Saudi executes, crucifies Yemeni murderer

Riyadh: Saudi authorities on Wednesday beheaded a Yemeni man and then crucified his body after he was convicted of murdering a Pakistani national, the kingdom's interior ministry announced.

The Yemeni citizen Mohammad Rashad Khairi Hussain killed a Pakistani, Pashteh Sayed Khan, after he committed sodomy with him, said a statement carried by state news agency SPA.

The Yemeni was also convicted of carrying out a series of attacks and robberies.

The execution in the southern city of Jizan was followed by crucifixion, implemented by the ultra-conservative country for serious crimes.

The beheading brings to 28 the number of people put to death in Saudi Arabia so far this year.

In 2012, the kingdom executed 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The US-based Human Rights Watch put the number at 69.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of Sharia, or Islamic law.

Source: Agence France-Presse, March 27, 2013

Yemeni Man Beheaded and Crucified for Male Rape, Murder, Theft

April 15, 2013: A religious court in Saudi Arabia has executed and crucified a Yemeni man who robbed, raped and killed a Pakistani male migrant worker.

Saudi Arabia’s ministry of interior released a statement saying Mohammed Rashad Hussein, a Yemeni national, has been executed and crucified.

He was accused of murdering Sayed Khan, a Pakistani migrant worker.

He attacked him, stole from him and raped him before killing him.

The statement, released two weeks ago, was reported in some Arabic media but wasn't repeated in any English based media.

It added Hussein was trying to pick up men and harass them in-order to rape them in the city of Jizan, in the extreme south west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

It also said that a court investigated and then convicted Hussein for multiple crimes, including banditry, theft, sodomy and murder, according to Sharia law, but did not specify the method of execution (if beheading or firing squad).

Ali, a 32-year-old gay law student in Jeddah told Gay Star News: ‘What the guy did was totally criminal and wrong, although I could not verify any other details than what has been reported by the Saudi press.

‘As for the act of male rape, sodomy, if a man was to rape a woman he would be treated in the same severity, so it is an aggravating factor but not itself the reason for the severe sentence.

‘Rape, along with violent robbery and drug dealing can be very severely punished by a public execution and crucifixion.

'The majority of capital punishments carried out in the Kingdom are involve public shooting or beheading, it is very likely the man was beheaded with a sword and then crucified, but I could not verify this either.

‘Most of those put to death are not Saudi citizens but migrant workers.

‘As a human rights advocate I do not support the death penalty.

‘I also think Saudi Arabia’s excessive sexual repression has a great deal to answer for, it is sadly not unheard of that men, out of extreme sexual frustration, do harass attempt to rape men and women.’

Source: gaystarnews.com, April 15, 2013

Apr 21, 2012

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia beheaded and crucified a Sudanese man in Riyadh on Friday after he was convicted of raping, robbing and killing a woman, the interior ministry announced. ... Source: GulfNews, AFP, April 20, 2012 ...

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South Carolina executes Mikal Mahdi

Mikal Mahdi, 42, was executed for the 2004 murder of 56-year-old James Myers A man facing the death penalty for committing two murders was executed by firing squad on Friday, the second such execution in the US state of South Carolina this year. Mikal Mahdi, 42, was executed for the 2004 murder of 56-year-old James Myers, an off-duty police officer, and the murder of a convenience store employee three days earlier. According to a statement from the prison, "the execution was performed by a three-person firing squad at 6:01 pm (2201 GMT)," with Mahdi pronounced dead four minutes later.

Afghanistan | Four men publicly executed by Taliban with relatives of victims shooting them 'six or seven times' at sport stadium

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USA | Why the firing squad may be making a comeback

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I spent 16 years in solitary in South Carolina. This is what it did to me. | Opinion

South Carolinian Randy Poindexter writes about the effects 16 years of solitary confinement had on him ahead of South Carolina’s planned execution of Mikal Mahdi , who spent months in solitary as a young man. For 16 years, I lived in a concrete cell. Twenty-three hours a day, every day, for more than 3,000 days, South Carolina kept me in solitary confinement. I was a young man before I was sent to solitary — angry, untreated and unwell. I made mistakes. But I wasn’t sentenced to madness. That’s what solitary did to me. My mental health worsened with each passing day. At first, paranoia and depression set in. Then, hallucinations and self-mutilation. I talked to people who weren’t there. I cut myself to feel something besides despair. I could do nothing as four of my friends and fellow prisoners took their own lives rather than endure another day of torturous isolation.

Florida executes Michael Tanzi

Florida on Tuesday executed a death row inmate described by one local detective as a "fledgling serial killer" for the murder of a beloved Miami Herald employee. Florida executed Michael Tanzi on Tuesday, 25 years after the murder of beloved Miami Herald employee Janet Acosta, who was attacked in broad daylight on her lunch break in 2000. Michael Tanzi, 48, was executed by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison in Raiford and pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. ET.

South Carolina | Man who ambushed off-duty cop to face firing squad in second execution of its kind

Mikal Mahdi, 48, who was found guilty of killing an off-duty police officer and a convenience store worker, is the second inmate scheduled to executed by South Carolina's new firing squad A murderer who ambushed and shot an off duty police officer eight times before burning his body in a killing spree is set to become the second person to die by firing squad. South Carolina's highest court has rejected the last major appeal from Mikal Mahdi, 41, who is to be put to death with three bullets to the heart at 6pm on April 11 at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia. Mahdi's lawyers said his original lawyers put on a shallow case trying to spare his life that didn't call on relatives, teachers or people who knew him and ignored the impact of weeks spent in solitary confinement in prison as a teen.

Louisiana | Lawyers of Jessie Hoffman speak about their final moments before execution

As Louisiana prepared its first execution in 15 years, a team of lawyers from Loyola Law were working to save Jessie Hoffman’s life. “I was a young lawyer three years out of law school, and Jessie was almost finished with his appeals at that time, and my boss told me we needed to file something for Jessie because he’s in danger of being executed,” Kappel said. Kappel and her boss came up with a civil lawsuit to file that said since they wouldn’t give him a protocol for his execution, he was being deprived of due process, and the lawsuit was in the legal process for the next 10 years.

Lethal Injection, Electric Chair, or Firing Squad? An Inhumane Decision for Death Row Prisoners

South Carolina resumed executions with the firing squad killing of Brad Sigmon last month. Mikal Madhi’s execution date is days away. The curtain shrieked as it was yanked open to reveal a 67-year-old man tied to a chair. His arms were pulled uncomfortably behind his back. The red bull’s-eye target on his chest rose and fell as he desperately attempted to still his breathing. The man, Brad Sigmon, smiled at his attorney, Bo King, seated in the front row before guards placed a black bag over his head. King said Sigmon appeared to be trying his best to put on a brave face for those who had come to bear witness.

Arizona | The cruelty of isolation: There’s nothing ‘humane’ about how we treat the condemned

On March 19, I served as a witness to the execution of a man named Aaron Gunches, Arizona’s first since 2022. During his time on death row, he begged for death and was ultimately granted what is likely more appropriately described as an emotionless state-assisted suicide. This experience has profoundly impacted me, leading to deep reflection on the nature of death, humanity, and the role we play in our final moments. When someone is in the end stages of life, we talk about hospice care, comfort, care, easing suffering and humane death. We strive for a “good death” — a peaceful transition. I’ve seen good ones, and I’ve seen bad, unplanned ones.

Execution date set for prisoner transferred to Oklahoma to face death penalty

An inmate who was transferred to Oklahoma last month to face the death penalty now has an execution date. George John Hanson, also known as John Fitzgerald Hanson, is scheduled to die on June 12 for the 1999 murder of 77-year-old Mary Bowles. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Tuesday set the execution date. The state’s Pardon and Parole Board has a tentative date of May 7 for Hanson’s clemency hearing, executive director Tom Bates said.

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