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Activists Call on President Biden to End the Federal Death Penalty Before Leaving Office

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A conversation with Death Penalty Action Co-founder and Executive Director Abe Bonowitz. Now that Joe Biden is a lame duck president, activists are holding him accountable to make good on his promise to end the federal death penalty during his remaining six months as president. Biden’s election campaign in 2020 had pledged to end the federal death penalty and incentivize the remaining 27 states that still allow executions to do the same. While he made history as the first president in the United States to openly oppose the death penalty, there has been no movement to actually end federal executions during his nearly four years in office.

Pakistan mob burns man to death for 'blasphemy'

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A Pakistani mob has taken a man accused of blasphemy from a police station and burnt him to death, police say.

The man was being held for allegedly burning a copy of the Koran in public. The incident took place on the outskirts of Bahawalpur, in Punjab province.

Witnesses said hundreds of people looked on as he screamed for help.

Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law imposes the death penalty for insulting Islam, but it is rarely carried out.

The area where the lynching took place is home to hundreds of madrassas - religious schools - run by radical Islamist or sectarian groups.

Police said they detained the man after locals complained that he had desecrated the Koran.

But before the allegation could be investigated, thousands of angry people surrounded the police station, police said.

"They were demanding that we kill him in front of them, or they'll take him away and kill him themselves," police inspector Ghulam Mohiuddin told the BBC.

After officers unsuccessfully tried to calm the crowd, it attacked the station, as police tried to disperse it with tear gas. Several policemen were wounded in the violence.


Source: BBC News, July 4, 2012
Location: Pakistan
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