Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
David Tennant, Olivia Colman among actors voicing ‘last words’ of death-row prisoners
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Published
Well-known actors including David Tennant, David Morrissey, Tobias Menzies and Olivia Colman have voiced a collection of ‘last words’ from prisoners facing the death penalty and other abuses around the world.
In a short film narrated by David Morrissey (The Walking Dead), released today by international human rights organization Reprieve, the actors voice a series of statements from people affected by the death penalty. The video features the last words of prisoners like Edward Earl Johnson and Aftab Bahadur, who were executed despite strong evidence of their innocence, as well as the ‘first words’ of prisoners freed after being unjustly held on death row, or in similar lengthy detention such as at Guantanamo Bay.
The film also includes the words of prisoners who are at imminent risk of execution, including Saudi juvenile Ali al-Nimr, British father of three Andy Tsege, and Irish student Ibrahim Halawa. Ali al-Nimr was sentenced to ‘crucifixion’ in Saudi Arabia following his arrest as a child in 2012. Ali was tortured into ‘confessing’ to protest-related charges, and now faces execution alongside several other juveniles.
Andy Tsege is held in Ethiopia under a sentence of death that was handed down in absentia while he was living in London, on charges relating to his opposition to the Ethiopian government. In 2014, he was kidnapped at an airport and illegally ‘rendered’ to Ethiopia. Mr Tsege’s partner and children in London are unable to speak to him, and there are fears for his wellbeing.
Ibrahim Halawa, from Dublin, was a juvenile when he was arrested in Egypt in 2013, for allegedly attending protests. He faces a death sentence in a ‘mass trial’ of 494 people, and is regularly tortured in prison.
The prisoners’ words are voiced by David Tennant (Doctor Who, Jessica Jones), Tobias Menzies (Game of Thrones, Outlander), Olivia Colman (The Night Manager, Broadchurch), Matthew MacFadyen (Spooks, Pride and Prejudice), comedian Harry Enfield, Adjoa Andoh (Dr Who, Invictus), Anna Maxwell Martin (Philomena), Tim McInnerney (Blackadder, Game of Thrones, Sherlock), Khalid Abdalla (Spooks, The Kite Runner), Ariyon Bakare (A Respectable Trade), Colin Salmon (London Has Fallen, Master of None), and Ceallach Spellman (Cold Feet).
The video is released amid a surge in the use of the death penalty worldwide, including by countries that are close UK allies such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Questions have been raised this week over the UK’s commitment to combating human rights abuses such as executions; speaking to MPs yesterday, the UK Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant, Sir Simon Macdonald, admitted that ‘prosperity’ was above human rights in his department’s priorities, saying “clearly more resource is devoted… to prosperity than to human rights.”
Commenting, Harriet McCulloch, deputy director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: “These prisoners’ stories demonstrate the brutality and futility of the death penalty, and related abuses such as indefinite detention. The ‘last words’ of prisoners like Aftab Bahadur, who was executed despite evidence of his innocence, are a poignant reminder of how often fatal mistakes are made, and innocent people sentenced to death and executed. The words of current death-row prisoners, such as British dad Andy Tsege, show how vital it is for governments such as the UK to help those who are at risk, before it’s too late. Now more than ever, countries like Britain must redouble their efforts to end the use of the death penalty by some of our closest allies.”
➤ The full video, and more information about the cases featured, can be seen at the Reprieve website, here. A shorter version can be seen on Twitter here.
➤ Sir Simon Macdonald's comments to MPs yesterday can be viewed at this link, from 15:21.
Source: Reprieve, November 23, 2016
⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.
Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!
Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.
An Iranian court has sentenced to death a popular rapper jailed for more than a year and a half for supporting nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death, local media reported Wednesday . "Branch 1 of Isfahan Revolutionary Court sentenced Toomaj Salehi to death on the charge of corruption on Earth," the singer's lawyer Amir Raisian said, quoted by the reformist Shargh newspaper.
PETALING JAYA: Amnesty International Malaysia has commended Malaysia for the abolition of the mandatory death penalty and for imposing a moratorium on the execution of the death sentence, which has led to an overall decrease in the use of the death penalty by the courts. However, the rights group urged the government to extend the moratorium on executions until the death penalty is fully abolished.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Amnesty International on Wednesday criticized Iraqi authorities for carrying out the death sentences of 13 men on the same day, saying the prisoners were denied fair trial, and expressed concern that many others had been executed in secret. A total of 13 prisoners were executed in Dhi Qars Nasiriyah central prison on Monday, and scores more have been executed since April 10, said the Amnesty report citing activists and lawyers of the death row prisoners.
After the deadly terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, some Russian politicians are debating trying the suspects to Belarus, which still has death penalty. But it's not that simple. The terror attack on Moscow's Crocus City Hall has ignited debate about the reintroduction of the death sentence in Russia. Given that 140 people died and more than 500 were wounded at the concert hall on March 22, 2024, emotions are running high.
Machilakath Abdul Rahim, who killed a Saudi teenager in a 2006 accident, now looks set to be freed after friends and celebrities back his release An Indian national convicted of killing the Saudi teenager he was paid to drive has escaped execution in the kingdom after Indians around the globe raised nearly $4 million to save him.
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 20, 2024: Fariborz Dadgar, a man on death row for drug-related charges, was executed in Ahvaz Sepidar Prison. His father was executed for the same charges at the prison 16 years ago.
Saudi Arabia executes man for murdering Otaibah tribe woman RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has executed a native citizen. The Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia has announced that the execution of a man named Basil Bin Suhail has been carried out. Basil was executed for killing a woman by hitting her with a car.
9 prisoners of drug charges executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chabahar and GhezelHesar According to the Iranian Human Rights Society website, on Sunday, April 21st, 2024, 9 prisoners including, Baloch and Kurdish drug suspects were executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chah bahar, and GhezelHesar.
For the first time in at least five years, Supreme Court justices last week issued dissents from the Court’s denial of review in two capital cases on the same day. Both cases involved official misconduct. One alleged that Texas prosecutors illegally struck 13 women from Dillion Compton’s jury because of their gender.