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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 | 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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