Death Penalty News

Former Egyptian president M. Morsi The head of the Council of Europe has written to Egypt's Grand Mufti asking him not to approve hundreds of death sentences hanging over jailed dissidents - including former president, Mohamed Morsi. Thorbjorn Jagland wrote to Professor Shawki Abdel-Karim Allam on Thursday in the hope that capital punishment will not be applied to Morsi and over 100 Muslim Brotherhood activists. Egyptian law requires death penalties to be referred to the Grand Mufti, the highest religious official in the country. "The Council of Europe is firmly opposed to the death penalty as a cruel and inhumane punishment which denies human dignity and integrity and can never be undone," Jagland wrote in the letter. Last year, hundreds of Egyptians were sentenced to death but rulings on only a few dozen were actually upheld, the rest converted into jail sentences of 25 years. Morsi and 12 codefendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison last m...

A court in Algeria has handed down death sentences to 12 people and condemned 2 others to life imprisonment over their involvement in a bomb explosion that claimed the lives of a Frenchman and his driver back in 2008. On Wednesday, the Algiers Criminal Court found the accused "forming an armed terrorist group and premeditated voluntary homicide." The defendants given the death penalty are all members of the Katibat el-Arkam network, a splinter group of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). They are at large and Algerian judicial officials tried them in absentia. The 2 present in the court, identified as Khaled Asalah and Brahim Brahim, admitted being AQIM members and taking part in several terrorist attacks. Engineer Pierre Nowacki of the French enterprise BTP Razel and his Algerian driver were killed on June 9, 2008, when a bomb explosion ripped through their vehicle as it was travelling on a road in the town of Beni Amrane, located some 80 kilometers (4...

Death-row inmates being marched off to a nearby execution ground (file photo) China's top court said it has executed a primary school teacher found guilty of raping or sexually abusing 26 girls. Li Jishun had committed the crimes between 2011 and 2012 while teaching at a village school in Gansu province. He preyed on pupils aged 4 to 11 who were "young and timid", according to a statement by the Supreme People's Court reported by local media. It said there have been more than 7,000 child sex abuse cases in recent years and that the trend is on the rise. 'Grave threat' Li had raped 21 of his victims and sexually abused the other 5 in classrooms, dormitories, and the forest surrounding the village near Wushan town. The statement said that some of his victims had been raped or abused more than once. It made no mention of how he was caught. But it said that the Gansu court had found him "a grave threat to society" and not...

Pakistan on Thursday executed 8 death row convicts, including 3 men who hijacked an airplane in May 1998. Shahsawar, Sabir and Shabbir Baloch hijacked a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Balochistan province's Turbat town on May 25, 1998, Dunya News reported. The PIA Flight 544 was carrying 33 passengers, including 5 crew members. The hijackers demanded the pilot to enter India. They were arrested when the flight finally landed at Hyderabad Airport. The 3 men were sentenced to death on August 20, 1998. Shahsawar and Sabir were hanged in Hyderabad Central Jail, while Shabbir was executed in Karachi Central Jail. Death row convict, Mahmood was also hanged in Karachi Central Jail. He was sentenced for killing a minor boy in 2003. 3 convicts were hanged in jails across Punjab province. Akseer was found guilty of killing a man over a business dispute in 1998. Muhammad Ashraf was sentenced for a double murder in 2000. Amir Abdullah was found gui...

Richard Strong Richard Strong’s execution date is set for June 9, 2015, and is based on his conviction in the stabbing deaths of his girlfriend, Eva Washington and her two-year old daughter Zandrea Thomas. His capital sentence arose as a result of the work of incompetent trial counsel, as well as behavior driven by mental illness and extreme childhood trauma. He has been diagnosed with Major (Recurrent) Depression, PTSD and Schizotypal Personality Disorder. Horrific childhood trauma: Due to the incompetence of mitigation counsel, the trial jury never learned of Strong’s horrific childhood and history of mental illness. Richard Strong’s father abandoned him soon after conception and was incarcerated when he was born. Richard grew up “extremely poor, often not having anything to eat” and without basic necessities. His mother lived with a series of abusive boyfriends throughout his childhood, at 26 different places, most all were “derelict apartments in violent” St. Louis ...

Children watching an execution in Mashhad, Iran, May 27, 2015 (IHR) Three prisoners were hanged publicly in Mashhad with a crowd including children watching the executions.  Last month the Iranian authorities in response to the UN Special Rapporteur’s condemnation of the executions in Iran stated that “people are seldom hanged in the public and when that happens we take measures so that children don’t see the execution scene”. Iran Human Rights, May 28, 2015: Three men were hanged in public in Mashhad (northeastern Iran) Wednesday May 27, reported the Iranian state media.  According to the Iranian state broadcasting, the men were charged with armed robbery, kidnapping, keeping arms.  Two of the men were 27 year and the third was 38 years old.  None of them were identified by name.  Pictures published in the Iranian media show several minors and children watching the executions. The official Iranian news agency IRNA reported about...

Nebraska became the 1st Republican-leaning state in 4 decades to abolish the death penalty on Wednesday, the latest signal that momentum is on the side of those who oppose capital punishment. And in the next few years, it's likely that several more states will outlaw the practice. Delaware may be the next in line. Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, has pledged to sign a death penalty repeal bill that has already passed the Senate and is currently in the majority Democratic House Judiciary Committee. That's only if Montana or New Hampshire don't get there first; state lawmakers in Montana fell 1 vote short of passing a bill to abolish the death penalty in February, reaching a 50-50 split on the bill after the Senate passed its own version. Similarly, the New Hampshire Senate also reached a deadlocked repeal vote in April 2014. But there's a whole list of states that might yet follow in Nebraska's footsteps. The 7 states that have now done away with capital pun...

Finland's incoming justice minister from the populist Finns Party says he approves of the death penalty in "some circumstances." Jari Lindstrom was expressing his personal opinion and not speaking on behalf of the incoming government.  He said Thursday that capital punishment could be acceptable for "extremely heavy crimes, such as against small children." The 49-year-old lawmaker says the death penalty wasn't "one of the main issues" on his agenda when he is due to take up his ministerial post on Friday. The death penalty, banned in Finland in 1949, has been abolished in all EU countries. Lindstrom is 1 of 4 new ministers from the EU-skeptic Finns Party, which is in a ruling coalition for the 1st time. Source: Associated Press, May 28, 2015 Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com

A day before leaving office, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan posted the announcement on social media: "Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has just granted total pardon to Moses Akatugba who was sentenced to death for stealing 3 phones.This decision was made known shortly after the last Executive meeting of his administration at the government house, Asaba today, 28th May, 2015." Aside granting total pardon to Moses, Governor Uduaghan also commuted death sentences of 3 others to various terms of imprisonment. Source: Amnesty International, May 28, 2015 Related article: - Nigeria: Man sentenced to death for stealing mobile phones and recharge cards , November 20, 2013. November 20, 2013: A High Court in Effurun, Delta State, Nigeria, has sentenced a 24-year-old secondary school student, Moses Akatugba, to death by hanging for stealing mobile phones and recharge cards... Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com

Doug Peterson, the attorney general of Nebraska, said he would challenge the constitutionality of the state’s new law repealing the death penalty.  The bill, which was passed on Wednesday after lawmakers overrode a veto from Gov. Pete Ricketts , replaces the death penalty with life imprisonment in Nebraska.  But Mr. Peterson, who has been a vocal opponent of the bill, said on Thursday that he believed the law was unconstitutional because it effectively changed the sentences of the 10 inmates on death row.  One senator who opposed repeal of the death penalty has begun another effort to fight the new law and is trying to collect at least 115,000 signatures from registered voters, which would force a voter referendum in 2016. Source: The New York Times , Julie Bosman, May 28, 2015 Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com

The Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) and We Believe in Second Chances strongly urge the Cabinet to advise the President, Mr Tony Tan, to grant clemency to death row inmate, Kho Jabing. Sarawakian Kho Jabing, now 31, was convicted of murder under section 300(c) of the Penal Code on 24 May 2011, which carried the mandatory death sentence at the time of conviction. In 2012, Parliament amended the Penal Code to give judges the discretion to sentence offenders convicted under s 300(c) to life imprisonment with caning. This change was applied retrospectively and Kho was afforded an opportunity to have his death sentence reconsidered. On 18 November 2013, Justice Tay Yong Kwang re-sentenced Kho to life imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane. On 14 January 2015, the Court of Appeal, by a majority decision (with 2 out of the 5 judges dissenting) overturned Justice Tay's decision and sentenced Kho to death. We wish to highlight 2 issues with Kho's death sente...

Public execution in Saudi Arabia (file photo) Saudi Arabia has carried out its 90th execution of this year, equaling the total number executed in the country in 2014. Amnesty International report that the toll is “one of the highest recorded by the organization during the same period for more than three decades”. The toll so far this year “marks an unprecedented spike in executions for a country already ranked among the most prolific executioners in the world,” a statement from the group said today. Saudia Arabia is one of the world’s top three executioner nations, behind only Iran and China. The most common method of execution is beheading, often conducted in public squares and occasionally by firing squad. “With the year yet to pass its midpoint … this alarming surge in executions surpasses even the country’s own previous dreadful records,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International. Today’s execution too...

May 25, 2015: China executed a man who stabbed a doctor to death over what he considered a botched nose operation, media reported, in a case that spotlighted the country's overburdened health system. Lian Enqing was sentenced to death last year for a fatal attack on an ear, nose and throat specialist in Wenling, in the eastern province of Zhejiang.  He attacked the doctor because he "felt displeased with his nose and claimed to be suffering respiratory problems", the official news agency Xinhua said. The death sentence was carried out on May 25, the Chengdu Business Daily newspaper reported, citing family members who said they had met the condemned man briefly before his execution. The attack last October prompted dozens of the doctor's colleagues to protest outside the hospital in Wenling, urging stronger safety measures to deal with violent patients.  Sources: AFP, HOC, May 25, 2015 Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com...

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia beheaded a convicted murderer on Wednesday in its 89th execution this year, adding to a toll that has already overtaken the total for all of 2014 . Fahd bin Hussein Daghriri was found guilty and sentenced to death for his role in the murder of a fellow Saudi citizen, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. Authorities carried out the execution in the southern region of Jazan. According to an AFP tally, Daghriri brings to 89 the number of locals and foreigners executed in the kingdom this year, despite activists' concerns that trials are not conducted fairly. The conservative Islamic kingdom executed 87 people in 2014, according to AFP's count. Under the Gulf nation's strict version of Islamic sharia law, drug trafficking, rape, murder, apostasy, homosexuality and armed robbery are all punishable by death. Executions are carried out in public, mostly by beheading with a sword. S...

Omaha State Senator Ernie Chambers (standing) sponsored LB 268 With a vote to override a veto by Gov. Pete Ricketts , The Nebraska Legislature repealed the death penalty in the state. With 30 votes needed to override, the motion received 30 votes. 19 senators voted with the Governor. 2 senators changed their vote since final passage of LB 268. Wahoo State Senator and Jerry Johnson and Gretna State Senator John Murante initially supported the repeal, but on the floor Wednesday said they had changed their minds. "I am personally conflicted on the death penalty,' said Murante, who noted he was a practicing Catholic. "One truth is undeniable. Taking human life under certain circumstances can be justified." Murante said despite appeals by Archbishop George Lucas and priests, the majority of Murante's constituents overwhelmingly support the death penalty. Governor Ricketts vetoed the bill Tuesday, arguing it was a necessary deterrent. Omaha...

Paula Cooper A woman who was once the youngest Indiana Death Row inmate was found dead Tuesday morning in Indianapolis, police said. The campaign to save the life of Paula Cooper, who at 16 became the youngest death row inmate in Indiana, attracted international attention after she pleaded guilty to murder in 1986. Her successful appeal eventually led to her June 2013 release after serving 27 years in prison. But on Tuesday, Cooper's story came to a somber end in Indianapolis. Police say she was found dead, apparently by her own hand. Cooper, 45, died just after 7:15 a.m. from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in the 9500 block of Angola Court, according to Indianapolis Metropolitan Police. Her death is still under investigation, and the Marion County coroner's office says it expects to conduct an autopsy Wednesday. "It's an unusual ending to a tragic case," said Indianapolis attorney Jack Crawford, who was the Lake County prosecu...

San Quentin Death Row Michael Lamont Jones, 44, who was convicted of murdering a Riverside pizza restaurant employee in 1989, committed suicide on Monday, May 25, at San Quentin State Prison, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced Tuesday. The cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy; however, the death is being investigated as a suicide, a news release said. Jones was in a cell by himself. Jones was sentenced to death on Dec. 13, 1991, by a Riverside County jury, for the Jan. 21, 1989, murder of Herman Weeks, 24, during the armed robbery of a Domino's Pizza store. Jones had been on death row since Jan. 2, 1992. Jones appealed his conviction, citing incompetent defense counsel, erroneous jury instructions, tainted witness identification and unconstitutionality of the death penalty. In 2003, the state Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. According to trial testimony, Weeks had his hands in the air when Jones fired 2 sh...

Serge Atlaoui An Indonesian court said it would hear a last-ditch appeal by a French man on death row on 3 June, after a verdict expected this week was delayed by the absence of the presiding judge. Serge Atlaoui had been due to face the firing squad with other prisoners in April but won a last-minute reprieve for the completion of his legal appeals. France's president, Francois Hollande, has warned Indonesia it would face "consequences" if it were to press ahead with his execution. Indonesia has harsh penalties for drug trafficking and resumed executions in 2013 after a 5-year lull. The president, Joko Widodo, has rejected clemency pleas from foreign nationals who are among a group of about 60 drug convicts scheduled for execution. 14 have been executed this year, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran; Nigerians Raheem Salami, Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Okwudili Oyatanze and Martin Anderson; Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte and Indonesi...

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Wednesday that the Philippine government would tread lightly in seeking clemency for Mary Jane Veloso, as the country would not wish to put pressure on Indonesia in the politically charged drug trafficking case. Addressing the dangerous drugs committee of the House of Representatives, De Lima said the focus of an ongoing preliminary investigation was to determine whether Veloso, who was granted a last-minute stay on her execution last April on drug charges, was a "hapless victim or a willing participant." "On the premise that the investigation will prove she was a hapless victim, [then we may ask for] possible executive clemency, which may mean either pardon or the commutation of sentence. But we don't want to be harping on this," she said. "We would not want the Indonesian government to be pressured by our government," De Lima said in answer to a question on what concrete...

7 death row convicts were executed in jails across Pakistan's Punjab and Balochistan provinces on Wednesday, a media report said. In Lahore Central Jail, 2 convicts were hanged. Abdul Khaliq had been convicted of murdering a woman, while convict Shahzad was also found guilty of committing a murder, Geo News reported. 2 convicts were hanged in Gujrat District Jail. Naseer Ahmed was found guilty of killing a man in 2002. Faisal Mehmood was sentenced to death for committing a murder in 1999. In Vehari District Jail, 2 prisoners were executed. Abdul Sattar was found guilty of raping and killing a 13-year-old girl in 1997. Convict Sanaullah had also raped and killed a 11-year-old girl in 2001. Khan Mohammad was hanged in Balochistan's Mach Jail after he was found guilty of killing his brother and his nephew in 2004. Pakistan lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in all capital cases on March 10. Initially, executions were resumed for terro...