FEATURED POST

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.

Amnesty International worried about death sentence of Kurdish man in Iran

Published
Houshmand Alipour is at risk of execution after he was sentenced to death on Dec. 29, 2019, following an unfair trial, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

Alipour was tried before Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj (Sine), Kurdistan Province, and was convicted of “armed rebellion against the state.”

He was also convicted of several other charges including “spreading propaganda against the system” and “membership of a group with the purpose of disrupting national security,” for which he received 16 years in prison.

Meanwhile, another Iranian Kurd, Mohammad Ostadghader, was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment in the same trial for multiple charges including “spreading propaganda against the system.”

Under Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, he will be required to serve 5 years in prison.

Both men were denied access to lawyers of their choosing and say they were forced to give “confessions” under torture and other ill-treatment. The Iranian state media broadcasted their confessions.

On Aug. 3, 2018, security forces arrested both near Saqqez.

According to Amnesty International, they were arrested on suspicion of taking part in an armed attack against a security base in that city, which they both deny.

Kurdish media reports suggest they were Peshmerga fighters for the Iranian Kurdish opposition group, the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK).

Alipour has since said both men were tortured into making the “confessions” during interrogations when they had no access to a lawyer.

He told his family that the only reason he made the “confession” was to stop the torture.

Their lawyer has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against their convictions and sentences.

In a letter to Iran’s Head of the Judiciary Ebrahim Raisi, Amnesty International called on Iran to give Alipour and Ostadghader a fair retrial and to ensure they are protected from torture.

Amnesty also called on Iran to stop the broadcasting of forced confessions and to immediately establish an official moratorium on executions to abolish the death penalty.

Source: kurdistan24.net, Staff, January 27, 2020


⚑ | 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: Iran
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

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

Could Moscow attack suspects face execution in Belarus?

Published
Image
After the deadly terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, some Russian politicians are debating trying the suspects to Belarus, which still has death penalty. But it's not that simple. The terror attack on Moscow's Crocus City Hall has ignited debate about the reintroduction of the death sentence in Russia. Given that 140 people died and more than 500 were wounded at the concert hall on March 22, 2024, emotions are running high.
Read more

Bill Moves Forward to Prevent Use of Nitrogen Gas Asphyxiation in Louisiana Executions

Published
Image
There’s an effort underway, in the current legislative session in Baton Rouge, to reverse course on the controversial execution method with Senate Bill 430. When Louisiana legislators approved the use of nitrogen gas asphyxiation as an execution method during a second special legislative session in February, the move attracted national attention; not the least because it has only been used in the U.S. once. That’s when Alabama executed convicted killer Kenneth Eugene Smith on January 25th of this year. Now there’s an effort underway, in the current legislative session in Baton Rouge, to reverse course on the controversial execution method with Senate Bill 430.
Read more

Iran | 9 prisoners executed in a single day

Published
Image
9 prisoners of drug charges executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chabahar and GhezelHesar According to the Iranian Human Rights Society website, on Sunday, April 21st, 2024, 9 prisoners including, Baloch and Kurdish drug suspects were executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chah bahar, and GhezelHesar.  
Read more

Iran | Probable Child Offender and Child Bride, Husband Executed for Drug Charges

Published
Image
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 15 2024: Marjan Hajizadeh and Esmail Hassaniani, a couple sentenced to death for drug-related charges in a joint case, were executed in Zanjan Central Prison.  Marjan is reported to have been 16 at the time of arrest, which IHRNGO is working to confirm. If verified, she will be the first child offender executed for drug charges since 2014. She was also a child bride forced into marriage.
Read more

U.S. Supreme Court to hear Arizona death penalty case that could redefine historic precedent

Published
Image
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments centering on an Arizona death row prisoner that could set new precedent to determining ineffective assistance of counsel.  A Mohave County Superior Court jury convicted Danny Lee Jones for the 1992 murders of Robert Weaver and his daughter Tisha, as well as the attempted murder of Weaver’s grandmother. A judge sentenced Jones to death for the two murders.
Read more