Possible Juvenile Offender Hanged In Iran; Juvenile in Imminent Danger of Execution

Iran Human Rights (IHR); April 18, 2020: Death-row prisoner Majid Esmaeilzadeh was hanged Saturday morning April 18, at the central prison of Ardabil, North-Western Iran. Some sources say he was under 18 at the time of the offence.

According to IHR sources, Majid Esmaeilzadeh was hanged at the central prison of Ardabil city, Iran. Sources say he was arrested and sentenced to death for murder while he was between 16 and 17 years old. He was around 25 at the time of the execution.

IHR is investigating the case. Iran is one of the few countries continuing implementation of death sentences despite Coronavirus outbreak in the country.

According to the IHR’s Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, at least 280 people, including 4 juvenile-offenders were hanged in 2019.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly bans execution and life imprisonment of juveniles.

Executions in Iran have continued to be carried out even after the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the country.

Urgent: Juvenile Offender in Imminent Danger of Execution in Iran

Iran Human Rights (IHR); April 19, 2020: Authorities in Iran have scheduled the execution of a juvenile offender identified as Shayan Saeedpour for Tuesday, April 21. IHR calls for the international community’s urgent reactions. IHR’s director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said, ”international pressure is the only means to stop Shayan Saeidpour’s execution.“

According to IHR sources, Iranian judicial authorities notified Shayan Saeedpour’s lawyer that his client will be executed on Tuesday, April 21 at Sanandaj prison, Kurdistan province.

Shayan charged for murdering a person during a street fight when he was under 18. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly bans execution and life imprisonment of those who commit a crime at the age below 18.

Under Article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code, judges are allowed to issue alternative verdicts for the minors. The juvenile offenders whom a judge considers not mature enough to realize the nature of the crime committed can face prison terms.

However, a source close to Shayan’s family told IHR, “around two years after his arrest, the court sent Shayan to forensics to find out whether he was mature enough to realize the nature of crime or not. Forensic experts asked him just one question and concluded that he realized the nature of the crime.”

IHR once again emphasises that Article 91 in the revised Iranian Islamic Penal Code is not enough to stop juvenile executions. Iranian authorities must stop issuing death sentences for children with no exception.

Shayan Saeedpour was one of the 80 prisoners who escaped from prison during a riot on March 27, 2020. Iranian authorities hanged one of the other prisoners following his re-arrest and preponing Shayan’s execution might be another act to spread fear among the prisoners. During the past weeks, there have been many riots in Iranian prisons to protest the management of jails during the Coronavirus spread in Iran.

According to this source, Shayan was suffering from a mental illness and was under psychiatric consultation.

Shayan Saeedpour was born on September 21, 1997, and the crime date was August 13, 2015.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, April 19-18, 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

Oklahoma executes John Hanson

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma executed a man Thursday whose transfer to state custody was expedited by the Trump administration. John Fitzgerald Hanson, 61, received a three-drug lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was pronounced dead at 10:11 a.m., prison officials said. Hanson was sentenced to die after he was convicted of carjacking, kidnapping and killing a Tulsa woman in 1999. “Peace to everyone,” Hanson said while strapped to a gurney inside the prison’s death chamber.

Japan | Steady-handed prison guard remembers faces of condemned he executed

His hands never trembled, not even as he slipped the noose around the necks of several condemned men. But now, years later, their faces return to him -- uninvited, every day. Currently in his 70s, a Japanese man who worked as a prison guard for many years at a detention center in eastern Japan, remains anonymous for privacy reasons. One morning in the 1990s, he was informed he was to be that day's "noose handler," assisted by four other prison officers and several staff in the task of hanging death row inmates. "I knew this was a road I'd have to go down eventually if I worked at a detention center," the man said in an interview with Kyodo News. "You don't have any power to veto the decision."

Alabama executes Gregory Hunt

Alabama executes a man by nitrogen gas for the beating death of a woman in 1988 An Alabama man convicted of killing a woman in 1988 was put to death Tuesday evening in the nation’s 6th execution by nitrogen gas. Strapped to a gurney with a blue-rimmed mask covering his entire face, Hunt gave no final words but appeared to give a thumbs-up sign and a peace sign with his fingers. The gas began flowing sometime after 5:55 p.m., but it was not clear exactly when. At 5:57 p.m. Hunt briefly shook, gasped and raised his head off the gurney. He let out a moan at about 5:59 p.m. and raised his feet.

South Carolina executes Stephen Stanko

South Carolina executes a man serving death sentences in 2 separate murders Washington (AFP) – A South Carolina man convicted of a 2005 double murder was put to death by lethal injection on Friday, the fourth execution in the United States this week. Stephen Stanko, 57, was pronounced dead at 6:34 pm (2234 GMT) at the state prison in Columbia, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a statement. Stanko had a choice between his method of execution -- firing squad, electric chair or lethal injection. He chose lethal injection. The execution began after a 3 1/2 minute final statement where Stanko apologized to his victims and asked not to be judged by the worst day of his life. Witnesses could hear prison officials asking for the first dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital which was different from previous executions. Stanko appeared to be saying words, turned toward the families of the victims and then let out several quick breaths as his lips quivered. Stanko app...

Utah | Judge says Ralph Menzies does have dementia, but is competent enough to be executed

A Utah judge says death row inmate Ralph Menzies is mentally competent enough to be executed by firing squad. In a ruling issued Friday evening, 3rd District Judge Matthew Bates wrote that Menzies does have dementia, but it’s not enough to prevent him from understanding why he’s being punished. Menzies’ attorneys say they plan to appeal the decision to the Utah Supreme Court. The ruling caps of a monthslong competency hearing that began in November, where attorneys for Menzies argued the 67-year-old’s brain is so damaged he can’t form a “rational understanding” of why the state is pursuing the death penalty. Attorneys for the state, meanwhile, argued that Menzies does show signs of cognitive decline but he’s still competent.

U.S. | Four executions are scheduled in four states over four days this week

Over the next four days, four inmates in four different states are scheduled to be put to death – a cluster that, while not abnormal, comes amid a national uptick in executions while President Donald Trump calls for the death penalty’s expansion. A cluster of executions is “not that unusual,” according to Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project. “But it’s become increasingly rare as use of the death penalty has diminished.” Indeed, the number of executions each year remains far lower than its peak in 1999, when nearly 100 people were put to death nationwide. That figure steadily decreased until the Covid-19 pandemic, when it reached historic lows, Dunham said.

Saudi Arabia Executes Journalist After 7 Years Behind Bars

Saudi Arabia has executed journalist Turki Al-Jasser after seven years in prison, following accusations of terrorism and treason, which activists say were related to his critical social media posts about the royal family. Human rights groups have condemned the execution, citing it as part of the kingdom’s crackdown on free speech. A prominent Saudi journalist, Turki Al-Jasser, has been executed after spending seven years in prison, The Associated Press reported, citing the Saudi Press Agency. Activists cited by the AP argued that the charges against him were politically motivated, primarily tied to his social media activity.

Oklahoma judge stays execution of man set to die Thursday

Hanson was transferred to Oklahoma custody in March by federal officials following through on President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order to more actively support the death penalty. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge granted a temporary stay of execution Monday to a man whose transfer to death row was expedited by the Trump administration and who was scheduled to receive a lethal injection this week. John Fitzgerald Hanson, 61, was set to die Thursday for killing a Tulsa woman in 1999. Hanson’s lawyers have argued that he did not receive a fair clemency hearing last month before the state’s five-member Pardon and Parole Board. They claim board member Sean Malloy was biased because he worked for the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office when Hanson was being prosecuted.

Florida | DeSantis signs death warrant for eighth execution of the year

Michael Bell, 54, is scheduled to die by lethal injection July 15 for the mistaken-revenge killing of two people outside of Jacksonville bar in 1993. Michael Bernard Bell, who was convicted for the 1993 murder of a man and woman in Jacksonville, has been scheduled for execution under the eighth death warrant signed this year by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Bell, 54, is set to die by lethal injection July 15 at Florida State Prison near the city of Starke, according to the warrant, signed Friday. He was found guilty in 1995 and sentenced to death for the murders of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith.

Oscar Franklin Smith, Tennessee death row inmate, declines to select execution method

Oscar Franklin Smith, a Tennessee death row inmate scheduled for execution on May 22, will die by lethal injection if the process moves forward. Smith, who was asked to choose between lethal injection and the electric chair, declined to pick, his attorney Kelley Henry, a supervisory assistant federal public defender, said. When an inmate does not choose, the method defaults to lethal injection. It's not the first time Smith has been given this grim decision and declined. That decision to not choose ultimately saved his life for three more years.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog