Death Penalty News

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and Egypt are amongst the nations who carry out the greatest number of executions around the globe in 2019, a report by Amnesty International exposed the other day. The organisation’s 2019 international evaluation of the death sentence mentions that Saudi Arabia carried out a record number of 184 individuals in 2019. Neighbouring Iraq almost doubled the number of executions throughout the exact same duration while in Egypt 32 capital punishment were brought out. World’s leading executioners 1.China 2.Iran 3.Saudi Arabia 4.Iraq 5.Egypt 6.United States 7.Pakistan 8.Somalia 9.South Sudan 10.Yemen According to the report, Iran kept its position as the nation with the 2nd biggest number of executions on the planet after China, with a record 251 executions. Amnesty stated although the number of executions in China is approximated at thousands, the precise figure stays unidentified because the nation con...

A Nigerian man was sentenced to death on Monday in the country’s first-ever virtual court ruling. The ruling, made during the state’s coronavirus lockdown, saw Olalekan Hameed, a driver, sentenced to death by hanging for the 2018 murder of 76-year-old Jolasun Okunsanya, the mother of his employer. All parties to the case, including the accused, lawyers, witnesses and journalists, took part in the session from different locations via the cloud-based video conferencing service, Zoom. Hameed, first arraigned in court on March 6, 2019, was found guilty of charges of stealing and murder leveled against him by the Lagos State government. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and his trial subsequently began. The virtual court sitting at Ikeja High Court was part of the social distancing measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Lagos has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria accounting for about 42 percent of the 2,950 infections so far. “The case is clear. I ...

Indonesia recorded a staggering increase in capital punishment verdicts in 2019 The staggering increase in capital punishment verdicts last year has fueled criticism of Indonesia’s justice system. Activists accuse judges of ignoring basic human rights and underlining the ineffectiveness of the death penalty in reducing crime.  As many as 80 death penalties were meted out by Indonesian judges in 2019, a 66 % increase from 48 such sentences in 2018, according to an annual report by Amnesty International published this week.  60 of the sentences were handed down for drug-related crimes, while is serious criminal offenses such as terrorism, murder and sexual abuse against children account for the rest. Source:  Jakarta Post, Staff, April 23, 2020 ⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com . ...

A MAN in Saudi Arabia could face the death penalty after he was arrested over this clip of a foot stepping on the Quran just days before Ramadan. The man, who has not been named, reportedly uploaded the clip to social media where it was widely shared in the Gulf state. In the video, a Quran can be seen being thrown to the floor and stepped on with a bare foot. The clip was reportedly uploaded to an Instagram account which proclaimed "repentance" in its bio section and the only upload was the video. It remains unclear whether the man who shared the clip was the man in the footage. Reports said the video caused outrage in Saudi Arabia with some calling for the person responsible arrest and death. Those found guilty of apostasy — abandoning their religious belief — face the death penalty in Saudi Arabia where strict blasphemy laws remain. It is unclear if the suspect has been charged. The incident comes just days before the holy month of Ramada...

Abdulkareem al-Hawaj from Saudi Arabia was 16 when he allegedly took part in anti-government protests in the country’s Shi’a majority Eastern Province in 2012. Two years later, the teenager was arrested and charged with offences relating to his involvement in the protests. Abdulkareem was reportedly held in solitary confinement for the first five months, as well as beaten, intimidated and threatened with the death of his family during brutal interrogations in which he was pressured to “confess”. He had no access to a lawyer during pre-trial detention and interrogations. Abdulkareem was sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court on 27 July 2016, and on 23 April 2019, he was executed along with 36 others in a shocking mass execution. His family, like the families of the other men executed that day, learned of the deaths through the news. They never received the body of their loved ones to mourn them. RELATED |  Amnesty International | Death penalty in 2019: F...

Global death penalty figures Amnesty International recorded 657 executions in 20 countries in 2019, a decrease of 5% compared to 2018 (at least 690). This is the lowest number of executions that Amnesty International has recorded in at least a decade. Most executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt – in that order. China remained the world’s leading executioner – but the true extent of the use of the death penalty in China is unknown as this data is classified as a state secret; the global figure of at least 657 excludes the thousands of executions believed to have been carried out in China. Excluding China, 86% of all reported executions took place in just four countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt. Bangladesh and Bahrain resumed executions last year, after a hiatus in 2018. Amnesty International did not report any executions in Afghanistan, Taiwan and Thailand, despite having done so in 2018. Executions in Iran fell slightly from at le...