Mauritania: Quash Blogger Mkhaitir's Death Sentence

Mauritanian authorities should quash the death sentence for a Mauritanian blogger, Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir, and drop all charges against him that violate freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today. The Court of Appeals in Nouadhibou is due to review the case on November 8, 2017.

Prosecutors charged Mkhaitir with apostasy for posting an online article in January 2014 questioning the use of religion to legitimize ethnic and caste discrimination in Mauritania. After 3 years of judicial proceedings, Mauritania's Supreme Court in January set aside a ruling by the Court of Appeals that upheld the death sentence and referred the case to a new panel of judges for review.

"Mauritania has no business charging anyone with 'apostasy,' much less sentencing a blogger to death for such an absurd charge based on an article he wrote," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "It's good that the appeals court is reviewing this case, but he never should have been charged in the first place."

Human Rights Watch raised concerns about the conviction, lengthy procedure, and extreme sentence Mkhaitir is facing for a speech offense with Justice Minister Mohamed Ould Daddah during a meeting in Nouakchott on October 19. "Mkhaitir is entitled to a fair trial in line with our international commitments," he told Human Rights Watch. "I hope that he will be tried by the end of the year."

It has almost been four years since Mauritanian authorities arrested Mkhaitir after the Mauritanian news website Aqlame published his blogpost on the marginalization of certain groups in Mauritania. He spent 12 months in pretrial detention, and a court sentenced him to death in December 2014 for "speaking lightly" of the Prophet and heresy.

In 2016, the Court of Appeals in Nouadhibou lowered the charges from "apostasy" (zendagha) to "disbelief" (ridda) but maintained the death sentence. The defense appealed the case to Mauritania's Supreme Court, which set aside the lower court's decision on January 31, 2017, and sent the case back to a new panel of judges from the same Court for a new hearing.

Some Mauritanian activists have noted that there has been an outpouring of protests over the article on religious grounds. Over the last 2 1/2 years, thousands of protesters have gathered on a number of occasions to call for Mkhaitir's execution. On November 3, Mohamed Diop, journalist for the Mauritanian news agency Alakhbar, reported that police authorities prevented protesters calling for Mkhaitir's execution from marching in the streets of Nouakchott and arrested four of them.

Mauritanian human rights activists who have publicly supported Mkhaitir have received death threats, Aminetou Mint Ely, a prominent women's rights leader, told Human Rights Watch. In December 2016, Mkhaitir's parents fled the country and sought asylum in France stating that they could no longer live in Mauritania under permanent threats.

Mauritania's prosecution of Mkhaitir for his writing violates the international law guarantees protecting free speech, such as those enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Mauritania has been a party since 2004. The Mauritanian constitution guarantees freedom of opinion, thought, and expression. Restriction of speech, and in particular criminal prosecutions, should only be used as last resort, for a justifiable reason, when the law is clearly defined and the restriction is proportionate. Mkhaitir's speech, given it could not conceivably be construed as incitement to violence or hatred, should never have been subject to prosecution.

Both United Nations and African human rights standards on the right to life encourage states to move toward abolition of the death penalty and in those states that retain the death penalty make clear it should be limited to the most serious crimes and can only be imposed after a fair trial. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has stated that: "In those States which have not yet abolished the death penalty it is vital that it is used for only the most serious crimes - understood to be crimes involving intentional killing."

Mauritanian prosecutors should drop the charges against Mkhaitir, Human Rights Watch said, and Mauritanian legislators should repeal penal code provisions that violate freedom of expression, including Article 306, which provides the death sentence for apostasy.

Source: Human Rights Watch, November 7, 2017

⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

Comments

Former Florida officer who raped, murdered 11-year-old set to be executed

An execution date has been set for a former Mascotte police officer who, in May 1987, assaulted and murdered an 11-year-old girl. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for James Aren Duckett on Friday. He’s scheduled to be executed on March 31. It’ll be the state’s 5th execution this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025. Duckett was convicted in the murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee about a year after her death. According to officials, Duckett took the 11-year-old to a lake, where he sexually battered, strangled and drowned her.

Florida executes Billy Kearse

Florida executes man who killed Fort Pierce police officer during 1991 traffic stop Moments before receiving a lethal injection, Billy Kearse asked for forgiveness from the family of Danny Parrish, whose widow said she found peace after a "long, long 35 years.” A man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer with his own service weapon during a traffic stop was executed Tuesday evening, becoming the third person put to death by Florida this year after a record 19 executions in 2025.

Chinese courts conclude trials of 2 criminal gangs from northern Myanmar, 16 sentenced to death

Chinese courts have concluded the trials of 2 major criminal groups based in northern Myanmar involved in telecom and online fraud, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Thursday. At a press conference held by the SPC, it was revealed that by the end of 2025, courts across the country had concluded first-instance trials of over 27,000 cases related to telecom fraud operations in northern Myanmar, with more than 41,000 returned suspects sentenced. Notably, among the trials of the so-called "4 major families" criminal gangs -- which had drawn widespread domestic and international attention -- those of the Ming and Bai groups have completed all judicial proceedings.

Florida | Governor DeSantis signs death warrant in 2008 murder case

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Michael L. King, setting an execution date of March 17, 2026, at 6 p.m. King was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2008 kidnapping, sexual battery and murder of Denise Amber Lee, a 21-year-old North Port mother. On January 17, 2008, Michael Lee King abducted 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee from her North Port home by forcing her into his green Chevrolet Camaro. He drove her around while she was bound, including to his cousin's house to borrow tools like a shovel. King took her to his home, where he sexually battered her, then placed her in the backseat of his car. Later that evening, he drove to a remote area, shot her in the face, and buried her nude body in a shallow grave. Her remains were discovered two days later. During the crime, multiple 9-1-1 calls were made, but communication breakdowns between emergency dispatch centers delayed the response. The case drew national attention and prompted w...

Oklahoma Ends Indefinite Death Row Solitary Confinement

Every year, thousands of prisoners in the U.S. are placed in solitary confinement, where they endure isolation, abuse, and mental suffering . This practice might soon become rarer for some inmates in Oklahoma, thanks to the efforts of activists in the state. Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oklahoma announced that the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester had ended the practice of indefinite solitary confinement for "the vast majority" of death row prisoners.

‘Come on with it’: Arkansas inmate asks to hasten execution

A Faulkner County judge has scheduled an August hearing to determine whether a death row inmate can bypass his attorney’s advice, drop his remaining appeals, and hasten his execution. Scotty Ray Gardner, 65, is facing the death penalty for the 2016 killing of his girlfriend, Susan Heather Stubbs, in Conway. In letters sent to Circuit Judge Chuck Clawson and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Gardner said he wants to end his legal battles, writing that he is tired of prison life and skeptical he will receive a fair hearing. “It’s simple,” Gardner wrote in a September letter. “Come on with it.”

Florida Cop-killer Billy Kearse set to be executed today

A man who confessed to fatally shooting Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish with his own service weapon during a 1991 traffic stop is scheduled to be executed starting at 6 p.m. March 3, barring a last-minute stay. Billy L. Kearse, 53, will be the third person put to death by the state this year, just one week after the execution of Melvin Trotter, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford in Palmetto in 1986. The Florida Supreme Court on Feb. 12 denied a motion for a stay of execution and a motion for an extension due to the fading health and death of the father of Kearse's attorney. Attorneys for Kearse have filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution, citing violations of the Sixth, Eighth and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution.

Man convicted in 1986 murder set to become Florida's second execution of 2026

STARKE, Fla. (DPN) — A man convicted of stabbing and strangling a grocery store owner during a robbery nearly 40 years ago is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening, becoming the second person executed in Florida this year. Melvin Trotter, 65, is set to receive a three-drug lethal injection beginning at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1986 killing of Virgie Langford, 70, who owned Langford’s Grocery Store in Palmetto, in southwest Florida's Manatee County.

Florida executes Melvin Trotter

The execution of Melvin Trotter for the murder of 70-year-old Virgie Langford in 1986 comes as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor questions Florida's 'deeply troubling' lethal injection record. Florida has executed its second inmate of the year even as a Supreme Court justice questioned the state's “deeply troubling" record on lethal injections and how it "shrouds its executions in secrecy." Melvin Trotter, 65, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, Feb. 24, for the 1986 murder of 70-year-old Virgie Langford, a mother of 4 who was on the verge of retirement when she was stabbed to death in the corner grocery store that she owned for five decades. Trotter was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. ET.

Texas Plans Second Execution of the Year

Cedric Ricks is set to be killed on March 11 Cedric Ricks spoke in his own defense at his 2013 murder trial, something most defendants accused of a terrible crime do not do. Ricks confessed that he had killed his girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and her 8-year-old son. He admitted he was aggressive and had trouble controlling his anger, stating that he was “sorry about everything.” The Tarrant County jury was unmoved. Ricks has spent the last 13 years on death row and is scheduled to be executed on March 11.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog