International Death Penalty News 2021, Issue 15: China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, Thailand, United States of America, Vietnam
April 9, 2021
IDPN 2021 Issue 15
China: Shirzat Bawudun and Sattar Sawut have both been sentenced to death with two-year reprieves. Bawudun, the former head of the Xinjiang department of justice, was convicted of “splitting the country” by conspiring with a terrorist organization, taking bribes, and carrying out separatist activities. Sawut, the former director of the Xinjiang education department, was found guilting of taking bribes, incorporating ethnic separatism, violence, terrorism, and religious extremism content into textbooks in the Uighur language.
India: A 22-year-old male has been convicted of raping and assaulting a 10-year-old female child, who called him “Chacha.” After raping the girl, she was left in a field, however her parents found in her time to take to her to a hospital, where she has undergone multiple surgeries, saving her life, although she will have permanent injuries. Now, approximately three months later, the male has been sentenced to death for the “barbaric” crime.
Indonesia: Three Iranians, nine Indonesians and one Pakistani were sentenced to death for drug trafficking. All were members of gang. They were discovered attempting to smuggled approximately 880 pounds of methamphetamine in June 2020.
Iraq: On Sunday, April 4, 2021, three men, Sadiq Mahi, Ahmed Nematwand and Mohammed Mahmoudi were executed by hanging at the central prison in Urmia. The three Kurdish men were convicted on drug related charges. Three others were also scheduled to be executed, however, their executions were stayed for unknown reasons.
Morocco: On Sunday, April 4, 2021, three men, Sadiq Mahi, Ahmed Nematwand and Mohammed Mahmoudi were executed by hanging at the central prison in Urmia. The three Kurdish men were convicted on drug related charges. Three others were also scheduled to be executed, however, their executions were stayed for unknown reasons.
Pakistan: On Monday, April 5, 2021, three men had their death sentences commuted by the Sindh High Court. All three were convicted of murder. Their sentences has been reduced to life in prison. The court did not state why they commuted the sentences.
Thailand: On March 17, 2021, Somkid Pumpuang was sentenced to death, as the courts declared him a “remorseless and cruel killer who posed a grave threat to the public if ever released…” Pumpuang was previously sentenced to death in 2005, after being convicted of murdering five women in five hotels throughout the provinces. However, he was later released from prison on parole. This second death sentence came after being convicted of torturing, raping, and murdering 51-year-old Ratsami Mulichan at her home in Khon Kaen on December 15, 2019, which was shortly after he was released on parole. Pumpuang was arrested a few days after the murder.
United States of America: On Thursday, April 8, 2021, Byron Black was scheduled to be executed by the state of Tennessee. His execution has been indefinitely stayed by the Tennessee Supreme Court due to the coronavirus. Byron is convicted of murdering 29-year-old Angela Clay, and her two daughters, 9-year-old Latoya, and 6-year-old Lakeishsa on March 28, 1988, in Davidson County, Tennessee.
On Saturday, April 3, 2021, Arthur Gales died while on death row at Tecumseh State Correctional Institution in Nebraska. Arthur was 55 years of age. He was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of 13-year-old Latara Chandler and the drowning of her seven-year-old brother, Tramar, in Omaha, Nebraska in 2000. Arthur was sentenced to death in December 2003. Arthur’s cause of death has not yet been determined, however he was received medial treatment for a condition.
Prosecutors in California have announced that 40-year-old Jason Budrow, who is accused of murdering 81-year-old Roger Reece Kibbe, a/k/a the “I-5 Strangler,” will not face the death penalty. Jason and Roger shared a cell at the Mule Creek State Prison, near Sacramento, California, when Jason killed him earlier this year. No executions have been carried out in California since 2006.
In February 1981, Sonny Boy Oats, Jr., was sentenced to death in Florida for the murder of Jeanette Dyer, a clerk at the Little Country Store in Martel, Florida. Sonny robbed the place using a firearm, on December 10, 1979, resulting in Jeanette’s death. Sonny was arrested a few days later and eventually sentenced to death. Now, Circuit Judge Steven Rogers has overturned Sonny’s sentence due to Sonny being intellectually disabled. Sonny also received a 99-year sentence for the robbery and will spend the rest of his life in prison in Florida.
Vietnam: On Thursday, April 1, 2021, 36-year-old An Ngoc Ha and 21-year-old Nguyen Duc Tai have been sentenced to death for trafficking drugs from Cambodia. The two were noticed carrying suspicious black plastic bags as they boarded a motorized boat heading back to Vietnam from Cambodia. A third person, Ngao, was also observed to be with the two men, however he has not been captured.
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