Death Penalty News

Mumbai, Feb 21 (IANS) The Bombay High Court Monday upheld the death sentence awarded to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab for his role in the 26/11 attack, closing another chapter in one of the most watched legal trials in the world and hailed as a triumph of the Indian legal system. A division bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice R.V. More delivered the verdict, holding him guilty on four counts. Kasab now has 30 days to appeal in the Supreme Court. Two Indian co-accused, alleged to be his accomplices, were let off by the court for lack of evidence. 'It is the rarest of rare cases. If he is not awarded the death penalty, then people might lose faith in the judicial process,' the bench grimly observed. While Kasab, the sole surviving terrorist in the Nov 26-29, 2008 attack that claimed 166 lives and shocked the world, smiled and grinned when the judgement was read out, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam termed it 'a triumph of justice'. Maharashtra Chie...

Chinese mobile execution unit training for lethal injections MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines thanked China yesterday for its “unprecedented” and “unusual” decision to postpone the execution of three Filipinos convicted for drug smuggling and to allow a review of their cases. The development has raised hopes for a commutation of the death sentence. In a statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said President Aquino made a timely decision to send a delegation to China led by Vice President Jejomar Binay to plead for clemency for the three Filipinos on death row. Binay is the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns. “The President’s decision in sending Vice President Binay to China was timely. We welcome the postponement of the execution of the three Filipino nationals within the scope of Chinese law,” Romulo said. Sources at the DFA said China had informed Binay of the Supreme People’s Court’s decision to review the cases of the three Filipi...

Iran Human Rights, February 20: Two men were hanged in the prison of Isfahan, central Iran, early this morning Sunday February 20th. According to the state run Iranian news agency Fars, tow men identified as "Ramezan J" and "Nesar M." were sentenced to death convicted of keeping one kilo and 967 cc of heroin. Source: Iran Human Rights , February 20, 2011

The state Department of Correctional Services has responded to a letter from 3 state senators asking for details about the department's recent purchase from an Indian company of one of the drugs used in Nebraska's lethal-injection protocol. The department recently bought such a large quantity of a drug used to kill death-row inmates that it now has enough to carry out 166 executions -- even though it has just 12 men on death row. The state paid $2,056 to Kayem Pharmaceutical Pvt. Ltd. for 500 grams of sodium thiopental, the minimum purchase required by the company, according to corrections officials. Sens. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln and Brenda Council and Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha sent the letter Feb. 3 to Bob Houston, director of the department. The letter asked for, among other things, documentation regarding how the drug was imported into the United States, how the drug was tested, the results of those tests, the chain of custody for the drug while en route to Nebraska a...

Beijing, China (CNN) -- China postponed Friday the planned execution of three Filipinos , following a visit to Beijing by Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay, appealing for clemency. China has decided to "postpone the execution within the scope of the Chinese law," the two nations said in a joint statement after Binay met with Wang Shengjun, president of CHINA'S Supreme People's Court (SPC) and senior foreign policy officials. "The Philippine side stated that it fully respects China's law and the verdict of the SPC," the statement continued. "The Philippines and China are determined to work together in the fight against transnational crimes. Including drug trafficking." Binay told CNN: "We express sincere appreciation to China for the SPC decision." Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain had been convicted of drug trafficking in China, a crime punishable by death. All three were arrested separately in 20...

Iran Human Rights, February 18: Four men were hanged in the prison of Kerman, south east of Iran in the past days. According to the state run Iranian news agency IRNA, the four men who were executed today were identified as: "AKbar M." convicted of keeping and smugling 560 grams of heroin, "Saeed J" for keeping and smugling heroin, "Zaher G." for trafficking of 930 grams of opium and 10 kilos and 750 grams of crack, and "Khodabakhsh A." convicted of trafficking and keeping 470 grams of heorin. None of the above mentioned charges have been confirmed by independent sources. Source: Iran Human Rights , February 18, 2011 -  [ فارسى ] _________________________ Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.

Although the death penalty was abolished in Mozambique in 1990, a Community Court in the central province of Manica sentenced a man to be beaten to death for the alleged theft of an ox-cart. To make matters even worse, the court took advice, not from any lawyer or other person recognised under Mozambican law, but from a witch-doctor. According to a report on Radio Mozambique on Thursday, the Community Court in Chirere locality, in the Manica district of Mossurize, after a divining session organised by the witch-doctor, ordered the suspect to be tied to a tree and beaten. He was thrashed until his back was broken - which the Radio described as the cause of death. When the complaint about the stolen cart was made, the court did not seek any assistance from the police. Instead, with the full backing of the head of the Chirere locality, Shupai Samissone, they asked the witch-doctor to cast a spell to find who was guilty. When news of this gruesome execution reached the Mossurize distri...

David Kato The European Parliament has urged Uganda to decriminalise homosexuality and protect gays and lesbians after a prominent gay rights activist was murdered last month . The 27-nation assembly adopted a resolution on Thursday calling on Ugandan authorities to conduct an in-depth investigation into the murder of David Kato and probe individuals who publicly called for his killing. It urged Uganda to ensure gays and lesbians "are adequately protected against violence, and to take prompt action against all threats or hate speech likely to incite violence, discrimination or hostility towards them". The call came on the same day that a leaked US embassy cable on WikiLeaks revealed that Kato was mocked at a UN-backed debate on Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill where a member of the Uganda Human Rights Commission "openly joked and snickered" with the supporters of the bill. According to the cable, the debate in December 2009 was organised with funding from...

Frank G. Spisak Jr. Serial killer Frank G. Spisak Jr., a Hitler devotee whose 1982 murder spree on the Cleveland State University campus terrified a city, was executed Thursday morning, the state said. The death sentence was carried out at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility via intravenous lethal injection. The time of death was 10:34 a.m. His sentence was imposed in 1983 by the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Spisak, 59, read his final statement — a German language reading of Revelation 21:1-7 — which begins, “Then I saw a new heaven and earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away." In a prepared statement, Cora Warford, the mother of one of Spisak’s victims, said, “In memory of my baby boy, Brian Warford, I can finally say justice has been served. Spisak will have to stand before a higher court one day as we all will, and may God have mercy on his soul.” Witnesses to Thursday’s lethal injection were to include Brian Warford’s two brothers, the...

Amnesty International has urged members of Trinidad and Tobago's parliament to vote against a constitutional amendment Bill which would allow executions to be resumed in the country. Under the proposed Bill, scheduled to be debated on 18 February, courts across the country would be able to circumvent judicial rulings that enhanced human rights protection and resulted in a halt to executions in 1999. Authorities in the Caribbean nation claim carrying out executions is a way to tackle rising numbers of murders and deter others from committing violent crime. "Trinidad and Tobago has a real problem with murder and violent crimes, but experience has shown that facilitating executions is not the solution," said Chiara Liguori, researcher on Trinidad and Tobago at Amnesty International. "Hurrying executions or ignoring appeals already in progress violates defendants' rights by denying them due process guaranteed under international law. "The proposed Bill wou...

The state Senate is sending a bill to repeal Montana's death penalty to the House, where the plan failed 2 years ago. A day after the Senate signaled its support for Senate Bill 185, the chamber gave it final passage Tuesday with another 26-24 vote. The bill drew the support of all the chamber's Democrats and 4 Republicans. If it passes, the bill will immediately replace the death penalty with life in prison without parole and could change the sentences of 2 inmates currently on death row. Next, the bill must clear the Republican-dominated House. A similar measure passed the Senate last session in 2009, but didn't even make it out of a House committee. Source: Associated Press, Feb. 16, 2011 _________________________ Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.

Spain's Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to revise the death sentence handed to Miguel Hernandez (1910-42), one of the country's greatest 20th-century poets. Hernandez fought in Spain's 1936-39 civil war on the side of the leftist republicans against General Francisco Franco. After Franco won the war, 'people's poet' Hernandez was sentenced to death on charges including his 'left-wing' poetry. International protests led to the death sentence being commuted into a 30-year prison sentence. Hernandez died of an untreated tuberculosis in an Alicante prison at the age of 31 years. Hernandez' family sought an annulment of the death sentence. The court, however, said it had already been recognized as 'radically unfair' by a 2007 law which generally condemned the summary verdicts handed out by Francoist courts. Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Feb. 16, 2011 _________________________ Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this pa...

Timothy Adams Today more than 90 Christian faith leaders from communities throughout Texas called on the Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Rick Perry to grant clemency to Timothy Adams . Adams is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on February 22, 2011. His family, who is also the family of the victim, Timothy Jr., has asked for mercy, noting that an execution will do nothing to repair the loss and anguish they have experienced since the time of the crime. TCADP is deeply grateful to all of the faith leaders who joined this call for mercy. We also wish to express our appreciation to Bishop Joe Wilson and Sister Elizabeth Riebschlaeger for their participation in today’s press conference to release the letter. For Immediate Release: February 16, 2011 Religious Leaders from Across Texas Join Victim Family Members at State Capitol to Urge for Clemency, Saying Crime was an Aberration in Veteran’s Life 3 Jurors Also Supporting Clemency for Timothy Adams (Austin, Tex...

2 people were hanged in the prison of Sanandaj, the capital of the Iranian Kurdistan province. According to the official site of the Iranian judiciary in Kurdistan, 2 people identified as "M. H." and "Kh. R." who were convicted of drug trafficking, were hanged in the central prison of Sanandaj early this morning. No independent sources have confirmed the charges. Source: Iran Human Rights, February 16, 2011 _________________________ Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.

Michael Wayne Hall A 31-year-old North Texas man has been executed for the 1998 torture-slaying of a mentally challenged 19-year-old Arlington woman exactly 13 years ago. Michael Wayne Hall's lethal injection came less than an hour after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block the execution and was the 1st of the year for the nation's busiest death penalty state. Hall was condemned for the murder of Amy Robinson, who was abducted en route to work at an Arlington supermarket. Hall and Robert Neville were convicted in her 1998 slaying. The 2nd man convicted in her death, Robert Neville, was put to death 5 years ago. Lawyers for Hall argued that he was mentally impaired and ineligible for the death penalty under a Supreme Court ruling that bars capital punishment for those with an IQ under 70. "Mr. Hall's history of mental retardation reaches back to his childhood," attorney Bryce Benjet said earlier Tuesday. In appeals, Benjet questioned an assessment from ...

Execution chamber at Tokyo's Detention Center The chemist of the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult who concocted the deadly nerve gas that killed a dozen people in the Tokyo subway in 1995 has received his final judgment. Japan’s Supreme Court Tuesday rejected the final appeal by Masami Tsuchiya, one of the top lieutenants who masterminded the fatal attacks, confirming the death sentence passed on him in 2004. Mr. Tsuchiya was one of 13 cult members sentenced to hang for their part in the chemical attack during the morning rush hour commute in central Tokyo on March 20, 1995: The attack killed 12 people and left up to 6,000 others seeking medical treatment, according to the U.S. State Department. The chemist, now 46, was convicted for his role in developing the liquid sarin used in what was Japan’s most devastating terrorist attack in modern times. Mr. Tsuchiya, who was not present in the courthouse during Tuesday’s proceedings, was also previously convicted for producing sarin in...