International Death Penalty News 2022, Issue 28: Iran, Sudan, United States of America

Iran

On Wednesday, July 6, 2022, 34-year-old Fardin Zekri was executed in Shiraz Central Prison.  He was convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  The murder occurred during a financial dispute.  Before his arrest, he worked in a greenhouse.  State officials and media have not reported his execution.

On Wednesday, July 6, 2022, Mehdi Karimi was executed in Sari Central Prison.  He was convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.  Mehdi was a hairdresser before his arrest.  State officials and the media have not yet reported his execution.

On Thursday, July 7, 2022, Zarif Kakar, a Baluch man, was executed by hanging in Zabol Prison.  Zarif was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  State officials and media have not reported the execution.

On Thursday, July 7, 2022, 33-year-old Behzad Narouyi, a Baluch minority was executed in Zahedan Central Prison.  Behzad, a former taxi driver, was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  State officials and media have not reported his execution.

On Saturday, July 9, 2022, 38-year-old Abolfazl Rahmani and 40-year-old Mehrollah Rigi were executed in Qom Central Prison.  Both men were convicted and executed on drug-related charges.

State media has announced the execution of an unnamed man in Jolfa Prison, East Azerbaijan Prison.  The execution was carried out on an unknown date.  The man, along with two others, was convicted of setting fire to the house, killing a pregnant woman and her six-year-old child.  One of his codefendants is also facing execution, while the third has been granted forgiveness by the family of the victim.

On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, 34-year-old Ali Ch was executed in Mashhad Central Prison.  Ali was convicted of murdering a “senior intelligence police officer,” Colonel Seyyed Javad Jafarian (then head of the Violent Crime Department of the Khorasan Razavi Intelligence Police).  Ali was sentenced to qisas, that is, retribution in kind.

On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, Rasoul Moradgholi was executed in Sari Central Prison.  Rasoul was convicted and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.  State media and officials have not reported his execution.

On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, 27-year-old Farzad Garavand and 28-year-old Mohammad Hatami were expected in Karaj Penitentiary.  They were convicted of moharebeh (enmity against God) for armed robbery.

Sudan

Twenty-year-old Maryam Alsyed Tiyrab has been sentenced to death by stoning.  She was convicted of adultery.  She plans to appeal her sentence, as most such sentences are eventually overturned by the high court.  Allegedly, Maryam was denied legal representation during her trial.

United States of America

On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, Texas planned to execute 39-year-old Ramiro Gonzales.  His execution was stayed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.  His execution was halted because the doctor who testified during his trial that he would be a future danger has since come forward saying the data he used was wrong.  Ramiro’s case will now return to a lower court.  Ramiro is convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Bridget Townsend on January 15, 2001, in Bandera, Texas. 

Former North Carolina death row inmate Marcus Robinson was recently found dead in his cell at Scotland Correctional Institution.  His death was eventually ruled a suicide.  He was 49 years of age.  Marcus was sentenced to death in 1994 for his part in the robbery that resulted in the death of 17-year-old Erik Tornblom.  His death sentence was eventually overturned after the passage of the 2009 Racial Justice Act.  Marcus was the first death row inmate to successfully use the Racial Justice Act to overturn his death sentence.  The Act allows black inmates to claim that their death sentence was racially motivated.  In 2020, his death sentence was overturned and he was resentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.

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