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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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Four executed in Iran

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Public hanging in Iran (file photo)
3 prisoners were hanged in the prison of Ardebil (Northwestern Iran).

According to the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in Ardebil Province, the prisoners were convicted of drug trafficking and were arrested while transferring 27 kilograms of heroin out of the country.

Due to lack of transparency in Iran's Judiciary, the charges have not been confirmed by independent sources.

Source: Iran Human Rights, February 28, 2015


A man hanged in Tabas

A man hanged in a prison in city of Tabas in Iran. The prisoner had been arrested 3 years ago.

Mehdi Fatahi was hanged early morning on Wednesday in the main prison in the city.

Fatahi was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug related offences but he was sentenced to death by an appeal court.

On the same day two other prisoners were hanged in public in the western city of Kermanshah.

The 2 men were hanged in 2 locations in the city at 10 in the morning local time.

According to the reports received from various sources dozens of prisoners have been hanged during the past weekend alone in prisons across Iran.

Source: NCR-Iran, February 28, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
Location: Iran
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