
After the Supreme Court declared the mandatory nature of the death penalty unconstitutional in the Muruatetu case, many people who were sentenced to death for murder or robbery with violence were allowed to request a review of their sentences, which in some cases resulted in their sentences being reduced.
As a result of the above ruling and the recommendations of the Taskforce to Review the Mandatory Death Sentence, many people on death row have had their sentences commuted, giving them a new lease on life.
Opponents of the death penalty strongly believe that gaps in the criminal justice system have allowed innocent people to sit on death row or be executed. To them, the system's infallibility is sufficient justification to abolish the practice. There is no evidence that the death penalty deters criminal behaviour. States that abolished it in the USA enjoy lower crime levels.
Also, it is overwhelmingly applied unjustly to the marginalised in society, such as racial and ethnic minorities, the poor and persons with mental health issues. For most, the argument is that it is inhuman and violates international human rights standards such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which emphasise the importance of human life.
Another primary justification is the belief that the death penalty is a form of torture outlawed under Articles 25 and 29 of the Constitution. This is a cruel, inhumane, and unusual form of treatment and punishment.
Other countries such as Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, and the Central African Republic have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea and Zambia have abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only. Kenya is hoped to follow suit and eliminate this degrading punishment.
Despite Kenya's moratorium on the death penalty since 1987, death row convicts continue to face psychological and physical anguish, further violating their right to dignity, which is inherent to all people despite their crimes.
As a country, we have come a long way through the efforts of victims, the Attorney General's office, KNCHR, CSOs and pro-bono lawyers to reinforce the dignity of convicted persons. Perhaps we should consider the global trend toward abolishing the death penalty.
(source: standardmedia.co.ke)
ZIMBABWE:
Zimbabwe releases prisoners in amnesty, reducing overcrowding
Zimbabwe has begun releasing more than 4,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty that authorities say will help ease congestion in some overcrowded jails.
About 800 prisoners were released Friday from the Central Prison and Chikurubi Maximum Prison in the capital, Harare. Jails in other parts of the country began releasing prisoners who qualified for the amnesty on Thursday, said Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services spokeswoman Meya Khanyezi.
She said the amnesty would “go a long way in reducing the prison population.” Zimbabwe’s prisons have a capacity of 17,000 but hold more than 20,000 inmates.
Former prisoners have in the past complained about overcrowding and other harsh conditions such as a lack of food and proper health care. Amnesty International has previously described the conditions as “deplorable.” The Southern African nation of 15 million people regularly uses the presidential amnesty to decongest prisons.
A beneficiary of the latest amnesty, John Mafararikwa, who was serving a 17-month sentence for theft, expressed relief.
“It’s overcrowded and the food is bad. Most of the time we would eat food prepared without cooking oil,” said the 71-year-old, boarding a prison bus taking him and other amnesty beneficiaries away from Harare Central Prison.
Song, dance and prayers marked the event. Some people of advanced age walked with the aid of crutches. A small group wore graduation robes after receiving diplomas in bible studies.
At Chikurubi Maximum Prison, freed women prisoners hugged prison officers, while men rushed for the back of an open truck waiting to transport them from the jail. Others thanked President Emmerson Mnangagwa for showing mercy.
All females imprisoned for non-violent crimes and who served a third of their sentences are to be released. Terminally ill people will be released regardless of the crime committed, while blind prisoners and those “who are physically challenged that they cannot be catered for in a prison” had their remaining sentences fully remitted.
Prisoners aged 60 years old and above and juveniles are among beneficiaries of the amnesty, while those who have been on the death row for the past 10 years had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
Zimbabwe still has the death penalty but has not hanged anyone since 2005. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has previously said he is against the death penalty.
Those serving life in prison but have been in jail for the past 20 years will also be freed.
Prisoners who committed violent crimes such as murder, carjacking, human trafficking and sexual offenses but have served three quarters of their sentences are also being released. Those locked up for crimes such as treason, robbery, public violence and sabotaging electricity infrastructure were ineligible for release.
(source: Associated Press)
TUNISIA:
Ghannouchi sentencing marks aggressive crackdown on Saied opposition
A Tunisian court’s decision to sentence opposition figure Rached Ghannouchi to prison under Tunisia’s anti-terrorism law highlights an intensifying campaign against the country’s largest party, which comes as part of a crackdown on dissidents and perceived critics of President Kais Saied, Amnesty International said today.
On 15 May, Tunisia’s anti-terrorism court gave Ghannouchi, the leader of the opposition Ennahda party, a 1-year prison sentence and a fine in connection with public remarks made at a funeral last year.
“Tunisian authorities are increasingly using repressive, vaguely-worded laws as a pretext for repression and to arrest, investigate and in some cases prosecute dissidents and opposition figures. The sentencing of Rashed Ghannouchi shows a growing crackdown on human rights and opposition and a deeply worrying pattern,” said Rawya Rageh, Amnesty International’s acting deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“To sentence the leader of the country’s largest party based on public remarks he made a year ago – merely exercising his right to freedom of expression – is another indication of the political motivations behind these ongoing prosecutions.”
On 22 February 2022, Ghannouchi made remarks at a funeral in which he praised the deceased as a “courageous man” who did not fear “a ruler or tyrant”. In a 15 May ruling, Tunisia’s anti-terrorism court sentenced Ghannouchi based on these remarks, said lawyer Zeineb Brahmi, a member of Ghannouchi’s legal defense team and the head of Ennahda’s legal office.
Ghannouchi is being investigated in various other criminal cases, but this is the first sentence against him since the 2011 revolution. The court sentenced Ghannouchi under Article 14 of Tunisia’s 2015 anti-terrorism law, which mandates up to life in prison or the death penalty, depending on exact circumstances, for statements that promote religious hatred. According to members of Ghannouchi’s legal defense team, they were not notified of a hearing or imminent sentencing.
Police had arrested Ghannouchi, 81, on 17 April for a separate “conspiracy against the state” case. A judge is investigating him and at least 11 others under a law that mandates the death penalty for “trying to change the nature of the state” based partly on public remarks by Ghannouchi on 15 April. The judge has also remanded Ghannouchi and two other suspects in the case to pre-trial detention.
The sentencing of Rashed Ghannouchi shows a growing crackdown on human rights and opposition and a deeply worrying pattern.----Rawya Rageh, Amnesty International
On 18 April, authorities began an extensive search of the Ennahda party’s headquarters in Tunis and according to a party statement barred meetings from being held in offices across the country.
Since claiming emergency powers in 2021, President Saied has issued decree-laws and adopted a constitution that give him influence over the judiciary, including the power to dismiss judges summarily. He has also issued decree-laws mandating heavy prison sentences based on ambiguous terms such as “fake news” and “rumours”.
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights both of which Tunisia has ratified, guarantee the right to freedom of expression. Article 9 of the ICCPR and Article 7 of the African Charter also obligate Tunisian authorities to respect the right to a fair trial.
(source: Amnesty International)
MYANMAR:
Myanmar regime sentences 5 to death for alleged role in 2021 train attack----This was the 1st instance of a civilian court, rather than a military tribunal, handing convicted prisoners death sentences since the 2021 coup
5 people detained for their alleged involvement in a deadly August 2021 shooting on a train in Yangon were handed death sentences by a regime court on Thursday.
The Myanmar military arrested the 4 men and 1 woman – Kaung Pyae Sone Oo, Zeyar Phyo, Hsann Min Aung, Kyaw Win Soe, and Myat Phyo Pwint – in Yangon on September 3, 2021.
During the attack, which occurred amid a nationwide wave of armed resistance against the coup that took place nearly 7 months earlier, 6 police officers had been fatally shot on a train traveling Yangon’s circle line.
The detainees were charged with murder and illegal weapons possession under several statutes, including the 1949 Arms Act and 2014 Counterterrorism Law.
Kaung Pyae Sone Oo was handed two death sentences under the Arms Act and terror charges, while Kyaw Win Soe, Hsann Min Aung, Kyaw Win Soe, and Myat Phyo Pwint received one death sentence and one life sentence each.
The verdicts were decided by Khin Ni Ni Aye, the district judge of Ahlone Township—where the attack occurred nearly two years ago—and the sentences were given at a closed-door hearing on Thursday morning at Yangon’s Insein Prison, according to a source familiar with the proceedings. Security at the prison was reinforced for the occasion, the source said.
The source emphasised that the death penalties were first given by the civilian judiciary rather than a military court since the coup. The sentences are alarming, the source added, particularly when other detainees are awaiting trial for the same charges.
“Only military tribunals used to hand down [death sentences]. But this one is the first from a judge in the civilian court system, which made people uneasy,” the source said.
Convicted prisoners can submit an appeal of their sentences to the military council within a week of the verdict, according to the same source.
A total of 117 post-coup prisoners are currently on death row, and the military regime has sentenced another 42 people to death in absentia, according to data maintained by the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Earlier this month, the military regime commuted the death sentences of 38 prisoners to life imprisonment, and thousands of political prisoners detained for incitement charges received pardons.
However, the regime executed four democracy activists—Phyo Zeyar Thaw, Ko Jimmy, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw—in July of last year. The executions, which were the 1st instance of a Myanmar regime carrying out capital punishment in the country in decades, prompted condemnations from around the world.
(source: myanmar-now.org)
BANGLADESH:
5 gets death penalty in Monira Parveen murder case
A Dhaka court on Thursday convicted and sentenced 5 people to death in a case lodged over murder of Monira Pervin, who was mercilessly beaten to death by her in-laws for dowry only 3 days after her marriage.
Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-8 Judge Mafroja Pervin pronounced the judgement in presence of the five convicts. The convicts were later sent to jail with conviction warrant.
The 5 convicts are, Monira’s husband Nasir’s brother Masud, sister Hasina, her husband Milon, Milon’s brother Delwar Hossain and Nasir’s uncle Dwin Islam.
The court however, acquitted prime accused Nasir Hossain as the charges framed against him were not proved.
According to the case documents, Monira went out of their Khilkhet house on the evening of June 18, 2013, for buying medicines. But she went missing after that. Monira’s father Mostafa learned that Nasir and Monira got married in local Kazi Office. As Mostafa went to Nasir’s father Hasen Ali for his daughter, Ali demanded Tk 10 lakh as dowry and threatened to kill her if the money is not paid.
Nasir brought Monira to his home the next day. As soon as they entered the home, the convicts started beating her. Punching, kicking and even thrashing her with cricket bat and stamps. Later they threw the unconscious Monira to a nearby field, from where the locals rushed her to Ashiyan City Medical College Hospital.
Monira was transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital as her condition deteriorated. She succumbed to her injuries on June 22.
Monira’s father filed the case on that with Khilkhet Police Station against 11 people including Nasir, his parents and other family members.
Police on January 29, 2014, filed charge-sheet against 6 including husband Nasir.
Then, the court on Thursday May 18, 2023, came up with the judgment after examining 8 witnesses on different hearing dates.
(source: newagebd.net)
**********
Man gets death sentence for killing wife, son
A court here ( in Joypurhat) today sentenced a man to death for killing his wife and son in Khetlal upazila of the district in 2005.
District Additional and Sessions Judge Md Abbas Uddin handed down the verdict to Rezaul Karim alias Bhadu, hailed from Hapania Nayapara village under
Khetlal upazila.
The court also fined Taka 10,000 to the convict and acquitted 2 others accused in the verdict, said Public Prosecutor (PP) Advocate Nipendranath Mondol.
According to the prosecution story, in brief, convict Rezaul Karim hacked his wife Angury Begum and 5-year old son to death over a part of a plot at his
house on April 18 in 2005.
Following the murder, victim's brother filed a case with Khetlal Thana.
Police pressed the charge-sheet accusing three people on August 9 in 2005.
Testifying witnesses and evidences, the court handed down the punishment, the PP added.
(source: bssnews.net)
VIETNAM:
Korean sentenced to death for murdering compatriot and cutting up body
HCMC People's Court sentenced a South Korean businessman to death on Friday for murdering a countryman over an unpaid debt before cutting his body into pieces.
Jeong In Cheol, 38, and his family moved to Vietnam in 2010, and later established a company in HCMC with his wife in 2018.
In March 2019, he met the eventual victim, Han Young Duk, 33, at a restaurant in Phu My Hung, a luxury residential area in District 7 and home to a large Korean community.
They got close over time and decided to each invest VND1.8 billion (US$76,700) in a project managed by a friend of Cheol at an industrial complex in southern An Giang Province, but the investment proved unsuccessful, the court heard.
On November 14, 2019, Duk went to Cheol to borrow VND2.7 billion for "2 days" for another business venture. Cheol agreed to lend money at an interest rate of 30%.
However, Duk did not return the money, citing the VND1.8 billion investment that he had put in the joint investment earlier.
Duk later brought a bottle of pesticide to Cheol's company saying that Cheol should kill the industrial complex manager to seize his assets so they could both get their initial investment back.
Cheol refused and the pair argued, at which point he started to think about using violence to take back the money he had lent Duk.
Later, Cheol prepared a saw, pincers, a pair of scissors, plastic bags and gloves, as well as a glass with 10 ground-up sleeping pills, which he hid at his company office.
Some days later on November 26, after his employees had left, Cheol drove Duk to his office to talk about the VND2.7 billion debt over some beer.
He asked for the money again, so Duk offered to repay him with 2 pearl bracelets worth nearly US$100,000. But Cheol said no as they did not have the registered documents to be legally sold.
That evening he poured poison and beer into the glass with sleeping powder and gave it to Duk. Once the victim was unconscious, he suffocated him by forcing plastic gloves into his mouth to ensure he was dead.
He then cut up the body into pieces, wrapped them in plastic bags and hid them on the top floor of the building.
The next day, his employees suspected the murder and told police, with Cheol confessing his crime.
Cheol told the court that he committed the murder when under a lot of financial pressure. He said he had borrowed money from friends and relatives to lend to Duk, and his business was also losing money, so he was under a lot of stress.
He apologized for his "very bad actions" and asked for a lesser sentence, but the court said the crime was especially dangerous and the death penalty was upheld.
(source: e.vnexpress.net)
MALAYSIA:
Dad faces the gallows for shooting cop
A man with an artificial left leg could face the death sentence after he was charged with shooting a policeman about 7 years ago, as well as 7 counts of firearms and drugs offences.
At the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Muhamad Firdaus Paiman (pic), 35, a divorced father of two, was charged with shooting L/Kpl Mohd Shafiq Nazrin Razali to avoid being arrested.
He allegedly committed the offence at the Lotus Desaru roundabout near Bandar Penawar in Pengerang at around 3.35pm on June 7, 2016.
He was charged under the Firearms Act (Heavier Penalty) 1971, which carries the death penalty upon conviction.
Muhamad Firdaus was also charged under the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 for possessing 0.44g of Nimetazepam near a mosque at Gugusan Felda Adela at around 1am on May 10, and 0.9g of cannabis under the same Act.
He pleaded guilty to the charges and Magistrate Rashidah Baharom set July 6 for next mention at the Pengerang Magistrate’s Court.
Deputy public prosecutors Muhammad Irsyad Mardi and Ahmad Khairuddin Khalid prosecuted the case while the accused was not represented.
Earlier yesterday, he was brought in front of Sessions Judge Sazlina Safie to face 4 counts of possessing firearms and live bullets.
He was charged with possessing a Beretta Gardone VT gun and a homemade shotgun without a licence.
The firearms were found inside a car near a mosque at Gugusan Felda Adela at around 1am on May 10.
The accused was also charged with possessing 3 12-bore bullets and 4 9mm bullets without a licence on the same date and time.
Muhamad Firdaus was also charged with possessing a homemade air rifle without a licence. He pleaded guilty to the charges against him but Sazlina postponed sentencing pending the chemical report and set June 15 for next mention.
(source: thestar.com.my)
PHILIPPINES:
Robin: Death penalty for agri-smugglers
Sen. Robin Padilla is seeking the death penalty against Bureau of Customs personnel and other law enforcement agencies who will violate the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law.
Padilla bared his proposal, Senate Bill No. 2214, amending the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, during an ongoing Senate hearing on the alleged unabated agricultural smuggling.
“We have to send a strong message that the large-scale agricultural smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel of agricultural products perpetrated by the officers and employees of the Bureau of Customs, are heinous and a threat to the very foundation of our society. Hence, there is a compelling reason to impose death penalty,” Padilla said in his bill.
He added that “large-scale smuggling and other pernicious activities are threatening the lives of the people by pushing them further to the brink of poverty and putting our country in grave food insecurity. All these while our customs administration remains riddled by persistent corruption and perversity.”
Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture resumed the Senate hearing on the proposed amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling law,
“With all the issues on smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel of agricultural products, it is baffling that no one is prosecuted,” Villar said, adding that “thus, hoarding, profiteering and cartel shall also be considered as economic sabotage under this amendatory law.”
Villar also wants to amend certain sections of Republic Act No. 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, to include the acts of hoarding, profiteering and cartel of agricultural products as economic sabotage.
Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, was enacted to protect local agricultural industry and farmers from agricultural smuggling. “However, we could barely feel the positive impact of this law,” Villar said.
Early this year, Villar’s conducted a hearing on the soaring market price of onions. She said the hoarders, in collusion with a cartel, store these supplies in cold storage facilities to create a shortage so that the price would go up.
“This is a clear scenario of price manipulation,” Villar said.
(source: manilastandard.net)
INDONESIA:
Indonesians fall prey to fake shaman 'magic money' scams
Indonesian mother-of-three Aslem was a domestic worker in Dubai when she started wiring cash to a self-professed shaman, believing that he would honour his promise to magically multiply her hard-earned wages.
But she returned home last year penniless and in shock, saying she had been swindled out of her life savings by a trickster who now faces trial for his complex scams, and charges of murdering nine of his victims.
"I have nothing now," Aslem, 42, told AFP from her cramped, dilapidated house in a remote village in Karawang, West Java.
"I wanted to renovate this small house my parents left me. I wanted to make them happy... I didn't manage to do that until the day they died."
In Muslim-majority Indonesia, where nearly 10 percent of the population live below the poverty line, some view shamans as traditional healers.
Aslem is one of several Indonesians who say they were scammed by people claiming to be spiritual figures, promising to turn small investments into immense wealth.
Police say some alleged scammers turn to violence when their victims come looking for their money.
The scams have circulated widely on Indonesian social media.
Just two dozen Facebook posts advertising so-called shaman investment schemes were viewed more than 1.4 million times as of this week, according to AFP Fact Check reporters in Jakarta.
One post, viewed 643,000 times from April 8 to May 17, claimed a Muslim sheikh would help people multiply their funds, and that the service did not violate the tenets of Islam.
AFP reporters contacted a WhatsApp number associated with one of the posts and were told to send photos of their identity cards to determine eligibility for the "magic money" scheme.
AFP has a global team of journalists, including in Indonesia, who debunk misinformation as part of Facebook and WhatsApp owner Meta's third-party fact-checking programme.
Eye-watering sums
After she moved to Dubai in 2016, Aslem said she began talking to a man her friend had recommended, who claimed he was a Javan shaman named Aki Banyu.
Aslem, who now sells snacks from her porch, recalled the first meeting with the man on a 2019 trip home.
The man prepared offerings, chanted a mantra, and promised her money would multiply soon, she said.
She later sent him around 288 million rupiah ($19,500) after he promised to flip her earnings into eye-watering sums totalling nearly $2 million, she told AFP.
Police later identified the man as Wowon Erawan, a 60-year-old who they said worked with 2 partners to trick migrant workers into sending them money.
In a January press conference, police accused the trio of murdering nine people including Erawan's wife and stepchildren to cover up their crimes.
Police said the 3 men had been arrested, and that they had confessed to killing victims with pesticide-laced drinks.
They had planned to poison Aslem after she asked about her investment in late 2022, police said.
The men arranged a meeting with her but she declined to go after her friends told her that Erawan and his friends were con artists, according to police.
– 'It was like a nightmare' -
Another migrant worker, mother-of-three Neng Hana Patiningrum, told AFP she believes she also escaped death at the hands of the scammers.
The 30-year-old wired more than 100 million rupiah to the same shaman but stopped sending funds in 2021 when her questions went unanswered, she said.
She returned to Indonesia but didn't meet him because of heavy rains.
Her friend, Siti Fatimah, did not survive to tell her story.
She went missing before her body was found in waters near Bali in early 2021. Police blamed the trio.
"I was shocked. How can one be so evil to scam the money we worked so hard to earn? I am traumatised," said Patiningrum.
Erawan repented and apologised to victims' families at the police press conference.
The trio face the death penalty if found guilty.
In April police arrested another accused serial killer shaman, 45-year-old Slamet Tohari, after a man was reported missing by his family.
Tohari also stands accused of boasting he could magically multiply money, luring victims into rituals before poisoning them with potassium cyanide when they asked for their money back.
At least 12 bodies have been uncovered on Slamet's land, according to police, who said in a statement last month the number could be higher after they received further reports of 28 missing people.
Meanwhile, victims told AFP they have been left to live with empty pockets and the shame of falling for the con.
"It was like a nightmare. People kept telling me I was stupid and reckless," Patiningrum said, sobbing.
"But I never expected this to happen."
(source: Agence France-Presse)
TAIWAN:
Nantou court sentences mass shooter to death
The Nantou District Court handed down a rare death sentence on Thursday in the case of a 56-year-old man who killed 4 people and severely injured one other in a shooting spree at a biotechnology company in central Taiwan's Nantou County in July last year.
The ruling can be appealed.
On July 14, 2022, Lee Hung-yuan carried out the mass shooting at Kang Jian Biotech Co., where he had previously worked, severely injuring company chairman Lai Min-nan and killing Lai Chih-ching, 70, who was the younger brother of the company chairman; the chairman's 40-year-old daughter Lai Yen-yu (???), a 60-year-old employee surnamed Liu, and another female employee surnamed Chang, according to prosecutors.
The Nantou District Prosecutors Office charged Lee with murder on Aug. 30, 2022.
The Nantou District Court issued a statement Thursday that it had determined Lee's actions warranted the death penalty, while also fining him NT$350,000 (US$11,377) and depriving him of his civil rights for life.
The court said that the defendant's motive for committing the crime was personal vengeance, and there was no obvious impairment in his ability to determine the difference between right and wrong when committing the crime, adding that he planned the murders before taking action.
Investigators concluded that it was a deliberate act of revenge by Lee, who had been involved in conflicts with other employees at the company when he worked there and had been unhappy at having to leave the company eight years previously, the prosecutors office said.
Lee was employed at Kang Jian Biotech in September 2012 as a production staff member, according to documents issued when he was first detained in July 2022 in connection with the mass shooting.
During his time at the company, Lee often had rows with a female section chief surnamed Hung over problems about operating machinery, the documents showed.
In February 2014, after Lee had left Kang Jian Biotech, he allegedly accosted Hung outside the company's premises and beat her over the head with a metal rod, while reportedly shouting that he wanted her dead, the documents said.
Later that year, Lee was charged with attempted murder but found not guilty in the case after presenting the court with a convincing alibi, the documents said.
Although Lee was acquitted of the charges, he continued to hold a grudge against Hung and others at Kang Jian Biotech, according to prosecutors.
In 2019, Lee allegedly purchased three modified pistols and 200 rounds of ammunition, in preparation for the attack, prosecutors said.
On July 14 last year, he hid in a workshop in front of the company's building and shot Liu, and Lai Chih-ching.
Lee then entered the company building and forced 4 employees at gunpoint into a washroom, locked the door and returned to the office, where he shot the chairman's daughter and another female employee, prosecutors said.
When the chairman heard the gunshots, he rushed into the office and was shot in the head, prosecutors said. Lee left the chairman for dead, fled the scene on a scooter and went to Taichung, where he visited a massage parlor, prosecutors said.
He was arrested the following day.
In addition, Lai Yu-lung, a friend who helped Lee buy the guns and hide was sentenced by the district court to four years and two months in prison on Jan. 17 this year, according to the district court.
(source: focustaiwan.tw)
**********
Man who killed 4 last year given the death sentence
Lee Hung-yuan was sentenced to death yesterday over the execution-style killing of four people in Nantou County last year, but the ruling can be appealed.
Lee confessed to the crime during the trial at the Nantou District Court.
Lee’s actions were premeditated and his killing of Lai Chih-ching, who inadvertently entered the murder site in Caotun Township, demonstrated Lee’s cold-bloodedness and inhumanity, making him eligible for capital punishment, prosecutors said.
Lai was the brother of Lai Min-nan, the sole survivor of the incident.
In a previous ruling on Jan. 17, Lai Yu-lung, who purchased the murder weapon and helped Lee hide after the incident, was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison.
The killings occurred on July 14 last year at Kang Jian Biotech Co, a developer of mushroom and fungus ingredients for traditional Chinese medicines.
Lee, a former employee of the company, shot 5 people with a modified T75 handgun, investigators said.
Lai Chih-ching, Lai Min-nan’s daughter, a section head surnamed Liu and an accountant surnamed Chang died.
When detained the day after the incident, Lee told police that they were “revenge killings” due to old grievances.
Company employees said he had an argument with a supervisor over the improper handling of machinery 8 years ago.
Lee quit his job soon after and a few weeks later, the supervisor was assaulted by a man wielding a metal bar, believed to be Lee.
(source: Taipei Times)
IRAN----executions
'I swear to God I am innocent': Iran executes 3 Zhina Amini protesters
Iran on Friday executed 3 men for their involvement in last year's nationwide demonstrations. Human rights watchdogs said they had confessed under "violent" torture and constant threats from security forces.
Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were arrested in November for taking part in protests sparked by the death of a young Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini while in police custody. They were sentenced to death in December and January, and the verdicts were upheld earlier this month.
The families of the 3 men were permitted to visit on Wednesday, when they were told by authorities that it would be their final visit, according to Amnesty International.
They were convicted of killing 3 security force members during the protests and executed on the charge of moharebeh (enmity against God), Iran's judiciary reported on Friday morning, claiming that the verdict was issued based on evidence and "explicit" confessions from the men.
The judiciary also accused the men of making and throwing Molotov cocktails and having links to "terrorist" groups and called the defendants "leaders of the disturbance and chaos."
Amnesty International on Wednesday urged the international community to take "bold" action to prevent their execution, saying their "fast-tracked" trials were a "brazen disregard for the rights to life" and the verdicts a "blatant act of vengeance" against those who stood up to the regime during the Amini protests.
The men were forced to make self-incriminating confessions, following beatings, electric shocks, and mock executions, as well as threats to execute and harass their family members and rape the defendants themselves, according to Amnesty.
"I swear to God I am innocent. I didn't have any weapons on me. They [security forces] kept beating me and ordering me to say this weapon is mine. ... I told them I would say whatever they wanted, just please leave my family alone. I did whatever they wanted because of the torture," the human rights monitor transcribed an audio message from Kazemi inside prison.
Citing informed sources, Amnesty said the men's families had been repeatedly told they would be released due to lack of evidence.
Iran executed at least 576 people last year, a significant increase from 314 in 2021, making it the country with the second highest rate of known executions during 2022, according to the annual report from Amnesty International. This year, after last fall's widespread demonstrations and a crackdown on the drug trade, Iran has carried out an alarming number of executions.
Many of those who are executed have made video-taped confessions that are frequently condemned by rights groups who say they are often obtained under duress.
Twenty-two-year-old Amini died in police custody last September after being detained for allegedly violating the strict dress code that requires women to cover their hair. Authorities claimed that the cause of death was a heart attack, but human rights activists and witnesses said she had been beaten inside the police van, leading to her death.
Amini's death sparked nationwide protests initially calling for greater freedoms, before growing into a revolution with calls for the overthrow of the Islamic regime. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its paramilitary Basij led a violent crackdown against the protesters, killing hundreds of people and wounding thousands others.
The protests have been quietened, but Iran's crackdown was harshly condemned by the international community.
(source: rudaw.net)
*****************
Iran executes 3 men accused over anti-government protests----Human rights groups condemn executions following demonstrations that swept country last year
Iran has executed 3 men it said were implicated in the deaths of 3 members of the security forces during anti-government protests, drawing condemnation from rights groups and risking further international isolation.
Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaqoubi were killed on Friday morning, the Tasnim agency reported. Crowds had gathered outside the prison where they were being held on Thursday night as rumours of their imminent executions grew.
Cultural figures inside and outside Iran as well as family members had stepped up a campaign over the past week to halt the executions on the grounds that Iranian authorities had failed to produce definitive evidence of the men’s responsibility for the deaths of 2 members of the Basij paramilitary force and a law enforcement officer on 16 November.
Families and supporters held nightly vigils outside the Dastgerd prison in Isfahan in support of the 3 men who were being held inside. They were given a final meeting with their families on Wednesday, raising fears that their execution was imminent.
Immediately after their execution on Friday, state media re-ran video posts of what were presented as the defendants’ confessions, which Amnesty International said had been extracted by torture.
At least 7 people have been hanged in relation to the protest movement that swept Iran in September, and dozens more have been sentenced to death or convicted of capital offences.
The latest executions “must have serious consequences” for Tehran or dozens of “other protesters will be in danger”, said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR). “We must make the Islamic republic leaders understand that execution of protesters will not be tolerated,” he wrote on Twitter.
Hengaw, another Norway-based rights group, decried what it described as an “unfathomable wave of executions in Iran”.
The nationwide protests that began last autumn have turned into one of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution. They were ignited by the death of the 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police on 16 September.
Prominent Iranian figures including the actor Taraneh Alidoosti – who was herself jailed for a few weeks in December for publishing a photograph of herself without a hijab – and the footballer Ali Karimi had expressed their concern about the three men’s fate. Rallies in support of them had been held in Berlin, London and Stockholm.
A video showing a group of mothers from the western city of Sanandaj condemning the death sentences was shared on social media.
On Wednesday, a Twitter account published handwritten notes by the men appealing for public support. “Don’t let them kill us,” read one note, which went viral on social media.
Friends of the families of the men said one of them – Kazemi – had been suspended upside down by interrogators and shown a video of his brother being tortured. Kazemi was also allegedly subjected to mock executions at least 15 times.
In an audio message recorded inside Dastgerd prison, Kazemi said: “I swear to God I am innocent. I didn’t have any weapons on me. They [security forces] kept beating me and ordering me to say this weapon is mine … I told them I would say whatever they wanted, just please leave my family alone. I did whatever they wanted because of the torture.”
Kazemi’s sister said in an interview with the Shargh newspaper before the executions: “We demand to see evidence. They should present evidence that shows my brother was present at the time of the murder. The only evidence in this case is statements by others; one says ‘I heard from someone that it was Majid’, and another says that ‘Bahmani told us that Majid was there’.”
“We don’t intend to cause trouble,” she added. “We are neither against the supreme leadership [Iranian government] nor anyone else. We just don’t want our brother’s blood to be unjustly spilled.”
At least 582 people were executed in Iran last year, the highest number since 2015 and well above the 333 recorded in 2021, IHR and the Paris-based group Together Against the Death Penalty said in a joint report in April. More than 220 people had already been executed this year, IHR said recently.
(source: The Guardian)
******************
Execution of 3 Uprising Prisoners in Isfahan Despite Domestic and Global Protests
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi: Not a day goes by without the bloodthirsty Khamenei shedding the blood of our young people to cling to his abhorrent reign and stave off its inevitable collapse. The sole path is through uprising and resistance.
Calling upon the UN, the EU, and member states to take immediate action to compel the regime to cease the cycle of arrests, torture, and executions. Failure to act against this regime contradicts the fundamental principles and universality of human rights.
The Iranian regime’s judiciary, under the orders of Khamenei, carried out the execution of three uprising prisoners in Isfahan today, on Friday, May 19. Despite widespread domestic and international protests, Saleh Mirhashmi (36 years old), Majid Kazemi (30 years old), and Saeed Yaqoubi (37 years old) were subjected to months of physical and mental torture before being accused of fabricated charges of “Moharebeh (enmity against God)” and executed. The ruling religious fascism justified these executions by citing the deaths of several repressive forces during the Isfahan uprising in November.
These criminal executions are part of an ongoing wave of executions since late April, aimed at suppressing any potential uprising. On Thursday, May 18 alone, 16 prisoners were executed, bringing the total number of executions to 112 over the past 4 weeks.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), stated that not a day goes by without the bloodthirsty Khamenei shedding the blood of our young people to cling to his abhorrent reign and stave off its inevitable collapse. The mullahs’ regime is unable to rule a single day without resorting to repression, torture, and executions. The sole path for the people of Iran to free themselves is through uprising and resistance.
Mrs. Rajavi called upon the United Nations, the European Union, and member states to denounce this wave of executions and to take immediate action to compel the regime to cease the cycle of arrests, torture, and executions. She stressed that failure to act against this regime, which is an affront to humanity, contradicts the fundamental principles and universality of human rights.
(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) )
****************
Baluch Nader Rigi Executed for Drug Charges in Jiroft
Nader Rigi, a Baluch man sentenced to death for drug-related charges, was executed in Jiroft Prison.
According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man was executed in Jiroft Prison on 18 May. His identity has been reported as Nader Rigi (Galeh Bachech) who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.
He was transferred for execution the day prior to his execution, per the report. An informed source is quoted as saying: “Nader was arrested for drug charges in Jiroft around 3 years ago and sentenced to death by the city’s Revolutionary Court.”
At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-6% of Iran’s population.
Baluch minorities also represented almost 1/2 of drug-related executions in 2022. 47.3% of the 256 people executed for drug-related charges were Baluch.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 256 people were executed for drug-related offences in 2022, a more than two-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and 10 times more than 2020 (25).
******************
International Community Must Enforce Consequences for Execution of 3 Isfahan Protesters
Protesters Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were executed this morning, according to the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency.
Iran Human Rights previously warned of their imminent executions and urged the international community to do all in its power to save them.
Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “The execution of the 3 protesters are extrajudicial killings that Iranian authorities, particularly Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, must be held accountable for. Unless the Iranian authorities are met with serious consequences by the international community, hundreds of protester lives will be taken by their killing machine.”
“These executions are meant to prolong the Islamic Republic's rule and only a high political cost can stop more protester executions,” he added.
According to Mizan, the Judiciary’s news agency, protesters Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were executed on 19 May. The report does not specify the exact location of the executions but they were held in Isfahan Central Prison.
They were sentenced to death for charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) by the Isfahan Revolutionary Court on 9 January in relation to protests in Isfahan on 25 November 2022. Saleh, Majid and Saeed were tortured to force self-incriminating confessions which were aired, to testify against each other and to take part in a reconstruction of the alleged crime scene where they were forced to repeat the scenario as was dictated to them. In Majid Kazemi’s case, his 2 brothers were also arrested and used to pressure him into confessing to the false charges.
Their death penalty sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court on 9 May and their videos of their torture-tainted confessions and testimonies began airing on 11 May. On 13 May, their families and lawyers were informed that their sentences would be carried out within days. The next day, the protesters’ families were joined by protesters who stayed outside Isfahan Central Prison all night.
On 17 May, the families of the protesters called on the public to join them outside the prison that night after they were granted last family visits. The Judiciary issued a statement, denying that their executions were due to take place. Yet, they were executed in the early hours of 19 May.
****************
4 Men Including Afghan Executed in Khorramabad
4 men including an Afghan national, were executed for murder charges in Khorramabad Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, 4 men were executed in Khorramabad Central Prison on 18 May. They were all sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder
The identities of 3 of the men have been established as Ali Khoramshah Amrayi, Najaf Soleiman Reshad (Afghan) and Firouz Yarinejad (Geravand). The 4th man’s identity has not been established at the time of writing.
An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Ali Khoramshah was behind bars for around 4 years. Najaf Soleiman who was Afghan had also been on death row for 4 years.”
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
Afghans constitute the largest group of non-Iranian execution and death row cases in Iranian prisons. In 2021, no execution of Afghan nationals was recorded until September, when 5 men were executed in the space of 35 days. On 10 October 2021, Iran Human Rights expressed its concern that the Taliban takeover in August had facilitated the execution of Afghan nationals. That number more than tripled in 2022, with 16 Afghan nationals including a juvenile offender and a woman executed. At least 5 Afghans have been executed in 2023.
**********************
Cousins Mostafa and Farhad Vafayi Executed in Rasht
Cousins Mostafa and Farhad Vafayi who were on death row for the same murder case, have been executed in Rasht Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, 2 men were executed in Rasht Central Prison on 18 May. Their identities have been established as 23-year-old Mostafa Vafayi and 54-year-old Farhad Vafayi.
They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder in the same case.
An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Mostafa and Farhad Vafayi were paternal cousins and had been arrested for a murder committed in a group fight and sentenced to death.”
Iran Human Rights previously reported their transfer for execution.
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
*************
4 Men Including 2 Baluch Executed in Kerman
4 men including 2 Baluch minorities, were executed for drug-related charges in Kerman Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, 4 men were executed in Kerman Central Prison on 18 May. The identities of three of the men sentenced to death for drug-related charges have been established as Hossein Poursheikh, Omid Jan Abadi and Nabiollah Zaboli. The latter two were Baluch minorities.
The 4th man’s identity has not been established at the time of writing.
According to Hal Vash which first reported the executions, they were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions on 16 May.
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-6% of Iran’s population.
Baluch minorities also represented almost 1/2 of drug-related executions in 2022. 47.3% of the 256 people executed for drug-related charges were Baluch.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 256 people were executed for drug-related offences in 2022, a more than 2-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and 10 times more than 2020 (25).
***************
May Bloodiest Month in more than 5 Years, 90 Executions in 18 Days
Jamshid Karimi and Mostafa Salehi were executed for murder charges in Sanandaj Central Prison. 13 executions have so far been recorded by Iran Human Rights today. :
This is while at least 90 people have been executed in the first 18 days of May, making it the bloodiest month since July 2017.
Condemning the unusually high rate of executions, Iran Human Rights calls on the international community to use all its powers to stop the Islamic Republic’s killing machine.
Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “What we’re witnessing in Iran are not executions, but extrajudicial mass-killings to create societal fear to maintain power. In order to stop the Islamic Republic’s killing machine, firm and concrete action is needed by the international community and not just expressions of regret and condemnations.”
According to Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Sanandaj Central Prison on 18 May. Their identities have been established as Jamshid Karimi and Mostafa Salehi who were both sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) for murder.
An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Jamshid Karimi was arrested for murder five years ago. The victim’s family had agreed to accept 4 billion tomans as diya (blood money), he was going to be saved from execution. They even returned him to his cell 48 hours before his execution but was taken out again and executed.”
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
At least 13 people were executed in Khorramabad, Rasht, Kerman, Jiroft and Sanandaj prisons today.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
(source for all: iranhr.net)
MAY 18, 2023:
TEXAS:
Family of Rodney Reed Demands Justice After 25 Years of Wrongful Incarceration on Death Row
Austin, TX - Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed's mother, brother and other family members will rally with supporters in front of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, 201 W. 14th St in Austin, Texas at 2pm CDT on Friday, May 19, 2023. Calling for a new and fair trial during which all evidence developed in the case may be presented in court, the rally will culminate 2 days of action in support of Reed, and follows a "social media storm" taking place today, Thursday, May 18, 2023, the 25th anniversary of the day that Reed was wrongly sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop County, Texas. Reed was sentenced to death on May 18, 1998 following an unfair trial.
The two days of action for Rodney Reed come shortly after the April 19, 2023 US Supreme Court ruling in favor of Reed, allowing him to seek DNA testing which could disprove the state's theory in the case. Legal efforts seeking that DNA testing may now continue. Further information is at bit.ly/RRInnocent. Follow today's "social media storm" on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, etc., using the Hashtag #FreeRodneyReed
Reed family members present will include Rodney Reed's mother, Sandra Reed, his brother, Rodrick Reed, Sister-in-law, Wana Akpan and others. The Two Days of Action for Rodney Reed is initiated by the Reed family and supported by numerous individuals and organizations, including We Demand Justice: Free Rodney Reed, Death Penalty Action, Witness to Innocence, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, Texas Moratorium Network, Austin Abolitionists, and others. Anticipated speakers include:
Abraham Bonowitz, Executive Director, Death Penalty Action
Mark Clements, NoDeathPenalty.org
Kevin Gannon, Retired NYPD Detective
Anthony Graves, Exonerated Texas Death Row Survivor (prepared statement)
Texas State Rep Jolanda Jones
Herman Lindsey, Executive Director, Witness to Innocence, Exonerated Florida Death Row Survivor
Minister Robert Muhammad
Rev. Sherwynn Patton
Rodrick Reed, Brother of Rodey Reed
Sandra Reed, Mother of Rodney Reed
Gloria Rubac, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement
RODNEY REED CASE STATUS: Reed is still awaiting a decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals following a 2 week evidentiary hearing held in Bastrop County in 2021, examining whether newly developed evidence warrants a new trial. On November 15, 2019, just days prior to Reed's scheduled execution, the Texas Parole Board denied a recommendation of clemency and at the same time recommended that Governor Abbott grant a 120 day reprieve that Reed's attorneys had requested in order to pursue newly developed evidence of innocence. A short time later, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay and sent the case back to the trial court. That hearing was held over 2 weeks in July, 2021 with closing arguments heard on October 18, 2021. Just weeks later, the judge in Reed's evidentiary hearing recommended against giving Reed a new and fair trial. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is not beholden to that recommendation. A decision as to whether to grant a new trial, or maintain Reed's conviction and sentence could come at any time.
Additional information is at bit.ly/RRInnocent, https://www.freerodneyreed.com/ and at The Innocence Project.
(source: Death Penalty Action)
****************
Texas Prisoner Seeks Supreme Court Review of Conviction Based on Debunked Scientific Evidence
On May 11, attorneys for Robert Roberson, a death-sentenced prisoner in Texas, filed a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court asking it to reverse the decision of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA). Mr. Roberson’s conviction for the murder of his daughter Nikki was based on the so-called “Shaken Baby Syndrome” which has now been debunked by new scientific and medical evidence. The TCCA disregarded this and other evidence that showed his daughter’s death was attributable to natural and accidental causes.
In the petition, Mr. Robertson asserts that:
(1) the State relied on an uncontested SBS causation theory to obtain his conviction;
(2) each of the SBS premises considered medical orthodoxy in 2003 have since been undermined by evidence-based science;
(3) the jury heard misleading, highly prejudicial testimony from one nurse suggesting that Nikki was sexually abused, when no one else saw any signs of such abuse; and
(4) the combination of Nikki’s undiagnosed pneumonia, medications prescribed to her, and an accidental fall entirely explain Nikki’s condition. But the little the jury heard about Nikki’s medical history was dismissed as irrelevant; and the jury did not hear about her severe pneumonia, only identified during recent re-investigation of the autopsy. Nor did jurors hear about the lethal quantities of respiratory-suppressing prescription drugs in her system at the time of her collapse.
In 2022, the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences (CIFS) filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Mr. Roberson’s innocence claim urging the TCCA to overturn the conviction because of its position that Shaken Baby Syndrome is medically and scientifically invalid.
The case of Sabrina Butler also involves Shaken Baby Syndrome. Ms. Butler was sentenced to death for the murder of her son in Mississippi. She was acquitted at trial and subsequently exonerated after the medical evidence showed that no crime had occurred.
(source: Death Penalty Information Center)
FLORIDA:
Why Florida’s New Death Penalty Legislation Could Hurt the LGBTQ Community
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis understands the power of optics. He has often used his platform to bully and scapegoat people in and outside of Florida. To distract from his failings on COVID, he has blamed immigrant populations for the spread of the virus; similarly, he has scapegoated formerly incarcerated citizens for voter fraud. Throughout his tenure as governor, no group has earned his ire and been the subject of his rhetorical venom as much as LGBTQ+ people. Under the guise of “protecting children,” he has turned his state into a hellscape for queer and trans people, attacking their right to health care and turning the mere idea of LGBTQ+ people into a dirty word not to be uttered around children.
Because DeSantis understands the power of rhetoric and how far-reaching the implications of his bullying can be, it’s hard not to read some of the latest news out of the state through a lens critical of his anti-LGBTQ+ agenda. Earlier this month, once again under the guise of protecting children, DeSantis lowered the threshold for giving a person the death penalty. A unanimous jury had been required, but under the new law, only 8 out of 12 jurors need to recommend the death penalty for it to happen. DeSantis publicly stated that the legislation was in response to 3 jurors saving Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz from being killed by the state. DeSantis said he was “very disappointed” with the jury’s decision not to kill Cruz, who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
On his desk after being passed in the legislature, the “Protection of Children” act, another piece of policy purporting to look after vulnerable children, would define the art of drag in sexual terms, barring any “adult live performance” that “in part, depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, specific sexual activities, … lewd conduct, or the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts.” During the debate on the drag show censorship bill, state Rep. Doug Bankson (R) said “Let kids be kids,” and said the bill would “protect them from losing their innocence,” according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
This bill defining drag as sexual abuse is awaiting the governor’s signature just after the Florida legislature passed a law (HB 1297, which the governor signed the day it reached his desk) making the act of child sexual abuse punishable with the death sentence, even though such a sentence was forbidden federally by the 2008 Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana. In an unusual move, the law calls out the United States Supreme Court, saying that it finds Kennedy “wrongly decided” as well as an “egregious infringement” on the state’s power to punish criminals.
“The Legislature finds that a person who commits a sexual battery upon, or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of, a person less than 12 years of age carries a great risk of death and danger to vulnerable members of this state,” the bill reads. “Such crimes destroy the innocence of a young child and violate all standards of decency held by civilized society.”
Why This Could Be Dangerous for LGBTQ+ People
I don’t believe this means that DeSantis or the state of Florida is prepared to start putting people to death for putting on drag shows or for bringing a child to a drag show. However, it is important to understand that DeSantis wants to draw a cultural connection between the art of drag and sexual abuse, as well as between child sexual abuse and the idea that sexual abuse should be punished with loss of life. In this sense, DeSantis and the Florida GOP have won a psychological victory, successfully drawing a connection between drag and sexual abuse, as well as between sexual abuse and the death penalty.
While DeSantis claims that this decision was made as a way to make sure that a person cannot get away with taking children’s lives, it’s important that no explanation DeSantis gives for any of his policies be taken at face value. The stated reasoning for his infamous “Don’t Say Gay” legislation was to protect children from talk of gender identity and sexual orientation, itself a nefarious goal, even though we know that DeSantis is riding a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ hostility in hopes of shoring up Republican support for a presidential run.
HB 1297 was passed amid what is a statewide obsession with anti-LGBTQ+ policy and rhetoric promulgated under the guise of “protecting children.” While anti-LGBTQ+ hostility has been a nationwide epidemic in previous months, it seems to be amplified under DeSantis, a governor who is willing to scapegoat and punish LGBTQ+ people for all of his state’s problems.
Not only has the state banned minors from receiving gender-affirming care, a lifesaving form of health care for youth who want to access it, but the legislature just passed a bill to allow children to be taken away from parents who support and affirm their trans children. DeSantis is expected to sign this bill, which also prohibits Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care for adults, among other restrictions. Last year, DeSantis also hopped onto the burgeoning anti-drag bandwagon and implied that taking youth to see drag shows is a form of “grooming,” while also stating that he’s open to felonizing the act of bringing a kid to see a drag show. And, of course, he recently extended the state’s infamous “Don’t Say Gay” law, originally meant to keep children up to 3rd grade away from sexual materials, including materials meant to educate children about sexuality, to all students up to and including 12th grade.
Florida Continues to Expand Anti-LGBTQ Legislation and Hurt Queer People
Drawing this connection between queer people, child sexual abuse, and the death penalty is especially dangerous given what we already know about how attacks on drag help to fuel involvement in white supremacist organizing. In March, a Florida-based neo-Nazi recruiter told NPR that anti-drag sentiment has been great for recruitment into their ranks, with hatred against drag and calls to “protect children” introducing people to other parts of the white supremacist ideology. Whether or not the state uses this law to punish drag queens, it’s certainly a dog whistle meant for those listening to continue the unprecedented number of attacks that began last June on drag events nationwide.
Florida is already bad as it is at child welfare: It ranks 42nd out of 50 states in terms of a child’s economic well-being, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a charitable organization focused on improving the well-being of America’s kids. And DeSantis’ policies aren’t bringing the state any closer to protecting children. In a country where guns are the No. 1 killer of children, DeSantis has allowed citizens of his state to carry a concealed gun without a permit. And even though DeSantis claims to want to protect children from sexual abuse, “Don’t Say Gay” caused such widespread confusion that it left Miami-Dade’s school system temporarily without an approved sex ed curriculum for fear that textbooks violated the law, even though sex education is a proven form of sexual assault prevention.
There is a long history of politicians scapegoating marginalized people to “distract from governance failures, bolster public support, isolate domestic opponents, and drive a wedge between their own citizens and international advocates of political freedom,” according to a blog from Freedom House, a political advocacy group focused on human rights and democracy. If DeSantis’ hope was a psychological victory, there is proof that his overall anti-LGBTQ+ crusade will see a pyrrhic one; a public poll recently found that most voters see the nationwide push against LGBTQ+ people as “political theater.” The same poll found that most people hold overall pro-LGBTQ+, including pro-trans, positions.
DeSantis has proven that he is dangerous and that he is willing to cause harm to the most vulnerable in his state; however, his positions increasingly make him vulnerable on a national stage that will not fall for his anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
(source: Mathew Rodriguez, The Body)
************
Michael James Jackson, 1 of 3 sent to death row in buried alive case, re-sentenced this week----Jackson was one of 4 people who took part in burying a Jacksonville couple alive in 2005. A law change allowed Jackson to appeal his death sentence.
Michael James Jackson, the ringleader of a group of four who buried a Jacksonville couple alive in 2007, will be resentenced this week.
It was a heinous crime that has been mentioned in several TV documentaries. The couple, both 61, were bound and buried alive in a shallow grave. When they were discovered by police, the couple had broken out of their binds but was only able to embrace before dying.
It was Jackson who prosecutors said had the idea for the crime. He was initially sentenced to death, along with co-defendants Alan Wade and Tiffany Cole. But a Florida law change that altered the requirement for a plaintiff to be sentenced to death allowed Jackson to appeal his original sentence.
This is the 2nd time Jackson has appealed -- he asked for his case to be re-considered in 2009, but his conviction and sentence were upheld.
Jackson was supposed to be re-sentenced along with co-defendant Wade in June 2022. But a judge separated the two cases after an emotional outburst from Wade.
Wade began crying during jury selection, prompting Jackson's attorneys to ask that he be tried separately.
“I don’t see any alternative than simply reset Mr. Jackson’s [case] at some point,” Senior Judge Michael Weatherby said. He said he was skeptical anyway about the possibility of seating two juries from the remaining pool after 2 days of jury selection.
“I am concerned enough about the logistics of this that we are not going to get [two] jur[ies],” he said. “The emotional outburst is not the only reason I’m concerned.”
Wade was tried under an old law requiring a unanimous jury for death (and escaped a death sentence), but Jackson is being tried under a new law — which only requires a verdict of 8 to 4 for death.
If his case had been tried at the same time as Wade, it would have been harder for Jackson to be sentenced to the death penalty again.
Now, he stands a much greater chance of being sentenced to death than his codefendant.
(source: First Coast News)
************
Gruesome details given in court on day one of testimonies in 33-year-old murder case
The mother who had to bury her 11-year-old daughter in 1990 faced the accused killer in the court during opening testimonies.
11-year-old Robin Cornell and 32-year-old Lisa Story both died on May 9, 1990. Joseph Zieler is the man facing charges in the killings and he could get the death penalty if convicted.
During testimonies, we learned more about the day Jan Cornell came home to find her daughter and friend 32-year-old Lisa Story dead inside her home. She said the last thing she told her daughter was "Good night, I'm going to Donnie's, I love you."
Before giving the gruesome details of the scene, Jan told the court her 5th-grade daughter loved to jump rope and play outdoors.
The night before Jan found her daughter and friend Story, she explained that Story just moved in that night. After helping her move in, Jan's boyfriend invited her to watch a playoff basketball game. Jan said she originally wasn't going to go, but Robin told her to go have fun and to remind her boyfriend to pick her up for school the following morning.
After her night out, Jan returned home at 4 a.m. to find her sliding door slightly open. When she walked inside she found her once tidy home ransacked. She then went into her bedroom to find her daughter Robin lying lifeless on the floor.
Jan said her daughter was lying face down and a pillow propping her lower body up.
In court, as she cried giving her testimony, Zieler was sitting only a few feet away from Jan looking directly at her. Zieler didn't show any emotions and refused to look at the photos being shown in court.
“The semen that was found on the bed sheet where Robin was sleeping matches the defendant to a frequency over 1 and 700 billion. It’s actually even better than that, but the FDLE stops at the number because the human mind can’t fathom a number bigger than that," said the state prosecutor during opening
statements.
The state said they are depending on three big pieces of evidence; the semen found on the bed sheet, pillow case, and inside of Robin.
The state added that they found a piece of hair matching Zieler's, that was found on Story's body.
"This is something that the state doesn’t have to prove but, it’s not an element of the offense. Nevertheless, it’s something that pops up in these types of cases. That word is motive. Mr. Zieler had no motive," said Kevin Shirley Zieler's defense attorney.
The defense believes the attack on Robin and Story was personal and that the attacker had it out for Jan.
"This sounds like someone was really angry at you," said defense attorney Lee Hollander.
If convicted, Zieler could face the death penalty. With the new state bill that's been signed into law, only eight jurors need to vote for the death penalty.
(source: Fox News)
ALABAMA:
Sheriff on teen’s murder: “Oh, I want to pursue the death penalty”----He told reporters that investigators charged McCloud with a second capital murder count this week for the death of Anastasia Gilley’s, whose pregnancy Florida records confirmed, unborn child.
Marquis McCloud, the lone suspected killer in a pregnant teen’s murder, should die for the crime, Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza said on Wednesday.
“Oh, I want to pursue the death sentence--I do,” he said during a press briefing. “This was a horrible crime.”
He told reporters that investigators charged McCloud with a second capital murder count this week for the death of Anastasia Gilley, whose pregnancy Florida records confirmed.
Alabama law permits multiple charges when 2 or more die during a single criminal act.
While Valenza supports the death penalty if a jury convicts the 33-year-old McCloud, prosecutors will decide whether to seek that punishment.
Houston County District Attorney Russ Goodman told News4 that his office is reviewing the case and plans to announce whether it intends to seek the death penalty in the next few days.
Because this is a capital case, the only other option would be life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Gilley, 19 and 4-months pregnant, vanished from Greenwood, her Florida hometown, on May 3, and her decomposed body was found in a dusty field along Headland Avenue in Dothan 1 week later.
Valenza estimates she had been dead for several days after McCloud abducted her.
In his 14-minute briefing, the sheriff revealed that investigators found Gilley’s cell phone along a rural road, and information from that device revealed McCloud as the sole suspect.
He praised what he called deputies unrelenting efforts, estimating they spent more than 100 hours on the case.
The 1st test of their evidence will come during a June 7 hearing when Houston County District Judge Benjamin Lewis decides if the case proceeds to a grand jury.
McCloud has a 15-year adult criminal record that includes other sex arrests and accusations that, as a registered sex offender, he lived too close to an Abbeville, Alabama, school.
He served a prison sentence for rape.<>P>
McCloud is in the Houston County Jail, held without bond.
(source: WTVY news)
OHIO:
Death penalty among motions to be heard in Warren fatal arson case
Next month prosecutors and defense counsel will argue pending motions in the case against 1 of the 3 suspects charged in connection to a deadly fire in Warren.
Zackary Gurd remains in custody but has been ordered to appear at all hearings wearing civilian clothing.
Gurd, Brendan Daviduk and Patricia Zarlingo are each facing capital murder and other charges stemming from the January 19 fire on Nevada Avenue NW that killed 16-year-old Chassidy Broadstone.
Gurd’s attorneys have filed several motions in the case, including a request to dismiss the part of the indictment that elevates the potential penalty to death if convicted, claiming the death penalty is unconstitutional.
The attorneys also told the court they plan to file motions regarding expert investigators on behalf of the defense.
“Those will be filed in the next week. I just spoke with my co-counsel who has some names, so I can get those motions to the court very soon,” said Attorney Mary Ellen Ditchey.
Gurd will be back in court on June 22 for a pretrial and hearing on the motions. He’s scheduled to stand trial in February 2024.
(source: WKBN news)
TENNESSEE:
Death row inmate challenges new Tennessee post-conviction law
A Tennessee death row inmate is challenging the newly expanded authority of the appointed state attorney general to argue certain capital cases, a power that lawmakers shifted away from locally elected prosecutors under a new law after some expressed reluctance to pursue the death penalty.
The law passed in April by the GOP-led Tennessee Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee has generated opposition from attorneys and Democratic lawmakers. They say the change violates the state Constitution, bypasses the will of voters and targets progressive-minded district attorneys who have defied lawmakers in the past.
The statute is the latest example of attempts by GOP governors and legislatures in several states to take on locally elected officials who have de-prioritized enforcement of laws they deem unnecessary.
Lawyer Robert Hutton has filed a motion for Larry McKay, asking a judge to disqualify Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti from representing the state in McKay’s effort to have a judge hear new evidence and grant another trial.
McKay was convicted of two murders during a robbery and sentenced to death 40 years ago. McKay's motion claims new scientific methods have revealed that firearms evidence presented at trial was unreliable and a ballistics expert's conclusions cannot stand.
Skrmetti was handed authority over the case from the local prosecutor, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy, under the law passed this year.
The handoff involves collateral proceedings in death penalty cases before a trial court, which apply to issues related to new evidence, DNA testing and intellectual disability, for example. They don’t fall under the appeals process, which the attorney general oversees.
Mulroy in Memphis and Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk in Nashville both have said they oppose the death penalty. Both have also said that they would make prosecuting doctors under the state’s abortion ban a low priority and that state laws targeting the LBGTQ+ community are unnecessary.
In recent years, other district attorneys around the country have refused to prosecute some Republican-passed state laws, from voting restrictions to limits on certain protest activity. In Georgia, lawmakers passed a bill in March establishing a commission to discipline and remove prosecutors who Republicans believe aren’t sufficiently fighting crime.
In Florida, former state attorney Aramis Ayala clashed with Republican governors Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis for refusing to seek the death penalty. Both governors reassigned death penalty cases to other prosecutors.
Richard Dieter, the Death Penalty Information Center’s executive director, said tension exists in capital cases where the district attorney has said the death penalty is flawed and that they will almost never seek it.
“Governors and attorney generals have taken steps toward removing individual cases from the local DA's authority and even have sought to disqualify the DA from all potentially capital cases,” Dieter said.
Dieter said “it would make sense” for district attorneys to handle collateral challenges, which typically begin in trial courts.
Mulroy supports McKay's motion, which argues that the new law hurts the district attorney’s ability to fulfill his responsibilities as an official elected locally under Tennessee's Constitution. The attorney general is picked by Tennessee's Supreme Court.
"The new statute also violates the voting rights of such voters,” Mulroy's filing states.
Tennessee has put seven inmates to death since 2018, the most recent occurring in February 2020.
In 2019, Funk agreed to seek a sentence reduction to keep Black death row inmate Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman in prison for life. Abdur’Rahman had petitioned a judge to reopen his case on claims that trial prosecutors treated Black potential jurors differently from white ones.
Republican Sen. Brent Taylor, the sponsor of the bill passed in April, argued that under the previous law, district attorneys could be unfamiliar with the sometimes decades-old death penalty cases under appeal. That means the post-conviction challenges “lose their adversarial characteristic that ensures justice,” Taylor said.
He also contended that the attorney general should control more of the cases that his office already handles through appeals. Additionally, Taylor said victims’ families would be better off communicating with just the attorney general's office.
Sen. Raumesh Akbari, the Democratic minority leader, said the law shouldn’t be changed because of possible dislike for the “policies of our more liberal district attorneys.”
“When you come for an entire office and change how things proceed based on who holds that seat at that time, that’s when you’re making bad policy,” Akbari said on the floor last month.
Mulroy, a Democrat, has said he opposes the death penalty “as a policy matter” and that he would vote against it if he were a legislator.
Still, Mulroy is pursuing the death penalty against Ezekiel Kelly, who is charged with killing three people during a Memphis shooting rampage. In announcing the decision, Mulroy said it's his duty to follow the law in Kelly’s case but maintained his general opposition to the death penalty.
Funk also has said he personally opposes the death penalty.
“I still follow the law, in that I review those cases and have a team of assistant DAs to work through the case to then provide any recommendations" about whether to seek death, the Democrat told The Associated Press in 2021.
McKay has always maintained his innocence. His motion notes that the district attorney can seek a lesser penalty if case circumstances change, a possibility that would benefit McKay if he were granted a new trial.
Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan is presiding over McKay's motion. She previously ruled that death row inmate Pervis Payne was intellectually disabled and unfit to be executed, removing him from death row.
Attorneys fear the state could use the law to step into other matters in capital cases and argue against consideration of DNA evidence and intellectual disabilities.
“The Attorney General’s intervention bill is fiscally irresponsible, unconstitutional, and an attack on the voters of Shelby and Davidson County, which will result in an unnecessary delay in the adjudication of death penalty cases by an entity that is not accountable to the voters,” said Kelley Henry, Payne’s lawyer.
The attorney general's office said it will file its response to McKay's motion but declined further comment. Skahan set a June 2 hearing about the motion.
(source: Associated Press)
ARKANSAS:
‘You wanted it like this’: Arkansas husband could face death penalty after doctor wife who called 911 found in street with knife in her neck
A 40-year-old husband faces capital murder charges in Arkansas after his wife, a doctor who had called 911 back in mid-April, was found in the street in front of her house with a knife in her neck.
Marcus McBurney Joiner was allegedly heard saying “You wanted it like this” in the background after Dr. Amy Joiner, 39, called 911 on April 16, a Sunday night, to report that her husband was drinking and acting aggressively. At one point during that call, the dispatcher heard screams and then silence. Police with the Fayetteville Police Department were sent to the scene.
Once there, authorities’ worst fears were realized. Dr. Joiner was deceased in the street on Thornhill Drive, where she lived, and a knife was sticking out of her neck. Authorities now believe that the doctor was still on the phone with 911 when she was killed.
The defendant was spotted at the scene by a neighbor who witnessed him attacking Dr. Joiner, authorities said. The suspect was described in reports as kneeling over and stabbing or punching a woman in the roadway. Marcus Joiner allegedly walked back into the residence before surrendering to responding police.
Cops said that the shirtless suspect was treated for a chest wound and cuts on his hands. He was booked 4 days later into jail in Washington County.
A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences alum, Dr. Joiner worked for years at Northwest Arkansas Pathology Associates and became a partner there.
“All of us here at Northwest Arkansas Pathology Associates are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Dr. Amy Joiner. She was a valued member of our team here at Northwest Arkansas Pathology Associates since 2016,” said a message from Dr. Amy’s colleagues, sharing a photo of her at her desk. “She was a joy to work with and was loved by everyone here not just for her dedication to her profession, but also for the caring manner in which she lived her life and for the kindness she showed all those who had the opportunity to interact with her. This is a difficult time for us and for the Northwest Arkansas medical community. We ask that you please keep Dr. Amy Joiner’s family, friends, and colleagues in your thoughts and prayers as we all grieve her loss.”
Jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show that Marcus Joiner was initially booked on April 20 in the case. The defendant, listed at 6’4" and 223 pounds, is currently scheduled to appear in court next on May 22 for an arraignment in the capital murder case, Washington County Circuit Court records say.
Court records indicate that the capital murder case and a felony information was docketed on May 16, Tuesday.
“[O]n or about April 16, 2023, in Washington County, Arkansas, the said defendant, with the premeditated and deliberated purpose of causing the death of another person, caused the death of any person, in violation of A.C.A.§5-10-101(a)(4),to-wit: the defendant stabbed his wife multiple times, causing her death, against the peace and dignity of the State of Arkansas,” prosecutors say.
Capital murder is punishable by the death penalty or life without parole upon conviction.
As of Thursday, Joiner remains behind bars on a $750,000 bond. The court docket did not show an attorney of record.
(source: lawandcrime.com)
MISSOURI----impending execution
Man convicted of killing 2 COs set to be executed in June; 5 jurors now say he should be spared----When Michael Tisius tried to escape the Randolph County Jail in 2000, he shot and killed corrections officers Jason Acton and Leon Egley
As a Missouri man’s execution date approaches, a team of attorneys is asking Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to grant him clemency in light of the abuse he endured as a child, jurors who have changed their minds and the role of a co-conspirator.
Michael Tisius, 42, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 6. He was convicted of killing 2 Randolph County jailers in June 2000.
This week, lawyers submitted a 56-page clemency application to the governor. Parson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Star.
The document is sprinkled with drawings — sunflowers, portraits of dogs and the Virgin Mary — created by Tisius, who said art has been an emotionally and mentally therapeutic outlet throughout his years at Potosi Correctional Center.
It also includes statements from jurors and an archbishop who support commuting his sentence to life without parole.
Tisius suffered beatings and neglect in childhood, lead poisoning and brain damage. He was manipulated by an older man, which led to the fatal shootings. Those factors and others have altered the views of some jurors, 5 of whom now oppose execution.
Tisius’ legal team also said he has expressed genuine remorse.
“Not a day has gone by that he has not regretted his actions,” they wrote to Parson. “His dedication to personal growth reflects in his artwork and his faith in God. He strives to be redeemed in the best manner he can, and in doing so, demonstrates the difference age makes in development.”
ABUSED AND ABANDONED
Throughout his childhood, Tisius was neglected by his parents and beaten by his older brother.
“The boys lived on Pepsi, cold hot dogs, and chips,” the clemency application read. He often appeared hungry and dirty, reeking of urine and in need of medical attention for scabies or ringworm.
His parents had a volatile relationship and divorced when he was two. His mom was involved in sex work and was emotionally abusive. His dad came in and out of his life. His brother attacked him on a daily basis, throwing baseballs and bottles at him.
He failed sixth grade and had a “profoundly low sense of self-worth.”
“I’m weird I’m stupid,” he wrote as a child. “I’m a moron nobody likes me I’m ugly ... I’m not worth a cent.”
Tisius also grew up near a Superfund site.
Later in life, his attorneys had his lead levels tested and found that they were seven times the average amount. Elevated lead exposure can cause brain damage and behavioral problems.
When he was 13, he went to live with his father and his stepmom. She showed care towards him, but his dad abruptly sent him back to live with his mom after two months. He told his other brother his “dad didn’t want me anymore,” and in another note to himself, he wrote, “I hate myself. Everybody hates me. I wish I would die.”
A FAILED ESCAPE
Tisius was 19 when he met Roy Vance in the Randolph County jail.
Vance “saw Michael as a mark,” the clemency petition said, and Tisius “fell under Vance’s spell quickly.”
Neuropsychiatrist George Woods said Vance groomed Tisius, convincing him to help him escape with the aid of Vance’s girlfriend Tracie Bullington. But in the course of the attempted escape, Tisius shot and killed corrections officers Jason Acton and Leon Egley.
When interviewed by Tisius’ attorneys, Vance said he “manipulated Mike for my own benefit ... This is my fault. It only happened because of me.”
Jurors in Boone County sentenced Tisius to death.
But at least five now say they support life without parole. During sentencing, they did not hear much about Tisius’ early childhood traumas, assaults committed by his brother that resulted in concussions or his epilepsy, all of which doctors said affected his brain development. Some jurors noted that his trial attorneys did not present enough information about the role of Vance, who was sentenced to life and is housed at Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, where executions take place.
“I remember Mr. Tisius’ defense attorneys presented very little,” one juror said.
Others noted his good behavior in prison and their belief in a 2nd chance.
Archbishop Christophe Pierre, a personal representative of Pope Francis, urged Parson to spare Tisius’ life.
“The Holy Father appeals to you for clemency on behalf of Mr. Tisius solely on the basis of his and our own shared humanity,” Pierre wrote in a letter included with the clemency application.
RANDOLPH COUNTY SHERIFF
Screens in the lobby of the Randolph County jail show revolving information, including remembrances for Acton and Egley, the 2 slain jailers.
The facility was built in the wake of their deaths. The former jail was a converted home.
“Unfortunately it seems like it always takes a tragedy to happen to get a new facility or for change,” said Sheriff Aaron Wilson, who joined the office three years after the murders.
He supports going forward with the execution.
“I think it’d be definitely a good closure for the family and in our county as a whole,” Wilson said.
However, he said he was concerned about how new information may impact what happens.
Late last month, Tisius’ attorneys discovered that one of the jurors was not able to read or write. According to Missouri law, a person is disqualified from serving on a jury if they are unable to read, speak and understand English. Motions are pending before the Missouri Supreme Court.
Parson has not granted clemency on a death penalty case as governor. 2 people were executed last year and 2 people have been executed so far this year in Missouri. 2 more executions, including Tisius’, are scheduled this year.
Missouri is 1 of 4 states that have carried out the death penalty in 2023, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
(source: Kansas City Star)
*****************
MAN SCHEDULED TO DIE ASKS GOVERNOR TO BLOCK EXECUTION
A man scheduled to be executed next month in Missouri is fighting for his life behind prison walls. Gov. Mike Parson’s spokeswoman, Kelli Jones, said the Governor’s Office has received a request from Michael Tisius asking the governor for mercy.
Tisius, 42, is scheduled to be put to death as early at 6 p.m. on June 6 at the state prison in Bonne Terre.
He was convicted in the killings of 2 Randolph County jail workers in a plot to break out an inmate in 2000.
Early in 2000, Tisius and Roy Vance were cellmates in the jail, which is located in Huntsville, Missouri. Tisius was serving a 30 day term. Vance told him he was in jail for 50 years.
Tisius and Vance then discussed scenarios where Tisius would return to the jail to help Vance escape.
Upon his release, Tisius contacted Vance’s girlfriend, Tracie Bulington, who expressed interest in helping with the jailbreak.
On June 15th, 2000 Tisius and Bulington were admitted into the Randolph County Jail where they told officers they were delivering cigarettes to Vance.
It was shortly afterward that Tisius pulled a gun he was hiding in his pants and shot to death Leon Egley and Jason Acton. The guards were both unarmed.
Vance is serving a life sentence without parole in Bonne Terre for 2 counts of 1st degree murder. As for Tracie Bulington, she is serving 2 life sentences in Chillicothe, after being convicted of 2 counts of 2nd degree murder.
(source:missourinet.com)
USA:
Prosecutors, defense attorneys ask judge to remove Rodriguez from death row
Federal prosecutors in Fargo and attorneys for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. have started the process of removing Rodriguez from death row.
In March, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider to withdraw the notice of intention to seek the death penalty against Rodriguez, who was sentenced to death in 2006 for the kidnapping and killing of Dru Sjodin.
The documents filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Fargo formally request a federal judge to re-sentence Rodriguez to life in prison.
“The United States of America, by Mac Schneider, United States Attorney for the District of North Dakota, and Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr. (“Rodriguez”), by counsel Victor Abreu, moves the Court to modify Rodriguez’s death sentence to a sentence of life imprisonment” the attorneys wrote.
“Because life imprisonment is the only sentence available, the parties agree the Court should modify Rodriguez’s sentence in a written order without holding a hearing.”
Rodriguez will not be eligible for early release. “What we know for certain is he will be sentenced to life in prison and that he will draw his last breath in the Custody of the Bureau of Prisons.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley was the U.S. Attorney who led the prosecution against Rodriguez. Wrigley has said Garland’s decision not to pursue the death penalty against Rodriguez is “a grave affront to justice and to the hearts and souls of all who loved and cared for Dru Sjodin.”
(source: KVRR news)
**********
Bill aims to bring justice to victims, families in federal death penalty cases
In introducing “Eric’s Law” — named for Eric Williams, a federal correctional officer who was brutally murdered by an inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary Canaan in Wayne County, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright said corrections officers face tremendous risk to their safety each and every day.
“Sadly, we have lost too many good officers and the loss of Eric Williams still weighs heavy on our hearts,” said Cartwright, D-Moosic. “We must do everything in our power to prevent this kind of tragedy from recurring, and that is why I am proud to co-sponsor this legislation. Eric’s Law will ensure justice is served in those horrible incidents where a correctional officer’s life is taken by an inmate.”
Cartwright and U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15) on Wednesday introduced Eric’s Law, a bill that aims to deliver justice to victims and their families in federal death penalty cases.
Williams was murdered at USP Canaan on Feb. 25, 2013, by an inmate.
At the time of Williams’ murder, the inmate was already serving a life sentence for murder. Following a trial, the inmate was found guilty and received a second life sentence, despite 11 out of 12 jurors voting in favor of the death penalty.
Current law requires a unanimous decision by the jury to impose the death penalty. This bill permits prosecutors to impanel a second jury for sentencing if the first jury in a federal death penalty case fails to reach a unanimous decision on a sentence.
“Eric Williams was tragically killed, and his murderer’s sentencing was an injustice,” Thompson said. “It is a stark reminder of the danger and extreme violence our officers face every day in our nation’s federal prisons. Eric’s Law will help provide additional protections for our corrections officers, affirm the option for review of the case and allow for a final, definite decision in death penalty cases that our victims and families deserve.”
Donald Williams, father of Eric Williams and founder of “Voices for JOE” issued a statement:
“At the trial for the murderer of my son, I was in disbelief that under current federal law 1 lone juror can make a biased decision that becomes irreversible. As a father, it was devastating. As an American who values our judicial system, I was stunned. A ‘trial by jury’ is at the heart of our rights. Eric’s Law allows prosecutors to retry the sentencing phase of the case to allow for the fair and equal court system that all Americans deserve.”
Shane Fausey, National Council of Local Prisons Local 33 President, commended Thompson and Cartwright for their continued efforts to protect the Correctional Officers and Professionals of the Federal Bureau of Prisons by introducing Eric’s Law.
“The harsh reality is that evil does exist in our federal prison system and the threat of the ultimate punishment is the only deterrent,” Fausey said. “The current statute falls short and unfairly imbalances justice towards evil while repeatedly victimizing the families and survivors of violent crimes.
“The men and women that are tasked with humanely managing society’s homicidal predators and sociopaths deserve the protections of a unanimous jury that Eric’s Law provides. Above and beyond all other considerations, the victims of incorrigible monsters, the grieving families left behind, deserve equal protections of justice.”
(source: timesleader.com)
GLOBAL:
Amnesty International Global Report: Recorded Executions Highest in 5 Years Reflects Increases in the Middle East and North Africa
According to an annual death penalty report by Amnesty International, 2022 saw the highest number of recorded executions since 2017, primarily due to increases in just a handful of countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The report also noted a slight decrease in the number of newly imposed death sentences worldwide. In its report, Amnesty says use of the death penalty in several countries continues to violate international law with public executions, executions of juveniles or those with mental or intellectual disabilities, unfair trial proceedings, and coerced confessions obtained under torture or ill-treatment.
Global Report: Death Sentences and Executions 2022 states that there were 883 known executions in 20 countries – a 53% increase from the prior year and the highest number since 2017. The actual number of executions is likely higher as numbers from China, North Korea, and Vietnam are unknown due to secrecy practices. A 59% increase in executions in the Middle East and North Africa region, where 93% of the world’s known executions occur, was the leading cause for this uptick globally. Within this outlier region, 2 countries – Iran (70%) and Saudi Arabia (24%) – account for 94% of the 825 executions.
“Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life. The number of individuals deprived of their lives rose dramatically across the region; Saudi Arabia executed a staggering 81 people in a single day. Most recently, in a desperate attempt to end the popular uprising, Iran executed people simply for exercising their right to protest,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
Excluding the estimated thousands of executions in China, the highest number of known executions occurred in Iran, where there was an 83% increase in executions from the previous year. Of the 576 executions in Iran, convictions for murder (48%) and drug-related offenses (44%) were the largest categories, with a 75% increase in executions for murder and a 93% increase in drug-related offenses over the previous year. The number of executions in Saudi Arabia tripled from 2021 to a total of 196 in 2022. Following the end of a 2020 moratorium on the death penalty for drug-related offenses, there were 57 executions for drug crimes recorded in 2022.
A total of 2,016 new death sentences was recorded last year in 52 countries, compared to 2,052 death sentences in 56 countries during the prior year. However, there was a significant increase in the number of new death sentences in several countries: Algeria (from 9 to 54), Egypt (from 356+ to 538), India (from 144 to 165), Kenya (from 14 to 79), Kuwait (from 5+ to 16+), Nigeria (from 56+ to 77+), and Tunisia (from 3+ to 26+). According to the report, at least 28,282 people were under sentence of death at the end of 2022, although accurate estimates were difficult to obtain for China, Egypt, Iran, Libya, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. There were commutations or pardons in 26 counties, and at least 28 exonerations of prisoners in four countries – Kenya (20), Morocco/Western Sahara (1), USA (2), Zimbabwe (5).
Continuing the worldwide trend away from use of the death penalty, four countries – Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic – abolished the death penalty for all crimes, and two countries – Equatorial Guinea and Zambia – abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only. At the United Nations General Assembly in December 2022, the ninth resolution calling for a global moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view towards its ultimate abolition passed with the support of a record 125 member states.
(source: Death Penalty Information Center)
************
Bishop encourages Catholics to take up the Pope’s call to speak out against the death penalty
Every year the human rights charity Amnesty International releases a report on global death penalty statistics.
This year’s report, covering the period January to December 2022, shows a continuing trend of countries abolishing the death penalty, but, worryingly, a significant increase in the number of executions – the highest since 2017.
Whilst praising those countries that have abolished executions, Bishop Declan Lang, Chair of the Bishops’ Conference’s International Affairs department, is encouraging Catholics to heed the Pope’s call to work for abolition:
“We once again join in prayer for an end to all executions, recalling Pope Francis’ words that each day, there is a growing ‘no’ to the death penalty around the world and that for the Church this is a sign of hope.
“While we must always strive to provide justice for victims of crime, use of the death penalty is never acceptable. Furthermore, many of the executions carried out in the past year were politically motivated or followed unfair trials.
“Let us commend those countries that have taken the historic step of abolishing the death penalty and take up the Holy Father’s call to work for abolition through the world.”
(source: Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales)
IRAN----executions
3 Inmates Executed in Khorramabad Prison
On May 18, 2023, 3 inmates convicted of murder were executed in Khorramabad Prison.
HRANA has identified one of these inmates as Ali Khorramshah Amraie. HRANA is working to identify the remaining two executed inmates.
As of the time of writing, no official sources or media outlets within the country have reported on these executions
In recent weeks, the number of execution has been alarmingly raised. According to reports obtained by HRANA, at least 57 prisoners, including two women and 2 prisoners of conscience, have been executed in various Iranian prisons from April 28 to May 9, 2023.
In 2022, the Department of Statistics and Publication of Human Rights Activists in Iran registered 457 reports related to the death penalty. This included 92 death sentences, including the conviction of 6 people to public execution and 565 execution sentences were carried out, 2 of which have been carried out in public. Based on the announced identifications of some of the executed individuals, 501 were male and 11 were female. In addition, 5 juvenile offenders were executed in 2022, meaning they were under the age of 18 at the time they committed the crime.
(source: en-hrana.org)
**************
Iran Human Rights Calls for Urgent International Action to Save 3 Protesters from Gallows
Families of protesters, Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaghoubi have warned of their imminent executions in Isfahan Central Prison.
In a video message received by Iran Human Rights, Saeed Yaghoubi’s mother says: “I beg you to support us to save them tonight. We’ve had our last visits with them.” At the same time, official state media have been airing videos of their torture-tainted forced confessions and testimonies as a means of justifying their executions.
Iran Human Rights urges the international community to do everything in its power to stop the 3 protesters’ executions.
Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaghoubi received the death penalty based on confessions and testimonies obtained under torture and denied all fair trial rights. The international community can prevent this crime by taking action.” He added: “We call on all governments with respect for human rights and diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, to do everything in their power to save these three protesters from the gallows through their foreign ministries and embassies.”
(source: iranhr.net)
************
Iranian Man Sentenced to Death Subjected to "Unrelenting Torment," Sister Says
Amid a relentless wave of executions across Iran, the family of a 34-year-old protester sentenced to death fears he might be executed soon after being subjected to inhuman treatment such as mock executions, his sister tells IranWire.
Mujahid Korkur's arrest was reported in mid-December 2022 and handed capital punishment earlier this year for allegedly killing several individuals during protests in the western city of Izeh on November 16. His alleged victims include Kian Pirfalak, a nine-year-old boy who was shot by the security forces in his parent's car on that day.
Fears of Korkur's imminent execution intensified following reports on May 12 that he had been transferred from Sheiban's prison to Tehran, his sister Raha Bakhtiari says.
"We believed my brother had been transferred from Shiban to Tehran. However, we have now learned it was his case that was transferred [to the Supreme Court in Tehran] to confirm the verdict," she explained.
During a brief meeting between Korkur and his parents, it became evident that his mental state had significantly deteriorated and that he has been subjected to acts of torture, according to Bakhtiari, who said the inmate had difficulties standing up.
She quoted Korkur as telling his parents that he remained unconscious for an entire week following his arrest.
"Since that meeting, which took place in the early weeks following his arrest, we have been left in the dark regarding his well-being," she said. "However, Mujahid confided in us that he has faced mock executions on three separate occasions."
"Every day, he lives under the constant threat of being told to prepare for his execution, with individuals announcing him that the sentence will be carried out that day...They subject him to unrelenting torment," the sister adds.
"After Mujahid was arrested and while he was still in solitary confinement, my family tirelessly sought his transfer from isolation to the general prison," Bakhtiari continues.
"One of our relatives went to our house accompanied by a member of the security forces. They took away all the savings accumulated through the years from my father's hard work, the earnings from my mother's small grocery store, a modest amount of gold belonging to my mother, and my sister's marriage loan, all in the hope of moving Mujahid to a public prison. However, their efforts were in vain."
According to the judiciary, Korkur has been charged with various crimes, including engaging in "waging war against God by brandishing weapons with the intent to kill and instigating fear and corruption on Earth through acts of shooting with combat weapons, causing significant harm to public order, and inflicting major damage to property and physical well-being."
Korkur is accused of murdering Pirflek and 6 other people.
"Like all Iranians, Mujahid's heart bled after the murder of Kian and other children in Iran. He grew weary of oppression and joined protests, just like the rest of us. However, the narrative constructed around him to take away his life is wrong."
After partially recovering from injuries sustained during the shooting incident targeting his personal vehicle, Kian's father, Meysem Pirflek, released a video in which he refutes Korkur's involvement in the death of his son.
"I, as the father of my son, have not made any complaints against Mujahid Korkur or the youth of Izeh because my wife and I witnessed firsthand the security forces, under the command of Eidi Alipour, firing at our car, injuring me and killing my son," he said.
Human rights activists say that more than 200 people were executed so far this year after unfair trials or for charges that under international law should not result in the death penalty.
Rights groups accuse the Islamic Republic of using the death penalty as a means to intimidate Iranians after nationwide protests erupted in September 2022 following the death in custody of 22-year old Mahsa Amini. They also say that members of ethnic minorities have been disproportionately targeted by the spate of executions.
Bakhtiari implores civil society not to abandon her brother and family.
"All we ask is their support and encouragement. Some individuals keep telling my father that there's no way to save Mujahid and that his execution is inevitable. Such words took a toll on my father's health and led to long hours in hospital," she said.
"Help us," Bakhtiari implored. "They want to execute my brother based on a fabricated story."
(source: iranwire.com)
************
Don’t Let Us Die, Plead ‘Esfahan House’ Prisoners Facing Execution
3 political prisoners on death row in Iran have written from jail urging the people to stop their execution.
Saeed Yaqoubi, Saleh Mirhashmi and Majid Kazemi, were convicted over the death of 2 IRGC’s Basij militia members and a police officer in protests of November last year, in what Persian media have dubbed the ‘Esfahan (Esfahan) House’ case.
Describing themselves as "children of Iran" in the letter, the 3 prisoners said: "Hello. We ask our dear fellow citizens not to let them kill us. We need your help. We need your support."
Amir Kazemi, Majid's cousin, verified the authenticity of the hand-written letter in an interview with Prague-based Farsi language Radiofarda.
After authorities released videos of 3 protesters confessing to the killing of three security officers their families expressed concern about their imminent execution.
On Sunday night and again on Wednesday night, people gathered outside Esfahan (Isfahan) Central Prison hoping to stop the feared hangings.
Videos posted by activists show dozens chanting slogans in front of the prison, while gunfire was also heard as thick smoke caused by teargas enveloped the area.
Opposition activists say the death penalty is being used against the Isfahan House three as an intimidation tactic to stop further protests.
Campaigners say the prisoners were tortured into confessions, and there is no reliable evidence against them.
Earlier in the day, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, called on the international community to take bold action to prevent the execution of the three protesters who were tortured into confessing.
“The shocking manner in which the trial and sentencing of these protesters was fast-tracked through Iran’s judicial system amid the use of torture-tainted ‘confessions’, serious procedural flaws and a lack of evidence is another example of the Iranian authorities’ brazen disregard for the rights to life and fair trial,” she said.
Majid Kazemi said in an audio recording from prison that he was forced to make false self-incriminating statements after interrogators beat him, gave him electric shocks, subjected him to mock executions, and threatened to rape him, execute his brothers and harass his parents.
Iranian expatriate communities plan demonstrations against the executions in cities worldwide on Saturday, May 20.
In a separate development, Iran International has learned that hearings were held for seven people detained during the ‘Women, Life, Liberty’ protests at the Revolutionary and Criminal Courts of Tabriz in the past few days. They were arrested in the city in September and November last year during protests following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
The seven -- identified as Pejman Eslami (31), Baqer Taji Ahmadifard (35), Mehdi (Safa) Fanai(41), Alireza Shirdel(33), Amir Ahmadian (21), Anoush Adami (34) and Omid Abdollah-Beigi (35) -- were charged with various crimes such as ‘Moharebeh’ that can lead to a death sentence.
Moharebeh (also transliterated as muharebeh) is an Islamic-Arabic term that in the lexicon of the Iranian regime means "fighting God” or “war against God,” and carries the death penalty. “Corruption on earth” is also another term that carries the death penalty.
According to unconfirmed reports, at least 10 underage protesters are also facing death sentences for the “moharebeh” and “corruption on earth”.
Nationwide protests that erupted after the death of Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini on September 16, posed the biggest internal challenge to the Islamic Republic since its establishment in 1979. So far, around 500 civilians have been killed by security forces and at least 20,000 arrested. While many have been released, around 1,500 face criminal charges, and at least 80 detainees face the death sentence.
Surge in Executions in Iran: 14 More Lives Lost, Totaling 107 in 4 Weeks
Today, May 18, the Iranian regime’s relentless pursuit of bloodshed and brutality was once again evident as it carried out 14 executions in Khorramabad, Kerman, Sanandaj, Jiroft and Rasht prisons. The victims of this state-sanctioned violence include Ali Khorramshah Amrai, Najaf Suleiman Rashed, Firoz Yarinejad Garavand, Hossein Pourshah, Omid Janabadi, Nabiullah Zaboli, Mostafa Salehi, Jamshid Karimi, a Baluch compatriot and father of 5 Nader Rigi, Mostafa Vafaei, and Farhad Vafaei. Additionally, an Afghan prisoner was executed in Gohardasht on Monday, May 15 according to the state-run website Rokna. Shockingly, this brings the total number of executions to at least 107 for the past 4 weeks.
Furthermore, the regime persists in subjecting death row prisoners to solitary confinement. Recent reports confirm that 6 prisoners, including 1 woman, were transferred to solitary cells in Kerman prison, while 4 others met the same fate in Dastgerd prison in Isfahan on Wednesday. Concerns grow for the safety and well-being of 6 political prisoners from the Arab community who were transferred to solitary cells in Shiban prison in Ahvaz on May 7, as their fate remains unknown.
In a display of defiance against the regime’s merciless actions, the people of Isfahan rallied last night, determined to prevent the execution of three uprising prisoners. Despite the heavy presence of repressive forces, Isfahan’s citizens marched on foot and in cars toward Tastgard prison. The entrance was promptly barricaded by the regime’s mercenaries, triggering a wave of car horn protests. Regrettably, the peaceful gathering was met with brutal attacks by the hired thugs, resulting in several arrests. The night air in Chaharbagh echoed with chants of “Death to the executioner regime” and “Death to the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Leader (Khamenei).”
Similarly, on Wednesday night, widespread protests erupted in various areas of Tehran, including near Evin prison, Chitgar town, Bagheri town, and Ekbatan town. The resolute voices of the people resonated through the streets, chanting ” Death to the executioner regime,” and “Death to the dictator.”
Amidst these developments, a Telegram channel linked to the IRGC, known as Saberin News, published a fabricated statement attributed to a spokesperson of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) as, “three zealous Isfahani youths, supporters of the Mojahedin organization, who took up arms with the instructions of the organization in the way of fighting against the criminal mullahs’ regime.” It went on to conclude, “the Monafeqin terrorist organization took responsibility for the terrorist operation in Isfahan house”!
In response, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) draws the attention of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, the Human Rights Council, and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and the International Federation of Human Rights Societies, to this obvious and deliberate falsification in order to set up cases and execute Saleh Mirhashmi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaqoubi. It also reminded similar forgeries on March 29, 2023, and reiterated that the MEK positions are published on the MEK website and via Simay-e Azadi (INTV).
(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) )
************
International community must take bold action to prevent the execution of 3 tortured protesters
Responding to fears over the imminent execution in Iran of 3 protesters – Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi – from Esfahan after state media broadcast their forced “confessions” and the Supreme Court upheld their unjust conviction and death sentence despite torture and fair trial concerns, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“The shocking manner in which the trial and sentencing of these protesters was fast-tracked through Iran’s judicial system amid the use of torture-tainted ‘confessions’, serious procedural flaws and a lack of evidence is another example of the Iranian authorities’ brazen disregard for the rights to life and fair trial. Majid Kazemi said in an audio recording from prison that he was forced to make false self-incriminating statements after interrogators beat him, gave him electric shocks, subjected him to mock executions, and threatened to rape him, execute his brothers and harass his parents.
“The use of the death penalty against these men is a blatant act of vengeance against a courageous generation of protesters for steadfastly demanding the rights of Iranian people during the past seven months. It is further evidence that the authorities are taking increasingly violent and extreme measures to torment and terrorize people in Iran to end the protests at any cost and impose silence and subservience through brute force.
“Amid the authorities’ horrific execution spree of scores of people since the end of April 2023, the international community must take urgent and bold action to stop the execution of these protesters before it is too late. Prison authorities told their families that today was their final visit. The international community must also press the Iranian authorities to immediately establish an official moratorium on executions. We urge all states to exercise universal jurisdiction over all Iranian officials reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law.”
BACKGROUND
Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were arrested in November 2022 following their participation in protests in Esfahan city amid the nationwide protests triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini.
According to informed sources, the 3 men were subjected to torture while forcibly disappeared and forced to make incriminating statements, which formed the basis of the criminal case against them. Sources said that interrogators suspended Majid Kazemi upside down and showed him a video of them torturing his brother, whom they also detained. They also subjected Majid Kazemi to mock executions at least 15 times by standing him on a chair and putting a rope around his neck, only to pull him down at the last moment. In the days leading up to the trial, they threatened to kill his brothers if he did not accept his charges and “confess” to whatever they said.
In an audio message from inside Dastgerd Prison, where the men are held, Majid Kazemi said: “I swear to God I am innocent. I didn’t have any weapons on me. They [security forces] kept beating me and ordering me to say this weapon is mine. … I told them I would say whatever they wanted, just please leave my family alone. I did whatever they wanted because of the torture.”
The men were put on trial in December 2022 and January 2023 and sentenced to death on the charge of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) for the alleged possession of a firearm. On 10 May, the authorities announced that the men’s sentences had been upheld by the Supreme Court despite due process violations, significant procedural flaws, lack of evidence, and torture allegations that were never investigated. According to informed sources, the authorities had told the men’s families on several occasions before the Supreme Court’s decision that they would be pardoned and released due to lack of evidence.
The families were called for a visit with the men today, during which prison authorities told them that this was their final visitation, leading to serious concerns that they may be executed as early as tomorrow morning. The families have called for a protest outside Dastgerd prison at 10pm Tehran time tonight.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution; because the death penalty violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
(source: Amnesty International)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Saudi authorities arrest 11 in possession of 55 kilos of cocaine in latest drug bust
Saudi authorities have arrested 11 people who were in possession of a total of 55.2 kilograms of cocaine, in the latest massive drug bust as the Kingdom continues to crack down on the smuggling, promotion and use of narcotics, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Thursday.
The group had tried to hide the cocaine in several residences in Jeddah to avoid police attention, but security surveillance uncovered their crime, Major Marwan al-Hazmi, the Official Spokesperson of the General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC), said.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Those arrested include 2 individuals who violated the border security system, four residents, and five Nigerian expatriates who had visitor visas, according to SPA.
The detainees were referred to the Public Prosecution for further action.
Saudi Arabia has strict laws against the import, manufacture, possession, and use of drugs. The Kingdom’s Narcotics Control Law differentiates between narcotics smugglers, dealers, and users when it comes to the punishment.
The severest punishment – set for those who are involved in smuggling narcotics and bringing them into the country – is the death penalty.
Punishments for dealers and users include prison sentences, hefty fines, and deportation.
Security agencies have urged the public to report any information related to drug smuggling or promotion by contacting the emergency helpline number (911) in Mecca, Riyadh, and the Eastern regions and (999) in other regions of the Kingdom, Major al-Hazmi said.
Additionally, individuals can contact the General Directorate of Narcotics Control at (995) or email (995@gdnc.gov.sa), he said.
All reports made will be confidential, he added.
(source: english.alarabiya.net)
NIGERIA:
3 to die by hanging for armed robbery in Ekiti
An Ado-Ekiti State High Court in Ekiti State has sentenced 3 persons to death by hanging for conspiracy and armed robbery.
The defendants, Deji Omotayo, 23, Ifeanyin Chidiebere, 25 and Bolaji Usman, 28, were arraingned on Jan. 21, 2020, on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy and armed robbery.
Delivering his judgment, Justice Bamidele Omotoso said that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt the charge preferred against the defendants.
“I am of the strong opinion that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt the offence of armed robbery against the defendants.
“They are hereby found guilty as charged and convicted for the offence of armed robbery.
"The sentence of the court upon you Omotayo Deji, Chidiebere Ifeanyin, and Bolaji Usman is that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead and may the Lord have mercy on your souls,” Omotosho said.
Earlier during the trial, the prosecution said that the convicts on May 6, 2019, broke into a students private hostel at Aba Erinfun, Federal Polytechnic Road, Ado Ekiti and robbed the occupants of valuables.
The Prosecution Counsel, Mr Kunle-Shina Adeyemo told the court that the convicts robbed occupants of the hostel including Stephen Ademiloye, Temitope Olokuntoye and Kolade Ajayi of their belongings.
The charge listed the items stolen to include phones, Laptop computer, sandals, phone chargers and power banks valued at N186,000, as at the time of the robbery.
The charge also indicated that the convicts were armed with cutlass and wooden plank when the robbery was committed.
Adeyemo called one witness and tendered statements of the victims and phones among others as exhibits.
The offences, the prosecution said, contravened Sections 6 (b), 1 (2) (a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. RII, Vol. 14, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The defendants each pleaded not guilty to the for count charge preferred against them, but did not call any witness to give evidence during trial.
(source: guardian.ng)
*************
Execution of those who embezzled above N1bn needed – Senator-elect, Ndubueze
The Imo North Senator-elect, Patrick Ndubueze has urged Nigeria to emulate China’s approach in the fight against corruption.
Under Chinese law, anyone convicted of embezzling or taking bribes worth 3 million yuan (US$443,000) will attract the death penalty.
Ndubueze said Nigeria needs to adopt China’s anti-corruption law if it wants to become corruption free.<
He spoke at the ongoing 10th National Assembly Induction Programme at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, on Wednesday.
He said, “Most of us witnessed that in China, they executed, I think Attorney-General or minister of justice. They executed a serving Minister of Agriculture. The international world was proud.
“EFCC, why can’t you bring a Bill to the National Assembly? Bring a Bill that anyone who embezzled 1 billion Naira and above should be executed.”
Ndubueze said when the law for the execution of convicted corrupt public officials is passed, it should be sent to Nigerian embassies abroad so that anyone coming into the country will be aware of the law.
The incoming lawmaker said there is also a need for the constitution of a permanent tribunal for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to speed up corruption trials.
(source: dailypost.ng)
SOUTHEAST ASIA:
Death penalty reforms bring hope amid resumption of executions across Southeast Asia
Legal reforms on the use of the death penalty in Indonesia and Malaysia show that Southeast Asia can and should shift away from its highly punitive response to crime and move towards abolition, Amnesty International Indonesia and Amnesty International Malaysia said, following the release of Amnesty International’s global report “Death Sentences and Executions in 2022".
Malaysia continued to observe its official moratorium on executions in 2022, yet the courts still meted out at least 16 new death sentences, including for drug-related offences.
A crucial step towards the abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia came, however, after bills on abolishing the mandatory death penalty were adopted in Parliament in March and April 2023.
“Southeast Asia saw an alarming rise in the resort to executions in 2022, but Malaysia’s decision to abolish the mandatory death penalty and establish a re-sentencing process for those on death row brings hope that a more progressive and humane approach to criminal justice can become a reality in the region,” Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Katrina Jorene Maliamauv said.
“The adoption of these historic bills by Malaysia’s Parliament comes after years of campaigning to raise awareness of the impact of the death penalty on those affected, and society as a whole. The bills are a significant step in our country’s journey towards abolition – they must not be the last.”
Reforms in Indonesia
Indonesia continued to record a high number of new death sentences in 2022, reporting 112 – just two fewer that in 2021.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, however, granted an unprecedented pardon to Merri Utami, a grandmother and former domestic worker who was held on death row after she was convicted of a drug-related offence in 2002. On 29 July 2016 her execution was halted at the last minute, and days before that she submitted an application for clemency to the president on 26 July. Merri remained on death row until President Widodo’s pardon on 13 March 2023.
“President Widodo’s decision to grant a pardon to Merri Utami and commute her death sentence after spending more than 20 years on death row for drug trafficking must serve as a pivotal moment for Indonesia. The authorities must follow this act by commuting the death sentences of all others who remain on death row in appalling conditions,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said.
Indonesia’s newly adopted Penal Code, which will come into force in 2026, also introduces the possibility of commuting death sentences after a period of 10 years, if the prisoner maintains good conduct while under sentence of death.
“After reforming its Penal Code, Indonesia must not miss this opportunity to significantly reduce its use of the death penalty after years of shockingly high figures. The adjustments, however, do not go far enough. It is beyond time for the government to announce an official moratorium on executions and fully abolish the death penalty, ending the anguish of at least 452 people on death row, who often suffer in isolation for years, sometimes decades,” Usman said.
Executions rising across Southeast Asia
In 2022 the military authorities in Myanmar carried out the first executions in the country in four decades, arbitrarily depriving four people of their lives, including two-high profile opposition politicians following grossly unfair and secretive trials.
Executions also resumed after a hiatus from 2020 to 2021 in Singapore, bringing the total number of countries known to have carried out executions in Southeast Asia to 3, including Vietnam where figures remain shrouded in secrecy.
The number of new death sentences recorded in Southeast Asia increased by 10%, from 345 in 2021 to 381 in 2022. The increase was partly attributable to the fact that the Thai authorities provided Amnesty International with figures for new death sentences imposed by courts of first instance, unlike in previous years.
The death penalty was used in the region for offences including drug trafficking, which does not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes” for which the death penalty may be imposed under international law, pending its abolition.
“Fully abolishing the death penalty would demonstrate the commitment to human rights of the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia and be an example of the needed leadership for rights in the region. The 2 countries must urgently commute all existing death sentences as the next step towards abolishing the death penalty entirely,” Katrina Jorene Maliamauv said.
Background
The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception – regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution.
The Amnesty International’s global report “Death Sentences and Executions in 2022” can be obtained by clicking here. – Amnesty International Malaysia/Amnesty International Indonesia
(source: The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand----aliran.com)
PAKISTAN:
Man gets death sentence for killing father
A District and Sessions Court Wednesday awarded death sentence to an accused involved in the murder of his father.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Mushtaq Ahmed Ojla announced the verdict after hearing the arguments from both the sides. The court also imposed Rs 500,000 fine on the accused, Saqlain Arzoo.
According to the prosecution, the convict had killed his father Muhammad Arif over a family dispute. A case was registered against the convict at the Race Course Police station in 2022.
(source: Paksitan Obsesrver)
BANGLADESH:
Man gets death penalty for killing pregnant wife in Ctg
A court in Chattogram on Wednesday sentenced a man to death for killing his pregnant wife at Paschim Mohora area under Chandgaon Police Station of the city on October 15, 2016.
The court of 6th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Sirajam Munira handed down the verdict on Wednesday.
The court also fined the convicted Tk 20,000.
The convicted was Md Ridwanul Haque Hridoy alias Sohel Rana, 36, hailed from Kalaramar Chara Chaliatali village under Moheshkhali upazila of Cox's Bazar district.
Public Prosecutor Adv Dirghatam Barua said," Shanu, the victim and wife of the convicted, was nine months pregnant. On October, 15, 2016, Hridoy strangled her wife to death over an ex marital affair."
According to case statement, police recovered the victim's hanging body from her rented house at Paschim Mohora area of the city in the night.
Later, the victims brother Md Iskandor lodged a case with Chandgaon Police Station accusing his sister-in-law.
Police submitted the charge-sheet to the court against the convicted on February 16, 2017.
After examining records and hearing 10 witnesses, Judge Sirajam Munira delivered the verdict.
(source: observerbd.com)
SINGAPORE----execution
Singapore Hangs Man in 2nd Drug-Related Execution in 3 Weeks----The man had been sentenced to death for possessing less than 3.5 pounds of cannabis, a punishment that human rights groups condemned as grossly excessive.
Singapore on Wednesday hanged a man for trafficking less than 3.5 pounds of marijuana, its second execution in three weeks for a crime that carries a much lighter sentence in most of the rest of the world.
“Capital punishment is part of Singapore’s comprehensive harm prevention strategy which targets both drug demand and supply,” the country’s Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement confirming the execution. It gave the man’s age, 36, but did not identify him by name, as requested by his family, or detail his offense.
But court documents show that Muhammad Faizal Bin Mohd Shariff had been convicted and sentenced to death in 2019 for possessing about 1.6 kilograms, or 3.4 pounds, of cannabis. Last month, Singapore hanged a man who was convicted of conspiring to traffic about two pounds of cannabis.
Human rights groups condemned both punishments as grossly excessive, but Singapore has long taken a harsh stance toward drugs, showing little flexibility.
Since 1975, the country has mandated the death penalty for people convicted of drug trafficking. In most cases, the death penalty is given for trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis, 250 grams of methamphetamine, 30 grams of cocaine or 15 grams of heroin, according to the bureau.
Most death row inmates in Singapore are tied to drug crimes. Out of 54 people awaiting execution in Singapore, 51 are for drug-related offenses, said Kirsten Han, a spokeswoman for Transformative Justice Collective, which has campaigned for abolishing the death penalty in Singapore. The remaining three are for murders.
Last year, Singapore executed 11 people for drug-related crimes. Only five other countries did so, Ms. Han said: China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.
Before his conviction, Mr. Faizal claimed in court that he had meant to consume most of the cannabis himself, only intending to sell a small portion. On Monday, he filed an appeal seeking a reduced sentence of life imprisonment, but an appeals court denied it the next day. He was hanged 21 days after Singapore executed Tangaraju Suppiah for a similar offense.
While Southeast Asia used to be known for its harsh penalties for drug offenses, countries in the region have in recent years relaxed their stances. Malaysia has ended its mandatory death penalty for drug offenses. Thailand has legalized marijuana.
Death sentences linked to drug offenses in Singapore have prompted protests by human rights groups. In 2021, protesters urged the country to halt the execution of a man convicted of smuggling heroin, arguing he should be spared because he had a mental disability. He was executed in April 2022.
Opponents of Singapore’s drug policy also say that it has disproportionately hurt marginalized ethnic minorities. “It is very concerning that 64.9 percent of the death row inmates are of Malay ethnicity,” when Malays make up only 14 percent of Singapore’s population, wrote M. Ravi, an international human rights lawyer who had represented Mr. Faizal.
The argument to abolish the death penalty for drug crimes has not gained much traction in Singapore.
“The public is still largely pro-death penalty,” Ms. Han said, adding that the opposition is hesitant to touch the issue. “It’s too much of a hot potato for them.”
(source: New York Times)
PHILIPPINES:
Death penalty vs law enforcers who disobeyed anti-agri smuggling law sought
Senator Robin Padilla has formally sought the passage of a measure seeking to impose capital punishment against personnel of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and other uniformed or law enforcement agencies found violating the anti-agricultural smuggling law.
His proposal is contained in his filed Senate Bill No. 2214, amending the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, which the senator announced just before a Senate hearing on alleged unabated agricultural smuggling was suspended on Thursday.
(source: newsinfo.inquirer.net)
TRINIDAD:
Ex-death-row inmate left with 11-year sentence for 2002 murder
A former death-row inmate has had some success in his appeal of his sentence, even though the length of time he has to serve remains unchanged.
Ronald John appealed the 2019 resentencing of Justice Carla Brown-Antoine. On Wednesday, Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Gregory Smith and Malcolm Holdip allowed a variation of his sentence, while allowing his appeal.
In 2006, John was convicted of murdering Kenneth Boxie at a recreation club in Palmyra Village, San Fernando, on November 27, 2002. He appealed his conviction, which was dismissed by the Appeal Court in 2007, and again in 2009 by the Privy Council.
In 2017, he filed a constitutional motion after there was a change in the law involving the mandatory sentence for felony murder cases. Previously, felony murder carried a sentence of death, but that changed in 2011, with a Privy Council ruling that the mandatory imposition of a death sentence for felony murder in Trinidad and Tobago was unconstitutional.
In ruling that the death sentence imposed on him was unconstitutional, Justice Carol Gobin sent his case to the Assizes (the criminal division of the High Court) for resentencing. Before being resentenced before Brown-Antoine, John remained on death row for ten months before Gobin was forced to order his immediate removal from the condemned section of the prison.
In resentencing him, Brown-Antoine started with a 30-year sentence, to which the defence and prosecution agreed, and applied a 1-year reduction for his good character and a further 18 years for the time he spent in custody. John was left with a sentence of 11 years to serve.
Even after the variations allowed by the Appeal Court judges on Wednesday, John remained with an 11-year sentence, which runs from March 20, 2019, when Brown-Antoine sentenced him.
In their ruling, the judges said the 30-year starting point was appropriate, so John’s appeal on that ground was without merit.
John received an additional six-month discount from the appeal court for his good behaviour while in prison, and while agreeing that a bio-social report from the prison is beneficial for sentencing judges, in John’s case, the judges said it would have little or no assistance in the sentencing process, since, as a death-row inmate, he would not have been allowed to engage in any activities in the prison system designed to rehabilitate prisoners.
The judges found Brown-Antoine was “overly generous” in her “rounded-off” discount of the extra time he spent on death row and the time he spent in prison. But they reduced John’s sentence, leaving him with the 11-year sentence he originally received in 2019.
The oral decision was delivered by Holdip.
John was represented by public defender Adaphia Trancuso-Ribeiro. Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal represented the State.
(source: newsday.co.tt)
MAY 17, 2023:
VIRGINIA:
New Revelations Regarding the Virginia Execution Tapes Now Largely Removed from Public Viewing
Over a decade ago, 4 audio tapes and hundreds of execution documents were donated to the Library of the University of Virginia by a former Virginia correctional employee. National Public Radio (NPR) aired excerpts from those long-hidden tapes in January 2023. Shortly thereafter, a representative from the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) then requested the return of all the materials. NPR now reports that only 2 of the 6 boxes of material remain available for viewing at the prison, by way of a public records request. The entirety of the 4 tapes previously aired by NPR can be heard in full on NPR’s website, as well as documents that journalists photographed prior to the documents’ removal.
Among the documents NPR recently shared with the public are a collection of Polaroid photos taken prior to a prisoner’s execution, legal memos, autopsy reports, court records, death certificates, and handwritten notes. Originally kept secret due to purported concerns that activists would use them to stop future executions, a representative from VDOC told NPR via email that the files contain “sensitive health, security, and personnel information about former inmates, victims, and VADOC employees, which makes them private in nature.”
According to NPR, their investigation “can now reveal the tapes show the prison neglected to record key evidence during what was considered one of Virginia’s worst executions, and staff appeared unprepared for some of the jobs they were tasked to do in the death chamber.”
(source: Death Penalty Information Cecnter)
INDIANA:
Judge Approves Seeking of Death Penalty in Officer’s Death
Marion County Superior Court Judge Mark Stoner has approved the request by prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the case of a man charged with the 2020 murder of an Indianapolis police officer.
Attorneys for Elliahs Dorsey had asked for that to be dismissed.
24-year-old officer Breann Leath was shot and killed when she was responding to a domestic violence call in April of that year.
(source: WWBL news)
ARIZONA:
Canal killings trial: Bryan Miller's daughter was 'everything' to him, court hears
Bryan Miller, who killed, mutilated and sexually assaulted two young women in Phoenix 30 years ago, was a "wonderful and dedicated father," a relative testified in court Tuesday.
Miller's relationship with his daughter, who was 15 when he was arrested and charged with murder in 2015, loomed large in testimony this week as his defense attorneys seek to spare him from the death penalty.
Barbara James, Miller's maternal aunt, testified Tuesday that Miller had a "very loving, very connected" relationship with his daughter.
"(She) was everything to Bryan," James said. "Everything he did was for her."
Miller was 20 when he killed Angela Brosso in November 1992 and Melanie Bernas in September 1993. He stabbed each young woman in the back and went on to mutilate and sexually assault them as or after they died.
The random, brutal murders of two young women who had been out riding along the canal when they were attacked shocked the city. Because their bodies were found in or near the canal, the case became known as the "canal killings."
Despite DNA evidence connecting the two murders, detectives were unable to land on a suspect and the case ran cold for more than 20 years. Miller was arrested in 2015 after new forensic techniques finally led detectives to obtain and test his DNA against that found on Brosso and Bernas, finding it was a match.
He pleaded an insanity defense. His attorneys said that at the time of the murders he was dissociating and stuck in a "trauma state" caused by childhood abuse from his mother, Ellen, who died in 2010.
But after a 6-month bench trial, Judge Suzanne Cohen found him guilty of murdering Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas.
The trial is now in the sentencing phase. The state is seeking the death penalty, while Miller's attorneys have urged Cohen to impose a sentence of life in prison.
'I was very moved'
Over the past month, a number of relatives, friends and people from Miller's past have testified in support of a life sentence.
Some explicitly stated their continued support for Miller, even in the wake of his convictions. Others simply told of times he had been a loyal friend, or demonstrated love for his daughter, or that they had observed him struggling with his mental health.
James said Miller, who gained custody of his daughter after he and his ex-wife divorced in 2006, was a "dedicated father."
She recalled a time when Miller had verbally disciplined his daughter after she disobeyed him. She got upset and retreated to the couch, James said, and Miller had gone over and explained why he had said what he said, and reiterated that he loved her.
"I was very moved by that," she said. "He dealt with it in a very calm, very mature manner, and a loving manner.”
Under cross-examination, James said it hadn't been possible for her to spend time with Miller and his daughter for long stretches while she was living elsewhere.
She agreed it was possible there were negative aspects to his parenting she didn't know about.
James said she would "always" support Miller and wanted to continue a relationship with him while he is incarcerated in "any way that I'm allowed to."
“I made the decision to sell my home in Newport and I’ve purchased a home in Phoenix so that I can see him," James said, beginning to cry. "And spend time with him."
Miller also teared up from his usual seat between his defense attorneys, removing his glasses to dab at his eye with a tissue.
'He's her dad'
Deena McGlade testified that Miller was "like a little brother" to her and had essentially become part of the McGlade clan after Miller befriended her brother Randy in the early 1990s.
She said Miller's daughter, whom she took care of for a period after his arrest, was too emotionally fragile to testify in court, but they had spoken about her feelings toward her father and she had written a letter.
“She’s told me regardless of everything, he’s her dad," McGlade said. "He did raise her. She’s always lived with him, and they were very close."
Her father's arrest, McGlade said, had been "very damaging and traumatizing to her."
Under cross-examination, she agreed she had told an expert witness that Miller's daughter found chores like sweeping and doing the dishes traumatizing because her father had yelled at her about how she did them in the past.
Asked if it was possible some "unhealthy experiences" were going on between Miller and his daughter, she replied: "Yes, it's always a possibility."
But McGlade was certain he loved her. "She was who he lived for," she said. "He absolutely loves her."
The state is expected to start presenting its rebuttal case this week.
(source: azcentral.com)
CALIFORNIA:
Jury recommends death for man who brutally murdered wife, 2 kids, and niece in family home
A California jury this week found that a 62-year-old man who brutally killed 4 members of his own family inside of the home they shared together should be executed for his crimes.
Jurors on Friday returned a verdict of death for Salvador Vasquez-Oliva for the 2017 slayings of his wife, 45-year-old Angelique Vasquez; their 2 young children, 14-year-old Mia and 11-year-old Alvin Vasquez; and his niece, 21-year-old Ashley Coleman, authorities announced.
According to a press release from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, the same jury on May 1 convicted Vasquez-Oliva on 4 counts of 1st-degree murder along with allegations of personal use of a deadly weapon and the special circumstance of committing multiple murders.
Prosecutors in the criminal complaint said that Vasquez-Oliva on March 22, 2017, was acting with “malice aforethought” when he bludgeoned his wife and 2 children to death using a “blunt force instrument.” The then-56-year-old Vasquez-Oliva used a knife to stab Coleman to death, per the complaint.
The 4 victims were discovered inside of the home Vasquez-Oliva shared with his wife and kids on 35th Avenue in South Land Park. Officers with the Sacramento Police Department responded to the home after another family member requested a welfare check at the address. All four victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
Several hours after the bodies were discovered, law enforcement authorities in San Francisco located Vasquez-Oliva in the Bay Area and took him into custody.
Vasquez-Oliva, who was a technician in California’s Employment Development Department for more than a decade at the time of the murders, confessed to the killings while speaking to a family member in San Francisco, according to a report from The Sacramento Bee. That family member then reportedly notified authorities as to his whereabouts. Vasquez-Oliva was reportedly arrested about 90 miles away from where the killings took place.
The quadruple murder shocked the normally quiet Sacramento community, with neighbors widely saying they never saw signs that anything was amiss with the family.
Don Sherrill, whose home shared a back fence with the victims’ house, said he and his wife, Joanne Sherrill, often heard the children playing in the backyard or using an inflatable pool.
“The young kids really enjoyed the backyard and swimming in the summertime,” Joanne Sherrill reportedly told the Bee in the days after the killings.
Vasquez-Oliva is currently scheduled to appear before Superior Court Judge Michael W. Sweet on Aug. 25 for his formal sentencing.
Despite the jury’s verdict for death, it is unlikely that Vasquez-Oliva will be executed anytime soon, if ever. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in 2019 placing a moratorium on executions in the state and granting reprieves to the 737 inmates that were then on death row.
“Three out of four nations in the world know better and are doing better, they have abolished the death penalty. It’s time California joined those ranks,” Newsom said following the order.
A court-ordered moratorium on capital punishment had been in place in California since 2006 after a judge declared the state’s lethal injection process to be unconstitutional. While a new protocol was under review, Newsom’s 2019 order withdrew that protocol proposal.
(source: lawandcrime.com)
USA:
A New Execution Method May Soon Be Used In US, And Some Are Concerned----Some argue nitrogen hypoxia is a painless way to kill, but critics fear there's not enough evidence.
Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi have authorized the use of nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, but no state has performed an execution using it yet.
A new execution method could potentially soon be used for the 1st time in the US: nitrogen hypoxia. While its proponents argue it is a humane and effective means of capital punishment, its critics say there’s simply not enough evidence to justify its use.
Nitrogen hypoxia involves forcing a person to breathe pure nitrogen gas, starving them of oxygen until they die. Although the exact protocols have not yet been drawn up, there is some idea of what they might entail:
“The protocol would likely involve placing some type of mask over the condemned inmate’s head and pumping it full of 100 % nitrogen, thereby depriving that person of oxygen. The inmate would die not by suffocation, which is caused by an inability to exhale and a subsequent (and very painful) buildup of carbon dioxide in the body, but rather by becoming gradually oxygen-deprived, which is essentially painless,” according to The Marshall Project, a criminal justice NGO.
Just three US states have authorized the use of nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method – Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi – but no state has performed an execution using it, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre.
That could soon change, however.
The experimental execution method has recently made the news because of the unusual case of Kenneth Eugene Smith, an Alabama inmate who was sentenced to death for a 1988 murder-for-hire. Together with accomplice John Parker, Smith was hired to kill Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett by her husband so he could collect her life insurance.
Smith was set to die in November 2022, but he survived after prison authorities couldn’t find an intravenous line for the lethal injection drugs before the state’s execution warrant expired at midnight.
Following the botched execution, his legal team had argued in federal court that he should be allowed to die by nitrogen hypoxia, alleging that attempting another lethal injection would subject him to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the US Constitution's 8th Amendment.
After Smith won his case at the lower court level, Alabama officials appealed to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS). However, on Monday, May 15, the SCOTUS allowed Smith's challenge to proceed.
Despite Smith’s desire to receive this method of execution, experts have previously expressed concern that the method hasn’t undergone enough testing and research.
“There is a claim, that I think is baseless, that nitrogen gas inhalation would cause a death that would be peaceful and not cruel. There’s no evidence for any of that,” Joel Zivot, an associate professor of anesthesiology at Emory University, told Scientific American in 2022.
Research on nitrogen hypoxia in non-human mammals has led veterinarians and animal health regulators to conclude that the method is unacceptable for euthanizing animals. Some studies have shown that dogs take up to five minutes to die despite losing consciousness within one to two. For larger-bodied humans, it could take even longer.
Older studies, however, have found the opposite, concluding that nitrogen hypoxia is "effective, humane, safe, and economically feasible as a method of euthanasia."
Some also contend that it is notably more humane than lethal injection, which has been linked to a number of botched executions.
“It’s a painless way to go. But more time needs to be spent [studying] that," Louisiana Department of Corrections Secretary James LeBlanc told the state legislative committee in April 2014.
In sum, there’s not enough evidence to make an informed judgment either way. It’s even unclear how this could be ethically tested and assess how humane this method of dying is.
Despite these many ethical and practical questions, the US may become the 1st country in the world to officially use nitrogen in an execution chamber if these legal proceedings continue to drive the way they are going.
(source: iflscience.com)
**********************
NYC bike path terrorist set to be sentenced to life in prison after avoiding death penalty verdict at trial
A terrorist convicted of striking and killing 8 people with a rented truck on a New York City bike path in an attack for ISIS is scheduled to be sentenced to serve life in prison Wednesday.
Sayfullo Saipov effectively learned his sentence in March, when the jury in the penalty phase of his trial in Manhattan federal court told a judge it was unable to reach an undivided decision favoring the death penalty on any of the nine capital counts against him.
The capital counts each carry a mandatory life imprisonment sentence by law after the jury didn’t unanimously vote for the death penalty.
Saipov’s case was the 1st death penalty case under the Biden administration.
About 25 surviving victims and family members of those killed in the attack are expected to give victim impact statements at the sentencing hearing Wednesday morning, according to court filings.
Of the 8 people killed in the attack,5 were from Argentina, 2 were Americans, and 1 was from Belgium. The majority of those participating in the Manhattan federal court hearing are traveling from Argentina and Belgium, the prosecutors said in a memo.
The convicted terrorist will have an opportunity to address the court before he is sentenced, but it is unclear if he will do so.
On Halloween in 2017, Saipov drove a rented U-Haul truck into cyclists and pedestrians on Manhattan’s West Side bike path, then crashed the vehicle into a school bus, authorities said.
After leaving the truck while brandishing a pellet gun and paintball gun, he was shot by a New York City Police Department officer and taken into custody, officials said.
The jury convicted Saipov in January of all 28 counts against him for the fatal attack.
Those counts included murder in aid of racketeering activity, assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity, attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity, provision of material support to ISIS, and violence and destruction of a motor vehicle.
Sayfullo Saipov was arrested after allegedly driving a pickup truck on a bike path in lower Manhattan, killing 8 people and injuring 12 on October 31, 2017.
NYC bike path terrorist to serve life in prison after jury fails to reach unanimous decision on death penalty
Saipov is expected to serve his life sentence at the Federal Bureau of Prisons ADX facility in Florence, Colorado, in solitary confinement at least 22 hours a day, his attorneys said during trial.
Federal prosecutors who say Saipov deserves no leniency want District Judge Vernon Broderick to sentence Saipov to the fullest extent of the sentencing guidelines for his 28-count conviction; 8 consecutive life sentences, a consecutive term of 260 years’ imprisonment and two concurrent life sentences.
“Because Saipov deliberately committed the most abhorrent crime imaginable for which he has expressed no remorse, he deserves no leniency. Only the maximum punishment on each count of conviction will reflect the unimaginable harm inflicted and send the appropriate message that terrorist attacks on innocent civilians will be punished as harshly as the law allows,” prosecutors said in a pre-sentencing court filing.
The harshest sentence, prosecutors wrote, would be “an exercise of such discretion to hold the defendant fully accountable for his crimes, and to send the appropriate message to the defendant, the public, and any others who might contemplate an attack on U.S. soil.”
(source: CNN)
*********************
Clarence Thomas Wants The Death Penalty To Be Painful----For some justices, the Eighth Amendment is nothing more than an annoying technicality.
On November 17, 2022, Kenneth Smith spent 4 agonizing hours strapped to a gurney waiting for the state of Alabama to kill him. Smith, who was convicted of murder in 1988 and sentenced to die by lethal injection, could do nothing but watch as correctional officers poked and prodded his arms and hands, searching fruitlessly for veins. Then, without warning or explanation, the officers—it’s not clear if any of them were medical professionals—tried a different approach, jabbing a large needle underneath Smith’s collarbone, which made him cry out in pain and plead for his lawyers or the court to intervene.
Smith’s death warrant expired at midnight, and because officials couldn’t find his veins in time, they had to stop the execution attempt. When they unstrapped Smith from the gurney, he was hyperventilating and couldn’t sit, stand, or walk without help. It was Alabama’s 3rd failed execution attempt in 6 months. Smith, who remains on death row, now experiences back spasms and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
In 2019, the Court wrote in Bucklew v. Precythe that the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment,” does not “guarantee a prisoner a painless death.” But the Bucklew Court did hold that people on death row can challenge a state’s execution method if they can show that procedure would cause them “superadded” pain—and if they can point to a “feasible and readily implemented” alternative method that would “significantly reduce” the risk.
So, after Alabama’s disastrous attempt to execute him, Smith asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to stop the state from trying to kill him via lethal injection. Instead, he asked that Alabama use nitrogen hypoxia, a method of asphyxiation in which people breathe pure nitrogen until they die. The state legislature approved the use of nitrogen hypoxia in 2018; Oklahoma’s and Mississippi’s legislatures have done so, too. In Alabama, at least 48 people on death row have opted for this method of execution, though no state has yet attempted it.
The Eleventh Circuit granted Smith’s request, finding that he had shown that the state would have “extreme difficulty” accessing his veins, due in part to Smith’s age, weight, and the immense anxiety that the execution provokes. The state appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that because it has yet to finalize an execution protocol for nitrogen hypoxia, the Court should allow it to force Smith to relive last fall’s nightmare.
On Tuesday, the Court refused to do so. But Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, dissented. If it were up to the 2 of them, the government would be free to subject people to severe pain without once worrying about running afoul of the Constitution’s protections for people sentenced to death.
Thomas’s argument is that because Alabama has not finalized its nitrogen hypoxia protocol, let alone killed anyone using it, Smith didn’t prove that an alternative execution method is “available.” Of course, it’s Alabama’s job to craft an execution protocol, not Smith’s. Thomas’s argument here would allow the state’s 5-years-and-counting delay to justify its failure to give Smith a choice to which he is legally entitled. His opinion characterized the legal availability of nitrogen hypoxia as a “threadbare allegation” and “simply irrelevant, without more.”
Another theme of Thomas’s dissent was his oft-repeated complaints that portray people on death row as dishonest abusers of the court system who use legal technicalities and procedural tricks to delay their executions. The Court’s refusal to grant Alabama’s request, he argued, will become yet another “instrument of dilatory litigation tactics” in death penalty cases. For Thomas, constitutional rights are not for everyone, but only for those whom he believes to be worthy of their protections.
The Supreme Court’s death penalty jurisprudence is horrific and monstrous, but it has, at the very least, granted people on death row the option of choosing a less painful method of execution. Yet Alito and Thomas don’t want people to actually exercise that right. If there’s one thing they love more than the state executing people, it’s the state executing people as quickly and cruelly as possible.
(source: Yvette Borja is a staff writer at Balls & Strikes)
US MILITARY:
Guantánamo Bay----This 9/11 suspect and ‘torture prop’ has spent 20 years in Guantánamo. Is he nearing a deal with the US?----Ammar al-Baluchi was a human experiment for interrogators learning brutal techniques. Now prosecutors have proposed a plea bargain
Warning: this article contains graphic images and descriptions of torture
On 29 April 2003, 25-year-old Ammar al-Baluchi was snatched off the streets of Karachi by Pakistani authorities and handed over to the CIA.
While in CIA custody, he endured extreme forms of cruelty. He was denied sleep for days and became a human experiment for interrogators who practiced brutal methods on him to gain “official” certification in using “enhanced interrogation techniques”. Over the next 3 years, he was secretly shuttled between 6 different black sites around the world. Then, in September 2006, he was transferred to Guantánamo Bay, where he still sits in a cell. Though never convicted of a crime, he hasn’t seen a day of freedom since he was first disappeared.
According to the US government, Baluchi is 1 of 5 co-conspirators responsible for the 9/11 attacks, which killed close to 3,000 people, and he is facing charges that carry the death penalty.
Though his name and horrific experiences of torture provided the basis for a character in the 2012 film Zero Dark Thirty, no journalist has been able to talk directly to Baluchi for the last 20 years. The US government imposes strict rules on communications between him and the outside world. Journalists may not ask him questions via his lawyers, for example. But by talking to his defense team and legal experts, digging deep into the trial record, examining legions of declassified documents and partially redacted transcripts, and comparing his own written accounts of his ordeal with recently declassified CIA documents of his treatment, it is possible to assemble what might be the fullest picture yet of who Ammar al-Baluchi is, how his captors saw him, and what he has endured.
Understanding Baluchi and his torture is crucial beyond mere human interest or political curiosity. The torture he and his co-defendants endured and the long-term consequences of that abuse, including the possibility of post-torture therapy treatments, have all become part of plea negotiations, which began after the prosecution approached the defense teams in March 2022.
These talks could fail and, if they do, the 9/11 case will probably continue without any resolution for many years to come. But if the talks succeed and a plea agreement is reached, a judgment will finally be entered in one of the biggest legal cases in American history. And the United States will also be one step closer to closing the most infamous site of indefinite detention amid the “war on terror”.
But why has the prosecution even proposed a plea deal? And how likely is it to happen?
20 years of detention
Baluchi, who also goes by the name Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, is facing capital charges but, after 20 years of detention, the United States has yet to bring him to trial. Charges against him and his four co-defendants were filed for the second time in 2012, but since then the case has been stuck in endless pre-trial hearings.
Over a decade of hearings with no sign of a trial doesn’t seem like normal jurisprudence, but nothing is normal at Guantánamo. The case is being heard by military commission, a new and separate legal system established by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and modified in 2009. It’s taking place in a courtroom far from the US mainland, behind soundproof glass, and on a 40-second audio delay for those – press, family and NGO observers – allowed to watch its “public” proceedings.
Most of the charges Baluchi faces in his military tribunal concern conspiracy, but conspiracy is generally not recognized by international law as a war crime and its status as such under US law remains unsettled.
The specter of torture, a crime under both international law and US statute, has haunted these proceedings from the beginning. That this torture was state policy is a dangerous fact for the US government, and from the beginning prosecutors have tried to suppress any mention of it (hence the 40-second delay) while seeking to admit statements made under torture into the record. It hasn’t been that simple.
“Administration after administration has assumed the 9/11 case is open and shut, that a jury will convict these guys, give them death sentences, and we’ll be good,” explained Lisa Hajjar, author of The War in Court: Inside the Long Fight Against Torture, a book about torture and the American judicial system in the “war on terror”. “But you cannot have anything that passes the sniff test for justice when people were tortured and disappeared for years.”
From the 2014 Senate select committee on intelligence’s “Torture Report” (which references Baluchi over 100 times) to years of litigation from lawyers, journalists, and activists, the gruesome details of torture have been emerging, sometimes in drips, other times in waves. Also emerging has been the degree of coordination between the CIA and FBI in holding and questioning men.
Prosecutors have long relied on the idea of separation between the CIA and FBI, arguing that statements made to the FBI were not coerced and are therefore admissible in court. Yet court transcripts in 2021 revealed that at least nine FBI agents were temporarily assigned as CIA agents at black sites, complicating the picture.
We can’t ask Baluchi what happened to him and, like the rest of his co-defendants, he hasn’t had the opportunity to testify about it in open court. Until December 2013, in Guantánamo’s military commissions, a defendant’s own memories of his torture were considered classified, and, to this day, any statement a defendant makes about the CIA still undergoes classification review.
But in 2021, another man, Majid Khan, openly recounted for the first time the torture he endured at the hands of the United States. This statement was part of Khan’s plea deal from years earlier. Khan, who was a courier for al-Qaida, described to a military jury the harrowing treatment he received in CIA custody. In grisly detail, he explained how he was shackled, hooded, and kept naked for days on end. He talked about being force-fed with “a plunger to force the food quickly” into his stomach and how a puree of “hummus, pasta with sauce, nuts, and raisins” was shoved up his rectum.
His eyeglasses were broken early in his confinement, and he was not given a new pair for three years, he said. He was repeatedly beaten and waterboarded. He was sexually assaulted and forcibly submerged in ice water, and much more. All this happened before he arrived at Guantánamo Bay, a place he described as “death by a thousand cuts”. During his statement, he also spoke of his remorse for his actions with al-Qaida. “There is not a day that goes by that I am not sorry for what I have done,” Khan said.
Seven of eight senior officers on his military jury were moved enough by his words to recommend clemency for the 41-year-old. “The treatment of Mr Khan in the hands of US personnel should be a source of shame for the US government,” they wrote. Khan completed his 10-year sentence at Guantánamo, which started with his guilty plea in 2012, and he has since been resettled in Belize.
While observing developments in the Khan case, the 9/11 trial prosecutors began to see more details about questionable CIA and FBI activity emerge. According to Hajjar, who follows the military commissions closely, the prosecutors soon realized that “they [could not] achieve what they had sought to achieve”. Unanimous death sentences that would withstand appeal seemed ever more unlikely, so “plea bargaining, from the government’s point of view, became necessary”, she said.
In March 2022, the government approached defense teams in the 9/11 trial for plea negotiations. While details haven’t been made public, the broad outlines have been reported. The men would plead guilty and the government, in exchange, would no longer seek the death penalty. Since Congress passed a law forbidding the transfer of any Guantánamo detainee to the US mainland, sentences would probably be served at Guantánamo Bay. The length of sentence would be worked out individually for each of the 5.
Parts of the deal proposed by the defense must be decided by policymakers, so they have been labeled “policy principles”, according to court filings. What’s known about these policy principles is that they concern conditions of confinement, rehabilitation from torture, and adequate medical care. The policy principles have been sent to Caroline Krass, general counsel of the Department of Defense, who, perhaps problematically, also served as general counsel for the CIA between 2014 and 2017. And since these plea negotiations began, the military commission on the 9/11 case has been sitting in limbo, waiting for over a year for a response.
‘Enhanced measures on Ammar’
Ammar al-Baluchi is the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man often called the “mastermind of 9/11”. (Alongside Mohammed and Baluchi, the three other men facing charges for the 9/11 attacks are Mustafa al-Hawsawi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Walid bin Attash.) Baluchi was born in Kuwait, but his roots are from Baluchistan, an area that covers parts of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and Baluchi spent most of his teenage years in Iran and Pakistan. He then moved to Dubai, where he worked in computers before relocating to Pakistan in September 2001, after his Dubai visa expired. He speaks Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Baluchi, and English.
The government alleges that, at his uncle’s behest, Baluchi wired over $100,000 in several transactions to some of the 9/11 hijackers. It’s said he kept the money in a laundry bag. He’s also alleged to have helped some of the hijackers in the United Arab Emirates before they traveled to the US. According to trial transcripts of government witnesses, Baluchi says he didn’t know for certain what the men he had wired money to were planning.
In April 2003, he was arrested with Walid bin Attash in Pakistan because of an “unrelated criminal lead”, according to the CIA. Reports at the time of his arrest say the men were seized with 300lb of explosives with them. First questioned by the Pakistanis (with the CIA watching a live video feed), Baluchi was described as forthcoming, even “chatty”. But the CIA wanted him, and days after his arrest he entered their custody.
Before the Pakistanis turned Baluchi over to the US, the decision had “probably” been made to use “enhanced measures on Ammar”, according to CIA documents. The US was convinced he held “perishable information” on an imminent attack on the US consulate and a residential compound in Karachi. Taken to Black Site Cobalt in Afghanistan, Baluchi immediately had his beard and head shaved and a medical professional performed the intake. Deemed healthy, he had “no apparent medical contraindications for enhanced measures”. When the US took him in mid-2003, Baluchi weighed 141lb.
By late 2003, his weight had dropped to 119lb. Initially starved of food for four days, Baluchi was given two cans of Ensure. Meanwhile, CIA headquarters sent his interrogators a list of approved techniques to be used on him: “the facial slap, the abdominal slap, walling, the stress position of standing with his forehead against the wall, the stress position of kneeling with his back inclined toward his feet, water dousing, cramped confinement, and sleep deprivation in excess of 72 hours”.
I survived Guantánamo. Why is it still open 21 years later?
Those were the “enhanced” techniques, but other techniques, considered “standard”, didn’t need headquarters’ approval. Among them were “isolation, sleep deprivation not to exceed 72 hours, reduced caloric intake (as long as the amount is calculated to maintain the general health of the detainee), deprivation of reading material, use of loud music or white noise (at a decibel level calculated to avoid damage to the detainee’s hearing), and the use of diapers for limited periods (generally not to exceed 72 hours or during transportation where appropriate)”.
Baluchi underwent all of it, often at the same time. The lead interrogator explained that his way of using sleep deprivation was to keep Baluchi naked and standing in total darkness while blasting music by Eminem “to humiliate the detainee and make him uncomfortable in the cold”. Baluchi also described the use of music as an instrument of his torture. “I [was] suspended from the ceiling, my hands above my head. I was completely naked. It was very cold. Even that was not enough for them,” he wrote. “So they added the element of blasting music 24/7, nonstop, for months and months.”
He identified one song in particular, My Plague, by the American heavy metal band Slipknot (“Kill you, fuck you, I will never be you” is one refrain). Going through his mind “was the conviction that I was about to be killed. It was just a matter of when. I was counting every second, every minute, and on many occasions I thought I was already dead”.
He was also repeatedly doused with cold water, a procedure separate from “waterboarding”, yet still “outside the bounds of what we were supposed to be doing”, as one interrogator notes. The “water the interrogators used was excessively cold and some of it had ice in it”, a CIA report states.
Baluchi described the procedure as being pushed down on a tarpaulin, after which “one man poured ice water on my face” and “four men at the corners of the sheet would raise and lower the corners to move the ice water to different parts of my body”, eventually forcing the water on his chest “so that I would try to suck in air but breathe in water instead”. The effect was traumatizing. “I was sure they were going to finally kill me and wrap me up in the sheet,” he wrote.
Perhaps the most shocking element of his treatment is how Baluchi became a training prop for interrogators for multiple techniques but especially for “walling”. This is when a detainee is placed in front of a wall designed to have some flexibility to it. A rolled-up towel is put around his neck, and the interrogator holds the towel and then shoves the detainee “backward into the wall, never letting go of the towel”. The technique is meant to produce a great “noise” and frighten the detainee. “The ‘goal’ was to bounce the detainee off the wall,” one interrogator notes.
To gain “certification” as interrogators, student interrogators “lined up” to “wall” Baluchi, who was kept naked during the process. The trainees would take turns “walling” Baluchi but sessions typically “did not last for more than two hours at a time”, because “fatigue would set in for the interrogator doing the walling”.
“They smashed my head against the wall repeatedly,” Baluchi wrote in court filings. “As my head was being hit each time, I would see sparks of lights in my eyes. As the intensity of these sparks were increasing as a result of repeated hitting, then all of [the] sudden I felt a strong jolt of electricity in my head. Then I couldn’t see anything. Everything went dark and I passed out.” He notes that “after this particular head injury I lost my ability to sleep ever since”.
‘He is a different person now’
The first 25 minutes of the 2012 film Zero Dark Thirty enacts a similarly gruesome interrogation of a suspect named “Ammar”, a character who shares the biographical details of Baluchi. The film-makers worked closely with the CIA on the film, and the character of Ammar “is modelled after Ammar Baluchi”, states a declassified CIA draft memorandum. In fact, the CIA provided the film-makers with the very details of Baluchi’s treatment that the government was withholding from his defense team at the time on the grounds that the details were classified.
In the film, Ammar is shown as either a brooding monster or a pathetic bag of pain. Then, after 96 hours of sleep deprivation and a clever little CIA bluff (along with a meal of “hummus, tabouli, and I don’t know what that is”, to quote his interrogator), Ammar begins talking and reliable information floods out of mouth. A CIA report, on the other hand, tells us something else about how things really happened. While he was labeled as “hard corps” [sic] and “defiant” by some interrogators, it was clear to many others that Baluchi simply told his handlers what they wanted to hear.
Interrogators expressed concern that Baluchi was “blurting out information and making it up because he wanted Agency officers to stop” water dousing him. Baluchi “was afraid to tell a lie and was afraid to tell the truth because he did not know how either would be received”, according to the CIA. He was also petrified that he would be killed once he stopped providing information. “Agency officers,” a CIA report notes, “focused more on whether Ammar was ‘compliant’ than on the quality of information he was providing.”
Baluchi’s real-life interrogators also held many opinions about his character. What emerges is a picture of a sensitive, animated, and intelligent young man. While he is twice called a hypochondriac and once histrionic, he is also labeled as “bookish”, “a philosopher, thoughtful, rational, and logical”, and “one of the more cooperative, likable, and even gentle detainees”. One interrogator who “describes her circumstances as very ‘odd’” says she found herself “sitting across from a terrorist who was responding to her as though he could be a graduate school student in the United States”.
In mid-2004 and at a different black site, Baluchi fainted in his cell. At one point, he told his captors of his difficulties reading texts. At another, he described how, after being “walled” by interrogators, “he could not recall complete memories because he tended to daydream”. By early 2006, a medical assessment noted his “attention difficulties” while concluding that “there is no evidence of any significant or prolonged mental harm”.
But later assessments tell a different story. Between 2015 and 2020, four different medical professionals, sent by his defense team, determined that Baluchi’s torture has had long-term consequences, including brain damage from the “walling”. The damage inflicted by torture has “seriously diminished” Baluchi’s “psychological functioning and has left him with mild to moderate Traumatic Brain Injury and moderate to severe anxiety, depression, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder”, notes one neuropsychologist.
“I feel like my body and mind are deteriorating,” Baluchi wrote in 2014. “I am well educated and speak several different languages, but I can no longer read or concentrate. It is difficult for me to write letters, and at times I can’t even track a conversation. I am always exhausted, yet I can’t sleep.”
“When you sit with him and talk to him, you can see there was a person who existed before he was tortured,” Alka Pradhan, one of the lawyers on Baluchi’s defense team, told me. “He can sort of access that person. He knows that person. He has memories of that life as that person. But he is a different person now, and this is very difficult to explain to people who have not sat in a room with a torture victim.”
Calls for ‘a rapid conclusion’
In December 2021, Brig Gen John Baker, who headed the Military Commission Defense Organization for more than five years, testified before the Senate judiciary committee. “The only path to ending injustice in the military commissions – for the accused detainees, for the country, and above all for the victims of 9/11 and the other crimes currently on trial at Guantánamo – is to bring these military commissions to as rapid a conclusion as possible,” which for Baker means “a negotiated resolution of the cases”, he said.
James Connell III, the lead defense counsel for Baluchi, agrees. “Right now, the only option on the table that will bring judicial finality is some kind of negotiated resolution,” he told me, stating that the defendants in the 9/11 trial “are so damaged that they can barely participate in their court”.
Ted Olson was the solicitor general of the United States in 2001. His wife Barbara was killed on 9/11 when her plane was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon. Olson, too, believes a negotiated settlement is the best path forward. “The US must bring these legal proceedings to as rapid and just a conclusion as possible,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal in February 2023. “True justice seems unattainable. The best the US government can do at this point is negotiate resolutions of the remaining Guantánamo cases.”
Yet, Guantánamo has remained open through four presidencies, and during that time, prisoners who have been convicted of no crimes have continued to age, their bodies and minds spiraling downward in post-torture deterioration. If opening Guantánamo was a politically brazen act in the months following 9/11, bringing the military commissions to an end would be the politically courageous one. Stakeholders from all sides of the case appear united in the view that the military commission has failed and that plea agreements must follow. All that’s needed is the political will.
But does the will exist? That’s the question looming, for more than a year, over this quiet courtroom on a remote corner of a far-away island. Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to offer only silence on what ultimately is its decision as a presidential election approaches. This lack of political resolve means defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, and legal advocates are all learning the very skill that the defendants and the victims’ families have honed over the last 20 years. They’re all waiting.
(source: The Guardian)
GLOBAL:
Death Sentences and Executions 2022----report from Amnesty International
(see: https://www.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Amnesty-Death-Sentences-and-Executions-2022-v4-web.pdf)
****************
11 countries where LGBTQ+ people still face death penalty
A year after a number of leading LGBTQ+ organisations called on 11 countries to end the threat of the death penalty as a punishment for queer people, nothing has changed.
In 2022, ILGA Asia, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and5 other organisations condemned the use of violence against LGBTQ+ people in a statement issued to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).
In the statement, the LGBTQ+ organisations noted that 70 countries around the world continued to criminalise same-sex sexual conduct, including 22 Asian countries.
ILGA Asia said 11 countries – Afghanistan, Brunei, Darussalam, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen – retain the death penalty for LGBTQ+ people. 8 of those countries are in Asia.
According to Human Dignity Trust, the death penalty is implemented in Iran, Northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen, and remains a “legal possibility” in Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar and UAE.
A year later, as IDAHOBIT is marked again on 17 May, there are now just 66 countries in the world that criminalise private, consensual same-sex activity – but the number using the the death penalty as punishment remains firm, at 11.
Imposing death penalty for LGBTQ+ people violates ‘right to life’
Anti-LGBTQ+ laws and capital punishment disproportionately affect ethnic or religious minorities and those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, the organisations said.
“The retention and imposition of the death penalty for consensual, same-sex sexual conduct is a violation of the right to life and of the right to freedom from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment,” said Daron Tan, associate international legal adviser at the ICJ.
Tan said such laws breach numerous human rights, and they may also cause people to be denied access to healthcare systems.
Ajita Banerjie, research officer at ILGA Asia, called for same-sex sexual conduct to be decriminalised across the world, and said the death penalty should be abolished in all circumstances.
“Further, we urge authorities in all the countries that continue to retain the death penalty to introduce a moratorium on its use, as a necessary first step towards the abolition of the death penalty.
“Lastly, we call on the authorities to ensure that all necessary safeguards are in place in order to ensure access to legal representation and fair trials for those currently facing the death penalty in connection with their real or purported engagement in consensual same-sex sexual conduct.”
The United Nations and other human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned the use of the death penalty in numerous countries around the world.
In December 2020, the UN general assembly called on states that still use the death penalty to ensure it’s not being applied “on the basis of discriminatory laws or as a result of discriminatory or arbitrary application of the law”.
2 gay men were executed in Iran in January 2022
Even in countries where the death penalty is not used against LGBTQ+ people, many continue to face arrest and conviction for having consensual sex.
Some countries maintain arbitrary “immorality” laws which target members of the LGBTQ+ community, including Kuwait, Lebanon, Myanmar and Oman.
There was widespread uproar in January 2022 when a human rights network said that 2 gay men had been executed in Iran after spending 6 years on death row.
The 2 men, who were named as Mehrdad Karimpour and Farid Mohammadi by the Human Rights Activists news agency, had been sentenced to death for “forced sexual intercourse between 2 men”.
In July 2022, another gay man was executed in Iran under a “sodomy” charge, according to human rights groups.
Another 2 men were reportedly executed on similar charges in Iran in July 2021.
(source: thepinknews.com)
***************
Life, not death, as the standard of justice----A new report measures global progress toward a universal defense of dignity and compassion in the rule of law.
In December, the African nation of Zambia simultaneously enacted one new law abolishing the death penalty and another decriminalizing defamation of the president. That unusual combination of legal reforms – in some countries, dissent is still a capital offense – uniquely captured a shift in global norms. Zambia embraced a type of justice that views individuals as capable of innocence and goodness.
The shift in norms is clear from a new global survey on the death penalty by Amnesty International. While known executions rose 53% in 2022 – mainly in a small club of outliers including China, North Korea, and Iran – the real trend is in the other direction. 6 countries ended the death penalty altogether. Several more adopted or extended moratoriums. “Notwithstanding the drawbacks ... the world continued to move away from the death penalty,” the report stated.
In one measure of that progress, 125 nations – nearly 2/3 of all U.N. members – have signed a United Nations moratorium on use of the death penalty. Governments aren’t the only actors making the shift. In Colombia, for example, the end of a long civil war in 2016 was marked by reconciliation between the combatants – leftist guerrillas and the military – and families of their victims.
For a handful of states, execution is seen as a necessary tool of intimidation to quell dissent. Yet many countries abolishing capital punishment argue that stable and democratic societies are predicated on a recognition that life is a universal right and redemption after a crime is inseparable from innate dignity.
Those convictions share roots across religious traditions.
In 2022, for example, when Papua New Guinea abolished the death penalty, Prime Minister James Marape said, “For us as a Christian nation, the notion of ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ still prevails.” In Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called abolition a step “to fulfill a fundamental right to life and human dignity.” In Zambia, President Hakainde Hichilema justified the end of the death penalty by saying, “We believe in showing strength through compassion.”
Although the heavy-handed tactics of authoritarian states rightly stir international alarm, particularly when used to stamp out the democratic aspirations of their peoples, their deadly tactics are running out of room. “The taking of life is too absolute, too irreversible, for one human being to inflict it on another – even when backed by legal process,” argued former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a decade ago. As the Amnesty report shows, humanity is moving irreversibly toward justice defined by compassion and redemption rather than condemnation and annihilation.
(source: Editorial Board, Christian Science Monitor)
POLAND:
Half of Poles support PM’s call to restore death penalty after killing of 8-year-old
Around 1/2 of Poles support the prime minister’s call for the return of the death penalty following the recent death of an 8-year-old boy at the hands of his stepfather, a poll has found. Those in favour of restoring capital punishment marginally outnumber those opposed to it.
The poll by United Surveys on behalf of the Wirtualna Polska news website asked: “Do you agree with the position of Prime Minister [Mateusz] Morawiecki, who said after the death of 8-year-old Kamil that ‘personally I am in favour of restoring the death penalty for the most brutal crimes’?”
It found that 48% agree with him (including 34% who say they strongly agree) while 46% disagree (including 35% who strongly disagree). Among supporters of the United Right (ZP) ruling camp, 76% agreed. Among opposition supporters, the figure was 32% while for undecided voters it was 48%.
Morawiecki has long made clear his support for the death penalty. In January this year, he said that there should be a “rethink” of its “premature” abolition in the 1990s. He admitted that, though a practising Catholic, on this issue he disagrees with the church’s position.
Morawiecki also acknowledged that Poland is committed to maintaining its ban on capital punishment under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights of the Council of Europe.
Yet support for the death penalty has remained relatively high in Poland since its abolition in 1998. Between that year and 2004, support was consistently above 70%. That fell to 60% in 2011, the last year that state research agency CBOS conducted polling on capital punishment.
In 2020, an institute attached to the justice ministry conducted a survey of 5,000 members of the public on attitudes to punishment. It found 43% in favour of the death penalty with 41% opposed, reported the Rzeczpospolita daily.
The death this month of eight-year-old Kamil has brought the issue back into the spotlight. He was hospitalised with burns and broken bones allegedly caused by his stepfather’s physical abuse and later died from those injuries. The stepfather and Kamil’s mother have been arrested.
After his death, a minister in Morawiecki’s chancellery, Michal Wójcik, declared that Kamil’s murderer “deserves the death penalty”, with the prime minister himself expressing the same opinion soon after.
Others, however, have argued that the government should instead focus on fixing failings in the system that allowed the abuse of Kamil to continue despite signs that it was taking place. Justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro has promised that those who failed in their duty to intervene will be held to account.
(source: Notes From Poland)
AFRICA:
“Glimmer of hope” in Africa as recorded executions soar to highest level in years
Recorded executions in 2022 reached the highest figure in five years, according to an Amnesty International annual report published on Tuesday (16 May), which also decries the situation particularly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with its “most notorious executioners (carrying) out killing sprees”.
Recorded executions worldwide reached 883 last year, the highest level since 2017, Amnesty International’s annual review of the death penalty said, adding that the 2022 figure for 20 countries known to have executed people is a 53% increase on the previous 12 months. It excludes the “thousands” of prisoners put to death secretly in China, but does count the “staggering” 81 people executed in a single day in Saudi Arabia, it added. Last year, executions resumed in 5 countries — Afghanistan, Kuwait, Myanmar, the State of Palestine and Singapore — while an increase in executions was also recorded for Iran (314 to 576), Saudi Arabia (65 to 196), and the United States (11 to 18).
The spike in executions was led by countries in the MENA, where recorded figures rose from 520 in 2021 to 825 in 2022. “Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life,” the report says. Countries in the MENA region “violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International. But against this bleak backdrop, there was a glimmer of hope as 6 countries — Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Zambia — abolished the death penalty either fully or partially, says the report.
(source: The North Africa Post)
******************
Most African countries moving towards abolishing death penalty, except Kenya and Nigeria; In Africa, recorded death sentences decreased by 20%.
Sub-Saharan African countries have seen a 67% fall in capital punishment, from 33 in 2021 to just 11 last year, and a 20% drop in death penalty sentences, from 373 to 298 over the same period, Amnesty International (AI) said in its latest report.
South Sudan executed 5 people - down from 9 in 2021 - and Somalia, which in 2021 carried out 21 executions, only had 6 last year.
Botswana which had executed 1 person in 2021, didn't conduct any last year.
In the whole African continent, recorded death sentences decreased by 20%, from 373 in 2021 to 298 in 2022.
Death sentences recorded in 16 countries last year, down 3 from 2021.
According to the report, the 20% drop in recorded death sentences was due to notable reductions in the following countries in 2022 compared to 2021:
Botswana (6 to 1);
Cameroon (4 to 0);
Democratic Republic of the Congo (81 to 76);
Malawi (11 to 0);
Mali (48 to 8);
Somalia (27 to 10);
Sierra Leone (23 to 0);
South Sudan (10 to 4);
Sudan (7 to 1)
Despite these decreases, 2 countries had significant increases in recorded death sentences in 2022 compared to 2021: Kenya from 14 to 79 and Nigeria 56 to 77.
A significant number of death sentences were also commuted to life, with some people even being pardoned across Africa.
"At least 240 commutations and at least 67 pardons were granted, and at least 27 exonerations occurred across several countries in the region," Amnesty International said.
The report highlighted that commutations were in the following countries: Kenya (12); Malawi (25); Nigeria (48); Sierra Leone (117); and Zambia (30).
In Nigeria, 56 people were pardoned by the authorities, while 20 in Kenya and five in Zimbabwe were cleared by the courts.
Nigeria, on the other hand, had the largest number of people facing with the death sentence last year.
"At the end of the year (2022), at least 6 168 people were under sentence of death in sub-Saharan Africa, with those in Nigeria constituting 51% (3 167) of the recorded number," the report said.
Moving away from the death penalty
In March this year, Zimbabwe began nationwide consultations on whether to abolish capital punishment for people convicted of premeditated murder.
Last week, all prisoners on death row, and who had spent a decade awaiting execution, had their sentences reduced to life.
(source: news24.com)
LIBERIA:
Mother, 36, Charged for Burying Child Alive
???A 36-year-old woman in Gbarnga, Bong County has been accused of allegedly murdering her 2-day-old baby.
Lorpu Keselee, according to a police report, has admitted to the crime and has been charged with murder and forwarded to the 9th Judicial Circuit Court to await prosecution.
The child was subjected to abuse and subsequently buried alive - a premeditated act that falls under the category of first-degree murder, the police report added.
In Liberia, first-degree murder is considered a capital offense that can result in either life imprisonment or the death penalty. However, Liberia is classified as an "abolitionist in practice as the last execution was in 2000.
“The suspect told police investigators that she killed the child because the father denied or disowned the pregnancy,” the police report claimed.
“ Lorpu claimed that she had suffered a lot as a result of the situation and that there was no one to help her during the pregnancy. She said that she could not continue suffering after giving birth, that's why she buried the child alive,” it added.
Keselee's alleged crime comes a few months after a 24-year-old woman in Nimba County committed a similar act.
Pauline Toe, according to a police report, committed the alleged act on the grounds that she was bullied for the unpleasant physical appearance of her child.
The child, the police report claimed, died as a result of asphyxia and was secretly buried in the process.
“After the child had died, she found a nearby rubber farm and secretly buried the baby in an old pit,” the police claimed. “This was done in the presence of Victoria Gonquoi, who is 15 years old. The minor would later remain mute as she was threatened after the incident on January 5.”
“From what we have learned so far, Pauline Toe was being bullied that her child was ugly and malnourished — a situation which pushed her to commit this unspeakable act, which is a crime.”
Meanwhile, police in Bong County have begun investigating the death of a 12-year-old whose lifeless body was discovered lying in a bush in Totota, Salala District.
The deceased, the police claimed, had been missing for a week before his corpse was found on May 10, nearly decomposing.
The police have, however, arrested two suspects in connection with the crime.
(source: liberianobserver.com)
THAILAND:
Mayor sentenced to death over land activist’s murder in Thailand
The Lower Court sentenced the former Mayor of Wang Wiset district to the death penalty today over the murder of a lawyer and land rights activist in Trang province, southern Thailand, 2 years ago. The hitman and another man were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Today, Trang Provincial Court sentenced 52 year old Charinrat “Chuan” Kruthirat to death after he and 2 others were found guilty of murdering 54 year old Somsak “Lawyer Wao” Ochuenjit in 2021. Chuan was the mastermind behind the lawyer’s assassination.
At 7.40am on May 4, 2021, a gunman fatally shot Somsak while he was working in a rubber plantation near his home. Somsak had not long before told his family that he was receiving death threats.
Somsak was assassinated after leading a campaign for the right to agricultural land for poor farmers in Wang Wiset district. Tensions were high between local farmers occupying oil plantations without valid leases, government agencies, and private companies backed by politicians.
4 days later, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams, called on the Thai authorities to investigate the murder…
“Thai authorities should not just stand by while grassroots activists in southern provinces are being murdered for standing up for their communities.”
“The Thai government should urgently conduct a credible and impartial investigation and bring those responsible for Somsak’s death to justice.”
Human Rights Watch pointed out that five land activists have been killed in southern Thailand over the past decade.
2 years on, justice is set to be served for Somsak after the court sentenced Chuan to death for planning the murder and hiring a hitman.
The court also sentenced the former village chief of Moo 10, Chalermwat “Yai Pua” Nokroorak, to life imprisonment for his role in the planning of the murder although he did not participate on the day itself.
The hitman, Saranyoo “Nil” Kueboonsong, was at first sentenced to death for shooting dead Somsak. However, because the hitman ratted out Chuan – helping the police’s investigation hugely – and plead guilty, his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment.
All 3 men were taken into custody after the verdict was read yesterday and taken to Trang Provincial Prison.
Somsak’s family travelled to Khao Phra Wiset Temple after the verdict was read to burn incense and to inform Somsak’s spirit to rest easy because justice had finally been served.
Wang Wiset district will hold elections to find a replacement mayor.
(source: thethaiger.com)
MYANMAR:
Why Myanmar’s military turned to the death penalty after a decades-long pause----The country was 1 of only 5 to resume executions in 2022, according to Amnesty International’s annual state of the death penalty report
When unverified photos of timeworn prison gallows in Myanmar started circulating on social media in January last year, there was a wave of apprehension and shock, but also disbelief.
The coup in Myanmar was almost a year old, and the military’s widening crackdown was making headlines weekly. Police and military forces had already killed more than 1,000 people, including a 19-year-old nicknamed Angel at a demonstration in Mandalay, one of dozens gunned down in 1 day across the country in March 2021; they had arbitrarily arrested and tortured peaceful protesters; and they had killed dozens of civilians in eastern Myanmar on Christmas Eve.
But Myanmar had not judicially executed anyone in decades. Though the death penalty remained on the books and sentences were handed down, they had not been carried out.
There was an ominous sense that resorting to executions would send a nightmarish signal from the military that no option was off the table when it came to asserting control after the coup: you could be shot in the streets and you could be bombed in your village, but you could also be hanged in a notorious prison after sham court proceedings.
And that is exactly what they did.
At the end of July that year, Myanmar’s military authorities hanged activist Phyo Zayar Thaw, the former hip-hop star turned parliamentarian; renowned democracy champion and former political prisoner Kyaw Min Yu (also known as Ko Jimmy); and 2 other opponents of the coup, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw. “Our worst fears have come true,” wrote Ko Jimmy’s widow, pro-democracy activist Nilar Thein, in the New York Times.
With this despicable act, Myanmar’s military slipped even further away from the rest of the world by becoming 1 of 5 countries across the globe to resume executions in 2022 after a pause of a year or more, according to Amnesty International’s annual state of the death penalty report, which was released today. The others are Afghanistan, Kuwait, the State of Palestine, and Myanmar’s fellow ASEAN member Singapore.
A total of 883 people were known to have been executed across 20 countries last year, a 53% increase from 2021. This spike in executions—which does not include the thousands believed to have been carried out in China during the period—was led by countries in the Middle East and North Africa, where recorded figures rose from 520 in 2021 to 825 in 2022. Saudi Arabia executed a staggering 81 people in a single day. Iran also executed peaceful protesters who took part in the mass uprising that gripped the country over the past year. Drug-related executions fueled the spikes in both countries.
Myanmar’s executions were carried out following secretive and grossly unfair trials in military tribunals. This use of secrecy, closed-door tactics, and limited data was also documented across Asia, in China, North Korea and Viet Nam—countries that are known to use the death penalty extensively—meaning that the true global figure is far higher. While the number of those executed in China is unknown, based on our monitoring, we believe that the country remained the world’s most prolific executioner, ahead of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United States.
Since the coup on February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military has sentenced more than 100 people to death, including students. Although the number of recorded death sentences in 2022 in Myanmar decreased by 57% compared to 2021 (86), and an announcement in state media this month said that 38 death sentences had been commuted to life imprisonment, we should not be fooled. Myanmar’s military shows no sign of dropping this cruel punishment from its arsenal of tools to instill fear in millions of people. This is an institution that, outside of prison walls, has relentlessly committed human rights violations against critics, sowing chaos across the country through increased airstrikes, massacres and out-of-control militias.
The death penalty is becoming a thing of the past, as more countries are coming around to what Amnesty International and many others have been arguing for years: states should not kill people. Not only have most of the world’s countries abolished the death penalty for all crimes, but very few countries actually carry out executions now. For 2022, Amnesty recorded executions in just 20 countries, including Myanmar, representing only 10% of UN member states.
In 2022, 6 countries abolished the death penalty either fully or partially. Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Equatorial Guinea and Zambia abolished the death penalty for a range of crimes in the penal code, including murder.
This year has also ushered in hopeful news in Southeast Asia.
In a landmark move that will affect more than 1,300 people on death row, Malaysia’s parliament recently adopted two bills to abolish the mandatory death penalty and imprisonment until natural death. It also established re-sentencing processes for all individuals sentenced to these punishments and repealed the death penalty in full for seven offences.
In 1977, when Amnesty International started its global campaign for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty, only 16 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. At the end of 2022, 112 countries were abolitionist for all crimes and 9 were abolitionist on a number of specific crimes only.
As the Myanmar military continues its contemptuous disregard for human rights, it is of the utmost urgency that the international community step up and demand a moratorium on executions, as well as an immediate end to all other human rights violations. While pushing for this outcome may seem implausible given the scale of the crisis in Myanmar and the remorselessness of the perpetrators, we should constantly remind the military that we are actively working to enact change, and that we stand in solidarity with its victims and those still on death row, who should never be forgotten or abandoned.
(source: Ming Yu Hah is Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns----Myanmar Now)
SINGAPORE----execution
Singapore hangs 2nd citizen in 3 weeks for trafficking cannabis despite calls to halt executions----Singapore has hanged another citizen for trafficking cannabis, the 2nd in 3 weeks, as it clings firmly to the death penalty despite global calls for the city-state to halt drug-related executions
Singapore on Wednesday hanged another citizen for trafficking cannabis, the 2nd in 3 weeks, as it clung firmly to the death penalty despite growing calls for the city-state to halt drug-related executions.
The 37-year-old man was executed after his last-ditch bid to reopen his case was dismissed by the court Tuesday without a hearing, said activist Kokila Annamalai of the Transformative Justice Collective, which advocates for abolishing the death penalty in Singapore.
The man, who was not named as his family has asked for privacy, had been imprisoned for seven years and convicted in 2019 for trafficking around 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of cannabis, she said. His bid to reopen his case was based on DNA evidence and fingerprints that tied him to a much smaller amount, which he admitted to possessing, but the court rejected it, she added. Under Singapore laws, trafficking more than 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of cannabis may result in the death penalty.
“If we don’t come together to stop it, we fear that this killing spree will continue in the weeks and months to come,” she said. Some 600 prisoners are on death row in the city-state, mostly for drug-related offenses, she added.
Singapore executed 11 people last year for drug offenses after a 2-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hanging of one particular Malaysian believed to be mentally disabled sparked an international outcry and brought the country's capital punishment under scrutiny for flouting human rights norms.
3 weeks ago, Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was hanged in the 1st execution this year for trafficking 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis although he was not caught with the drugs. Prosecutors said phone numbers traced him as the person responsible for coordinating the delivery of the drugs, which he denied.
Human rights groups, British mogul Richard Branson and the United Nations have urged Singapore to halt executions for drug-related offenses as increasing evidence shows the death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent. But Singapore authorities insist that all prisoners get due process of law and that capital punishment remains “part of Singapore’s comprehensive harm prevention strategy which targets both drug demand and supply.”
Apart from Singapore, Amnesty International said Indonesia carried out 112 drug-related executions last year by firing squad after a hiatus since 2016. In contrast, neighboring Thailand has legalized cannabis while Malaysia has ended the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes.
(source: Associated Press)
INDONESIA:
New penal code offers hope of abolishing death penalty in Indonesia
Human rights activists stage a rally in Kota Tua, West Jakarta, to commemorate the World Day against the Death Penalty in this undated file photo. - The Jakarta Post
A recent report from Amnesty International suggests that Indonesia's revised Criminal Code is a step in the right direction toward abolishing capital punishment, even as the country’s justice system continues to hand down high numbers of death sentences.
Passed at the end of last year, the revised Criminal Code introduced an automatic 10-year probation for convicts on death row to demonstrate good behavior for the possibility of having their sentences commuted.
After the probation elapses, the sitting president may decrease the sentence to life in prison or 20 years in prison.
The policy will take effect in 2026. Amnesty International Indonesia researcher Ari Pramuditya said that although Indonesia still had a long way to go before the death penalty was completely abolished, the new penal code was "a positive step" that deserved recognition.
"However, we still need to closely monitor its implementation. Amnesty will continue to push for the total abolition of the death penalty.
Although the probation for people sentenced to death is a step in the right direction, it's not enough, and we still have a long way to go," Ari said at a press conference on Tuesday. Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said the country had to use the opportunity to significantly reduce instances of capital punishment after years of what he said were shockingly high figures.
Indonesia has continued to record-high numbers of death sentences in recent years, with 112 instances 2022, just two fewer than in 2021, according to Amnesty. In 2020, it recorded 117 death sentences.
As of Monday, there were 452 convicts awaiting execution. Zero-tolerance policy Ari said one of the main reasons for Indonesia's high level of death sentences was President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's "zero-tolerance" policy against drugs, with drug crimes accounting for 94 per cent of all death sentences last year.
"Some judges even mentioned Jokowi's zero-tolerance approach to drugs as a contributing factor for handing out the death penalty to drug offenders," he said.
According to Ari, support for the zero-tolerance approach was partly based on the misguided idea that the death penalty deterred drug-related crimes.
Despite the high number of drug convicts sentenced to death, he noted, Indonesia continued to see a growing number of drug users.
(source: thestar.com.my)
BANGLADESH:
High Court upholds death sentence for 2 over murder of Awami League activists----The court also acquitted 11 convicts
The High Court on Tuesday upheld the death penalty for 2 convicts in a case filed over the murder of 4 Awami League activists in Araihazar upazila of Narayanganj in 2002.
The bench of Justice SM Emdadul Hoque and Justice KM Zahid Sarwar passed the order after hearing the appeal petitions of 23 convicts.
Those whose death penalty was upheld are Zahirul Haque Bhuiya alias Zahir Member and Abdul Ahad.
The court also acquitted 11 convicts and commuted the death sentence of 7 convicts to life term imprisonment.
Of the 23 death row convicts, 3 died during the trial. They were Abul Bashar alias Kashu Chairman, Yunus Ali Member and Idris Ali.
The lifers are Faruk, Khokon, Dalim, Rohel, Liakat Ali, Al Amin and Ruhul Amin.
Those who got acquitted are Siraj Uddin alias Siraj, Sahab Uddin, Md Halim, Yakub Ali, Amir Hossain, Abul Kalam, Rafique Mia, Golam Azam, Abdul Hye, Harun and Tajuddin.
Deputy Attorney General Sujit Chatterjee Bappi represented the state.
According to the prosecution, Abdul Barek, the younger brother of former president of Araihazar Chhatra League Rafiqul Islam, his cousin Badal, Faruk and Kabir Hossain were picked up by a group of people led by then-former vice president of Araihazar BNP Abul Bashar on March 12, 2002.
Later, they were stabbed and burned to death.
Azgar Ali, the father of Barek, filed a case against 18 people including BNP leader Abul Bashar.
The police later pressed charges against 23 people.
On May 17, 2017, Narayanganj Additional District and Sessions Judge Kamrun Nahar sentenced 23 people to death.
(source: dhakatribune.com)
PAKISTAN:
4 men awarded death penalty for murdering citizen during robbery bid
Acknowledging that stringent penalties for organised crimes like robberies would serve as “a potent deterrent” against the commission of such “ghastly acts” in future, a model court has sentenced 4 men to be hanged over involvement in an armed robbery that left a citizen dead while 2 others injured in Surjani Town in 2018.
Additional Sessions Judge Ameeruddin of the Model Criminal Trial Court (West) found Shahrukh, Adnan Shamsi and Zeeshan Raees guilty of fatally shooting Haji Basheer Ahmed during a robbery attempt at his scrap shop within the jurisdiction of Surjani police station in August 2018 and handed them capital punishment.
They were told to pay Rs500,000 each as compensation to the victim’s heirs, and upon failure to do so, they would have to undergo additional 18-month imprisonment. The 3 convicts, along with 4th co-accused Muhammad Umair, were awarded death penalty on a second count for conjointly committing “dacoity with murder” as punishable under Section 396 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Additionally, the 4 men were sentenced to life imprisonment for offence of robbery punishable under Section 395 of the PPC. They are required to pay a fine of Rs300,000, and upon default, they would face 9 more months in prison.
In the 29-page verdict, the judge observed that the curse of snatchings and robberies in Karachi had cast “a somber and unsettling pall over the metropolis, striking at the very essence of public safety and security”.
“The situation gets more serious and alarming when said crimes are committed by a group of robbers or organized gangs. The criminal gangs involved in these nefarious activities i.e. dacoities operate with brutal efficiency, resorting to violence and intimidation to perpetrate their wicked schemes,” he added.
The judge said such crimes can impede economic and social progress in the city, hampering development and fracturing social cohesion. “In such circumstances, I am compelled to adopt a dynamic approach and a policy of zero tolerance against those who engage in organized gang robbery and dacoity, if the case is proved against them.
“As a judge I believe, the justice system must utilize its formidable authority to exact stern penalties upon the perpetrators of these crimes, serving as a potent deterrent against future commission of such heinous acts,” he went on. “It is only through such concerted efforts that we can hope to eradicate this scourge from the city and restore a sense of safety and security to the citizens of Karachi.”
In the present matter, the judge explained that the trial concerned the “egregious and alarming criminal offense of organized gang dacoity, resulting in murder of one elderly man and fatal injuries to 2 men, one of them paralyzed permanently”. He added: “This court comprehends the seriousness of this crime, which strikes at the very core of public safety and security, inflicting physical harm, psychological distress, and financial harm upon its victims.”
The death penalty awarded to the convicts is subject to confirmation by the Sindh High Court. An FIR was lodged at the Surjani Town police station under section 395, 396, 397 and 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
(source: thenewscom.pk)
************
4 get death penalty on 2 counts for murder during armed robbery----Judge says seriousness of this crime strikes at the very core of public safety and security
A West district model trial court handed down death penalty on 2 counts to each of the 4 suspects accused of killing a man and injuring 2 others during an armed robbery.
Additional Sessions Judge Ameeruddin also imposed a fine of Rs0.5 million on each of the accused including Muhammad Umair Sher Muhammad, Shahrukh Akbar Kamran, Zeeshan Raees Khan and Adnan Shamsi Pervaiz.
The condemned persons along with 2 other suspects had barged into the scrap shop of Muhammad Abbas and his brothers in August 2018. They were busy looting, when the victim’s father came by and raised a hue and cry on which the robbers shot him and fled.
While penning the 30-page verdict the judge said that the accused have been given death sentence for the murder of complainant’s father Haji Bashir Ahmed and also for the armed robbery.
The circumstances of this case imply that no mitigating factors are present to warrant a lesser punishment for the convicts. As such, they have been sentenced to death, hanging by neck until they are dead as tazir, he stated, giving the convicts seven days to file an appeal against the sentence.
Judge Ameeruddin stated, “this court comprehends the seriousness of this crime, which strikes at the very core of public safety and security, inflicting physical harm, psychological distress, and financial harm upon its victims. Broadly, the ramifications of such crimes are far-reaching, hindering economic and social advancement in the city, and chipping away at the very bedrock of public safety.”
Against this backdrop, the court acknowledges the significance of imposing stringent penalties upon those found culpable for organised gang robbery, he wrote in the detailed judgment.
As per the prosecution’s case, on August 20, 2018, complainant Muhammad Abbas lodged an FIR stating that he, along with his brothers Muhammad Ismail and Muhammad Ishfaque, and labourers Malik Abid Hussain and Haji Khan, were present at his scrap shop.
At approximately 1:45 pm, 6 individuals arrived on 3 motorcycles and began ransacking their possessions. At this point, Haji Basheer Ahmed, the complainant's father, arrived at the scene and raised an alarm, causing the culprits to start firing. As a result, Haji Basheer Ahmed, Malik Abid Hussain, and Haji Khan sustained severe bullet injuries.
The dacoits took Rs2100 from Abbas and Rs5,000 from Ismail and fled. However, Abbas and his associates attempted to apprehend the fleeing culprits, resulting in the capture of 1, later identified as Umair.
At this point, the police mobile of Surjani Town police station arrived, and police officer SIP Zulfiqar Ali arrested the apprehended dacoit.
Umair also revealed the name of his absconding companion as Haris Siraiki, who is still a fugitive.
Haji Basheer Ahmed died on the spot, while Abid Hussain and Haji Khan sustained serious bodily injuries. The complainant transported his father's body to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital via private vehicles and then reported the incident to the police station. Consequently, the present FIR was registered.
During interrogation Umair spilled the beans about other gang members who were later rounded up and presented before the court.
Stern penalties needed
Judge Ameeruddin said the curse of snatching and robberies in Karachi has cast a pall over the metropolis, striking at the very essence of public safety and security. The criminal gangs involved in dacoities resort to violence to perpetrate their wicked schemes. The magnitude of this crime can inflict severe physical and psychological harm upon its victims, fostering an atmosphere of trepidation and uncertainty among the populace.
Furthermore, it can impede economic and social progress in the city, hampering development and fracturing social cohesion. “In such circumstances, I am compelled to adopt a policy of zero tolerance against those who engage in organized gang robbery and dacoity, if the case is proven against them,” he wrote.
“As a judge I believe, the justice system must utilise its formidable authority to exact stern penalties upon the perpetrators of these crimes, serving as a potent deterrent against future commission of such heinous acts. It is only through such concerted efforts that we can hope to eradicate this scourge from the city and restore a sense of safety and security to the citizens of Karachi,” he said.
(source: tribune.com.pk)
INDIA:
27,545 drugs-related arrests in Kerala in 2022; state accounts for 29.4 pc of total arrests in IndiaMaharashtra and UP were only other states that had more than 10,000 arrests in 2022
Kerala accounted for the maximum number of arrests in 2022 made under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985 by all drug law enforcement agencies. A staggering total of 27,545 individuals were apprehended in the southern state under the NDPS Act last year.
Kerala also accounted for 29.4 % of the total number of NDPS-related arrests in the country. Other than Kerala, Maharashtra and Utter Pradesh were the only other states that had more than 10,000 arrests in 2022.
In terms of the number of arrests, Kerala had a 360 % rise when compared to its figures in 2016. Cannabis-based drugs account for the lion's share of drugs seized in the state. The number of convictions under the NDPS Act in cases booked by NCB in 2022 in the entire country was only 94, and none of these was in Kerala.
Kerala's top ranking in terms of arrests demonstrates the change in the approach taken by the government to crack down on drugs, but at the same time, it also points to the rising drug menace in the state. Last year, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced that habitual drug offenders in the state will be taken into preventive detention.
While speaking on an adjournment motion moved by opposition MLA P.C. Vishnunath, Vijayan called for certain changes in the process of investigating and charge-sheeting in drug cases. Section 31 and Section 31A in the NDPS Act lay down harsher punishment, including the death penalty in certain cases after a previous conviction, for repeat offenders. The government directed law enforcement agencies to include details pertaining to convictions in the past in drug cases while filing the chargesheet in drug cases. He had also announced that a data bank of those involved in drug cases will be maintained.
Last September, the state police launched a new scheme titled 'Yodhaav' to curb the production, supply, and use of drugs. In the following month, the Kerala government launched a state-wide aggressive ‘No to Drugs’ campaign, aimed at creating awareness about the dangers of drug abuse. In the recent budget, the state had set aside Rs15 crore for coordinated anti-narcotics activities.
State Education Minister V. Sivankutty recently admitted that the operations of drug traffickers are mostly centred around schools, and school students are being used as drug carriers. “We are on high alert now. The combined effort of police and excise department will be required to tackle this scenario,” he said.
(source: theweek.in)
SAUDI ARABIA:
End the Death Sentence against Sultan and Thamer and Bring Them Back to Bahrain
#EndTheDeathSentence is a slogan launched by Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain in its campaign to demand the commutation of the death sentences against the 2 Bahraini young men, Sadeq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan, who are sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia. The campaign also demands their immediate release, as they are at risk of imminent execution at any moment after exhausting all legal remedies. ADHRB also urges pressure on Bahrain to demand the return of Sadeq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan and to overturn the sentences issued against them.
In the spirit of these demands, the organization has sent letters to the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Chairperson, and members of the Joint Committee on Human Rights in the US Congress, the British Parliament, the Swiss Parliament, the Norwegian Parliament, and the Icelandic Parliament, as well as to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urging those bodies to take actions:
. Expressing deep concern about the conditions of detention of Sadeq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan and their imminent risk of execution;
. Exerting pressure through relevant diplomatic channels to demand that Saudi Arabia and Bahrain put an end to human rights violations and reduce the use of the death penalty with the goal of abolishing it; and
. Raising the issue in all international forums and on social media platforms to halt the executions of Sadeq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan and secure their immediate release.
The campaign will continue on social media for a week, with a number of posts being released under the hashtag #EndTheDeathSentence on the organization’s accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, along with a number of infographics that document the case of the two young men. The spotlight will be on the main demands outlined in the message.
About the case
On 7 October 2021, after multiple human rights violations that affected Sadeq and Jaafar since their arrest, including torture, disappearance, and forced confessions, followed by a trial marred by substantial due process violations, the Specialized Criminal Court in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sentenced both Jaafar Mohammed Sultan and Sadeq Majid Thamer to death on charges of transporting and possessing explosive materials. The verdict was based on coerced confessions obtained under torture. Despite their appeal, the Saudi Supreme Court upheld their death sentences on 6 April 2022. The verdict is final and may be executed at any moment upon the King’s signature.
The Bahraini Fourth Criminal Court previously ruled on 31 May 2016 to sentence Sadeq and Jaafar to life imprisonment in Bahrain with a fine of 200,000 Bahraini dinars for the same incident for which they were convicted in Saudi Arabia. They were forced under torture to confess to charges of forming a terrorist group and joining it, possession and manufacturing of explosives, and training on the use of weapons and explosives.
Despite this, the Saudi and Bahraini authorities did not respond to requests to coordinate between the relevant authorities to return Sadeq and Jaafar to Bahrain to serve their life sentences.
On 26 January 2022, four UN special rapporteurs, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, expressed their concern about the death sentences handed down to the young men, Sadeq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan, in a letter addressed to the Saudi government. The UN Procedures called on Saudi Arabia to immediately commute the death sentences and reiterated their call for Saudi Arabia to impose an official moratorium on all executions as a first step towards the complete abolition of the death penalty in the country.
On 1 June 2022, two Irish deputies drew the attention of the Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, to the urgent case of Jaafar Mohamed Sultan and Sadeq Majid Thamer, who have been sentenced to death. They urged him to issue a statement on the matter and to urge Saudi Arabia to immediately halt the executions and abolish the death penalty in the kingdom.
In addition, several international organizations have issued statements to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia calling for the commutation of the death sentences against Sultan and Thamer. Their case has not been absent from the sessions of the Human Rights Council, especially in the last two sessions of the Council, the 51st and 52nd.<>P>
The arrest of Sadeq and Jaafar by the Saudi authorities without a warrant, as well as their subjugation to torture to coerce confessions and conviction on charges they had previously been tried for in Bahrain, constitutes a violation of international standards regarding legal procedures and guaranteed fair trial in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The death sentences imposed on them contradict the fundamental principles of human rights and violate their right to a fair trial.
(source: adhrb.org)
BAHRAIN:
Statement from the families of 12 inmates on death row in Bahrain
Please find attached an urgent statement issued by the families 12 inmates on death row in Bahrain.
Urgent statement from the families of those sentenced to death
May 16, 2023
We, the families of those sentenced to death in political cases, express our deep concern about the fate of our children and the lack of contact with them since May 15.
We received calls from the inmates on the 15th of May, where they informed us that our loved ones have been beaten by prison guards, which resulted in injuries and burns to some prisoners in the building. We do not know the severity of the injuries. They told us that Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Marzooq were taken outside the building. We are very concerned that they continue to be ill-treated and tortured while being cut off from the outside world.
The Ministry of Interior issued a vague statement where they stated that “the situation has been controlled and order has been restored,” and that they have notified the Public Prosecution and the General Secretariat of the Ombudsman of the incident. This statement increased our fear over the fate of our children.
Therefore, we call on the Bahraini government, the Ministry of Interior, and human rights institutions in the country, especially the Ombudsman, the Special Investigations Unit, the National Institution for Human Rights, and the Public Prosecution, to:
1. Start an immediate investigation of the incident
2. Ensure the safety of the inmates and provide them with the necessary treatment in case they are injured
3. Check the CCTV footage of the building
4. Enable them to have direct contact
5. Holding accountable those who have been found guilty for their involvement in the assault
Issued by the families of the death row inmates:
Husein Ebrahim Ali Husain Marzooq
Mohamed Ramadhan
Husain Moosa
Maher Abbas al-Khabbaz
Zuhair Ebrahim Jasim Abdullah
Husain Ali Mehdi
Sayed Ahmed al-Abar
Salman Isa Ali Salman
Muhammad Radhi
Hussein Abdallah Marhoon
Musa Ali Musa
Hussein Al-Rashed
____
(source: Abbas Taleb, Advocacy Lead----Salam for Democracy and Human Rights)
IRAN----executions
Execution of 8 Inmates Carried Out in Multiple Prisons across Iran
8 inmates were recently executed in Karaj, Fereydunkenar, Minab and Bandar Abbas for murder and drug-related crimes.
According to HRANA (Human Rights Activists News Agency), 2 Afghan nationals who were found guilty of murder were executed on May 10, 2023, in Ghezel Hesar prison, Karaj. HRANA is working on identifying these individuals.
Furthermore, IRNA reported the execution of an inmate in Fereydunkenar, Mazandaran Province, on May 15, 2023. This inmate had previously been convicted of murder for the tragic suffocation of his wife and child using carbon monoxide.
According to the Tasnim News Agency, on the same day, May 15, 5 inmates were executed in Minab and Bandar Abbas prisons for their alleged involvement in drug smuggling.
This concerning surge in executions has become a cause for alarm in recent weeks. HRANA has obtained reports indicating that between April 28 and May 9, 2023, a minimum of 57 prisoners, including 2 women and 2 prisoners of conscience, have been executed in various prisons throughout Iran.
In 2022, the Department of Statistics and Publication of Human Rights Activists in Iran registered 457 reports related to the death penalty. This included 92 death sentences, including the conviction of 6 people to public execution and 565 execution sentences were carried out, 2 of which have been carried out in public. Based on the announced identifications of some of the executed individuals, 501 were male and 11 were female. In addition, 5 juvenile offenders were executed in 2022, meaning they were under the age of 18 at the time they committed the crime.
(source: en-hrana.org)
*****************
Slogans of Protest in Tehran, Shahryar, Karaj, Shiraz, and Isfahan Against the Wave of Inhumane Executions
On Tuesday evening, May 16, people in different districts of Tehran such as Jannatabad, Saadatabad, Banafsheh, Sattarkhan, Ekbatan, Majidieh and Shahryar in Karaj, and Shiraz and Isfahan chanted slogans such as “Death to Khamenei”, “Death to the Dictator”, “Khamenei is Rootless, Uprisings will not end”, “Death to the regime of executions”, “Mullahs must get lost” and “Death to Velayat-e-Faqih principle” to protest against the wave of unjust executions.
Simultaneously in Isfahan, brave women raised their voices chanting the slogans of “Death to the regime of executions” and “Death to Khamenei”.
(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) )
*********************
2/3 of the world’s executions in Iran----83% increase in executions in the new year
Amnesty International in a report referring to the increase in executions in Iran in the new year announced that 2/3 of the world’s executions carried out in Iran.
According to the report of the Iranian Human Rights Society, on May 6, 2023, Amnesty International announced regarding the increase in executions in Iran that in the new year, Iran carried out 83% more executions than last year.
This report states: “In 2022, at least 883 people executed in the world, which is 53 % more than in 2021. The reason for this terrible jump is the killing policy in Iran and Saudi Arabia. The number of executions in Iran has increased by 83% and in Saudi Arabia it has tripled. By executing 576 people, Iran is responsible for 65% of all executions in the world.
Amnesty International writes in its annual report:
The number of executions in the Middle East and North Africa increased by 59% to 825 last year. 70% of which carried out in Iran.
Amnesty International also adds in its report: “The execution of at least 5 people in 2022 for crimes that occurred when they were under 18 years old is also a violation of international standards and laws.”
According to this report, Iran has the highest number of executions in 2022 after China. Iran has executed 83% more than the previous year in the new year.
Amnesty International emphasized in its report that death penalty used for political repression and wrote: “Iranian authorities continue to use the death penalty as a tool for political repression and the execution of members of ethnic minorities within the framework of deep-rooted discrimination and long-standing oppression of these populations.” they give.”
This report about the execution of women and children wrote that 5 children were executed in 2022 in Iran.
(source: en.iranhrs.org)
***************
Mohammad Paydar and Peyman Akbari-Birgani Executed in Khorramabad
]Mohammad Paydar and Peyman Akbari-Birgani have been executed for drug-related charges in Khorramabad Central Prison. An unidentified man’s execution was postponed.
According to Hengaw, 2 men were executed in Kerman Central Prison on 15 May. Their identities have been reported as Mohammad Paydar and Peyman Akbari-Birgani, both Shoushtar natives.
They were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. Per the report, the execution of another unidentified man on death row for the same charges, was postponed
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 256 people were executed for drug-related offences in 2022, a more than 2-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and 10 times more than 2020 (25).
************
2 Unidentified Afghan Men Executed in Karaj
2 unidentified Afghan men were executed for murder charges in Qezel Hesar Prison on 10 May, increasing the number of executions at the prison that day to 5.
According to HRANA news agency, 2 Afghan men were executed in Qezel Hesar Prison on 10 May. The unidentified men were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Hossein Panjak, Abdolhossein Emami Moghaddam and Babak Aghayi were also executed at the prison that day. On death row for drug-related charges, their families gathered outside the prison in an attempt to save their lives. They were met with bullets and tear gas, with 1 person hospitalised.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 256 people were executed for drug-related offences in 2022, a more than 2-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and 10 times more than 2020 (25).
Afghans constitute the largest group of non-Iranian execution and death row cases in Iranian prisons. In 2021, no execution of Afghan nationals was recorded until September, when 5 men were executed in the space of 35 days. On 10 October 2021, Iran Human Rights expressed its concern that the Taliban takeover in August had facilitated the execution of Afghan nationals. That number more than tripled in 2022, with 16 Afghan nationals including a juvenile offender and a woman executed. At least 4 Afghans have been executed in 2023.
(source for all: iranhr.net)
MAY 16, 2023:
TEXAS:
East Texas Death Row Inmate Files For New Trial
A death row inmate from East Texas has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse his conviction for murdering his 2-year-old daughter. Robert Roberson took his daughter in January of 2002 to Palestine Regional Medical Center with severe head trauma. He said she had fallen off the bed. Hospital personnel, however, suspected shaken baby syndrome. Roberson was sentenced to death in 2003.
(source: easttexasradio.com)
VIRGINIA:
Why Is an Anti–Death Penalty State Hiding Recordings of Its Past Executions?----American executions are carried out behind prison walls before a few carefully screened witnesses. What we learn about them we get secondhand from journalists.
Virginia, which abolished capital punishment in 2021, is so desperate to keep it that way that it clawed back previously public recordings of historic executions and now refuses to re-release them to the public. Virginia’s recalcitrance exemplifies the secrecy which increasingly shrouds the conduct of executions in this country.
On May 11, National Public Radio revealed that the state had denied its request to release hundreds of execution records, including a large number of tape recordings made by prison personnel during executions. According to NPR, the records “detail responsibilities of staff, include candid photos taken of the prisoners before their deaths and even show the keys to Virginia’s electric chair.” They “illustrate how executions were conducted in the state that carried out more than any other.”
It is strange that this abolitionist state still embraces secrecy since the secrecy surrounding its death penalty was breached more than a decade ago, when a former employee of the Virginia Department of Corrections donated execution tapes and other documents to the Library of Virginia.
They remained there until earlier this year when state officials had them returned to VDOC. They did so shortly after NPR broadcast excerpts from four of those tapes.
That “was only the 2nd time in history that audio from inside an execution chamber had ever been published.” The first occurred in 2001 when NPR also broadcast an audio recording of the 1984 execution of Ivon Ray Stanley in Georgia.
According to NPR, VDOC has “at least six additional audio files with 70 minutes of tape recorded on them.” But, the network reports, the state claims that, “because the tapes are private prison records, private health records and contain confidential personnel information, the agency does not have to share them.”
The tapes of 4 Virginia executions that remain in the public domain already offer a revealing glimpse into the bureaucratic logic that makes it possible for states to keep the machinery of death running. Listening to them is a startling reminder of the ways that ordinary people can be enlisted to participate in cold-blooded, state killing of all types.
Those tapes were recorded once each in 1987, 1989, and twice in 1990, when Virginia still used the electric chair.
They were made as a prison employee was on the phone informing someone else as each step in the execution process unfolded. It is not clear whose voice was recorded on those tapes, to whom they are talking, or why the recordings were made.
Richard Dieter, the interim executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, argued to the National Criminal Justice Association that states like Virginia recorded executions “just to protect themselves” against lawsuits.
The 1st of the 4 Virginia recordings that remain in the public domain was made during the execution of Richard Lee Whitley, who was put to death for murdering his 63-year-old next-door neighbor. A Washington Post story about Whitley’s execution notes that “he would have liked to have had the execution televised and to be put to death without a hood over his head to ‘let the people see exactly what facial expressions you have when they put the juice to you.’” He did not get that wish.
But the audio recording of his execution offers a minute by minute account of what happened. The voice on the recording remains monotone throughout, recounting when the witnesses arrived, when the electric chair was tested, and when the lethal jolts of electricity were administered.
In some places, the recoding notes who is doing what during the execution process. But often the narration resorts to the passive voice, leaving out who is performing specific actions: “The first charge has been applied” or “The second charge has been applied.”
The recording offers no account of how Whitley reacted to the application of the electric charges, as if that fact was of no significance.
In the end, the recording returns to the passive voice, noting, “Inmate Whitley has expired at 11:07.”
And nowhere on the recording is there a hint of the feelings or reactions of the official witnessing Whitley’s execution.
The next tape released by NPR recounts the August 30, 1989 execution of Alton Waye, who was put to death for murdering a 61-year-old woman.
The recording of Waye’s execution follows closely the pattern of the Whitley recording, with two notable exceptions. First, the person making this recording is very much aware of the recording process itself, asking someone listening whether her voice can be heard clearly.
Second, we hear the VDOC official making several attempts to accurately record Waye’s last words. As an ABC News report puts it, this “prison employee clumsily tries to repeat what Waye said into a tape recorder.”
Richard Boggs was executed in July, 1990 for murdering his 87-year-old neighbor. The tape recording of his execution follows the same pattern as the others except that in one place the narrator abandons the linear, “play-by-play” format to editorialize and offer reassurance that the execution process “is going very smoothly” and, at the end, that the process has been “completed as required by law with no complications.”
In another place, the flat narration is disrupted when someone else says “the governor’s office is calling” and the person doing the recording responds excitedly, “The inmate is in the chair. What do they want?”
After some back and forth, they are told that “The governor’s office called to say that the stay of execution was denied.”
The 4th and final execution tape covers the 1990 execution of Wilbert Lee Evans, who murdered an Alexandria sheriff’s deputy in 1981. Again the formula is very much the same: a monotone voice obsessively recording each step in the execution process as well as the precise time it occurred.
A listener would never know that, as described by the Death Penalty Information Center, [w]hen Evans was hit with the first burst of electricity, blood spewed from the right side of the mask on Evans’s face, drenching Evans’s shirt with blood and causing a sizzling sound as blood dripped from his lips. Evans continued to moan before a second jolt of electricity was applied.
The only hint that something horrible had happened was that the voice on the recording sounds momentarily shaken when it notes “11:05, the execution process is complete.” But, four minutes later, the voice is composed again when it says “the inmate has expired.”
Speaking about the release of Georgia’s audio recordings 2 decades ago, the author Wendy Lesser said she such tapes shouldn’t be heard by anyone. Lesser, who wrote about a landmark court case that kept public cameras out of the death chamber, worried that tapes of executions do not convey a “sense of shame and pain and difficulty at being present at this event.”
Lesser was right that execution tapes, whether from Georgia or Virginia, are not dramatic and that they do not reveal the shame, pain, or difficulty of witnessing an execution. But that is precisely why they are so valuable and why Virginia should release all of them.
Those tapes convey, with remarkable clarity, what Hannah Arendt once called “ the fearsome, word-and-thought-defying banality of evil.” It is that quality that makes America’s death penalty so dangerous and destructive to all who carry it out and to all of us in whose name they do that work.
(source: Austin Sarat, slate.com)
ALABAMA:
Why Alabama plans to execute James Barber and changes in the process after Ivey's review
After 3 failed lethal injections in 2022, Alabama is set to resume executions this summer.
The Alabama Supreme Court issued a death warrant for James Edward Barber, 64, earlier this month, following a “top-to-bottom” review of the state’s capital punishment system, which Gov. Kay Ivey ordered in November.
Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm affirmed to the Montgomery Advertiser that the department purchased new equipment and will increase the number of staff present for the process of carrying out of executions. The state also changed death penalty procedures to allow more time to carry out each execution.
In the past 2 years, 5 inmates on Alabama’s death row have died without ever seeing the inside of the state’s execution chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.
“The governor now has the authority and responsibility to set the time frame for the execution of James Barber,” Ivey’s spokeswoman Gina Maiola said in a statement. “According to the Alabama Supreme Court’s order, the execution time frame set by the governor must begin sometime after Friday, June 2, 2023, and Governor Ivey will work with the Alabama Department of Corrections to establish this time frame.”
Here is what we know about Barber’s crimes, his imminent execution and changes made to Alabama’s criminal punishment system since last fall.
Barber’s crime and sentencing
A jury convicted Barber in the 2001 robbery and murder of Dorothy Epps 19 years ago. Since then, he has been on death row in Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.
Epps lived in Harvest, an unincorporated community outside of Huntsville, and before her death, she hired Barber to do repair work on her home, according to court documents. Barber was also an ex-boyfriend of Epps’s daughter.
On May 20, 2001, Barber entered the home without force and beat the 75-year-old woman to death. Based on physical evidence presented in court, Barber struck her with his fist before striking her with a claw hammer.
A state medical examiner testified that Epps, who weighed about 100 pounds, defended herself and attempted to escape by moving about the house before the multiple blunt-force injuries resulted in her death.
Investigators found a bloody handprint left on the counter above Epps’s body. Huntsville Police Department latent print examiner Dan Lamont testified that the print “unequivocally” belonged to Barber.
Law enforcement arrested Barber five days later and he confessed in a video-taped interrogation with Deputy Dwight Edger, a Madison County sheriff’s investigator. Barber later said he was not aware that the interview was being recorded and attempted to recant his confession.
Barber continued to deny involvement in Epps’s murder through the trial and into sentencing when his attorneys asked Circuit Judge Loyd Little for a sentence of life in prison without parole.
"I've taken all of the evidence into consideration, and my decision is the death penalty," Little said.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals denied Barber’s petition for a rehearing, and both the Alabama Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States denied Barber’s petition for writ of certiorari.
The last time Alabama attempted to execute a man was Nov. 17, 2022.
Kenneth Eugene Smith was convicted of a 1988 murder for hire and the state planned to execute him by lethal injection that day. After officials struggled to find a vein, though, the state abandoned the execution.
Two months before, a similar situation occurred when the state attempted to execute convicted murderer Alan Miller. His request to die by nitrogen hypoxia was delayed in the courts when the state prepared his execution on Sept. 22.
That execution was not successful, and through court filings, Miller has stated that he was restrained and punctured with needles multiple times before it was called off. The state has since agreed “that any future effort to execute (Miller’s) sentence of death can only be by means of nitrogen hypoxia.”
A month before Miller’s scheduled execution, another circumstance occurred on death row. Convicted murderer Joe Nathan James Jr. was executed more than three hours after the lethal injection was scheduled to happen on July 28, 2022. At that time, James did not open his eyes or speak any final words.
Ivey declined to intervene in James's planned execution execution, but after the situations with Miller and Smith, she ordered the review of the process
Changes in the execution process
The “top-to-bottom” review that Ivey ordered concluded in February. In addition to new equipment and additional personnel that will be present for executions, Alabama Department of Corrections officials have said that rehearsals have been conducted to ensure the process runs smoothly.
Gov. Kay Ivey at the Alabama State Capitol Building in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
Additionally, the Alabama Supreme Court authorized a change in the way death warrants are executed. Now, the warrants will be issued for a “time frame,” rather than a particular day.
Thus, the governor has the power to choose the exact timing of an execution.
These changes will be implemented starting with Barber’s execution, which must take place some time after June 2.
(source: Hadley Hitson covers the rural South for the Montgomery Advertiser and Report for America----Tuscaloosa News)
****************
Clarence Thomas Scolds Justices Over Death Penalty Ruling
An Alabama inmate's death sentence remains halted after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a case involving a lower court's ruling, a decision that Justice Clarence Thomas chastised in his dissent.
The court declined to hear an appeal from the Alabama Department of Corrections regarding an Eleventh Circuit court's ruling about Kenneth Eugene Smith, an inmate on death row for a 1988 murder-for-hire hit on Elizabeth Sennett.
Smith's execution was halted after he argued that Alabama's plan to execute him via lethal injection was a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which deems cruel and unusual punishments as unconstitutional. Smith argued that death by nitrogen hypoxia would be less painful than lethal injection. Alabama state statute allows for prisoners to request nitrogen hypoxia instead, but the state lacks the experience to conduct the execution.
Thomas argued that the circuit court's ruling was "serious enough to warrant correction," a position that seven of the nine justices disagreed with. Thomas, who was joined by Justice Samuel Alito in his dissent, scolded his colleagues for what he called a missed opportunity to correct an issue that has delayed executions in the past. He wrote that Alabama death row inmates could use the argument in the future to continue to delay their executions.
Thomas said that not allowing an inmate to request nitrogen hypoxia because it's legal in the state—despite the state not having the experience or resources to execute the delivery—heightens the risk of incentivizing inmates to argue the Eighth Amendment to delay their execution.
The same argument was used by inmate Christopher Lee Price ahead of his execution in 2019. The Eleventh Circuit also sided with Price in that instance, but the decision was reversed by the Supreme Court, and Price was executed by lethal injection.
"The Eleventh Circuit's flawed logic in Price has already forced us to intervene in one last-minute capital emergency," Thomas argued. "This petition offered an opportunity, which may well prove unique, to consider and correct Price's faulty reasoning outside of that posture. Because the Court declines that opportunity, I respectfully dissent."
Attorney and former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek that by declining to hear the case, inmates can continue to challenge the means of execution as cruel and unusual punishment.
"Justice Thomas wanted to hear the case and likely rule that Smith and others similarly situated can't challenge their execution merely because some other, potentially less painful form of execution was available," Rahmani told Newsweek.
"A lower court would still have to rule that nitrogen hypoxia is a viable option, but for now, Smith and other death row inmates have standing to make a similar argument."
(source: newsweek.com)
TENNESSEE:
Judge Patterson Takes Over Death Penalty Murder Case Dating Back To 2016
Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson has taken over a capital murder case in Hamilton County that dates back to May 2016.
He did so after Judge Amanda Dunn in Division II recused herself in the case in which Courtney High and Andre Grier are charged with carrying out the slaying of a state witness. Charles Shelton was also charged, but he died while incarcerated at Silverdale in September of 2021. He was 31.
Judge Dunn, a former criminal defense attorney, had a conflict in the case.
Former District Attorney Neal Pinkston opted to seek the death penalty against those charged.
Attorney Steven Moore, who formerly represented High, could not remain on the case after he was named deputy District Attorney by new DA Coty Wamp.
The new prosecutor in the case is Jennifer Nichols, an assistant district attorney from Gallatin. After the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office recused itself, Sumner County DA Ray Whitley was given the case. He assigned prosecutor Nichols to handle it.
Judge Patterson held a WebEx hearing in the case on Monday morning with most attorneys appearing remotely.
The prosecutor was not on the call, and officials said it might have been due to an issue over the time difference. Gallatin is on Central Daylight Time.
Attorneys involved in the case involving High and Grier have to be death penalty certified. Judge Tom Greenholtz, who previously oversaw the case before being elevated to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, at one court hearing said he did not know of any Chattanooga lawyers so certified.
One of the lawyers involved in the case is Cleveland, Tn.'s Jimmy Logan.
The victim, Bianca Horton, had been set to testify against Cortez Sims in a Jan. 17, 2015, mass shooting at College Hill Courts. Ms. Horton was grazed by a bullet and her young daughter, Zoe, was left paralyzed. Talitha Bowman was killed. Marcel "Baby Watts" Christopher was shot, but survived.
The testimony that Ms. Horton gave at a Juvenile Court hearing was allowed in the criminal court trial of Cortez Sims. Sims was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving a life prison sentence.
Judge Patterson said he was advised "there are several terabytes of discovery in this case."
He said the new prosecutor "has quite a handful to deal with. She may wind up moving to Chattanooga to handle all of these cases."
(source: chattanoogan.com)
INDIANA:
Judge rules state can seek death penalty against man charged with killing police officer
Prosecutors can pursue the death penalty against a man accused of shooting and killing an Indianapolis Metropolitan police officer in 2020.
Marion County Superior Court Judge Mark Stoner denied a motion to dismiss the death penalty against Eillahs Dorsey. Dorsey faces multiple charges, including murder, in the shooting death of IMPD Officer Breann Leath.
Leath responded to a domestic violence call in April 2020. Prosecutors said Dorsey shot and killed her.
Dorsey told police he didn’t know Leath was a police officer. He thought someone was coming to get him and didn’t look to see who it was. Because of that, he and his attorneys believe the death penalty should be eliminated as an option and filed a motion to dismiss it.
Stoner, having conducted an evidentiary hearing and arguments in the case, denied the motion to dismiss the death penalty. The judge had faced calls from Prosecutor Ryan Mears to recuse himself from the case.
In order to seek the death penalty under the aggravating factor of killing a police officer, the state must prove Dorsey had actual knowledge that Leath was a law enforcement officer, Stoner said.
Prosecutor Mears calls for judge to step down in murder trial of man accused of killing IMPD officer
In his order denying the motion to dismiss the death penalty, Stoner wrote that the court found the state had “some evidence” it could present to jurors that met the standard.
He made no judgment on the strength of the evidence, noting that was up to the jury:
For a motion to dismiss, it is not for the Court to weigh the evidence or make a credibility determination: that rests exclusively with the jury if the evidence is properly submitted to them. The Court simply must determine whether there is some evidence from which the jury could infer actual knowledge on the Defendant’s behalf.
Dorsey’s trial is scheduled for Sept. 18, according to court records.
(source: Fox News)
MISSOURI:
Mike Tisius is a lot like me. Missouri, don’t kill him in yet another state murder
Mike Tisius and Michael Zoosman are pen pals. Mike T. is scheduled for Missouri execution for murder on June 6. Michael Z. is an ordained Jewish clergy member, a former prison chaplain, a 3rd-generation Holocaust survivor and co-founder of L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, a Facebook group with thousands of members worldwide.
Mike was born on Feb. 16, 1981 in Missouri. Michael was born on May 16, 1981 in Connecticut.
Mike comes from a family with a long history of generations of abuse and neglect. Throughout his childhood, his father abandoned him. His mother severely neglected him and his older brother tormented him with physical and emotional abuse. He came to believe as a young boy that he was useless, that he did not possess worthy or admirable attributes and that he deserved to be victimized and suffer.
Michael comes from a loving family and Jewish community that showered him with support and guidance to pursue all the worthy desires of his heart.
Mike was homeless on the streets of Missouri by the time he was in 9th grade. Michael was happily living with his family in 9th grade and made the honor roll at a prestigious suburban high school.
At the age of 19, while Mike’s brain was still developing, he was incarcerated for 30 days for petty theft. In jail, he fell under the influence of an older inmate, who showered him with attention the likes of which he had not previously received.
At the age of 19, while Michael’s brain was still developing, he was privileged to fill it with academic study. He was guided by a plethora of clergy mentors.
In the year 2000, Mike promised that he would break out of jail and free his newfound inmate-mentor, too. During his attempt to do so, Mike murdered correctional officers Leon Egley and Jason Acton — may their memories be for everlasting blessings.
For this horrific crime, Mike was sentenced to death by lethal injection.
In the year 2000, Michael took a college course titled The Destruction of European Jewry. He learned that lethal injection was first implemented by the Nazis as part of their infamous Aktion T4 protocol to kill people deemed “unworthy of life” as devised by Kart Brandt, the personal physician of Adolf Hitler.
Since entering Missouri’s death row, Mike has taken refuge in his art. He has painted several murals within Potosi Correctional Center’s Special Needs Unit and donated paintings to the institution and a domestic violence center, as well as to churches and service organizations across the country.
Since becoming a prison chaplain, Michael has taken refuge from the shadow of the Holocaust that hangs over humanity striving to ensure that the phrase, “Never again to state-sponsored murder,” has meaning. The Facebook group that he co-founded chants the words of renowned Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who famously said of capital punishment: “Death is not the answer.” Weisel also said: “With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don’t think it’s human to become an agent of the angel of death.”
Mike now is 42 years old and has lived peacefully in the Missouri Department of Corrections for more than 20 years. He has had no prison conduct violations for a decade, and prison adjustment experts identify him as an exemplary prisoner. Multiple psychiatrists over the span of 20 years have concluded that Mike understands the seriousness of his offense and shows empathy and remorse for the people he has hurt, particularly the families of the victims.
Michael will turn 42 years old just days before Mike’s execution. His former pen pal Darryl Barwick was the last American to be put to death before Mike, on May 3 in Florida. In his last words before being lethally injected, Darryl pleaded for “compassion and kindness” for so many kids in prison — there are 14- and 15-year-olds serving life sentences.
Mike was not much older than these children when sentenced to die. In Hebrew, the word for compassion — “rachamim” — comes from the root “rechem,” which refers to a mother’s womb. Mike was not so far removed from that womb when humanity removed from him the last worldly vestiges of compassion with a sentence of death. Mike’s developing brain was not yet at “full-term” when Missouri ordered the needle to abort his very life.
Michael — if he were born 3 months later and several hundred miles southwest — might very well now be facing the same death sentence as Mike. 16th-century reformer (and eventual execution victim) John Bradford said about a group of prisoners he saw being led to execution, “There but for the grace of God” go I. Michael says the same for himself — and for all of humanity.
For all these reasons and more, Michael joins the thousands of members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” as we beg the so-called “pro-life” state of Missouri to show compassion to his pen pal, Mike Tisius, together with all in line for state murder. L’chaim — to life.
(source: Guest Commentary; Michael Zoosman is an ordained member of the Jewish clergy and a former prison chaplain. Kansas City Star)
*************
New hope for prisoner after 33 years, prosecutor asks court to dismiss murder conviction
Chris Dunn has spent 33 years in prison for a murder he has sworn he didn’t do.
He was convicted in a 1990 Saint Louis murder of teenager Ricco Rogers, also referred to as Recco Rogers, who was gunned down on a porch.
A judge agreed Dunn has legally proven he’s innocent under what’s considered a “freestanding claim of innocence.” But the judge pointed out Missouri law is only clear in death penalty cases- not others.
Dunn has the misfortune of being sentenced to life plus 90 years, meaning he’d be better off if he had been sentenced to death.
An appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court challenging the lack of clarity for those sentenced to life was not successful.
Dunn now has a new hope: Saint Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has filed a new petition to vacate the murder charge, the same legal process used to free Kevin Strickland and Lamar Johnson.
Both of those men wrongly spent decades in prison.
Christopher Dunn has spent 33 years of his life incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. The State of Missouri respectfully asks this Court end this injustice and to set aside the verdict in the above-captioned case. Because clear and convincing evidence establishes that Christopher Dunn is actually innocent and that he should not remain in custody a day longer, the State prays this Court to expeditiously set a hearing on this matter, examine the evidence, set aside Christopher Dunn’s judgment, and grant any further relief as the Court deems equitable and just.
It was an 11th-hour legal filing by the embattled circuit attorney, who has already resigned. Gardner’s last day is June 1, and the Missouri Attorney General has argued there’s no reason for her to remain in office.
Dunn’s case falls apart
The case against Chris Dunn has fallen apart, but it wasn’t much, to begin with.
No physical evidence ever linked Dunn to the crime. The trial hinged on eyewitness testimony of young teens running away from gunshots in the dark.
30 years ago, the teens were compelling in court claiming Dunn must have killed Rogers over gang affiliations.
Now, they both admitted they lied.
One witness is now serving time for first-degree murder. His sworn affidavit read, “I lied on Chris Dunn to save myself.” The document claimed there was pressure from police and prosecutors and a deal for a troubled preteen.
The other claimed he was pressured by police and prosecutors and the dead teenager’s mother. He admitted, “We decided that we would both testify that it was Christopher Dunn who killed Recco. The truth is that we did not know who shot at us and killed Recco.”
The new filing states:
During the police interviews, Davis was hesitant about whether he could identify Dunn as the person who shot Rogers. (Id. ). But when he hesitated, police showed the boy gruesome photos of Rogers’ corpse, and pressured him, asking “Are you gonna let them do this to your friend?” Police also arranged to have Rogers’ mother call Davis, who through tears pushed him to testify and get rid of this “monster.” Just 12 years old, in the face of all this pressure, Davis was convinced to appear in court and identify Dunn as the shooter.
Additional witnesses
The most compelling witness might be Recco’s best friend. He was there that night and ran home to tell Recco’s mother what happened. The teenager says Recco was like a brother. He even lived with Recco’s family for periods of his life. No one bothered to interview him.
“I was standing right next to Recco when he was shot. I was positive that none of us could see or identify the shooter...I would have testified that Chris Dunn’s name come up after the shooting as speculation, and from there, people began to believe the shooter had been Chris Dunn, even though none of us could see the shooter.”
The detailed affidavit reveals neighborhood motivations due to gang affiliations and a girl.
Dunn has a parade of alibi witnesses. His family was with him when gunshots rang out.
Additionally, 2 women have stood by Dunn claiming they were talking with him on the phone that night. It was just normal conversation. One woman is sure of the date and time because she was in the hospital after giving birth and was watching the TV show “Hunter.”
The other woman was a teenager at the time of the shooting and her mother refused to let her participate in a trial due to rumored gang activity being the root cause of the murder.
Dunn is now represented in part by the Midwest Innocence Project, the same organization which supported Strickland and Johnson and successfully won their releases.
(source: KCTV news)
CALIFORNIA:
Fighting for Their Lives in Riverside County
Riverside County is one of the most prolific capital punishment counties in the United States and currently 2 men, Russell Austin and Michael Mosby, face the death penalty and are fighting for their lives.
Mosby and Austin, both accused of murder, are in pre-trial for their separate cases and have not been convicted yet, but they are each challenging charges to avoid a “death qualified” jury — a jury that is allowed to decide on a case involving the death penalty.
Under AB 2542, also known as the California Racial Justice Act (CRJA), Mosby and Austin are challenging the court to dismiss a possible death penalty sentence “that was sought, obtained, or imposed on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin in violation of the bill’s provisions.”
Currently, there are 128 incarcerated individuals who are on death row in Riverside and San Bernardino counties combined. Over a third of people in prison in California who are on death row are African-Americans.
In their motions for an evidentiary hearing, attorneys for Austin and Mosby provided four studies that show the history and bias in death penalty sentencing in Riverside County. One report published by Dr. Nick Peterson, professor of Sociology and Law at the University of Miami, stated that Black defendants are 14 times more likely to have death sentences imposed against them than White defendants whose cases are similar.
Peterson’s report also found that Black defendants are 1.71 times more likely to be charged with a special circumstance and nine times more likely to receive a death notice.
To qualify for a capital punishment jury or “death qualified jury” in California, the individual being charged must agree to consider all sentencing options, including death row.
Predicted Probability of the Death Sentence by Defendant Race
Over the years, more people have opposed the death penalty, but a majority of White Americans still support it. The 2020 annual Gallup Poll showed that 60% of White people support the death penalty while 51% of non-White people oppose the death penalty. Seventy-two percent of Republicans are in favor of the death penalty, while 67% of liberals oppose the death penalty.
“We think that we have more than enough information to at least be entitled to an evidentiary hearing, where we can then prove a violation that can help them avoid capital prosecution in Riverside,” American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Legal Fellow Robert Ponce said.
Status of Mr. Mosby and Mr. Austin Case’s
On October 28, 2022, the Superior Court ruled that Mosby’s and Austin’s lawyers did not provide enough evidence for an evidentiary hearing. To reach that requirement, both Mosby and Austin must offer “some showing of [a] similar offense and similar conduct.”
The court ruled that the defense team needs to satisfy a 2-prong test that requires more than just statistical evidence.
“The defendants have failed to offer any evidence to show that any systemic bias has manifested in themselves being more harshly charged than similarly situated defendants of other races,” the court transcript read.
The court found that the defense team satisfied the first requirement with the statistical evidence pulled from Dr. Marisa Omori, professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Dr. Petersen’s analyses.
In February, the attorneys for Austin and Mosby appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, asking that the lower court be ordered to give their clients an evidentiary hearing under the CRJA.
In the filed court order, Mosby and Austin’s lawyers argued that it is impossible to prove a violation of the CRJA by finding cases with the exact evidentiary evidence as either Mosby or Austin. The defense wrote that the CRJA was passed as a countermeasure to the United States Supreme Court case McCleskey v. Kemp ruling in 1987, which stated that statistical evidence did not constitute sufficient evidence to overturn a death sentence.
“The McCleskey decision has the functional effect of requiring that criminal defendants prove intentional discrimination when challenging racial bias in their legal process. This is a high standard and is almost impossible to meet without direct proof that the racially discriminatory behavior was conscious, deliberate, and targeted,” according to a press release from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.
The burden of proof the court demands is high and is countering the CRJA’s intention when the law was passed, Ponce said.
On May 4th, the California Court of Appeals issued an “order to show cause,” which will give Mosby and Austin’s defense teams a chance for oral arguments.
Their next court date has not been scheduled.
“The CRJA allows people to challenge racial bias in their charging, sentencing or conviction decisions if people in their racial group are treated more harshly than people of other races whose cases have similar facts. That can be proved through statistical and historical evidence, which our clients, Mr. Austin and Mr. Mosby, have presented,” Ponce said.
“We need courts to act boldly if we are to effectuate the transformative potential of the CRJA, as the legislature intended, and root out racism from our criminal legal system.”
(source: blackvoicenews.com)
*********
Jury recommends death penalty for Sacramento man who killed family at Land Park home
A jury has returned a verdict of death against a Sacramento man convicted of killing his family at their home in South Land Park.
Salvador Vasquez-Oliva was convicted on May 1 of 4 counts of 1st-degree murder and other charges in the March 2017 slayings of his wife, 45-year-old Angelique Vasquez, their 2 children, 14-year-old Mia and 11-year-old Alvin Vasquez, and his niece, 21-year-old Ashley Coleman.
Salvador Vasquez-Oliva was arrested in the Bay Area hours after the bodies were found.
On Friday, the jury recommended he face the death penalty. Sentencing will take place before a judge on Aug. 25.
Despite the sentencing, a moratorium on the death penalty is in effect in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019 signed an executive order for the moratorium and to close the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison.
(source: KCRA news)
USA:
Biden's death penalty inaction in unacceptable
Objectively, one of the most glaring impediments to President Biden’s reelection for human and civil rights advocates — and activists — is Biden’s unacceptable inaction to effectively use the power of his office to advance death penalty abolition.Two years ago I wrote: “Biden has not commuted the sentence of any, much less every, federal death row prisoner — which many legislators, legal experts, and social justice advocates have urged, and which he can do with a pen-stroke — indefensible inaction that, with each passing day, smacks of pusillanimous political calculation.”
No pundit or political analyst can successfully prevaricate away the fact that the Biden administration continues to pursue the death penalty in federal courts — and against the defendants at Guantanamo Bay.
Elsewhere I’ve argued Biden’s silence on the death penalty speaks volumes, and that his death penalty lie has consequences. Invoking Malcolm X, I’ve insisted: “Despite my stolid, lifelong support of the Democratic Party, like Malcolm X, ‘I'm inclined to tell somebody if his glass of water is dirty’—no matter who it belongs to.”
Stephen Cooper is a former D.C. public defender who worked as an assistant federal public defender in Alabama between 2012 and 2015.
In “Notes of a Native Son,” James Baldwin — whose singular insight about America I’ve argued can help us fight the death penalty — wrote: “Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent — which attitude certainly has a great deal to support it. On the other hand, it is only because the world looks on his talent with such a frightening indifference that the artist is compelled to make his talent important.”
That’s why I have insisted I’ll not tire of writing until capital punishment itself is killed: We must rededicate ourselves to eradicating the vestiges of slavery, including the disproportionate, dehumanizing impact of the death penalty on Black and brown people. We must be open and honest about capital punishment’s grotesquerie. By doing so we’ll have a better chance as an informed electorate to emancipate ourselves from the historical and mental slavery keeping us wedded to such a fiendish, state-sanctioned, lethal, force.
In March, President Biden awarded Bryan Stevenson—prominent death penalty attorney and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative — the National Humanities Medal at the White House. During the ceremony, Biden said: “Bryan does it all — challenges us to get proximity to the suffering and abandoned, and the poor and the condemned, so that as we search for the humanity in others, we find it within ourselves first.”
Past the midway point of his Presidency, Biden’s death penalty inaction evidences that the President’s quest to find humanity — on the issue of death penalty abolition — has been hijacked by politics, (im)pure and simple.
Because it was Stevenson who long ago insisted: “The death penalty’s roots are clearly linked to the legacy of lynching.” Indeed, the history of the death penalty in America is hewn from the subjugation and the suffering of Black people.
This ignoble history, and Stevenson’s life’s work, demands that President Biden — and all Americans — acknowledge that the death penalty is steeped in the shameful legacy of slavery, and the lingering evil of discrimination. Unacceptable racial bias is at the root of capital punishment; it is an ignominious bloody stain running deep, with terribly tragic results, in the frayed fabric of our country.'
Poor people in the United States, disproportionately people of color, receive less justice than anyone else — and not just when they are gunned down or choked to death in the street by police, but when they are methodically strapped down in execution chambers under official color of law.
Baldwin declared “One writes out of one thing only — one’s own experience. Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give. This is the only real concern of the artist to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.”
Like Baldwin, “I want to be an honest man and a good writer.” And so when it comes to death penalty abolition, regardless of what man or woman holds the office of President, I will relentlessly continue to use my experience to advance: As a modern, so-called “civilized society,” one that professes to prohibit cruel and unusual punishment — while being a beacon for human rights around the world — we shouldn’t ever, at either the state or federal level, be paying executioners extra to trot out withered, weakened, beaten-down, dying even, old men (and much more rarely, women) to frog-march them to their deaths. We don’t, in the name of “justice,” need to do this, usually many, many, many years after their convictions. And by “this,” I mean exterminating these flesh-and-blood human beings by shooting them in cold blood, gassing them like the Jews were gassed to death by Hitler, or, by pumping their bodies full of electricity or lethal chemical concoctions of dubious efficacy (and even, in some cases, origin).
If Biden wants my vote this time around, he better start acting like he too gets that “this” — and his own inaction on death penalty abolition — is unacceptable, and quickly. Because time is running out.
(source: Stephen Cooper is a former D.C. public. defender who worked as an assistant federal public defender in Alabama between 2012 and 2015----Montgomery Advertiser)
**********************
Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 200: David Dow on Executed on Technicalities
David Dow went from a death penalty supporter to founding the Texas Innocence Network and running a death penalty clinic. He has since written a number of books, including Executed on a Technicality.
This week on Everyday Injustice, David Dow explains the various injustices within the death penalty system.
As he writes in his book, “I simply conclude that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments cannot tolerate the infliction of a sentence of death under legal systems that permit this unique penalty to be so wantonly and so freakishly imposed.”
Instead of punishing the worst of the worst, he found, “The ultimate penalty was being consistently applied in a wrongful and arbitrary fashion.”
Moreover, the system was making a tremendous number of errors.
“According to Professor James Liebman’s definitive study of all death penalty cases from 1976 though 1995,13 death row inmates prevailed on their appeals in federal court more than 1/2 the time. That is a stunning statistic that bears repeating: In 1/2 of all death penalty cases over a 20-year period, a federal court reversed either the conviction or the sentence or both. In no other area of law are reversals the norm.”
That changed with the passage of the 1994 Death Penalty law—which made appeals much more difficult to sustain, but did not end the problems.
(source: davisvanguard.org)
GLOBAL:
DEATH PENALTY 2022----Death sentences and executions; RECORDED EXECUTIONS SKYROCKET TO HIGHEST FIGURE IN 5 YEARS
Recorded executions in 2022 reached the highest figure in 5 years, as the Middle East and North Africa’s most notorious executioners carried out killing sprees, Amnesty International said today as it released its annual review of the death penalty.
A total of 883 people were known to have been executed across 20 countries, marking a rise of 53% over 2021. This spike in executions, which does not include the thousands believed to have been carried out in China last year, was led by countries in the Middle East and North Africa, where recorded figures rose from 520 in 2021 to 825 in 2022.
“Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life. The number of individuals deprived of their lives rose dramatically across the region; Saudi Arabia executed a staggering 81 people in a single day. Most recently, in a desperate attempt to end the popular uprising, Iran executed people simply for exercising their right to protest,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
Disturbingly, 90% of the world’s known executions outside China were carried out by just 3 countries in the region. Recorded executions in Iran soared from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022; figures tripled in Saudi Arabia, from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022 — the highest recorded by Amnesty in 30 years — while Egypt executed 24 individuals.
The use of the death penalty remained shrouded in secrecy in several countries, including China, North Korea, and Viet Nam — countries that are known to use the death penalty extensively — meaning that the true global figure is far higher. While the precise number of those killed in China is unknown, it is clear that the country remained the world’s most prolific executioner, ahead of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the USA.
Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life.----Agnès Callamard, Secretary General, Amnesty International
5 countries resumed executions: Afghanistan, Kuwait, Myanmar, the State of Palestine and Singapore
Executions resumed in five countries in 2022 — Afghanistan, Kuwait, Myanmar, the State of Palestine and Singapore — while an increase in executions was also recorded for Iran (314 to 576), Saudi Arabia (65 to 196), and the USA (11 to 18).
The recorded number of people executed for drug-related offences more than doubled in 2022 compared to 2021. Drug-related executions are in violation of international human rights law which states that executions should only be carried out for the ‘most serious crimes’ – crimes that involve intentional killing. These executions were recorded in China, Saudi Arabia (57), Iran (255) and Singapore (11), and amounted to 37% of total executions recorded globally by the organization. Executions for drug-related offences were likely to have been carried out in Viet Nam, yet these figures remain state secrets.
It’s often those from disadvantaged backgrounds that are disproportionately affected by this callous punishment.----Agnès Callamard
“In a cruel twist, close to 40% of all known executions were for drug-related offences. Importantly, it’s often those from disadvantaged backgrounds that are disproportionately affected by this callous punishment,” said Agnès Callamard. “It’s time for governments and the UN to up the pressure on those responsible for these blatant human rights violations and ensure international safeguards are put in place.”
While executions were up, the total number of recorded death sentences imposed on people remained essentially the same, with a slight decrease from 2,052 in 2021 to 2,016 in 2022.
A glimmer of hope
Against this bleak backdrop, there was a glimmer of hope as 6 countries abolished the death penalty either fully or partially.
Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while Equatorial Guinea and Zambia abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only.
As of December 2022, 112 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes and nine countries had abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only.
As many countries continue to consign the death penalty to the dustbin of history, it’s time for others to follow suit.
The positive momentum continued as Liberia and Ghana took legislative steps toward abolishing the death penalty, while the authorities of Sri Lanka and the Maldives said they would not resort to implementing death sentences. Bills to abolish the mandatory death penalty were also tabled in the Malaysian Parliament.
“As many countries continue to consign the death penalty to the dustbin of history, it’s time for others to follow suit. The brutal actions of countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia as well as China, North Korea and Viet Nam are now firmly in the minority. These countries should urgently catch up with the times, protect human rights, and execute justice rather than people,” said Agnès Callamard.
“With 125 UN member states — more than ever before — calling for a moratorium on executions, Amnesty International has never felt more hopeful that this abhorrent punishment can and will be relegated to the annals of history. But 2022’s tragic figures remind us that we can’t rest on our laurels. We will continue to campaign until the death penalty is abolished across the globe.”
(source: Amnesty International)
************
Death sentences and executions 2022
Death Penalty 2022: Recorded executions drop in Sub-Saharan Africa as global numbers skyrocket to highest figure in 5 years
Highest number of judicial executions recorded globally since 2017
81 people executed in a single day in Saudi Arabia
Recorded executions dropped by 67% in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic abolish death penalty for all crimes
Recorded executions in 2022 reached the highest figure in five years, as the Middle East and North Africa’s most notorious executioners carried out killing sprees, Amnesty International said today as it released its annual review of the death penalty.
However, there was good news in Sub-Saharan Africa as recorded executions dropped by 67%, from 33 in 2021 to 11 in 2022, and recorded death sentences reduced by 20%. Executions were recorded in two countries — Somalia and South Sudan. This was the lowest number of executing countries recorded by Amnesty International in the region since 2017. Notably, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while Equatorial Guinea and Zambia abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only.
A total of 883 people were known to have been executed across 20 countries globally, marking a rise of 53% over 2021. This spike in executions, which does not include the thousands believed to have been carried out in China last year, was led by countries in the Middle East and North Africa, where recorded figures rose from 520 in 2021 to 825 in 2022.
“It is encouraging to see that a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Sierra Leonne and the Central African Republic, have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, condemning it to the dustbin of history, where it belongs,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Interim Director for East and Southern Africa.
“While Equatorial Guinea and Zambia have abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only, they must follow suit and work on completely abolishing this cruel and degrading form of punishment. Countries in the region must execute justice, not people.”
Disturbingly, 90% of the world’s known executions outside China were carried out by just three countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. Recorded executions in Iran soared from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022; figures tripled in Saudi Arabia, from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022 — the highest recorded by Amnesty in 30 years — while Egypt executed 24 individuals.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, while South Sudan and Somalia were the only countries that recorded a combined total of 11+ executions in 2022, no other country recorded executions in the region, making countries that executed people one fewer compared to 2021. Recorded death sentences also decreased by 20%, from 373 in 2021 to 298 in 2022.
The use of the death penalty remained shrouded in secrecy in several countries, including China, North Korea, and Viet Nam — countries that are known to use the death penalty extensively — meaning that the true global figure is far higher. While the precise number of those killed in China is unknown, it is clear that the country remained the world’s most prolific executioner, ahead of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the USA.
5 countries resumed executions
Executions resumed in 5 countries in 2022 — Afghanistan, Kuwait, Myanmar, the State of Palestine and Singapore — while an increase in executions was also recorded for Iran (314 to 576), Saudi Arabia (65 to 196), and the USA (11 to 18).
The recorded number of people executed for drug-related offences more than doubled in 2022 compared to 2021. Drug-related executions are in violation of international human rights law which states that executions should only be carried out for the ‘most serious crimes’ - crimes that involve intentional killing. These executions were recorded in China, Saudi Arabia (57), Iran (255) and Singapore (11), and amounted to 37% of total executions recorded globally by the organization. Executions for drug-related offences were likely to have been carried out in Viet Nam, yet these figures remain state secrets.
While executions were up, the total number of recorded death sentences imposed on people remained essentially the same, with a slight decrease from 2,052 in 2021 to 2,016 in 2022.
A glimmer of hope
Against this bleak backdrop, there was a glimmer of hope as 6 countries abolished the death penalty either fully or partially.
Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while Equatorial Guinea and Zambia abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only.
As of December 2022, 112 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes and nine countries had abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only.
The positive momentum continued as Liberia and Ghana took legislative steps toward abolishing the death penalty, while the authorities of Sri Lanka and the Maldives said they would not resort to implementing death sentences. Bills to abolish the mandatory death penalty were also tabled in the Malaysian Parliament.
“Somalia and South Sudan’s continued execution of people in the past year is bucking the trend in Sub-Sharan Africa, where countries are moving away from the death penalty by either abolishing the death penalty or becoming abolitionist in practice,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Director for West and Central Africa.
“The death penalty violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
“With 125 UN member states — more than ever before — calling for a moratorium on executions, Amnesty International has never felt more hopeful that this abhorrent punishment can and will be relegated to the annals of history. But 2022’s tragic figures remind us that we can’t rest on our laurels. We will continue to campaign until the death penalty is abolished across the globe.”
(source: reliefweb.int)
****************
Recorded executions rise to highest in 5 years: Amnesty----In annual report, rights group says ‘killing spree’ was led by countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Some 883 people were executed last year, the highest number of known executions in 5 years, according to Amnesty International, which also raised concerns about the use of the death penalty for drug offences.
The number of executions, which does not include the thousands thought to have been carried out in China, increased by more than 50 % compared with 2021, Amnesty said on Tuesday in its annual report on the use of the death penalty.
Some 90 % of the world’s known executions outside China were carried out in just 3 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the rights group said.
Iran executed 576 people last year (314 in 2021), Saudi Arabia 196 people (65 in 2021), and Egypt 24 people.
Amnesty noted that the executions in Saudi Arabia were the highest recorded in 30 years.
“Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life,” Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said in a statement.
“The number of individuals deprived of their lives rose dramatically across the region; Saudi Arabia executed a staggering 81 people in a single day. Most recently, in a desperate attempt to end the popular uprising, Iran executed people simply for exercising their right to protest.”
In total, 20 countries were known to have used the death penalty last year, with 5 countries resuming executions, including Myanmar’s military regime shocking the world last July by hanging four of its political opponents in the 1st executions since the 1980s.
Amnesty noted that close to 40 % of all the executions carried out last year were for drug-related offences and took place in Iran (255), Saudi Arabia (57), and Singapore (11). People were probably also executed for drug crimes in China and Vietnam, where the use of the death penalty remains a state secret, it added.
Under international human rights law, those countries that retain the death penalty are supposed to use it only for ‘the most serious crimes‘ that involve intentional killing.
“It’s time for governments and the UN to up the pressure on those responsible for these blatant human rights violations and ensure international safeguards are put in place,” Callamard said.
Still, while executions increased, the number of recorded death sentences imposed fell by 2 % last year to 2,016.
6 countries — Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Zambia — abolished the death penalty either fully or partially.
Liberia and Ghana took legislative steps towards abolishing the death penalty, while the authorities of Sri Lanka and the Maldives said they would not resort to implementing death sentences.
Malaysia also moved to abolish the mandatory death penalty.
“As many countries continue to consign the death penalty to the dustbin of history, it’s time for others to follow suit. The brutal actions of countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia as well as China, North Korea and Viet Nam are now firmly in the minority. These countries should urgently catch up with the times, protect human rights, and execute justice rather than people,” Callamard said.
(source: Al Jazeera)
AFRICA:
"Glimmer of hope" in African countries partially or fully abolishing death penalty- Amnesty
Recorded executions worldwide reached 883 last year, the highest level since 2017, according to an Amnesty International report published on Tuesday that decried the Middle East and North Africa in particular.
The 2022 figure for 20 countries known to have executed people is a 53 percent increase on the previous 12 months, the global rights monitor said.
It excludes the "thousands" of prisoners put to death secretively in China, but does count the "staggering" 81 people executed in a single day in Saudi Arabia, it added.
China was believed to have led the way in the grisly ranking, ahead of Iran (576 executions), Saudi Arabia (196 -- its highest number in 30 years), Egypt (24) and the United States (18).
The death penalty is also used extensively in North Korea and Vietnam but as with China, figures there remain "shrouded in secrecy", Amnesty said in the annual report.
Countries in the Middle East and North Africa were guilty of state-sanctioned "killing sprees" with executions notably surging in Saudi, Iran and Egypt, it said.
While official crackdowns on dissent were one factor in the rise, nearly 40 % of all known executions were for drug-related offences, including 11 in Singapore, it added.
That violates international human rights law, which permits executions only for crimes that involve intentional killing, according to the campaign group.
"Importantly, it's often those from disadvantaged backgrounds that are disproportionately affected by this callous punishment," Amnesty International's secretary general Agnes Callamard said.
"It's time for governments and the UN to up the pressure on those responsible for these blatant human rights violations and ensure international safeguards are put in place," she said.
- Glimmer of hope -
However, Amnesty also found a "glimmer of hope" in 6 countries partially or fully abolishing the death penalty last year, many in Africa.
They were the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone and Zambia.Others outside Africa were Kazakhstan, and Papua New Guinea.
"The brutal actions of countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia as well as China, North Korea and Vietnam are now firmly in the minority," Callamard said.
"These countries should urgently catch up with the times, protect human rights, and execute justice rather than people." the rights group said.
(source: africanews.com)
UGANDA:
3 face death over murder of Police boss----The prosecution alleges that the accused persons and others still at large, on or around September 8, 2021, while at Mbaguta cell in Mbarara city, with malice aforethought, unlawfully caused the death of Cpl Richard Agaba.
The General Court Martial has charged and remanded 3 men accused of murdering a Police officer.
Kassim Ayebazibwe alias Albert 27, a resident of Kiswahili cell, South Division in Mbarara city, was charged alongside Dominic Twinomugisha alias Dogo, 19, and Julius Muhanguzi alias Tonny, 30 a, businessman and resident of Rwemiyonga in Bushenyi district.
The trio denied charges of murder and aggregated robbery read to them by Brig. Gen. Freeman Robert Mugabe, the court chairman.
Murder contravenes Sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act cap 120, while aggregated robbery Sections 285 and 286 (2) of the Penal Code, and upon conviction, both charges attract a maximum death penalty.
Lt Alex Mukwana for the prosecution told court that investigations are complete, thus requesting for June 5, 2023, as the hearing date for the case.
Counsel for the accused, Betty Karugaba, didn’t object, prompting court to remand the trio.
The prosecution alleges that the accused persons and others still at large, on or around September 8, 2021, while at Mbaguta cell in Mbarara city, with malice aforethought, unlawfully caused the death of Cpl Richard Agaba.
It is further alleged that the three accused and others at large robbed Agaba of an SMG rifle number 5558239996 with 30 rounds of live ammunition.
During or immediately after the said robbery, the accused persons were in possession of a deadly weapon to wit SAR 74847 said to be a monopoly of the defence forces.
Cpl Agaba was the officer in charge of Ruharo Police Post in Mbarara City and met his death when he responded to a distress call made during an active robbery at a nearby bar and was killed while pursuing the armed thugs.
It is alleged that Agaba received a call from a bodaboda rider about armed robbers who had attacked Step Up Bar in Kiyanja cell, Ruharo ward, Mbarara City North Division.
Agaba took a bodaboda to the scene to confront the attackers but found they had already vanished.
He later died on the way to Mbarara Hospital after he was shot and fell off the bodaboda during the pursuit.
(source: newvision.co.ug)
PAKISTAN:
Man gets death sentence for rape and murder
Additional District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Asif Khan on Monday awarded death sentence on two counts and imposed a fine of Rs4 million on a convict in a rape and murder case of a child that took place in Nowshera Kalaan.
The Child Protection Court delivered the verdict under the Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010 after the man was convicted on the charges of rape and murder. The convict will undergo six-month imprisonment in case of non-payment of the fine. The convict had raped and subsequently murdered a nine-year-old girl in Nowshera Kalan in 2018.
(source: thenews.com.pk)
INDIA:
Kerala High Court appoints mitigation investigators in 2 death penalty cases - Attingal murder and Dalit law student murder----In a departure from the usual practice, the Court in the 2 cases ordered the commencement of mitigation studies even before the hearing of the convicts' appeals had begun.
The Kerala High Court recently ordered mitigation studies into the death sentence references of Nino Mathew who was convicted in the Attingal twin murder case and of Muhammed Ameer-ul-Islam who was convicted in the Dalit law student murder case [State of Kerala v Nino Mathew; State of Kerala v. Muhammed Ameer-ul-Islam]
The Court appointed two mitigation investigators associated with Project 39A, a research and legal aid centre at the National Law University, Delhi to assist the court with the process of sentencing, particularly to arrive at a conclusion on whether the cases warrant death penalty for the convicts.
The 2 convicts were sentenced to death by trial courts and their appeals against their conviction and sentence, as well as the references to confirm their death sentence, are currently pending before the High Court.
The decision to impose a sentence, whether death or otherwise, is usually taken after and order of conviction is issued.
Even at the appellate stage, it is after the conviction is confirmed or altered that the question of sentence is entered into.
Usually, mitigating circumstances in death sentence cases are considered after the persons are convicted, or after their conviction is confirmed by the appellate court.
However, in this case, a division bench of Justices Alexander Thomas and C Jayachandran ordered the commencement of mitigation studies for Mathew and Ameer-ul-Islam even before the hearing of their appeals had begun.
This would be one of the first such instance of a High Court ordering mitigation studies before hearing the appeal.
"At the trial stage, there cannot be any 2 opinions that mitigation studies, etc., can be contemplated only after the conviction is arrived at and at the commencement of the sentencing process. Where such meaningful opportunity for mitigation studies have not been rendered by the trial court, then the appellate court has an obligation and duty to ensure that steps in that regard may be taken so that the obligation of the judicial organ to provide meaningful opportunity of hearing at the sentencing stage, as envisaged in Sec.235(2) of the CrPC, is endeavoured to be fulfilled", the Bench said.
The Bench noted that if mitigation studies are conducted only after the conviction is affirmed by the appellate court, then then will be a lot of unnecessary delay in the administration of justice.
"This will lead to the position that the convict, who was awarded death sentence by the trial court, will face more anxious and agonizing time, and for all purposes, he may experience a “Damocles' sword hanging over his head”, guessing with great tension, as to whether the death sentence awarded by the trial court will be confirmed by the High Court or would be commuted to life sentence," the Bench explained.
The 2 cases placed before the Bench were to confirm the death sentence awarded to Nino Mathew, who was convicted by a trial court in the 2014 twin murder case in Kerala's Attingal, and to confirm the death sentence awarded to Muhammed Ameer-ul-Islam by a trial court for the rape and murder of a Dalit law student of the Ernakulam Government Law College, in 2016.
During one of the previous hearings, the Bench had noted that mitigating circumstances in death penalty cases is a developing area in its infancy, and that Project 39A is a pioneering agency in research into the subject.
It had, therefore, directed the amici curiae appointed in 2 death sentence references, advocates Saipooja and Mitha Sudhindran, to consult with Project 39A on the issues in conducting mitigation studies.
In its detailed order, the Bench noted that the Supreme Court in various pending cases, as well as the Bombay High Court, has consistently taken a view that it would be helpful in every way if assessment of mitigating circumstances is made in advance, before the hearing stage. Moreover, in those cases too, Project 39A had been appointed to make independent assessments.
Further, from a reading of the trial courts' orders in the Attingal and law student murder cases, the Bench noted that it broadly indicated that the trial courts may not have conducted any proper mitigation study in that case, except hearing the versions of the accused.
However, the Bench said that there is no point in critiquing the approach of the trial courts since they may not be equipped to enter into a detailed mitigation investigation, even in murder cases.
"So, it is the duty of this Court, as the head of the State Judiciary to carry forward the perspectives and approaches taken by the Apex Court in cases of this nature, so that the appropriate legal culture is evolved and the same can be imbibed by the Session Courts at the District Judiciary level, etc. Even in these cases, now there is some resistance, as the approach in these perspectives is seen as novel," the Bench opined.
It said that it is important to undertake mitigation studies at the earliest in order to to avoid unduly protracting the proceedings at the appellate stage and to ensure that the studies are conducted in a comprehensive manner.
The Bench added that even if the conviction is set aside after hearing the appeals, it cannot be said that the mitigation studies were a waste of time and money.
"The courts in exercise of the sovereign judicial powers as well as the State executive organ in exercise of its sovereign executive powers and all other executive authorities concerned have an obligation to ensure that death penalty is awarded only in the rarest of rare cases and if it is established convincingly that the option of alternate life sentence is unquestionably foreclosed so as to necessarily warrant the imposition of death penalty, as enunciated in the celebrated decision of the Constitution Bench in Bachan Singh's case supra. Therefore, for providing such meaningful and effective opportunity of hearing, if such mitigation studies are conducted in advance, the same is in fulfillment of the duties, functions and obligations of the courts in exercise of its sovereign judicial powers," the Bench explained.
Another pertinent aspect on which the Bench focused was that whatever reports come out of the mitigation studies ought to be kept with the registry of the Court and that the judges ought not be allowed to view it so as to eradicate the possibility of bias while hearing the appeals.
"Such reports shall be filed by the prosecution before this Court, in a sealed cover and the same is not to be perused by the Judges, till the issue of conviction is decided in these Appeals. However, copies of such reports shall be served on the respective Advocates appearing for each of the 2 convicts in these cases and the convicts will have the liberty to produce materials in rebuttal of any such adverse aspects pointed out by the prosecution in their reports," the order stated.
In line with these observations, the Bench issued various directions in the two death sentences references before it.
The order of the Court includes appointment of persons associated with Project 39A to conduct mitigation studies, directions to all concerned authorities to cooperate with the studies, directions to ensure confidentiality of the findings on various factors, directions to the State to ensure psychiatric assessment of Mathew and Ameer-ul-Islam, etc.
Amici curiea advocates Saipooja and Mitha Sudhindran assisted the Court.
Advocate Renjith B Marar who appeared before the Supreme Court in the death penalty case of Sundar @ Sundarrajan v. State by Inspector of Police, (which was relied upon by the High Court) also assisted the Court.
Advocate Sasthamangalam S Ajithkumar appeared for one of the appellants and advocates TB Hood and NK Unnikrishnan were the prosecutors in the 2 cases.
(source: barnandbench.com)
********
Why is the death sentence so popular in India when it doesn’t even deter crime?
Of the 110 death penalty cases that reached the Supreme Court between 2016 and 2022, the Court upheld ‘under 4 %’, reveals the latest annual edition of ‘Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report’, published by Project 39A at the National Law University, Delhi.
At the end of 2022, there were 539 Indians on death row, a 40 % jump since 2015, and the lower courts sentenced 166 accused to death, the highest in a single year since the turn of the century.
While there is strong support for the death penalty among the people, and India was among the 37 countries that opposed a UN resolution in December 2022 seeking a moratorium on the death penalty (125 countries supported the resolution), there is no evidence that it is an effective deterrent. For example, more than 1/2 the death sentences pronounced by trial courts in 2022 were for sexual violence, including 47 for rape and murder, but there has been no decline in this crime, with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recording an average 30,000 or so reported cases of rape every year.
According to government data, between 2019 and 2021, more than 92,000 women and minor girls—more than 30,700 on average every year—were victims of rape.
A handful of states have been notably unsparing in awarding the death penalty, but with no real improvement in their law-and-order situation.
In 1980, the Supreme Court of India had upheld the Constitutional validity of the death penalty. But the court had also cautioned that judges must weigh both ‘aggravating factors’ and ‘mitigating factors’ that may suggest harsher or lighter punishment. Death sentences could not be based only on the nature of the crime.
However, in 2022, says the report, 98.3 % of death sentences were awarded without the courts reviewing any material on mitigating circumstances. In none of these cases did the state produce material or evidence on the question of the possibility of ‘reform’, which had been laid down as a guideline by the apex court in 1980.
With a large number of prisoners on death row being uneducated or poor or both, their inability to defend themselves and afford quality legal representation is easy to surmise.
Thus, failing to exercise caution and bring balance to their cases also exhibits the indifference, if not ignorance, of both the bar and the bench, as well as a degree of callousness on the part of the State.
For the 1st time since 1980, however, the Supreme Court recognised in 2022 the need to reconsider the framework involved in awarding capital punishment and referred the question to a Constitution bench. It also laid down guidelines for the collection of mitigating material by trial courts. The court also emphasised that it was the duty of the trial courts to explicitly ask for material on mitigating circumstances.
Project 39A at the NLU estimates that India has executed 720 people since Independence, with Uttar Pradesh accounting for half the number. Haryana has 90 to its name and Madhya Pradesh 73. Between 1991 and 2000, a total of 15 prisoners on death row were executed, but thereafter only four in the next 20 years—until four men convicted for the gang rape of Nirbhaya (2012) were hanged in March 2020.
Figures of similar executions in China are not available, though it is alleged that thousands are executed every year.
And while 20 states in the US have abolished the death penalty, many still get executed there. Amnesty International, which campaigns against the death penalty, claimed that in 2018 nearly 80 per cent of all recorded executions took place in just four countries—Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Iraq.
(source: nationalheraldindia.com)
SINGAPORE:
Court of Appeal dismisses application by cannabis trafficker on death row----The appellant asked for life imprisonment or a reduction to a non-capital charge.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed a bid by a cannabis trafficker on death row to have his case reviewed.
In a judgment released on Tuesday (May 16), Justice Tay Yong Kwang said the application was "clearly an impermissible attempt at reopening and rearguing the appeal" that Muhammad Faizal Mohd Shariff, 36, had already attempted.
Justice Tay said there was no new evidence that would satisfy the requirements of a review application.
Faizal was convicted in January 2019 by trial judge Chan Seng Onn of a charge of possessing cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
He was arrested in February 2016 and found to have 3.5kg of vegetable matter, which contained 1.6kg of cannabis, for the purpose of trafficking.
It was not disputed that he collected 4 blocks of cannabis, that he referred to as "storybooks", and brought them to an apartment where he cut and repacked 1 of the blocks into smaller portions.
He claimed he had possessed the cannabis to consume, and that only a small portion was meant for sale. However, he also testified that he had never smoked cannabis before and that it was for "future use" as he wanted to do it "bit by bit".
Faizal was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty, and appealed against the High Court's decision.
In August 2019, the Court of Appeal dismissed Faizal's appeals.
On May 10 this year, the Singapore Prison Service informed Faizal's family that the death sentence would be carried out on Faizal on May 17.
Faizal filed a new application on May 11, seeking a review of his case, hoping for a reduction to life imprisonment or a reduced charge to a non-capital offence.
His counsel argued that there has been a change in the law and that additional evidence has come to light.
The prosecution filed submissions in response on May 15, saying Faizal had failed to raise sufficient material.
Justice Tay dismissed the application without setting it down for hearing.
(source: channelnewsasia.com)
***********
Singapore’s death row ‘main element of its drug policy’----Dozens of people face hanging for drug offences in Singapore and the city-state has shown no sign it will soften its approach.
Singapore’s use of the death penalty was once again thrust into the global spotlight last month when Tangaraju Suppiah became the first person to be executed in the city-state this year.
His case centred on the trafficking of just more than 1kg of cannabis and made headlines around the world, with some expressing surprise at Singapore’s still strict approach to drugs.
Last year, 11 men are known to have been hanged by the state. Singapore’s prison authorities do not report details of these cases, so information is gathered via families of prisoners or campaign groups.
One such organisation, the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), believes that there are currently 54 people on death row in Singapore, with all but 3 of them sentenced to death for drug-related offences.
“It shows that the Singapore government is very committed to the death penalty being the main element of its drug policy”, said Sara Kowal, vice president of the Capital Punishment Justice Project in Australia.
Human rights experts from the United Nations have also pointed to the number of death row prisoners who are from ethnic minorities, saying: “a disproportionate number of minority persons were being sentenced to the mandatory death penalty in Singapore”.
Research from the TJC found that almost 2/3 of the offenders handed the death penalty for drug offences between 2010 and 2021 were of Malay ethnicity, a minority in the city-state.
Al Jazeera contacted Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs for comment, but they did not respond.
They have said previously that the country’s “criminal laws and procedures apply equally to all, regardless of background – race, nationality, education level or financial status”.
The Ministry has also defended the use of the death penalty, arguing that capital punishment is “an essential component of Singapore’s criminal justice system and has been effective in keeping Singapore safe and secure”.
Despite international pressure, the city-state has shown little appetite for softening its tough drugs laws, and campaigners this week said they had been alerted to the hanging — scheduled for May 17 — of an inmate convicted of trafficking cannabis.
The UN says that, if retained, the death penalty should only be used for the most serious crime and that drug offences do not reach that threshold.
But the latest report on the use of the death penalty in 2022 has found that the number of global executions for drug-related offences more than doubled last year compared with 2021.
The prisoners profiled below are some of those living on death row in Singapore after being found guilty of drug charges.
Pannir Selvam Pranthaman
Pannir was 27 years old when he was arrested in 2014 at the Woodlands border checkpoint in the island’s north, which separates Malaysia and Singapore.
Inspection officers found small bags of drugs strapped to his groin and stuffed into the backseat compartment of his motorbike.
He was arrested and charged with smuggling 51g of diamorphine (heroin). Under Singapore law, anybody found with more than 2g of diamorphine is presumed to have that drug for the purposes of trafficking.
3 years after his arrest, Pannir was sentenced to death.
Pannir, a musician from the northwestern Malaysian city of Ipoh, has fought continuously for his execution to be halted, supported by his family who have set up a website and started a petition for his freedom.
They have also shared the songs and poems Pannir has written while on death row in the hope of raising awareness of his plight.
In May 2019, their worst fears were realised when Pannir was given a date for his execution.
“Before this, he had never been accused or convicted of any crime. The news of his death sentence came as a complete shock to our family, and devastated us,” Pannir’s family wrote in the petition.
Pannir filed a last-ditch criminal motion to try and stay alive. He was set to represent himself in court, but two lawyers unexpectedly agreed to take on his case.
On the eve of his execution, Pannir was granted a reprieve by the Court of Appeal after he said he planned a legal challenge to the president’s rejection of his appeal for clemency.
His family say his experience on death row in Changi Prison has transformed him, that he feels “deep remorse” for his actions, and that he now wants the chance to educate others on the risks of drug abuse.
For now, Pannir’s fate remains in the hands of the legal system. He is part of a group civil litigation suit against the Singapore Prison Service over private letters being released to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
That case was recently adjourned for 10 weeks, granting Pannir more time.
Syed Suhail bin Syed Zin was arrested in Singapore in August 2011. He was 35 at the time.
The Singaporean was convicted in 2015 for possessing 38g of diamorphine for trafficking. He was sentenced to death a year later.
Like Pannir, Syed has previously been assigned a date for his hanging. He was also given a stay of execution with just a day to spare.
He learned of the date of his execution in September 2020, when Singapore’s borders were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It meant many of Syed’s close relatives in Malaysia were unable to visit him. He reflected on this in a letter to his lawyer just three days before he was scheduled to hang.
“The insensitivity and the entirely new level of cruelty that decision makers have decided to unleash, is felt more so by my loved ones, even though it is directed at me”, he wrote.
Syed’s sister, Sharmila, shared another letter that she had received from her brother in April 2022.
“The harshness and cruelty that some have claimed is just, is not. 2 wrongs do not make a right. In the end, there is only a legacy of bloodshed that posterity may not even want on their hands anymore,” he wrote.
Syed is now part of the same civil litigation as Pannir. His execution has also been stayed as he awaits the outcome of that case.
Saridewi Djamani
Saridewi Djamani is 1 of only 2 women understood to be on death row, according to the TJC.
“Because we are not as closely connected to the families of women on death row, and because the women are held separately from the men, we don’t get a lot of information coming to us about their conditions and treatment”, Kirsten Han, a Singaporean who campaigns against the death penalty, told Al Jazeera.
A drug user, Saridewi was 40 years old when she was sentenced to death in 2018.
She was charged with possessing just more than 1kg of “powdery substance”, which included 30g of diamorphine, for the purpose of trafficking.
Her case centres around events that took place at her apartment in Singapore in June 2016.
It was there that prosecutors say she met a Malaysian man who gave her a plastic bag of drugs in exchange for envelopes which contained at least 10,050 Singapore dollars ($7,526) in cash. The court documents show the man had an additional envelope containing 5,500 Singapore dollars ($4,119) when he was caught.
Police officers arrived at Saridewi’s flat shortly after. The investigators alleged that when she heard them arriving, she immediately started throwing the drugs out of her kitchen window.
It was only afterwards that she let the officers into the apartment where they arrested her following a search of the flat and its surroundings, they said.
Local media reported that Saridewi claimed she was stocking up on heroin for Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month, because she thought she might need to take more of the drug.
The court dismissed her defence and court documents show that a further appeal was unsuccessful.
Little else is known about Saridewi, and none of her family have come forward to publicise her case.
Datchinamurthy Kataiah
Datchinamurthy was 25 when he was caught with almost 45g of diamorphine at the Woodlands Checkpoint.
With his 3 sisters, he grew up in Johor Bahru, a Malaysian border town home to many who commute daily to Singapore for work. He was heading from there into Singapore when he was arrested.
Datchinamurthy was sentenced to death in 2015 and failed in an appeal a year later. In his defence, Datchinamurthy claimed he thought the drugs were Chinese medicines.
In April 2022, he was notified of his impending execution. Datchinamurthy was set to be hanged just two days after fellow Malaysian Nagaenthran Dharmalingam was executed.
Nagaenthran’s case had sparked international condemnation of Singapore, after he was found to have an IQ of 69, suggesting an intellectual disability.
On the eve of his scheduled execution, Datchinamurthy had to represent himself during an appeal hearing, as his family were unable to secure legal counsel.
Despite this, Datchinamurthy won. He is also part of the civil litigation case along with Syed and Pannir. The court ruled that he should be granted a stay of execution while that case makes its way through the courts.
Just days before that dramatic last-minute appeal, words from Datchinamurthy’s mother were read out at a rare protest against the death penalty in Singapore.
“These are our children, birthed from our bodies, and you won’t let us touch them”, read TJC’s Kokila Annamalai on behalf of Lakshmi Amma.
Her words reference how families can only see relatives on death row behind a glass panel, with no contact allowed.
Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad was arrested for drug offences in May 2010. He was 20 at the time — young enough to still be serving compulsory National Service in Singapore.
Driving a rented sports car to Bishan MRT station in the heart of the island, he was tailed by police officers.
At the station, Masoud met a Malaysian man who got out of his own car and climbed into Masoud’s Mazda RX8. Shortly afterwards, the pair parted ways but both were arrested later at separate locations.
Officers searched Masoud’s car and found drugs, some of which were in a bag branded with Mickey Mouse. He was charged with the possession of 31g of diamorphine for the purposes of trafficking and faced the same charge for 77g of methamphetamine (crystal meth).
According to court documents, Masoud told police that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
Masoud also claimed that the drugs were planted in his car by an illegal money-lending syndicate after he told them he no longer wanted to work for them.
The High Court rejected this defence and Masoud was convicted.
Like many prisoners on death row, little more is known about his situation.
In 2021, Masoud’s sister signed a public letter calling on Singapore’s President Halimah Yacob to abolish the death penalty.
A year later, he was among a group of death row inmates trying to find out more about whether their private letters had been passed to the Attorney General. Unlike Pannir, Masoud’s case was dismissed.
(source: aljazeera.com)
INDONESIA:
New penal code offers hope of abolishing death penalty
A recent report from Amnesty International suggests that Indonesia's revised Criminal Code is a step in the right direction toward abolishing capital punishment, even as the country’s justice system continues to hand down high numbers of death sentences. Passed at the end of last year, the revised Criminal Code introduced an automatic 10-year probation for convicts on death row to demonstrate good behavior for the possibility of having their sentences commuted. After the probation elapses, the sitting president may decrease the sentence to life in prison or 20 years in prison. The policy will take effect in 2026. Amnesty International Indonesia researcher Ari Pramuditya said that although Indonesia still had a long way to go before the death penalty was completely abolished, the new penal code was "a positive step" that deserved recognition.
(source: thejakartapost.com)
***************
Cleaning the broom
The life sentence recently handed down to a two-star police general for drug trafficking less than 3 months after another inspector general received the death penalty for premeditated murder can be viewed from 2 different angles. On the gloomy side, the 2 events have dealt a major and lasting blow to the National Police’s reputation.
Even one bad cop is too many, as the institution must uphold law and order in its own ranks if it seeks to legitimately impose it on the rest of us. As the Indonesian saying goes, “A dirty broom cannot sweep clean.”
On the bright side, however, the prosecution of the two high-ranking officers, who some had claimed were rising stars and potential candidates for the police’s top post in the future, has sent a clear message on upholding justice without bias or favor.
The energy and rigor with which the National Police built the cases against Insp. Gen. Teddy Minahasa and Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo set a new benchmark for investigations into violations involving high-ranking officers.
Last week, the West Jakarta District Court sentenced Teddy to life in prison after finding him guilty of orchestrating a plot to steal and sell 5 kilograms of methamphetamine seized by the West Sumatra Police. At the time of the crime last year, Teddy was the chief of the provincial police force and was about to be installed as East Java Police chief.
The sentence diverged from the demands of state prosecutors, who said Teddy deserved capital punishment.
In February, Ferdy was convicted of plotting the murder of his own aide-de-camp, a low-ranking police officer, and tampering with evidence to cover up the crime. He will face a firing squad if he exhausts all legal means to evade execution.
The Jakarta High Court upheld Ferdy’s death sentence last month, a punishment that the new Criminal Code has kept despite opposition from human rights groups.
Under the code, however, Ferdy’s death penalty can be commuted to a life sentence if he displays good behavior for 10 years.
The National Police have dishonorably discharged both Ferdy and Teddy, but to further show commitment to justice, the institution should express its acceptance of the punishments for the 2. Beyond that, for the sake of equality before the law, the police must take no measures that could be interpreted as efforts to protect the 2 former generals.
Teddy and Ferdy are now in police custody at “special detention facilities” inside the Mobile Brigade Corps headquarters in Kelapa Dua, Depok, West Java.
Other police generals convicted of crimes in the past also served their jail sentences in the exclusive detention center, unlike other criminals who serve their sentences in overcrowded prisons.
Teddy's conviction has given the police the impetus to carry on their internal reforms, launched in the wake of the regime change in 1998 to transform the police into a more accountable and credible institution. There is no doubt that National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo faces a tough task in cleaning up the institution – beyond merely paying lip service to the cause – particularly as there is always potential for opposition from rogue elements within the force, amid allegations of conflict between competing factions.
The scale of the job is demonstrated by the great number of irregularities involving the police that have suddenly, magically disappeared, such as allegations of suspiciously “fat” bank accounts belonging to some police generals, which first surfaced in 2010 in response findings by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK).
Some recent opinion polls have found that the police have regained some measure of public trust. This should encourage Listyo to do more to rebuild the institution.
We are waiting eagerly for the police to become the fair, reputable institution that our nation deserves.
(source: Editorial, The Jakarta Post)
SOUTH KOREA:
Amnesty Int'l categorizes S. Korea as death penalty 'abolitionist in practice'
Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization focused on human rights, categorized South Korea as a death penalty abolitionist in practice in its annual report released Tuesday and urged the country to completely do away with capital punishment.
Since its last execution on Dec. 30, 1997, South Korea has not carried out any death penalties, although handing out the capital punishment is still permissible under the law. 60 people were serving time in prison at the end of 2020 after getting the death penalty.
In the report, "Death sentences and executions 2022," Amnesty International categorized South Korea among abolitionist countries in practice "in that they have not executed anyone during the last 10 years or more and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions."
The report, however, pointed out that a death sentence was imposed in South Korea in 2022, while none were recorded in 2021, referring to the capital punishment given in June to Kwon Jae-chan, 54, charged with strangling a female acquaintance for money and murdering a male accomplice.
Amnesty International Korea said "The global community is watching when South Korea's pledge to abolish capital punishment would be carried out," calling on the country to move on to become a complete abolitionist.
(source: en.yna.co.kr)
AUSTRALIA:
Who was the last person in Australia to receive the death penalty?----Although it has been 55 years since the last person in Australia was killed by capital punishment, the practice is on the rise around the world according to a new report from Amnesty International.
On 3 February 1967, Ronald Ryan was the last person to receive the death penalty in Australia, before the practice was eventually abolished nationwide.
While it has been some 55 years since Australia enacted capital punishment, it is on the rise around the world according to a new report from Amnesty International.
In 2022 a total of 883 people were executed in 20 countries, the highest figure since 2017, according to the report.
“Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life," Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General said.
"Most recently, in a desperate attempt to end the popular uprising, Iran executed people simply for exercising their right to protest,” she said.
Who was Ronald Ryan, the last Australian to be executed?
Ronald Ryan was sentenced to death for shooting a prison warder during a botched escape in 1965.
After serving an initial prison term for gang-related crime, he was put in jail again in 1964 for robbery.
On the evening of a December Christmas party for the prison guards, Mr Ryan escaped with Peter Walker, there was a skirmish, and warder George Hodson was shot dead.
The pair were on the run for 17 days before being caught.
Mr Ryan was convicted of murder in 1966 and sentenced to death under Victoria’s mandatory sentencing legislation.
The judge presiding over Mr Ryan’s hanging at Pentridge Prison, Sir John Starke, was opposed to capital punishment and would have preferred to commute the death sentence, as was common practice at the time.
But he said that the then Victorian premier, Sir Henry Bolte, insisted that the sentence be carried out.
Mr Ryan's family had not been allowed to see him prior to his death, and nor were they allowed to visit his grave at the prison.
The case brought on widespread community opposition to the death penalty and it was eventually abolished in 1975 in Victoria.
NSW was the last state or territory to end the practice, in 1985.
How many people died by capital punishment around the world in 2022?
Amnesty International said the figure of 883 known executions was an increase of 53 % compared to 2021.
The recorded number of people executed for drug-related offences more than doubled in 2022 compared to 2021.
"Drug-related executions are in violation of international human rights law which states that executions should only be carried out for the ‘most serious crimes’ - crimes that involve intentional killing," Amnesty International said.
The spike in killings was led by countries in the Middle East and North Africa, where recorded figures rose from 520 in 2021, to 825 in 2022.
The organisation said 81 people had been executed in a single day in Saudi Arabia.
Thousands more are believed to have been killed in China according to the organisation but reliable data is not available.
Executions are also shrouded in secrecy in Vietnam and North Korea.
Recorded executions in Iran soared from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022 and Saudi Arabia recorded the highest number in 30 years, with 196 deaths.
9source: sbs.com.au)
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Saudi man executed for forming terrorist group to carry out attacks within Kingdom
A Saudi national in al-Qassim was executed for forming and orchestrating a terrorist group and for being in contact with other extremist groups in the region with the aim of carrying out attacks within the Kingdom, the Ministry of Interior said.
Yasser bin Mohammed al-Asmari was executed on Monday after different courts upheld the sentence and a royal order was issued to carry out the death sentence.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The ministry said in a statement that al-Asmari “formed a terrorist cell that aimed at carrying out terrorist acts, acts of sabotage within the Kingdom and to attack security personnel.”
He also contacted other terrorist groups to offer support for his cell and “offered his allegiance to the leader of a terrorist organization,” the statement said.
Al-Asmari was also charged with offering shelter for several extremists, recruiting and training them to make explosives as well as tasking them with setting targets for attacks.
Additionally, the ministry said that al-Asmari also fought in the areas of conflict in the region while also facilitating the way for others to join these areas.
(source: english.alarabiya.net)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Police arrest suspects growing narcotic plants in residential building----The Asian suspects have been charged with cultivating drugs with the intention of trafficking them
A group of suspects has been arrested in the UAE after they were found growing narcotic plants in their residential apartment. The Sharjah Public Prosecution has launched an investigation into the incident.
The Asian suspects have been charged with cultivating drugs with the intention of trafficking them. The prosecution did not reveal the exact nature of the drugs, but released a photo that showed marijuana plants.
According to the authority, a resident was conducting maintenance work on the air conditioning units in the building, when he saw some plants that he suspected were drug-bearing ones. He immediately informed the police.
A police team raided the apartment and found a “fully equipped tent nursery” with 6 plants. The team seized tools used in cultivating the drugs. Investigations suggest the suspects had prepared the apartment solely for this purpose.
The public prosecution cited a law that prohibits cultivating drug plants, with the maximum punishment for trafficking being the death penalty.
(source: Khaleej Times)
IRAQ:
Iraq sentences 2 to death on child rape charges
Iraqi courts on Monday sentenced 2 people to death by hanging on charges of raping minors, reported the country’s judiciary.
In April, a man in Basra confessed to kidnapping and raping a 7-year-old girl, before murdering her and putting her body in a trash can. The news sparked widespread anger across the country.
"Protecting children is a basic principle of a healthy contemporary life in countries and societies keen to preserve rights, preserve dignity and protect life," said Iraqi president Abdul Latif Rashid at the time in reaction to the crime, calling on the court to issue firm and decisive rulings in such instances.
The Basra criminal court sentenced the suspect to death on Monday, a bit over a month following his confession. Although the raping of the minor is mentioned, the suspect was sentenced in accordance with Article 406 of the Iraqi penal code which relates to the premeditated and willful killing of another person.
Baghdad’s Rusafa criminal court also sentenced a man to death charged with kidnapping and raping two children in the Iraqi capital, the statement from the judiciary added.
Another suspect was handed a 15 year imprisonment sentence by the Salahaddin criminal court on account of raping a minor, although he was sentenced according to an Article relating to sexual assault, not particularly rape.
The Iraqi penal code defines an imprisonment period not exceeding 15 years for any person charged with raping a man or a woman, but specifies child rape as “an aggravating circumstance” which could result in increasing the severity of the punishment.
Stigma around sexual violence is high in Iraq where the issue is wrapped up in notions of honor. As such, victims often hide the abuse and the problem is under-reported.
Awareness of gender-based and sexual violence is slowly growing across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, helped by numerous campaigns by the governments in Erbil and Baghdad, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations.
(source: rudaw.net)
IRAN----executions
60-year-old man executed. Execution of at least 7 prisoners in 1 day
According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, on Monday, May 15, 2023, at least 7 prisoners were executed in 1 day.
At least 7 prisoners sentenced to death in one day, in Khorram Abad, Bandar Abbas, Minab, Fereydon Kanar and Lakan prisons in Rasht. One of the defendants was a 60-year-old man.
According to the Iranian Human Rights Society, on Monday, May 15, 2023. At least 7 prisoners executed in one day. Also, the news of the execution of a prisoner who executed on May 15, 2023, in Rasht’s Lakan Prison, published in the media.
According to the report of the Judiciary News Agency, on the morning of Monday, May 15, 2023. 5 drug-related prisoners executed in Hormozgan province.
These executions took place in Bandar Abbas and Minab prisons. Haalvsh website announced that a Baloch prisoner named Abdul Rahman Musa Zahi, the father of two children, who arrested in Bandar Abbas 5 years ago and sentenced to death on charges related to drugs, executed in Bandar Abbas prison.
This site reported the execution of another Baloch prisoner named Jalal Rigi in Bandar Abbas prison. Jalal Rigi was 34 years old, the father of 4 children. He imprisoned in Bandar Abbas prison since 2018 on charges related to drugs.
It is possible that these 2 prisoners are among the prisoners announced by the judiciary.
On the same day, 2 prisoners named Mohammad Paydayar and Peyman Akbari Birgani, from Shushtar, executed in Khorram Abad prison. These 2 were drug suspects who transferred to solitary confinement two days ago to execute the sentence.
A 60-year-old prisoner named Hossein Shabanzadeh executed
On the other hand, the Rukna government website announced that on this day, a prisoner accused of murder executed in Faridounknar prison. This government website did not announce the name and details of this prisoner.
On May 11, 2023, a 60-year-old prisoner named Hossein Shabanzadeh executed in Lakan prison in Rasht. He is accused of murder.
In this way, at least 7 prisoners executed in 1 day in Iranian prisons.
It should be noted that after increasing number of executions of prisoners and acceleration of execution of their sentences by the judiciary, families of prisoners sentenced to death gathered in front of the Tehran judiciary and demanded a halt to executions.
(source: en.iranhrs.org)
*******************
Unnamed Man Executed for Murder in Fereydunkenar
Official state media have reported the execution of an unnamed man for murder in Fereydounkenar Prison in Mazandaran province.
According to IRNA, a man was executed in Fereydounkenar Prison on 15 May. Sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) for murder, he has only been identified by the initials M.A.
The report states he was sentenced to death for the murder of his wife and child.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
***************
Baluch Abdolrahman Mousazehi, Jalal Rigi and 3 Unidentifed Men Executed in Hormozgan
Official state media have reported the execution of 5 unnamed men in Bandarabbas and Minab prisons.
According to ISNA, 5 men were executed in Bandarabbas Central Prison and Minab Prison in Hormozgan province on 15 May. Official media have not named the men who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.
Hal Vash, which reports news and human rights violations in Sistan and Baluchistan province has identified two of the executed men as 37-year-old Abdolrahman Mousazehi from Zahedan and Jalal Rigi (Barahouyi) from Mirjaveh. The two men were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions on 13 May.
Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-6% of Iran’s population.
Baluch minorities also represented almost 1/2 of drug-related executions in 2022. 47.3% of the 256 people executed for drug-related charges were Baluch.
According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 256 people were executed for drug-related offences in 2022, a more than 2-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and 10 times more than 2020 (25).
************
Kiumars Menbari and Saeed Arjmandi Executed in Sanandaj
Kiumars Menbari and Saeed Arjmandi were executed for murder in Sanandaj Central Prison. Jamshid Karimi and Mostafa Salehi still await death penalty.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, 2 men were executed in Sanandaj Central Prison on 14 May. Their identities have been established as Kiumars Menbari (pictured) and Saeed Arjmandi who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.
Iran Human Rights warned of their imminent execution on 12 May. They were transferred for execution from Ward 6 of the prison.
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Jamshid Karami and Mostafa Salehi who were transferred for execution on 14 May, remain in solitary confinement awaiting execution. They are also on death row for murder.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.
(source for all : iranhr.net)
**************
Protests And Condemnation Ahead Of Isfahan House Executions
Iranians in the Islamic Republic and abroad have voiced their fears for 3 political prisoners whose execution is imminent.
Protestors gathered overnight outside the prison in Isfahan where Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashmi, and Saeed Yaqoubi await their death sentence, having been found guilty in a trial condemned as a travesty of justice by human rights campaigners.
They were convicted over the death of 2 IRGC’s Basij militia members and a police officer in protests of November last year, in what Persian media have dubbed the ‘Isfahan House’ case.
Responding to social media calls on Sunday night, people gathered outside Esfahan (Isfahan) Central Prison hoping to stop the executions. Videos posted by activists show dozens chanting slogans in front of the prison, while gunfire was also heard as thick smoke caused by teargas enveloped the area.
Following the increase in the executions of prisoners in recent weeks, families of those sentenced to death held a protest rally outside the Judiciary’s office in Tehran’s Keshavarz Street on Monday, demanding an end to the killing.
A similar rally was held last week outside Iran’s largest prison in Karaj hoping for mercy by the regime but by sunrise the prisoners were hanged.
Opposition activists say the death penalty is being used against the Isfahan House three as an intimidation tactic to stop further protests.
Campaigners say the prisoners were tortured into confessions, and there is no reliable evidence against them. According to an audio file released on Sunday of Kazemi talking to his cousin, he was coerced into confession by threats to his family of rape and death.
Exiled prince Reza Pahlavi tweeted on Sunday night, saying, “We must not allow this murderous regime to take another innocent life and turn another mother into a mourner.”
Prominent activist Masih Alinejad said: “We should not allow the regime of crime and madness to take more young people from us and make more families grieving.”
Canada-based dissident figure Hamed Esmaeilion, whose daughter and wife were killed in the shooting down of Flight PS752 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in 2020, tweeted, “When will the insanity stop? When will the free world stand behind its own values? How many more executions will it take for the world to stand up?”
Last week, Australian Senator Jordon Steele-John, a political sponsor of Majid Kazemi called on the Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong “to have an urgent meeting with her Iranian counterpart to do all they can to prevent the execution of Majid, which could happen at any moment”.
Iranian expatriate communities plan demonstrations against the executions in cities worldwide on Saturday, May 20.
Iran has always had a high number of executions but the number started to rise after President Ebrahim Raisi – the former head of the country’s notorious judiciary -- took office in August 2021.
The United Nations said last week that Iran has executed 209 people so far this year, calling the record "abominable".
(source: iranintl.com)
***************
Families of Prisoners Rally in Tehran, Bandar Abbas, and Isfahan----In Tehran, children held signs: Do not execute my father.
In a powerful display of discontent, the families of prisoners sentenced to execution gathered on Monday, May 15, outside the Judiciary building on Keshavarz Street in Tehran. They vehemently protested the rising number of executions and demanded an immediate halt to the unjust execution orders imposed on their loved ones.
Carrying heartfelt messages, the children of the prisoners held signs displaying phrases such as “Don’t execute my father” and “No to execution,” passionately urging an end to these acts of capital punishment. Meanwhile, the families of those convicted on drug-related charges chanted, “Don’t execute,” emphasizing their plea against the execution of their family members.
However, the State Security Force resorted to forceful measures, attacking the families’ peaceful gathering and preventing them from continuing their assembly.
Meanwhile, in Bandar Abbas, families of prisoners held a protest gathering outside the Prison of Bandar Abbas.
On the evening of Saturday, May 14, in Isfahan, a brave group of individuals voiced their concerns over the potential execution of 3 defendants. They organized a protest gathering outside Dastgerd prison. The participants clashed with suppressive forces, strongly opposing the execution orders. Responding to the people’s protest, agents of the regime deployed tear gas canisters to suppress the demonstration.
These protests come amidst alarming reports of executions in Iran. Since April 21, 2023, the mullahs’ regime has executed at least 90 individuals, heightening concerns.
Families of Prisoners Rally in Tehran, Bandar Abbas, and Isfahan
Execution reflects the regime’s situation in parallel with the conditions of society. For at least 6 months, people have taken to the streets, persistently demanding the downfall of the oppressive dictator. Their voices resonate across the rooftops and walls of the city, representing a profound desire for change.
Alongside the cycle of executions, Iran is witnessing a wave of intellectual migration and brain drain. Furthermore, the poverty line is soaring, the dollar price has reached unprecedented levels, and the value of the Iranian currency, the toman, is withering away like a dry leaf in the wind.
As tensions escalate and the socio-political climate remains turbulent, Iran faces a critical juncture where the regime’s actions and repercussions on society are being brought to the forefront, demanding immediate attention and resolution.
(source: women.ncr-iran.org)
****************
Iran's Unjust Executions for "Insulting the Prophet"
In early May, the Islamic Republic executed 2 men on charges of “insulting the Prophet” and “insulting Islamic sanctities.” Carrying out executions for blasphemy are very rare in Iran, as previous cases saw the sentences reduced by authorities.
In 2002, the Iranian judiciary sentenced Hashem Aghajari, a university professor and historian, to death for apostasy for making a speech urging Iranians to "not blindly follow" Islamic clerics. Following a domestic and international outcry, his sentence was reduced in 2004 to five years in prison after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered a retrial.
2 decades later, the judiciary hanged 2 Iranians on the same charges after an opaque judicial process and amid a dramatic surge in executions.
Death penalty on charges of insulting Prophet Muhammad and Islamic sanctities is one of the hudud punishments that are mandatory under Islamic jurisprudence, and the legislators of the Islamic Republic consider them divine orders that cannot be disputed. However, many Shia clergymen believe that such punishment cannot be carried out during the “Absence” of the “Hidden Imam,” the Shia Messiah. Others believes that hudud are allowed only when all Islamic commands such as Islamic banking and Islamic education have been carried out. And, according to Khamenei himself, Iran has an Islamic government but society is not Islamic and not all Islamic commands are carried out.
Even the Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic sets so many conditions for executing a defendant for insulting the Prophet or Islamic sanctities that it practically makes it impossible to hand down capital punishment on such charges.
The judiciary cited articles 262 and 513 of the Islamic Penal Code to charge the 2 men who were recently executed.
Article 262 states: “Anyone who swears at or insults the Great Prophet [of Islam] or any of the Great Prophets, shall be considered a Prophet-insulter and shall be sentenced to death. Note: Insulting, or swearing at, the [twelve Shia] Imams or the Holy Fatemeh [daughter of Prophet Mohammad] shall be regarded insulting the Prophet.”
And Article 513 states: “If considered a Prophet-insulter, any person who insults the sacred values of Islam or any of Great Prophets or the [twelve Shia] imams or the Holy Fatemeh shall be punishable by the death penalty; otherwise shall be sentenced to one to five years imprisonment.”
However, another article in the Islamic Penal Code affords the defendant a defense, and the judiciary has ignored this article.
According to a note attached to Article 263 of the Islamic Penal Code, “When a person insults the Prophet in a state of drunkenness, or anger or quoting someone else, if it is considered to be an insult, the offender shall be sentenced to a punishment of up to 74 lashes.”
The judiciary of the Islamic Republic says that the two accused ran Telegram channels where they insulted Islamic sanctities, but it conceded that they had removed these channels before they were arrested, meaning that they had become aware that they were committing a “sin.”
The two men were sentenced to death through an extremely opaque judicial process, and nothing has been reported about their defense. Assuming that they have had a chance to present a minimal defense, they must have argued that they committed the acts they were accused of out of ignorance and that they had no intention of committing blasphemy.
Therefore, sentencing them to death based on articles 262 and 513 and carrying out the executions was illegal and an example of extra-judicial executions. The court and the judiciary as a whole are abusing their power by bypassing the Islamic Republic's laws and by handing down illegal death sentences.
(source: iranwire.com)
**************
Execution of 8 Prisoners in Bandar Abbas, Minab, Khorram Abad Protests Against Cruel Death Sentences
The Khamenei regime executed 8 more prisoners in various prisons across Iran, namely Bandar Abbas, Minab, Khorram Abad, and Rasht.
This morning, May 15, 5 prisoners, including Jalal Rigi, Abdurrahman Musa Zehi, and Mehran Aminifar, were executed in Bandar Abbas and Minab prisons. Mohammad Paydar and Peyman Akbari Birgani were hanged in Khorram Abad prison, and 1 prisoner was hanged in Lakan prison in Rasht. These executions have resulted in an alarming increase in the number of recorded executions in less than a month, reaching a minimum of 90 prisoners. The actual number of executions is higher than reported.
In Tehran, families of prisoners facing death sentences staged a protest rally outside the regime’s judiciary on Keshavarz Street, demanding an end to the cruel punishment for their loved ones. Similar protests took place in Bandar Abbas, where the families held placards reading “No to execution” and “Don’t execute my father.”
On the evening of Sunday, May 14, a significant number of people in Isfahan gathered outside Dastgerd prison to protest against the execution of three prisoners who were arrested during the uprising, Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaqoubi, and Saleh Mirhashmi. Despite the repressive forces’ attempts to disperse the crowd with tear gas and gunfire, the protesters remained undeterred, chanting slogans such as “Death to Khamenei” and “This is the last message, if you execute there will be an uprising.”
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said that in recent days, Khamenei’s machinery of death has claimed the lives of even more individuals in the prisons of Bandar Abbas, Khorramabad, and Lakan of Rasht. She commended the courageous families who have fearlessly protested these heinous executions outside the Judiciary’s building in Tehran, as well as in Bandar Abbas. Saluting the brave people of Isfahan who showed their disgust and anger at the execution of the youth, she added that they reflect the determination of the Iranian nation to eradicate the evil regime of the mullahs and torture and execution. In order to save the lives of the prisoners, there should be protests and persistence everywhere.
(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) )
MAY 15, 2023:
FLORIDA----impending execution
40 years after conviction, Florida murderer, rapist will be killed by lethal injection next month
A man convicted of killing and raping 2 young women in 2 separate violent Florida attacks back in 1984 will be killed by lethal injection next month.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed Duane Owen’s death warrant last week — scheduling his execution for June 15.
Despite his many appeals to overturn his death sentence, the 62-year-old will die inside the Florida State Prison after serving nearly 40 years in a Raiford prison cell.
The Violent, Horrifying Crimes:
On March 24, 1984, Karen Slattery was dropped off at 6:30 p.m. at the Helm’s Delray Beach home to babysit the family’s 2 children. The 14-year-old was a diver at school, loved to do her friends’ hair, and had just recently gotten her braces off.
Her night started off as usual with the girls — but ended anything but.
Just after midnight, Mr. and Mrs. Helm arrived to a dark home. Most of the lights were off in the house and so was the TV — something he told police was extremely unusual. When Mr. Helm stepped inside his house, he noticed a pool of blood with a hammer laying next to it in his living room.
He immediately told his wife to go to a neighbor’s house and call 911. Seconds later, he spotted a trail of blood leading to the master bedroom — his two little girls were safe, and asleep, in their room.
When police arrived, investigators found Karen naked in the master bedroom — her bra and blouse were pulled up to her shoulders. A medical examiner said her cause of death was from the multiple stab wounds she sustained — 18 to be exact — her lung collapsing while fighting for her life. Karen’s autopsy showed she was sexually assaulted after her death.
Duane Owen confessed to the teen’s murder. In an audio transcript played during his murder trial, he told detectives he broke into the home through the bedroom window earlier in the night and spotted Karen braiding the young girls’ hair. He decided he’d leave, hit up a local bar for a few drinks, then go back to attack her.
2 hours after his initial break-in, around 11 p.m., he jumped back into the master bedroom through the window, grabbed a pair of women’s gloves he found in the room, and took a hammer that was in the bedroom closet.
He peeked out the master bedroom door, shut the little girl’s bedroom door, and saw Karen in the living room watching TV. She eventually spotted him and ran toward the phone. Owen lunged at Karen and the phone — and began stabbing her.
“Then I took her in the bedroom, just grabbed her feet and drug her, with her head behind, and just closed the door,” he confessed to investigators. “I just raped her.”
5 days later and 20 minutes south, 38-year-old Georgianna Worden was brutally attacked and killed inside her Boca Raton home while her two children slept inside.
Detectives said Georgianna was bludgeoned to death with a hammer and sexually assaulted. Her children found her dead the following morning as they got ready for school.
Prosecutors said that despite the fact Georgianna was bludgeoned to death and Karen was stabbed to death, the remaining facts of the murders were virtually identical.
On May 29, 1984, Owen was arrested for a Boca Raton burglary that had been reported on the same day as Georgianna’s murder. Due to the closeness of the crimes, detectives believed Owen was most likely responsible for both the burglary and the murder.
Once he was in custody, investigators were able to confirm a shoe print left behind at the Helm’s home matched one of Owen’s. He later confessed to both murders.
What’s Next:
A jury found Owen guilty of first-degree murder in both gruesome crimes in March 1986 — a jury recommended he be sentenced to death. In January 1992, a Supreme Court of Florida affirmed the convictions and death sentence. His motions for appeals and petitions for writ of habeas corpus were denied by state and federal judges from September 2000 to May 2009.
On May 9, 2023, Governor DeSantis enclosed his death warrant to Florida State Prison’s Warden and confirmed the execution time for 6 p.m. on June 15.
Typically, Florida inmates sentenced to death have the option of electrocution or lethal injection. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, the lethal “cocktail” has a few steps — a prisoner is first injected with a sedative, later jabbed with a paralyzer, and lastly shot up with potassium chloride — which stops the heart from beating