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As clock ticks toward another Trump presidency, federal death row prisoners appeal for clemency

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President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office is putting a spotlight on the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, which houses federal death row. In Bloomington, a small community of death row spiritual advisors is struggling to support the prisoners to whom they minister.  Ross Martinie Eiler is a Mennonite, Episcopal lay minister and member of the Catholic Worker movement, which assists the homeless. And for the past three years, he’s served as a spiritual advisor for a man on federal death row.
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Iran | Four Executions in Gorgan, Jiroft; Woman Hanged in Mashhad

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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 26, 2023: Shaban Yousefi and an unidentified man were executed for murder charges in Gorgan Central Prison.

According to HRANA news agency, two men were executed in Gorgan Central Prison on 16 May. Their identities have been reported as Shaban Yousefi and a man only identified as Bezi (surname unknown), who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source said: “Bezi had committed the murder during a fight over inheritance and sentenced to death.”

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.

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.

Baluch Mohammad Darayi and Mehdi Salari Executed in Jiroft


Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 26, 2023: Mohammad Darayi and Mehdi Salari, two Baluch men sentenced to death for drug-related charges, were executed in Jiroft Prison.

According to Hal Vash, two Baluch men were executed in Jiroft Prison on 25 May. Their identities have been reported as 30-year-old Mohammad Darayi (Golbacheh) and 48-year-old Mehdi Salari who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. Mohammad had been behind bars for around four years.

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-6% of Iran’s population.

Baluch minorities also represented almost half of drug-related executions in 2022. 47.3% of the 256 people executed for drug-related charges were Baluch.

According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 256 people were executed for drug-related offences in 2022, a more than two-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and ten times more than 2020 (25).

Woman Hanged in Mashhad


The death sentence of a woman, MonirehNoori-Kia, 35, was carried out in Vakilabad Prison, Mashhad, on Sunday, May 28. 

She was convicted of intentional murder. 

The Judiciary upheld her death sentence 3 years ago. 

Six women have been executed in Iran over the past 5 months.

Source: Iran Human Rights; Iran HRM, Staff, May 26-29, 2023


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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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