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.

Iran | Death Row Juvenile Offender Killed by Prison Guards

Published
Danial Zeinolabedini
Iran Human Rights (IHR); April 2, 2020: Death row juvenile offender Danial Zeinolabedini was beaten to death by prison guards. 

Danial’s body was handed over to his family on Thursday, April 2. 

Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemns the killing of Danial Zeinolabedini and urges the international community to react swiftly and properly. 

IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the head of Judiciary Ebrahim Raeisi are responsible for this crime, and they must be held accountable for that. We call on the UN to pay special attention to this case. Coronavirus pandemic should not make the international community close its eyes on violations of human rights.”

According to IHR sources, following a riot in Mahabad prison due to the prisoners’ fear of Coronavirus spread in the prison, Danial and some others were sent to solitary confinement. 

He was beaten there and transferred to Miandoab prison, in West Azerbaijan province. In Miandoab prison, he was beaten again. .

“Danial called home on Tuesday, March 31. He told his family that he was beaten badly and that he could barely talk. He asked for help, a well-informed source told IHR, “And finally, the prison authorities called Danial’s father and told him that his son is dead!”

“We have received Danial’s body full of bruises and injuries. Authorities claimed he committed suicide. Danial’s co-defendant was also beaten and injured badly. He is also in grave danger,” the source said.

Danial Zeinolabedini was a juvenile offender whose death sentence had been upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court. 

Danial was born on August 9, 2000. He allegedly committed murder on September 22, 2017, when he was 17 years old. According to his relatives, he did not commit the murder and was innocent.

According to the Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, published by IHR, at least 4 juvenile-offenders were executed in 2019 in Iran.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, April 2, 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

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