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Indonesia | 14 years on death row: Timeline of Mary Jane Veloso’s ordeal and fight for justice

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MANILA, Philippines — The case of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking, has spanned over a decade and remains one of the most high-profile legal battles involving an overseas Filipino worker. Veloso was arrested on April 25, 2010, at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, after she was found in possession of more than 2.6 kilograms of heroin. She was sentenced to death in October – just six months after her arrest. Indonesia’s Supreme Court upheld the penalty in May 2011.

Iran hangs man 'for second time' after previous execution halted: NGO

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Paris (AFP) – Iran hanged a 26-year-old man for a second time Wednesday months after a previous execution was halted half a minute in, an NGO said.

Ahmad Alizadeh was arrested in October 2018 on a murder charge, which he denied, and was sentenced to death, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), which tracks executions in Iran, said in a statement.

His death sentence was carried out on April 27 in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj outside Tehran. But just 28 seconds into the hanging he was brought down from the gallows when the victim's family suddenly shouted "forgiveness". His "lifeless" body was successfully resuscitated and the execution was halted, IHR said.

Under Iran's sharia law, a victim's family can ask for blood money to spare the life of the perpetrator or also decide to forgive. However, in many cases the family of the condemned person cannot afford the sum set and the execution goes ahead, according to activists.

Alizadeh remained under the threat of the death penalty in the absence of any deal with the victim's family for blood money.

He was executed again in the Ghezel Hesar prison on Wednesday morning, IHR said.

"Ahmad Alizadeh, a talented student, was hanged for the second time on charges of murder, which he denied and claimed he confessed to under torture," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, denouncing the "execution machine of the Iranian regime".

Activists accuse Iran of using the death penalty as a means to instil fear throughout society, particularly in the wake of 2022-2023 nationwide protests which shook the Islamic authorities.

According to IHR, 2024 is seeing a new surge in executions, with at least 166 executions recorded in October alone, the highest number recorded in a single month since the group began documenting executions in 2007.

Activists including Amnesty International say Iran carries out more annual executions than any country other than China, for which no reliable figures are available.

Source: Agence France-Presse, Staff, November 13, 2024

_____________________________________________________________________








"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: Karaj, Alborz Province, Iran
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