Death Penalty News

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.”

A man has been sentenced to death for the murder of Private Seán Rooney, a soldier from Newtown Cunningham (Ireland), in Lebanon. Mohammad Ayyad was not in court when the decision was handed down. A number of his co-accused were given lighter sentences. The 24-year-old was serving with UNIFIL forces in Lebanon when he was shot dead while travelling in a convoy in December 2022. The UNIFIL forces refers to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, a peacekeeping mission established in 1978 by the UN Security Council.

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.

In a recent shift of events, Saudi Arabia‘s Tourism Authority Website visitsaudi.com has updated a new section in its Frequently Asked Questions page under the question: “Are LGBT visitors welcome to visit Saudi Arabia?” The answer to the question reads as follows: “We don’t ask anyone to disclose personal details and never have. Everyone is welcome to visit our country.” It is unknown precisely when the website was updated. The policy was in place prior to March 14, 2023, a Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) spokeswoman who talked with CNN said; but, the question and answer weren’t present on an earlier edition of the website.

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”.

BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese court has upheld the death sentence for an Uber driver convicted of killing a British woman who worked for the U.K. Embassy in Beirut five years ago, the embassy said Friday. According to a statement from the embassy, Lebanon’s Court of Cassation rejected an appeal by Tariq Houshieh in the case and affirmed his guilty conviction in the killing of Rebecca Dykes. Dykes, who worked for the Department for International Development, was found dead on Dec. 16, 2017, on the side of a road, strangled and showing signs of sexual assault. Houshieh was arrested days later. The murder shook the expat community in Beirut, where such crimes are rare and where foreigners generally feel safe. “We hope this verdict will bring some closure for Becky’s family, for the many around the world who loved Becky, and for all those whose lives she touched through her humanitarian work in Lebanon and elsewhere,” the embassy said. Dykes' family, in a separate statement carried by Leban...

A number of leading LGBT organisations have called on 11 countries to end the threat of the death penalty as a punishment for queer people. ILGA Asia, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and 5 other organisations condemned the use of violence against LGBT people in a statement issued to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), which takes place on Tuesday (17 May). In the statement, the LGBT organisations note that 70 countries around the world continue to criminalise same-sex sexual conduct, including 22 Asian countries. Islam, sharia ILGA Asia said 11 countries – Afghanistan, Brunei, Darussalam, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen – retain the death penalty for LGBT people. Eight of those countries are in Asia. According to Human Dignity Trust, the death penalty is implemented in Iran, Northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen, and remains a “legal possibility” i...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Lebanese court sentenced an Uber driver to death on Friday for the murder of British embassy worker Rebecca Dykes in December 2017, state news agency NNA said. The driver, Tariq Houshieh, confessed to raping and strangling 30-year-old Dykes, who worked at the embassy in Lebanon for Britain’s Department for International Development. The British embassy said it hoped the court’s decision would “provide a degree of closure” for those close to Dykes.  “Becky was much loved and is deeply missed,” it said in a statement. Lebanese judges routinely call for death sentences in cases of murder.  But the country has an unofficial moratorium and has not carried out an execution since 2004, according to the monitoring group Human Rights Watch. “While we welcome the guilty verdict, the UK government continues to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances,” the embassy statement said. The verdict was handed down by the Mount Lebanon cri...

Two men linked to the Islamic State (IS) group have been convicted in Australia of plotting to blow up a flight using a concealed bomb. Mahmoud Khayat, 34, aimed to bring down the Sydney to Abu Dhabi flight in July 2017, a jury found on Thursday. His brother, Khaled Khayat, 51, was found guilty of the same offence in May. Both men had pleaded not guilty. Their plan failed when the bag carrying the bomb could not be checked in at the airport because it was overweight. Prosecutors said they had aimed to blow up the flight carrying 400 passengers with military grade explosives concealed inside a meat grinder. After it failed, the brothers also planned to carry out a chemical gas attack in Sydney, prosecutors said. They were arrested 11 days after the airport incident. A third brother, Amer Khayat, had carried the bag to Sydney Airport but was not part of the plot. Authorities said his brothers had planted the bomb in luggage without his knowledge. Mahmoud an...

Jordan blocked one of the first LGBT magazines. A survey published for BBC News Arabic reveals shocking rates of homophobia across the Middle East and North Africa. The study was conducted by the Arab Barometer research network on June 24, during LGBT Pride month. The BBC wrote, “Acceptance of homosexuality varies but is low or extremely low across the region. In Lebanon, despite having a reputation for being more socially liberal than its neighbors, the figure is 6%.” The study wrote that a mere 5% of Palestinians from the West Bank accepted same-sex relations. Palestinians in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip were not surveyed. Algerians scored the highest number of acceptance of gay relations with 26%. Morocco followed with 21% and Sudan with 17%. Tunisia tied Jordan with 7%. Palestinians harbored the most intolerance toward gay relations. According to the BBC, “More than 25,000 people were interviewed for the survey across 10 countries and the Palestinian terri...

An Australian man facing the death penalty in Lebanon over an alleged plot to blow up a passenger jet has asked a military tribunal to free him, saying investigators forced him to sign a false confession. Amer Khayat was questioned over a statement bearing his signature that said he knew he was carrying explosives hidden inside a Barbie doll that would be detonated 20 minutes into the July 2017 Etihad flight. "It is a masquerade," he told the court. Mr Khayat pleaded with the tribunal's panel of judges to make a decision on his case. He has been in custody since August 2017 while authorities in Lebanon investigate him. "Do you want me to commit suicide in prison?" he shouted in the hearing room. Australian Federal Police allege two bombs were hidden in the luggage of Mr Khayat by his brothers shortly before he boarded an Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi in July 2017. The AFP said Mr Khayat knew nothing about the bombs, which ...

By social-media standards these days, a tweet sent last Thursday by Canada’s Foreign Minister, Chrystia Freeland, was hardly surprising—or a deviation from what other Western governments have said for years about Saudi Arabia’s egregious human-rights record. Her tweet addressed the case of siblings—Samar Badawi, a women’s-rights activist honored by the Obama Administration as a “woman of courage,” and her brother, Raif , a blogger who has been imprisoned since 2012, after chastising the Saudi monarchy for things like banning Valentine’s Day. Freeland tweeted , “Very alarmed to learn that Samar Badawi, Raif Badawi’s sister, has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi.” The Canadian Foreign Ministry followed up with a tweet that called for the release of “all peaceful #humanrights activists” held by the Gulf monarchy. The Canadian Embassy in Ri...

An Australian father of two facing a possible death penalty in Lebanon for an alleged Islamic State plot to blow up a flight from Sydney has accused Lebanese authorities of bashing him, fabricating evidence and forcing him to sign a false confession. Amer Khayat, 39, gave an emotional and animated testimony for more than an hour overnight in Lebanon's military court in Beirut, where he stands accused of planning to blow up the Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi with 400 people on board in the sky above Australia on July 15 last year. Australian Federal Police have said the Australian-Lebanese dual citizen had "no idea" he was carrying a bomb hidden in a meat grinder inside his hand luggage, but Lebanese authorities accuse him of being a willing suicide bomber. Mr Khayat's brothers, Mahmoud and Khaled, are due to stand trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court next year accused of planting the bomb in his hand luggage as he set off from Sydney for Lebanon via A...