MAURITANIA: Young Muslim faces death penalty for criticising Mohammed

A young Muslim in Mauritania is facing a possible death sentence after being convicted of apostasy and jailed for having written an article criticising the Prophet Mohammed, a judicial source said Monday.

He was arrested on Thursday in Nouadhibou in the northwest of the country, an Islamic republic, and "was convicted of lack of respect for the prophet," and jailed, the source told AFP.

The author of the article will be brought before a judge and given the chance to repent but if he refuses, "he risks the death penalty," the source added.

In the article, which was published on several Mauritanian websites but later removed, he questioned the decisions taken by Islam's prophet and his companions during the holy wars.

He also accused Mauritanian society of perpetuating "a sinful social order" and defended those at the bottom rungs of society who he described as "marginalised and discriminated against from birth."

It marked the 1st time an article criticising Islam and the prophet had been published in Mauritania, where Sharia law is enforced - although severe punishments like death sentences have not been applied since the 1980s.

Source: PM News Nigeria, January 6, 2014

IRAN 2013: 660 executions, 2/3 under Hassan Rouhani

In 2013, subsistence of Velayat-e faqih regime continued on gallows, group executions in prisons and city streets throughout the country, and torture and tormenting to death of the political prisoners. 

The ruling mullahs employed at least 60 suppressive organs, including the revolutionary guards, the anti-popular Basij force, plainclothes, variety of intelligence organs to suppressive institutions such as district police, dormitory police, intangible police, metro police, women's police, etc., and not one day went by without suppression and slaughter.

Some angles of this all encompassing suppression may be recounted as follows:

A. Executions

1. Since the beginning of 2013 till December 31, execution of at least 660 prisoners was registered in Iran with 430 of them executed after the June 14 election show. This is while news on many executions never finds its way out of the prisons. 25 of those executed were women. Public execution of 2 young men of 20 and 23 years old for stealing the equivalent of 35 Euros, execution of 3 youngsters who were 12, 15 and 17 years old at the time of their arrests, hanging a bleeding 28 year old who a few hours prior to his execution had committed suicide, hanging the body of a 23 year old in Zahedan who had already died a few hours back of a heart attack, hanging of Ms. Geitei Marami, 34, whose body was bleeding due to 100 lashes she received prior to her execution, emphasizing on the execution of a wretched prisoner who had come alive after his execution in the mortuary, are but a minute segment of mullahs' regime record replete with crimes in 2013. On December 11, head of regime's judiciary system Mullah Sadeq Larijani called reports by international bodies on degrading condition of human rights in Iran as fabricated and prejudiced and said: "Opposing the death sentence is opposing Islam's orders."

Public hanging in Tehran

2. Meanwhile thousands of prisoners throughout the country are on the death row. As an example, just in Ghezel Hessar prison, there are 3000 prisoners who are sentenced to death. To facilitate group executions, the clerical regime has put up 3 platforms each capable of concurrently hanging 12 people. In protest to these executions, it is now 2 months that a number of political prisoners who are sentenced to death have gone on a hunger strike in Ghezel Hessar. In the last weeks of 2013, several thousand other prisoners went on a 10-day hunger strike.

3. Staging horrific public group executions to intensify atmosphere of terror and fright in the society increased in 2013. Cities such as Noshahr, Babol, Ghemshahr, Tonkabon, Shiraz, Jahrom, Fasa, Ahvaz, Dehdasht, Hendijan, Shahrkord, Ilam and Karaj were witness to these horrific scenes. State-run media published horrific pictures of these executions to deepen the atmosphere of terror and fright. On many occasions, including in Lakan prison in Rasht, prisoners are forced by henchmen to participate in the dreadful scenes of hanging of their co-inmates or friends and those who refuse to participate in this anti-human action are sent to solitary confinement. 

B. Execution of political prisoners

4. Execution of political prisoners, especially the ethnic and religious minorities, showed an increase last year. On October 26, 16 Baluchi political prisoners were collectively hanged in Zahedan prison. Regime officials confessed that these people who had been in prison for a long time, were executed in revenge for a number of revolutionary guards killed in Saravan. On that same day, another Baluchi political prisoner in the prison in Hamedan, and 2 Kurdish political prisoners Habibollah Golparipour, 29, and Reza Esmaeili (Mamedi), 34, in the central prison of Urumia and Salmasrespectively, were hanged. On the next day, a Baluchi political prisoner was executed in Barsilon prison in Khorramabad. On November 3, 4 Arab prisoners from Shadegan were executed. On November 4, Shirkoo Ma'arefi, a Kurdish political prisoner was executed in city of Saghez. There is no news on a number of political prisoners who in recent months have been transferred from their cells to unknown locations. Meanwhile, execution of political prisoners as ordinary or narcotic trafficking prisoners is a known routine in the mullahs' regime. Apprehensive of social tumult, regime has refrained from handing over bodies of political prisoners to their families and secretly buried them.

C. Murder, secretly killing, and tormenting to death of prisoners

5. A number of prisoners lost their lives under torture or were secretly disposed of by employing various methods. Amir Moussai was killed under torture in Borazjan prison on February 1. On June 24, Alireza Shahbakhsh, a Baluchi prisoner, after spending 7 years in prison and following his vindication in regime's court, suspiciously lost his life in ward one of Zahedan prison only 1 day before he was to be released. On June 20, Afshin Ossanlou, a 42 year old labor activist, suspiciously and suddenly died in hall 12 of ward 4 of Gohardasht prison. He too had only a few months remaining from his 5-year prison term. On October 24, body of Ali Marashi from Ahvaz was handed over to his family with broken rib and skull.

6. This year, a number of prisoners lost their lives due to lack of medical treatment. In the early days of the year, Abdolrahman Rahnavard, 30, was transferred from Roudan prison in Hormozgan province to Bandar Abbas central prison for medical treatment; however, head of the prison prevented his hospitalization that led to his death. On July 15, Ahmad Bajlani, 44, and suffering from hepatitis and tuberculosis, lost his life in this same prison after tolerating 1 week of excruciating pain, in absence of least medical treatment. Political prisoner Alireza Karami, an employee of Oil Company, who had acute heart problem, lost his life on April 6 because of lack of medical treatment. During his 16 years in prison due to terrible conditions of regime's dungeons, and suffering most severe tortures, he had many diseases.

7. Condition of a great number of prisoners has deteriorated because they were deprived of medical services. In reply to protests from prisoners who are supporters of PMOI and many of them are political prisoners of the 1980s who suffer from many ailments due to many years and prison and the tortures they have endured, henchmen say: "You are Monafeq. The sentence for all of you is death."

4 members of Daneshpour Moghaddam family are in critical condition. Mohsen Daneshpour Moghadam, 72, is suffering from acute cardiac and digestive system ailments and his 41 year old son Ahmad has acute digestive system malady. Both Mohsen and Ahmad Daneshpour are condemned to death. Ms. Motahareh Bahrami, 62, suffers of acute disc prolapse and Ms. Rayhaneh Haj Ebrahim Dabbagh has severe pain in the leg and back plus acute problem of the digestive system.

Ms. Sedigeh Moradi has neck disc prolapse; Ali Moezi, 63, has cancer and severe renal problem; Mashallah Haeri, 62, has acute cardiac problem with a record of several cardiac arrests in prison as well as respiratory problems and brain hemorrhage; Mohammad Banazadeh Amirkhizi, 67, suffers from acute pain in his bones and recently experienced a cardiac arrest; Saleh Kohandel, has acute blood problem; Meisaq Yazdan Nejad, a 27 year old student, is in critical condition due to tortures and prison conditions. Ali Asghar Mahmoudian, has been sent to exile to Semnan prison and is held in the ward for ordinary dangerous prisoners that was previously a stable and has various ailments due to terrible hygienic conditions. Gholamreza Khossravi has acute pain of the vertebra, Dr. Asghar Qatan, 60, has numerous ailments such as hypertension, severe diabetics, high cholesterol, has lost vision of one eye, and suffered a cardiac arrest last month. Mohammad Saemi, 64, is suffering from various diseases, including cardiac and renal problems, arthritis, disc prolapse, and damage to the ear drum. Saeid Massouri is suffering from all kinds of diseases, including acute problem with his digestive system. Assadollah Hadi, Mohammad Davari and Mohammadali Mansouri are amongst prisoners who are in critical condition because they are deprived of medical care.

Zaniar Moradi, a Kurdish prisoner on death row, is suffering from acute disc prolapsed, Khaled Hardani, has severe heart problem, Mehdi Sajedifar, 35, has cancer of esophagus, Mohammadreza Pourshajari (Siamak Mehr) is suffering from diabetics and heart problem, Reza Shahabi, needs surgery on his neck vertebra, but he has not been allowed to have this operation. Mohammad Sediq Kaboudvand, is suffering of various diseases, but officials do not allow him to receive medical treatment outside the prison. Kayvan Samimi, a journalist,is being kept in prison despite his old age and various ailments, including arthritis of knees and back. Salaheddin Moradi, from Gonabadi Darvishes, suffers from renal pain and internal bleeding; Kassra Nouri has acute disc prolapsed; Mostafa Daneshjou, lawyer of Daravish has respiratory problems. Mohammad Saifzadeh, 66 year old lawyer, has had a brain stroke. He has numbness of hand and foot, back and neck disc prolapse, and severe chest pains. Hassan Fatali Ashtiyani, Abdolfattah Soltani, Hamidreza Moradi, Ali Saedi, Iraj Mohammadi, Ayatollah Kazemi Boroujerdi, Argjang Davoudi, Shahram and Farhang Pourmansouri, Ebrahim Babadi, Nameq Mahmoudi, Adel Naimi, Mehdi Khodaii, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, Assadollah Assadi and Farhad Rouhi Arash Sharifi and Mohammad Nazariare some of the other patients that their ailments have intensified due to deprivation of medical treatment.

8. Meanwhile, along with the rocket attacks and massacre of PMOI members in Ashraf and Camp Liberty, arbitrary arrests and increasing pressure on PMOI supporters and their families continued on a larger scale in 2013, especially during the months before the election. Some of these people are still in prisons. On January 13, Mr. Reza AkbariMonfared and his son Ali were apprehended. His sister, Maryam Akbari Monfared, mother of 3 small children, has been imprisoned for the last 3 years on the mullahs' invented charge of Moharebeh. 4 of the brothers and sisters of Mr. Akbari have been executed by the clerical regime. Mr. Hassan Sadeqi, his wife Fatema Mossanawere arrested on charge of making arrangements for holding memorial ceremony for Gholamhossein Sadeqi, a PMOI member in Camp Liberty,Baghdad who died of a heart attack because he was deprived of medical treatment.

9. Arbitrary arrest of prisoners and their conditional release on heavy bails is one of the methods used by the regime to impose pressure on political prisoners and their families.

D. Harsh prison conditions

Public Execution in Iran

10. As confessed by regime's head of prisons organization, the official capacity of Ghezel Hessar prison is 5000, but right now there are over 22000 prisoners piled up there. Prisoners even lack enough space to sit. They rest in turns and are even compelled to use the space inside restrooms to rest. Sanitary conditions are deplorable, water is contaminated, and lack of minimum facilities to bathe has given rise to dermal and epidemic diseases among inmates. Prison's infirmary is void of minimum medical equipment and facilities; moreover, prison' henchmen deprive prisoners that most of them are suffering of various ailments from access to specialist physicians and medical services. The very limited food ration causes malnutrition and lack of heating devices in the cold season adds to prison's catastrophic conditions.

11. Bandar Abbas prison can contain 400 prisoners, but it is now keeping 4000 prisoners that 300 of them are condemned to death. Prisoners are deprived of the least medical attention in this prison. The only medicine in this prison are Methadone and Hallucinatory pills despite outbreak of hepatitis, nothing is done to contain this disease and even medical treatment is withheld. Instead of isolating prisoners with hepatitis, prison guards intentionally distribute them in other wards. Breathing is difficult in the cells of this prison, especially during the hot season. Water is repugnant, contaminated and has a bad taste. Prison's market sells expired-date food to prisoners at very high prices. Wards contaminated with sewage, with a repugnant smell, and thrive of insidious insects are part of the catastrophic condition of this medieval prison. Mullahs' regime sends political prisoners on exile to this prison and compels them to spend their sentence amongst ordinary prisoners. The condition of solitary cells in this prison is even deadlier. The cells are so small that one cannot rest. Prisoner is kept in these cells of cement floor and wall without any blanket or floor covering. There is no natural light in these cells, food is just enough to keep the prisoner alive, and there is no sign of hygiene provisions or medical services.

12. Qerchak prison in Varaminthat is known to people as the 2nd Kahrizak, is a women's prison. To place added pressure on female political prisoners, mullahs' regime exiles them to this prison. This prison is composed of 7 buildings to house 2000 prisoners and dozens of children who are under 2 years old. These buildings are very old and they have the appearance of a rudimentary storage. Gangs within the prison freely distribute drugs to addicted prisoners. Lacking a sewage system, toilets are constantly contaminated. Water in this prison is contaminated as well and the food ration is adequate just for subsistence.

13. In Isfahan's Dastgerd prison with a capacity of 4000, over 10000 prisoners are dumped. Because of scarcity of space, the corridors leading to toilets are full of prisoners.

14. In Mashhad's Vakilabad prison over 25000 prisoners are held. The number of prisoners condemned to death in this prison is reported to be over 4000. On many occasions during 2013, regime has secretly hanged prisoners in large groups.

15. Broadcasting noise in Gohardasht is yet another method to torture political prisoners in this prison. This anti-human measure that is also cancerous has seriously endangered the health of prisoners and they have dryness of mucus, muscular pains, severe headaches, blurred vision, nausea and continuous numbness. Prisoners staged a strike to protest this anti-human measure.

E. Medieval punishments

Shiraz  public amputation,  January 24, 2013

16. Barbaric punishments such as stoning, amputations, blinding, cutting off the ear... help complete the cycle of atrocity and terror in mullahs' regime. In the past year, 4 stoning sentences, including 2 women in city of Tabriz, gouging out of the eye and cutting off the ear of an imprisoned worker in Tehran, and cutting off the hand of 8 prisoners in Shiraz, Sari and Abadanwere issued. Assadollah Jafari, regime's deputy of the judiciary, called "carrying out amputation of hand and foot as one of the honors of [mullahs'] judiciary system" (regime's news agencies - 30 January 2013). Public prosecutor of Shiraz said that amputation of hand is a "serious warning" to all those that "create insecurity". And regime's Guardian Council once again reiterated on punishment of stoning in mullahs' "new penal code" of 2013 (Spokesman for Majlis Judiciary Commission - 21 January 2013).

F. Murdering people, especially in border areas

17. While thieves and smugglers with their several billion dollar embezzlements are holding the highest state offices, suppressive forces, on a daily basis and on various pretexts, shot and killed, plundered the property, set fire on vehicles, or killed porter animals of the defenseless and deprived citizens and petty businessmen who are working in border areas or port cities such as Bandar Abbas to support their families' livelihood.

G. Arbitrary detentions

18. Arbitrary and blind arrests were conducted in different cities under pretext of suppressive projects such as "increasing social security". In Sanadaj alone, in just 4 days, 193 people were arrested. In Tehran, just on December 15, the arrestees numbered 123. In Bandar Abbas dozens were arrested in nightly assaults on the houses where young people lived.

19. Humiliating and insulting the arrestees, especially the young, by putting women's dress on them and taking them around in city streets met wide abhorrence on part of the Iranian people.

20. In the universities, suppressive measures aimed at thwarting eruption of student protests continued. Through issuing hundreds of suspension sentences, the regime deprived students on various pretexts from their right to education or sent them to its medieval prisons after least protests or student activities. Karamatollah Zaerian, a 27 year old student in Tehran University, was arrested 3 times and after his sudden disappearance was suspiciously found dead. Nonetheless, students shouted their rage and abhorrence of this anti-human regime on different occasions with slogans such as "death to dictator" or "student dies, but refuses to be humiliated" and on many occasions they disrupted speeches by regime's elements.

21. Imposing pressure and prejudice against women which has become institutionalized continued in 2013 on various arenas. Suppressive patrols, using the mullahs' fabricated excuse of "mal-veiling" harassed women especially during the summer. In order to broaden suppression of women, the clerical regime presented "national plan for veiling special to the schools" for children and girl students. Firouzabadi, Commander in Chief of regime's Armed Forces, said: to preserve "veiling and sanctity" elements of the security forces and mullahs' judiciary system ought to "confront" women. He added: "If mal-veiling and unchastity... are used to mar the revolution then they become a security matter and security organs ought to confront them." (Tasnim news agency, affiliated with IRGC - 22 November 2013)

H. Suppression of followers of religions

22. In 2013, the clerical regime added new dimension to the arrest and oppression of pastors and Christians. A number of them were arrested in Tehran, Fars, Isfahan and Azerbaijan on charges of "acting against the national security" or "evangelizing and propaganda in favor of Christianity" and participation in religious rituals. Apprehension of priest Robert Asserian, a leader of Assemblies of God Church of Iran in Tehran who was later released because of international pressures; condemnation of pastor Verveer Avanessian to 3.5 years in prison and pastor Saeid Abedini to 8 years in prison; condemning 4 Christian compatriots who were arrested in a church-house to 80 lashes in November; imposing pressure on a number of Armenian pastors to end their activities or to leave the country; closing down of many church-houses plus the principal church of Armenians in Taleghani Street in Tehran is but part of regime's crimes against Christians. In a suppressive measure on December 15, as Christmas was nearing, entry of Farsi-speaking members of the Saint Petrous Churchin Tehran to this church was barred and conducting sermons and religious rituals in Persian was declared prohibited.

23. Imposing pressures and apprehension of Zoroastrians, Gonabadi Darvishes, and followers of Yarsan faith continued. In February, 7 lawyers of and Daravish prisoners in ward 350 of Evin prison refused to attend regime's court. Subsequently, they were tortured and transferred to solitary confinement in ward 209. 2 of the Daravish prisoners in Adelabad prison in Shiraz staged a hunger strike for 90 days in protest to suppressive measures against Daravish and their lawyers. Suppressive and insulting steps against Daravish of Yarsan met a wave of protest from these compatriots.

24. The clerical regime continued imposition of pressures on and apprehension of Baha'is last year. On August 24, AtaollahRezvani, a 52 year old merchant, was finally assassinated in Bandar Abbas after he was numerously threatened by the intelligence ministry and the Office of Friday prayer Imam of the city to stop selling water pumps. In Semnan prison's women's ward, a number of Baha'i women are living in harsh conditions beside ordinary criminals. 3 of these women have their infants with them. On December 12, suppressive elements destroyed Baha'is cemetery in Sanandaj. This is the 3rd Baha'i cemetery that is being destroyed by mullahs.

I. Suppression of freedom of expression

Destroying TV satellite dishes

25. Reporters without Borders reported on December 18: Iran is 1 of the 5 large prisons for reporters in the world. The number of Iranian reporters imprisoned in Iran until the June sham elections was 71. This organization announced that since Rouhani's election, 42 more reporters or journalists have been arrested and 12 publications had to cease their activities.

26. Unable to confront the popularity of prohibited televisions, in particular Simaye Azadi (INTV) that is a dependable source for accessing information and news, the clerical regime acts with severity to limit access of people to satellite channels. Mullah Mohammad Saeidi, Qom's Friday prayer Imam, said on September 25: "Today, through a cultural assault, the enemy is targeting the core of our homes and our families." Hossein Zolfaqari, commander of border patrols of regime's security forces, reported of a 99% increase in discovery of satellite equipment (ISNA state news agency - September 26). In a suppressive act on September 26, the revolutionary guards crushed 800 satellite "antennas and receivers" under the wheels of armored personnel carriers. The regime called this act "an act of value to confront the cultural assault of enemies of revolution and the system:. In a span of 6 months in Hamedan, 32000 satellite dishes were gathered (Mehr news agency, affiliated with the Intelligence Ministry - 8 October 2013). Moreover, 5000 satellite receivers were confiscated in Bandar Abbas customs (state media - December 13).

J. Rigorous suppression of cyber space

26. In 2013, the clerical regime increased the extent of suppression of cyber space netizens. Filtering, control of the internet and sites and emails of netizens was implemented using at least 12 organs of spying and suppression. In the first weeks of 2013, in order to intensify suppression of internet, by orders from Khamenei, a new organ called "Base for Soft War" was formed in the headquarters of the armed forces. Mohammad Ali Assoudi, cultural and propaganda deputy of IRGC, said: "20000 forces of the revolutionary guards are active in different cultural areas to confront the Soft War." He added that this measure "was taken to implement commands by the supreme leader regarding confronting soft war" (Bahar state-run newspaper - 2 January 2013).

Just in the last week of July, the security forces closed down and sealed 67 coffee nets in the greater Tehran and issued warnings to more. Sajedinia, Commander of security forces in greater Tehran, stressed that offenders "would be punished without tolerance" (ISNA news agency -July 27). Previously, secretariat of regime's Supreme Council of Cyber Space had called "getting around filtering to access social networks in the internet a crime".

Access to cyber space is solely possible through IPs registered by communications company that belongs to IRGC. The suppressive FTA (Iran's space for creation and exchange of information) Police of internet conditioned any use of the internet to presenting one's national code and password. For owners of coffee nets various restrictions and prohibitions were imposed that led to closing down of a large number of coffee nets in different cities because these restrictions were not observed.

Similarly last year, a number of compatriots were arrested and tortured and underwent all kinds of pressures simply for writing articles in the internet. The arrest of 8 bloggers, including a woman in Rafsanjan, on charge of "insulting the sanctities" of the system, are among these arrests (20 November 2013).

27. This year, music studios were closed down under the pretext of "prohibited recording" and some members of musical groups were arrested on charge of "un-cultural underground activities, including production of forbidden songs and music".

What was covered in this report was but a small portion of the dreadful condition that the Iranian people are living in day in and day out. Infants are raised in death camps for sins their mothers never committed, elderly fathers and mothers are taken hostage on mullahs' fabricated-charges brought against their children and are deprived of the most rudimentary rights in regime's dungeons, and the Iranian youth and women are condemned to gradual death in torture centers and safe houses.

660 registered executions in 2013, with 2/3 during Rouhani's office, vividly shows that fanning the mirage of moderation in this regime is solely a means to deceive the international community and justify deals with and appeasement of the henchmen ruling Iran. Therefore, once again, the Iranian Resistance calls for referral of the dossier of barbaric and systematic violation of human rights in Iran to the UN Security Council and for leaders of this regime to be brought to justice. Moreover, it underscores that any continuation or expansion of economic and political relations with the mullahs should have as requisite improvement of human rights situation in Iran.

Source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, January 4, 2014

Saudi blogger may face death penalty for apostasy

Saudi blogger and activist, Raif Badawi, currently serving his 7-year prison term for “insulting Islam”, may soon appear in a higher court on graver charges of apostasy. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to death.

Raif Badawi is the founder of the Free Saudi Liberals website, created in 2008 to discuss the role of religion in Saudi Arabia freely. Badawi’s persecution for what was described as “insulting Islam” started the same year the site was set up. The blogger then fled the country to escape arrest. He returned when the charges against him were dropped, but was eventually jailed in June 2012.

In July this year, a criminal court in Jeddah found the man guilty of insulting Islam through his online forum and of violating Saudi Arabia’s anti-cybercrime law. Badawi was sentenced to 600 lashes and 7 years in prison.

Badawi’s possible retrial is the latest episode in the country’s crackdown on dissent. Four members of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) were jailed in 2013. In the most recent case in December, 24-year-old Omar al-Saed was sentenced to four years in prison and 300 lashes after calling for political reform.

Click here to read the full article

Source: RT.com, December 26, 2013

Jodi Arias Trial Update: Media Blackout Granted For Sentencing Retrial

Arizona Death Chamber

Jodi Arias' sentencing retrial will occur in virtual privacy, as the presiding judge has ruled in favor of a media blackout.

Cameras are not permitted into the courtroom as Arias' fate is once again put in the hands of a jury, declared Maricopa County Judge Sherry Stephens. Those granted access into the arena, are forbidden from using Twitter to report on the proceedings in the instantaneous 140 characters or less posts. In fact, Stephens has banned media from carrying any and all electronic devices into the courtroom.

As could be expected, members of the media are outraged at what they see as a violation of constitutional rights. First Amendment attorney's are championing the cause of the media, claiming that Stephens is violating the constitution and has not ruled in the public interest.

Arias' murder trial, which ended in May, was aired on TV from the beginning to the end. The proceedings were dissected on news shows, in the papers and online. Live updates on the trial were available everywhere, with insiders tweeting breaking developments. Outside of the courtroom, Arias gladly took the opportunity to give exclusive interviews, sharing her version of the narrative.

In the end, Arias was found guilty of 1st-degree murder, forcing the jury to contemplate sentencing the 33-year-old convicted killer of Travis Alexander to the death penalty. Since the jurors were not in agreement, another jury must be composed to weigh Arias' fate.

Source: uinterview.com, December 4, 2013

China toddler death: Suspect trial begins

Han Lei said he did not realise that he had thrown a pram carrying an infant.

A Chinese man accused of throwing a toddler to the ground during a parking space row has been put on trial in Beijing, state media report.

Han Lei reportedly pulled the 2-year-old girl out of her pram and threw her to the ground after her mother refused to make way for his car.

The girl later died from her injuries. The incident, in July, sparked a public outcry.

Han Lei has been charged with intentional homicide.

The trial began on Monday morning at the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court, Chinese media said.

Han Lei also beat the mother during the altercation in Beijing's Daxing district, reports said.

Another man, Li Ming, who drove Han Lei away from the scene, is also being tried.

The prosecution said that Han Lei had acted violently and brutally over an argument, and recommended the death penalty, state broadcaster CCTV said.

According to quotes carried by CCTV, Han Lei told the court that he had mistaken the pram for a shopping cart, and thrown it in anger because he did not want to fight with the woman.

"I thought all along that it was a shopping cart, not a pram," he said. "I did not know there was an infant inside."

Microbloggers divided

The trial has generated intense discussion on China's microblogs, with searches for "Beijing toddler throwing case" ranking within the top 10 searches on Sina Weibo.

Opinion was split over the prosecutor's call for the death penalty. Many weibo users said that Han Lei should be executed.

Microblog user Asian Dragon Warrior wrote: "I support a death sentence, since we know of the principle of paying for killing with one's life... this is the only way to ensure people constrain their behaviour. One must think carefully before acting, and the law is more than a decoration, so offenders should be punished."

However, Sina Weibo user Manchester United Number 11 wrote: "Unsurprisingly, the Beijing toddler throwing trial has prompted widespread cries for the death penalty. Han Lei's crime cannot be forgiven, and he should be punished, however this should be determined by the law."

"Was Han Lei suffering a mental disorder, or is there a possibility it was a crime of passion? Is there any fault on the infant's mother's side in this case?" another weibo user wrote.

The trial has prompted many to reflect on Chinese society more generally. User Xiao Ge Bu Shuai Ao wrote: "The only way to stop this tragedy happening again is for everyone to respect each other more, with a little more tolerance, and seeing things from another's point of view more."

Source: BBC News, September 15, 2013

Iranian man Saeed Malekpour convicted for porn site escapes death

Saeed Malekpour

Malekpour faces life in prison after confession on Iranian TV

Tehran: The lawyer of a man convicted of building and promoting pornographic websites says a death sentence against his client has been converted to life imprisonment.

Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei is quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency, which is often used by the government to make announcements, as saying on Monday that blogger Saeed Malekpour will spend the rest of his life in jail.

Malekpour was arrested in 2008 and confessed on Iranian TV that he developed and promoted pornographic websites. He was found guilty in 2012 of spreading corruption and sentenced to death.

Tabatabaei said the Iranian-Canadian computer programmer has repented. Iranian media have called Malekpour the head of the biggest Persian-language network of pornographic websites.

Source: The Associated Press, August 26, 2013

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Iran: Inmate hanged in Ahwaz

Iran Human Rights, August 24: One prisoner was hanged in the prison of Ahwaz (southwestern Iran), reported the Iranian state media today.

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Source: Iran Human Rights, August 24, 2013

Saudi Arabia: Prison, lashes for liberal Saudi website founder; apostasy charges dropped

Riyadh: The founder of a liberal minded website in Saudi Arabic has been sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes after angering Islamic authorities in the country, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Raif Badawi, through his website known as Free Saudi Liberals, had urged Saudis to share opinions about the role of religion in the country, which follows a strict form of Islam that includes harsh punishments for challenging customs. A judge in the Red Sea port of Jiddah imposed the sentences but dropped charges of apostasy, which could have brought a death sentence, the Al Watan newspaper reported.

Badawi has been held since June 2012. The newspaper did not name the judge who sentenced Badawi, nor did it say when the ruling was handed down. It was unclear Tuesday whether Badawi would receive any credit for the time he’s already served.

Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, said Tuesday that the US was “deeply concerned” by the sentence given to Badawi. “We believe that when public speech is deemed offensive, be it via social media or any other means, the issue is best addressed through open dialogue and honest debate,” Psaki said.

Hard-line Saudi clerics have raised repeated objections to social media, including one prominent Islamic scholar describing Twitter as a path to hell. He later withdrew the comment.

Source: Agence France-Presse, July 31, 2013

U.S.: The Reasons Behind the Slow Pace of Executions

Opponents of the death penalty have hit upon an effective tactic: Learn who is making the lethal drugs used in executions and publicly shame them. Now, death penalty states are fighting to make the names of the drugs a state secret.

States that impose the death penalty have been facing a crisis in recent years: They are short on the drugs used in executions.

In California, which has the country's largest death row population, the chief justice of the state supreme court has said there are unlikely to be any executions for 3 years, in part due to the shortage of appropriate lethal drugs. As a result, state prosecutors are calling for a return of the gas chamber.

Ohio, which is 2nd only to Texas in the number of executions carried out since 2010, said it will run out of the drug it uses in executions, pentobarbital, on September 30. The state has 2 men scheduled for execution in November, and 8 more set to be killed after that. Every state's supply of pentobarbital, which has been the principal execution drug, expires at the end of November.

The shortage has forced death penalty states to scramble on two fronts: They are hunting for new suppliers or different drugs to use, and enacting changes to public records laws to keep the names of suppliers and manufacturers of those alternative drugs secret.

The lack of lethal drugs, and the fight over keeping new ones secret, are partly the result of a remarkably effective campaign by opponents of the death penalty, who have, in effect, taken their efforts from the court room to the boardroom.

Each time a state has found a new source for a drug to use in executions, Reprieve, an anti-death penalty organization based in London, in collaboration with death penalty lawyers in the United States, has used freedom of information laws, the local news media, and the powers of persuasion to compel the drug's manufacturer to cut off the supply.

"Who's easier to persuade? The Supreme Court or a corporation that has financial interests?" said Clive Stafford Smith, a British-American, who was a death penalty lawyer in the South for many years before founding Reprieve. "You can make it not worth their while to allow their drugs in executions."

The effectiveness of Reprieve's campaign might well be behind the action taken last year by the state of Texas, which leads the nation in executions.

When a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, Mike Ward, using the state's Public Information Act, sought information about the drugs used in executions, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice fiercely resisted.

Some death penalty states, looking to solve their drug supply problems in a more reliable way, switched drugs - opting for pentobarbital, an anesthetic commonly used in putting animals to sleep. In one legal filing, Patricia Fleming, the agency's assistant general counsel, said revealing the information about the drugs and who made them would invite "financial intimidation and negative publicity," as well as "intensive lobbying" and "unrestrained harassment." Referring to death penalty opponents, Fleming asserted that "essential to their strategy is knowledge of the private companies" that supply the drugs used in lethal injections.

The state attorney general ruled against her, and the department disclosed that it had enough pentobarbital at the time for 23 executions, Ward reported.

Death penalty states are now taking measures to keep anti-death penalty activists, and journalists, from learning the identity of suppliers. A Georgia law enacted in March provides that any information about a "person or entity that manufactures, supplies, compounds, or prescribes the drugs, medical supplies or medical equipment" used in an execution shall be considered a "confidential state secret." Already this year, at least 3 other states - Arkansas, South Dakota, and Tennessee - have amended their public records laws to exempt the names of suppliers from disclosure.

Lethal injection was first proposed as a method of execution in the 19th century by a New York doctor who argued it would be cheaper than hanging. It took 100 years or so for it to be used, but every state that set out to execute people eventually adopted it as the chosen method.

Generally, states have used a 3-drug protocol. The 1st was an anesthetic, sodium thiopental, intended to render the prisoner unconscious so that he or she does not experience the pain and suffering from the drugs to come. The 2nd drug, pancuronium bromide, paralyzes the diaphragm and lungs, making it impossible for the condemned to breathe. Finally, potassium chloride is injected, causing death by cardiac arrest.

In 2008, the Supreme Court, in Baze v. Rees, held that lethal injection did not run afoul of the Eighth Amendment proscription on "cruel and unusual punishment."

But the Court recognized care had to be taken in the killing, so that it wasn't unconstitutionally "cruel." The most critical drug, it emphasized, is the anesthetic.

"It is uncontested that, failing a proper dose of sodium thiopental that would render the prisoner unconscious, there is substantial, unconstitutionally unacceptable risk of suffocation from the administration of pancuronium bromide and pain from the injection of potassium chloride," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

The problems for death penalty states, and the opening for opponents of the death penalty arose when the only company that had governmental approval to make the anesthetic, Hospira, announced in 2011 that it was suspending production because of manufacturing problems at its plant in North Carolina.

Arizona, with 2 executions pending in late 2011, managed to find another source of sodium thiopental; but it didn't want the public to know what it was or where it came from.

When lawyers for Jeffrey Landrigan, one of the men facing death, sought the name of the supplier, Arizona's state attorney general refused to say. Ultimately, on the eve of Landrigan's execution, the attorney general disclosed that the drug had come from Britain. He did so, he said, to allay fears that the drugs had been made in a Third World country and might be contaminated and unsafe.

Tennessee also acknowledged that one of its execution drugs had been made in Britain but refused to divulge the company's name.

At Reprieve, Maya Foa, head of the lethal investigation project, searched through medical and pharmaceutical directories to identify British companies that made sodium thiopental.

Dream Pharma Office Entrance

The British company selling sodium thiopental to Arizona, Tennessee, and other states turned out to be a tiny wholesaler that operated out of the back of a driving school in a working class neighborhood in West London.

It was called Dream Pharma, and it was basically a 1-man operation. It also suddenly became more profitable, as states in America moved to improvise. Stafford Smith, Reprieve's director, wrote a letter to Dream Pharma.

"You have played a significant role and hold responsibility for the potential deaths of many people in the United States," he wrote.

Reprieve sent the letter, along with Dream Pharma's address and phone number, to journalists, and articles appeared in British newspapers and on the BBC. Dream Pharma shut down. The company has declined to comment on its battles with Reprieve or the sale of drugs to the U.S. for executions.

Reprieve then successfully lobbied the British government to ban exports of any drugs to the U.S. for executions. Capital punishment for murder was abolished in Britain in the early 1960s even though polls showed the public supported it.

With Hospira out of the business, states had become fairly desperate. That urgency was captured in government emails and documents obtained by death penalty defense lawyers.

"I have been given a task to obtain some Sodium Pentothal by any means available," the director of the pharmacy in the Nebraska department of corrections wrote to her counterparts in several states. "Does anyone know where I might start looking?"

Kayem Pharma in Mumbai, India

She eventually found a small wholesaler in Mumbai, India, which operated out of 2 rooms on the ground floor of an apartment building; it had no air conditioning, raising doubts about the safety and efficacy of any drugs stored there.

Reprieve again went to work, alerting local reporters and holding a news conference in Mumbai. Officials from India's food and drug administration raided the offices. The company was quickly out of business.

In California, prison officials turned to hospitals throughout the state in search of sodium thiopental, without success. The warden at San Quentin explored buying some in Pakistan.

In the end, Arizona officials solved California's problems, supplying 12 grams of sodium thiopental from its limited supply, a happy exchange according to government emails unearthed by death penalty opponents.

"You guys in AZ are life savers," a California corrections officer wrote to his Arizona counterpart. "Buy you a beer next time I get that way."

Some death penalty states, looking to solve their drug supply problems in a more reliable way, switched drugs - opting for pentobarbital, an anesthetic commonly used in putting animals to sleep. The 1st state to use it for an execution was Oklahoma, in December 2010, and it quickly became 1 of the execution drugs of choice.

This time, however, Reprieve was not up against a small entity. Only one company had government approval to sell pentobarbital in the U.S., and it was a major international pharmaceutical company, Lundbeck Inc. Headquartered in Denmark, it had some 6,000 employees worldwide; its American plant was in Kansas.

When Reprieve approached Lundbeck, in early 2011, the company said it was "adamantly opposed" to its drugs being used in executions - its primary use is in the treatment of epilepsy - but it said it had no control over what happened after its products were sold to wholesalers or distributors.

Reprieve ratcheted up the pressure. Every time Lundbeck's pentobarbital was used in an execution, it issued a press release.

Anti-death penalty activists campaigned against Lundbeck on Twitter and Facebook, shareholders raised questions at the company's annual meeting, a pension fund sold its shares, and the company's place on an annual ranking of Denmark's best companies fell from 17 to 40.

Lundbeck then did what it had said it couldn't do: It devised a distribution system that would keep its pentobarbital from the states that conducted executions.

In April, Hospira announced that it was putting controls in place so that 3 of its drugs - pancuronium bromide, potassium chloride, and propofol - would not be used in executions.

Once again, that has left states trying to figure out what to do. In Colorado, a man who killed three teenagers and their boss in a pizza restaurant in 1993 is set to be executed in August. But the state does not have the proper drugs, causing the director of prisons to send an urgent plea to the state's compounding pharmacies. At "compounding pharmacies," pharmacists mix, or compound, the ingredients for drugs on site.

Last October, South Dakota became the 1st state to use a compound drug in an execution, and it did so twice.

Lawyers for one of the men to be executed, Robert Moeller, who had kidnapped, raped, and murdered a 9-year-old girl, filed a lawsuit to obtain information about the supplying pharmacy. The state resisted, and a federal judge sided with the state.

South Dakota was among the states to recently pass a law exempting the names of suppliers of lethal injection drugs from its public records law. The change was necessary, said South Dakota State Senator Jean Hunhoff, "because there's been harassment that has occurred against non-protected manufacturers and pharmacists, thereby causing difficulty for the state in obtaining the necessary chemicals for the lethal injection."

South Dakota's law passed in the state senate without opposition, and the house by a lopsided 60-8.

Source: Pacific Standard Magazine, July 19, 2013

Minutes Before Six

Polunsky Unit, Texas

In Texas, the condemned are executed at six p.m. Hence minutes before six was the title chosen by Thomas Bartlett Whitaker, a denizen of Texas death row, for the online journal he initiated in 2007. “This site is about expression. . . living without masks . . . transparency,” Whitaker wrote. “This is also a site about faith in the worst of places, and about how hard it is sometimes to find that faith.”

As prisoners have no access to the Internet, his father typed and posted his entries, in hopes this work would help his son to heal. At the end of a year Whitaker wrote, “This has been the greatest growing experience of my life. I wouldn't change it for the world,” and “You are going to have a rather interesting (I hope) map of what a person goes through during the years preceding an execution. I hope this ends on a much higher plateau of maturity than where it began.” He ruminated, “Sometimes I think that the missing link between animals and a true human being is us.”

Minutes Before Six has expanded to include essays, poems, and artwork from writers in California, Washington, Virginia, and Florida, most, but not all, on death row. Although ironically the writers cannot read it online, the blog has become a writing community.

A series of essays supporting Proposition 34, a California ballot initiative to repeal the death penalty and replace it with the sentence of life without the possibility of parole, inspired three submissions from new writers on death row there.

Click here to read the full article

Source: Pen America, Bell Gale Chevigny, April 30, 2013

Visit 'Minutes Before Six'

Florida executes William Van Poyck

William Van Poyck

STARKE, Fla. — A man who orchestrated a prison van ambush in 1987 in an attempt to free a prisoner was put to death by lethal injection Wednesday night at the Florida State Prison.

The U.S. Supreme Court, through Justice Thomas, denied a last-ditch stay request.

William Van Poyck, 58, was executed at 7:24 p.m. for the murder of prison guard Fred Griffis. "Set me free," were his final words.

Van Poyck's execution was originally scheduled at 6:00 p.m. It was delayed untill 7:00 p.m. to allow Florida Governor Scott to return to the capital following a funeral in Illinois.

"He's finally free from those prison walls," Lisa Van Poyck, the inmate's sister, said as she stood among the protesters standing across the street from the building where her brother was executed.

Van Poyck's case garnered international attention because he published three books and maintained a blog while on death row.

Van Poyck and Frank Valdes ambushed a prison van outside a West Palm Beach doctor's office in a failed attempt to free James O'Brien. Griffis was fatally shot after he threw the van's keys into the bushes to foil the escape. Van Poyck and Valdes were captured following a car chase.

In his appeals, Van Poyck argued Valdes fired the fatal shots and if the jury had known that, he wouldn't have been sentenced to death. The Florida Supreme Court last week rejected Van Poyck's latest appeal involving Valdes' widow, who says her husband told her he was the shooter.

The justices noted Van Poyck planned the escape attempt and he and Valdes carried loaded weapons. Courts have rejected similar arguments in the past, including one from a former inmate who also said Valdes confessed to killing Griffis.

Van Poyck, Valdes and James O'Brien had served time together at various Florida state prisons for violent crimes.

In 1999, Valdes was stomped to death in prison. Seven guards were charged with his death, but none were convicted.

Following Valdes' death, Van Poyck was moved to Sussex State Prison in Virginia for his safety. That's where he wrote a 324-page autobiography, "A Checkered Past: A Memoir," saying his purpose was not to elicit sympathy but "to put a human face on me and convicts in general."

Van Poyck went on to write two novels. He won awards for his writing and had been keeping a blog since 2005 - he wrote letters to his sister Lisa Van Poyck and she posted them online.

"He is deeply remorseful for the ending of Fred Griffis' life," Lisa Van Poyck told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "He is guilty of a crime of trying to break somebody out of a prison transport van - he had no intention of hurting anyone."

"He's not the man that he was when this crime was committed," she said.

In his blog, Van Poyck wrote in recent entries that he has received dozens of letters a day regarding his pending execution.

"I am not unusual in wanting to believe, at the end of my line, that my life counted for something good, that I had some positive influence on someone, that my life made a difference, that I was able to at least partially atone for the many mistakes I made earlier in life," he wrote.

During interviews, the Griffis family said they were frustrated news stories constantly focused on Van Poyck, the crime and his writings and not their relative. They said  they didn't plan to attend the execution and would instead gather somewhere for quiet reflection about Fred Griffis' life.

"When he was murdered, it basically ripped a hole in the family's heart that's never really healed," said brother Ronald Griffis.

Van Poyck declined to eat a final meal. In addition to meeting with his sister and friends, he spent the day with his spiritual adviser, a Baptist minister.

Van Poyck becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Florida and the 77th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979. Only Texas (499), Virginia (110), and Oklahoma (103) have executed more inmates since the US Supreme Court re-legalized the death penalty in America on July 2, 1976.

Van Poyck becomes the 14th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1334th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. 

Death Row Diary

Poyck has spent nearly 26 years on death row in solitary confinement. He has written to his sister about his life in prison, and in recent years she has published his letters to a blog called Death Row Diary. In these letters, Poyck writes about everything from the novels and history books he is reading and shows he has watched on PBS to the state of the world and his own philosophy of life–punctuated by news of the deaths of those around him, from illness, suicide, and execution. He also comments on the bill recently passed by the Florida legislature that will accelerate the schedule of executions in Florida. The excerpts selected here focus on the inhumane treatment he and other individuals on death row endure as they move ever closer to their own finalities. His last entry was written on May 28, when he had “15 days left to live.” Click here to read the full article and further excerpts from Van Poyck's diary.

February 25, 2012

Robert Waterhouse was scheduled for execution at 6:00pm this evening. In accordance with the established execution protocol he was strapped to the gurney and the needles were inserted into each arm about 45 minutes prior to his appointed time. Just before 6:00, however, he received a 45-minute stay which morphed into an almost 3-hour endurance test as he remained on the gurney as the seconds, minutes and then hours slid by at an excruciatingly slow pace, waiting for someone to tell him if hope was at hand, if he would live or die. Just before 9:00 he received his answer, the plungers were depressed, the syringes emptied and he was summarily killed. Here on the row we can discern the approximate time of death when we see the old white Cadillac hearse trundle in through the back sally port gate to pick up the body, the same familiar 1960′s era hearse I’ve watched for almost 40 years, coming in to retrieve the bodies of murdered prisoners, which used to happen on a regular basis back when I was in open population.  I’ve seen a lot of guys, both friends and foes, carted off in that old hearse. Anyway, pause for a moment to imagine being on that gurney for over three hours, the needles in your arms.  You’ve already come to terms with your imminent death, you are reconciled with the reality that this is it, this is how you will die, that there will be no reprieve.  Then, at the last moment, a cruel trick, you’re given that slim hope, which you instinctively grasp.  Some court, somewhere, has given you a temporary stay.  You stare at the ceiling while the clock on the wall ticks away.  You are totally alone, not a friendly soul in sight, surrounded by grim-faced men who are determined to kill you.  Your heart pounds, your body feels electrified and every second seems like an eternity as a Kaleidoscope of wild thoughts crash around franticly in your compressed mind. After 3 hours you are drained, exhausted, terrorized, and then the phone on the wall rings and you’re told it’s time to die…

May 22, 2013

I have 21 days left to live. The fickleness, the arbitrariness, the fleeting nature of life itself is on display daily throughout our world but as good an example as any occurred here on Monday morning when, as I was being dressed out here on Q-Wing for a visit, a sudden radio call brought the wing officers rushing upstairs where they found a prisoner (non-death row) hanging in his cell. After 20+ years in prison this guy (Earl) had finally given in to the utter hopelessness that can seize the heart and spirit of any man mired forever in an American maximum security prison. The irony wasn’t lost on me that while 3 of us on death watch are fighting to live, this poor soul, living just 10 feet above us, stripped of all hope, had voluntarily surrendered his life rather than continue his dismal existence. When nothing but a lifetime of suffering lays ahead – with no hope, no promise, no opportunity to change your fate – the idea of utter annihilation can come to look appealing in contrast. When everything has been taken from you, the one thing you have left, that nobody can take away, is the decision to live or die. In that context choosing death can look like freedom…

Today my neighbor, Elmer, went on Phase II of death watch, which begins 7 days prior to execution. They remove all your property from your cell while an officer sits in front of your cell 24/7 recording everything you do. Staff also performs a “dry run” or “mock execution”, basically duplicating the procedures that will occur 7 days later. This is when you know you’re making the final turn off the back stretch, you know your death is imminent, easily within reach, you can count it by hours instead of by days. Right now I’m on deck; when Elmer goes I’ll be up to bat (that’s enough sports metaphors for now)…

May 28, 2013

Tomorrow Elmer will be executed and I’ll be next up to bat, with 15 days to live. A situation like this tends to make you reflect on the elusive nature of time itself, which some folks – physicists and metaphysicists alike – claim is an illusion anyway. Real or not it sure seems to be going someplace quickly!…

This may be my last letter to reach you before you begin your journey down south to be by my side for my final days. These many visits I’ve recently received from those who love me have been a blessing for me. I’m acutely aware that some guys on death watch have absolutely nobody to help them bear their burden during their last days and hours on earth, not a soul willing to share some love. It’s a terrible thing to die all alone…

I read in a recent newspaper article that the brother and sister of Fred Griffis, the victim in my case, are angry that I’m still alive and eager for my execution. These are understandable human feelings. I have a brother and sister myself and I cannot honestly say how I would deal with it if something happened to you or Jeff at the hands of another. I have thought of Fred many times over the years and grieved over his senseless death. I feel bad for Fred’s siblings though if seeing another human being die will truly give them pleasure. I suspect when I’m gone, if they search their hearts, they will grasp the emptiness of the closure promised by the revenge of capital punishment. There’s a lot of wisdom in the old saying “An eye for an eye soon makes the whole world blind.”…

Sources: AP, CounterPunch, Rick Halperin, June 12, 2013

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