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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 | Man Executed for Drug Charges in Urmia

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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO): February 19, 2024: Iraj Paaki, a man sentenced to death for drug-related charges, was executed in Urmia Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Urmia Central Prison on 19 February. His identity has been established as 35-year-old Iraj Paaki from the Kouhsar region of Salmas. He was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Around six years ago, Iraj was arrested in Ardabil with his friend Omar Khashmani for drug-related charges. In court, Omar was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and Iraj was sentenced to death. He was transferred to solitary confinement from Ward 1 of the prison the day prior to his execution.”

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year for the past three years. At least 305 people were executed for drug-related charges between 1 January-10 October 2023, a 69% increase compared to the same period in 2022, and the number of drug-related executions in 2023 were close to 20 times higher than 2020.

The number of drug executions dramatically dropped in 2018 following a 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws. Consequently, drug executions ranged between 24-30 per annum between 2018-2020. The Amendment was reversed in practice in 2021 when executions increased ten-fold to 126 in 2021 and doubled again in 2022 with 256 drug-related executions. On 13 September 2023, IHRNGO reported a 94% rise in the number of drug-related executions in the year following the start of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in September 2022.

Source: iranhr.net, Staff, February 19, 2024

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Location: Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
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