Death Penalty News

The Iranian authorities have sentenced four Baluch men to death on the charge of "armed rebellion" through involvement in "anti-revolution terrorist groups,” the Dadban legal group reported.  The sentences were issued by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, which was presided over by Judge Mohammadreza Amozad Khalili.  The defendants included Eido Shahbakhsh, Abdul Ghani Shahbakhsh, Abdul Rahim Qanbarzehi Gorgij and Soliman Shahbakhsh.

Eight former Indian naval officers who had been put on death row due to unidentified allegations have been freed by a Qatari court. The foreign ministry in Delhi announced on Monday that seven of the guys had already left and returned to India. Authorities declared in January that their death penalty had been substituted with “varying” terms of imprisonment. The charges against the men, who worked for the private company Dahra Global in Qatar, were not made public by either India or Qatar.

The most intellectually challenging film I have ever seen about capital punishment. Definitely a must-see. DPN review and YouTube trailer available in our 'Films & Documentaries' section — DPN editor As far as European cinema goes, there are few figures quite admired in critical circles as the inimitable Krzysztof Kieślowski. Known for his Dekalog series of 1989, as well as The Double Life of Veronique and the Three Colours trilogy, Kieślowski embodied everything so extraordinary about the power of European cinema and that of his native Poland in turn.

Doomed to hang: At Newgate prison, 17 condemned men knelt in a circle waiting to learn their fate. But for James and John - the only ones accused of 'the detestable crime' of being sodomites - there was no mercy.  Chris Bryant's haunting new book: " A True Story Of Prejudice And Murder" There was barely time to register what the Recorder at the Old Bailey had just said. With evident relish, he’d condemned James Pratt and John Smith to death – and now, still reeling, they were being herded through a narrow passageway known as Birdcage Walk.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); February 8, 2024: A 35-year-old man named Yousef had his fingers amputated for the theft of five sheep in Qom Central Prison. Condemning the cruel and unusual punishment, Iran Human Rights urges international pressure for the Islamic Republic to abolish such medieval punishments.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); February 7, 2024: Two men named Ali Feizi and Rahmat Bigham who were on death row for drug-related charges, were executed in Zanjan Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Zanjan Central Prison on 7 February. Their identities have been established as 35-year-old Ali Feizi and Rahmat Bigham who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Amidst mounting concerns over the fate of detained protester Reza Rasaei, Amnesty International issued a warning to Iranian authorities regarding his imminent execution. Rasaei, who denies any involvement, faces the specter of death following his conviction in connection with the killing of an agent during a protest in Kermanshah province, on November 18, 2022. The Iranian state media identified the agent as a member of the Revolutionary Guard, further complicating Rasaei's case. In addition to the disputed murder charge, Rasaei has been sentenced to one year in prison and 74 lashes for "disrupting public order."

According to data, there were 541 and 490 death row inmates at the end of 2022 and 2021, respectively, and 16 7 and 146 death sentences were awarded in 2022 and 2021. New Delhi: As many as death row inmates are currently lodged in prisons across the country, the the highest at the end of a calendar year in two decades, according to a report. The number has increased exponentially since 2015, witnessing a rise 45.71 per cent in such cases.

The Hrana website has reported a troubling surge in death sentences issued by the Iranian regime, with January 2024 setting a grim record compared to the same period in 2023, witnessing a staggering 35 death sentences. Shockingly, within the span of a single month, a total of 86 individuals faced execution. Even more alarming is the comparison with January 2023, where at least 63 people were executed in Iran, with 23 death sentences handed down. This represents a significant increase, with January 2024 witnessing 23 more executions and 12 additional death sentences compared to the previous year.

Human rights activists in Iran state that in January, the Iranian regime’s judiciary set a new record for issuing death sentences in the past year with 35 death sentences. The regime also executed 86 individuals in the same month. On February 8, the  Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that the examination of the issuance and execution of death sentences from January 2023 to January 2024 indicates a continuous increase in the number of executions compared to the number of newly issued death sentences.

Lethal injection only permitted method since death penalty reinstated in 1994 TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach introduced a bill in the Kansas Legislature allowing the state corrections secretary to decide between intravenous injection of drugs or inhalation of a gas inducing suffocation when executing individuals sentenced to death in state courts.

Former French justice minister Robert Badinter, who has died aged 95, saved many lives by dedicating his own to the fight against capital punishment, playing a pivotal role in banning the dreaded guillotine in 1981. Robert Badinter (pictured), born on March 30, 1928, was a prominent French lawyer, academic, and politician who played a pivotal role in the abolition of the death penalty in France. His impactful career reflects his unwavering commitment to human rights and justice. Badinter's journey in the legal realm began with his education at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and the University of Paris Law School, where he developed a profound attachment for the principles that would shape his future endeavors. After completing his studies, Badinter embarked on a career marked by dedication to justice.

Convicted of killing his cousin and his cousin’s fiancée, the death row inmate hopes recanted testimony and other new details spur a review of his case LIVINGSTON — In 20 days, state authorities are scheduled to drive death row inmate Ivan Cantu from the Allan B. Polunsky Unit, past freshly built vacation homes on Lake Livingston, along wooded East Texas roads, to the notorious, red-bricked Huntsville Unit, where Texas will execute him. That is if Cantu’s third execution date isn’t canceled like the two before.

“We didn’t see somebody go unconscious in 30 seconds. What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for their life." The first use of gas for execution in the US was on Feb. 8, 1924. In 1924, the US saw its first use of lethal gas in the execution of Gee Jon, a member of the Hip Sing Tong criminal society who was convicted of killing an elderly member of a rival gang in Nevada. The first attempt at executing Jon with gas was an utter failure that only served to show the state’s ignorance on the use of gas, as well as its tendency to experiment on prisoners. They tried to use the gas on Jon while he slept in his prison cell, in open air. The gas, however, only dissipated and had no effect. 

"The [Houthis] are ramping up their abuses at home while the world is busy watching their attacks in the Red Sea," said Niku Jafarnia, a Yemen researcher for Human Rights Watch. A court of the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen has sentenced 13 people to public execution on homosexuality charges, the French wire service AFP reported on Tuesday.  Photo : Crowd watching a public execution in Yemen Another 35 people have been detained for similar charges.

The communist state has a notorious record of imposing the death penalty 'quickly' and 'in large numbers' with a range of horrible methods used. China's brutal and secretive justice system has been thrust into the spotlight this week as we learned the fate of Australian writer Yang Hengjun , five years after he was arrested and accused of espionage.

It doesn't matter what side of the capital punishment argument a person falls on, some conversations are universally important to have. That includes what it's really like for those who have gotten a date for their execution. Before that conversation, though, there are a few important things worth noting — like the fact that for many people, execution comes only after years behind bars and oftentimes, in solitary confinement.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's cabinet on Tuesday agreed to abolish the death penalty following months of debate in parliament, choosing instead to impose lengthy prison sentences for the worst offences. The cabinet passed a private member's bill introduced last year in the National Assembly to abolish the death penalty inherited from British colonial rule.

Sixty-two death row inmates in Zimbabwe could have their sentences commuted to life in prison when the government abolishes the death penalty in 2024. This was revealed after the first cabinet meeting of the year chaired by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, on Tuesday. The abolition is due to come into effect through the Private Member's Death Penalty Abolition Bill.

President Vo Van Thuong has signed a decision to commute the death penalty to life in prison for five convicts. Hanoi (VNA) – President Vo Van Thuong has signed a decision to commute the death penalty to life in prison for five convicts. The decision was inked on February 6, following recommendations from the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, the Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy, and the head of the President's Office, in accordance with constitutional and legal provisions.