International Death Penalty News 2024, Issue 37: Egypt, India, Iran, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, United States of America

Egypt

On Thursday, September 12, 2024, 37-year-old Karim Salim has been sentenced to death by hanging.  Salim, an English teacher and American citizen, was convicted of drugging, raping, torturing, and killing three women earlier this year.  He confessed to the crimes and gave investigators details of the crime.  Salim can appeal his sentence.

India

The Supreme Court is considering establishing guidelines to prevent inmates from languishing on death row.  The National Law University in Delhi has reported that at the end of 2023, there were 561 prisoners on death row, with 488 of them awaiting verdicts from various appeals.  In recent years, some death row inmates have had their sentences reduced due to lengthy delays, with even petitions to the governor and president for mercy taking months to be answered.  Lawyers for death row inmates are arguing that these delays violate the rights of the prisoners.

On Saturday, September 7, 2024, MD Abbas was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a minor.  Abbas was sentenced to death by a court in Siliguri.  He was arrested in January on the same day the crime occurred.  Abbas was also fined for his crime and received a prison sentence.

On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs succeeded in having several Indonesian migrant workers returned to India from Saudi Arabia.  The workers had all been accused of crimes that could have resulted in them being sentenced to death.  Indonesians are often lured to foreign countries with the promise of work, however, once they arrive, their passports are taken and they are forced to work long hours in unsafe conditions, with no way of leaving or returning home.  Many are accused of crimes that could result in them being sentenced to death.

Last October, a five-year-old girl was kidnapped by a 60-year-old migrant worker.   He took her to a cotton field where he began raping her.  When she began screaming, he strangled her to death.  Now, the migrant worker has been sentenced to death by a court for his crime.

Iran

On Wednesday, August 28, 2024, 43-year-old Asad Khosravi, 34-year-old Milad Ali Mohammadi, 25-year-old Emad Motevalian, and an Afghan national named Rafi Abdolbari were executed in Isfahan Central Prison.  Asad, Milad, and Emad were also executed on drug-related charges.  Rafi, who was around 30 years of age, was convicted of murdering another person during a group fight.  He was convicted and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Rafi insists he is innocent and was trying to break up the fight, but that the murder was pinned on him.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional and mitigating evidence is rarely considered.  After conviction, the family of the victims selects between demanding diya (blood money), qisas, or granting forgiveness. None of the executions have yet been reported by state officials or the media.

On Sunday, September 1, 2024, Ali Danesh and 40-year-old Akbar Zandi were executed in Shiraz Central Prison.  Both men were convicted of murder in the same case and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional and mitigating evidence is rarely considered.  After conviction, the family of the victims selects between demanding diya (blood money), qisas, or granting forgiveness.  State officials and the media have not yet reported the executions.

On Sunday, September 1, 2024, 30-year-old Ahmad Nazerifar was executed in Neyshabur Prison.  Ahmed, who worked as a delivery driver on a motorbike was arrested about three years ago.  He was convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional and mitigating evidence is rarely considered.  After conviction, the family of the victims selects between demanding diya (blood money), qisas, or granting forgiveness.  His execution has not yet been reported by state officials or the media.  

On Sunday, September 1, 2024, 29-year-old Saber Jamali was executed in Hamedan Central Prison.  He was convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional and mitigating evidence is rarely considered.  After conviction, the family of the victims selects between demanding diya (blood money), qisas, or granting forgiveness.  State officials and the media have not yet reported his execution.

On Monday, September 9, 2024, 30-year-old Saeed Hassanzahi, Roudini, Noor-Mohammad Noori, and 29-year-old Farzad Sanchouli were executed in Zahedan Prison.  All four were convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  They were all able to have a final visit with their families before their executions.   

On Monday, September 9, 2024, Feizollah Hosseinpour and Soleiman Ghahremani were executed in Miandoab Prison. Feizollah was convicted of committing a murder six years ago during a dispute over farmland.  Soleiman was arrested for murder about five years ago.  Both men were convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional and mitigating evidence is rarely considered.  After conviction, the family of the victims selects between demanding diya (blood money), qisas, or granting forgiveness. State officials and the media have not yet reported their executions.

On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, 40-year-old Morteza Yousefi was executed in Nowshahr Central Prison.  Morteza, a former champion for the nation’s Greco-Roman wrestling team, was executed on drug-related charges.  At the time of his arrest, he worked as a coach.   His execution has not yet been announced by state officials or the media.  

On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, 37-year-old Sajad Bandegi was executed in Qezelhesar Prison.  Sajad was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges after his arrest about 10 years ago.  His execution was announced by a human rights group and has not yet been reported by state officials or the media.

On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, 30-year-old Behnam Bagheri was executed in Dastgerd Prison.  He was convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional and mitigating evidence is rarely considered.  After conviction, the family of the victims selects between demanding diya (blood money), qisas, or granting forgiveness.  State officials and the media have not yet reported his execution.

Philippines

A bill has been proposed to the House of Representatives that would restore the death penalty to the criminal code.  Under the proposed bill, executions could be carried out by firing squad or lethal injection.  Crimes such as plunder, rape, murder, illegal drugs, and other heinous crimes, would be eligible for capital punishment.  This is not the first time such a bill has been proposed since capital punishment was eliminated in June 2006.  

Saudi Arabia

On Saturday, August 31, 2024, 59-year-old Abdul Majeed al-Nimr was executed.  Executions are traditionally carried out by beheading.  Abdul, a father of four, was convicted of joining a “terrorist cell affiliated with Al-Qaeda.” In 2024, executions have so far increased from the previous year.  Human rights groups are accusing the Saudi regime of using capital punishment to suppress the voices of their opponents.  The government has also been accused of forging documents to ensure convictions.

United States of America

Fourteen-year-old Colt Gray is accused of opening fire on his fellow classmates in Apalachee High School in Georgia earlier this month.   Four people were killed during the shooting, and several others were injured.  Gray will be tried as an adult, however, he will not be eligible for the death penalty due to his age.  The Supreme Court of the United States has previously ruled that no one who committed a crime while under the age of 18 is eligible to receive a death sentence.

Attorneys for 29-year-old Bryan Kohberger are attempting to have the death penalty removed as a possible sentence.  Kohberger, a criminal justice grad student, is accused of breaking into a rental home and murdering four University of Idaho students,  Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin.  The attorneys are arguing that the state’s capital punishment protocol violates the US Constitution, is arbitrarily applied, and that the state has no viable way of carrying out an execution.  Idaho last carried out an execution in 2012, however, an execution was scheduled for February 2024.  That execution was called off after technicians were unable to locate a viable vein for use in lethal injection.  Execution by firing squad is also permissible in Idaho.  Kohberger’s trial was initially scheduled to begin in October 2023, however, after waiving his right to a speedy trial, it was pushed back to June 2025.

On September 5, 2024, Idaho’s Fourth Judicial District Court dismissed an appeal by Thomas Creech.  Idaho attempted to execute Creech on February 28, 2024, however, his execution was halted after technicians were unable to establish IV lines for the execution.  Lawyers for Creech argued that attempting a second execution would violate his constitutional rights, specifically by subjecting him to double jeopardy and cruel and unusual punishment.  Similar claims have previously been rejected in other states.

Lawyers for 26-year-old Patrick Crusius are arguing that his murder and assault charges should be dismissed or the death penalty possibility removed due to prosecutorial misconduct.  Crusius is accused of murdering 23 people when he opened fire at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas on August 3, 2019.  At least 23 others were also injured in the shooting.  His lawyers are claiming that the state’s case is “permeated with the misconduct of the El Paso District Attorney’s Office.”  The allegations of misconduct include improper witness contact, repeated violations of court-imposed gag order, suppression of evidence, deceptive evidence sharing, and violating confidential attorney-client communications.  Prosecutors have not yet commented on the allegations against them.

Twenty-seven-year-old Julio Cesar Hernandez-Montero and 23-year-old Yurwin Salazar-Maita could be sentenced to death in Florida if convicted of the charges against them.  Both men are members of a violent Venezuelan gang and are accused of murdering 43-year-old Jose Luis Sanchez-Valera in Miami, Florida on November 27, 2024.  Jose was also from Venezuela and is believed to have known Hernandez-Montero and Salazar-Maita.  Jose was kidnapped after leaving a hotel room, where he was meeting a woman.  His body was later discovered in the back of his bloody vehicle.  He had been strangled to death.  Prosecutors have announced they intend to seek the maximum punishment against Hernandez-Montero and Salazar-Maita.  

Prosecutors in Tennessee have announced they are seeking the death penalty against Kenneth Wayne DeHart.  DeHart is accused of murdering Blount County Sheriff’s Deputy Greg McCowan on February 8, 2024.  He was arrested after a five-day manhunt across multiple states.  DeHart shot Deputy McCowan during a traffic stop.  Another Deputy, Shelby Eggers, was injured in the shooting.  There is video evidence of the crime.  

In January of this year, Missouri prosecutor Wesley Bell filed a motion to vacate the death sentence of 55-year-old Marcellus Williams.  William is convicted of murdering Felicia Gayle in St. Louis in 1998.  Two eyewitnesses to the crime testified against him and both have since died.  The motion to vacate was filed due to questions over the constitutionality of Williams’ trial and the possible contamination of the murder weapon, making DNA testing unreliable.  Now a judge has upheld Williams’ death sentence. Williams is scheduled to be executed later this month.