FEATURED POST

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

Image
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. 

Iran: Six executions in one day

Public execution, Iran
Iran Human Rights (Jun 18, 2018): Reports suggest that after the execution of Mohammad Salas, five other prisoners who were sentenced to death on murder charges were also hanged at Rajai Shahr Prison today. One of the prisoners was charged with the murder of an eight-month-old baby named Benita.

According to a close source, on the morning of Monday, June 18, six prisoners, including Mohammad Salas, were executed at Rajai Shahr Prison.

According to the official news agency of the Judiciary, Mizan, one of the prisoners who were executed today was charged with the murder of an eight-month-old baby named Benita Qal’enoiy during a car theft.

The state-run news agency, Javan, reported, “The defendant, Mohammad Vafaiy, stole a car that belonged to Benita Qal’enoiy’s father while the eight-month-old baby was in the back seat. Ultimately, he leaves the car in the street which leads to the baby’s death due to high temperature and lack of oxygen.”

The defendant said that he went to the police reported the incident a few hours later “but they didn’t pay any attention.”

Although the statements of the defendant were denied by the police spokesman, Tehran’s prosecutor confirmed that the location of the stolen car carrying Benita, was informed to the police and they “should have” found the car “earlier”.

A close source told IHR that the executions of Mohammad Vafaei and four other prisoners who were charged with murder were carried out an hour after Mohammad Salas’ execution. 

The four other prisoners have not been identified so far and the state-run media have not announced their execution.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the 517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges. 

There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and intent.

Source: Iran Human Rights, June 18, 2018


⚑ | 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

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

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

Utah requests execution of death row inmate

Alabama SC approves second nitrogen gas execution

Cuba Maintains Capital Punishment to "Deter and Intimidate"

Four More Prisoners Executed in Iran