FEATURED POST

California | San Quentin begins prison reform - but not for those on death row

Image
California is transferring everyone on death row at San Quentin prison to other places, as it tries to reinvent the state's most notorious facility as a rehabilitation centre. Many in this group will now have new freedoms. But they are also asking why they've been excluded from the reform - and whether they'll be safe in new prisons. Keith Doolin still remembers the day in 2019 when workers came to dismantle one of the United States' most infamous death chambers.

Iran: Three Inmates Executed In Raja’i Shahr And Ardebil Prisons

Public execution in Iran
At least three prisoners were executed on Wednesday, February 13, in Raja’i Shahr and Ardebil Prisons. 

Ali Shakouri, 34, father of three, was hanged in Ardebil prison, northwest Iran. 

Two other prisoners identified as Behrouz Bayat and Mohammad Hedayati were also executed on the same day in Raja’i Shahr Prison. All the three inmates had been found guilty of murder.

Absence of classification of undeliberate murders in Iran lead to capital punishment for everyone committed murder, intentional or un intentional.

On January 29, a prisoner identified as Omran was executed in Maragheh Prison, also in northwest Iran. 

He had been on death row since 2015 and had denied intentional murder charges saying it was a case of self defense. Omran argued that he reacted to the irate man who began beating him with an iron rod.

Iran is one of the 23 countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty.

Executions in Iran are mostly the result of grossly unfair trials which are usually held behind closed doors without the presence of a defence lawyer. Activists believe that many of those on death row were convicted on the basis of “forced confessions”, a method believed to be commonly used in the country at the moment. Moreover, when a death sentence is handed down, families are often not given prior notice of the execution.

At least 285 people were executed in 2018 in Iran. The officials acknowledged the execution of only 85 people last year, but it is believed that this figure grossly underestimates the true number in Iran because the regime had embarked on a campaign of secret and mass hangings of prisoners, especially in faraway provinces.

According to London-based international human rights watchdog Amnesty International, “more than half (51%) of all recorded executions in 2017 were carried out in Iran.” 

Iran ranks second in the world after China in terms of executions and has “carried out 84% of the global total number of executions with Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.”

The country’s judicial system has also been criticised for handing down death sentences against juveniles. Dozens of child offenders are on death row in Iranian prisons, waiting to go to the gallows when they reach 18.

Source: iran-hrm.com, Staff, February 14, 2019


Man Hanged at Quchan Prison


Iran Human Rights (IHR); February 5, 2019: A prisoner who was sentenced to death on murder charges, was hanged at Quchan prison last Wednesday.

According to IHR sources, on the morning of Wednesday, January 30, a man identified as Tabib Rouzmehr, was executed at Quchan prison.

A source close to Tabib told IHR, “two years ago, he was working for a person called Vahid who had given him a cheque for the salary. However, there was no money in the account. Tabib could not find Vahid to ask for his money but found Vahid’s brother. The brother refused to give Tabib the address and the two fought.”

Vahid’s brother fell down and bump his head to the street curb. The person died and Tabib sentenced to qisas (retribution in kind).

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, February 5, 2019


⚑ | 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)

‘A Short Film About Killing’: The movie that brought an end to the Polish death penalty

California | San Quentin begins prison reform - but not for those on death row

Bali | British grandmother on death row for more than 10 years for drug smuggling given ‘one final hope of escape'

Congo reinstates death penalty after 20-year hiatus

Georgia Court Case Tests the Limits of Execution Secrecy in the United States

Georgia | Death penalty trial for accused Atlanta spa shooter in limbo

Iran | Man executed in Qazvin

Malaysia | Death sentence commuted for ex-cop who killed toddler, babysitter

USA | Journalist Recalls Witnessing an Execution and Describes the Importance of Media Witnesses: Op-Ed