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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 

IRAN DELAYS YOUNG MAN'S EXECUTION AFTER EU APPEAL

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May 6, 2008: Iran's judiciary ordered a month's postponement of the execution of a young man sentenced to death for murder, a news agency said, two days after the European Union urged Tehran to spare his life.

Amnesty International said the execution of Behnoud Shojai, who the rights group said was 17 at the time of the crime three years ago, was planned for May 7. Iran's Fars News Agency did not mention the EU statement in its report, quoting a deputy public prosecutor in Tehran as saying the execution was postponed with the agreement of the victim's family.

Under Iran's Islamic law, sharia, the family of the victim can agree to pardon the murderer in exchange for "blood money", or financial compensation, but it was not clear whether this may happen in this case.

Source: Reuters, 06/05/2008
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