Iran’s Commissioner of Human Rights Mohammad Javad Larijani says his office is making a concentrated effort to change capital punishment linked to drug charges, which would result in a considerable decline in executions in Iran. The Islamic Republic has been repeatedly criticized by international organizations and Western countries for the high number of executions in […]
Tag: death penalty
Rights group objects to young Iranian’s imminent execution
Amnesty International has expressed concern regarding the imminent execution of 22-year-old Rasoul Holoumi, who was convicted of murder five years ago in Iran. Amnesty International maintains that there are serious doubts about the fairness of the legal proceedings that led to his sentence. The sentence was issued by the Khuzestan Criminal Court in October […]
Activists object to hanging of chief fraud suspect
Prominent Iranian cultural and civil activists in Iran have issued a letter denouncing the hanging of Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, the prime suspect in the $3-billion fraud, as ordered by the Iranian judiciary. Babak Ahmadi, Simin Behbehani, Jafar Panahi, Alireza Jabbari, Fariborz Raisdana, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Asghar Farhadi, Nargess Mohammadi, Farideh Moradkhani, Esmail Moftizadeh, Mohammad Maleki […]
Victims’ families mercy saves more killers from death sentence
Two more people have escaped death by hanging with the consent of their victims’ families in recent days. The Etemad daily reports that in Tonkabon, a murder convict was pardoned at the gallows on the morning of Wednesday May 21, and the head of Neyshapour prisons announced that one of the prisoners was released […]
Thousands ask family of murder victim to show mercy
A large group of citizens of Ravansar in Kermanshah Province gathered at the grave of murder victim Omid Moradi to urge the victim’s family to consent to rescinding the death penalty against his convicted murderer. The Shargh daily reported on Sunday May 18 that last Thursday, scores of business owners, city council members, religious […]
Istanbul honours Iranian mother who spared son’s killer
Samereh Alinejad, an Iranian woman who pardoned her son’s murderer at the moment of his hanging, has been recognized as the Mother of Year in Istanbul. The Shargh daily reported on Sunday that Alinejad had arrived in front of the Noor City Court for the execution of her son’s murderer and at the last […]
Activists call for fair trials for Sunnis on death row
A group of Nationalist-Religious activists outside Iran have issued a statement calling for the death sentences of Sunni prisoners in Rejai Shahr, Qezel Hessar and Sanandaj Prisons to be rescinded. The statement calls for the withdrawal of the sentences and the processing of the charges against these prisoners in a fair trial. According to […]
Official confirms execution for bank fraud to proceed
Iran’s Chief Auditor Nasser Seraj announced that there is no truth to rumours that a death sentence issued in the so-called $3-billion fraud case will be withdrawn. Seraj, who acted as judge in the trial of Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, said: “A sentence that is issued and approved will no doubt be carried out.” IRNA […]
Amnesty International: Small number of countries trigger global spike in executions
Iran and Iraq caused a sharp global spike in the number of executions carried out in 2013, bucking the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty, Amnesty International found in its annual review of the death penalty worldwide. Alarming levels of executions in an isolated group of countries in 2013 – mainly the […]
Death sentence becomes life sentence for execution survivor
A condemned prisoner who survived his own hanging is now only sentenced to life imprisonment, according to the Northern Khorasan chief justice. ILNA reports that Norollah Ghodrati told a press conference: “An application for the prisoner’s pardon was received by the judiciary, and after close deliberation, his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment.” The […]