[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 25



PHILIPPINES/UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Philippine embassy offers aid to maid given death penalty in Al Ain



A maid in Al Ain who was given the death penalty for killing her Emirati 
employer will launch an appeal against her sentence with the help of the 
Philippine embassy, senior diplomats said yesterday.

Officials at Manila's Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine embassy 
in Abu Dhabi have identified the 28-year-old woman as Jennifer Dalquez, from 
General Santos City, in southern Philippines.

She claimed to have stabbed her employer in self defence because he attempted 
to rape her.

On May 20, Dalquez was sentenced to death by an Al Ain court for killing her 
employer on December 7 last year, said Grace Princesa, the Philippine 
ambassador to the UAE.

"We respect the judicial system of the UAE and have full faith in it," Ms 
Princesa said. "We are now waiting for a copy of the verdict, and will meet 
with the lawyer to decide the way forward."

Overseas Filipino workers who find themselves on the wrong side of the law are 
assisted through the Philippine government's legal assistance fund.

Priority is usually given to the payment of lawyers to represent those accused 
of serious crimes or who are facing the death penalty.

"The embassy has extended all necessary assistance to Dalquez, including hiring 
a lawyer," said Charles Jose, the spokesman for the Department of Foreign 
Affairs in Manila.

"They will assist her in appealing her sentence, and her family has been 
informed of these developments."

Ms Princesa, who met the mother-of-2 in prison last week, confirmed a lawyer 
was hired.

"She was arrested on December 12, 5 days after it happened," she said. "Since 
learning about her case, we've provided her a lawyer, while our embassy 
officials have visited her in jail and attended the court hearings."

Prosecutors allowed Ms Princesa to meet with Dalquez privately on May 19, apart 
from the diplomatic visits scheduled every Wednesday.

"The meeting lasted for more than an hour," Ms Princesa said. "She told me that 
she killed him in self defence. I hugged her and we prayed."

Speaking from General Santos City, Dalquez's mother, Rahima, told a local 
television network that her daughter stabbed the man using the same knife he 
pointed at her.

Dalquez has worked and lived in the UAE since 2011, and was due to return home 
in January.

She joins 88 other Filipino workers who are on death row in China, Malaysia, 
Saudi Arabia and other countries.

(source: The National)

******************

DFA to assist Pinay on Dubai death row



The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday said the Philippine Embassy 
in Dubai will be assisting a Filipina who had been meted the death penalty 
there in appealing her case.

Charles Jose, Foreign Affairs spokesman, confirmed in a text message that 
overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jennifer Dalquez has been sentenced to death by 
Dubai's Al Ain trial court for allegedly killing her employer on December 7, 
2014.

The sentence was handed down on May 20.

"The embassy has extended all necessary assistance to Dalquez, including hiring 
a lawyer. The embassy will assist [her in appealing] her sentence," Jose said.

He added that Dalquez's family has been informed of developments in her case.

She is the latest OFW to be sentenced to death.

The DFA earlier said there are 88 Filipinos on death row in various countries, 
most of them for drug trafficking, including Mary Jane Veloso, who had been 
lined up for execution in Indonesia last month.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, however, gave Veloso a temporary reprieve at 
the last minute.


(source: Manila Times)








INDIA:

ACHR report examines use of 'collective conscience' in death penalties The 
Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) has released a report specifically 
examining the manufacturing of 'conscience' to justify death sentence and the 
use of the 'conscience' in the judgements imposing death penalty which have 
already been declared as per incuriam by the Supreme Court. It also seeks to 
examine how 'conscience', which varies from judge to judge depending upon his 
attitudes and approaches, plays out as to decide whether an accused shall live 
or die.

It also highlights the inconsistency of the Indian judiciary while considering 
the factors and circumstances to determine between life and death in a capital 
punishment case.

The report states that the reliance on 'conscience' for imposition of death 
penalty is deeply flawed, fraught with malafides at every stage, and is often 
manufactured through scapegoating of the dispensable.

It further states that some crimes such as the ones against women and children 
are so gruesome and become politically significant in the light of massive 
public outrage that it almost becomes indispensable for the State or the 
prosecution to find the guilty, even if it means tweaking justice, to assuage 
public anger.

The report cites Nithari killings and Nirbhaya gang rape and says that the 
public anger is equally directed against the failure of the State and the 
system as much against the crimes and the criminals, which according to the 
report is forgotten.

The report examines 48 judgements on death penalty pronounced by 2 
distinguished former judges of the Supreme Court, Justice M B Shah and Justice 
Arijit Pasayat. Both the Judges are currently serving as Chairperson and Vice 
Chairperson of the Special Investigation Team on Black Money appointed by the 
Supreme Court of India respectively.

The report attempts to illustrate how 'conscience' of individual judges play 
out the 'collective conscience' or 'judicial conscience'.

(source: New Kerala)

********************

SC stays execution of death sentence of couple who killed 7 in UP



The Supreme Court today stayed the execution of death sentence of a young woman 
and her lover convicted for killing 7 members of her family, including a 
10-month-old baby, in Uttar Pradesh in 2008.

A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and U U Lalit issued notice to UP 
government seeking its response and posted the matter for further hearing on 
May 27.

The warrant for execution of the death sentence of Shabnam and her lover Saleem 
was issued on May 21.

The Supreme Court on May 1 had upheld the conviction and death penalty of the 
couple and later on May 15 delivered a detailed judgement for dismissing the 
appeal filed by the convicts.

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Shabnam, asked the court that the 
matter be heard before any final decision is taken for executing the death 
penalty.

In 2013, Allahabad High Court had upheld the death sentence to the couple 
awarded by a sessions court in 2010.

Saleem and Shabnam were having an affair and wanted to get married but their 
relationship met with stiff opposition from the woman's family.

On April 15, 2008, Shabnam's entire family, including a 10-month-old baby, was 
murdered and the woman initially pretended that her house in Amroha district of 
UP was attacked by unidentified assailants.

It came to light during investigation that she had abetted Saleem in the crime 
as she made her family members drink milk laced with sedatives before the 
attack and thereafter herself throttled her infant nephew.

(source: The Tribune)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Indonesian escapes death penalty in Saudi Arabia



An Indonesian citizen on trial for adultery in Saudi Arabia, has escaped the 
death sentence after being found innocent. She was repatriated on Sunday.

"The Indonesian citizen has been handed over to her family in Banyuwangi, East 
Java, after she escaped being sentenced to death by stoning in Jeddah," 
kompas.com quoted the director of Indonesian citizens' protection at the 
Foreign Ministry, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, as saying on Monday.

Lilik and her Bangladeshi husband were arrested in Jeddah in 2008 on charges of 
adultery and plotting with her husband to kill another Indonesian identified as 
Aisyah.

During the court hearing, the prosecutor sought death the death penalty for 
Lilik.

Her lawyer, hired by the Indonesian government, convinced the panel of judges 
through credible evidence that Lilik was not involved in the killing.

(source: The Jakarta Post)








MALAYSIA:

An Inconvenient Moral Argument: Are You For Or Against The Death Penalty?



Mahatma Gandhi once said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind", but 
could the same be said about the death penalty or capital punishment?

The sentence that someone be punished in this manner of death is usually 
reserved for murders, espionage, treason, sexual offenses, religious crimes (in 
Islamic countries) and drug trafficking. However, executions are often pondered 
upon and debated over its ethics and legality.

Just like how many were dismayed by the recent Indonesian executions of eight 
drug convicts for their roles in a 2005 heroin smuggling ring. After their 
appeal was dismissed by the Indonesian Supreme Court, and their plea, rejected 
by the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, despite fierce international 
lobbying and widespread condemnation, the convicted were put to death by a 
firing squad.

More recently, an Egyptian court sentenced the embattled ex-president Mohamed 
Morsi to death for his part in a mass jailbreak in 2011. Also, the 21-year-old 
Boston bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faced the same fate as he was sentenced to 
death by lethal injection for the 2013 attack that killed 3 people and wounded 
264 others.

While in Malaysia, just last 2 weeks, a Nigerian female student was sentenced 
to death by the Malaysian High Court in which she was found guilty of 
trafficking 765.9 g of methamphetamine at the KL International Airport (KLIA) 
four years ago. Judge Datuk Ghazali Cha, passed a death sentence on 
30-year-old, Mary George Unazi, after finding that the prosecution had managed 
to prove the defendant guilty.

Over the past years, civil rights unions have campaigned against the death 
penalty. According to Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), the abolition 
of the death penalty worldwide has increased these last 10 years -- Asia in 
particular. Despite this commendable progress, there are still numerous 
challenges faced to halt the use of the death penalty in the region, given the 
fact that some countries have resumed executions.

Globally, the existence of the death penalty oftentimes have raised one 
underlying question: have we established our judicial systems out of a desire 
for rehabilitation, or out of a desire for retribution?

A Quick Glimpse Of The Death Penalty In Malaysia And Worldwide

In Malaysia, the death penalty is a legal form of punishment -- in which it is 
a mandatory punishment for murder, drug trafficking, treason, and waging war 
against Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the King), and the law has been extended to 
include acts of terrorism recently.

The idea behind the death penalty in the country arose from a mix between the 
common law system that Malaysia inherited during its colonisation period from 
the British and the authorisation of certain punishments in Islam.

Currently, death penalties are carried out through hanging, and the penalty is 
used for a variety of offenses. It has also been a mandatory punishment for 
rapists that cause death, also for child rapists. However, in Malaysia, only 
High Courts have the jurisdiction to sentence someone to death.

According to sources, Malaysia has executed 359 people between 1970 and 2001, 
whilst 159 people remain on death row as of 2006. There have been at least 2 
executions carried out in 2013 as reported by Amnesty International last year. 
Nevertheless, Amnesty noted that it was not able to gain the official figures, 
as there is a lack of information provided by the government on the matter. 
Meanwhile, based on reports, there is an estimate of 76 executions, and an 
estimate of 992 people on death row in Malaysia by the end of 2013.

A closer look at the global distribution on the death penalty shows that in the 
past few years, many countries have abolished this capital punishment -- either 
in law or in practise. Reports show that 36 countries have retained the death 
penalty in active use, whereas 103 countries had abolished capital punishment 
altogether, 6 had done so for all offenses except under special circumstances, 
and 50 have abolished it in practise because they had not used it for at least 
10 years or were under a moratorium.

22 countries were known to have had executions carried out in 2013, as reported 
by Amnesty International. There are countries which do not publish information 
on the use of capital punishment, most significantly China and North Korea. At 
least 23,392 people worldwide were under sentence of death at the end of 2013.

Surprisingly, or not, Japan and the United States (US) are the only developed 
countries to have carried out executions. The US is the only Western country in 
the Americas to have carried out executions, with 32 states currently carrying 
out capital punishments. In 2012, 43 executions in the US took place in nine 
states: Arizona (6), Delaware (1), Florida (3), Idaho (1), Mississippi (6), 
Ohio (3), Oklahoma (6), South Dakota (2), Texas (15).

The most recent statistics by Amnesty International and Death Penalty Worldwide 
also revealed that China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the US are the top 5 
countries in the world recorded to have the highest number of reported 
executions by death penalty last year. Meanwhile, the most recent country to 
abolish the death penalty is Suriname in March 2015.

Does Practising The Death Penalty Deter Crime?

Of late, anti-death penalty forces have gained momentum along with many human 
rights advocates and organisations, to strongly renounce the use of capital 
punishment in all circumstances. These parties have also called for the 
abolition of death penalties globally, and this includes in Malaysia.

Amnesty International (AI) Malaysia is among the human rights organisations 
here which have been lobbying the abolition of the death penalty for years, and 
has played a key role in succeeding to do so in many countries. Its efforts 
resulted in a record number of 117 United Nations (UN) member states adopting a 
resolution to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view 
of complete abolition.

Shamini Darshni is the Executive Director of Amnesty International 
Malaysia.Shamini Darshni is the Executive Director of Amnesty International 
Malaysia.In an interview with Malaysian Digest, Executive Director of Amnesty 
International Malaysia, Shamini Darshni (pic) said, Amnesty International 
opposes the death penalty in all situations, saying it is the ultimate cruel 
and heartless punishment which is akin to cold-blooded murder.

"Crime has existed for lifetimes, and so has the death penalty. Yet, there is 
still crime and there is still state-sanctioned killing. One does not solve the 
other.

"States that impose the death penalty are not able to claim that the death 
penalty has reduced crime. It is clear that the death penalty does nothing to 
reduce crime statistics in our society. Therefore, it [death penalty] has and 
will remain a core focus of Amnesty International's work globally," said 
Shamini.

She shared that Amnesty International produces the Death Sentences and 
Executions Report every year to chart trends on the use of the death penalty 
globally, detailing that in the Amnesty International's 2014 report, it is 
found that an alarming number of the 22 countries which performed executions 
used the death penalty to respond to real or perceived threats to state 
security and public safety posed by terrorism, crime or internal instability.

"Even though the death penalty does not have a particular deterrent effect on 
crime compared to other forms of punishment, we still consider that the trend 
towards global abolition is progressing in which the number of executions 
recorded by Amnesty International dropped from at least 778 in 2013 to at least 
607 in 2014, a drop of almost 22%.

"The long-term trend of the world moving away from the death penalty is still 
clear. In 2014, 22 countries executed the death penalty, while 2 decades ago, 
in 1995, that number stood at 41. At the same time, we also saw a troubling 
increase in the number of death sentences, which rose from at least 1,925 in 
2013 to at least 2,466 in 2014, a jump of a staggering 28%," she pointed out.

"We have discovered many glaring things about countries that impose the death 
penalty after years of research in this area. These include how the death 
penalty is used as a populist tool to win elections when crime rates are high, 
and how it has been abused by biased criminal justice systems which have 
sentenced people to death en bloc for political reasons," she said.

On whether the use of the death penalty should be objectively pursued and used 
only in certain crimes, she said: "It is true that international law limits the 
use of the death penalty to the 'most serious offenses' which translates to 
meaning 'intentional killing', but it has to be noted that the death penalty 
violates the right to life, and life, whomever it belongs to, is sacred."

"There is no proof that the death penalty stops drugs from hitting the streets, 
but there are many years of research which prove that it does not reduce or 
eliminate it. If the death penalty does deter would-be criminals, would we not 
be a crime-free society?" she questioned.

"Therefore, we oppose the death penalty in all cases without exception 
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt or other 
characteristics of the individual, or the method used by the state to carry out 
the execution," she remarked.

In 2012, the government announced its plans to review the country???s mandatory 
death penalty laws, which do not allow judges to consider mitigating 
circumstances in death penalty murder cases. This clearly shows the 
government's adamant stance on the use of death penalty in the country.

Commenting further on the matter, Shamini said: "We understand that the 
Attorney-General's Chambers is currently studying the use of the mandatory 
death penalty, as it reported during its Universal Periodic Review to the UN 
Human Rights Council earlier this year.

"However, we remain positive that the government is open towards abolishing the 
death penalty. Still, this cannot come soon enough, and we urge the Malaysian 
government to immediately impose a temporary halt on using the death penalty 
with a view of total abolition," she added.

Movements Toward The Abolition Of Death Penalty

In view that every individual has the right to live regardless their committed 
crimes, human rights activists and abolitionists have strongly renounced the 
death penalty, believing it to be cruel and inhumane. Those in particular that 
sternly echo such are the European Union (EU), Amnesty International, Together 
Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) and Human Rights Watch.

Over the years, the European Union has been working towards universal abolition 
of the death penalty as a strongly held policy agreed by all EU Member States 
in which EU will advocate the immediate establishment of a moratorium on the 
use of death penalty with a view to abolition.

Mr. Luc Vandebon is the Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union 
to Malaysia.

"The death penalty is cruel, unnecessary and inhumane. While the European Union 
understands that no legal system is flawless, we are deeply concerned that any 
miscarriage of justice could lead to the loss of an innocent life. It is 
therefore that the EU has a strong and unequivocal opposition to the death 
penalty in all times and in all circumstances, and we will continue our 
long-standing campaign against the death penalty alongside with the growing 
momentum towards its abolition worldwide.

"We consider the death penalty as an unlawful 'premeditated' killing of one 
human being by another as it constitutes serious violation of human rights and 
human dignity. Besides, there is no compelling evidence that exists to show 
that death penalty serves as a deterrent to crime," he said.

Asked what the EU can do to positively contribute to the death penalty debate 
in Malaysia, he explained that the EU have an active policy of dialogue, 
campaign and cooperation with the Malaysian government.

"This is done through exchanges between judicial authorities and dialogues on 
the different matters linked to the death penalty, and through cooperation with 
Malaysia's civil society. We will continue to intensify our initiatives, 
including declarations on the death penalty in international fora and towards 
other countries," he said.

He further remarked: "The EU will raise the issue of the death penalty in its 
dialogue and consultations with third countries in which the elements in these 
contacts include the EU's call for universal abolition of the death penalty and 
where its use is maintained, the EU will emphasise that states should only use 
the death penalty in line with the minimum standards."

Commenting on the recent executions of 'Bali 9' drug convicts, he said: "The EU 
is dismayed at the latest series of executions in Indonesia. As friend of 
Indonesia, we urge the government to take heed of the views expressed by many 
in the international community in recent years and declare an immediate 
moratorium on the use of death penalty.

"We stand ready to offer political support and practical assistance in 
combating the trade in narcotics and other criminal activities which pose 
challenges to the Indonesian society and beyond," he stressed further.

Malaysians Speak Up About The Death Penalty

Undoubtedly, the death penalty is a matter of active controversy in various 
countries, including Malaysia. While some regard it as cold-blooded and 
criticise it for its irreversibility and lack of a deterrent effect, advocates 
on the other hand, argue that it could deter crime, as it serves its purpose 
for granting justice, and provides closure for the surviving victims and their 
families.

In order to understand the perceptions of Malaysians toward the death penalty, 
Malaysian Digest reached out to the general public who gave their take on the 
subject.

"I strongly oppose the use of the death penalty. There is no justice in killing 
in the name of justice. By executing the condemned offenders, it goes to show 
that killing is acceptable even as a lawful punishment. If killing was wrong, 
executions would not exist. You cannot kill a human being to show them that 
killing is wrong, that is an out-and-out hypocrisy. Those who are sentenced to 
death should instead be made to stay alive and be justly punished for their 
wrongdoings. Life in prison is already a sufficient punishment. Death penalty, 
for me, is plain excessive because it is an easy way out." - Anthony Quah, 39, 
criminal defense lawyer

"For me, the death penalty is a lawful and proportional punishment, therefore 
it should be strictly imposed to deter crime in our society. It is something 
like a spiritual medicine in the sense that it saves a man's soul as it can 
foster repentance and I believe it serves a great purpose to prevent an 
individual from committing heinous crimes, it saves them from further 
damnation. Therefore, I support the use of the death penalty because it 
certainly has a deterrent effect on criminal activities besides serving as a 
just means of protecting the society as a whole." - Kamini d/o Verrappan, 43, 
accounting lecturer

"At the risk of sounding too harsh, I must say the only way to sufficiently 
express our disgust at atrocious crime offenders like murderers and terrorists 
is by executing them. Nothing else suffices. In saying which, one must note 
that the death penalty has been exercised since ancient times. Therefore, 
whatever the arguments may be against the death penalty, it cannot be said to 
violate the right to life because law is always law. One should be individually 
responsible for crimes he or she has committed. I am in favour of the death 
penalty, however, at the same time, it should be fairly applied." - Mohammad 
Sukhri Ramli, 21, university student

"My opposition to the death penalty is an absolute, as there are no 
circumstances where I consider the government should have the ultimate sanction 
against the individual. For me, it [death penalty] does not serve any social 
purpose nor does it prevent criminal activities. Although I agree that serious 
crime offenders should be justly punished, but not to the extent of killing 
them. For me, an important message that needs to be conveyed to our society is 
that the death penalty is not about what the convicts deserve, but instead it 
is about how we, as the general public, should defend our own fundamental 
values and say no to the death penalty. I stand for mercy!" - Jonathan Chen Zhi 
En, 32, investment bank officer

Quoting Shamini, who said: "In a study conducted by the Death Penalty Project 
(an organisation based in the UK) 1,500 Malaysians were asked about their 
thoughts on the mandatory death penalty. The study showed that support for the 
mandatory death penalty declined dramatically when mitigating factors were 
introduced in a case. This speaks volumes about the need for judicial 
discretion, and most importantly, when lives are at stake."

In 2012, the Law Minister held that the government may replace the death 
sentence with an imprisonment term instead in recognition that such a sentence 
only punishes the drug mules and not those higher up in the chain. This was 
also in addition to the fact that the death penalty did not seem to have any 
deterring effect, thus questioning the need for such punishments to be meted 
out.

Who knows what the Malaysian government's stance may be about the death penalty 
in the future - and whether or not we may head to its abolition. But in the 
meantime, the goal of any punishment, and the decision in the judicial system 
should be taken into consideration more adequately, because in the end, death 
is always painful.

And if we ought to force it on anyone for any reason that doesn't permit nature 
to take its own course, we too would be guilty of equal cruelty towards 
criminals who are convicted to the death sentence.

(source: Teh Wei Soon, Malaysian Digest)


INDONESIA:

UK foreign office 'lost important evidence' linked to death row grandmother



Claims of lost evidence in the case of Bali's death row grandmother Lindsay 
Sandiford strengthen the case for a British inquiry, her defence team argues.

The UK's vice-consul Alys Harahap has lost an appeal of her dismissal from the 
foreign office over having a relationship with another British inmate, Julian 
Ponder, the UK's Mail on Sunday reports.

She told the newspaper the affair claims are "absolute rubbish" and has 
demanded Ponder's so-called evidence - secret recordings of phone sex made from 
his cell - be examined to disprove it is her.

Sandiford, 58, alleges it was Ponder, 44, who manipulated her into carrying 
cocaine worth more than $3 million into Bali in 2012, by threatening her son.

Mrs Harahap also told the Mail on Sunday her superiors in Bali lost a drawing 
by Ponder of the false bottom suitcase Sandiford used to carry the drugs.

She claims Ponder told her the drugs Sandiford was carrying were his - but no 
action was taken over the lost drawing.

"Since then I have asked repeatedly about where the paper is but they say they 
cannot find it," she told the newspaper.

Sandiford's New Zealand-based lawyer Craig Tuck says the loss of potentially 
vital evidence must be investigated.

"There needs to be an urgent inquiry into the handling of Lindsay's case by 
British officials and an immediate review of the decision by Foreign Secretary 
Philip Hammond not to fund her legal fight to overturn her death penalty in 
spite of the recommendation of 5 Supreme Court judges," he said.

"A woman's life is at stake and it is horrifying to think the neglect and 
callousness of the British government may have effectively helped push one of 
its own nationals in front of the firing squad."

Sandiford refused consular help from Mrs Harahap as the rumours of the affair 
with Ponder circulated through Bali's Kerobokan jail.

In turn, Mrs Harahap told the UK newspaper the allegations against her were 
first raised by Sandiford to get back at the foreign office, which she felt had 
not helped her enough.

She says rather than being romantically attracted to Ponder, she too was 
"harassed and threatened" by him.

While Sandiford was sentenced to death for her role as a mule, Ponder's charge 
was reduced to drug possession, and he received only 6 years in jail.

Sandiford's legal team last week notified Indonesian authorities they would 
file a judicial review into her case in about 6 months.

Indonesia is planning more executions of drug offenders after last month 
sending 8 people to the firing squad, including Australians Andrew Chan and 
Myuran Sukumaran, who once lived in the same Bali jail as Sandiford and Ponder.



(source: sbs.com.au)








IRAN:

More Prisoners Transferred for Execution in Ghezelhesar Prison



As many as 22 prisoners could be executed in the coming 2 days. Iran Human 
Rights reported about 11 prisoners who were transferred to solitary confinement 
yesterday awaiting execution in the Ghezelhesar prison of Karaj.evin-small

New reports from IHR's sources show that at least another 7 prisoners were 
transferred to the quarantine section scheduled to be executed in the coming 2 
days. One source said that the number of prisoners who were transferred today 
were 11, making the total prisoners waiting for execution in the coming 2 days 
22.

All the prisoners are sentenced to death for drug related charges and 
participated in a peaceful gathering inside the prison asking to be pardoned. 
Some prisoners believe that the executions are authorities' punishment for 
participation in the gathering.

IHR is investigating the details.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

*****************

More prisoners facing imminent execution



In Iran, on May 23, 16 prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement in 
Ghezel Hessar Prison in the city of Karaj in preparation for their imminent 
executions.

The transfer of these 16 is taking place while just 2 days ago, on May 21, 11 
prisoners were hanged in this prison.

According to the statement of the National Council of Resistance of Iran 
(NCRI), the Iranian regime executed 37 people from May 19 to 21 in prisons or 
the streets of various cities.

Just in May 20 and 21, a total of 24 prisoners were executed in 3 collective 
hangings in Ghezel Hessar and Gohardasht prisons in Karaj.

The Iranian regime that is called "Godfather of ISIS" is looking to intensify 
the atmosphere of terror in the country by these large number of executions in 
order to control social protests and the tumultuous state of the country.

(source: NCR-Iran)

******************************************

21 Unreported Executions in the First Half of May in Ghezelhesar Prison



During the 1st half of May, between May 5 and May 19, 21 prisoners with drug 
related charges were executed by hanging in Ghezelhesar prison.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 12 
prisoners on Tuesday May 5 and 9 other on Tuesday May 19 were executed in 
Ghezelhesar prison.

An informed source told HRANA's reporter, "most of these prisoners had spent 
between 7 to 12 years in prison, despite having death sentence, and they 
smuggled maximum of 500 gr drugs".

According to HRANA, during past weeks, number of performed execution and 
especially public executions has increased. Besides the high number, 
performances of these executions were semi-secret and undisclosed and lack of 
commitment of judicial for informing public, has raised the concerns of human 
rights activists.

(source: HRANA news agency)