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As clock ticks toward another Trump presidency, federal death row prisoners appeal for clemency

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President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office is putting a spotlight on the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, which houses federal death row. In Bloomington, a small community of death row spiritual advisors is struggling to support the prisoners to whom they minister.  Ross Martinie Eiler is a Mennonite, Episcopal lay minister and member of the Catholic Worker movement, which assists the homeless. And for the past three years, he’s served as a spiritual advisor for a man on federal death row.
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UK appalled by hangings in Iran

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Foreign Secretary David Milliband said Thursday it was "appalled" by the reported hanging of 2 men in Iran convicted of being Mohareb (enemies of God), the first executions of dissidents since post-election protests.

"I am appalled by reports that Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmani Pour were hanged this morning in Iran," said Miliband.

"The trials and now these subsequent executions undermine Iran's claimed commitment to justice, human rights and democratic values."

Their executions were the first reported hangings of people tried after the wave of protests that broke out following the disputed June 12 re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Miliband praised the determination of protesters, saying they showed "the strength of desire for democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms amongst ordinary Iranians."

"These latest executions appear to be politically motivated and yet another attempt by the regime to silence dissent," he said.

"I call on the Iranian Government to meet the human rights obligations to which it is committed."

Source: Agence France-Presse, January 29, 2010
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