International Death Penalty News 2025, Issue 01: DR Congo, France, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United States of America, Vietnam, Zimbabwe

DR Congo

Twenty-three Congolese soldiers could be sentenced to death.  They are accused of committing rape, desertion, and other crimes.  The soldiers are being tried by a militia court.  In early 2024, the moratorium on executions was lifted after more than 20 years.  While several soldiers have since been sentenced to death, no executions have yet been publicly reported.  

France

French officials have requested Indonesia return 61-year-old Serge Atlaoui.  Serge is a French national who has been on death row in Indonesia for the last 19 years.  He was arrested in 2005 at a drug factory and has been on death row ever since.  Indonesia has confirmed it received the request, which will be addressed in the new year.  Serge has insisted that he is innocent of the crime for which he is convicted.  He claims he was installing machinery at the time of his arrest.  

India

On Friday, December 20, 2024, Ragula Sai was sentenced to death for a triple murder.  Say is convicted of murdering his former wife, Aarti, her partner Nagaraju, and their infant son, Vishnu.  He poured gasoline on them before lighting them on fire.  They were treated for their injuries but died anyway.  Aarti was pregnant at the time of the crime and lost her child.  Sai’s accomplice, A Rahul, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the crime.

On Monday, December 30, 2024, D. Sathish was sentenced to death and given a cash fine.  He is convicted of stalking and murdering 20-year-old M. Sathya, a college student in Chennai.  Sathya died after she was pushed in front of a moving train on October 13, 2022, during an argument.  Sathish was arrested the following day.

On Tuesday, December 31, 2024, a court sentenced 43-year-old Hitesh Shettigar to death.  He was convicted of murdering his three children and of attempting to murder his wife on June 23, 2022.  All three children were pushed into a well after returning home from school.  Shettigar also pushed his wife into a well.  She was rescued when someone nearby heard her yelling for help.  

Iran

On Tuesday, December 24, 2024, 27-year-old Ali Manian and 31-year-old Jasem Manian were executed in Isfahan Central Prison.  The two brothers were arrested about two years ago.  They were convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional murder and mitigating evidence is rarely considered.  After conviction, the family of the victim chooses between granting forgiveness, demanding qisas, or demanding diya (blood money).  There is no limit to the amount of diya that can be demanded.  If the money is not paid, the inmate can be executed.

In the last year, Iran has carried out at least 833 executions in the nation.  It is the highest number of executions in a year since 2015.  About 94 percent of the executions were carried out in secret, making it nearly impossible to determine the exact number of executions carried out throughout the year.  Of those executed, 26 were women and five were under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes, making their executions a violation of international human rights.

On Wednesday, January 1, 2025, three men were executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison, likely by hanging.  While the names of the individuals were not reported, two were Afghan nationals, while one was a Baluch ethnic minority.  At least one was convicted of murder.  The men were allegedly prevented from having a last meeting with their families to say goodbye.

Saudi Arabia

Reports from the human rights group Reprieve indicate that in the last year, there were 330 executions in the kingdom, nearly double the amount of executions from the previous year.  Over 150 individuals were executed for non-lethal crimes, most often drug-related crimes.  There have been multiple reports that some of those convicted and executed were denied legal representation.

United States of America

On his final day in office, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper commuted the death sentences of 15 inmates.  The 15 inmates had their sentences commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  Before becoming governor, Cooper served as attorney general for 16 years.  He decided to commute the sentences after thoroughly reviewing the cases and the petitions submitted by the inmates.  He also considered the recommendations of the prosecutors and the families of the victims.  Cooper’s office revealed that he had received petitions from 89 of the 136 death row inmates in the state.  With his commutations, there remain 121 death row inmates.  The last execution in the state was in 2006.

Officials in Tennessee have announced a new execution protocol two years after being forced to halt executions in the state for failing to follow their execution protocol.  Under the new protocol, which has not yet been publicly released, officials will use a single drug, pentobarbital, to conduct executions. While several lawsuits were ongoing regarding Tennessee’s previous execution protocol, they have been put on hold.  Attorneys have 90 days to look over the new protocol and amend their cases before the court. 

Days after President Joe Biden commuted the death sentence of 37 federal death row inmates, one of those inmates is now seeking to be released.  Twenty-eight-year-old Brandon Council was convicted of the 2017 murder of two bank employees, 36-year-old Katie Skeen and 59-year-old Donna Major in South Carolina. Council filed his request for a “compassionate release” due to “severe, unnecessary, and unjustifiable psychological harm” that “can only be accurately construed and assimilated as an act of torture,” due to his being in solitary confinement.  Biden has not yet responded to the request.

A military appeals court has ruled that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin lacks legal standing to overturn a plea deal between three inmates accused of helping plan and organize the September 11, 2001, attacks.  The plea deal, which sparked national outrage, takes the death penalty off the table and allows the three men, including the master planner of the attacks, to plead guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence. In the 23 years since the attack that killed almost 3,000 Americans and spawned 20 years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the three men have not yet been brought to trial.  Criminal proceedings have struggled to move forward due to uncertainty on how to deal with detainees being tortured after their captures.

On June 14, 2016, 51-year-old Yul Rayford was found shot to death in his vehicle in Springfield, Kentucky.  Now, police have arrested and charged Bryson Sleet and Taron Sanders with the murder.  If convicted, they could be sentenced to death.  Sleet and Sanders were initially suspects in the case.  They were charged, however, the charges were later dismissed and the case remained unsolved.  It is unclear what led police to once again arrest and charge the two men with murder.

On Monday, December 16, 2024, Zephen Xaver was sentenced to death in Florida. Xaver was convicted of murdering Debra Cook, Marisol Lopez, Jessica Montague, Cynthia Watson, and Ana Pinon Williams on January 23, 2019, in a Sebring SunTrust Bank.  

Vietnam

On Friday, December 27, 2024, a court sentenced 27 individuals to death.  All were convicted on drug-related charges including trafficking heroin, ketamine, and methamphetamine.  The gang leader was identified as 67-year-old Vu Hoang Anh and was among those sentenced to death.  She had previously been given amnesty for similar crimes.  Eight others were also convicted and given various jail terms.

Zimbabwe

It has been almost 20 years since Zimbabwe’s last execution.  Now Parliament has amended the Criminal Law Code, Criminal Procedure Law, and the Defense Act to remove capital punishment as an option and President Emmerson Mnangagwa has signed it into law.  There are 60 prisoners currently on death row.  All will have their cases brought before the High Court and receive new sentences.