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As clock ticks toward another Trump presidency, federal death row prisoners appeal for clemency

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President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office is putting a spotlight on the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, which houses federal death row. In Bloomington, a small community of death row spiritual advisors is struggling to support the prisoners to whom they minister.  Ross Martinie Eiler is a Mennonite, Episcopal lay minister and member of the Catholic Worker movement, which assists the homeless. And for the past three years, he’s served as a spiritual advisor for a man on federal death row.

Iran: Execution of a Prisoner on Drug-Related Charges; Juvenile's Execution Confirmed

Executions, Iran
Iran Human Rights (Aug 13, 2018): A prisoner was executed at Tabriz Central Prison on drug-related charges last Wednesday.

According to a close source, on the morning of Wednesday, August 8, one prisoner was executed at Tabriz Central Prison. 

The prisoner, sentenced to death on drug-related charges, was identified as Eyvaz Bidast, son of Mohammad Taqi.

The prisoner was transferred to the solitary confinement from ward 9 of Tabriz Central Prison. He was arrested on drug-related charges 12 years ago. 

There is no information regarding the exact amount and type of the drug the defendant was charged with and it is not clear why his case was not subject to the new drug law.

This is the third drug-related execution that has been reported by Iran Human Rights (IHR) since November 14, 2017, when the new drug law was enforced. 

The new drug law includes a mechanism that leads to a decrease in the number of death sentences and reduces the sentence of the death-row prisoners and those sentenced to life imprisonment.

Another prisoner named Rasoul Mohtashami, who was sentenced to death on murder charges, was transferred to the solitary confinement along with Eyvaz Bidast. He returned to his cell by asking the plaintiffs for time.

The execution of Eyvaz Bidast has not been announced by the state-run media so far.

Abolfazl Chazani’s Execution Confirmed by the State-Run Media in Iran


Iran Human Rights (Aug 13 2018): One of the Iranian state-run media published a report about Abolfazl Chazani Sharahi, a juvenile offender who was arrested at the age of 15 and executed at Qom Central Prison, and confirmed his execution after 43 days.

Ghanoon newspaper published a report about Abolfazl Chazani Sharahi and confirmed his execution. IHR had previously reported the execution. Abolfazl, son of Asghar, was born on January 16, 1999, and was arrested and sentenced to death on the charge of murder on December 26, 2013.

Abolfazl was examined by a forensic physician at the request of his public defender on July 20, 2014. According to the report, “The defendant, 15 years and five months old, committed murder in the winter last year and he is mentally mature and understands the nature of his action (murder).”

According to the report, Abolfazl was nearly executed four times during the time he was in prison while he was only 15 the first time he went to the gallows. 

Mohammad, Abolfazl’s brother, said, “He didn’t know that after being transferred to the solitary confinement, he would be executed. He would fearlessly wear a smile like a child and say, “Everything’s going to be fine; I won’t be executed.”

Mohammad continued, “We see the victim’s father (the plaintiff) every day. He feels terrible because he pulled the stool away in order to do the execution. Pulling the stool away and hanging someone is not something you can easily forget... My brother was only 14.” (sic)

Iran is one of the few countries that execute juvenile offenders, although, based on Article 91 of the new Islamic Penal Code, approved in 2013, judges can potentially deny issuing a death sentence for juveniles who do not understand the nature of their crime.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran has signed, clearly bans execution and life imprisonment of juveniles. 

Source: Iran Human Rights, August 13, 2018


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

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