Death Penalty News

The Government of Albania has asked the judicial authorities in China on Tuesday to avoid the death penalty in the criminal case against an Albanian citizen accused of drug trafficking. It is learned that the Prosecutor's Office in the city of Guangzhou, in the province of Guangdong, has requested the death penalty for the 36-year-old Albanian. No other details have been provided for this case.

Connecticut-based company Absolute Standards, which was identified as the source of lethal injection drugs used in 13 federal executions in 2020 and 2021, has said it will no longer produce the drug used in executions—pentobarbital. 

Kozhikode/ Riyadh: A criminal court in Riyadh has overturned the death sentence of Machilakath Abdul Rahim, a resident of Seenath Manzil in Kodambuzha, who had been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for the past 18 years for the murder of a Saudi national.  The court’s decision came after the victim's relatives appeared in court and expressed their willingness to forgive Rahim in exchange for blood money.

Japan needs to revise its retrial system, which leads to prolonged proceedings that could last for decades, a sister of Iwao Hakamada, an aging former inmate on retrial for a 1966 quadruple murder in central Japan, said Wednesday. "We have been fighting for 58 years, and finally we are in a retrial. This is ridiculously long," Hideko Hakamada, 91, told a press conference in Tokyo, ahead of a ruling slated for Sept. 26 for her 88-year-old brother, who is still facing a death sentence.

An enraged mob torched at least 24 Churches and 80 houses of Christian members in August last year over allegations of Quran desecration. Over 200 Muslims were arrested but none of them have been convicted so far, instead 188 of them were released on bail or lack of evidence.

A Pakistani court has sentenced a Christian man to death over blasphemy charges.  The man is accused of uploading pictures of torn pages of the Quran on social media, as a police spokesperson told the German Press Agency on Monday.  The verdict was handed down by an Anti-Terrorism Court in the city of Sahiwal in the Punjab province. The incident is believed to be connected to riots in the Pakistani city of Jaranwala, which caused nationwide outrage. 

Lawyers for Robert Robertson say the science used to sentence him to death is questionable and that prior health issues could explain the death of his 2-year-old daughter in 2003. A Texas court on Monday set an execution date for Robert Roberson, who was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his 2-year-old daughter but has consistently challenged the conviction on the claim that it was based on questionable science.

A 39-year-old man was sentenced to death Tuesday for murdering a woman and her son and robbing them at her residence in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in 2020. During the trial at the Oita District Court, prosecutors sought the death penalty for Shoichi Sato, presenting evidence including DNA from the trunk of Sato's car that matched the female victim, Takako Yamana. 

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 28, 2024: Mehdi Sharifian, Kasra Karami, Hadi Rostami and Mehdi Shahivand are imminent risk of having their fingers amputated for theft charges in Urmia Central Prison. Iran Human Rights warns of the four men’s sentences being carried out in the days following the presidential elections.