[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 18



IRAN----executions

4 Prisoners Hanged on Drug Charges


4 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Mashhad's Vakilabad Prison on drug 
related charges.

According to the human rights news agency HRANA, the executions were carried 
out on the morning of Tuesday January 17. 1 of the prisoners has been 
identified as Ahmad Shekarabi, sentenced to death on the charge of possession 
and trafficking 5 kilograms of heroin.

"Ahmad's first death sentence was quashed by the Supreme Court, but he was 
sentenced to death again by branch 8 of Mashhad's Revolutionary Court, presided 
by Judge Mazloom," a source close to Mr. Shekarabi's family tells Iran Human 
Rights. The source insists that Mr. Shekarabi was innocent.

The source adds: Ahmad was a cab driver who had a customer whom he would pick 
up packages forn at various addresses. The last time Ahmad did so, he arrived 
at the pick up location and noticed his customer had been arrested. As soon as 
Ahmad had arrived, he was also arrested, even though he explained that he's 
just the cab driver. However, the customer denied this and claimed that Ahmad 
was aware that the packages contained drugs and was involved in the operation. 
The customer's testimony had many inconsistensies to the point that Ahmad was 
first exonerated, but branch 2 of the court sentenced him to death anyway. 
After the Supreme Court quashed his death sentence [pending a new trial], he 
was sentenced to death again, and this time the Supreme Court confirmed the 
death sentence.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been 
silent about these executions.

The names of the other 3 prisoners are not known at this time.

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

Prisoner Hanged on Drug Charges


A prisoner was reportedly hanged at Bandar Abbas Central Prison on drug related 
charges. According to close sources, the execution was carried out on the 
morning of Tuesday Janaury 17. The prisoner has been identified as Ramezan 
Yousef Heydari, 36 years old.

Mr. Yousef Heydari was arrested on March 2, 2011 on the charges of possession 
and trafficking 900 grams of crystal meth and 2 kilograms and 200 grams of 
crack. He was sentenced to death on May 1, 2013 by the Bandar Abbas 
Revolutionary Court.

"Ramezan drove a Saipa vehicle, and the day they arrested him, they discovered 
the drugs in the tire of his car - but the drugs weren't his. He never once 
confessed that the drugs were his," a source close to Mr. Yousef Heydari tells 
Iran Human Rights.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have not 
announced Mr. Yousef Heydari's execution.

(source for both: Iran Human Rights)






EGYPT:

Urgent Action


6 MEN AT IMMINENT RISK OF EXECUTION

6 men submitted their final appeal to the Supreme Military Court in December 
2016. The men were sentenced to death by a military court in May 2016, in a 
case marred by enforced disappearances and torture. If the court rejects their 
appeal, the men could be executed at any time.

Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

* Calling on the Egyptian authorities to retry all those convicted in the case 
before an ordinary, civilian court, without recourse to the death penalty, and 
in proceedings that respect international fair trial standards and exclude 
"confessions" and other evidence obtained through torture and other 
ill-treatment;

* Calling upon them to open an effective, independent and impartial 
investigation into the allegations of enforced disappearance, torture and other 
ill-treatment;

* Urging them to establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to 
abolishing the death penalty.

Contact these 2 officials by 1 March, 2017:

Important note: Please do not forward this Urgent Action email directly to 
these officials. Instead of forwarding this email that you have received, 
please open up a new email message in which to write your appeals to each 
official. This will help ensure that your emails are not rejected. Thank you 
for your deeply valued activism!

Defence Minister

Colonel General Sedqi Sobhi

Ministry of Defence

Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt

Fax: +202 2 414 4248 / +202 2 414 4247
Email: mc at afmic.gov.eg, mod at afmic.gov.eg

Salutation: Your Excellency

Ambassador Yasser Reda, Embassy of Egypt

3521 International Ct NW,

Washington DC 20008

Fax: 202 244 4319 - OR- 202 244 5131

Phone: 202 895 5400

Email: ambassador at egyptembassy.net

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

(source: Amnesty International USA)