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As clock ticks toward another Trump presidency, federal death row prisoners appeal for clemency

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President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office is putting a spotlight on the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, which houses federal death row. In Bloomington, a small community of death row spiritual advisors is struggling to support the prisoners to whom they minister.  Ross Martinie Eiler is a Mennonite, Episcopal lay minister and member of the Catholic Worker movement, which assists the homeless. And for the past three years, he’s served as a spiritual advisor for a man on federal death row.
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Iran | Two executed on drug charges

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Iran Human Rights (IHR); June 30, 2021: Death row prisoner Mohammad Taher Soleimani has been executed on drug-related charges in Mahabad Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Mahabad Prison this morning. His identity has been established as Mohammad Taher Soleimani, who was sentenced to death on drug-related charges.

Speaking to IHR, an informed source said: “Mohammad Taher Soleimani was arrested in early 2017 and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court. His death sentenced was supposed to be commuted to a life sentence on Eid al-Adha, but he was executed this morning.”

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

It has been almost four years since an Article was added to the Anti-Narcotics Law in 2017 to limit death sentences specifically and provide a general degree of reprieve in some cases. However, while the numbers reduced that year, the death penalty is still being used in drug-related cases.

According to Iran Human Rights’ Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, at least 25 people were executed on drug-related charges in 2020. However, at least 39 people have so far been executed on drug-related charges in 2021.

On May 3, IHR published a report on the death penalty in the first four months of 2021 expressing concern at the significant increase in the number of drug-related executions and continues to warn of the continuation of this trend.

Baluch Prisoner Executed on Drug Charges


Iran Human Rights (IHR); July 1, 2021: Baluch prisoner Azim Karimizayi has been executed on drug-related charges in Mashhad Central Prison. 

At least 40 prisoners, including one woman, have been executed on drug-related charges in Iranian prisons in 2021.

According to the Baluch Activists Campaign, Baluch prisoner, Azim Karimzayi was executed in Mashhad Central Prison on June 30. 

He was sentenced to death on drug related charges.

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, June 30, July 1, 2021


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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: Iran
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