FEATURED POST

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

Published
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. 

Murder trial opens for ex-Tehran mayor Mohammad Ali Najafi

Published
Mohammad Ali Najafi
TEHRAN: The high-profile trial opened Saturday of a former Tehran mayor charged with murdering his wife, Iranian media reported. Prominent reformist Mohammad Ali Najafi appeared in a Tehran criminal court, accused of shooting his second wife Mitra Ostad at their home in the Iranian capital.

The charge sheet read out in court included murder, assault, battery and illegal possession of a weapon.

The prosecutor also read out a statement from the former mayor, who claimed his wife once threatened him with a knife during one of their frequent arguments.

Ostad’s body was found in the bathtub after Najafi turned himself in and confessed to killing her on May 28, according to Iranian media.

Her family has appealed for the Islamic law of retribution to be applied - an “eye for an eye” form of punishment that would see the death penalty served in this instance.

Najafi’s trial, which was adjourned until July 17, has drawn coverage in state media where scandals related to politicians rarely appear on TV.

A mathematician, professor and veteran politician, Najafi has previously served as President Hassan Rouhani’s economic adviser and education minister.

He was elected Tehran mayor in August 2017, but resigned the following April after facing criticism from conservatives for attending a dance performance by schoolgirls.

Najafi married Ostad without divorcing his first wife, unusual in Iran where polygamy is legal but socially frowned upon.

There have been calls by ultraconservatives for Najafi to be tried without favoritism from the judiciary, with some claiming the case shows reformists’ “moral bankruptcy.”

Reformists, meanwhile, have criticized the conservative-dominated television of biased coverage and of highlighting the case for political ends.

Source: Agence France-Presse, Staff, July 15, 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
Location: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Related content:

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

Published
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. 
Read more

Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

Published
Image
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.
Read more

Utah requests execution of death row inmate

Published
Image
SALT LAKE CITY — The state of Utah requested on Tuesday that a man who’s been on death row for almost 25 years be executed. Taberon Honie was convicted of the murder of his ex-girlfriend’s mother in 1999. In the death warrant application, the state’s lawyers said Honie used up his appeals and there is no longer any legal reason to stop Honie’s execution.
Read more

Cuba Maintains Capital Punishment to "Deter and Intimidate"

Published
Image
Aware that only the use of terror and force keeps it in power, the Cuban regime makes it clear that if necessary, it will not hesitate to kill. HAVANA TIMES – Inflation, misery, the lack of medicine, and power outages, which were the triggers for previous demonstrations, are worsening daily in Cuba. Given the possibility that these protests may occur again, the regime has threatened the death penalty for those who participate in demonstrations considered “illegal.”
Read more

Iranian Political Prisoners Condemn Looming Execution Of Rapper Toomaj Salehi

Published
Image
A group of high profile political prisoners in Iran have denounced the death sentence handed down to dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi, calling it a sign of Iran's "inhuman nature and deep corruption." Earlier this week, an Iranian revolutionary court sentenced the outspoken artist to death for his songs supporting the nationwide protests of 2022, charges that his lawyer, Amir Raeisian, claims he had previously been acquitted of.
Read more

Iran | 3 Men, Woman Executed in Karaj

Published
Image
Four people including a woman and a possible juvenile offender were executed for murder charges in Karaj. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 24 April. His identity has been established as Pejman Azizi who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.
Read more