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First Third Of 2024 In Saudi Arabia: Executions Rise By 189% And Portend Another Bloody Year. At Least 71 Currently Facing Execution.

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Since the beginning of 2024 until the end of April, the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia announced the execution of 55 individuals. This figure constitutes a 189% increase compared to the executions in the first third of 2023, which witnessed 19 executions. The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights views these numbers as a clear indication of the Saudi government's continued approach towards executing and issuing death sentences, and that the promises made in recent years have become elusive.

Oklahoma | BPP denies clemency to Michael Smith, paves way for April execution

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The Pardon and Parole board has denied clemency for death row inmate Michael Smith in a hearing on Wednesday.

Smith is convicted of two separate murders from 2002, a metro mother and a store clerk, and is the next person scheduled to be put to death in Oklahoma.

Supporters of Smith claim prosecutors tested the wrong DNA and took confessions while Smith was high on drugs. 

They also claim Smith is too mentally incompetent to be put to death. 

Additionally, they argue that there shouldn’t be any executions while House Bill 3138, which would put a five-year moratorium on all executions, is moving through the legislature.

“We have a flawed death penalty system. It has been proven again and again and again,” Nathaniel Batchelder, director of Peace House OKC, said. “So no, there should be no execution while this bill for a moratorium is being considered.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond says Smith's claims have been repeatedly rejected in court.

He has called Smith a "ruthless killer who confessed on multiple occasions" and released a full recommendation that clemency should be denied before the hearing. 

In response to the denial of clemency, Drummond released a statement saying:

“I am pleased the Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency for the ruthless killer who took Janet Moore and Sharath Pulluru away from their families. Justice will finally be served for their tragic loss."

Smith is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the state penitentiary on April 4.

Drummond’s full recommendation can be read below:

"Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is requesting the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board deny clemency for Michael Dewayne Smith, who was convicted of murdering a 40-year-old mother and a 24-year-old store clerk in separate incidents on Feb. 22, 2002. Smith’s clemency hearing is set for March 6.

"“Michael Smith’s outrageous claims of innocence have been repeatedly rejected in court,” Drummond said. “He is a ruthless killer who has confessed to his crimes on multiple occasions. There is no doubt in my mind that his request for clemency should be denied.”

"In the clemency packet produced by the Attorney General’s office, the agency’s criminal appeals attorneys note that Smith killed Janet Moore and Sharath Pulluru in a double-murder spree simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Smith, also known by the moniker “Hoover Killer,” was a member of the Oak Grove Posse Kerr Village Crips gang and was seeking revenge for the death of a fellow gang member.

"At the time of the murders, Smith was a fugitive on the run for a separate killing, an act that places him among just 10 percent of death row inmates who have murdered multiple victims.

"Drummond said Smith’s confession was corroborated by evidence at both murder scenes. He added that Smith’s claims of intellectual disability are statutorily ineligible due to his IQ scores."

Source: news9.com, Staff, March 6, 2024

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