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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 | Death Sentence Against Iranian Protester Upheld

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Iran's Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence of a protester convicted over the killing of a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during nationwide protests last year, a prosecutor says. 

The prosecutor in the central city of Hamadan did not disclose the defendant's name, but the activist Telegram channel 1500 Tasvir identified the man as Milad Zohrehvand. 

There has been no information about Zohrehvand’s condition since his reported arrest on October 26 last year. 

His family is said to have faced intense pressure from the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization to not provide any information about the man.

The legal advice group Dadban highlighted that Zohrehvand has been denied access to a lawyer while in custody. 

Ali Nazari, a member of the IRGC’s intelligence arm, was killed on October 26 last year amid a bloody crackdown on widespread protests. 

Security officials in Hamadan province quickly announced the arrest of six people in connection with the case.

More than 500 people were killed by security forces and over 20,000 were unlawfully detained during the unrest that rocked Iran for months.

Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters. Seven of them have been executed so far.

Source: iranwire.com, Staff, November 14, 2023


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Location: Iran
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