1830: Agnus Magnusdottir and Fridrik Sigurdsson, Iceland’s last executions

<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJtdwqPZFdLeCzzyeqM_D7gt2KkqonpNZBgwkLXOoxe4LoOdWPeEDsU3KREF5wvM0xZoQKtqZIx8ZiHGacDZNAK5ZzHh1cssdX4ip_VuF5s2pt8HWIMziYrI2xt_fFWLC7yyWXBhyMog/s1600/Iceland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJtdwqPZFdLeCzzyeqM_D7gt2KkqonpNZBgwkLXOoxe4LoOdWPeEDsU3KREF5wvM0xZoQKtqZIx8ZiHGacDZNAK5ZzHh1cssdX4ip_VuF5s2pt8HWIMziYrI2xt_fFWLC7yyWXBhyMog/s400/Iceland.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Iceland last used the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Iceland" target="_blank">death penalty</a> on January 12, 1830 with the beheading of farm servants Agnes Magnusdottir and Fridrik Sigurdsson.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Only threadbare details survive to posterity about their crime: one night in 1828, Agnes roused a neighboring farm to give the alarm that Natan Ketilsson's farmhouse, where she worked, was afire. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Neighbors were able to quench the blaze quickly enough to realize that Ketilsson himself had not died because he was trapped in the flame -- but because he had been stabbed to death, along with another man known as a criminal, Petur Jonsson.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Agnes, 33, and teenager Fridrik were arrested for murder and eventually beheaded on a desolate hill <a href="http://www.picador.com/blog/august-2013/burial-rites-a-photo-essay-from-iceland" target="_blank">on the frozen northern coast</a> where a mossed-over stone still silently marks the spot.*</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Why were these men killed? If the stones remember, <a href="http://herringandclassstruggle.blogspot.com/2013/12/may-it-do-you-good-agnes-magnusdottir.html" target="_blank">they aren't telling</a> and in the scantiness of documentation the job has fallen to literature instead, for there is something to be said for an unexplained double murder in the ashes of a half-burned farm and the novelty of a woman being the very last human to have her head chopped off in Iceland. (On execution day, Fridrik went first.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMlznn1ikMIW0EJGcVokvlrZjzGr-GizfYVMU_Xrh0X8JPIi48EIt27NCLHhLu3bdwhzYtrXnPz3xcPoKwqvWsSGzkl2BJuHUSqZjBO7_8s2xJwbKaigp9RpkkGqonZ6K0N6wyPR0Z-2c/s1600/Burial+Rites+by+Hannah+Kent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMlznn1ikMIW0EJGcVokvlrZjzGr-GizfYVMU_Xrh0X8JPIi48EIt27NCLHhLu3bdwhzYtrXnPz3xcPoKwqvWsSGzkl2BJuHUSqZjBO7_8s2xJwbKaigp9RpkkGqonZ6K0N6wyPR0Z-2c/s400/Burial+Rites+by+Hannah+Kent.jpg" title="Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent</td></tr></tbody></table>Agnes <a href="http://graskeggur.com/blog/84/tough-justice-1830-style" target="_blank">was Natan's lover</a>, but the farmer had a reputation for womanizing and, so all suspect, eyes for Fridrik's young girlfriend;** the inference of a jealous domestic psychodrama perfectly cast on the fringe of the Arctic Sea, of chilly twilit tables gathering furtive eyes above with wandering hands below, seems hard to resist. And then there was the strange coda, while verdicts were sent to Denmark for confirmation,† of the condemned simply living and working among the community waiting to execute them. Nineteenth century rural Iceland was a little short on jail cells and surplus provisions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After studying on an exchange program in Iceland, Australian Hannah Kent found this speculative environment a rich source for her well-received first novel, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316243922/exectoda-20" target="_blank">Burial Rites</a>. (There's a lengthy and interesting podcast interview with her by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/05/16/3760644.htm?site=conversations">here</a>.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kent's drama has made headway in Hollywood, with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/oct/08/jennifer-lawrence-killer-iceland-burial-rites" target="_blank">Jennifer Lawrence</a> said to be keen on playing the tragic lead; if it someday does hit the silver screen, however, it won't even be the first on its subject matter -- witness the 1995 film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137344/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2" target="_blank">Agnes</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">The criminals Fridrik Sigurdsson and Agnes Magnusdottir were today moved out of custody to the place of execution, and following them to the execution site were the priests Reverend Tomasson and Reverend Thorvardur Jonsson, an assistant priest. The criminals had wished that the latter two help them prepare for their deaths. After the priest Johann Tomasson completed a speech of admonition to the convict Fridrik Sigurdsson, Fridrik's head was taken off with one blow of the axe. The farmer Gudmundur Ketilsson,‡ who had been ordered to be executioner, committed the work that he had been asked to do with dexterity and fearlessness. The criminal Agnes Magnusdottir, who, while this was taking place, had been kept at a remote station where she could not see the site of execution, was then fetched. After the Assistant Reverend Thorvardur Jonsson had appropriately prepared her for death, the same executioner cut off her head, and with the same craftsmanship as before. The lifeless heads were then set upon two stakes at the site of execution, and their bodies put in two coffins of untreated boards, and buried before the men were dismissed. While the deed took place, and there until it was finished, everything was appropriately quiet and well-ordered, and it was concluded by a short address by Reverend Magnus Arnason to those that were there. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">Actum ut supra. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">B. Blondal, R. Olsen, A. Arnason</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">(From the Magistrate's Book of <a href="http://ow.ly/ogYr307Xzmw" target="_blank">Hunavatn District</a>, 1830 -- as quoted in the epilogue of Kent's Burial Rites) </blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">* The milestone murderers, or at least their heads, <a href="http://stuckiniceland.com/north/ghost-stories-on-the-trail-of-agnes/" target="_blank">rest in Tjörn</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">** This young woman, Sigridur Gudmundsdottir, was condemned to death with the other two but got to keep her head in the end.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">† Iceland did not become independent of Denmark <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_of_the_Republic_of_Iceland" target="_blank">until 1944</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">‡ The victim's brother was the executioner.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.executedtoday.com/2017/01/12/1830-agnus-magnusdottir-fridrik-sigurdsson-iceland-last-execution/" target="_blank">ExecutedToday.com</a>, January 13, 2017<br /><div><br /></div><div><b>➤ Related article:</b> <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2013/08/burial-rites-hannah-kents-meticulously.html" target="_blank">Burial Rites: Hannah Kent's meticulously researched historical novel tells of the final months of the last woman executed in Iceland</a>, The Guardian, August 28, 2013<br /><div style="color: #444444; direction: ltr; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 1em;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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1830: Agnus Magnusdottir and Fridrik Sigurdsson, Iceland’s last executions

Iceland last used the death penalty on January 12, 1830 with the beheading of farm servants Agnes Magnusdottir and Fridrik Sigurdsson. Only...

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Taiwan: High Court overturns Hsieh Yi-han's death sentence, upholds Huang Lin-kai's death verdict

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2qundRT0gcATU6M9ftVfSx4Opp2b0jPWc7gUddORnNBR1sWt0QlbCW7FT5U66ro66sKKKoT-ROHYVUGAg-8fDHmlGZ_6AV6AKmMIe9nqObMOHE_MbNB3_Td3SSMaMq6MeP6CaLePw6k/s1600/Taipei.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Taipei" border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2qundRT0gcATU6M9ftVfSx4Opp2b0jPWc7gUddORnNBR1sWt0QlbCW7FT5U66ro66sKKKoT-ROHYVUGAg-8fDHmlGZ_6AV6AKmMIe9nqObMOHE_MbNB3_Td3SSMaMq6MeP6CaLePw6k/s400/Taipei.jpg" title="Taipei" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>A new Leaf ? 2 witnesses called by Hsieh Yi-han's defense team said that her chances of rehabilitation were high, and the court paid heed to their testimony</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The High Court yesterday overturned Hsieh Yi-han's death sentence, sentencing her to life imprisonment after she was convicted of committing a double murder at Mama Mouth Cafe in 2013.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hsieh was sentenced to death by 3 lower courts, with the Supreme Court returning the case to the High Court twice for retrial over the murder of businessman Chen Chin-fu and his wife Chang Tsui-ping in February 2013.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At that time, Hsieh was a manager of the Mama Mouth Cafe in New Taipei City's Bali District. She was accused of killing the couple for money and dumping their bodies into Tamsui River, where their bodies were found washed up on shore a few days after they were killed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hsieh's defense lawyer called on 2 expert witnesses in the 2nd retrial, a psychiatrist and a Christian pastor, who had provided counseling to Hsieh during her incarceration, the court said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The expert witnesses testified that the chances of Hsieh's rehabilitation were high. The court overturned her death sentence based on this testimony, it said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ruling can be appealed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Several family members of the victims attended the ruling and afterward said that they felt distraught and could not accept the decision, vowing to appeal to the Supreme Court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a separate civil case in 2014, the High Court ruled that Hsieh must pay NT$9.99 million (US$312,823 at current exchange rates) compensation to Chen's siblings and Chang's mother.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chen's sister said it was clear that Hsieh was greedy and after learning that Chen was wealthy planned to kill the couple.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"She killed 2 people for money. She deserves the death penalty. It is the only way justice can be served," she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although Hsieh was found guilty and the court fined her, the families have not received any payments, Chen's sister said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chen family lawyer Wei Yi-lung said the ruling did not meet society's expectations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hsieh committed a heinous crime for money and fabricated stories about why she did it, even laying blame on the victims, Wei said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In another ruling yesterday, the High Court upheld a death sentence for Huang Lin-kai, who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and her mother in October 2013.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Huang, who was 19 and in compulsory military service at the time, went to his girlfriend's house and strangled the mother to death, before raping his girlfriend and strangling her to death with rope.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The retrial judgement said Huang had no regard for human life and committed highly vicious acts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Given that he is likely to reoffend if released, the court said it decided to uphold the death sentence from a lower court's decision.</div><br />Source: Taipei Times, January 11, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Taiwan: High Court overturns Hsieh Yi-han's death sentence, upholds Huang Lin-kai's death verdict

A new Leaf ? 2 witnesses called by Hsieh Yi-han's defense team said that her chances of rehabilitation were high, and the court paid hee...

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Iran: Child bride faces execution by hanging

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJ4oft4mCXnERCtwJcOcafZGQQ6-3GEuF7sns5QmxqC_RN9Z3ffIzELAy5XJN7DUEB1aDb1X_jRZUDDOiwaRFegfI2N6TQs80in2X0BTmm8xy-huG2FeF22ugaRE8HF0_jzIJhDRb9T8/s1600/Zeinab+Sokian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Zeinab Sokian" border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJ4oft4mCXnERCtwJcOcafZGQQ6-3GEuF7sns5QmxqC_RN9Z3ffIzELAy5XJN7DUEB1aDb1X_jRZUDDOiwaRFegfI2N6TQs80in2X0BTmm8xy-huG2FeF22ugaRE8HF0_jzIJhDRb9T8/s320/Zeinab+Sokian.jpg" title="Zeinab Sokian" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zeinab Sokian</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran comes from a poor, conservative Iranian-Kurdish family, and ran away from home at 15 to marry Hossein Sarmadi in the hope for a better life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Soon after the wedding, Hossein started beating Zeinab - she asked for a divorce, but he refused. She told police, but they ignored her. She ran away, but her family disowned her.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She was 17 when her husband died. Zeinab was arrested and "confessed" that she killed her husband after he'd abused her for months and refused her requests for divorce.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She was then held at the police station for the next 20 days and repeatedly tortured by police officers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After a grossly unfair trial, in which she was denied access to a lawyer during her entire pre-trial detention, <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/10/iran-mother-of-executed-woman-pledges.html" target="_blank">Zeinab was sentenced to death by hanging</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Execution delayed during pregnancy</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2015, Zeinab married a fellow prisoner in Oroumieh Central Prison and became pregnant.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Her execution was delayed while Zeinab was expecting. Last month she gave birth to a stillborn baby, and is now at risk of execution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Doctors said her baby died in her womb 2 days earlier due to shock, around the same time her cell mate and friend was executed on 28 September. She was returned from hospital to the prison the very next day - denied any postnatal support or care since.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Raped by her brother-in-law</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zainab only met her state-appointed lawyer for the first time at her final trial session. It was then that she retracted confessions made when she'd had no access to a lawyer.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She told the court that her husband's brother, who she said had raped her several times, was responsible for the murder and had coerced her into confessing, promising he would pardon her (under Islamic law, murder victims' relatives have the power to pardon the offender and accept financial compensation instead).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This statement was ignored by the court, which instead relied heavily on her old "confessions" to reach its verdict.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDRG_LCaYZOnU-4PJai9DUqw7Hf5O3A4JV1ImfLFE5vBiQbK36iZA3oaEGZRBO73ExfkMZQbhOtU3GepVORZ1Hvh5ydeBYNMTVr3Ijwv8vbxlNXgyGTVvOKEvVCiXiWPYKwYN6zQslz0/s1600/Iran+Juvenile+Offenders+Ph01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDRG_LCaYZOnU-4PJai9DUqw7Hf5O3A4JV1ImfLFE5vBiQbK36iZA3oaEGZRBO73ExfkMZQbhOtU3GepVORZ1Hvh5ydeBYNMTVr3Ijwv8vbxlNXgyGTVvOKEvVCiXiWPYKwYN6zQslz0/s400/Iran+Juvenile+Offenders+Ph01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Iran, girls are held criminally accountable by law from the age of nine (9),<br />and can be sentenced to death by hanging for crimes such as murder,<br />drug trafficking and armed robbery. <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/01/waiting-to-die-iranian-child-inmates.html" target="_blank">Click here to read their stories.</a></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: justify;">A child at the time of the crime</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zainab was just 17 at the time of the crime she is accused of. The courts completely failed to apply juvenile sentencing from Iran's Islamic penal code in her case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They also failed to tell her that she could submit an application for retrial. Iran's penal code falls woefully short of what's required for juvenile offenders under international human rights law, and even the limited safeguards that do exist are not adhered to by the authorities.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people under 18 is also completely prohibited under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran has signed up to.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Thank you</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">More than 80,000 of you signed our petition urging the Iranian authorities to halt Zeinab's execution and throw out her death sentence. Her execution, which was scheduled to go ahead as early as 13 October 2016 is no longer imminent. Zeinab now has a new lawyer working on her case. Together they will submit an application for a retrial - which is Zeinab's right under Article 91 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While this is extremely good news, <b>her death sentence remains in place until a retrial is granted by the authorities</b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately, Zeinab's case is not an isolated case in Iran. We have recorded at least 74 executions of juvenile offenders between 2005 and 2016 in Iran. Scores of young people in Iran remain on death row for crimes committed when they were under 18.</div><br />Source: amnesty.org.uk, January 11, 2017<br /><br /><b>➤ Related content: </b><a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/01/waiting-to-die-iranian-child-inmates.html" target="_blank">Waiting to die: the Iranian child inmates facing execution – in pictures</a>, The Guardian, January 8, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Iran: Child bride faces execution by hanging

Zeinab Sokian Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran comes from a poor, conservative Iranian-Kurdish family, and ran away from home at 15 to marry Hossein...

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Christian Mother Asia Bibi Spends 7th Christmas on Death Row in Pakistan for Blasphemy

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTc27d7GTaZWvODgflbvMPlJ2Xh6HvH0RtwcxrzBy3PunpfNwGlkOilnNmJOltkT4G_gjOV25YD3r13EHInd3gWMmt47uJeolRxycSE2cKmsjuqDibhb3GbeZlCgRdjB-rvbk4I8y7Xiw/s1600/Asia+Bibi+PAKISTAN+Blasphemy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTc27d7GTaZWvODgflbvMPlJ2Xh6HvH0RtwcxrzBy3PunpfNwGlkOilnNmJOltkT4G_gjOV25YD3r13EHInd3gWMmt47uJeolRxycSE2cKmsjuqDibhb3GbeZlCgRdjB-rvbk4I8y7Xiw/s400/Asia+Bibi+PAKISTAN+Blasphemy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Pakistani Christian mother of five Asia Bibi is spending her seventh Christmas in prison after her death sentence appeal was put on hold in October when a judge abruptly recused himself from hearing her case. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bibi, 45, was sentenced to death in 2010 on allegations of blasphemy after two Muslim co-workers accused her of insulting the Muslim prophet Muhammad, something which she denies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bibi's blasphemy allegation stems from an altercation in June 2009 that she had with a group of Muslim women in the town of Sheikhupura in the Punjab province. As the women were picking berries, the Muslim women became enraged when Bibi drank from the same water bowl that they women drank out of.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since Bibi was a Christian, the women considered her unclean. After an argument between the women ensued, the Muslim women went to the police and <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-mother-of-5-asia-bibis-death-sentence-appeal-date-finally-set-by-pakistans-supreme-court-168435/" target="_blank">accused Bibi of saying something along the lines</a> of "My Christ died for me, what did Muhammad do for you?"</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bibi was supposed to find out in October at a final appeal hearing at Pakistan's Supreme Court whether or not she would be executed, but that decision was delayed indefinitely after one of the senior judges, who was set to preside over her appeal, s<a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/asia-bibis-supreme-court-judge-suddenly-quits-over-apparent-fear-of-pakistani-mob-attack-171162/" target="_blank">uddenly resigned</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Local media said that Justice Iqbal Hameed recused himself from the case without giving a specific reason.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">William Stark, a regional manager for South Asia for International Christian Concern, which advocates for persecuted Christians around the world, said in a phone interview with The Christian Post that Bibi's struggle is "the premier case for why blasphemy laws are a problem."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bibi's case, as it now stands, is in what he calls a "wait-and-see" period.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Hopefully in 2017, the Pakistani Supreme Court will form a new bench and will be able to hear her case," Stark said. "And, frankly, if the case is actually heard on the merits, the Supreme Court has no other option but to find for her and actually let her go." </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stark told CP that he's somewhat optimistic for Bibi's case based on recent court rulings on the rights of religious minorities and conversations he's had with her attorney, Saif Malook, who is a Muslim. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If the court rejects her appeal, however, Bibi would be the first woman in Pakistan to be executed for blasphemy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Asia's case is very much a lightning rod within Pakistan itself," Stark said, referencing the 2011 assassination of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, a supporter of Bibi who had planned to reform the country's <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/pakistani-muslims-cheer-executed-murderer-salman-taseer-158838/" target="_blank">strict blasphemy law</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Taseer had been accused by hardline groups of committing blasphemy himself by criticizing the law, which is supposed to protect Muslim sentiments, but according to human rights groups is often used to settle personal scores and oppress Christians and other religious minorities.</div><br /><b><a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-mother-asia-bibi-spends-7th-christmas-death-row-pakistan-blasphemy-172314/" target="_blank">Click here to read the full article</a></b><br /><br />Source: The Christian Post, December 25, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Christian Mother Asia Bibi Spends 7th Christmas on Death Row in Pakistan for Blasphemy

Pakistani Christian mother of five Asia Bibi is spending her seventh Christmas in prison after her death sentence appeal was put on hold in ...

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Concern around secret sentencing to death of Gaza woman

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6gxOzCaBvY6ciA7-OM6uDew-dvTB-Aj4qB4ua92NYAvljGgfyw9m5HoujiqffwgUyNzMJIbArhGiinQa4Ufq4kwSL834cpAI3lfrnhDIJOEqrNlq0Sm1XLfc6pXBmjSnXXKChCbogOA/s1600/Execution+Hani+Abu+Aliyan+Gaza+Oct+2+2013+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Execution of a convicted murderer in Gaza City on October 2, 2013" border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6gxOzCaBvY6ciA7-OM6uDew-dvTB-Aj4qB4ua92NYAvljGgfyw9m5HoujiqffwgUyNzMJIbArhGiinQa4Ufq4kwSL834cpAI3lfrnhDIJOEqrNlq0Sm1XLfc6pXBmjSnXXKChCbogOA/s400/Execution+Hani+Abu+Aliyan+Gaza+Oct+2+2013+b.jpg" title="Execution of a convicted murderer in Gaza City on October 2, 2013" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Execution of a convicted murderer in Gaza City on October 2, 2013</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">The case of the 1st Palestinian woman to be sentenced to death in more than 20 years has raised concerns among human right activists in Gaza.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 26-year-old woman, identified only as Nahia A, was convicted of killing her husband but her trial was held in secret and even her family has distanced themselves publicly from the case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"They were afraid of revenge from the husband's family," said Zeinab Al Ghounimi of the Centre for Women's Legal Research and Consulting, which stepped in to help after Nahia A's family declined even to provide her with legal representation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Her lawyer, Bakr Torkmani, said the woman is the mother of a young boy and had been married against her will. She lived in complete destitution in Khan Yunis, at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, and was repeatedly beaten by her husband.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Her husband's family has refused to let her see her son since she has been in jail. "I hope public opinion and media reports will have an impact on the judges after the haste they showed in handing out this death sentence," said Mr Torkmani.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the Gaza's attorney general Ismail Jaber, the woman stabbed her husband in the back several times when he stopped to answer a call of nature while they were out in their donkey cart. She had allegedly purchased the knife some days earlier. The authorities say she confessed after her arrest on January 31 and other testimony showed the killing was premeditated. She was convicted and sentenced on October 5 after a trial held behind closed doors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Once all procedural steps have been completed, we will sign off on the implementation of the sentence," said Mr Jaber.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nahia A is the 1st woman to be sentenced to death in the Palestinian Territories since 1994, and her case highlights concerns over the continued use of the death penalty, especially in the Gaza Strip. Unlike the West Bank, Palestine's coastal enclave is ruled by the strict Islamist movement, Hamas. It has also endured a 10-year blockade and 3 wars with Israel since 2008.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Under Palestinian law, murder, drug-trafficking and collaborating with Israel are all punishable by death. There have been 33 executions in Gaza since 1994 but since Hamas took power there in 2007, 96 people have been sentenced to death, mostly for spying for Israel. 21 death sentences have been handed out this year alone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By contrast, in the West Bank, which is ruled by the Fatah-party-dominated Palestinian Authority, there have been only 2 executions since 1994 and none since 2002.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Jaber said the death penalty was necessary to deter revenge attacks and also because the families of victims demanded it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The aim is not to increase criminality," he said. "What we want is to reduce it and eliminate it." The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights intends to appeal against Nahia A's sentence. In the meantime, she remains behind bars in Gaza City.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Palestinian law does not make a distinction between criminals according to their sex," said Mr Jaber.</div><br />Source: The National, December 14, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Concern around secret sentencing to death of Gaza woman

Execution of a convicted murderer in Gaza City on October 2, 2013 The case of the 1st Palestinian woman to be sentenced to death in more tha...

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