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

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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. 

Iran | Death-Row Prisoner Who Was Freed On Bail Executed

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2 death-row prisoners were hanged on February 26 at Karaj city’s Rajai-Shahr prison, near Tehran.

According to Iran Human Rights (IHR) sources, death-row prisoners Mohammmadreza Rafati (65) and Mohammad Tayyebi were executed at Karaj city’s Rajai-Shahr prison on February 26, 2020.

"Mohammadreza Rafati was arrested 22 years ago for murder and spent 20 years in jail. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) but the plaintiff refused to be present for the execution for 2 decades. Therefore, according to the Iranian Islamic Penal Code, Mohammadreza was freed on bail.  However, recently the plaintiff saw him on the streets, shouted at him and police arrested Mohammadreza. In a rare move, they have executed him 10 days after the recent arrest,” a well-informed source told IHR.

According to the Iranian Islamic Penal Code (IPC) murder is punishable by qisas which means “retribution in kind” or retaliation. 

In this way, the State effectively puts the responsibility of the death sentence for murder on the shoulders of the victim’s family. 

In qisas cases, the plaintiff has the possibility to forgive or demand diya (blood money).

However, if the plaintiff refuses to execute the defendant for a long time, the state can set the prisoner free on bail.

In 2019, most of the executions in Iran were carried out for murder charges.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, March 12, 2020


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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
Location: Karaj, Alborz Province, Iran
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