[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
July 9 EGYPT: Ibrahim Halawa's trial in Egypt is further postponedDublin man who was arrested in Cairo in 2013 faces potential death penalty over protests There has been yet another postponement in the trial of Dubliner Ibrahim Halawa, who has been in jail in Egypt for almost 4 years. Mr Halawa's sister, Somaia, said the hearing that was to take place on Suday has not happened and that it was her understanding that the court would sit either next Sunday or on July 19th. The family, she said, was "very disappointed." Mr Halawa was 17 when he was arrested and imprisoned in 2013 while attending a protest in Cairo along with his 3 sisters. Mr Halawa's sisters were released but he has remained in prison and his trial has been adjourned 26 times. Amnesty International Ireland has highlighted the case and Irish Government observers are watching the trial. There have been repeated expressions of concern for the young man's health and his family has said he has suffered ill-treatment and torture. Mr Halawa is 1 of 494 men who were arrested and charged with offences that carry the death penalty during anti-government demonstrations. He was not among 203 youth prisoners who were released last March. The presiding judge had said 5 further witnesses were to be called as part of the prosecution case, and the prosecution case would be concluded at the next hearing, which was to have been on Sunday. However that sitting has not now gone ahead. Somaia Halawa said it was her understanding that the prosecution case is now complete and the defence case will begin when the court next sits. A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it had yet to receive an update from Cairo. (source: irishtimes.com) IRANexecutions 4 Prisoners Hanged on Drug Charges 4r prisoners were reportedly hanged at Urmia's central prison on drug related charges. According to close sources, the prisoners were executed on the morning of Saturday July 8. Iran Human Rights has obtained the names of the prisoners: Khalil Mousavi Kousi, Mir-Jan Abdi, Kheiroldin Mashmoul and Soufi Koloukzadeh Gangchin. These prisoners were reportedly transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions. Iranian parliament members had formerly requested from the Judiciary to stop drug related executions for at least 5,000 prisoners pending further investigation. However, the request has not stopped the Judiciary from carrying out death sentences for prisoners with drug related charges. Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have not announced these 4 executions. (source: Iran Human Righs) PAKISTAN: Death penalty by hanging challenged in PHC A prisoner on death row has challenged the implementation of death penalty by hanging in the Peshawar High Court seeking the introduction of a less painful mode of execution in accordance with modern scientific developments. Kept at the Haripur Central Prison, Jan Bahadur filed the petition requesting the high court to declare the mode of hanging to death un-Islamic and unconstitutional insisting it is painful and against human values. He said Section 368 of the Code of Criminal Procedure stated, "When any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he be hanged by the neck till he is dead." The petitioner requested the court to issue orders for ending the execution of death row prisoners by hanging declaring it cruel, painful, un-Islamic and inhuman. He added that the court should issue directives for the adoption of the mode of execution, which was not painful. Jan Bahadur, whose lawyer is Mohammad Khursheed Khan, said he was sentenced to death by an additional district and sessions judge on Apr 7, 2000, in Takht Bhai in connection with a 1993 murder case. He added that the judgment was upheld by the high court in 2002 and by the Supreme Court afterwards. The petitioner said his review petition and clemency petition were also rejected. The respondents in the petition are the provincial home secretary, superintendent of Haripur Central Prison, provincial law secretary, secretary to the Council of Islamic Ideology and Mardan district and sessions judge. The petitioner said there were 9 modes of carrying out death penalties, including death by through firing squad, gas chamber and electric chair, by hanging, shooting in the head, lethal injection, beheading, stoning and pushing from unspecified height. The petitioner claimed that in the past, in all the states of USA the mode of execution was through hanging. He added that the use of electric chair was devised, which was considered less painful. The petitioner however said in 1921, the State of Nevada introduced gas chamber for carrying out death penalty. He said in over 30 US states, the mode of execution is now through lethal injection, which was considered more humane and less pain
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., LA., ILL. USA
July 9 TEXAS: Convicted pedophile, serial killer is set to die by lethal injection in TexasOctober execution date scheduled for 'Tourniquet Killer,' Anthony Allen Shore. Anthony Allen Shore, age 55, is scheduled to die on October 18. Maria T. Jackson, Criminal District Court Judge, Harris, TX, set the date for his execution on Thursday. Shore has been dubbed the "Tourniquet Killer." Between the 1980s and the 1990s, Houston's Hispanic females were strangled with handmade tourniquets. For almost 2 decades, gruesome murders he committed went unsolved. Shore's unraveling happened when he sexually assaulted 2 girls, who were his relatives. He was arrested. For sexually assaulting his 2 relatives, he accepted a plea bargain arrangement that entailed giving up DNA and being placed on probation. DNA collected, tested provided path to solving serial murder cold cases That DNA collected and tested provided a much-needed break in solving the cold cases. He was 41-years-old when he was arrested in 2003 and eventually confessed to having committed the following murders: 1986, Laurie Tremblay, 14-years-old 1992, Maria del Carmen Estrada, 21-years-old August 1994, Diana Rebollar, 9-years-old, and July 1995, Dana Sanchez, 16-years-old 1 victim survived serial murderer following assault The strength of the DNA test results tying him to the killing of Estrada led to prosecutors take him to trial on the merits of the compelling DNA evidence. He was tried and convicted of capital murder in the state's case against him. It was the only murder committed by Shore that prosecutors sought and saw a capital murder charge decided against him. He was sentenced to death by a jury on October 21, 2004. In addition to the assaults against 2 relatives and the serial murders, Shore additionally sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl who survived the attack. According to court records, Shore wore ill-fitting or loose clothing, sunglasses, and surgical gloves. He masked his face with a bandana. Though he used duct tape binding her hands and also wrapping her head, investigators said escaped. It was 2 years later, August 1994, when Shore kidnapped Rebollar not even a block away from her house. Houston victim advocate, Andy Kahan stated that there is a reason for having the death penalty in Texas. He said Shore is a "poster child for why," according to the Houston Chronicle. Killer appeals to U.S. Supreme Court on basis of 'brain damage' Shore's attorney, K. Knox Nunnally, said there is an appeal, it is his killer client's "last chance" plea before the United States Supreme Court. Though he believes that there is the strength to his client's argument, he also acknowledged that the "odds" are not favorable to Shore. The appeal is premised on a traumatic brain injury, according to Nunnally, who asserts his client's brain damage was sustained before Shore targeted and murdered Hispanic females. He further stated that the injury might have altered the killer's ability to distinguish between "right or wrong." Kim Ogg is currently the Harris County District Attorney. Once Shore's execution date was scheduled she described him as a "true" serial killer who deserves capital punishment. She said he was predatory, his acts were brutal, and the execution is "appropriate." (source: blastingnews.com) GEORGIAfemale Mexican national may face death penalty Ga. mother appears in court day after allegedly stabbing husband, 4 kids to death The day after she allegedly stabbed to death her husband and 4 of their children, a Gwinnett County mother smiled for cameras, flashed the thumbs-up sign, and told a judge she doesn't want a lawyer. "I don't need an attorney," Isabel Martinez said Friday through an interpreter. "My attorney is the people that we are fighting for ... It does not matter what color you are because God loves us all." But whether or not she has an attorney may not be up to Martinez. Though her mental health has not been discussed publicly by law enforcement or the court, the 33-year-old woman's bizarre behavior in court - and the very nature of her alleged crimes - raises questions about whether she will be deemed competent to stand trial, according to legal experts. That's a determination to be made by forensic psychiatrists - the likely next step in what is sure to be a long, complex process, attorneys observing the case said Friday. Martinez is accused of killing the 4 children and their father early Thursday morning at the family's home in Loganville. A 5th child, a daughter, was also attacked but survived and is now awake and talking in a hospital. Martinez was taken into custody, interviewed and arrested later Thursday, charged with 5 counts of malice murder, 5 counts of murder and 6 charges of aggravated assault. Police have not released details about a possible motive or whether Martinez confessed to the killings. Her behav
