Death Penalty News

In April 2019, the words ‘Sultan’, ‘Brunei’, ‘stoning’ and ‘gay-sex’ were trending globally. Condemnation of Brunei’s death by stoning law for proven acts of liwat — consensual intimacy between men — came from governments, the European Parliament, UN and other international human rights bodies, NGOs and a host of celebrities including George Clooney and Richard Branson.  Sanctions were threatened and boycotts called for. The Sultan who had long kept his nation’s draconian laws under the radar of international scrutiny was now firmly in global sights. Given that death by hanging had long been in Brunei’s common law-derived penal code, the outpouring of negative reactions to the new liwat law would have surprised Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. Several other Syariah Penal Code (SPC) offences that mandate the death penalty, including stoning for zina — consensual intercourse outside of marriage — and execution for blasphemy also commenced. Brunei’s common law had for a cen...

Imprisoned spiritual thinker Mohammad Ali Taheri has again been tried for the charge of "corruption on earth" despite being cleared of the same charge in 2015, his sister Azardokht Taheri told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). If convicted, the founder of the banned Erfan-e Halgheh spiritual group could be issued the death penalty. "We are very worried. The authorities have no respect for their own rulings. My brother was acquitted of 'corruption on earth,' but according to his lawyer (Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaee), that charge was brought up again in court on February 27 (2017) even though the trial was supposed to be for the charge of 'engaging in medical practices,'" Azardokht Taheri told CHRI on March 2, 2017. The day after his trial, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) station aired a propaganda video featuring alleged former students of Taheri calling for his execution for his alleged promotion of "anti...

Mohsen Amir Aslani, hanged for 'heresy'  Iranian President Rouhani speaks reasonably about nuclear negotiations and stabilizing the Middle East, but at home the "hanging judges" are still at work. When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani answered questions from media leaders at the United Nations General Assembly about the Iranian nuclear program and ISIS last week, there were only occasional brief references to the human rights situation back in Iran. When there were inquiries about 3 U.S. citizens being held there - a former Marine, Amir Hekmati; Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian; and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini - President Rouhani said the arrests should not be blown out of proportion and the judicial process must run its course. Yet on that same day in Iran, Mohsen Amir Aslani, a prisoner of conscience, was executed in the last act of a truly Kafkaesque legal process. Aslani, 37, was hanged in Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj at dawn on Wednesd...

Mohsen Amir Aslani NCRI - The Iranian Resistance calls on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council, as well as all international human rights organizations to strongly condemn the execution of prisoner of conscience Mr Mohsen Amir Aslani on charges of “corruption on earth; changing Islam’s principles and secondary laws; and new interpretation of Quran”.  It further calls for adoption of binding decisions against the growing number of arbitrary executions by the religious fascism ruling Iran. Mr. Amir Aslani, 37, who had been in prison since eight years ago, was once sentenced to four years in prison which was later commuted to twenty-eight months. However, as more fabricated charges were brought against him, the head henchman Judge Salavati condemned him to death. The Iranian regime has refraining from handing over the body of this prisoner to his family through stonewalling and offering contradictory answers to them. The execution...