execution

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Amnesty Moves to Stop 128 Iraqi Executions

Says international standards may have been ignored in trials

(Newser) - Amnesty International has called for Iraq not to execute 128 prisoners sentenced to death, saying their trials may not have conformed with international rules, Reuters reports. Amnesty says Iraq should release the names of and charges against the prisoners, noting that capital punishment is an ineffective threat when suicide bombing...

Top Saddam Aides Get 15 Years for Killings

'Down with the occupiers,' his half-bro shouts as sentence is read

(Newser) - Saddam Hussein’s ex-foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, and his cousin “Chemical Ali” al-Majid were both sentenced today to 15 years in prison for their involvement in the 1992 execution of 42 Baghdad merchants. The pair was among eight defendants, and only one—then governor of Iraq’s central bank—...

Recession May Kill Pricey Death Penalty

Worried about legal costs, states consider abolition

(Newser) - Death and taxes may always be with us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fiddle with them. Specifically, as the recession decreases tax revenue for states, some are considering abolishing the death penalty, which can cost millions. “And we can’t afford that, when there are better...

Iraq Prepares Grim Saddam Museum

Anniversary of leader's execution commemorated

(Newser) - Two years ago today Saddam Hussein breathed his last, but Iraq is taking steps to ensure the dictator isn't forgotten, reports Reuters. Soon, the country will open a dark museum full of artifacts from Saddam’s reign, including the torture devices he employed, the chair he was tried in, and...

Cops Probe US Embassy Bomb Threat
Cops Probe
US Embassy
Bomb Threat

Cops Probe US Embassy Bomb Threat

Indonesia tightens security ahead of Bali bombers' execution

(Newser) - Indonesian police are investigating a text-messaged threat to blow up the American and Australian embassies in Jakarta if convicted Bali bombers are executed, Reuters reports. Three Islamic militants convicted of playing a role in Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people six years ago have exhausted their avenues of appeal...

Saddam Stabbed After Death: Guard

(Newser) - Saddam Hussein’s body was mutilated after his execution, says a guard present at his internment. “There were six stab wounds on his body,” two of them to his back, the Iraqi told the London Times. The guard said 300 people witnessed the desecrated body, but Iraqi officials...

Texas Steps Up Executions to Clear Logjam

State empties death row of 12 inmates over 6 weeks

(Newser) - A dozen condemned inmates in Texas's "death watch" cells are being executed at a scheduled rate of two a week through November. The executions relieve a logjam created when the US Supreme Court effectively halted lethal injections while deciding whether the method was unconstitutionally inhumane. It ruled the method...

Con Wins Death Stay in Judge Affair Appeal

Relationship between judge and prosecutor not reason for decision

(Newser) - A Texas death-row inmate who filed an appeal alleging that an affair between the judge and prosecutor compromised his trial has been granted a stay of execution. But, ABC News reports, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals approved Charles Dean Hood's request based not on the affair but because of...

Death Row Con Wins Hearing Over Courtroom Hanky Panky

Alleges affair between judge, prosecutor

(Newser) - A condemned Texas inmate has won a hearing to decide whether his lawyers can question the judge and prosecutor at his capital case trial about an alleged affair the two were having while the proceedings were unfolding, ABC News reports. A former county DA filed a sworn statement last year...

US Officers: We Executed Handcuffed Iraqi Captives

Prisoners were killed to avenge platoon's losses, investigators told

(Newser) - Three US officers shot four blindfolded and handcuffed Iraqi detainees early last year and dumped their bodies in a canal, according to statements made to military investigators and obtained by the New York Times. The men are likely to face murder charges. Four others from the same platoon have been...

Texas Defies UN, Executes Killer

World Court had ordered hearing

(Newser) - A Mexican national convicted of raping and murdering two girls was executed in Texas yesterday in defiance of an international court. Attorneys for Jose Medellin, 33, had argued that authorities violated an international treaty when Medellin was denied access to Mexican consular officials after his arrest, reports the Houston Chronicle....

Report: California Death Penalty in Critical Condition

Panel calls for reforms to clear massive execution backlog

(Newser) - California's capital punishment system is nearing collapse, according to a state commission. The time between sentencing and execution in the state is as long as 25 years—double the national average. The panel recommended California spend $100 million a year to hire more lawyers and clear the "overwhelmed" appeals...

Aussie Pardoned 86 Years After Execution

New tests reveal evidence flaw that went undetected in 1921

(Newser) - An Australian man hanged for raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl has been pardoned 86 years after his execution, Reuters reports. Hairs found in his bed that were said to belong to the victim weren’t hers, recent tests showed. The attorney general said the case was a warning against...

Execution Ban Lifted, States Ready the Death Chambers

With Supreme Court's blessing, officials move to play catch-up

(Newser) - States are getting ready to catch up on executions now that a Supreme Court moratorium has been lifted, the New York Times reports. At least 14 executions have been scheduled in six states in coming months. "The Supreme Court has essentially blessed their way of doing things," a...

Saddam Aide Begins Trial in Baghdad
Saddam Aide Begins Trial
in Baghdad

Saddam Aide Begins Trial in Baghdad

Former top diplomat Aziz faces death for executing merchants

(Newser) - The trial of Saddam Hussein’s former deputy prime minister began today in Baghdad, the New York Times reports. Tariq Aziz could get the death penalty for ordering the 1992 execution of more than 40 Iraqi merchants accused of price-gouging. The judge, however, has adjourned until May 20 because of...

China Gets 'Gold Medal' for Executions

World leader doesn't report thousands more, Amnesty says

(Newser) - China's 470 executions in 2007 make it the world's leader, according to Amnesty International's annual report on the worldwide state of capital punishment. But even that number is likely low, the group says, with the real number probably in the thousands. "China gets the 'gold medal' for global executions,...

Saddam's Last Days Revealed
 Saddam's Last Days Revealed 

Saddam's Last Days Revealed

CNN tours the former dictator's US detention cell

(Newser) - The dictator who ruled with a murderous fist spent his time writing in his journal and tending to a small garden his captors allowed him in the prison courtyard. And on his execution day, the man known as "Vic" told guards to tell his daughter he was going to...

'Chemical Ali' Slated to Hang
'Chemical Ali' Slated to Hang

'Chemical Ali' Slated to Hang

Convicted of genocide, cousin of Saddam has death sentence approved

(Newser) - Saddam Hussein's cousin "Chemical Ali" will be hanged now that the last legal obstacle to his execution has been eliminated by the Iraqi presidency council, Reuters reports. The execution of Ali Hassan al-Majid will take place in a matter of days, according to a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister...

9/11 Executions Could Take Place in Gitmo

Military rules changed allowing executions far from federal courts

(Newser) - Six 9/11 suspects detained at Gitmo could be executed at the controversial prison compound if found guilty, legal experts say. Military regulations used to require that executions take place at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, but that rule was amended two years ago to allow prisoners to be executed in "...

Death Penalty Details Withheld
Death Penalty Details Withheld

Death Penalty Details Withheld

As high court weighs lethal injection, actual methods are shrouded in secrecy

(Newser) - With a landmark case coming before the Supreme Court today on lethal injection, the Los Angeles Times examines the unusual secrecy that shrouds the execution method. Defense lawyers who argue that it inflicts unnecessary pain are routinely blocked from information about executioners and the drugs injected. States say such information...

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