[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
July 28 SAUDI ARABIA: Amnesty: Saudi cleric Ouda faces possible death penalty for peaceful activism Amnesty International is calling on Saudi Arabia to drop plans to seek the execution of cleric Salman Al-Ouda and release him without condition. In a press release issued yesterday, Amnesty International revealed that Al-Ouda will probably be handed a death sentence tomorrow. Reporting CNN, Amnesty International said Sheikh Al-Ouda once advised the country’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman on possible reforms in Saudi Arabia. The 61-year-old was subsequently arrested in 2017 and is currently facing numerous charges connected to his peaceful activism, Amnesty said. Amnesty added: “He is on trial at Saudi Arabia’s notorious anti-terrorism Specialised Criminal Court, and the Saudi Public Prosecutor recently called for the cleric to be sentenced to death.” Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director, said: “We are gravely concerned that Sheikh Salman al-Awda could be sentenced to death and executed.” “Since his arrest almost 2 years ago, Sheikh al-Awda has gone through a terrible ordeal, including prolonged pre-trial detention, months of solitary confinement, incommunicado detention and other ill-treatment – all flagrant violations to his right to a fair trial.” “The Saudi authorities continue to claim that they are fighting ‘terrorism’ when this trial – as well as those of other activists, including the 37 men who were executed in April – are clearly politically-motivated and meant to silence independent voices in the country.” “Sheikh al-Awda has been calling for a more inclusive society that would end the marginalisation of Saudi Shia citizens. For this, he is being punished.” “Instead of moving ahead with this sham trial, they must immediately and unconditionally release Sheikh al-Awda and drop all charges against him.” (source: Middle East Monitor) BAHRAINexecutions Bahrain executes 3 men the day after US reinstates federal death penaltyHuman rights groups have condemned the execution of 3 men in Bahrain on Saturday. 3 men were executed by firing squad in Bahrain on Saturday morning, according to the kingdom's state news agency. The move came days after the United States announced it would be reinstating the federal death penalty for the 1st time in nearly 2 decades. The executions were confirmed by Bahrain's Advocate General and chief of anti-crime prosecution, Ahmed al Hammadi, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said. The men were convicted in 2 separate cases by the High Criminal Court after each investigation from Bahrain's Public Prosecutor called for them to receive the maximum sentence, BNA said. Bahrain's Public Prosecutor said that 2 of the executed men were convicted of "joining a terrorist group, committing murders, and possessing explosives and firearms to carry out terror acts." There were 58 other individuals accused in the case, 19 of whom were sentenced to life in prison, according to BNA. 2 were acquitted, it said. 2 of the men, Ali al-Arab and Ahmed al-Malali were sentenced to death by the court and the rulings were upheld by the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cessation. In February 2017, the pair were arrested and sentenced "in a mass trial marred by allegations of torture and serious due process violations," according to a Human Rights Watch report. For months, human rights groups have called for an examination of the circumstances around the men's sentencing and for the Bahrain government to halt al-Arab and al-Malali's executions. In May, a group of United Nations human rights experts said there were "serious concerns" that the pair were "coerced into making confessions through torture and did not receive a fair trial." During the arrest, al-Malali was reportedly shot in his hand. Two bullets were allegedly only removed from his hand 23 days later, according to the UN statement. Before the conviction, al-Arab was "reportedly forcibly disappeared for a month," the UN statement said. Al-Malali was charged with "possession of firearms, membership in a terrorist cell and the alleged killing of a security officer," according to the UN statement. Al-Arab was charged with "killing a police officer, firing on a security patrol and injuring one of its officers, assisting in an attempted prison escape, and possession of firearms," the UN statement said. The men were "allegedly prevented from attending their trial, sentenced to the death penalty in absentia and stripped of their nationality, which was later reinstated," according to the UN statement. They were both were reportedly tortured and forced to sign confessions of their crimes it said. "The 2 individuals should have never been convicted on the basis of what appears to be seriously flawed trials. Executions in these conditions would amount to arbitrary executions," the UN experts said.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., ARIZ., USA
July 28 KENTUCKY: Trial date set in death penalty case A trial date has been set for next spring in a capital murder case involving a Tennessee man accused of killing a Eubank grandmother. Bradley Allan McMahan, 35, of Louisville, Tenn., is charged with Murder and 1st-degree Burglary in connection to the death of 59-year-old Johnnie Faye Davis, whose body was discovered inside her Eubank home the morning of November 1. In a status hearing held Friday, Special Judge Samuel Todd Spalding scheduled McMahan's trial for March 16, 2020. It was the Lebanon-based judge's 1st appearance in the case after taking up the case last month upon Pulaski Circuit Judge David Tapp's recusal. Also new to the case is defense attorney Sarah Fightmaster, who is taking over for DPA (Department of Public Advocacy) Capital Trials Manager Teresa Whitaker as she retires. Commonwealth's Attorney Eddy Montgomery filed notice in April that his office would be seeking the death penalty against McMahan amid aggravating circumstances. In Kentucky, death penalty consideration is generally reserved for murder cases in which the homicide occurs during the commission of another violent crime or where the accused has a prior murder conviction. In this case, McMahan is accused of killing the mother of his former girlfriend. According to preliminary hearing testimony last fall from Detective John Hutchinson of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office, authorities responded to the scene on Goodhope Church Road around 6:43 a.m. on November 1. Once inside the home, the officers found Davis lying unresponsive in the foyer -- with blood covering her face from what turned out to be a broken nose and the electric cord from a nearby oscillating fan wrapped around her neck. Davis lived with her 2 grandchildren, who had been getting ready for school when the assault began. Det. Hutchinson said Davis' 11-year-old grandson recognized the assailant as his mother's ex-boyfriend. The boy reportedly ran to the bedroom of his 15-year-old sister, where together they barricaded the door and left the home through the bedroom window to seek help at a neighbor's house. McMahan was located later that afternoon by Somerset Police Department at the Dollar General on East Mt. Vernon Street. Once in custody, the suspect allegedly admitted that he strangled Davis but claimed that "she came at him with a knife and it was self defense." Preliminary autopsy results were consistent with Davis dying from strangulation. Det. Hutchinson also testified that blood evidence was taken from the home and McMahan's truck, as well his clothing. DNA results are reportedly back from the Kentucky State Police lab. Fightmaster advised Judge Spalding that she and her co-counsel Peyton Sands are currently reviewing discovery that Montgomery's office had provided. McMahan remains lodged at the Pulaski County Detention Center in lieu of a $1 million cash bond. (source: somerset-kentucky.com) ARIZONA: Arizona to resume executions for first time since 2014 lawsuit over alleged botched lethal injection Arizona is poised to resume executions after a five-year hiatus brought on by an execution that critics said was botched, a subsequent lawsuit challenging the way the state carries out the death penalty, and the difficulty of finding lethal injection drugs, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said. Brnovich said in a letter Friday to Gov. Doug Ducey that the now-resolved lawsuit removed legal barriers to carrying out executions. He also said a recent U.S. Justice Department opinion clears the way for states to import pentobarbital. "Justice must be done for the victims of these heinous crimes and their families. Those who commit the ultimate crime deserve the ultimate punishment," Brnovich said in the letter. He asked the governor for help in obtaining pentobarbital. It's unknown when the next execution will be scheduled. 14 of the 116 inmates on death row in Arizona have exhausted all appeals of their sentences. It's also unclear where the state will get the drugs. A judge ruled in September 2017 that the state does not have to reveal who provides its execution drugs. "Regardless of where they go to get the drugs for executions, we expect the state will be transparent about the transactions and how it is spending taxpayer dollars," said Dale Baich, chief of the unit in the Federal Public Defender's Office in Arizona that represents inmates in death penalty appeals. The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement condemning Brnovich's decision, claiming that the attorney general "is so eager to resume killing people given the Arizona Department of Corrections' long history of illegally obtaining lethal injection drugs and conducting botched executions. Arizona should work toward smarter, more humane approaches to justice." Brnovich's letter comes after the U.S. Justice Department's
