Iran | Six Prisoners Executed at Rajai Shahr Prison on September 23

Iran Human Rights (IHR); September 26, 2020: IHR previously reported the execution of a female prisoner, Mahtab Shafiei in Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj.

According to the newly obtained information, five male prisoners were also executed with Mahtab that day.

All five prisoners appear to have been sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

According to Iran Human Rights, on 23 September, one woman and five men were executed in Rajai Shahr Prison. All five appear to have been sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

Yesterday, IHR reported the execution of a female prisoner whose identity was established as 32 year old Mahtab Shafiei. She had been sentenced to death for the murder of her husband and his grandmother, and was transferred from Qarchak Prison in Varamin to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj on Tuesday to be executed.

Another executed prisoner has been identified as Hossein Shahani, previously held at Hall 2, Ward 1 of the prison but no information is yet available on the identities of the other four prisoners who were executed that day.

At the time of publication, the execution of the six prisoners has not been announced by domestic media or official sources in Iran.

According to Iran Human Rights’ annual report on the Death Penalty in Iran, at least 225 of the 280 of those executed in 2019 were charged with murder.

As there are no legal distinctions made between murder and manslaughter, whether voluntary or involuntary in Iran, those charged under the umbrella term of “premeditated murder” will receive the death penalty regardless of intent and the circumstances.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, September 26, 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

The US reporter who has witnessed 14 executions: ‘People need to know what it looks like’

South Carolina-based journalist Jeffrey Collins observed back-to-back executions in 2025 after the state revived the death penalty following a 13-year pause Jeffrey Collins has watched 14 men draw their final breaths. Over 25 years at the Associated Press, the South Carolina-based journalist has repeatedly served as an observer inside the state’s execution chamber, watching from feet away as prison officials kill men who were sentenced to capital punishment. South Carolina has recently kept him unusually busy, with seven back-to-back executions in 14 months.

Florida's second execution of 2026 scheduled for February

Florida’s second execution of 2026, a man convicted of killing a grocery story owner, will take place in February. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant Jan. 23 for Melvin Trotter, 65, to die by lethal injection Feb. 24. Florida's first execution will take place just a few weeks earlier when Ronald Palmer Heath is set to die Feb. 10. Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1987 for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford a year earlier in Palmetto.

Iranian soldier sentenced to death for refusing to shoot protesters

TEHRAN, Iran — A young Iranian soldier has been sentenced to death after refusing orders to fire on anti-government protesters amid a wave of nationwide demonstrations that began late last year, according to a human rights group. Javid Khales, a member of Iran's security forces, was arrested immediately after declining to shoot at demonstrators, the Iran Human Rights Society reported. He has since been transferred to a prison in Isfahan province.

Texas | Death Penalty for Eastland County Deputy killer

EASTLAND, Texas — Cody Pritchard received the death penalty today for the shooting death of Eastland County Deputy David Bosecker back in 2023. According to court documents, the Eastland County Sheriff's Office responded to an emergency call involving a disturbance in Rising Star. When a deputy attempted to enter the property to respond to the call, Cody Pritchard crashed a car into the patrol unit before shooting the deputy. Court documents state that Deputy David Bosecker was pronounced dead on the scene and Pritchard admitted to the crimes and was charged with Capital Murder.

Georgia parole board suspends scheduled execution of Cobb County death row prisoner

The execution of a Georgia man scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a clemency application. Stacey Humphreys, 52, would have been the state's first execution in 2025. As of December 16, 2025, Georgia has carried out zero executions in 2025. The state last executed an inmate in January 2020, followed by a pause due to COVID-19. Executions resumed in 2024, but none have occurred this year until now. Humphreys had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown, who were fatally shot at the real estate office where they worked.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Why most death sentences in India do not survive appeal

Data and recent Supreme Court judgments show how trial court death sentences frequently collapse under appellate scrutiny, raising questions about investigation, evidence and the use of capital punishment. Hanumangarh, Rajasthan: Eight years after a crime that later led to a death sentence, the Supreme Court has acquitted a young man from Chennai convicted of the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl. A trial court in Chengalpattu had sentenced him to death in 2018, a verdict later upheld by the Madras High Court. Earlier this month, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court overturned both judgments, citing serious gaps in the prosecution’s case.

Saudi Arabia executed 356 people in 2025, highest number on record

Analysts attribute increase to kingdom’s ‘war on drugs’ as authorities kill 356 people by death penalty Saudi authorities executed 356 people in 2025, setting a new record for the number of inmates put to death in the kingdom in a single year. Analysts have largely attributed the increase in executions to Riyadh’s “war on drugs”, with some of those arrested in previous years only now being executed after legal proceedings and convictions. Official data released by the Saudi government said 243 people were executed in drug-related cases in 2025 alone, according to a tally kept by Agence France-Presse.

California | Convicted killer Scott Peterson keeps swinging in court — but expert says he’s not going anywhere but his cell

More than two decades after Laci Peterson vanished from her Modesto, California, home, the murder case that captivated the nation continues to draw legal challenges, public debate and renewed attention. As the year comes to a close, Scott Peterson, convicted in 2004 of murdering his pregnant wife and their unborn son Conner, remains behind bars, serving life without the possibility of parole. His wife disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002, and a few months later, the remains of Laci and Conner were found in the San Francisco Bay.

M Ravi, the man who defied Singapore regime's harassment, dies

M Ravi never gave up despite the odds stacked against him by the Singapore regime, which has always used its grip on the legal process to silence critics. M Ravi, one of Singapore's best-known personalities who was at the forefront of legal cases challenging the PAP regime over human rights violations, has died. He was 56. The news has come as a shock to friends and activists. Singapore's The Straits Times reported that police were investigating the "unnatural death".

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog