Death Penalty News

An Iranian court has sentenced a man identified by state media as a senior Mossad-linked operative to death. According to Fars News Agency, the judiciary said Gholamreza Khani Shekarab acted as an external coordinator for an alleged intelligence network that operated inside Iran, directing what authorities described as sabotage activities across several provinces, News.Az reports. State media reported that the network was involved in efforts to create insecurity, spread fear, disrupt public order and essential services, and carry out propaganda operations in favour of hostile actors. It also alleged involvement in targeted assassination plots.

Recent statements by Iranian officials and their apparent acceptance by some foreign leaders have created a misleading sense of reassurance about the state’s response to the latest protests.  Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News on Wednesday that Tehran had “no plan to execute protesters.” President Donald Trump told reporters he had it “on good authority” that the killing of protesters had stopped.  White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday that Tehran had halted 800 executions slated for the previous day following warnings by Trump. 

Tehran accuses Ukraine of cooperating with Mossad to target drone facility in Isfahan, sentences suspects to death by hanging Iran has sentenced three Ukrainian nationals to death after accusing them of plotting a terrorist attack on a drone manufacturing plant in Isfahan, allegedly under the guidance of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, the individuals were arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian intelligence services while attempting to infiltrate the Shahed Aviation Industry facility. 

The Judiciary Fabricates Charges and Issues Arbitrary Sentences, While the Interior Ministry Falsifies Information On August 17, 2024, the Saudi Press Agency published a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior announcing the execution of Abdul Majid bin Hassan bin Abdullah Al-Nimr. The statement did not specify the type of sentence carried out, but it mentioned that it was issued by the Specialized Criminal Court, indicating that it was likely a discretionary (ta’zir) sentence. The statement listed the charges that the sentence was supposedly based on, including committing criminal acts involving betrayal of his country, joining a terrorist cell affiliated with the Al-Qaeda organization, financing terrorism and terrorist activities, and supporting extremist ideologies.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday pardoned a German man facing the death penalty, the country's state news agency reported. Lukashenko "took the decision to pardon the German citizen Rico Krieger ... taking into account all the circumstances," Belta news agency reported, citing the president's press service. Krieger, 30, had been shown on Belarusian public television last week, saying "I really hope that President [Alexander] Lukashenko will forgive me and pardon me," according to a statement quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.

A German citizen who was sentenced to death in Belarus has asked Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko for mercy in a video broadcast on state television. A 30-year-old German man sentenced to death in Belarus asked for pardon from President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday in a television appearance. 

Belarus is the last country in Europe still to apply the death penalty, executing several people each year by firing squad.

An Iranian lawmaker says the execution of four Kurdish prisoners, who were hanged in Iran on Monday is a lesson to anyone who wants to overthrow the regime. “These executions are a lesson for anyone who wants to stand against the will of the Iranian nation because the Iranian nation will punish them for their deeds,” Mehdi Sa’adati, a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee told the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) Monday.

The execution of four Iranian Kurdish prisoners accused of being "saboteurs" with links to Israel's Mossad intelligence service has prompted widespread condemnations, both within and outside of Iran. Mohammad Faramarzi, Mohsen Mazloum, Wafa Azarbar and Pejman Fatehi were hanged on January 29, a day after being granted a final meeting with their relatives . Available documents and published reports show that the defendants faced an unfair judicial process and were denied access to their chosen lawyer, marking them the latest victims of the Islamic Republic’s repressive policies, which include the growing use of the death penalty.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 29, 2023: Reza Eyvazi, a man sentenced to death for drug-related charges, was executed in Kashan Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Kashan Prison on 28 December. His identity has been established as 30-year-old Reza Eyvazi from Najaf Abad. He was arrested two years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary 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.

The Iranian Supreme Court upheld on Wednesday the death penalty for four men convicted of "collaborating" with Israel, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan online website said. "The defendants, Hossein Ordukhanzadeh, Shahin Imani Mahmoudabad, Milad Ashrafi Atbatan, and Manouchehr Shahbandi Bejandi were sentenced to death for destroying private and public property, kidnappings and obtaining false confessions;" the site said citing a statement issued by the judiciary. Three other defendants were given jail sentences ranging from five to ten years on charges of crimes against the country's security, aiding in kidnapping and possession of weapons, according to the same source. On 22 May this year, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced the arrest of members of a "network" working under the "guidance" of the "Israeli intelligence" service. The statement gave no further details about the men's activities or the place of their arrest. ...

Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov (pictured with V. Putin) has demanded that the death penalty be reinstated in Russia for "traitors" and soldiers who retreat from battle in Ukraine. Solovyov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, made the remarks during his radio show Full Contact (Polny Contakt) on Thursday, shortly after Russia announced its withdrawal from the key Ukrainian city of Kherson. He floated bringing back the death penalty for those suspected of wartime sabotage, and for Russian soldiers who retreat in Ukraine. "I believe that we should reject the moratorium on the death penalty and introduce articles allowing the execution of traitors and their accomplices, terrorists and their accomplices, sponsors, and financiers, including shooting deserters who abandoned the combat order and betrayed their comrades," he said. In 1996, Russia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty pending its membership into the Council of Europe. Russia was suspende...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Belarus’ opposition leader said Wednesday that she believes Russian military setbacks in Ukraine could shake the hold on power of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. “We have a distracted Russia that is about to lose this war. It won’t be able to prop Lukashenko up with money and military support as in 2020,” said Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, speaking at a security conference in Warsaw. Tsikhanouskaya fled to Lithuania after Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory in disputed August 2020 elections that were viewed in the West as fraudulent, and which many thought she won. She said that hundreds of Belarusian volunteers have supported Ukrainians in their recent liberation of Ukrainian territory. RELATED |  Belarusian ‘railway partisans’ face death penalty RELATED |  Three Belarusian 'Railway Guerrillas' May Face Death Penalty “As I speak, a Belarusian battalion is part of Ukraine’s counter-offensive chasing the invaders away. We all understan...

Criminal investigators have passed a file on the first 3 cases – Dzmitry Ravich, Dzianis Dzikun and Aleh Malchanau of Svetlagorsk – to court prosecutors. The state Investigations Committee says they could face the death penalty, although lawyers say there is no basis for that in Belarusian law. On Saturday 23 July, Belarusians will protest at their country’s embassy in London, in support of the Svetlagorsk defendants and eight others arrested on terrorism charges. Ravich, Dzikun and Malchanau were detained in Svetlagorsk on 4 March this year – a week after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine – along with Alisa Malchanau, Aleh’s daughter, and Natalia Ravich, Dzmitry’s wife, who were released a few days later. Dzianis Dzikun’s brother, Dmitry, said in an interview last month that Dzianis had wanted “to help Ukraine somehow”. Three people had been arrested, he said, and: "As far as I understand, people knew [at that time] that all the Russian equipment was moving towards the n...

On 28 April, the Belarusian National Assembly approved an amendment to the Criminal Code, introducing the death penalty for “attempted acts of terrorism”, a move that goes in the opposite direction to the global trend of abandoning the death penalty. Independent opinion polls reveal that ninety-one percent of Belarusians support the Ukrainians’ struggle against the Russian invasion. Sabotage is already taking place, mainly on the railways carrying weapons and Russian troops. Many Belarusian soldiers have deserted the army, while many are fighting on the side of the Ukrainians. In mid-March, railway workers carried out a series of sabotages of Russian trains, destroyed Russian equipment, and distributed leaflets to Russian soldiers urging them not to invade Ukraine. At the end of March, the regime arrested 33 workers at the Mozyr oil refinery on suspicion of sabotage. On March 31, special forces opened fire, unsuccessfully, on sabotage railway workers. “Apart from the death penalty for ...

Belarus moved on Wednesday to make attempted acts of terrorism punishable by the death penalty after activists tried to sabotage parts of the railway network to make it harder for Russia to deploy forces into Ukraine for its invasion. The Belarusian lower house of parliament approved the change to the criminal code in 2 readings, the Belta news agency reported. The change now needs backing from the upper house and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko before entering force. "Destructive forces are continuing terrorist (and) extremist activity by trying to rock the situation in Belarus, provoking domestic instability and conflicts," house speaker Vladimir Andreychenko said, alluding to acts sabotage on the railway. "Actions are being taken to disable railway equipment and tracks, objects of strategic importance," He said. "There can be no justification for the actions of terrorists." Russia used ex-Soviet Belarus, a close ally, as a staging ground to launc...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will provide consular access on Monday to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav who is being held on charges of espionage and terrorism, the Foreign Office said on Sunday. Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal announced the decision via a post on Twitter. "Consular access for Indian spy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, a serving Indian naval officer, and RAW operative is being provided on Monday, September 2, 2019, in line with Vienna Convention on Consular relations, ICJ judgment and the laws of Pakistan," he wrote. "Commander Jadhav remains in Pakistan’s custody, for espionage, terrorism, and sabotage," he said in another tweet. The Hague-based International Court of Justice on July 17 had rejected India’s request for acquittal, release, and return of Commander Jadhav. However, the world court asked Pakistan to provide consular access to him under the Vienna Convention. Following the verdict, the FO had announced that as a respon...