International Death Penalty News 2022, Issue 23: China, India, Iran, Russia, United States of America

China

The Intermediate People’s Court in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, sentenced Tong Daochi to death, with a two-year reprieve.  Daochi was convicted of receiving bribes.  Before his arrest, he was a securities watchdog official and Party chief of Sanya in Hainan Province.  Daochi was also convicted of insider trading while working as the vice director of the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s public office.  Since he confessed to crimes and turned over his illegal profits, Daochi was given a reprieve from the death penalty.  Daochi has also stated that he will not appeal his sentence.

India

Forty-five-year-old Mohan Chauhan was sentenced to death by a Special Court for the brutal rape and murder of a 32-year-old woman.  The case was classified as “rarest of rare,” making it eligible for the death penalty.  The punishment was announced three days after Mohan was convicted of the crime.

Iran

On Saturday, May 7, 2022, Nourahmad Baranzehi was executed in Isfahan Central Prison.  Executions are usually carried out by hanging.  Nourahmad, a Baluch minority, was executed on drug-related charges.  He spent about four years in prison before his execution.  His execution has not yet been reported by state officials or the media.  

On Sunday, May 29, 2022, Mehdi Sarhadi, a member of the Baluch minority group, was executed in Isfahan Central Prison.  He was 36 years of age and convicted on drug-related charges about four years ago.  Allegedly, Mehdi was promised a pardon from prison officials if he memorized certain Quran verses.  Despite memorizing the verses, he was executed anyway.  His execution has not been reported by state officials or the media.

On Sunday, May 29, 2022, 40-year-old Akbar Hassanlou was executed in Zanjan Central Prison.  Akbar was arrested about four years ago and convicted of murder.  He was sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Before his arrest, Akbar worked in construction.

On Tuesday, May 31, 2022, Mehdi Faraji was executed at Isfahan Central Prison.  Mehdi was convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  His execution has not been reported by state officials or the media.  Iranian law has no distinction in the law for intentional murder and accidentally killing another person, which includes self-defense.  All are charged and convicted of intentional murder.

On Wednesday, June 1, 2022, an unnamed was executed by hanging in Raja Shahr Prison.  The man was allegedly hanged by his own son.  He was convicted of stabbing to death his wife on March 20, 2019.  This execution has not been confirmed by state officials or the media.

On Thursday, June 2, 2022, Behnam Khanjani and Farhad Ramezanian were executed in Rasht Central Prison.  Executions are traditionally carried out by hanging.  Both men were convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Farhad was convicted of murdering his wife.  Neither execution has been reported by state officials or the media.

On Monday, June 6, 2022, 12 prisoners were executed in Zahedan Central Prison.  All of the executed were Baluch minorities.  They have been identified as 25-year-old Ebrahim Ghaljayi, Jalil Gargij, Dastgir Gargij, 32-year-old Ebrahim Rakhshani, Mohammad Nabi-Kabdani also known as “Ebrahim Gargij”, 50-year-old Nasir Mohammadani, 36-year-old Mehdi Nasiri, Mohammad Ali Kahrazehi, Mohammad Omar Kahrazehi, Isa Safari, and a woman only identified as Ms. Gargij.   Ebrahim Ghaljayi, Jalil, Dastgir, Ebrahim Rakhshani, Mohammad, and Nasir were convicted on drug-related charges.  The remaining six were convicted on separate murder charges and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  None of the executions have been reported by state officials or media.  

On Wednesday, June 8, 2022, Sattar Arghandeh was executed in Ilam Central Prison.  He was convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Sattar left behind two children.  His execution has not been reported by state officials or the media.

Russia

Twenty-eight-year-old Aiden Aslin and 48-year-old Shaun Pinner, have been sentenced to death.  Both men were captured in Mariupol, Ukraine.  The two British men were charged as being mercenaries.  They argued that they were serving full-time in the Ukrainian military and had lived in the country for several years before Russia’s invasion.  After their arrest, their case was fast-tracked in a special trial in separatist-controlled Ukraine.  The British government has spoken out against the sentence.

United States of America

On Wednesday, June 8, 2022, Frank Atwood was executed in Arizona.  He was 66 years of age and pronounced dead at 10:16 am local time.  He was executed for the murder of eight-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson on September 17, 1984, in Tucson, Arizona. 

On Thursday, June 9, 2022, Tennessee planned to execute Harold Nicholes.  His execution was stayed.   Fifty-nine-year-old Harold is convicted of raping and murdering 21-year-old Karen Pulley, on September 30, 1988, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His execution was halted, along with all other executions in the state, to allow for an independent investigation into the lethal injection testing oversight that resulted in an execution being halted earlier this year.   

Judge Stephen Friot, a federal judge reviewing Oklahoma’s execution protocol, has ruled that the three-drug lethal injection method is conditional.  This ruling allows Oklahoma to seek execution dates for the more than two dozen death row inmates who have exhausted their appeals and were participants in the case.  Attorney General John O’Conner has announced that he plans to begin seeking execution dates following the ruling.

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