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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 | Man Executed for Murder in Isfahan

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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 13, 2021: Esmail Ghassabi who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been executed in Isfahan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed on murder charges in Isfahan Central Prison on the morning of October 11. 

His identity has been established as 35-year-old Esmail Ghassabi.

Informed sources told Iran Human Rights: “Esmail Ghassabi was arrested for murder over financial disputes in the autumn of 2018 and sentenced to qisas.”

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

According to Iran Human Rights’ Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 211 of the 267 people executed in 2020 were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for "premeditated 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, October 13, 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: Isfahan, Isfahan Province, Iran
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