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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: Delara Darabi's execution postponed

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April 19, 2009: Iranian human rights activists say the execution of juvenile offender Delara Darabi has been postponed.

Darabi, who was due to be executed on April 20, was sentenced to death for a murder she allegedly committed at the age of 17.

Darabi's lawyer, Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, said the victim's family has refused to attend the execution by hanging. Iranian law requires that the verdict be carried out only in the presence of the victim's family, resulting in the postponement.

Khoramshahi said the victim's family has not changed its demand for the execution.

Darabi originally confessed to murdering an elderly female relative during a robbery. But she subsequently retracted her confession, saying that her boyfriend committed the murder and she agreed to take the blame when he told her she was too young to be sentenced to death.
Her lawyer says there were shortcomings in the proceedings.

Sources: RFE/RL, 19/04/2009
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