[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Nov. 9 EGYPT: Egyptian court orders retrial of 7 Daesh defendants Egypt on Tuesday overturned the death penalty and jail sentences for 7 defendants who have been accused of establishing links with Daesh. The Court of Cassation ordered a retrial of the cases by the criminal court, the official Middle East News Agency, MENA, reported. The defendants were referred to the criminal court along with 13 others in 2014 by the country's late Attorney General, Hisham Barakat, accused of creating a terror cell that carried out hostile acts against police and army personnel. They were also accused of embracing extremist ideologies and establishing links with Daesh. The court had already sentenced 4 of the other defendants to death, 3 of which were in absentia, 2 others were sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labour, 6 to 10 years with hard labour, and 11 defendant was acquitted, added MENA. (source: The Gulf Today) IRANexecutions 4 Prisoners Executed For Drug Offences 4 prisoners were executed at Urmia Central Prison (Northwestern Iran) on drug related charges. According to a close source, on the morning on Tuesday November 7, 4 prisoners were executed at Urmia Central Prison (Darya). The prisoners, who were sentenced to death on drug related charges, were transferred to solitary confinement from ward 15 yesterday. The prisoners were identified as Asghar Ranjbar, Hedayat Shirzad, Hassan Bashoqi, and Ali Zare'. "The prisoners were sentenced to death on the charge of possessing 5 to 200 kilograms of heroin or meth," said a close source to Iran Human Rights yesterday. These prisoners were executed while a few weeks ago a new anti-narcotics bill was approved by Iran's Parliament and the Guardian Council. The bill was also announced by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and published in an official newspaper on Saturday October 29 2017. According to Article 2 of the civil law, the laws are ought to be enforced within 15 days after being published in an official newspaper (6 days from now). The executions of these prisoners have not been announced by the state-run media so far. (source: Iran Human Rights) PAKISTAN: Pakistani death sentences show blasphemy laws' threat The October death sentences for 3 Pakistani men demonstrate the threat of blasphemy laws in many countries to the life and liberty of Christians and other religious minorities. The judgments for the Pakistanis -- all members of the Ahmadi Muslim sect -- came 2 months after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a report that showed more than 1/3 of the world's countries have blasphemy laws. Most of the blasphemy laws in those 71 countries not only transgress international human rights standards but fail to fully protect freedom of expression and impose unduly severe punishments on violators, according to the report. Arrested in 2014, the 3 Ahmadis -- Mubasher Ahmad, Ghulam Ahmed and Ehsan Ahmed -- received the death penalty Oct. 11 in a court in the Punjab Province of eastern Pakistan. They were charged with violating the country's law against deliberately insulting Islam by tearing down a religious poster, according to a report by Voice of America (VOA). An Ahmadi spokesman said the poster was anti-Ahmadi, VOA reported. While Ahmadis describe themselves as Muslims, Pakistan -- with Islam as its state religion -- does not recognize them as such and prohibits some of their practices. Ahmadis differ from other Muslims in that they believe the Messiah has already come. Southern Baptist religious freedom advocate Russell Moore said the sentencing "is yet another reminder how imperiled religious liberty is throughout the world." "Conscience freedom is the most fundamental human right of all," said Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, "but for millions of people across the globe, including many of our brothers and sisters in Christ, such freedom is consistently and violently attacked." In written comments for Baptist Press, Moore said he prays the United States "will continue to take the lead in global advocacy for religious liberty. Most importantly, I pray that we as Christians would work and pray for conscience freedom for everyone and everywhere." USCIRF Chairman Daniel Mark said in a written statement, "In short, Ahmadis are required to renounce their faith in order to avail themselves of important civil rights in Pakistan." USCIRF -- a bipartisan panel selected by the president and congressional leaders -- "has consistently called on Pakistan to repeal such laws. They violate human rights standards and make the government the ultimate arbiter of religious doctrines or truths. This is quite simply wrong," Mark said. The situation for minority faith groups is growing worse, an expert on blasphemy laws told BP. "There is an escalation of pressure and charges of
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, ARK., MO., KAN., NEV., ARIZ., USA
Nov. 9 OHIOimpending execution Ill Ohio inmate asks US Supreme Court to halt execution A condemned Ohio killer who argues he is too ill to execute has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to delay his upcoming execution. Attorneys for death row inmate Alva Campbell say his breathing problems and poor veins will create a spectacle when lethal injection is attempted. They also argue he was regularly beaten, sexually abused and tortured as a child. Attorneys late last week asked the high court to stop Campbell's Nov. 15 execution. The state was expected to oppose the request. Court documents indicate Ohio's prisons system may provide a wedge-shaped pillow to elevate Campbell and facilitate his breathing during the execution. Prosecutors said Campbell's health claims are ironic given he faked paralysis to escape court custody the day he killed 18-year-old Charles Dials in 1997. (source: Associated Press) ** Jury declines death penalty option in Howland capital murder trialThe jury has returned for its verdict in the Nasser Hamad case after deliberating for over 10 hours After deliberating for over 10 hours to decide the fate of convicted killer Nasser Hamad, the jury declined the death penalty option in a Howland capital murder case. The jury suggested a life sentence with parole eligibility after 30 years. Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Rice will have the ultimate say in sentencing. He'll make his decision at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Because the jury didn't recommend death, Judge Rice cannot impose a death sentence. He will be asked by the prosecution for 2 consecutive 30-year-to-life sentences, however, because Hamad was convicted of 2 murder charges. Jurors were sequestered just before 9:30 p.m.Tuesday night and returned to the courtroom Wednesday around 10 a.m. to give their decision. Hamad was convicted last week of 2 counts of aggravated murder and 6 counts of attempted aggravated murder with firearm specifications. The jury deliberated less than 2 hours to decide his guilt. Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Becker took his last moments in front of the jury Tuesday to remind them that Hamad attempted to kill 5 people and was successful in taking the lives of 2. Prosecutors reiterated that the death penalty was appropriate in this case. "The state position is that it is not even close. It just isn't and that leaves you no other choice under the law but to go back to the jury room and find the death sentence appropriate," said Trumbull County Assistance Prosecutor Mike Burnett. Hamad's attorney told the jury that this was their opportunity to show mercy. He also reminded jurors of testimony depicting Hamad as a good father, a hard worker and that he suffered from PTSD. Hamad was convicted in the shooting deaths of 19-year-old Josh Haber and 20-year-old Josh Williams outside his Route 46 home in Howland. 43-year-old April Trent, 20-year-old Bryce Hendrickson and 17-year-old John Shively were injured in the shooting. Hendrickson died later from unrelated causes. Hamad had maintained that he was acting in self-defense, and the group that came to his house that day had been harassing him and making threats in an ongoing dispute on social media and among other family members. (source: WKBN news) ARKANSAS: Arkansas got execution drug made by resistant manufacturer 1 of the 3 drugs Arkansas planned to use in a lethal injection this week was made by a New York company that says it won't sell its products if it fears they'll be used in executions, court documents released Wednesday show. A package insert and drug label for the state's supply of midazolam released by the state in Pulaski County Circuit Court identifies Athenex as the maker of the drug, 1 of 3 used in Arkansas' lethal injection process. The insert was included as part of an affidavit filed by state Correction Department officials. The affidavit was filed the day after Pulaski County Circuit Judge Mackie Pierce ordered the Department of Correction to release a copy of the insert to Steven Shults, an attorney who had sued the state for the document. The Arkansas Supreme Court last week ruled that a state law keeping the source of Arkansas' execution drugs secret applied to suppliers and sellers, but not drug manufacturers. Pierce ruled Wednesday that other information on the drug label that could be used to identify the drug's seller can be withheld. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but said in a statement posted on its website Wednesday that it "does not want any of our products used in capital punishment." "Athenex does not accept orders from correctional facilities and prison systems for products believed to be part of certain states' lethal injection protocols," the company said in the statement. "Further, Athenex distributors and wholesalers have agreements with
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, N.H., PENN., GA., FLA.
Nov. 9 TEXASexecution Texas execution of Mexican man draws fire from Mexico's president A Mexican citizen on death row in Texas was executed Wednesday night for the slaying of his 16-year-old cousin who was abducted from her family's apartment and fatally beaten. Ruben Ramirez Cardenas, 47, was given a lethal injection after several federal court appeals failed to halt his punishment for the February 1997 killing of Mayra Laguna. Asked by the warden to make a final statement, he replied, "No, sir." As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began, he took a couple of breaths and then began snoring. After less than a minute, all movement stopped. 21 minutes later, at 10:26 p.m. CST, he was pronounced dead, making him the 7th convicted killer put to death this year in Texas, which carries out capital punishment more than any other state. Shortly after the execution, Mexican President Enrique Nieto tweeted, "I express my firm condemnation of the execution of the Mexican Ruben Cardenas Ramirez in Texas, which violates the decision of the International Court of Justice. My deepest condolences to the mourners." Cardenas' attorney, Maurie Levin, contended eyewitness testimony against Cardenas was shaky, that little physical evidence tied him to the killing and that a confession he gave was obtained after 22 hours of isolation and intense police questioning. She also said that authorities acted improperly when not telling the Mexican-born Cardenas that he could get legal help from the Mexican consulate. Being born in Mexico, which does not have capital punishment, made Cardenas eligible for legal help from the Mexican consulate when he was arrested, according to provisions of the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations, which is a 1963 international agreement. The courts have allowed executions to move forward in several previous Texas death row cases in which the agreement was said to have been violated. "For the Mexican government, capital punishment constitutes one of the most essential violations of human rights," Jacob Prado Gonzalez, the Mexican government's general director for consular protection, said. Cardenas grew up in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. In a handwritten statement released afterward, Cardenas thanked his family, attorneys and the Mexican consulate for their help. "Now! I will not and cannot apologize for someone elses crime, but, I will be Back for Justice," he wrote. "You can count on that!" His punishment was delayed for about 4 hours as last-ditch appeals for the former security guard focused primarily on efforts to have trial evidence undergo new DNA testing. In a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court hours before his execution, lawyers argued Texas was violating Cardenas' due process rights and a state statute that covers forensic testing. They asked the justices to halt the execution for a court review. They also asked the justices for more time to appeal a lower court's rejection of a federal civil rights lawsuit in which they claimed his due process and civil rights were being violated because Texas officials wouldn't release evidence so it can undergo new DNA testing. Attorneys for the state said the lawsuit was improper and that state courts already refused the DNA request because Cardenas could not show that more advanced tests would exonerate him. DNA results in evidence at Cardenas' trial were not false, state attorneys said. The high court, without comment, rejected both appeals. Earlier this week, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, rejected a similar appeal seeking DNA tests. Cardenas' attorneys argued the new testing would be better than the now-obsolete testing that left "persistent doubts about his guilt and the integrity of his conviction." Laguna was snatched from a bedroom she shared with a younger sister at her family's public housing apartment in McAllen in South Texas. In a confession to police, Cardenas said he and a friend drove around with the high school student in his mother's car. He said he had sex with the teen and then punched her as she fought him after he unbound her arms to let her go. "I didn't plan on doing this, but I was high on cocaine," he told authorities. He said after he hit the teen in the neck, she began coughing up blood and having difficulty breathing. After trying unsuccessfully to revive her, he said he tied her up "and rolled her down a canal bank." Her body was found in a canal near a lake in the Rio Grande Valley in far South Texas. Laguna's sister, Roxana Jones, said she had waited 21 years for justice to be served. "Words can't begin describe the relief it feels to know that there is true peace after so much pain and sorrow," she said in a statement released by prison officials. "Mayra can be remembered as loving, caring, funny and dimples when she smiled. She will continue to watch over family and
