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Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the ​“West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993

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On April 18, 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided 4-3 to reverse a 2022 lower court decision and allow genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the 1993 killing of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis. The three men convicted in 1994 for the killings were released in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, in which they maintained their innocence but plead guilty to the crime, in exchange for 18 years’ time served and 10 years of a suspended sentence. 

Sri Lanka releases Indian fishermen on death row

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The Sri Lankan Government on Wednesday released the 5 Indian fishermen, sentenced to death in a case of alleged drug trafficking.

An official told The Hindu that the 5 fishermen had been released to the care of the Indian High Commission in Colombo, before being sent back to India.

It is learnt that they will serve no further jail term in India.

PTI adds:

The release came after Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa commuted their death penalty.

Prison officials said the 5 fishermen have been handed over to the immigration authorities for further action.

Emerson, P Augustus, R Wilson, K Prasath and J Langlet, all hailing from Tamil Nadu, were apprehended in 2011 and were sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court on October 30 for alleged drug trafficking.

The court ruling had triggered fiery protests in parts of Tamil Nadu and sporadic violence broke out in and around Rameswaram island as a large number of people staged protests.

India on November 11 had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka against a verdict of the high court awarding death sentence to them.

Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation last week on the issue.

The issue of fishermen is a very emotive matter for both Sri Lanka and India, where Tamil Nadu-based parties including AIADMK and DMK have been regularly pressing the government to take up the matter with the Lankan authorities seriously and have often resented high - profile visits from the island nation.

Source: The Hindu, Nov. 19, 2014
Location: Sri Lanka
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