[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 2



IRAN----executions

Iran regime hangs 2 prisoners


Iran's fundamentalist regime on Thursday hanged 2 prisoners in Mashhad, 
north-eastern Iran.

The 2 prisoners were not identified, but one of them had been imprisoned for 
more than 4 years and the other for the past 14 years.

They were hanged at dawn on Thursday, December 31 in Mashhad's central prison.

(source: NCR-Iran)






SAUDI ARABIA:

At least 4 protesters killed in Saudi mass executions


At least 4 people convicted of offences related to political protest are among 
the 47 reportedly executed by Saudi Arabia earlier today (Saturday).

Sheikh Nimr, Ali al-Ribh, Mohammad Shioukh and Mohammad Suweimal were all 
arrested in 2012 following their involvement in anti-Government protests, and 
subsequently sentenced to death. Ali was 18 when he was arrested, and sentenced 
to death for organizing and participating in demonstrations; vandalism; helping 
to organize demonstrations through the use of his BlackBerry; attending an 
address of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Mohammad Shioukh, 19 at the time of his arrest, 
was sentenced to death for a number of offences, including writing 
anti-Government graffiti and filming demonstrations for the purpose of 
documenting and publishing their content. Both were tortured while in custody.

Their names were included on a list of executions carried out today by the 
Saudi Government and published on the website of the Kingdom's official press 
agency. In total, 47 people were executed at various locations across the 
country.

In the statement, the ministry of the interior quoted the Quran, saying that 
"The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and do 
mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified or their 
hands and their feet be cut off from opposite sides, or be exiled from the 
land. That is their disgrace in this world and a great torment is theirs in the 
Hereafter."

The list did not include the names of a number of people sentenced to death as 
children who are still facing execution. Ali al Nimr (Sheikh Nimr's nephew), 
Dawoud al Marhoon, and Abdullah al Zaher were also sentenced to death over 
their alleged involvement in the 2012 anti-Government protests, despite having 
been aged 17, 17, and 15 respectively at the time. All 3 were also badly 
mistreated in custody, and tortured into signing 'confessions' to the offences 
alleged against them.

Commenting, Maya Foa, Director of the death penalty team at international human 
rights organisation Reprieve said: "2015 saw Saudi Arabia execute over 150 
people, many of them for non-violent offences. Today's appalling news, with 
nearly 50 executed in a single day, suggests 2016 could be even worse. 
Alarmingly, the Saudi Government is continuing to target those who have called 
for domestic reform in the kingdom, executing at least 4 of them today. There 
are now real concerns that those protesters sentenced to death as children 
could be next in line to face the swordsman's blade. Saudi Arabia's allies - 
including the US and UK - must not turn a blind eye to such atrocities and must 
urgently appeal to the Kingdom to change course."

(source: reprieve.org)