International Death Penalty News, Issue 13: Bangladesh, India, Iran, Japan, Pakistan, United States of America

Bangladesh

On Friday, March 21, 2025, 31-year-old Lesedi Molapisi was executed by hanging at Dhaka Central Jail.  Molapisi, a Botswana national, was arrested at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after officials discovered heroin in her luggage.  She was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death.  Bangladesh has some of the strictest drug laws in the world.  Her family is seeking to have her body returned for a burial.

India

Twenty-eight-year-old Sonu Singh has been sentenced to death by a judge for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl on December 28, 2023.  Singh lured the young girl away from her grandfather’s tea shop in Mohalla New Ram Nagar, Ludhiana.  He kidnapped her and took her to a room where he raped and murdered her.  Her family reported the child missing several hours after she disappeared.  As required by law, the death sentence will be reviewed.

Iran

On January 19, 2025, two men were executed by hanging in Gorgan Central Prison.  Their identities have now been revealed as 38-year-old Bahram Valipour and 35-year-old Hossein Farhadi.  Both men were executed on drug-related charges.  Bahram was arrested about two years ago.  Hossein, who was married and had a child, was arrested about four years ago.  He worked as an orchard caretaker before his arrest.  State officials and the media have not yet reported their executions.

On February 25, 2025, Faramarz Keifari was executed by hanging at Rasht 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 Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Ahmad Yarmohammadi was executed by hanging in Doroud Prison.  He was arrested about four years ago and convicted of murder.  Ahmad was 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 deceased chooses between granting forgiveness, demanding qisas, or demanding diya (blood money).  There is no limit to the amount of diya that can be demanded and if it is not paid, the inmate is often executed.  Ahmad’s execution has not yet been reported by state officials or the media. 

On Saturday, March 15, 2025, 28-year-old Heidar Safdari and 30-year-old Sohrab Niazi were executed by hanging at Qazvin Central Prison.  They were arrested two and three years ago respectively.  Both men were convicted and sentenced to death on separate drug-related charges.  State officials and the media have not yet reported their executions.

On Sunday, March 16, 2025, 36-year-old Kourosh Zare was executed by hanging at Rasht Central Prison.  Kourosh, a father of two, was arrested about two years ago.  He was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  His execution has not yet been reported by state officials or the media.

Japan

Eight-nine-year-old Iwao Hakamada spent over 40 years on death row before he was exonerated of the crimes for which he was convicted and sentenced to death.  Now, he has been awarded a record compensation for his time in prison, over 217 million yen, or nearly $1.5 million  Iwao, a boxer before he went to prison, was convicted of murdering his boss, the boss’s wife, and their two teenage children in 1966.  He was eventually exonerated due to the efforts of his sister showing that police tampered with evidence in his case, including planting evidence a year after the murders occurred.

Pakistan

Twenty-four-year-old Arsalan Gill has been arrested and could be sentenced to death for blasphemy.  Arsalan was arrested due to comments made in a Facebook group chat under his name.  According to Arsalan, he was added to two Facebook group chats without his knowledge.  He also did not know the content that was being posted on the chats.  Arsalan and his family are Catholic and Christians are frequently targeted and falsely accused of blasphemy in the Muslim-majority nation.  If convicted, Arsalan could be sentenced to death.  Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have received international condemnation, as they are frequently misused to settle personal disputes.  Additionally, there are groups known to target Christians and entrap them online.  Christians are frequently shunned in society and can struggle to find work and make a living.

United States of America

District Attorney James Montoya has announced that he will not be seeking the death penalty against Patrick Crusius.  Crusius has admitted to murdering 23 people, and injuring 22 others, in a racial shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.  The shooting occurred on August 3, 2019.  Crusius purposefully drove over 10 hours to a Walmart in a predominately Hispanic area.  It is unclear at this time why the state has declined to pursue capital punishment.  However, in the federal case against Crusius, the removal of capital punishment resulted in him pleading guilty and being sentenced to 90 consecutive terms of life in prison.  Additionally, attorneys for Crusius have argued that he has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder.

Nathan J. Hochman, the District Attorney in Los Angeles, California, has ended several policies enacted by his predecessors, including the police forbidding prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in any case.  The new policy allows prosecutors to seek capital punishments in exceeding rare cases after an extensive and comprehensive review of cases.

A jury in California has unanimously recommended that 53-year-old Adam Slater be sentenced to death.  Slater is convicted of murdering his one-year-old daughter Madalyn in 2020.  The crime occurred during a child custody exchange in Indian Well, California in 2020. After exchanging custody of Madalyn with his wife, Slater began attacking his pregnant wife, stabbing her in the chin and abdomen.  Slater then grabbed Madalyn and drove away.  He called his roommates and stated he intended to commit suicide.  Slater drove his car off a cliff into a ravine.  Both survived the crash and a good Samaritan attempted to help them.  After rescuing the child, he attempted to help Slater, however, Slater grabbed the child and threw her further into the ravine, and then piled rocks on top of her.  Police arrived and quickly arrested Slater, who asked to be sentenced to death.

On Thursday, March 27, 2025, a jury in Sacramento, California recommended that Adel Sambrano Ramos be sentenced to death.  Ramos is convicted of murdering 26-year-old police officer Tara O’Sullivan on June 19, 2019.  At the time of her murder, Officer O’Sullivan was helping a domestic abuse victim gather her belongings.  Ramos opened fire, striking Officer O’Sullivan, which eventually resulted in her death.  Ramos will formally be sentenced next month.

A judge in California refused to resentence death row inmate Richard Farley to life in prison.  Farley, a former software technician, was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering seven individuals and injuring four others, at his former workplace in 1988. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen was seeking to have Farley’s death sentence reduced to life in prison, as he had done with the 12 other death row inmates in his jurisdiction over the last year.  In refusing to reduce the sentence, Superior Court Judge Benjamin Williams stated that “there is no reason…to believe that Mr. Farley is any less dangerous today or has rehabilitated himself.”  Despite having no disciplinary actions against him during his time in prison, Farley failed to undergo rehabilitation and express remorse for his actions.  Executions have been on hold since Governor Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium, although no execution has been carried out since 2006.

Federal prosecutors have not yet decided if they will seek the death penalty against 72-year-old Rafael Caro Quintero, a Mexican drug lord.  Caro Quintero is accused of numerous charges including leading a continuing criminal enterprise and responsibility for the 1985 murder of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, an agent with the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

On Wednesday, March 26, 2025, Jonathan Michael Monk was sentenced to death in North Carolina.  Monk is convicted of participating in a prison escape attempt at Pasquotank Correctional Institute on Oct. 12, 2017, that resulted in the deaths of four prison workers.  Six other prison workers were also injured in the escape attempt.  At the time, Monk was serving time for murdering Justin and Tabatha Dupree in February 2011.  The four prison workers were identified as Veronica Darden, Justin Smith, Geoffrey Howe, and Wendy Shannon. Monk was part of a four-man group that was attempting to escape.  Two of the other men, Mikel Brady and Wisezah Buchman, have also been sentenced to death.  The trial for the fourth man involved in the escape attempt, Seth Frazier, has not yet begun.

The State Senate in Texas recently passed a bill that would permit the death penalty for a person convicted of murdering a child, or children, under the age of 15.  Previously law required the child to be under the age of 10.  They could also receive a sentence of life in prison.  The bill now moves on to the House of Representatives, where it needs to pass before being sent to the governor.

Brad Little, Governor of Idaho, has signed into law a bill that permits the death penalty for those who sexually abuse children under the age of 16.  The bill takes effect on July 1, 2025, however, it will likely face legal challenges.  The Supreme Court of the United States has previously ruled that the death penalty can only be used in cases of murder.  However, Idaho is not the only state that has recently passed such a bill.  Tennessee and Florida have both passed similar laws.