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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. 

Saudi Arabia: Beheading postponed to allow inmate's relatives to pay "blood money"

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A Saudi prisoner who was to be beheaded on Thursday was given a chance to live when the court decided to postpone the execution for a few months to allow his relatives to pay diya (blood money) to the victim’s family.

Maeesh bin Habib Al Gahdali was to be executed in the Red Sea port of Jeddah on Thursday after he was sentenced to death by a criminal court for murder.

“The execution was postponed for a period of between six months and one year to allow his relatives to pay SR10 million (Dh10 million) diya to the victim’s family,” the Saudi Arabic language daily ‘Sabq’ said.

It said his relatives had managed to raise SR1 million and that they would resort to public donations to obtain the remaining sum.

“Gahdali’s relatives appealed for the public to save his life as his four sons are waiting for him to come home,” it said.

Source: Emirates 24/7, November 28, 2014
Location: Saudi Arabia
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