Death Penalty News

Lebanon’s parliament on Tuesday abolished the death penalty, making it the first country in the Middle East to replace capital punishment with a sentence of life imprisonment with hard labour.  The majority of Lebanon's 128-member parliament voted in favour of ending the death penalty, with the exception of the parliamentary bloc of Hezbollah.  Justice Minister Adel Nassar called the abolition "historic," adding that the spectre of capital punishment had previously prevented Beirut from obtaining the extradition of suspects from countries where it has been outlawed.

DAMASCUS, Syria (DPN)— A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced former President Bashar Assad and his younger brother, Maher Assad, to death in absentia for premeditated murder of multiple people including children; torture; arbitrary detention, and crimes against humanity committed during Syria’s conflict. The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus also sentenced Atef Najib, Assad’s maternal cousin and former head of Political Security in the southern province of Daraa, to death. Najib appeared in court wearing a prisoner’s uniform and standing inside a cage as the judge read the sentence. The court ordered that Bashar and Maher Assad be pursued internationally.

US federal prosecutors said the man convicted of stabbing author Salman Rushdie contacted a person in Iran before the 2022 attack to confirm that the fatwa calling for Rushdie's death remained valid, the New York Times reported, as his federal terrorism trial opened on Wednesday. The trial in federal court in Buffalo will determine whether Hadi Matar acted independently out of religious anger or carried out the attack in response to the fatwa issued by Iran’s first Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini and in service of Lebanon's Hezbollah, according to the New York Times.

Post Oct 7th, 2023, first came the words of outrage followed by encouragement and sympathy. Numerous heads of state flew in to tour Gaza-adjacent Israeli communities, where 1,200 men women and children were slaughtered, raped, beheaded, and taken hostage by Hamas bloodthirsty terrorists. Then an eerie silence as Hamas supporters, extreme haters of Israel, al Jazeera and a tsunami of social media bots, flipped the script, embedding Israel as the evil doer. Their crime? Counterattacking against Hamas and its 500 km underground city of terror. UN agencies, pious international courts, special rapporteurs, human rights NGOs, BBC-led hit pieces and social media bots and influencers, demonized a traumatized Jewish nation and taught the world to spell Zionist=N-A-Z-I.

A Hezbollah terrorist sentenced to death in absentia for the 2022 killing of Irish UN peacekeeper Private Seán Rooney in Lebanon is believed to be hiding in Iran, Ireland’s Sunday World newspaper reported, citing diplomatic sources. Mohammad Ayyad was convicted by a Lebanese military tribunal late in July for his role in the fatal attack on a UN convoy near the village of Al-Aqbiya, south of Beirut. He was not present at the trial, and Lebanese authorities have not disclosed his whereabouts. “We suspect he is in Iran and it is unlikely anyone will hand him over to face a death penalty,” one diplomatic source told the newspaper. “It is not a satisfactory situation but all we can do is keep the pressure on and see if we can get justice for Seán and his family.”

Pedram Madani was found guilty of ‘spying in favor of the Zionist regime,’ judiciary news outlet says; last month, another alleged Mossad collaborator was executed A man accused of spying for Israel was executed in Iran, according to a report from judiciary news outlet Mizan on Wednesday that named the defendant as Pedram Madani. Arrested in 2020, Madani is said to have attempted to convey classified information to Israel about critical locations in Iran, Mizan said, adding that he was also accused of acquiring wealth by illegal means.

The man charged with stabbing writer Sir Salman Rushdie is facing trial in the US, with jury selection starting on Tuesday. Hadi Matar is charged with attempted murder and assault over the August 2022 incident that left Mr Rushdie blind in one eye. Mr Matar, 27, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial at Chautauqua County Court in New York state, which was delayed twice, will reportedly see Mr Rushdie give evidence and face the accused in court.

Iran and its proxy groups in the Middle East pose a serious threat to the West IRAN has executed four “saboteurs” linked to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, the Mizan news agency affiliated to the judiciary said. The killings could be seen as a possible revenge move after Senior Iranian general Sayyed Razi Mousavi was killed on Christmas Day in Syria.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden raised its terror alert to the second-highest level on Thursday after a string of public desecrations of the Quran sparked angry demonstrations across Muslim countries and threats from militant groups. The Swedish Security Service, known as SÄPO, lifted the “terror threat level” one notch to “high,” the fourth of five levels, for the first time since 2016. The move reflects Swedish concerns that repeated Quran-burnings this year by a handful of anti-Islam activists have made the Scandinavian country a prime target for Islamic extremists.

Five men could face execution after being charged in connection with the killing of Irish UN peacekeeper Private Sean Rooney in Lebanon. According to a judicial source in Lebanon, the military court which has charged the men claims they were part of a Hezbollah-led militia. The Acting First Military Investigating Judge Fadi Sawan is understood to have accused the men of "forming a group of malefactors to commit a crime" in his 30-page indictment in the case. His document also claims that CCTV footage from the scene of PTE Rooney’s death "clearly shows the patrol being attacked by armed men from all sides”.

CAIRO (AP) — Iranian authorities executed four people Sunday accused of working for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, the state-run IRNA news agency said. Three others received lengthy prison sentences. IRNA said the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard announced the arrests of a network of people linked to the Israeli agency. It said the members had previous criminal records and tried to disrupt the country's security. Israel and Iran are regional arch-enemies and Iran occasionally announces the detention of people it says are spying for foreign countries, including the United States and Israel. Iran does not recognize Israel and supports anti-Israeli armed groups across the region, such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Network members stole and destroyed private and public property and kidnapped individuals and interrogated them, according to the report. It said the alleged spies had weapons and received wages from Mossad in the form of cryptocurrency. Iranian authorities provided no...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state TV reported on Tuesday that authorities arrested members of a group linked to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency amid ongoing protests over water shortages in the country’s southwest. The report said “a network of spy agents, with a large amount of weapons and ammunition” was arrested after sneaking into Iran from across its western border. It claimed the alleged Mossad agents intended to use the weapons during riots in Iran and also for assassinations. The state TV did not elaborate or say how many alleged agents were arrested or when they purportedly infiltrated into Iran. Iran borders Turkey and Iraq to the west. At least five people have been killed amid days of protests over water shortages affecting Iran’s Khuzestan province. That’s according to statements carried by state-run and semiofficial media in Iran. Iran occasionally announces the detention of people it says are spying for foreign countries, including the United States and Israel. Wester...

Iran Human Rights (IHR); July 20, 2020: While the Islamic Republic’s judiciary claims that Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd was executed this morning , independent sources confirm that the prisoner accused of "espionage" was executed on Saturday morning and that he was repeatedly tortured in detention by Hezbollah forces in Lebanon and the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to Iran Human Rights, officials report that he was executed this morning, when in fact, Mahmoud (Seyed Kazem on his birth certificate) was in fact executed on Saturday, July 18. An informed source has told IHR that several high-ranking IRGC officials, including the commander of the Greater Tehran "Mohammad Rasoolullah" IRGC base, were present at his execution. On Friday, July 17, the day before his execution, prison administrators and officials visited the halls, especially the ones holding political and ethnic minority prisoners. This is while onl...

In addition to the many crimes inside Iran, Qassem Soleimani was responsible for many terrorist operations outside Iran. Including the killing of MEK members in Iraq and the murder of Iraqi citizens. On January 2, 2020, a U.S.-led airstrike targeted a convoy exiting the Baghdad International Airport, killing Qassem Soleimani, the notorious commander of Iran’s terrorist Quds Force.  Ali Khamenei, the Iranian regime’s supreme leader, declared three days of mourning for Soleimani’s death and personally attended an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council. The overwhelming majority of Iranians despised Soleimani, an infamous symbol of the regime’s intimidation and murder, for his crimes against the Iranian people and throughout the region.  The Iranian people and Iraqi protesters who have been calling for Soleimani’s expulsion from Iraq for some time welcomed his death as a sign of the waning of the regime’s control over their country. Sole...

Street Execution of Civilians in Aleppo, Syria, December 2106 NCRI - Human rights activists and informed sources have reported that Bashar Assad’s forces and their allies (Iranian regime’s affiliated militants) have executed at least 200 people in four districts of East Aleppo. According to Al-Hadath TV Network, based on these reports, medical staff of Al-Hayat Hospital in Classeh neighborhood in Aleppo are among those executed. These people were executed by firing bullets. In addition, the Assad regime’s allied militants have brutally burned 9 children and 4 women alive in Al- Ferdows neighborhood in Aleppo. This is despite the fact that the manager of Aleppo’s emergency (department) says there is no hospital left in the East of the city to help the wounded. The activists say that most executions were carried out by Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants in street and summary like executions. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Hezbollah of Lebanon as well as Iraqi, P...

Triple execution in Kuwait on April 1, 2013 Kuwait has been urged to drop plans to execute 2 men convicted of spying for Iran and Hezbollah , with an international rights group claiming their trial was "flawed". Kuwait's first instance criminal court sentenced Hassan Hajiya, a Kuwaiti national, and Abdulreda Dhaqany, an Iranian national, to death on January 12. In both cases, Human Rights Watch said they were convicted "without adequate legal representation". "Issuing a death penalty sentence, especially after flawed proceedings, is a terrible way for the Kuwaiti authorities to begin 2016," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director. "The authorities should commute the executions immediately and reinstate the moratorium that had been in place from 2007 to 2013." Hajiya's lawyer, Khaled al-Shatti, said that his client was held and interrogated on an almost daily basis from August 13 to September 1, 2015, by Homela...

Double execution by hanging in Kuwait in June 2013 A Kuwaiti court sentenced two men accused of spying for Iran and Hezbollah to death on Tuesday. An Iranian national and a Kuwaiti citizen were found guilty of intelligence links with the Iranian regime and its proxy Lebanese group Hezbollah.  The Iranian national was convicted in absentia, but the other was in court. According to the case documents, 25 Kuwaiti and Iranian suspects were put on trial for intelligence links with the regime in Iran and Hezbollah, and for possessing weapons and explosives. They were arrested in August. The case also included the possession of weapons.  Other suspects were given sentences ranging from five to 25 years, and three were found innocent. The court said the Kuwaiti man masterminded the plot targeting Kuwait, used weapons and recruited 14 others. The court also sentenced one defendant to life in jail, 15 others to 15 years and one to five years, Kuwaiti new...

Former Egypt President Mohammed Morsi, ousted in July by a military coup and subsequently jailed by the now-ruling government, faces terror charges that carry the death penalty. He is accused of conspiring with Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group, as well as with Hezbollah, the militant organization that’s tied to Lebanon and maintains a strong presence in the Gaza, the Belfast Telegraph reported. Prosecutors say that he and his aide revealed government secrets to these groups — as well as to members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. And they’re also accusing the former president and several leading Muslim Brotherhood figures with not only sponsoring terrorism, but also carrying out combat training for supporters that were aimed at upsetting Egypt’s stability, the Belfast Telegraph said. A trial date has yet to be set. But Mr. Morsi already faces charges of inciting murder against his political opponents while he held the high office. That trial continues in January....

3 Lebanese were sentenced to death by a military court on Friday for spying for Israel, a judicial source said. The tribunal "condemned to death Mussa Ali Mussa, who was found guilty of having contacted the Israeli enemy and passing on information," the source said. The court found that Mussa had passed on to the Jewish state between 2000 and 2010 "information on officials from Hezbollah," the powerful Lebanese Shiite group. The court also condemned to death in absentia Ali Sweid and Ahmed Hussein Abdullah on charges of spying for Israel. Lebanese authorities in 2009 launched a national crackdown on alleged Israeli espionage rings. Lebanon and Israel remain technically in a state of war and convicted spies can face the death penalty. More than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Israel's Mossad spy agency, including an army general, members of the security forces and telecoms employees. Several people have so far been sentenced...

A Lebanese military prosecutor was seeking the death penalty for 3 men charged with spying for Israel and the attempted murder by one of them of an Al-Qaida suspect, the French AFP news agency reported on Monday. Judge Samih al-Hajj charged the two Lebanese and one Palestinian, according to the AFP report, with "providing Israel with information as well as facilitating its aggressions and terrorist acts on Lebanon," according to the charge sheet. Palestinian Mohammed Ibrahim Awad and Lebanese Robert Edmond Kfoury areboth in custody. The 3rd suspect, Lebanese Elias Riyad Karam, was charged in absentia. Awad is also suspected with the attempted murder of Naim Abbas, suspected of being a member of an Al-Qaida cell in the Ain al-Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon's south. Last spring, Lebanon arrested close to 20 alleged members of 6 espionage cells suspected of transmitting intelligence information to Israel. The 2-month crackdown was apparently aided by American training an...