Saudi Arabia | Statement by the EU High Representative on mass executions

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia executed 81 people in the largest mass application of capital punishment in the country since 2019.

This represents another worrying increase in the trend of using the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, where 67 people were executed in 2021.

As a matter of principle, the European Union is strongly opposed to the death penalty under all circumstances.

It is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent to crime and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.

The European Union will continue to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the few remaining countries that still apply it.

The EU remains concerned about the continued use of capital punishment in Saudi Arabia and will continue to raise its position with Saudi interlocutors, advocating for a complete de facto moratorium, as a first step towards a formal and full abolition of the death penalty.

Source: eeas.europa.eu, Staff, March 14, 2022

2 Saudis executed for killing mother who tried to stop them from joining Daesh

They were among 81 people put to death on Saturday in kingdom's largest mass executions

2 Saudi brothers were executed after almost 7 years in jail for murdering their mother who tried to stop them from joining Daesh in Syria, local media reported.

The duo were among 81 people put to death on Saturday in kingdom's largest mass execution. Most were individuals convicted of terrorism and capital crimes, including members of Daesh and Al Qaida, the Saudi Press Agency said yesterday quoting a ministry of interior statement.

The ministry said the death sentence was handed down to several others who were convicted of crimes such as murder and rape. “These individuals, totaling 81, were convicted of various crimes including murdering innocent men, women and children.”

The brothers’ crime dates back to July 2016. Driven by radical beliefs, they allegedly killed their mother after she tried to stop them from joining Daesh in Syria in a case that outraged Saudi society.

“The only thing (we have established) is that they (the twins) follow Takfiri ideology,” the ministry said, using a phrase which Saudi authorities use to refer to Islamist militancy. “The case is still under investigation,” said the spokesman, who declined to give further details.

In a statement after the attack, the interior ministry said that the twins, Khaled and Saleh Al Oraini, were arrested on suspicion of stabbing their 67-year-old mother Haila, their 73-year-old father and their 22-year-old brother at the family home in the capital Riyadh.

The mother, who died of her wounds, had objected to her sons joining ISIS terrorists in Syria. The father and brother were in hospital in a serious condition, while the alleged attackers were arrested trying to flee across the border to Yemen, media said.

Source: Gulf News, Staff, March 14, 2021

'I'm just going to stick to football' - Newcastle boss Howe asked about 81 executions in Saudi Arabia

The manager opted not to talk about the events which occurred in the country of the club's owners

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said he was just going to stick to football when asked about recent events in Saudi Arabia, where 81 people were executed over the weekend.

This weekend saw Saudi Arabia's biggest mass execution in decades, with those killed accused of everything from joining militant groups to holding "deviant beliefs", according to the interior ministry.

Newcastle United are owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and, when asked about the events of the weekend, Howe said he wanted to speak specifically about Sunday's loss to Chelsea.

What happened?

A total of 81 people were executed on Saturday, a number dwarfing the 67 executions reported in Saudi Arabia in all of 2021 and the 27 from all of 2020.

"These individuals, totalling 81, were convicted of various crimes including murdering innocent men, women and children," the statement read.

"Crimes committed by these individuals also include pledging allegiance to foreign terrorist organisations, such as ISIS (Islamic State), al-Qaeda and the Houthis."

Those executed also included 37 Saudi nationals who were found guilty in a single case for attempting to assassinate security officers and targeting police stations and convoys, the statement added.

With this weekend's events, Saudi Arabia is back in the news as the country continues to be criticised for its record when it comes to human rights.

"There are prisoners of conscience on Saudi death row, and others arrested as children or charged with non-violent crimes," Soraya Bauwens, deputy director of anti-death penalty charity Reprieve, said in a statement.

"We fear for every one of them following this brutal display of impunity," she added.

Given the club's Saudi Arabian connections, Newcastle boss Howe was asked to comment on the political climate in the country, but he refused to discuss non-football-related events.

"I'm just going to stick to football," he said after his side's 1-0 loss to Chelsea, which came via a late goal from Kai Havertz. "I'm still bitterly disappointed about the result."

Tuchel asked for his opinion

Newcastle's opponents, Chelsea, have also come under fire due to their ownership situation, with Roman Abramovich recently being sanctioned by the UK government for his connections to Vladimir Putin.

Critics of the sanctions, which have impacted the football club dramatically, have pointed to Newcastle's ownership situation and the government's decision not to condemn the events in Saudi Arabia.

Tuchel was asked about the executions and the lack of response in comparison to those that have impacted Chelsea, but the German said he doesn't want to compare the situations.

"Wow, that is a big one," Tuchel said. "Unfortunately, the situation is like this also for the owners of Newcastle and that effects, yes.

"What can I say? I don't want to point the finger because comparing yourself or blaming others does not make the situation for us a different situation.

"The statement, that we condemn war and the actions from Russia towards Ukraine, there is no doubt. But we're facing the consequences actually at the moment and this is where the focus is. I hope you can understand."

Source: goal.com, Staff, March 14, 2022

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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

Florida | Jury recommends death sentence for Jeffrey Crum in killing of 12-year-old girl

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — A Hernando County jury has recommended the death penalty for a 65-year-old man who was found guilty last week of raping and killing 12-year-old Jennifer Odom. Sentencing for Jeffrey Crum was held this week. Crum abducted Odom in 1993 after she stepped off her school bus in Pasco County. Her body was found in a Hernando County orange grove six days later.

Hanging of Osaka Arsonist is Japan’s First Execution Under Takaichi Government

As a majority of the international community has abolished capital punishment. Japan and the U.S. are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that put people to death. The execution of Takami Sunao—an arsonist whose 2009 attack in Osaka killed five—on August 21, 2026, was Japan’s first use of capital punishment in just over a year. Over a Decade from Sentencing to Execution Takami Sunao was executed on August 21, 2026 , for a 2009 arson attack at an Osaka pachinko parlor that killed five people. In July 2009, Takami poured gasoline on the floor of a pachinko parlor in Osaka and set it alight, killing 5 customers and staff members and injuring 10 more. While the defense argued that he was in a state of diminished capacity, the Supreme Court finalized his death sentence in February 2016. The execution took place 17 years after the initial crime and 10 and a half years after the death sentence was finalized.

Cartoons about Capital Punishment

More cartoons about capital punishment HERE

Spared execution eight times, oldest inmate in US dies at 101 after 76 years behind bars

Francis Clifford Smith was given his last meal eight times. But after being spared execution each time, he went on to be regarded as the longest-serving prisoner in the US before dying in June at 101 years old. Convicted of murder in 1950 when he was 25, he always maintained his innocence, those who knew him told the BBC. Andrius Banevicius, the public information officer for Connecticut's Department of Correction, recounted how Smith used to feed the birds while in Osborn Prison, earning him the nickname The Birdman of Osborn.

Israel builds execution chamber for Palestinians convicted of murder

In March, the Knesset approved legislation that calls for the execution of Palestinians convicted by a military court of killing Israelis Israeli authorities are preparing a prison wing—replete with an execution chamber—designated specifically for Palestinian prisoners convicted of murder, Israel’s i24NEWS channel reported Tuesday. The move comes after the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) approved legislation in March that calls for the execution of Palestinian prisoners convicted by a military court of murdering Israelis.

Japan executes man convicted of killing five in 2009 Osaka pachinko parlor arson

Japan on Friday announced the execution of a man convicted of killing five people after setting fire to an Osaka pachinko parlor in 2009, the first execution by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi 's government as the country faces growing calls for more transparency and the abolition of capital punishment. The Justice Ministry said Sunao Takami, 58, was hanged to death earlier Friday. Takami in 2009 set fire to the crowded pachinko parlor in Osaka by spreading gasoline and throwing a lit match, engulfing the building, killing five and injuring 10 others, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said.

Florida executes William Frances Silvia

Florida executed its 13th death row prisoner of the year Tuesday evening amid the state’s aggressive use of the death penalty championed by Governor Ron DeSantis. William Frances Silvia, 61, who was convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and injuring his mother-in-law in 2006, was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. after receiving the lethal three-drug injection at Florida State Prison. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Silvia was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm when the curtain to the death chamber went up. He remained relatively motionless with his eyes and mouth open throughout most of the execution while a priest sat at his feet and prayed.

Oklahoma executes Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez

Oklahoma has carried out 1 of 3 executions set for the same day in the United States in another sign of the resurgence of the death penalty in the country. Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was put to death by lethal injection for the murder of his common-law wife in 2003 at their Oklahoma City home. He admitted to police he shot her twice during an argument. Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, did not fight for his life, stunning his attorneys in July when he told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board that he didn't want clemency. "It's time for me to pay for what I did," he said.

Alabama is trying a death penalty bait-and-switch

For a decade, Alabama death row inmate Jeffrey Lee has been clear that he does not want to be executed by lethal injection . But that is what awaits him on September 17 . He faces that prospect because the state has been enjoined from using nitrogen hypoxia , the alternative execution method he preferred, to put him to death. Having failed to show that its nitrogen hypoxia protocol is constitutionally acceptable, Alabama wants a do-over to force Lee to die by lethal injection as a result of its own failure. It should not get one. Alabama should only be able to put Lee to death if it can fix nitrogen hypoxia’s constitutional defects.

Texas | A Dangerous Man. At 18, Billy Joe Wardlow took a man’s life. Nearly 30 years later, the state still wants his.

Like any place humans gather, death row has a culture. Billy Wardlow says it's different in many ways from general population. One is in how new inmates are treated. "In [general population], the guys around you would try to find some way to exploit you," Wardlow said. "Death row, with a few exceptions, will often extend a hand of friendship to the 'new boot' so they can get on their feet ... Most of us get together and let each other know what we can send to the new guy." One of the cherished myths of those who support the death penalty is that it is reserved for the “worst of the worst,” those beyond redemption. Wardlow typically sends writing materials, food, clothes, and hygiene products. Recently, after receiving some of these items, a new inmate asked Wardlow what he owed him. "I told him to remember how guys helped him when he saw someone else new," Wardlow said. "Pay it forward, as the saying goes." Sending gift...

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