International Death Penalty News 2025, Issue 08: China, India, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Uganda, United States of America

China

A court in Zhejiang province sentenced Zhang Hongli, a former banker at Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., to death with a reprieve.  Zhang, one of many high-profile bankers to be sentenced to death in recent months, is convicted of accepting bribes.  Since 2021, the government has been cracking down on financial officials and executives who have accepted bribes.  Many have been sentenced to death, with reprieves.

India

The prosecution is seeking the death penalty against former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who is convicted of murdering a father and son in New Delhi, India.  The murder of Jaswant Singh and Tarundeep Singh occurred on November 1, 1984, during anti-Sikh riots.  Prosecutors insist that the case is a “rarest of the rare” a standard that must be met for a capital sentence in India.  Kumar is currently serving a life sentence in another case related to the riots, which killed 2700 Sikhs in Delhi in 1984.

Iran

On Sunday, February 16, 2025, 33-year-old Sadegh Nezakat was executed in Neishabur Prison.  Executions are traditionally carried out by hanging.  Sadegh was arrested about four years ago and convicted of murder.  He was sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional murder, with mitigating evidence rarely acknowledged.  After conviction, the family of the deceased chooses between granting forgiveness, demanding qisas, or demanding diya (blood money).  There is no limit to the amount of diya a family can demand and if the money is not paid, the convicted is often executed.  State officials and the media have not yet reported the execution of Sadegh.

On Sunday, February 16, 2025, Hadi Farahani was executed in Arak Central Prison.  He was convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional murder, with mitigating evidence rarely acknowledged.  After conviction, the family of the deceased chooses between granting forgiveness, demanding qisas, or demanding diya (blood money).  There is no limit to the amount of diya a family can demand and if the money is not paid, the convicted is often executed.  State officials and the media have not yet reported the execution.

On Monday, February 17, 2025, 31-year-old Hossein Aliyari was executed in Qazvin Central Prison.  He was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  State officials and the media have not yet reported his execution.

On Tuesday, February 18, 2025, 28-year-old Mehdi Iranian and 45-year-old Ms Bagherinejad were executed in Shiraz Central Prison.  Mehdi was arrested about four years ago, convicted of murder, and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind. Bagherinejad was convicted of murdering her husband about five years ago in a separate case.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional murder, with mitigating evidence rarely acknowledged.  After conviction, the family of the deceased chooses between granting forgiveness, demanding qisas, or demanding diya (blood money).  There is no limit to the amount of diya a family can demand and if the money is not paid, the convicted is often executed. Their executions have not yet been reported by state officials or the media.

Japan

Eighty-eight-year-old Iwao Hakamada was acquitted last year after spending nearly 50 years on death row.  Iwao, a former professional boxer, was convicted of the 1966 quadruple murder of his boss, his boss’s wife, and their two children at their house, which was set on fire after the murders.  His death sentence was finalized in 1980.  However, he was eventually granted a retrial after it was determined that investigators had fabricated five key pieces of evidence in the case, including the alleged clothing worn the night of the murders.  It was also found that Iwao was tortured into confessing.  Iwao was acquitted in the case.  Now, his lawyers are filing a defamation lawsuit against the state after the prosecutor general called his acquittal “unacceptable” and implied that he was guilty of the crime.  His lawyers also plan to file a separate lawsuit for national redress due to Iwao’s wrongful conviction.  Although Iwao is now free, his mental state has greatly deteriorated while he was in prison.

Saudi Arabia

On Sunday, February 17, 2025, it was announced that an unnamed Saudi citizen and Somali national Mohamed Nur Hussein Ja’al were executed by beheading.  The Saudi citizen was convicted of murder, while Hussein was convicted and sentenced to death for attempting to smuggle hashish.  His family alleges that his execution was unjust and that he did not have a fair trial.

Singapore

On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, the Singapore Court of Appeals granted a stay of execution to Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, a Malaysian national.  Panni’s execution was only a few hours away at the time of the stay.  Panni was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  His stay was granted to allow time for additional appeals.

Taiwan

On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, the Taiwan High Court upheld a life sentence for Chiang Chia-kai (蔣嘉凱).  Chiang was initially sentenced to death for the November 2021 murder of a convenience store clerk.  The clerk was stabbed to death after asking Chiang to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.  A retrial was ordered by the Supreme Court in April 2024, after finding that the High Court did not explain why it rejected a psychological evaluation that was unfavorable to Chiang while it accepted a favorable one.  At the retrial, the High Court found that Chiang was still eligible for a reduced sentence because he self-surrendered, a factor not considered in his initial trial.

Uganda

Sixty-eight-year-old opposition figure, Kizza Besigye could be sentenced to death.  Kizza, a four-time presidential candidate, is accused of treason through plotting to overthrow the government.  This is not the first time he has faced such charges.  Kizza was kidnapped off the street in Nairobi, Kenya, and taken back to Uganda to face a military court martial, however, the Supreme Court ruled that a civilian cannot be tried by a military court-martial.  In recent court appearances, Kizza’s health appears to be declining and many have called for a compassionate release.

United States of America

The execution of Stanley Adams has been rescheduled from Wednesday, February 19, 2025, to February 16, 2028, in Ohio.  Stanley is convicted of murdering 43-year-old Esther Cook and 12-year-old daughter, Ashley in Warren, Ohio. He is also convicted of raping and murdering 40-year-old Roslyn Taylor on August 6, 1999.  Stanley has been on Ohio’s death row for the last 23 years.

A member of the House of Representatives in Arizona has proposed a constitutional amendment that would execute death row inmates by firing squad.  The measure would need to pass both the Arizona House of Representatives and the Arizona Senate in order to be placed on the ballot for voters to decide in 2026.  The amendment was proposed after the release of the report ordered by Governor Katie Hobbs to revise the death penalty in the state.  The reports outline numerous problems the state has faced related to using lethal injection drugs, among other problems.  The proposal has passed the House Committee on Regular Oversight and is now headed to the full chamber.

A jury in Ohio has determined that Robbi Robinson will not be sentenced to death.  Instead, he will spend the rest of his life in prison, without the possibility of parole.  Robinson is convicted of murdering 50-year-old Brenda Scott, his father’s fiancé, in 2023, while she was sleeping.  Robinson did not have a great relationship with his father and did not like Brenda, resulting in the murder.  

In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, an agreement was reached between Georgia and certain death row inmates.  The agreement said that executions would not be carried out until six months after three conditions were met.  Those conditions were that the state’s COVID-19 judicial emergency expired, normal prison visitation resume, and a COVID-19 vaccine is available to “all members of the public.”  State lawyers allege that all three conditions have been met, however, lawyers for the inmates claim that prison visitation has not yet returned to normal and that a vaccine is not yet available to all members of the public, as children under the age of six months cannot be vaccinated.  Now a judge has recently heard arguments on both sides of the issue regarding the vaccine condition.  The prison visitation condition will be addressed at a later time. The judge has not yet made a ruling on the vaccine issue.

A senator in South Dakota attempting to end capital punishment in the state has not succeeded.  The senator proposed a bill that would have ended capital punishment, however, the proposal did not make it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The death penalty is not frequently used in South Dakota, with only one person on death row in the state at this time.

On October 25, 2023, the bodies of 21-year-old Jahim Solomon and 21-year-old Eric White were found near each other in a wooded area in Vermont.  They had each been reported missing 10 days previously and were known to be traveling together.  Jahim and Eric were determined to have been shot and killed on October 12, 2023.  Twenty-nine-year-old Theodore Bland has been arrested and charged with the murders.  Now, new charges in the case have been filed against him and if he is convicted, he could be given a federal death sentence.  However, federal prosecutors have not yet announced if they will pursue such a case.

After scheduled two executions in Louisiana, a federal lawsuit blocking execution in the state has been reopened.  In 2012, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of death row inmates in Louisiana, arguing that the execution method was “cruel and unusual” which is a violation of their 8th Amendment rights.  Since the start of the lawsuit, electrocution and death by nitrogen gas have been approved as execution methods in Louisiana.  U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick approved the reopening of the lawsuit, stating that the case is now actionable since Louisiana appears to have a viable execution protocol.  No date has yet been set for motions or a hearing in the case.  The reopening of the lawsuit could affect the two executions scheduled in Louisiana for next month.