Three people hanged in Isfahan, Iran

3 people were hanged in the prison of Isfahan yesterday July 29, according to a report published by the official website of Isfahan judiciary.

According to the report one of those executed was convicted of extramarital relationship and murder and he was sentenced to execution and lashes (number not mentioned). He was hanged after the flogging was carried out.

The 2 others were convicted of murder and drug trafficking respectively.

Name and age of none of those executed was mentioned in the report.

Source: Iranhr.net, July 31, 2009

Pen Pal Ban for Prisoners Is Opposed

In her online profile, Paula Jones says she is 42, "nonjudgmental" and likes fishing, gardening and cuddling.

Ms. Jones, a Florida prison inmate, posted her listing on a Web site called WriteAPrisoner.com, but by doing that, she is breaking a rule. Florida officials have banned inmates like Ms. Jones, who will be in prison until at least 2010, from having the Match.com-style listings. Prison officials say inmates create problems for their outside-the-pen pals.

But now lawsuits in Florida and elsewhere are trying to get the bans revoked, saying that they are unfair and violate prisoners' constitutional rights.

"The public knows when they're writing to these people that they're prisoners," said Randall Berg Jr., a lawyer representing 2 pen pal groups including WriteAPrisoner.com, based in Florida that have sued in the state. "Nobody is being duped here."

Adam Lovell, the president of WriteAPrisoner.com, said the majority of the people who use his site to write to inmates are from religious groups, military people stationed overseas and others affected by the prison. Fraud is not as widespread as Florida corrections officials suggest, Mr. Lovell said.

In 2003, the Florida Department of Corrections began prohibiting inmates from advertising for pen pals or getting mail from pen pal groups. Inmates who continue to advertise can have privileges revoked. The department made the change after receiving complaints from people who had been taken advantage of and from victims and their families who saw prisoners' advertisements, said a department spokeswoman, Gretl Plessinger.

Other states Indiana, Missouri, Montana and Pennsylvania have similar restrictions. And lawsuits have been filed in some of those states, too.

In Indiana, the American Civil Liberties Union is representing prisoners protesting the state's policy, which also prevents inmates from advertising on Web sites or receiving mail from pen pal organizations.

The A.C.L.U. also says it is working on a lawsuit over Missouri's policy and investigating the policy in Montana, where inmates may not receive mail from people who identify themselves as a pen pal.

Source: New York Times, July 30, 2009

A combat Soldier on Death Row?

Prosecutors want to kill a 3-tour combat veteran who was prescribed dangerous drugs by the same government that trained him to kill.

Somewhere along the way, Americans convinced themselves that you can train a soldier to kill, send him to war, then bring him home and deactivate the killer inside with a magical switch.

We learned during the Vietnam War, or re-learned more specifically, that it doesn't work that way. When you train thousands to survive in combat, a percentage will not easily shed those skills.

A highly decorated 3-tour Iraq Army soldier named Nick Horner, a father of 2 beautiful children, snapped and did the unthinkable last year. The Iraq War vet went on an unprovoked shooting spree that left 2 people dead and a 3rd injured.

The powers to be want to put this decorated Veteran to death, but this is a country where people like Charles Manson spend years in confinement for generations.

The worst part is that the U.S. Army never even admitted that Horner suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Yet they took his gun away and sent him packing home before his third tour was complete. People who knew him said he was a different person upon his return. It costs the federal government money every time it grants a PTSD claim.

In the months leading up to his trial, Horner was evaluated by a Hollidaysburg psychiatrist named Dr. Edwin Tan, who stated that the combat vet suffers from war-related post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, panic disorder and sleep problems. But the doctor stopped short of saying Nick Horner's crimes were directly related to his war experiences.

The Crime

Testimony from court records indicates that April 6th started as a fairly normal for Nick Horner and his wife. According to Tan's court ordered report, Horner and his wife Windy dropped their kids off at school and then went to a Circuit City store. They also visited a computer repairman.

Then while stopping at Wal-Mart, Nick got into a verbal argument with another driver over a parking space. This led to an argument with his wife. Horner left and then robbed the Subway restaurant on 58th Street, killed Garlick and wounded another employee, Michele Petty, before killing Williams 3 blocks away.

Nick Horner told police he recalled entering the Holiday Bowl where he drank a pitcher of beer, but his next memory, according to what he told the doctor, was the police taser gun.

Death was nothing new or unusual for Horner or anyone else who was in Iraq at that time. Horner, who can't take loud sounds including helicopters and trains, talked about 2 fellow soldiers killed by a bomb dropped by am American Air Force plane. He told medical professionals that his PTSD began at this point.

Like other Iraq War vets, he was always on guard and his paranoia led to his choice to carry a gun. But Nick also was on a prescribed anxiety drug the day of the murders.

Ignoring the Signs

A friend in the U.S. received a phone call from Iraq about Nick, during his 3rd tour:

"A buddy of his that's a squad leader called me one time and said 'Your boy isn't doing too good over here.' They had to take his weapon a couple of times because he almost opened fire on what he thought was threats."

The same friend that said when he heard about the shootings at the Subway restaurant, he knew right away that Nick Horner had gone into combat mode.

"I saw the newscast and then I read the story. Right away I identified that Nick was doing what he was trained to do. He did a rear-door entry. Unfortunately the gentleman he ran into at the park must have been in some sort of zone and posed a threat. That's probably why he tried to take him out," the friend said.

As one of Nick Horner's friends who wrote to Salem-News.com said, what he did was wrong, but what Uncle Sam did to Nick Horner was wrong.

"Moreover, the government is clearly dishonest in denying that Nick's crimes are a result of his war experiences. Surely it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that Nick is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

That's the position of the prosecutors. The interesting part is that there probably aren't any members of this team who ever visited or served in Iraq. As a result, these attorneys have a profound lack of understanding that quite logically would block their full understanding of PTSD.

In a nation that fights wars without cause or justification, Nick Horner ultimately became a killer for lack of opportunity. He clearly knew he didn't want to return to Iraq a third time. He tried to tell the military, but the response was that he would be kicked out of he didn't go, and his family needed the money.

Denying the OBVIOUS

Nick Horner's friend says the 94th Engineering Battalion, 77th Company that Nick was a part of, was not fully ready for the last deployment.

"Nick did not feel he was fit to deploy to Iraq for his 3rd tour. Nick had requested to be seen by a Psychiatrist at the Post Hospital prior to deployment to evaluate his mental status because as Nick put it, 'He was having alot of really f...ed up dreams'."

His friend explains that Nick would talk about these "dreams" and how he would go into detail of seeing small children blowing up from bombs hidden in their clothes. The psychiatrist at the military post placed Nick on anti-anxiety medication and the dosage that were much higher than Nick should have been taking.

"While in Iraq, Nick began having adverse reactions to the medications. He came upon a group of civilians and was unable to determine in his mind that they were friendlies. He locked and loaded his weapon and was preparing to fire. His weapon was immediately retrieved by a fellow soldier. Upon returning to the FOB the Commander relinquished Nick of his weapon and ordered him to seek medical from the Combat Stress Team."

But the Army never agreed that Horner has PTSD, and the prosecutors are willing to overlook and sidestep hard evidence complied by the federal government.

Nick was told that if he could not be in Iraq, he did not deserve to be in the Army. He went through a series of medical appointments for the stress and anxiety disorders.

"He had been given numerous different medications with varying dosages, and at times became so drugged that he could not even get out of bed."

Nick's friend who wrote to us, says he started to wander aimlessly.

"He arrived at my home at one point and when I touched his shoulder he jumped and said, 'How the Hell did I get here'?"

"I said, 'Nick, you came where you felt the safest'."

"He told me he felt he was losing his mind. He was covered in Deer Ticks and he said he had no idea how he got to my house. Later to find out he had walked 3 miles through the woods in 100 degree weather. He had been at another friend's house and just walked away for no reason.

Another episode happened in the evening that is probably completely tied to Horner's war experiences.

On this night, Nick just got on a mountain bike and started riding down the street.

"He was found 10 miles away in a construction area. He had crashed the bicycle into a barrier and had flown over the handle bars and landed in a large, muddy hole that was at least 8 feet deep. He had no recollection of leaving his house or where he was going or anything. He was upset that he was muddy, and had injured his back and had a bump on his head."

The last major episode Nick's friend relates, deals with the time Nick Horner was driving, when he lost focus and forgot that he was driving.

"He swerved off the road and plowed into a parked motorcoach nearly killing himself. Again, he did not even know what happened."

Nick Horner's friend says this veteran returned from Iraq as a changed person. "He would try to smile, but you could tell it pained him. He would stare into space and not respond to anyone. He was lost, and he was scared of the future."

Horner also is reported to have had serious problems working with the local VA. He told his friend he felt like he was being treated like a number.

"He tried desperately to get them to listen, again going to many appointments and going through med changes. He was doing what he was supposed to do and the VA was not doing what they were supposed to."

Horner's friend says Nick had NO intention of robbing anyone or killing anyone or even hurting anyone.

A Different Take on the Story

"He was at the bowling alley to sign his wife and children up for a family bowling league because he felt that would only help strengthen their bond. When he left, he was taking the simplest route to his home. From the bowling alley to the rear of the Subway restaurant, something went wrong."

From what the friend understands, the rear section of this Subway store looks very similar to some of the buildings in Iraq that Nick was tasked with clearing including the brown metal door.

"Something triggered Nick and he approached the door cautiously. He BANGED on the door to investigate with his pistol drawn as if in a search mode. When the 19-year old opened the door, words were exchanged and Nick recognized the boy as a hostile and fired his weapon."

The friend says Nick entered the store using a sweeping movement until coming to the main section.

"Nick did NOT ask for money, the cashier assumed it was a robbery and filled a bag with the money and threw it to Nick. The female employee startled Nick and he fired. He left the store feeling it was secure and proceeded down a route familiar to him. A gentleman appeared suddenly and Nick fired. He searched the body to see if there was any threat from it. Retrieving mail and keys, he left the area. He was trying to return to his team."

In this version of the story, which has received little play, Nick Horner, in a blackout essentially, was trying to locate his team.

"He was confronted with Police Officers and recognized them as his unit. He struggled slightly and then surrendered realizing they were police. Nick did not know what happened until the next day when he woke up in jail and asked 'why am I here', unaware of what had happened," his friend said.

His friends and family say Nick has been in the jail since April 6th and has not received proper treatment.

"He has been refused medication on numerous occasions, denied clothing and denied general population. They have kept him in solitary confinement for most of his stay in the jail."

What it really comes down to, is whether or not Nick Horner's war experiences led him to commit 2 Murders and shoot a 3rd person. Horner didn't have a plan, he didn't rob a bank or have a getaway car. What he did is tragic and he certainly deserves to be treated accordingly, but the death penalty will not achieve any goals.

What it does do is demonstrate that the government is willing to create killers, not maintain them, and then end their lives as an answer to the madness the government itself created. Maybe we should choose our wars more carefully, but it is too late for that. Killing Nick Horner is a little like killing every American who did their best serving in that dangerous, frightening place.

Federal Lies About PTSD

Army psychologist secretly discusses pressure not to diagnose PTSD.

Salon.com published an article titled "I am under a lot of pressure to not diagnose PTSD", coincidentally 2 days later on April 8 2009, featuring an audio clip of a secret recording revealing that the Army and Veterans Administration are pushing medical staffs not to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Army and Senate have ignored the implications according to Salon.com, and anyone paying attention to these developments knows this is consistent with the VA's pattern to date of absolutely and completely failing to fulfill its appointed mission. The agency needs funding greatly amplified if they ever want to seriously undertake that commitment.

The system simply hasn't been designed to work with consistency. Some VA centers in wealthy communities packed with retired military like Phoenix, Arizona, receive praise from the vets who use services there.

Other VA centers which see a lot more in the way of young veterans, are overwhelmed sometimes beyond description. The money within the VA is not always fairly distributed.

This is not to imply that there aren't a lot of qualified professionals in the VA. There are those fighting from within and their contributions are nearly invaluable.

The Internet is allowing us to break boundaries, and mounting public pressure will hopefully lead to vastly needed funding and improvements for vets.

Dr. Leveque says the cost of PTSD in our society carries an enormous price tag, that is if it is going to be effectively treated.

"It's going to cost a trillion dollars to settle these guys down. The war in Iraq has been different from anything the U.S. had. In 'Nam you went for 12 months and some went back for repeat tours, usually if they chose to. In this war they just keep being sent back over and over again."

Nick's sister Dawn believes the Army has failed her brother and the whole Altoona and Johnstown area.

"We thought the Army was taking care of his mental problems, we were wrong...They were only concerned about how much money they would lose if they had to treat him and all the other soldier that have PTSD!!! This a crime and we need to prevent this from happening again. Contact your Congressmen and women stand up and help us prevent this from ever happening again."

I explained to Dr. Leveque that some people believe the sounds of the bowling alley Nick had visited just before the Subway robbery, may have been what set the incident off.

Leveque said, "These guys, every person with this level of PTSD has his own trigger point where something sets them off. At this point he's got a hair trigger for PTSD and you don't know what he is going to do."

"As you know there are a lot of returning vets who are killing their wives. If these guys get a little drunk, that's probably the worst thing they can do is lose their inhibition."

Source: Salem-News, July 30, 2009

Human Rights group: China is world's top executioner

A human rights group says the number of people put to death worldwide decreased in 2008, and that China retained its position as the world's top executioner.

The anti-death penalty group Hands Off Cain says in Wednesday's report about 2008 and the first 6 months of this year that Iran and Saudi Arabia also appear near the top of the list of the world's top executioners.

The group said at least 5,727 executions were carried out in 2008, down from 5,851 the year before. It says that 46 countries kept the death penalty last year, 3 fewer than in 2007.

The group estimates that China conducted at least 5,000 executions, or 87.3 % of the total. It is the same figure as last year.

The United States executed 37 people 5 fewer than 2007.

Source: Associated Press, July 30, 2009

China Pledges to Reduce Death Sentences

China, which executes more people than any other country, says it will show more leniency to those given death sentences, state media reported Wednesday.

In a series of interviews, the vice president of the Supreme People's Court said that China was not ready to abolish capital punishment but that the penalty should be reserved for a small number of serious crimes, particularly those that threaten social stability.

More than 60 crimes can draw the death penalty in China, including tax evasion, embezzlement and drug trafficking, but the government does not release figures on the number of executions, many of which take place immediately after a defendant's conviction.

"Judicial departments should use the least number of death sentences as possible, and death penalties should not be given to those having a reason for not being executed," Zhang Jun, the courts vice president, was quoted as saying in the newspaper China Daily.

Human rights groups like Amnesty International estimate that more than 1,700 people were put to death in China in 2008, a sharp drop from previous years in which as many as 15,000 executions took place. The United States, by contrast, put to death 37 people last year. The number of executions in China began dropping in 2001 not long after Beijing was chosen as the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics but they have fallen more sharply since 2007, when the countrys high court was given the power to review all capital punishment cases.

Last year, according to China Daily, the court overturned 10 % of all death sentences meted out by lower courts. Although he did not spell out exactly how the judiciary would restrict the use of capital punishment, Mr. Zhang suggested that the number of eligible crimes would be scaled back through legislation and that provincial courts would be encouraged to mete out a sentence known as "death penalty with reprieve."

He noted that in recent cases, the high court had overturned death sentences for crimes of passion or for convicts who expressed remorse and vowed to compensate their victim's relatives. As an example, he cited a man surnamed Shao who was convicted of killing his girlfriend after learning of her affair. Mr. Zhang said the high court suspended Mr. Shao's death sentence because he showed regret and pledged compensation for the woman's family.

Other mitigating factors were that the victim's behavior may have provoked the boyfriend's violence and in the end, Mr. Zhang added, the crime did not "have a major social impact."

He Weifang, a law professor at Peking University and a vocal critic of the death penalty, said that despite pressure from Chinese legal experts and international rights organizations, most people in China support capital punishment as a means to control crime and exact vengeance.

"Throughout Chinese history, there has always been an emphasis on public executions, the more cruel the better," he said. "But civilization has evolved, and its time we abandon, or at least severely limit, the use of capital punishment."

Source: New York Times, July 30, 2009

Saudi Arabian beheaded by the sword

July 26, 2009: a Saudi Arabian man who shot to death a compatriot following an argument was beheaded by the sword near the capital Riyadh, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
Mussalat al-Morshadi was found guilty of killing Hudhal al-Otaibi.

Source: Agence France Presse, 26/07/2009

Iran: two executed for terrorism

July 25, 2009: two members of the Rigi group were hanged in Iran.

According to an announcement by the Sistan-Baluchestan Justice Department, Ayyub Rigi and Mas'ud Gomshadzehi were executed for fighting against God and corruption on earth.

Their sentence was carried out in Zahedan prison grounds.

Sources: BBC, 25/07/2009

North Korea: woman executed for distributing Bible

July 24, 2009: Ri Hyon Ok, a Christian woman accused of distributing the Bible, a book banned in communist North Korea, was publicly executed on June 16 for the “crime”, South Korean activists said.

The 33-year-old mother of three was also accused of spying for South Korea and the United States, and of organizing dissidents, the Seoul-based “Investigative Commission on Crime Against Humanity” reported, citing documents obtained from the North. Her children and husband were sent to a prison camp near the city of Hoeryong after she was executed in the northwestern city of Ryongchon – near the border with China.

Source: Associated Press, 24/07/2009

Japan executes three for multiple murders

OKYO (AFP) – Japan on Tuesday hanged three inmates convicted of multiple murders including a Chinese national and a middle-aged man who found his victims through an Internet suicide site, the justice minister said.

The government identified the condemned as Hiroshi Maeue, 40, Yukio Yamaji, 25, and Chinese national Chen Detong, 41, who had killed three of his compatriots and wounded three more Chinese people.

All three men had committed "grave and cruel" crimes and "taken precious lives with very selfish motives," Justice Minister Eisuke Mori said after the sentences were carried out in Tokyo and the western city of Osaka.

Maeue, executed in Osaka, killed three people including a 14-year-old in 2005 after he got to know them separately through an Internet website where people contemplating ending their lives meet to make suicide pacts.

Maeue arranged to meet his victims under the pretense they would jointly commit suicide through carbon monoxide poisoning. He then lured them into a van in a parking lot, tied their hands and feet and choked them to death.

He confessed to deriving sexual pleasure from watching people suffocate.

Yamaji, also executed in Osaka, raped and then stabbed to death two sisters, stole their money and set fire to their apartment in 2005.

Chen, the Chinese national, was executed in Tokyo for killing three of his compatriots and injuring three more in Kawasaki, southwest of Tokyo, in 1999.

Japan, which executed four convicted murderers in January, is the only major industrial nation other than the United States to impose the death penalty.

Capital punishment is overwhelmingly supported by the public in Japan, which has one of the world's lowest crime rates.

But Japan has regularly come under fire from the European Union and campaigners over its use of the death penalty, especially its practice of hanging inmates without any prior warning for them or their families.

Makoto Teranaka, of Amnesty International's Japanese chapter, said after the latest executions Tuesday that "this is a grave act that cannot be permitted amid international calls to suspend capital punishment".

Despite the criticism, conservative governments have stepped up the pace of executions. Last year Japan hanged 15 death-row inmates, the highest number since 1975, when the country executed 17 people.

The latest executions came as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party faces August 30 elections. The opposition has said it would "encourage national debate over capital punishment" if it takes power.

Source: AP, July 28, 2009

Hangings continue unabated in Iran

Iran Human Rights, July 24: A woman identified as Sakineh Mohammadi, is in danger of being stoned to death by the Iranian authorities in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, wrote the human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei in his weblog.

Mohammad Mostafaei who has taken the responsibility of defending Sekineh writes: Sekineh Mohammadi who has been in the central prison of Tabriz the last four years is convicted of adultry. She was previously sentenced to 99 lashes for adultry and the sentence has already been carried out.

Besides the lashes, she has also been sentenced to death by stoning. Teh stoning verdict has been approved by the supreme court and is in the section for implementation of the verdict, according to Mr. Mostafaei.

Mohammad Mostafaei has already written a letter to head of the Iranian judiciary Mahmoud Shahroudi, asking him to remove the stoning verdict.

According to Mr. Mostafaei, Sekineh is at imminent danger of death by stoning.

Iran Human Rights, July 23: A 21 years old man was hanged in the prison of Estahban (Fars province, southern Iran), reported the Iranian daily newspaper Kayhan today.

The man was identified as "Edris F." and convicted of sexual assault on younger girls, according to the report.

The report didn’t say when the alleged assaults had taken place.

At least 60 people have been hanged in Iran so far in the month of July 2009.

Iran Human Rights, July 23: One man was hanged in the prison of Semnan (northern Iran) early Wednesday July 22, reported the official Iranian news agency Irna.

The man was identified as "Mohammad Khalesipour" and convicted of murdering his wife according to the report.

According to the official reports, at least 59 people have been executed since the beginning of July 2009 in Iran.

Iran Human Rights, July 22: Two men were hanged in the prison of Isfahan yesterday July 21, reported the Iranian daily Etemad today.

The men are identified as Esmaeil (23) and Moslem (28) and were convicted of murder in two separate cases, according to the report.

At least 59 people have been executed in the first three weeks of July 2009.

Iran Human Rights, July 22: One woman was hanged in the prison of Qazvin, west of Tehran, according to the Iranian daily Etemaad-e-melli. The woman who was not identified by name was convicted of murdering her father in law, but due to her econimic situation she couldn’t afford a lawyer to prove that she didn’t kill him delibrately, according to the report.

According to the Human rights activists news agency, she had been in the prison for four years and was hanged on Tuesday July 15.

Iran Human Rights, July 21: Four men were hanged in the prison of Qom, south of Tehran, reported the government newspaper "Iran", today.

The men were identified as Reza, Gholamhossein, Reza and Hossein, and were convicted of sexualt assault of a girl identified as "Narges" in 2007, said the report.

The report didn’t say when exactly the hanging took place. But it is believed that the men were hanged yesterday July 20.

Five other young men were executed in relation with the same case in May 2008.

All together 9 people have been hanged convicted of murder and sexual assault of Narges.

"Ali", the only surviving person in this case is waiting for the final verdict.

Iran Human Rights, July 15: Three people were hanged in the prison of Isfahan (central Iran) yesterday July 14., reported the Iranian daily Etemad.

The men were identified as Mohammadreza, Hossein and Naser and were all convicted of drug trafficking.

At least 53 people have been executed in the last two weeks in Iran.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson of Iran Human Rights said: We are concerned about the increasing number of executions in Iran, which without any doubt are meant to spread fear amon the people. More people are in danger of imminent execution. The international community and UN must react now".

Source: Iran Human Rights, July 27, 2009

Three men were hanged in southeastern Iran

Iran Human Rights, July 25: Three men were hanged in the prison of Zahedan, sooutheastern Iran, early today, according to a statement published in the official website of the judiciary in Zahedan.

Two of the men were convicted of Moharebeh ("in fight with the God", a term used for those who fight against the Iranian authorities), and membership in Abdolmalek Rigi’s group Jondollah, according to the statement.

The men were identified as Ayub Rigi Khales, son of Allahyar; and Masoud Gomshahzehi son of Bedolhan, according to the statement.

On July 14., 13 others were hanged in the prison of Zahedan convicted of the same charges.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson of Iran Human Rights said: "According to our sources some of the prisoners who were hanged on July 14 in Zahedan, did not have any connection to Jondollah, and were not even aware of that they were going to ba hanged."

"We will publish some details about Zahedan’s arbitrary executions in the near future" added Amiry-Moghaddam.

A third man identified as Seyyed Ahmad Es’hagh zahi, was executed convicted of drug trafficking according to the Iranian state run news agency ILNA.

Source: Iran Human Rights, July 27, 2009

Saudi Arabia:man put to death for murder

July 15, 2009: a Saudi man convicted of the murder of a fellow citizen was beheaded by the sword in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

Musaffar Otaibi was found guilty of killing Hamad al-Ruq with a blow to the head with a stick following an argument.

Source: Agence France Presse, 15/07/2009

Iran executes woman who could not afford lawyer

July 14, 2009: a woman in Iran who unintentionally killed her father-in-law in the course of a family dispute in 2005 was executed in Qazvin prison’s facilities for women.

The woman had no money and was unable to hire a lawyer, and was sentenced to death on the law of “equal punishment”.

The victim’s family refused to forgive her and the court order was carried out.

Source: Iran Press Watch, 19/07/2009

Natural causes biggest threat on Pennsylvania death row

10 years ago, Gary Heidnik had 2 slices of cheese pizza and a couple of cups of black coffee, met with his daughter, and spent the rest of the day on his bed or pacing his cell. That night, he was given a lethal injection for imprisoning, torturing and murdering two women in the basement of his Philadelphia home.

In the decade since, Pennsylvania has executed no one. Its death row is the fourth-largest in the nation, yet the 218 men and 5 women are far more likely to die of natural causes than injected chemicals, gas, electricity or bullets.

Since the commonwealth reinstated the death penalty in 1978, 3 inmates have been executed; all had dropped their appeals. At least 7 times that number have passed away, most of natural causes such as cancer or heart failure, while awaiting execution, according to an informal Corrections Department tally.

To find a Pennsylvania inmate unwillingly put to death, you have to go back almost half a century to the last use of the electric chair.

"I think it is indicative of a split: people want the death penalty but don't want a lot of executions," said Richard Dieter of the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center.

It wasn't always so in Pennsylvania. The commonwealth has recorded more than 1000 executions in its history, starting with public hangings in the time of the early colonists. Hundreds were put to death in the electric chair during the 1st half of the 20th century.

Supporters of the death penalty attribute the recent dearth to resistance in the courts, while opponents point to errors in past cases discovered during the close scrutiny of the appeals process.

Defense attorneys say there's good reason for the modern reluctance, given recent high-profile exonerations of death row inmates. Last year, Nicholas Yarris, freed from Pennsylvania's death row in 2004 after 23 years behind bars on murder and rape convictions, reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the county in which he was prosecuted.

"When you look at some of the people who have been exonerated, it's quite a frightening thing to know that we could have been executing an innocent person," said Charles Cunningham of the Defender Association of Philadelphia. "It's bad enough to put an innocent person in jail, but to take that person's life, it's horrifying."

A 2007 American Bar Association assessment noted such cases and chided the commonwealth for not taking steps to make erroneous convictions less likely, such as ordering preservation of biological evidence and recording interrogations. A state Supreme Court committee in 2003 called for a moratorium, saying minorities make up 2/3 of the inmates on death row.

New Jersey became the 1st state in 4 decades to abolish the death penalty in 2007, and New Mexico followed suit this year. Others are considering doing the same, citing not only concerns about possible execution of the innocent or bias in application, but also concerns about the cost of the system.

"You could be maintaining them in prison for less, but that's essentially what they are: they are in prison for life through an expensive process," Dieter said.

Prosecutors, however, defend the use of capital punishment and state lawmakers have shown no inclination to end it.

"It would be ironic to repeal the death penalty, if the people believe it's an appropriate punishment in a very small number of cases, merely because opponents of the death penalty have tried to frustrate its operation," Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Ronald Eisenberg said.

35 states allow the death penalty, but only 9 or 10 in a typical year have executions; of the 37 last year, most were in the Southand most of those occurred in Texas. California has the nation's largest death row with 678 inmates but has had only 13 executions since 1978.

Dieter said he believes all elements in the justice system, prosecutors, juries, state and federal courts, governors have to be willing to impose the ultimate penalty for it to be applied regularly. That is the case in Texas, for example, but not in other jurisdictions, where at least one element finds fault with the option or the way it is applied.

"I think there's a lot of ambivalence about the death penalty, but not enough to overturn it, not enough to completely eradicate or abolish it," he said. "That's a hard vote for a legislator or governor. So you have this stalemate."

Duquesne University law professor Bruce Ledewitz, a former secretary for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, says that while polls show that the public backs the death penalty in Pennsylvania, the support appears less strong than in other states and the issue has not been made a political priority.

"For years, I used to tell people 'Just wait, the floodgates will open and we'll have a ton of executions,'" Ledewitz said. "I no longer say that anymore, because for some reason it's not happening. ... I don't see any evidence that it will."

Since Heidnik's death, Pennsylvania has come close to executions a few times.

In 2000, Daniel Saranchak was to be executed for the 1993 shooting deaths of his grandmother and uncle, but a federal judge ordered a new trial, citing an ineffective lawyer. And George Banks was to be put to death in 2004 for the 1982 massacre of 13 people, but a state judge said he was too mentally ill.

On July 6, 10 years to the day after Heidnik's execution, Rendell signed the death warrant of an Altoona man who petitioned the governor to do so. Walter Wright III was convicted of killing the husband of a woman he had dated briefly after bursting into their home early Thanksgiving morning in 1998.

Wright, who has maintained his innocence, is scheduled for execution Sept. 3. Federal public defenders, though, immediately jumped in with a request to halt the proceedings while they map out an appeal on constitutional issues leaving the death chamber unused into another decade.

Source: Associated Press ; Picture: Prison photography, July 24, 2009


Facts About Pennsylvania's Death Penalty

PENNSYLVANIA'S RECENT EXECUTIONS: Gary Heidnik died by lethal injection July 6, 1999, for the torture murders of 2 women. Leon Moser died by lethal injection Aug. 16, 1995, for the shooting deaths of his wife and 2 daughters. Keith Zettlemoyer died by lethal injection May 2, 1995, for the murder of a friend who planned to testify against him

PENNSYLVANIA'S LAST EXECUTION OF INMATE WHO HAD NOT DROPPED APPEALS: Elmo Smith was electrocuted April 2, 1962, for the rape/slaying of a 17-year old girl.

INMATES WHO HAVE DIED AWAITING EXECUTION IN PENNSYLVANIA: 21 since 1983, most due to natural causes; 2 suicides

PENNSYLVANIA DEATH ROW: 223 inmates, including 5 women, the nation's 4th-largest death row, behind California, Texas and Florida. Condemned men are held in restricted housing at state prisons in Greene and Graterford, women at Muncy State Prison. Executions are carried out at Rockview State Prison near State College.

EXONERATIONS/NEW TRIALS: Eight inmates sentenced to death have had their sentences vacated and been released, some due to new evidence such as DNA. New trials ordered in 118 cases have resulted in life sentences or lengthy terms short of life. 6 inmates granted new trials have been convicted and resentenced to death.

DEATH WARRANTS: Since taking office in January 2003, Gov. Ed Rendell has signed 94 execution warrants. Former Gov. Mark Schweiker signed 18, and former Gov. Tom Ridge signed 220.

EXECUTION HISTORY: Pennsylvania recorded 1040 executions through 1962, beginning with hangings by the early colonists. The commonwealth was the first state to abolish public hangings in 1834, after which prisoners were hanged inside county jails. In 1913, the state took over executions using the electric chair, putting 350 inmates to death from 1915 to 1962. Lethal injection was adopted as the execution method in 1990.

MUMIA ABU-JAMAL: Perhaps the nation's most famous death row inmate and one of the longest-serving in Pennsylvania, convicted of the 1981 murder of a police officer. Abu-Jamal lost his bid for a new trial earlier this year. Prosecutors are appealing an order for a new penalty hearing at which he could get a life sentence rather than death.

Sources: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; Death Penalty Information Center, Washington.

China executes 196 Uighurs

July 18, 2009: a Chinese court sentenced 196 Uighurs to death, accusing them in participation in the unrests, APA reported, quoting Kanal D.

The court decision was immediately executed and all accused persons were shot dead.

It is not clear where the execution took place or if the government handed the bodies to their relatives.

Source: APA.az, 20/07/2009

Iran: man hanged in Semnan

One man was hanged In Semnan (northern Iran) yesterday

One man was hanged in the prison of Semnan (northern Iran) early Wednesday July 22, reported the official Iranian news agency Irna.

The man was identified as "Mohammad Khalesipour" and convicted of murdering his wife according to the report.

According to the official reports, at least 59 people have been executed since the beginning of July 2009 in Iran.

Source: Iranhr.net, July 23, 2009

Sister Helen Prejean: Starting a conversation with President Obama

President Obama met with the press before his visit with Pope Benedict on July 10. He talked about how he admired Cardinal Bernardine’s “seamless garment” approach to pro-life, that the cardinal included in its scope a wide range of issues: “He was concerned about poverty, he was concerned with how children were treated, he was concerned about the death penalty…”

Now here’s interesting fodder for a conversation with President Obama. For starters: “Aren’t you, too, very, very concerned about the fact that already 135 innocent people have been released from death row? How many will it take before we recognize the failed system? Not to mention the shocking, appalling racist application of the death penalty presently carried out in the Deep South states.”

Do you have any ideas about how we might get a conversation going with President Obama and his wife, Michelle, about this issue? Would you like to help us mount a young people’s letter writing campaign to the White House to end the death penalty in the U.S.?

Think boldly. Organize strategically. Act quickly. Please respond and let me know your thinking!

- Sister Helen, July 22, 2009

Iran: three hanged

One woman was hanged in the prison of Qazvin, west of Tehran, according to the Iranian daily Etemaad-e-melli. The woman who was not identified by name was convicted of murdering her father in law, but due to her econimic situation she couldnt afford a lawyer to prove that she didn't kill him delibrately, according to the report.

According to the Human rights activists news agency, she had been in the prison for 4 years and was hanged on Tuesday July 15.

Two men were hanged in the prison of Isfahan yesterday July 21, reported the Iranian daily Etemad today.

The men are identified as Esmaeil (23) and Moslem (28) and were convicted of murder in 2 separate cases, according to the report.

At least 59 people have been executed in the first 3 weeks of July 2009.

Source: Iranhr.net, July 22, 2009

Four people were hanged in Qom, south of Tehran, Iran

Four men were hanged in the prison of Qom, south of Tehran, reported the government newspaper "Iran", today.

The men were identified as Reza, Gholamhossein, Reza and Hossein, and were convicted of sexualt assault of a girl identified as "Narges" in 2007, said the report.

The report didn't say when exactly the hanging took place. But it is believed that the men were hanged yesterday, July 20.

Five other young men were executed in relation with the same case in May 2008.

Altogether nine people have been hanged convicted of murder and sexual assault of Narges.

"Ali", the only surviving person in this case is waiting for the final verdict.

Source: Iranhr.net, July 22, 2009

Death penalty is abolished in Kazakhstan

Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s President, has signed the law abolishing death penalty in all cases except acts of terrorism entailing loss of life and especially grave crimes committed in wartime. The law includes the right to seek pardon.

Abolishing the death penalty has been one of the main objectives of President Nazarbayev. Back in December 2003, the Kazakh President signed a presidential decree which imposed a moratorium on the death penalty. The moratorium remained in operation until the final abrogation of capital punishment in Kazakhstan this week.

This new law follows President Nazarbayev’s proposal of a series of political reforms in 2007 including capital punishment.

The law will adjust legislation on death penalty in accordance with the Kazakh Constitution. Amendments concerning crimes punishable with life imprisonment have also been added to the Criminal Code.

The resolution of the Committee for Legislation & Legal Reforms of the Majilis (the Kazakh Parliament’s Lower Chamber) with regard to the amendments to the Criminal Code on the issues of capital punishment was signed earlier this year, on March 25th, by Serik Baymaganbetov, Chairman of the Committee.

When Kazakhstan introduced a moratorium on death penalty in December 2003, the decision was welcomed by the international community that acknowledged that this represented a fundamental advance in the promotion of human rights and an important contribution towards the universal abolition of the death penalty.

Source: Kazakhstanlive.com, July 22, 2009

Expansion Of Federal Death Penalty Counter To Furthering Civil Rights, Says ACLU

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate yesterday passed an amendment extending the death penalty for certain hate crimes. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), was added to the hate crimes amendment to the Defense authorization bill that passed last Thursday. In a letter sent to Senators, the American Civil Liberties Union urged lawmakers to oppose this misguided and wrong expansion of the federal death penalty.

“The expansion of the federal death penalty stands in stark contrast to furthering the cause of civil rights in the United States,” said Christopher Anders, ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel. “The death penalty is always wrong. Capital punishment has been proven to be such an expensive and discriminatory punishment that Congress should oppose any effort to expand its scope and reach. At a time when evidence is mounting that scores of innocent defendants have been sentenced to death, Congress should steer clear of expanding the death penalty."

Problems, such as inadequate defense counsel and racial disparities, have always plagued the death penalty system in the United States. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 135 innocent people have been exonerated from death row since 1973, including five so far in 2009 alone.

In addition to this death penalty amendment, the ACLU also did not support the underlying hate crime provision in the defense authorization bill which would have a chilling effect on free speech and association. The U.S. House of Representatives has a welcome version of the hate crimes bill that protects speech and association as well as gives the federal government new authority to prosecute certain violent acts based on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

Source: ACLU, July 21, 2009

Ohio: Marvallous Keene executed. USA's 1000th via lethal injection

Marvallous Keene, Dayton's notorious "Christmas killer," was put to death by lethal injection this morning at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.


Marvallous Keene could die only once. That was not enough for family members of some of his victims.

Keene, 36, paid the ultimate price today for a Christmastime killing spree in Dayton in 1992 that left 5 people dead and a string of broken lives and dreams.

Keene died at 10:36 a.m. from a lethal injection of chemicals administered at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. "No, I have no words," he said when asked whether he had any last words.

Seven witnesses, including 2 in wheelchairs, for the victims watched the execution from a witness room adjacent to the death chamber.

Keene was the 2nd serial killer to be executed in Ohio in a week, following John Fautenberry of Trumbull County last Tuesday. Together, they accounted for 10 murders.

The Ohio Supreme Court subsequently changed its procedures so executions occur no closer than 3 weeks apart.

Keene's death rampage took the lives of Joseph Wilkerson, 34; Danita Gullette, 18; Sarah Abraham, 38; Wendy Cottrill, 16, and Marvin Washington, 18. A convoluted chain of events involving several people, some of them juveniles, began on Christmas Eve 1992 when Keene shot Wilkerson with a .32-caliber handgun at Wilkerson's Dayton home.

Keene and another man then shot Gullette, apparently picking her out at random, while she stood at a pay phone.

On Christmas Day, Keene and his companions stole a car which they used to rob a convenience store the following day. Keene shot Abraham, a store clerk, after she handed over $30 from the cash register.

Later, fearing his young accomplices might go to the police, Keene drove Cottrill to a gravel pit where he killed her. Another accomplice, DeMarcus Smith, shot and killed Washington.

Keene's conviction and death sentences were upheld by courts at all levels.

He did not request clemency, but the process is mandatory under Ohio law prior to an execution.

The Ohio Parole Board, in unanimous recommendation, said Keene's victims were killed in "a cold and calculated manner" that did not warrant mercy. Gov. Ted Strickland rejected clemency without comment.

Defense attorneys said Keene, who was 19 at the time of the slayings, was despondent over the death of his brother, who was shot and killed a year earlier. At his trial, Keene also told a 3-judge panel that a falling-out with his father contributed to his troubled emotional state.

Keene becomes the 3rd condemned inmate in Ohio to be put to death this year and the 31st overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1999. At least 7 more execution dates are currently set in the state through January 2010.

Keene becomes the 35th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1171st overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. It was the 1000th execution in the nation via lethal injection since it was first used on condemned inmate Charlie Brooks in Texas on December 7, 1982.

Since the death penalty was re-legalized in the USA on July 2, 1976, there have been 155 executions carried out by electrocution, 11 in gas chambers, 3 hangings and 2 shooting deaths by firing squads. The USA has more methods (5) of executions than any other country in the world.

Sources: Dayton Daily News, Columbus Dispatch & RIck Halperin, July 21, 2009

Texas reporter's seen unrivaled number of U.S. executions

(CNN) -- It takes seven minutes to execute a death row inmate, according to the state of Texas.

At that rate, Mike Graczyk has spent about 40 hours of his life watching men -- and a few women -- die.

Graczyk, a correspondent for The Associated Press, is believed to hold a macabre record. He's almost certainly watched more executions than anyone else in the United States.

"I can't possibly imagine there's been someone present at more than Mike," said Michelle Lyons, the spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which uses lethal injection at its execution chamber in Huntsville.

Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, no state has executed more inmates than Texas. And no one has witnessed more of them than Graczyk.

He's on the witness list for 315 of the state's 439 executions -- more than any other reporter, prison employee or chaplain -- and no records were kept for another 80.

In his early days, he kept count. But he eventually stopped. He didn't want to know.

"In one circle, I was perceived as putting notches on my gun belt," the 59-year-old reporter said. "I didn't like that."

Prison regulations in Texas require The Associated Press to be given one of the five designated media witness passes for each execution.

Graczyk works in the AP's Houston bureau -- it's closest to the state's execution chamber in Huntsville. Since the early 1980s, he's made the hourlong drive north almost every time an inmate has faced the needle.

The first was March 13, 1984, for the execution of James "Cowboy" Autry, convicted of shooting a female store clerk between the eyes with a .38-caliber revolver while arguing over a six-pack of beer.

She died, along with a former Catholic priest that Autry killed at the crime scene.

"The first time definitely leaves an impression on you," Graczyk said.

There are others that stand out along the way.

Graczyk remembers Bob Black, convicted of killing his wife and trying to collect the insurance money.

"I walked into the death house, and he was strapped to the table and he said, 'Hey Mike, how are you doing?' It threw me for a loop."

Graczyk said it's normal for him to know the name of the condemned and not uncommon for the reverse to be true. There have been others who greeted Graczyk by name with a needle in their arm.

Once, while waiting to be let into the death house, a prisoner phoned him in the media holding area.

It was the inmate whose execution Graczyk was about to witness.

"He said, 'I just wanted to call and make sure you were OK.' I was flabbergasted."

Over the years, the inmate's name has slipped from Graczyk's memory, but not the unexpected phone conversation.

"I don't think he had any family to call," he said.

There was Ponchai Wilkerson, who once nearly escaped from death row and, years later, coughed up a handcuff key as he lay dying from his injection.

There was the "Candy Man," Ronald Clark O'Bryan -- convicted of poisoning his child's Halloween candy with cyanide -- and the gauntlet of college students wearing Halloween masks who showed up to cheer.

And Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman executed in Texas since the 1800s. He remembers a network correspondent crying after her death -- and another blow-drying his hair.

Of the entire death chamber ritual, Graczyk said, it's the final statements that stick in his mind. Some have been confessions. Others were denials.

Poetry. Prayers. Bible verses. Curses. Emotions ranging from defiance to resignation.

There was Jonathan Nobles, an electrician who stabbed two people to death. He sang "Silent Night."

"Ever since then, I think of him on Christmas or Christmas Eve when I'm in church," Graczyk said. "That's the kind of thing that haunts you."

The person who may come closest to Graczyk's status also felt things that haunted him.

Don Reid, a writer for the AP and, before that, a Texas newspaper, witnessed 189 executions in the 1960s, when Texas still strapped inmates to "Old Sparky," the nickname for the state's electric chair.

The experience changed Reid, who died in 1981, from a supporter of the death penalty to an opponent. He wrote a book, "Have a Seat, Please," chronicling that transformation.

Graczyk said he doesn't worry about the mental toll of watching so many deaths. His bosses with the AP have offered counseling. He's declined.

"To see someone go to sleep -- not to sound insensitive -- but the carnage at the murder scene is harder than what you see in the death house in Huntsville," he said.

Over a 25-year career, Graczyk said, the executions have only been a small portion of his work. He finds balance in those other stories.

As a journalist, Graczyk never answers the question when friends ask his own views on the death penalty.

"I'm not sure I really know," he said.

But as long as Texas keeps executing people, Graczyk said, it's important that he keep showing up.

The next execution in Huntsville was scheduled for Thursday before the condemned, convicted murderer Kenneth Mosley, was granted a reprieve until September.
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If the execution goes ahead then, Graczyk plans to make the drive.

"I would hate for the state of Texas to take someone's life and no one be there," he said.

Texas execution facts

Texas executions since death penalty was reinstated: 439

Cost per execution for drugs used : $86.08

Average time on death row before execution: 10.26 years

Youngest inmate executed: Three at 24

Oldest inmate executed: 66

Women executed: 3

Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Source: CNN.com, July 20, 2009

Ohio Makes Rare Mercy Recommendation In Death Penalty

The triggerman in a 1995 murder-for-hire scheme should be spared execution because other members of the plot were just as guilty, the Ohio Parole Board said Friday in a rare ruling in favor of mercy.

The board ruled 5-2 in favor of clemency for Jason Getsy, 33, scheduled to be executed Aug. 18 for the murder of 68-year-old Ann Serafino, of Hubbard, a Youngstown suburb in northeast Ohio.

Getsy was also convicted of the attempted murder of Serafino's son, Charles, who was the target of the scheme. Getsy and other participants did not expect Ann Serafino to be home the night of the shooting.

In the ruling obtained by The Associated Press, the board singled out the life sentence for John Santine, who initiated and organized the crime, saying Santine appeared to be just as guilty as Getsy.

Santine, 48, is serving a sentence of 20 years to life.

"In imposing a death sentence, it is imperative that we have consistency and similar penalties imposed upon similarly situated co-defendants," the parole board said.

2 board members voted against clemency, saying nothing requires a comparison of Getsy's sentence to that of Santine.

"So, because Santine was not given the sentence that some think he deserves, we should recommend a change in Getsy's sentencing that some think he deserves?" said board members Ellen Venters and Bobby Bogan.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins told the board earlier this month Getsy was a soldier "on a mission" to kill. He didn't not immediately return a message seeking comment on the ruling.

The board's recommendation now goes to Gov. Ted Strickland, who has the final say. A message was left seeking comment.

Favorable clemency recommendations are rare in Ohio, which has executed 30 men since 1999, with another execution likely Tuesday.

Earlier this year the parole board also recommended clemency for death row inmate Jeffrey Hill, who killed his mother in a cocaine-induced rage but whose execution was opposed by his entire family.

Strickland agreed and commuted Hill's sentence to life in prison with parole possible after 25 years.

Former Gov. Bob Taft commuted Jerome Campbell's death sentence in 2003 at the recommendation of the parole board, which was concerned about evidence the jury didn't see.

Source: Associated Press, July 18, 2009

California: High Court Upholds Instruction on Governors Commutation Power

A Riverside Superior Court judge did not deprive a defendant charged with capital murder of his constitutional rights by telling the jury, in response to a question, that the governor would have the power to commute any sentence of life imprisonment without parole, the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday.

While commutation instructions are generally inappropriate because they are irrelevant to the penalty determination, Justice Carol Corrigan wrote, Judge Robert McIntyre reasonably responded to the jury's question by telling them that it was possible for the governor to commute a sentence, but that they should not consider that in determining whether to impose the death penalty on Michael L. Bramit.

The justices yesterday unanimously upheld Bramit's death sentence for the 1994 robbery-murder of Jose Fierros. 5 other justices joined Corrigan in concluding that the commutation instruction was proper given the circumstances, while Justice Carlos Moreno disagreed but said the instruction was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

Fierros was shot to death in front of several witnesses, as Bramit's accomplice went through his pockets in the parking lot of a Banning mini-mart.

Apprehended months later, Bramit initially told police he was not at the scene, then sought to blame his accomplice for the shooting, then admitted he shot the victim but said he did not intend to kill him but that Fierros resisted with "superhuman strength."

Guilty Verdict

Jurors found Bramit guilty of first degree murder with a robbery special circumstance. In the penalty phase, prosecutors presented evidence of numerous bad acts by Bramit, beginning with bringing BB guns to school when he was 12, progressing to assault and strong-arm robbery of a pizza delivery man, to assaulting his mother, to a spree of 8 bank robberies and one attempted robbery during a 10-month period following the Fierros shooting.

His girlfriend, Latrina Howard, was his accomplice during 2 of the robberies but testified against him at the murder trial pursuant to a plea bargain. She testified that he was frequently violent or threatening towards her and others, and had threatened to harm prosecution witnesses.

During penalty phase deliberations, jurors asked the judge:

"Does a conviction and sentence of Life without possibility of parole mean there is no future possibility of parole regardless of future changes of Law or Legal [precedent] ?"

After consulting with counsel, McIntyre responded:

"The governor of the State of California has the power to commute or modify a sentence. This power applies to both life without possibility of parole and the death sentence. It would be a violation of your duty as a juror to consider the possibilities of such commutation of an appropriate sentence."

On appeal from the ensuing death sentence, the defense argued that the instruction was erroneous and prejudicial. Corrigan disagreed, writing:

"A trial court in a capital case does not err when it answers a jury question generally related to the commutation power by instructing that the Governor may commute either a death sentence or a life without possibility of parole sentence, but that the jury must not consider the possibility of commutation in determining the appropriate sentence."

Separate Concurrence

Moreno, however, argued in his separate concurrence that the circumstances did not make the instruction necessary because the jury had asked about changes in the law, not about the governor's clemency powers. The concurring justice added that if the judge felt he had to give the instruction, he should have also noted that because of his prior felony convictions, Bramit's sentence according to the state Constitution could not be commuted without the concurrence of the state Supreme Court.

Moreno went on to say that while it would be a close question "if I were writing on a clean slate," the high court's precedent holds that by telling jurors to disregard the commutation power, the judge rendered the entire instruction harmless.

In another capital case yesterday, also from Riverside County, justices unanimously upheld the conviction and death sentence of Michael Bernard Lewis for the 1991 murder of Patricia Miller, who was raped, strangled, and had her throat cut. The defense had argued that the trial judge erred in admitting evidence of a rape committed by Lewis 4 years earlier, but the chief justice said the crimes were so similar, and sufficiently close in time especially since Lewis was in prison for most of the intervening period that the probative value outweighed any prejudice.

The cases are People v. Bramit, 09 S.O.S. 4324, and People v. Lewis, 09 S.O.S. 4298.

Source: Metropolitan News Company, July 18, 2009

TDCJ official says foreign death penalty opponents funding cell phone smuggling

When John Moriarty, inspector general for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice testified before Congress yesterday in support of legislation to permit cell phone signal jamming around prisons, he offered some insights into the problem of phone smuggling to prison inmates.

Moriarty told legislators phones are usually carried into the facility by corrupt employees or contractors; dropped in a location to be smuggled in by inmates or concealed in packages shipped into the facility.

Search procedures enacted last fall, after a death row inmate threatened a state senator via cell phone, include pat searches, metal detectors and x-rays, but "inmates and corrupt employees in some cases have changed their operational techniques by resorting to secreting the devices in their body cavities in order to get past the search procedures," he said. "Conducting body cavity searches is permitted only under extreme circumstances due to the intrusiveness of the search. This search technique is not taken lightly and persons involved in smuggling also know this."

The cost to have a cell phone smuggled inside a prison ranges between $400 and $2,000, he said. Perhaps most startling was his comment that his office has "developed evidence that money from foreign nationals involved in the anti-death penalty movement was utilized to facilitate some of these organized smuggling operations."

Source: DallasNews.com, July 17, 2009

New mass execution in Iran

July 14, 2009: In a mass prison execution, Iran hanged 13 rebels from the Sunni insurgent group Jundallah as "enemies of God" for a string of attacks, including kidnapping of foreigners.

The official IRNA news agency said the insurgents were executed in prison in Zahedan.

"Thirteen members of this group were hanged this morning," provincial judiciary chief Ebrahim Hamidi was quoted as saying.

The rebels were accused of being "mohareb" (enemies of God) and of "kidnapping foreigners, killing innocents and of carrying out terrorist acts for the Jundallah group," IRNA said, quoting a local judiciary statement.

Media reports that Abdolhamid Rigi, brother of Jundallah leader Abdolmalik Rigi, was executed were denied by Hamidi, who said Rigi would be executed later this week.

Source: AFP, 14/07/2009

Ohio: John Fautenberry executed

LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- Multistate serial killer John Fautenberry was executed this morning for the 1991 murder of a 46-year-old father of two who picked him up while hitchhiking near Cincinnati.

Fautenberry, 45, was lethally injected at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville. The time of death was 10:37 a.m. He had no final statement, and did not look to either the victims' families or his spiritual adviser as the deadly drugs began flowing into his system. After a few minutes, he closed his eyes and silently died.

Rachel Daron, 23, the Ohio victim's daughter, came to the prison but did not witness the execution. She told reporters later she came "to get closure, to know it's real, it really happened, and it's over.

"I just saw him in the hearse. That's good enough for me."

Charlene Farmer of Springfield, Tenn., mother of a New Jersey victim, did witness the execution. She said later, "His pain has ended -- mine has not. I think he got off pretty easy considering what I've gone through for 18 years."

She said she hopes today's execution will deter potential killers: "You don't just kill that person. You need to think about you're killing a whole family."

Fautenberry requested an unusual combination for his last meal: two eggs sunny side up, two pieces of fried bologna, two pieces of toast with butter and jelly, four slices of tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise, fried potatoes, four pieces of white bread, two Three Musketeers candy bars and two packs of Reese's Cup candy.

Over a six-month period in late 1990 and early 1991, Fautenberry, a former over-the-road truck driver, killed five people in four states. His ultimate undoing was the murder of Joseph Daron Jr., 46, on Feb. 17, 1991.

While hitchhiking on I-275, Fautenberry was picked up by Daron, who drove 20 miles out of his way to drop him off at a restaurant along I-71. Fautenberry shot Daron twice, dumped his body on the north bank of the Ohio River, and used the dead man's vehicle, cash and credit cards to head to Oregon.

Before arriving in Ohio, records show that Fautenberry killed Donald Nutley in Oregon and Gary Farmer in New Jersey. Later, he murdered Christine Guthrie in Oregon and Jefferson Difee in Alaska.

Fautenberry did not submit a clemency request; the Ohio Parole Board and Gov. Ted Strickland denied clemency. The killer's 11th-hour request for a neuro-psychological examination was rebuffed by two federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.

He was the second person executed in Ohio this year -- Daniel Wilson of Lorain was put to death on June 3 -- and the 30th to die since the state resumed capital punishment in 1999.

Source: The Columbus Dispatch, July 14, 2009

Oklahoma: Michael DeLozier Executed

McALESTER, Okla. -- A man convicted of the 1995 shooting deaths of two campers in southern Oklahoma has been put to death.

Michael P. DeLozier, 32, was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

DeLozier was executed for the Sept. 24, 1995, deaths of Orville Lewis Bullard and Paul Steven Morgan. According to court documents, DeLozier and two others ambushed Morgan and Bullard at their campsite along the Glover River, shot them and stole their vehicle and equipment.

Attorneys for DeLozier had asked the appeals court for a stay of execution and a new evidentiary hearing, but the state Court of Criminal Appeals denied the request on Thursday.

Source: The Associated Press, July 9, 2009

India's top court refuses to replace hanging with lethal injection

July 6, 2009: India's top court has refused to replace hanging with lethal injection as the country's sole method of execution, saying there is no evidence it is less painful than other ways.

Monday's ruling rejected a petition by rights activist Ashok Kumar Walia, who said hanging was a "cruel and painful" method of execution and should be replaced by lethal injection, which is used in more than 30 U.S. states as a primary method of execution.

"How do you know that hanging causes pain? And how do you know that injecting the condemned prisoner with a lethal drug would not cause pain?" Supreme Court Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan said.

Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam said experts believe that hanging — meant to dislocate the neck and sever the spinal cord — causes instant death.

The judges suggested that Walia instead campaign for abolition of the death penalty in India.

The judges noted that the death penalty is awarded only in the "rarest of rare" cases.

Source: AP, 06/07/2009

Death penalty 'exonerations'

Recently, I made another reference to the number of Death Row inmates across the country who have been spared execution because of exonerations of one form or another. The Death Penalty Information Center keeps this count -- it is presently 133 -- and it has been verified elsewhere in the mainstream press. When I first started using the numbers from DPIC, I conducted Sun archive and Internet searches to independently check the exonerations, and found a large sampling of them to be accurate.

But, at the same time, I think "exonerations" should only be used when a person is convicted but later found to be innocent of the murder that resulted in a sentence of death. That is the popular meaning of "exoneration," and yet the DPIC uses it to cover those whose convictions have been overturned because of legal flaws.

A reader of my column wrote to challenge my acceptance of the word "exoneration" as shorthand for all those who have been removed for various reasons from Death Row. The reader cited a report of a victims' rights organization, the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, which challenged the DPIC numbers and definition of "exonerated."

Here is the reply to questions about the accuracy of the exonerations list from Richard Dieter, DPIC director.

The Death Penalty Information Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to research and education on the death penalty in the U.S. We do not have a position on the morality or rightness of the death penalty per se, though a number of our reports focus on the problems in capital punishment and hence have been critical of the way it is applied.

With respect to your question about our list of exonerated individuals, we use very strict and objective criteria for inclusion of cases on this list. Basically, the list is determined by the decisions of courts and prosecutor offices, not by our subjective judgment. As we state in a number of places on our Web site and in our reports, the criteria for inclusion on the list is:

Defendants must have been convicted, sentenced to death and subsequently either-

a) their conviction was overturned AND
i) they were acquitted at re-trial or
ii) all charges were dropped
b) they were given an absolute pardon by the governor based on new evidence of innocence.

The list includes cases where the release occurred in 1973 or later, which was the time that states resumed sentencing people to death after the U.S. Supreme Court had struck down the death penalty. The list originated from a request from Congress asking us to identify the risks that innocent people might be executed. The original list that we prepared was published as a Staff Report of the House Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights. The list has been favorably referred to by Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts, as well as by many public officials around the country.

We believe the term "exonerated" is entirely appropriate to refer to the individuals on this list, which now numbers 133 individuals. Exonerate means to clear, as of an accusation, and seems to come from the Latin "ex" and "onus" meaning to unburden. That is precisely what has occurred in these cases. The defendants were convicted, given a burden of guilt, and then that burden was lifted when they were acquitted at a re-trial or the prosecution dropped all charges after the conviction was reversed. These are not individuals who received a lesser sentence or who remained guilty of a lesser charge related to the same set of circumstances. All guilt was lifted by the same system that had imposed it in the first place. Our justice system is the only objective source for making such a determination.

This notion of innocence, that an individual is innocent unless proven guilty, is a bedrock principle of our constitution and our societal protection against abusive state power. One does not lose the status of innocence merely because a prosecutor or other individuals retain a suspicion of guilt. Of course, it is true that this list makes no god-like determination of knowing exactly what happened in the original crime. Such perfect knowledge of past events is impossible, either to absolutely prove that a person did or did not do an act. We do not try to make a subjective judgment of what we think happened in the crime. We are merely reporting that in a great many cases the justice system convicted an individual and sentenced them to death, but when the process that arrived at that conclusion was reviewed, the conviction and sentence were thrown out. The individual, who often came close to execution, could not even be convicted of a traffic violation. Surely, that should be a cause of concern in applying the death penalty.

Maybe "exoneration" isn't the most accurate word here. But Dieter has a point -- if a conviction was wrongly achieved, our system says that conviction is thrown out and the the justice system returns to square one for the accused. However you shake this, at least 133 people were put on Death Row and slated for execution who should not have been there. These were near-fatal mistakes, in the eyes of our system, way too much imperfection in the area of criminal justice, above all, that requires perfection.

Source: Random Rodricks, The Baltimore Sun, July 6, 2009

Iran: New suppressive measures by Judiciary to combat popular uprising

Mullah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, the Iranian regime's Judiciary Chief, in a statement on Sunday, while showing the regime's fear of the role of "the daily growth of anti-regime satellite channels" in increasing the people's uprising, called for "serious measures to confront this phenomenon" and urged "The honorable provincial judiciary chiefs and judges across the country" to dedicate "a branch of the prosecutor's office" to this work in order to issue "comprehensive and preventative sentences" on this matter and "suitable judicial action is taken, based on articles 498, 499, 500, 504, 508 and the subsection of article 510 of the Islamic penal code, against people who in some manner cooperate with the aforementioned networks or become members of organizational cells which are formed via internet websites." (State-run news agency ISNA, July 5, 2009) The articles mentioned fall within the definition of "acting against national security."

According to Article 498, "anyone, with any tendency, who forms or runs a group, association or organization of more than 2 people inside or outside the country under any name, the purpose of which is to disrupt national security and who is not found to be waging war on God will be sentenced to 2 to 10 years imprisonment." Under the regime's Penal code, waging war on God is punishable by death.

Article 504 states, "Anyone who encourages the armed forces or those who are in any manner at the service of the armed forces to rebel, escape, surrender or not carry out their military duties, if it is determined that the person's goal is to topple the system or let our forces be defeated by the enemy, is considered as waging war on God, and if otherwise not successful in the actions will be sentenced to 2 to 10 years imprisonment."

Therefore, in the eyes of the religious fascism ruling Iran, people who cooperate with satellite TV networks and internet sites should be sentenced to execution or at least 2 years imprisonment.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, described this callous action by the ruling mullahs as a sign of the weakness and enormous vulnerability of the regime which sees even the smallest amount of news freely reaching the Iranian people as a threat. The mullahs try in vain to frighten the population and subdue the uprising through a wave of arrests and executions.

Mrs. Rajavi warned that the inhuman regime plans to launch widespread arrests, and urged the UN Secretary General, Security Council and all international human rights organizations to condemn the suppressive measures by the regime's Judiciary and take urgent action to save the lives of those arrested in the course of the Iranian people's nationwide uprising.

Source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, July 6, 2009

Yemen executes man for rape, killing 11-year-old

Yahia al-Raghwa, 22, was found guilty of raping and murdering Hamdi Abdullah, 11, at his barber shop in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, last December.

He was shot by a firing squad in a public square in the capital on Monday, in the presence of hundreds of people including the family of the victim.

Photographs of the execution showed al-Raghwa being led by guards to the square before he was forced to kneel. He was then shot in the back of the head in public view before his body was dragged away.

His death brings the number of executions in the country this year to nine.

Yemen is one of 59 countries which retains the death penalty, and one of its most prolific users, according to Amnesty International.

It is deployed for a variety of violent and non-violent crimes including apostasy and adultery.

Last year Yemen executed 13 people, according to those Amnesty has verified. But as no official figures are released the real toll could be far higher.

All of those died by firing squad but in recent years there have been reports of stonings and beheadings.

The deeply religious desert country has a poor human rights record and it is unclear if al-Raghwa had a fair trial.

Under sharia law, which applies in Yemen, relatives of the victims of certain categories of murder have the power to pardon the offender in exchange for compensation, grant a pardon freely or request his or her execution.

Source: telegraph.co.uk, July 7, 2009

China executes 2 for attack before Olympics

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Two men were executed Thursday for an attack on police that killed 17 in northwestern China in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics, state-run media reported.

Abdurahman Azat, 34, and Kurbanjan Hemit, 29, were sentenced to death on December 17 after being convicted of homicide and illegally producing guns, ammunition and explosives, the Xinhua news agency said.

The Uyghur men, who were armed with knives, axes and explosives, rammed a stolen truck into a group of 70 police officers in Kashgar, Xinjiang, authorities said. They then flung explosives at a police station and stabbed officers. Fifteen people were injured in the attack, in addition to the 17 killed.

Azat and Hemit were executed at an unknown location, the news agency said. It did not say how they were executed.

The August 4, 2008, attack happened four days before the Olympics. Chinese authorities regarded the violence as a terrorist act, saying they knew of five groups in the region that were plotting to sabotage the Olympics, Xinhua said.

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region -- also called East Turkistan -- is home to a Sunni Muslim ethnic minority. Uyghurs in Xinjiang are supposed to have regional autonomy, as guaranteed by China's constitution, but some seek independence.

Millions of Han Chinese, the country's dominant ethnic group, have migrated into Xinjiang over the past 60 years, prompting complaints that they dominate local politics, culture and commerce at the Uyghurs' expense. The dissatisfaction has turned violent at times, including several bus bombings in 1992 in the provincial capital, Urumqi.

Officials blamed such incidents on Uyghur groups seeking an independent Muslim state, but China says few Uyghurs support the separatists.

Source: CNN.com, July 9, 2009

Egypt: Activists decry death penalty trend

Alarmed by a sharp rise in the number of death sentences passed by the country's courts, human rights activists in Egypt have stepped up their campaign seeking abolition of capital punishment, which, they say, has failed to have the desired deterrent effect on the crime rate.

"The Egyptian authorities have to reconsider capital punishment, which has not succeeded in bringing down violence and crime in society," said Hafez Abu Saeda, a prominent rights activist.

"What would be the case if a death inmate was found to be innocent after his execution?" he said in remarks to Gulf News.

"My organisation is planning a series of seminars and workshops to educate the public and the officials concerned about the serious dangers involved in keeping the death penalty," added Abu Saeda, who is the chairman of the Egyptian Organisation for Human rights, a non-governmental group.

Over the past 6 months, Egyptian courts have sent more than 90 people to the gallows, the latest being business tycoon Hesham Tala'at Mustafa, and Mohssen Al Sukkari, an ex-policeman, who were convicted of the murder of Lebanese pop singer Suzan Tamim in Dubai in July 2008.

June has proved to be the month with the highest number of death sentences so far this year with 68 rulings. In comparison, a total of 70 death sentences were handed out in 2007 and 2008, according to legal experts. The spate of death sentences reflects spiralling violence in the Arab world's most populous country, say sociologists.

Earlier this year, Khalil Qeweita, an MP of President Hosni Mubarak's party, tabled a motion in parliament demanding the execution of rape offenders be broadcast on television "to deter would-be rapists". His suggestion has already earned the approval of a legislative committee and the censure of rights activists.

"I wrote to the Speaker of the Parliament asking him not to endorse this draft Bill, which contradicts Egypt's international obligations," Abu Saeda said.

Egypt is one of 14 countries in the world seen enforcing the death penalty on a large scale, according to the UN. Abduction, rape, murder and drug dealing are among the offences punishable by death under Egyptian law. "The recent death rulings were passed to deter the upsurge of crimes in Egypt," said Ahmad Abdul Rahman, a lawyer at criminal courts, attributing
the surge in violence in recent years to "a lack of religious adherence and severe economic hardships". Around 40 % of Egypt's 80 million population are believed to live below the poverty line.

Growing tally: Prominent cases

Prominent among the cases culminating in death sentences in June were:

- On June 1, a criminal court in Giza, south of Cairo, sentenced an unemployed local man to death for killing the driver of a tok-tok (a 3-wheeled cab)

- On June 7, a criminal court in northern Cairo condemned to death an engineer for killing his wife and 2 children

- On June 9, a court in Benha, north of Cairo, sentenced to death 7 people for a killing spree over a clan feud

- On June 13, a criminal court in Beheira sentenced 24 people to death for killing 11 others in a dispute over a piece of land

- On June 14, a criminal court in Giza sent a couple to the gallows for killing their employer with the intent to commit theft

- On June 17, a criminal court in Cairo condemned to death a young man for killing 2 girls, 1 of them the daughter of Moroccan singer Laila Gufran, in an apartment near Cairo late last year

- On June 25, a criminal court in southern Cairo upheld death rulings earlier passed against construction mogul Hesham Tala'at Mustafa and ex-policeman Mohsen Al Sukkari for murdering Lebanese pop star Suzan Tamim in Dubai last year.

10 people executed since start of this year

Since the start of 2009, 10 people on death row have been executed, according to prison sources. There are no official figures yet.

The 10 executed were convicted of abducting and gang-raping a woman in the delta province of Kafr Al Shaikh. The court of cassation upheld the death sentence passed against them by a criminal court.

Convicts can stay for more than 1 year in prison before the execution is carried out.

Source: Gulf News, July 5, 2009

20 people were executed in Iran on July 4, 2009

According to the state run Iranian news agency Fars, 20 people were hanged in the Rajaee shahr prison of Karaj (west of Tehran) early this morning July 4. The report also said that "all those hanged were convicted of drug trafficking between 2004 and 2008, and were between 35 and 48 years of age".

On July 3., Iran Human Rights warned that 29 prisoners were scheduled to be executed in Tehran today July 4.

Iran Human Rights is investigating whether among those executed, there were people arrested in connection with the recent pro-democracy demonstrations in Iran. Rajaee shahr prison is commonly not used for executions but under special situations.

"34 people have been executed in Iran in the past 4 days, and 26 of the executions have taken place in Tehran. There is no doubt that these executions are meant to spread fear among the people and suppress further the pro-democracy movement in Iran" said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson of Iran Human Rights.

He added: "Several thousand people have been arrested following the last 3 weeks' demonstrations in Iran. Many of them are in danger of torture, forced confession and execution. The world community, UN, EU and all countries with diplomatic ties with Iran must do whatever they can in order to stop the bloodshed started by the Iranian regime."

Amiry-Moghaddam continued:"The world must act now, before it is too late! We also ask the world community to support the legitimate demands of the Iranian people and not to recognize results of the recent Iranian election."

Source: Iranhr.net, July 4, 2009

July 4, 2009

Across America today, on Independence Day, there will be traditional fireworks, parades, summer fun for children in swimming pools and at ballgames, and a pervasive national outpouring of patriotism, reflected in both flag displays and the singing of the national anthem at countless events.

There are also almost 3,300 individuals who will not be any part of these festivities; they are mostly forgotten, despised and reviled.... they are America's condemned.

They sit on death rows in 34 states, as well as in a military prison in Kansas and a fedeal facility in Indiana. Most are overwhelmingly guilty of vile, heinous, outrageous and terrible crimes. Many are mentally ill, even profoundly mentally ill, and a good number are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. Collectively, they are, in part, responsible for a great deal of anger, hurt, pain and rage in our society.

They face death by firing squad, hanging, electrocution, cyanide gas, and lethal injection (there are more methods of legitimate state-sanctioned execution in the the USA than in any other country in the world).

As this nation is trying to emerge from the worst global financial crisis in 70 years, it remains in desperate need of trying to find, uphold and defend its moral soul. We are a long way from accomplishing this important national task.

Most of America's political and judicial leaders, both male and female, in both major parties, remain committed to upholding the ideology and practice of human extermination. As long as any nation in the world, inclduing the USA, retain and practice the barbarism of killing people in the name of the law, they can never be free. If people support, or are indifferent to the liquidataion of condemned individuals, how can we be surprised that other horrors, such as torture, hate crimes, and crimes against women, continue at such an alarming pace.

To be sure, some advances in the abolition of the US death penalty have been achieved in the last decade: America has stopped executing its juvenile and mentally retarded offenders; New Jersey and New Mexico have legislatively ended the death penalty, and other states have, in recent years, come close to doing the same. Over 130 innocent people have been released from America's death rows to date, and more will emerge to the free world in the years ahead.

But this "progress" has come at a frustratingly, agonizinly slow pace. Of the 1168 individuals put to death in America since executions resumed in 1977, 736 have occurred since 1998, including 200 just in Texas alone since Rick Perry became governor in 2001. There is no immediate end in sight to this horror.

There will undoubtedly be the traditional praise and self-congratulatory editorials and op-eds in our newspapers today, from coast to coast, from our major cities to our small communities, reminding us of how lucky we are to live in such a great nation. And in many ways, that sentiment is correct.

But it is a fallacy to believe that assessment when considering what is happening in this country regarding the issue of the death penalty. It is time to face the truth, admit national pain, and come to grips with the fact that on this issue, 233 years after the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed (and 402 years after the British first settled here), we are a national disgrace and failure. We remain wedded to the love of violence, and to the preposterous idea that some people in our society (and even around the world), can be classified as "lesser" or "other" humans, 'deserving' to be stripped of their human dignity, caged like animals for years, physically and psychologically tortured and terrorized, and then ultimately liquidated in the name of the law.

On this day, when so much celebrating in America will occur, I hope and trust that people will take a hard look at the sobering realities of this nation and its nightmare of the death penalty. Now is the time for all people of conscience, everywhere, to re-dedicate themselves with renewed fervor to end this terrible scourge, so that America may join the ranks of most nations in the world that have long since recognized the links between advancing human progress with ending the death penalty.

When the US does abolish the death penalty, it will then, and only then, have reasons to be proud and celebrate itself.

Rick Halperin
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and
Amnesty International USA

July 4, 2009

Iran: new hangings

July 1, 2009: Iran hanged six people for murder, and two others were spared by the families of their victims at the last minute.

The execution of a ninth convicted murderer, who was 16 at the time of his crime in 1992, was postponed on the order of judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, the Etemad newspaper said.

Etemad quoted a judge as saying some of the six people put to death in Tehran's Evin prison were convicted of killing their spouses, without giving other details on their crimes or their identities.

Source: Reuters, 02/07/2009

July 2, 2009: Six men were hanged in the prison of Qom, south of Tehran, reported the state run Iranian news agency Fars.

The men were identified as Ahmad T., Abolfazl B., Reza A., Mostafa F., Esmaeil R. and Mohammad Kh. and were all convicted of drug trafficking according to the report.

Source: IHR, 02/07/2009

July 1, 2009: Six persons who had demonstrated against the regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were reportedly hanged in Iran, reported the Jerusalem Post, based on a telephone call with a source in Tehran. The hanging would have taken place in Mashhad.

There was no independent confirmation of the report.

Sources: Jerusalem Post, 02/07/2009; AGI, 02/07/2009