Death Penalty News

SANA'A September 07. 2024 (Saba) - With the aim of suppressing opponents of the Al Saud regime, the intensity of executions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has escalated sharply in the first half of this year, with an increase of 42 percent over the same period last year. In the latest execution of opponents of the Al Saud regime witnessed by the Kingdom, the death sentence was carried out against Abdul Majeed al-Nimr (59 years old) last Saturday. He is a father of four children from Qatif, a province inhabited by a Shiite majority located in the east of the Kingdom, after he was convicted of joining a "terrorist cell affiliated with Al-Qaeda", according to the Saudi media.

Expressing concern over the agonising indefinite delays in execution of death row convicts, the Supreme Court has indicated that it’s mulling issuing certain guidelines to address the issue. “Possibly, it is time for us to lay down the procedure as to what the public prosecutor has to do when mercy petitions of convicts against the death sentence are rejected. This situation cannot continue. There has to be a procedure as to how the prosecutor and court have to react,” a three-judge Bench led by Justice AS Oka said.

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 5: This Thursday morning at exactly 7:00 am, the Criminal Execution Prosecution carried out the death penalty for six convicts at the Central Prison. Among those executed were three Kuwaiti citizens, two Iranians, and one Pakistani. However, the execution of a Kuwaiti woman, convicted of killing her friend, was withdrawn at the last moment after the victim's heirs accepted blood money and pardoned her. 

The state of Alabama executed Gary Brown more than two decades ago for his connection to a fatal stabbing. But at a recent Sunday service in Birmingham, you could hear him preaching. In the bustling foyer of the Unitarian Universalist Church, an archival recording of one of Brown’s sermons in prison thrummed under patrons’ lively chatter. Visitors stood with their necks craned back, reading rows of letters fixed to a wall. The display was part of an art exhibit that’s been traveling through Alabama this summer. Using art and archival materials, “The Art of Resistance: Documenting Alabama’s Death Row” aims to spark conversations about the state’s use of capital punishment.

The execution of Thomas Creech failed in February when a prison medical team was unable to establish an IV line to carry out the lethal injection. BOISE, Idaho — After a failed execution in February, Idaho's longest-serving death row inmate said a second attempt to execute him would be "cruel and unusual punishment" - violating his Eighth Amendment rights.

In an August 31, 2024, editorial from The New York Times , the newspaper’s editorial board writes that capital punishment is “immoral, unconstitutional and useless as a deterrent to crime,” and asserts that President Joseph Biden should follow through with his campaign pledge to end the federal death penalty.  The Times believes “it would be an appropriate and humane finale to his presidency for Mr. Biden to fulfill that pledge and try to eliminate the death penalty for federal crimes.” Since 2000, public support for the death penalty has steadily declined, as have the number of new death sentences and executions. 

The law raises punishment for rape from the current sentences of at least 10 years to either life imprisonment or execution An Indian state, shaken by weeks of protests demanding justice after the rape and murder of a doctor, passed a law on Tuesday that could lead to the execution of rapists. Protests erupted in West Bengal after the discovery of a 31-year-old doctor’s bloodied body at a state-run hospital in the local capital Kolkata on August 9.

TEHRAN: The Supreme Court of Iran has upheld a death sentence awarded to a member of the all-volunteer wing of the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who stormed a house during the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini and killed a 60-year-old man, said a lawyer on Tuesday. The capital punishment awarded to the Basij member marks a rare moment for Iran to hold accountable its security forces. It is pertinent to mention that more than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 were detained in the 2022 protests.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An inmate set to be executed in South Carolina in three weeks wants the state Supreme Court to delay the execution so his lawyers can argue his co-defendant who testified against him lied about having no plea deal in exchange for his testimony. Attorneys for Freddie Owens also said in court papers filed late Friday that a juror saw an electronic stun device Owens had to wear in court to assure good behavior and a judge never talked about why he had to wear it.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 30, 2024: Meisam Hosseinkhani, a Kurdish man sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed in Khorramabad Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a Kurdish man was executed in Khorramabad (Parsilion) Central Prison on 28 August. His identity has been established as 22-year-old Meisam Hosseinkhani from Kouhdasht. He was arrested for murder with a cold weapon (knife) during a group fight three years ago and sentenced to qisas.

Trump sat down with DailyMail.com for an interview at his Mar-a-Lago home. He talked about the campaign and his plans for day one in the White House. Donald Trump says he will end the Justice Department moratorium on executions on his first day in office, and use the full force of the law to go after major drug dealers and cop killers. The Trump campaign sees crime, in general, and Kamala Harris's record as a prosecutor in California, in particular, as areas where they can inflict damage on her presidential bid.

Singapore, known for having some of the world's harshest anti-drug laws, gave death penalties to two drug traffickers last year. While recreational cannabis is legal in some countries, it is strictly banned in Singapore.  A Singapore man has been sentenced to four years in prison for attempting to incriminate his wife by planting cannabis in her car.  Tan Xianglong planted 500 grams of cannabis in his wife's vehicle, fully aware that possessing such a large amount could result in the death penalty under Singapore's strict drug laws, reported The Straits Times.

The Islamic Republic's authorities have carried out the executions of two prisoners amid a significant rise in death penalties. The death sentence of Meysam Hossein-Khani, a 22-year-old resident of Kuhdasht, was carried out in Khorramabad Central Prison (Parsilon Prison) on Wednesday.  He had been sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary on charges of alleged "premeditated murder."  He was arrested three years ago and has been awaiting execution since his conviction, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. 

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 28, 2024: Shapour Hosseini, an Iraqi national named Irfan Abdolazizi and two Afghan nationals only identified as Mohebollah and Moshref, were executed for drug-related and murder charges in Tabriz Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men were executed in Tabriz Central Prison on 26 August. Three of the men who were death row for drug-related charges have been identified as Shapour Hosseini from Tabriz, a 32-year-old Afghan national Mohebollah (surname unknown) and 27-year-old Moshref, whose surname also has not been established at the time of writing.

Florida executes man convicted of killing college student, raping victim’s sister in national forest  A Florida man convicted of killing a college freshman and raping the murder victim’s older sister while the siblings camped in a national forest 30 years ago was executed Thursday.  Loran Cole, 57, received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison for the 1994 killing of the 18-year-old student. Cole also was serving t2life sentences for rape.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man convicted of killing a college freshman and raping the student's sister while the siblings camped in a national forest 30 years ago is scheduled to be executed Thursday. Loran Cole is set to be put to death just after 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison for the 1994 killing. Cole is also serving two life sentences for rape.  The U.S. Supreme Court denied Cole's final appeal earlier Thursday.

The Thai court has read the verdict in the case of the murder of Colombian Edwin Arrieta at the hands of Daniel Sancho, son of Rodolfo Sancho.  As we were saying earlier this Thursday, the Thai court has sentenced Daniel Sancho to life imprisonment for murdering and dismembering Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta in Thailand.  The court found that there was premeditation and sentenced Sancho to one of the worst sentences, second only to the death penalty. He will also have to pay $119,000 in compensation to Arrieta’s family.

The Higher People’s Court of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday turned down the appeal by Li Jianping, who was sentenced to death in September 2022 for corruption, bribery, embezzlement and engaging in organised crime. Beijing: A former Chinese Communist Party official, accused of embezzling a staggering $421 million - the largest-ever corruption case in China's history, was sentenced to death by a court in Inner Mongolia.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s prisons director said Wednesday that state’s supply of a lethal injection drug is pure, its electric chair was tested two months ago and its firing squad has the ammunition and training to carry out its first execution next month in more than 13 years. Corrections Director Bryan Stirling was ordered by the state Supreme Court to submit a sworn statement to the lawyer for Freddie Owens certifying that all three methods of putting a prisoner to death are available for his scheduled Sept. 20 execution.

Federal Court allows the prosecution’s appeal to overturn an appellate court decision reducing Khairuanuar Baharuddin’s conviction to culpable homicide. PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has reinstated the death penalty imposed by the High Court on a former police corporal for murdering his two-year-old stepdaughter nine years ago. A three-member panel comprising Justices Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, Nordin Hassan and Hanipah Farikullah made the decision on Aug 27 when they allowed the prosecution’s appeal to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision.

El español Daniel Sancho fue encontrado culpable del asesinato premeditado del cirujano colombiano Edwin Arrieta y de otros delitos relacionados de los que estaba acusado. Fue condenado a cadena perpetua por un juez de Tailandia, quien además fijó una indemnización para la familia de la víctima de 106.000 euros. La Fiscalía pedía la pena de muerte, mientras el acusado defendía que fue una muerte accidental.

We, the undersigned seven organizations, are gravely concerned by developments in Singapore since the beginning of August 2024, which has seen the authorities carry out two executions in violation of international safeguards on the death penalty, as well as limiting the right to freedom of expression of the Transformative Justice Collective, a non-governmental organization who expressed concern about human rights violations and criticized the processes leading up to the executions.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Marcellus Williams thought the DNA evidence was enough to remove him from Missouri’s death row, perhaps even him from prison. A decades-old mistake by a prosecutor’s office has kept his life hanging in the balance. Williams, 55, is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 24 for the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle in the St. Louis suburb of University City. St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton on Wednesday will preside over an evidentiary hearing challenging Williams’ guilt. But the key piece of evidence to support Williams is DNA testing that is no longer viable.

The 30-year-old's crimes were described by Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson as “heinous, atrocious, and cruel,” with one murder deemed cold, calculated, and premeditated. Wade Wilson, infamously dubbed the “Deadpool Killer,” was sentenced to death on Tuesday for the 2019 murders of two Florida women. The 30-year-old's crimes were described by Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson as “heinous, atrocious, and cruel,” with one murder deemed cold, calculated, and premeditated.

It's the first time the party has not opposed the practice nationally since 2016 and the first time since 2004 that it has been omitted entirely. The Democratic Party has omitted the death penalty from its national platform for the first time in 20 years, following back-to-back cycles of opposing the practice outright. The news came on Aug. 19, when the delegates to the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago voted to approve the new document, which is to guide the party’s electioneering for the next four years.