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Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the ​“West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993

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On April 18, 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided 4-3 to reverse a 2022 lower court decision and allow genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the 1993 killing of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis. The three men convicted in 1994 for the killings were released in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, in which they maintained their innocence but plead guilty to the crime, in exchange for 18 years’ time served and 10 years of a suspended sentence. 

Serge Atlaoui: New hearing set for June 15

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Serge Atlaoui
Serge Atlaoui
An expert called by Serge Atlaoui's lawyers tried on Monday to convince the Jakarta Administrative Court to examine the appeal of the Frenchman sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking,

The court has set a new hearing for June 15. The defense and the prosecution will make their final statements. The court should then reserve its decision.

In the appeal, Atlaoui, a welder, is challenging President Joko Widodo's decision to reject his request for clemency, claiming the Indonesian leader did not properly consider his case.

A plea for presidential clemency is typically a death row convict's final chance to avoid the firing squad.

France stepped up pressure on Indonesia in recent weeks to abandon plans to put Atlaoui to death, with President Francois Hollande warning of "consequences" if the execution goes ahead.

Atlaoui was arrested in a 2005 raid on a secret drug laboratory outside Jakarta. He has maintained his innocence, claiming that he was installing machinery in what he thought was an acrylics plant.

However, police say he was a "chemist" in the drugs factory.

Widodo has insisted he will not change course on the death penalty, as Indonesia faces an emergency due to rising narcotics use.

Sources: Agencies, DPN, June 8, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
Location: Indonesia
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