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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Ohio bill puts limits on post-trial death penalty evidence

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An Ohio Senate committee has voted to allow limits on the ability of condemned killers to gather post-trial evidence in death penalty cases.

New language in the bill before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee allows judges to deny requests for evidence gathering if it would annoy, embarrass or unduly burden the person from whom the evidence is sought.

The Republican-controlled committee approved the change along party lines Wednesday but did not vote on the overall bill itself.

Republican Sen. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati says the bill is still an improvement over existing law which leaves the decision to allow post-trial evidence gathering up to judges.

Kari Underwood of the Ohio Public Defender's Office says such evidence limits are inappropriate in death penalty cases.

Source: Associated Press, Sept. 24, 2015

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Location: Ohio, USA
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