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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.

First Woman To Be Executed in the United Arab Emirates?

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Last week, the Supreme Court of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) upheld the death sentences of a woman and three men who were convicted for crimes they committed as minors. The four individuals, Khawla, Fahd, Mukhtar, Abdullah Hussein, are now waiting in Sharjah central prison for confirmation as to whether they will face execution by firing squad.

Khawla, her alleged boyfriend, Fahd and 2 others had been sentenced to death in 2003 for premeditated murder of Khawla's husband in 2003. At the time of the killing, Khawla, Mukhtar and Hussein were 17 years old. Khawla confessed to the police at the day of the crime and the others arrested the next day.

Under the UAE domestic law the family of a victim can accept retribution or 'blood money' and pardon those founded guilty for murder. In UAE the amount of the ‘blood money’ is fixed at approximately $45,000. The parents of the victim have refused to pardon the offenders and seek capital punishment for them. The death penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights and Amnesty International opposes it under all circumstances.

Please go to http://ecomplaint.moj.gov.ae/WComplaintEnglish.aspx and write to Dr. Hadef bin Jua’an Al Dhaheri, minister of justice, asking to commute all the 4 death sentences.

Source: Amnesty International; Alireza Azizi, Country Specialist for United Arab Emirates, contributed to this post, April 27, 2010
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