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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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Iran trial opens for 5 facing death penalty over protests

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The 5 protesters on trial are among hundreds of Iranians detained because of the anti-government movement sweeping Iran since September.

The trial of 5 Iranians charged with offences that can carry capital punishment over protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death opened Saturday in Tehran, the judiciary's news website said.

The Islamic republic has witnessed a wave of protests over the death of 22-year-old Amini on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.

The street violence, which authorities have dubbed "riots", has led to dozens of deaths, mostly among demonstrators but also among the security forces.

Hundreds of protesters including women have been arrested.

"The 1st hearing of a number of defendants from the recent riots opened this morning at Tehran's revolutionary tribunal," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

Charges have been filed against more than 1,000 individuals in provinces across Iran in connection to the protests, the judiciary said on Wednesday.

Mizan reported that an individual identified as Mohammad Ghobadlou was charged in Tehran with "corruption on earth", an offence punishable by death, for "attacking police with a car, which resulted in the death of one officer and the injury of five others".

Another of the 5, Saeed Shirazi, faces the same charge for "inciting people to commit crimes against the country's security", Mizan said.

The 3 others, identified as Saman Seyedi, Mohammad Boroghani and Mohsen Rezazadeh, have all been accused of "moharebeh", which means "war against God" -- a charge that can also carry a death sentence.

Source: english.alaraby.co.uk, Staff, October 30, 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: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
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