Death Penalty News

Kansas - A judge has denied a request by death-row inmates Jonathan and Reginald Carr to be resentenced in a December 2000 crime spree that included five murders. The Carr brothers filed motions in November requesting a new hearing to determine whether the evidence supports the death penalty. Their lawyers also sought new pre-sentencing reports and journal entries in the case.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A controversial bill that would allow the state to seek the death penalty for those convicted of rape of a child passed the House of Representatives Monday, clearing the final legislative hurdle before becoming law in Tennessee. HB1663, by House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland), would allow for those convicted of rape or especially aggravated rape of a child in Tennessee to be sentenced to death.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 20, 2024: Fariborz Dadgar, a man on death row for drug-related charges, was executed in Ahvaz Sepidar Prison. His father was executed for the same charges at the prison 16 years ago.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 20, 2024: Valiollah Bakhtavar, an Afghan national on death row for murder, was executed in Tabriz Central Prison. "He worked at a fruit stall and had got into an altercation with his boss because he didn’t pay him, leading to the murder."

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 21, 2024: At least two men including an Afghan national were executed for drug-related charges in Ghezelhesar Prison. At least two murder death row prisoners are at risk of execution. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 21 April. Their identities have been established as Abdolbari Pashtu from Afghanistan and 38-year-old Alireza Pourshahbaz. They were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 20, 2024: Seven men including six Baluch and a Kurd were executed for drug-related charges. Five were executed in Kerman Central Prison and two in Chahar Bahar Prison. According to Haalvsh, five men were executed for drug-related charges in Kerman Central Prison on 20 April. 

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) Taiwan's constitutional court will convene a highly anticipated debate on Tuesday about whether the current death penalty system is constitutional, addressing an issue that has been contentious in Taiwan for decades. The debate, scheduled for Tuesday, will see attorneys Nigel Li (李念祖) and Jeffrey Li (李劍非) representing 37 prisoners currently on death row and challenging the constitutionality of capital punishment.

Machilakath Abdul Rahim, who killed a Saudi teenager in a 2006 accident, now looks set to be freed after friends and celebrities back his release An Indian national convicted of killing the Saudi teenager he was paid to drive has escaped execution in the kingdom after Indians around the globe raised nearly $4 million to save him. 

9 prisoners of drug charges executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chabahar and GhezelHesar According to the Iranian Human Rights Society website, on Sunday, April 21st, 2024, 9 prisoners including, Baloch and Kurdish drug suspects were executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chah bahar, and GhezelHesar.  

After the deadly terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, some Russian politicians are debating trying the suspects to Belarus, which still has death penalty. But it's not that simple. The terror attack on Moscow's Crocus City Hall has ignited debate about the reintroduction of the death sentence in Russia. Given that 140 people died and more than 500 were wounded at the concert hall on March 22, 2024, emotions are running high.

Neelam sentenced to death for burying toddler alive after kidnapping her, in a rare and heinous crime. The court found her guilty of murder and destruction of evidence, causing outrage in society. LUDHIANA: Over two years after the brutal murder of a toddler, the woman who killed her was sentenced to death by a local court. The convict had buried her neighbour’s two-and-a-half-year-old daughter alive. 

The Alabama Supreme Court has authorized the execution of a man convicted of killing a delivery driver who stopped at an ATM.  Justices granted the Alabama attorney general's request to authorize an execution date for Keith Edmund Gavin. Governor Kay Ivey will set the day of the execution, which will be carried out by lethal injection.

Saudi Arabia executes man for murdering Otaibah tribe woman RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has executed a native citizen.  The Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia has announced that the execution of a man named Basil Bin Suhail has been carried out. Basil was executed for killing a woman by hitting her with a car.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa granted clemency to more than 4,000 prisoners, including some who were on death row, in an independence day amnesty on Thursday. Zimbabwe marked 44 years of independence from colonial rule, which ended in 1980 after a bloody bush war. The country’s name was changed from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 18, 2024: Afshin Bagh Shirin, a man on death row for drug-related charges, was executed in Urmia Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Urmia Central Prison on 13 April. His identity has been established as 37-year-old Afshin Bagh Shirin who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

There’s an effort underway, in the current legislative session in Baton Rouge, to reverse course on the controversial execution method with Senate Bill 430. When Louisiana legislators approved the use of nitrogen gas asphyxiation as an execution method during a second special legislative session in February, the move attracted national attention; not the least because it has only been used in the U.S. once. That’s when Alabama executed convicted killer Kenneth Eugene Smith on January 25th of this year. Now there’s an effort underway, in the current legislative session in Baton Rouge, to reverse course on the controversial execution method with Senate Bill 430.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - An Alabama House committee rejected a bill that would have impacted sentences for dozens of death row inmates. The proposal would have required courts to resentence people sentenced to death by a judge who overrode a jury’s recommendation of life in prison. That practice was outlawed in 2017. Representative Chris England passionately argued it should be retroactively applied for more than 30 death row inmates who were sentenced to death over a jury’s recommendation.

KOTA BARU: A total of 54 prisoners escaped death by hanging, after the Federal Court, sitting at the High Court here today, commuted their sentences to imprisonment between 30 and 38 years. A three-judge panel led by the Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, in a unanimous decision waived the death penalty for all the prisoners involved who were previously convicted of murder and drug cases.

The Islamic Republic has executed eight more prisoners over the past few days amid a significant spike in death penalties. On April 14, 2024, Hamedan Prison executed Arsalan Hashemi, a man convicted of drug offenses, according to human rights group HRANA.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 15 2024: Marjan Hajizadeh and Esmail Hassaniani, a couple sentenced to death for drug-related charges in a joint case, were executed in Zanjan Central Prison.  Marjan is reported to have been 16 at the time of arrest, which IHRNGO is working to confirm. If verified, she will be the first child offender executed for drug charges since 2014. She was also a child bride forced into marriage.

KOTA BHARU: A former excavator driver escaped the death penalty after the Federal Court commuted his sentence to 38 years in prison and 12 lashes for killing a woman 16 years ago. The case was one of 28 cases reviewed during the Federal Court of Malaysia Conference at the Kota Bharu High Court today, which also involved cases in other east coast states.

On Tuesday, April 16, the driver identified as having deliberately run over 23-year-old doctoral student Badr Bouljoihel received the death penalty. In 2019, the accused was convicted for similar offenses, where the manslaughter was deemed involuntary. The criminal chamber of first instance of the Casablanca Court of Appeal sentenced, on Tuesday, April 16, Achraf R., known to media as Ould Lefchouch (‘spoiled child’), to the death penalty for the premeditated murder of Badr Bouljoihel, local media reported.

PUTRAJAYA: A former contractor's death penalty for murdering his three-year-old stepson has been commuted to 35 years in prison. The Court of Appeal also ordered Khairul Izani Khairuddin, 36, also known as "Boy Tiger", to be given 12 strokes of the cane. He was ordered to serve the prison sentence from the date of his arrest on Nov 12, 2018.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments centering on an Arizona death row prisoner that could set new precedent to determining ineffective assistance of counsel.  A Mohave County Superior Court jury convicted Danny Lee Jones for the 1992 murders of Robert Weaver and his daughter Tisha, as well as the attempted murder of Weaver’s grandmother. A judge sentenced Jones to death for the two murders.

BAGHDAD, April 15 (Reuters) - Iraqi lawmakers postponed voting on Monday on a bill that includes the death penalty or life in prison for same-sex relations - a measure that diplomats from Western countries said could have serious consequences for Iraq's political and economic ties if it goes through. Parliament was in session on Monday, with the bill - an amendment to an anti-prostitution law - second on its agenda.