International Death Penalty News 2024, Issue 52: China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, United States of America

China

A court in Zhuhai, China has sentenced Fan Weiqiu to death.  Fan was convicted of murdering 35 people by driving his car into a crowd last month.  The court found that Fan was “venting his anger” due to his unhappiness over a divorce settlement.  He pleaded guilty to the charges against him.  His trial took just a week, following his arrest, which is unusually fast.  However, there have been an increase in mass casualty attacks in China President Xi Jinping is seeking to crack down on the attacks.  

A court in Changde, China issued a suspended death sentence to Huang Wen, who was convicted of driving his car into a crowd of elementary school students. Thirty individuals were wounded, over half of them children.  Suspended death sentences are usually commuted to life in prison, if the inmate does not commit additional crimes during his suspension period.  Huang drove his car into the crowd after losing invested money.

India

A death penalty is being sought for a 54-year-old man who is accused of murdering two minor girls.  The bodies of the girls, ages eight and nine, were found inside a water storage drum near their home.  The man, who knew the families and worked as a cook, was arrested the following day.  

Indonesia

The new administration of President Prabowo Subianto, in a surprise move, plans to issue pardons to 44,000 inmates in the nation.  Few details have been released about the plan, including who will receive the pardons, however, Indonesian prisons are known for being overcrowded.  The Law Minister has cited humanitarianism and rehabilitation as some of the reasons for the pardons.  In recent weeks, several high-profile prisoners have been returned to their home nations including five “Bali 9” members to Australia and Mary Jane Veloso, a death row inmate, to the Philippines.  On Friday, December 20, 2024, 61-year-old Frenchman Serge Atlaoui sent a request to be returned home to his family.  Serge has been on death row in Indonesia for nearly 20 years.  He was convicted of being involved in manufacturing ecstasy, however, he and his lawyers claim he was only a welder at the factory and did not know what was being produced.  Serge currently has cancer and is asking to be returned to France to serve out the rest of his sentence.

Iran

On Monday, November 18, 2024, six individuals were executed by hanging in Ghezelhesar Prison.  Four of the men, identified as Afghan national Abdolbari Pakouhi, Hassan Ali Yousefi, Majid Jamshidi, and Sohrab Amirpour, were executed on drug-related charges.  Another man, Farzad Norouzikhah, was 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 deceased chooses if the convicted is granted forgiveness or demands qisas or diya  (blood money).  There is no limit to the amount of diya that can be demanded and if the convicted is unable to pay, they can be executed.  A sixth man, Rastgouyi Kondlaj, was sentenced to death on the charge of efsad-fil-arz “through terrorizing and injuring women in different areas of Tehran.” Rastgouyi’s execution has been reported by the media.  The other five executions have not yet been reported by state officials or the media.  

On Saturday, December 14, 2024, Mojtaba Jamshidian was executed in Rasht Central Prison.  Executions are traditionally carried out by hanging.  He was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  His execution has not yet been reported by state officials or the media.

On Tuesday, December 17, 2024, 35-year-old Efat Hamedi, 38-year-old Yousef Satari, 45-year-old Jamal Asgarabadi, and 47-year-old Manouchehr Hedayati were executed in Sari Central Prison.  Efat, the mother of a nine-year-old son, was convicted of murdering her husband and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Yousef was convicted of murdering his friend over a finance dispute and was also sentenced to qisas.  Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional murder and mitigating evidence is rarely considered.  After conviction, the family of the deceased chooses if the convicted is granted forgiveness or demands qisas or diya  (blood money).  There is no limit to the amount of diya that can be demanded and if the convicted is unable to pay, they can be executed.  Jamal and Manouchehr were both convicted and sentenced to death on separate drug-related charges.  State officials and the media have not reported any of the four executions.  

On Wednesday, December 18, 2024, 30-year-old Jebrael Naseri was executed in Rasht Central Prison.  Jabrael was the father of one child and was arrested almost four years ago.  He was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  State officials and the media have not yet reported his execution. 

On Wednesday, December 18, 2024, 35-year-old Mohammad Shamsollahi was expected in Hamedan Central Prison.  Executions are traditionally carried out by hanging.  Mohammad was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  His execution has not yet been reported by state officials or the media.

On Wednesday, December 18, 2024, Rahim Barin and Jamal Naboureh were executed in Mahabad Prison.  Rahim was arrested about nine years ago, while Jamal was arrested about two years ago.  They were convicted on separate murder charges 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 deceased chooses if the convicted is granted forgiveness or demands qisas or diya  (blood money).  There is no limit to the amount of diya that can be demanded and if the convicted is unable to pay, they can be executed.  State officials and the media have not yet reported these executions. 

On Saturday, December 21, 2024, 30-year-old Arman Samadi and 29-year-old Ashkan Parseh were executed in Isfahan Central Prison, likely by hanging.  Both men were arrested about four years ago.  They were each convicted and sentenced to death on separate drug-related charges.  State officials and the media have not yet reported their executions.

On Saturday, December 21, 2024, Soltan Jahantigh, a Baluch ethnic minority, was executed in Zahedan Central Prison.  Soltan, the father of six children, was arrested along with two of his relatives about five years ago.  They were all 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 deceased chooses if the convicted is granted forgiveness or demands qisas or diya  (blood money).  There is no limit to the amount of diya that can be demanded and if the convicted is unable to pay, they can be executed. State officials and the media have not yet reported his execution.

On Monday, December 23, 2024, 45-year-old Loghman Ahmadi Aghdam was executed in Urmia Central Prison.  Loghman was arrested about six years ago.  He was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  State officials and the media have not yet reported his execution.  

On Tuesday, December 24, 2024, the media announced the execution of an unnamed man at an unspecified prison on an unspecified date.  The man was reported to have been convicted of murdering “two rangers while illegally hunting in the Dareh Bagh protected area of Banavat country on 27 May 2022.” Under Iranian law, all killings are considered intentional murder and mitigating evidence is rarely considered.  After conviction, the family of the deceased chooses if the convicted is granted forgiveness or demands qisas or diya  (blood money).  There is no limit to the amount of diya that can be demanded and if the convicted is unable to pay, they can be executed. 

On Tuesday, December 24, 2024, 28-year-old Davoud Ghalijayi was executed in Birjand Central Prison.  Davoud was a Baluch ethnic minority.  He was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges after his arrest about five years ago.  Allegedly, Davoud was denied the opportunity of a final visit with his family to say goodbye.  His execution has not yet been reported by state officials and the media.   

On Wednesday, December 25, 2024, Hamed Pakdaman, Masoud Jalilian, and Hossein Mansouri-Nasb were executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison.  Executions are traditionally carried out by hanging.  Hamed was convicted of moharebeh that is, enmity against God.  He committed a robbery while armed with a weapon.  The other two, Masoud and Hossein were convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  State officials and the media have not yet reported the executions.

Japan

Media has reported that female death row inmate Chisako Kakehi had died in prison.  She was 78 years of age.  Chisako was convicted of murdering three men with the intent to inherit their assets between 2012 and 2013.  One of the men she was convicted of murdering was her 75-year-old husband Isao.  She was also in a relationship with the other two men when she murdered them.  A fourth male acquaintance of Chisako was murdered in 2007.  He was killed so Chisako would not have to repay a debt.  Chisako’s cause of death has not yet been reported.  

United States of America

On Monday, December 23, 2024, President Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 federal death row prisoners, leaving only three prisons currently on federal death row.  The 37 inmates had their sentences commuted to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.  When Biden took office in 2021, he issued a moratorium on federal executions in stark contrast to his predecessor Donald Trump.  Trump carried out 13 federal executions in the final months of his presidency.  Before that, the last federal execution had been 16 years earlier.  Biden has previously spoken out against the death penalty and during his campaign promised to consider commutation for federal death row inmates.  In announcing the commutations, Biden hinted that Trump’s re-election as President factored into his decision to issue the commutations.  The three inmates who remain on federal death row are: Robert Bowers, who is convicted of the 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Dylann Roof, who is convicted of the 2015 mass shooting at  Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is convicted of the 2013 bombing near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  Many families of the victims of the now former death row inmates have spoken out against not only the commutations but also the timing.

President-elect Donald Trump responded to President Joe Biden’s commutation of 37 federal death row inmates by vowing to “vigorously pursue” capital punishment while he is President.  After President Biden’s commutation, there remain only three inmates on federal death row, none of whom have completed all their appeals. Trump has spoken out in favor of capital punishment and has considered expanding what crimes are eligible for capital punishment to include rape and some drug-related crimes.  

In 2024, 25 executions were carried out in the United States, which is one more execution than in 2023.  Throughout the year, there were 26 individuals given new death sentences.  In 2024, Alabama became the first state to carry out an execution using nitrogen gas.  Kenneth Smith was the first inmate executed by nitrogen gas in January.  Since then, two more inmates were executed in Alabama using nitrogen gas.  Approval for nitrogen gas was given after the state faced increased difficulties obtaining execution drugs.  A total of nine states carried out executions in 2024.