Jan. 3
IRAN----executions
Iran hangs 2 drug traffickers
Iran on Saturday hanged 2 men in prison in the southeastern city of
Zahedan after they were convicted of drug trafficking, the state
broadcaster reported.
The report said the unnamed men were found guilty of smuggling 300 kilos
(660 pounds) of drugs.
The hangings are the first to be reported in 2009. Iran executed at least
246 people last year, according to an AFP count.
The human rights group Amnesty International says Iran's total of 317
executions in 2007 exceeded those of any other country apart from China.
Capital offences in the Islamic republic include murder, rape, armed
robbery, drug trafficking and adultery.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
ENGLAND:
Home News Local West Yorkshire News ---- Local lawyer's death row mercy
misson
A YOUNG woman who has never set foot inside a prison is to come face to
face with some of the USAs most notorious criminals in their death row
cells.
Lawyer Roz Breaks from Brighouse will work on appeals for inmates awaiting
execution in the USA.
It is a cause close to the 24-year-old's heart, describing their lengthy
wait for the death penalty as inhumane.
Roz will move to Jackson in Mississippi, where she will spend 5 months
working with some of the 61 men and 3 women on death row in the state.
If they are executed they will be given lethal injections.
Roz, of Millroyd Mill flats in Brighouse, said: "I'm totally against the
death penalty. It's disgusting that a state can execute its own people.
"It's inhumane to put someone through that after making them wait 5, 10 or
even more years.
"One example is of a man with a history of drug use who was given the
lethal injection. Staff couldn't find his vein, so he had to help them.
"It's important for me to do this because there have been cases where the
person will be innocent and should never have been convicted in the first
place.
"But it will always be too late if they have been executed or given the
lethal injection.
"That's why I am going and hope to make a difference."
The legal advocate is originally from Bradford and moved to Brighouse in
2007.
She has since worked throughout Yorkshire and Lincolnshire as a county
court advocate for London-based firm LPC.
Roz who has trained to be a barrister and is an advocate in county courts
added: "I've never been into a prison in the UK, so it's a big step going
to America to do it.
"I imagine I will be a little intimidated when I first meet some of the
people on death row.
"After speaking to people currently working out there it's apparent the
inmates just want to talk about last night's baseball game or what they
had for lunch.
"I will also be able to interview jury members and witnesses, as in
America you can ask them why they found someone guilty and whether they
were under any pressure to find for the death sentence."
Roz went on: "I think more and more people in America are beginning to
think that the death penalty isn't always the best idea.
"There are just too many flaws with the American legal system to justify
it; the judges are elected and are too politicised."
Her trip to Mississippi is being organised by the charity Amicus, which
aims to provide legal representation for people awaiting trial and
punishment on capital charges.
America has 36 states where the convicted criminals can be put on death
row after being found guilty of murder.
(source: Huddersfield Dailly Examiner)
