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.

UK | Lesbian couple from Saudi Arabia facing death penalty declare love for each other on TV

Published
Fad and Nanz
Lesbian couple 'Fad' and 'Nanz', from Saudi Arabia, feared being killed in their home country, but have now found happiness in London

A lesbian couple who fled Saudi Arabia because they feared the death penalty have declared their love for each other on TV.

The two women, who now live in London, were forced to keep their relationship a secret in their home country - where under sharia law, same-sex relationships can be punishable by death.

Now free to love each other, they gave a moving interview to the Arabic-language TV show 'Jaafar Talk' which airs on the DW channel, during a Valentine's Day special.

Using 'Fad' and 'Nanz' as aliases, as the segment includes images of the pair in Saudi Arabia, they revealed how they fell in love after meeting on Snapchat.

They managed to keep their relationship a secret until Nanz, who says she discovered her sexuality in her early teens, began to attract suspicion from relatives because she kept knocking back potential suitors.

The couple left Saudi Arabia when travel restrictions for women were lifted in August 2018 and were granted asylum in the UK.

During the interview they opened up about what it is like to be different in a country where, according to Saudi Arabia's security agency, homosexual relations can be punishable by death.

When they finally did open up about their relationship on social media upon reaching safety, Nanz's relatives promptly cut off all ties with her.

But the happy couple are said to be adapting well to their new surroundings and freedom to love each other without fear of death.

The interview has attracted a number of supportive comments, with Netizen 'AysarIraq' saying: "Everyone should be free to do what they want."

'Tangiroustom' wrote: "Their bodies and emotions are none of our business. They get to enjoy freedoms granted to them by the universal declaration of human rights thanks to civilised countries that grant them protection."

However, they also faced backlash with 'Mays9325' saying: "In the end, this is their choice, but why do they have to be on TV? I don't think that is necessary." 

Source: mirror.co.uk, Staff, February 20, 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: London, UK
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

Japan | Death-row inmates' lawsuit targeting same-day notifications of executions dismissed

Published
Image
The Osaka District Court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by death row inmates that claimed same-day notifications of executions violate the Constitution — the first ruling of its kind. The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit against the government in hopes of sparking a wider discussion on the rights of death row prisoners. They also sought ¥22 million in compensation and plan to appeal to a higher court.
Read more

Texas | State district judge recommends overturning Melissa Lucio’s death sentence

Published
Image
In a rare joint statement, the district attorney and the defense agreed that prosecutors withheld evidence that could point to a Rio Grande Valley woman’s innocence in the death of her toddler. A district judge who previously presided over a woman’s capital murder case recommended last week that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturn Melissa Lucio's 2008 conviction after a district attorney’s office admitted that prosecutors withheld evidence from her defense.
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

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

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