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U.S. | I'm a Death Row Pastor. They're Just Ordinary Folks

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In the early 1970s I was a North Carolinian, white boy from the South attending Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and working in East Harlem as part of a program. In my senior year, I visited men at the Bronx House of Detention. I had never been in a prison or jail, but people in East Harlem were dealing with these places and the police all the time. This experience truly turned my life around.

Iran | 400+ Executions Recorded for First Time in 5 Years; 4 Baluch Men and Woman Executed in Zahedan

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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 10, 2022: Four Baluch men and a Baluch woman were executed for murder in Zahedan Central Prison. More than 400 executions have been recorded in Iran for the first time in five years.

According to Hal Vash, four Baluch men and a Baluch woman were executed in Zahedan Central Prison on September 10. The four men’s identities have been reported as 38-year-old Khaled Raisi, 27-year-old Amrollah Basij, 42-year-old Abdolnasir Shehbakhsh and 37-year-old Houshang Kord.

The identity of the woman who was from Zahedan has not been established at the time of writing. All five prisoners were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder in separate cases.

Khaled Raisi who was a father to four children had been arrested in Chabahar on 23 March 2019. Amrollah Basij was a father of two. Abdolnasir Shehbakhsh was arrested around three years ago and also had children. Houshang Kord was from Khash province.

Another man was taken to the gallows along with the five executed prisoners but was returned to his cell after his victim’s family changed their mind.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or official sources in Iran.

According to data gathered by Iran Human Rights, at least 183 people were executed on murder charges in 2021. Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.

At least 251 including 6 women and 67 Baluch minorities were executed in the first six months of 2022. This is double the number of executions in the same period in 2021 when 117 people were executed.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, September 10, 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
Location: Iran
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