FEATURED POST

After acquittal of ex-death row inmate, debate needed on Japan's death penalty

Published
Image
Japan should be ensuring the safety of its citizens, but instead it is taking people's lives. Is it acceptable to maintain the ultimate penalty under such circumstances? This is a serious question for society. The acquittal of 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who had been handed the death penalty, has been finalized after prosecutors decided not to appeal the verdict issued by the Shizuoka District Court during his retrial.

No sign of pardon for Iran blogger sentenced to death

Published
On Dec. 1, the deputy head of Iran's judiciary, Gholam Ali Mohseni Ejei, responded to a reporter's question about Soheil Arabi, who was sentenced to death for Facebook posts deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. Ejei said, "Currently, there is no pardon, and he's been convicted of 'corruption on Earth,' but there has been a request for his case to be reviewed again."

The deputy head of Iran's judiciary has said that there is no move to pardon blogger Soheil Arabi, sentenced to execution over Facebook comments, but there is a request to review his case.

According to the transcript provided by Islamic Republic News Agency, Mohseni Ejei did not elaborate further.

Many Iranian Facebook users became aware of Arabi's case on Nov. 24, when Iran's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Arabi, who was convicted in a Tehran criminal court with insulting the prophet. A Facebook page against Arabi's execution was set up to spread awareness about the case.

According to Arabi's lawyer, Vahid Moshkani Farahani, the Tehran court had originally sought the death penalty for Arabi for "insulting the prophet." When the Supreme Court reviewed the case, it upheld the ruling and added the "corruption on Earth" charge, which also carries the death penalty.

Arabi was arrested on November 2013 along with his wife Nastaran Naimi, who was soon released. Naimi made no public comments until the Supreme Court ruling, and has since pleaded in various interviews with foreign-based media outlets for her husband's life.

In a telephone interview with journalist Masih Alinejad, Naimi said when she last met with Arabi he was unaware of the Supreme Court ruling and she was forced to convey the news to him herself. She said that the court upheld the verdict over "merely 4 Facebook posts." Naimi said, "We're awaiting Islamic mercy" and added, "When the Prophet Muhammad was directly insulted, he would forgive it." She told Alinejad that she decided to break her year-long silence because after the Supreme Court ruling, she felt like she had nothing left to lose.

According to the Centre for Supporters of Human Rights, Arabi was arrested for "Facebook activities and having Facebook pages such as 'The generation that no longer wants to be the burnt generation.'

Naimi told the center that her husband "was only a citizen and had no other activities." She said that the only evidence used against him was "printouts of Facebook pages" and "confessions that were attained under pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."

According to Naimi, the printouts had no special significance and their contents were merely "copy-pasted." Naimi also said that there were others who had access to the Facebook pages who could have posted the items in question and criticized officials for not conducting expert analysis to determine which individual contributor to the page had posted the items.

The Revolutionary Guard Corps has recently become highly active in pursuing so-called "cyber crime" in Iran. In December 2013, the group announced it had arrested "cyber activists" in Kerman who had connections to foreigners.

Source: Al-Monitor, December 4, 2014
Location: Iran
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

Photos of maximum-security prisons in Norway and the US reveal the extremes of prison life

Published
Image
US Administrative Security Facility, or ADX Florence, in Florence, Colorado. Inside the walls of the toughest prison in the US, a fork is a deadly weapon. Inside the walls of Norway's toughest prison, a fork is, well ... a fork. The differences extend far past silverware. In just about every way, the approaches that the US and Norway take to criminal justice fall on opposite ends of the spectrum. While the US uses isolation to punish offenders and keep them away from civil society, Norway prefers to rehabilitate its inmates so they can return to the outside world — there are no life sentences . No two prisons make that difference more clear than the super-max Administrative Security Facility, or ADX Florence , in Florence, Colorado and Halden Prison , in Halden, Norway. Not all US prisons are as strict as ADX, and while Halden is technically maximum-security, it's still closer to the rule than the exception in Norway. Here's what life is like at both e
Read more

After acquittal of ex-death row inmate, debate needed on Japan's death penalty

Published
Image
Japan should be ensuring the safety of its citizens, but instead it is taking people's lives. Is it acceptable to maintain the ultimate penalty under such circumstances? This is a serious question for society. The acquittal of 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who had been handed the death penalty, has been finalized after prosecutors decided not to appeal the verdict issued by the Shizuoka District Court during his retrial.
Read more

Idaho death-row inmate survived injection intended to kill him. Now state will try again.

Published
Image
A day after Idaho prison’s system advised that it is again ready to perform a lethal injection, an Ada County judge issued the latest death warrant for Thomas Creech, the state’s longest-serving death row prisoner, and scheduled him for another execution.  Creech, 74, is now set to be executed on Nov. 13. If fulfilled, the execution would be Idaho’s first in more than a dozen years. Prison officials called off Creech’s planned execution earlier this year when for nearly an hour they were unable to locate a suitable vein for an IV to inject him with the lethal chemicals. 
Read more

Switzerland | The Guillotine of Geneva

Published
Image
During the French annexation, 36 prisoners were executed using this device. Built in 1799, this structure basically consists of a tall, vertical oak frame fitted with a heavy steel blade with an oblique cutting edge and suspended from the top. It was designed for a rapid execution by decapitation of those who were condemned to death in the Swiss canton of Geneva during the French period. Today it is part of the Permanent Collection at the Tavel House, the oldest building in Geneva.  
Read more

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denies Robert Roberson’s stay of execution request

Published
Image
(Austin, Texas, October 11, 2024) - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) – without a written opinion – has denied Robert Roberson’s request to stay his execution, scheduled for Thursday, October 17. The CCA also denied, without issuing an opinion, Mr. Roberson’s request that the Court reconsider its denial of post-conviction relief. The CCA, once again, failed to consider any of the extensive medical and scientific evidence Mr. Roberson has submitted demonstrating that his chronically ill, two-year-old daughter, Nikki, died from illness, accident, and medical error, not because of any abuse.
Read more

Wyoming | One of Matthew Shepard’s Murderers Denied Sentence Reduction

Published
Image
Russell Henderson is serving consecutive life sentences in Wyoming after being convicted of homicide and hate crime One of the men who murdered gay college student Matthew Shepard in 1998 was denied a commutation of his sentence this week, the Wyoming Board of Parole has confirmed. Russell Henderson, who along with Aaron McKinney was convicted of homicide and hate crime charges for murdering Shepard 25 years ago, is currently serving two consecutive life sentences in Wyoming prison. Henderson applied for a reduction in his sentence earlier this year per the Board’s regulations, which allow prisoners who have served at least 10 years of a life sentence to submit a commutation petition once every five years. But the board ruled against sending Henderson’s petition to the governor, Executive Director Margaret White confirmed in statements to The Advocate this week.
Read more

Alabama executes Derrick Dearman

Published
Image
Derrick Dearman, who killed 5 in south Alabama axe murders, executed Thursday  Alabama death row inmate Derrick Dearman, who was convicted in the 2016 slayings of 5 people with an axe and 2 guns, was put to death Thursday night by lethal injection. He had given up his appeals earlier this year and volunteered to have his execution set.
Read more

Activists Call on President Biden to End the Federal Death Penalty Before Leaving Office

Published
Image
A conversation with Death Penalty Action Co-founder and Executive Director Abe Bonowitz. Now that Joe Biden is a lame duck president, activists are holding him accountable to make good on his promise to end the federal death penalty during his remaining six months as president. Biden’s election campaign in 2020 had pledged to end the federal death penalty and incentivize the remaining 27 states that still allow executions to do the same. While he made history as the first president in the United States to openly oppose the death penalty, there has been no movement to actually end federal executions during his nearly four years in office.
Read more

Alabama set to tie record for executions in 50 years with upcoming lethal injection

Published
Image
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) -Alabama is on track to tie its record for the most executions in a single year, as Derrick Dearman, a 35-year-old Mississippi man, is scheduled to be put to death next Thursday for the 2016 murders of five people in Mobile County. Described by officials as a “gruesome and horrific” crime, Dearman was convicted of using an axe and a gun to kill his five of his girlfriend’s relatives.
Read more