Sept. 23
IRAN----executions
8 People Hanged in Various Iranian Prisons
A total of 8 prisoners were reported hanged in various Iranian prisoners.
Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the state-run media, have
not announced these 8 executions.
According to close sources, on Tuesday September 19, a prisoner was reportedly
hanged at Khorramabad Central Prison on murder charges. The prisoner has been
identified as Mohammad Haji Sabzali. Mohammad was reportedly arrested and
sentenced to death 6 years ago. On the morning of Wednesday September 20,
another prisoner was hanged at this prison on murder charges. The name of the
prisoner is not known at this time.
According to the human rights news agency, HRANA, on the morning of Monday
September 18, a prisoner was hanged at Broujerd Central Prison on murder
charges. The prisoner has been identified as Hossein Dalvand.
According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network and sources close to Iran Human
Rights, on the morning of Monday September 19, three prisoners were hanged at
Tabriz Central Prison. These 3 prisoners were reportedly transferred to
solitary confinement on Sunday in preparation for their executions. The
prisoners have been identified as Sina Assadzah and Ahad Pourtaghi, sentenced
to death on murder charges, and Yousef Ebrahmi. "Yousef Ebrahimi was in prison
for 20 years on murder and sodomy charges. He was able to gain forigiveness
from the complainants on his case file regarding the murder charge, but he was
executed on sodomy charges.
According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, on the morning of Wednesday
September 20, two prisoners were hanged at Qazvin Central Prison on drug
related charges. The 2 prisoners have been identified as Teyb Hajizadeh and
Mojtaba Rahmati. Teyb and Mojtaba were transferred to solitary confinement on
Tuesday night in preparation for their executions.
Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the state-run media, have
not announced any of these executions. The recent wave of executions in Iran
may be related to the upcoming Muslim holy month of Muharram. During Muharram,
the rate of executions in Iran significantly decreases.
Close sources have also reported on a prisoner by the name of Massoud Joodaki,
who was taken to solitary confinement on Saturday September 16 in preparation
for his execution. Massou Joodaki, who is on death row on drug related charges,
was reportedly returned to his cell after his execution was stayed.
*******************
5 Executions in Kerman Province Including 1 in Public
adollah Movahed, the head of the Judiciary in Kerman, has reported on 5
executions in Iran, including 1 in public.
According to the state-run news agency, Mehr, Yadollah Movahed announced the
execution of 5 prisoners in the province of Kerman who are "agents of
insecurity and evil".
"In the past several days, the execution sentences for 5 prisoners, who are
agents of insecurity and evil, were carried out in the eastern and southern
parts of the Kerman province for various charges, including Moharebeh, armed
robbery, kidnapping, and murder. They were executed after they were convicted
and the course of legal proceedings," says Yadollah Movahed.
Mr. Movahed did not indicate the exact dates of the executions, the exact
charges of the prisoners, or the names of the prisoners. No other Iranian
state-run news agencies have reported on these 5 executions.
The lack of transparency regarding executions in Iran and the closed space for
human rights activists have raised concerns that the real number of executions
in Iran are much higher than those recorded by human rights activists.
***********************************
4 Prisoners Executed at Rajai Shahr Prison
4 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Rajai Shahr Prison on murder charges.
According to close sources, the prisoners were executed on Wednesday September
20.
Iran Human Rights has been able to identify 1 of the prisoners so far: Saman
Mohammadian, imprisoned for approximately 7 years before he was executed.
These four prisoners were among a group of 13 who were transferred to solitary
confinement on Saturday September 16 in preparation for their executions. The
other prisoners were returned to their cells after receiving an extension or
forgiveness from the complainants on their case files. One of the prisoners who
was returned to his cell is Mojtaba Ghiasvand. "Mojtaba Ghiasvand was sentenced
to death on murder charges, but he had repeatedly insisted on his innocence, "
an informed source tells Iran Human Rights.
Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and state-run media, have not
announced these 4 executions.
************************
Man Executed on Murder Charges
A prisoner was reportedly hanged at Karaj Central Prison on murder charges.
According to the state-run news agency, the execution of a prisoner who was
only identified as "Abbas" was carried out on September 20.
(source for all: Iran Human Rights)
SCOTLAND:
Hanged at Barlinnie: It took just 66 seconds to end life of serial killer Peter
Manuel
NOTORIOUS serial killer Peter Manuel features in the latest of our special
series on Barlinnie: The men who were hanged and their crimes.
A total of 10 judicial executions by hanging took place at HMP Barlinnie
between 1946 and 1960, replacing the gallows at Duke Street Prison. This was
before the death penalty was abolished in the UK in 1969. All the executions
took place at 8am. The public executioners during that time were Thomas
Pierrepoint, Albert Pierrepoint and Harry Allen. The remains of all executed
prisoners were the property of the state. They were buried in unmarked graves
within the walls of the prison. During renovations at the prison in 1997,
Barlinnie's gallows cell, which was built into D-hall, was finally demolished
and the remains of all the executed prisoners were exhumed for reburial
elsewhere. This is the story of Peter Manuel who was executed by Harry Allen on
July 11, 1958. His hanging was the second last at Barlinnie and followed John
Lyon, Patrick Carraher, John Caldwell, Paul Christopher Harris, James
Robertson, James Smith, Patrick Gallagher Deveney and George Francis Shaw.
The Beast of Birkenshaw Peter Manuel is perhaps the most notorious criminal in
our series on the men who were hanged at Barlinnie. The terror which he reigned
on communities of Lanarkshire is a story that has been passed from generation
to generation, and ultimately his hanging at Barlinnie prevented him from
continuing to inflict the level of violence that he did on his innocent victims
who included a young boy of 10 years old.
Manuel was born to Scottish parents in New York City on March 13, 1927 but his
family returned back to their native Scotland when he was 5 in 1932.
He came to the attention of the authorities at a young age in the Lanarkshire
area of Birkenshaw where he grew up. He was a petty thief and at the age of 16,
he committed several sex attacks which resulted in him being handed a stretch
of nine years in Peterhead Prison.
Prior to the start of his killing spree, he also successfully conducted his own
defence on a rape charge at Airdrie Sheriff Court in 1955.
But the early charges and prison sentences on his rap sheet were only the start
of things to come.
He was responsible for killing Anne Kneillands, 17, Marion Watt, 45, Vivienne
Watt, 16, Margaret Brown, 42, Isabelle Cooke, 17, Peter Smart, 45, Doris Smart,
42, and Michael Smart, 10.
Manuel, however, only went to the gallows at Barlinnie Prison convicted of 7
murders. The case against him for Anne Kneillands was dropped due to
insufficient evidence. It is also believed he was responsible for many more
killings.
On January 2, 1956, Anne Kneilands left her home in East Kilbride to go on a
date but the teenager never got there. Her body was found 2 days later on a
golf course in East Kilbride. Her head had been split open and police
established she had been running in terror from her attacker.
9 months later, vicious Manuel struck again at the home in High Burnside,
Rutherglen, of master baker William Watt.
Mr Watt had gone on a fishing holiday to Lochgilphead, but his wife Marion, 45,
their daughter Vivienne, 16, and Mrs Watt's sister Margaret Brown were still at
home. Manuel broke in and shot all 3 as they slept.
Manuel, however, was not the chief suspect for the triple killing - it was Mr
Watt. The family man even spent 67 days locked up in Barlinnie while police
investigated.
Manuel was also soon in Barlinnie serving a sentence for housebreaking. When he
was released in November 1957 he travelled to Newcastle to look for work, and
he killed taxi driver Sydney Dunn. His responsibility for this death was
determined by a coroner's jury after Manuel was hanged.
When he returned to Glasgow just before Christmas, the pace of his killings
quickened.
On December 28, Isabelle Cooke left her house in Mount Vernon to meet her
boyfriend in Uddingston. She was Manuel's next victim and originally the
Evening Times reported on her as a missing woman until her body was discovered.
It was actually Manuel who led police to the spot near Uddingston where he had
buried her, he told them: "I think she is here. I think I'm standing on her
now."
He struck again on January 1, 1958 when he broke into a house in Sheepburn
Road, Uddingston, occupied by Peter Smart, his wife Doris and their son
Michael.
He killed all 3 with a Webley revolver and, in the days that followed, popped
back into the house to feed the family cat and help himself to the remains of
the festive turkey.
He even drove Mr Smart's car, but his downfall came when it was found the
serial numbers of bank notes he had used in a pub matched those paid to Mr
Smart just before New Year.
Manuel's trial was a sensation - he became the 1st person in Scotland to sack
his legal team and defend himself in a murder trial.
But he ultimately played the price for the cruel acts he committed, and at one
minute past eight on July 11, 1958 Manuel at 31 was hanged on the gallows of
Barlinnie.
The Evening Times reported: "As the hands of the prison clock pointed to the
execution hour, fewer than a dozen people stood silently outside the prison.
There was no demonstration, no protest by opponents of capital punishment, as
the final act was carried out 'under the due process of law'."
The reported continued: "Outside the prison there was nothing to show that the
execution had taken place. There was no notice posted on the gates - that
practice ended with the new homicide act."
Manuel's family home in Fourth Street, Birkenshaw was empty on the day of
execution. We reported that his parents had left days before with a relative.
Prior to his execution by Harry Allen, the warders who looked after Manuel were
increased from two to three after he attempted suicide on June 20 by swallowing
disinfectant powder while a warder was cleaning his cell.
But his attempt did not deter his path to the hangman. We reported: "At the
appointed time the executioner entered the condemned cell, pinioned Manuel's
arms behind his back, and led him the few paces to the scaffold in the next
cell.
"A white cap was placed over Manuel's head, followed by the noose. A lever was
pulled and the trap door dropped.
"Less than 66 seconds had elapsed since the hangman entered the cell.
"2 doctors pronounced life extinct. Immediately Manuel's body was taken to an
unoccupied cell below the execution chamber."
His reign of terror was over, and in that moment Manuel's went down as one of
Scotland's most notorious serial killers.
(source: eveningtimes.co.uk)
GAMBIA:
Gambia pledges to abolish death penalty
The Gambia has pledged to abolish the death penalty in a clean break with the
former regime of Yahya Jammeh, giving activists hope that more African states
will follow its example.
President Adama Barrow, elected in December 2016, signed a UN treaty on the
abolition of capital punishment following his maiden speech at the world body's
general assembly, the government said in a press release Thursday.
"By signing the treaties, the new Gambia continues to promote democracy and
show the commitment of the state to protect lives of political activists," the
statement said, referring to 4 other treaty pledges on issues including forced
disappearances.
Jammeh, who ruled the country with an iron fist for 22 years until being forced
from power after losing to Barrow, executed 9 soldiers in 2012 and threatened
to expand a list of capital crimes in 2015 in response to what he said was a
rising crime rate.
Francophone west African nations such as Benin, Congo Republic and Guinea have
all made steps to ending the death penalty in recent years.
But English-speaking countries in the region are lagging.
"This is a positive step forward for Gambia when just 5 years ago people on
death row were tragically executed and abolition seemed a pipe dream. We hope
Gambia will lead the way, as no Anglophone country in West Africa has yet
abolished the death penalty," said Amnesty International West Africa researcher
Sabrina Mahtani.
Although the UN has welcomed the Gambian pledge, the numbers executed in the
country's once-notorious prisons are dwarfed by those who were forcibly
disappeared, a figure that runs into the dozens, according to the authorities.
The government statement claimed the move - which must still be ratified -
"will remove fear and promote rule of law for citizens to express their civil
and political rights."
The treaty - formally named the "Second Optional Protocol to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death
penalty" - has been ratified by 85 member states of the UN so far.
(source: The Independent)
INDIA:
High court confirms death for man who murdered his 2 children, in-laws
Ramesh Naik, a former manager at Punjab National Bank, was convicted of killing
his children by drowning them in a pond near Panaje in Puttur taluk, Dakshina
Kannada district.
The High Court of Karnataka has confirmed the death penalty given by a lower
court to a former bank manager for murdering his 2 children, mother-in-law and
sister-in-law.
Ramesh Naik, a former manager at Punjab National Bank, was convicted of killing
his children by drowning them in a pond near Panaje in Puttur taluk, Dakshina
Kannada district. Prior to that, Naik killed his mother-in-law Saraswathi and
sister-in-law Savitha with whom he had an affair. Naik had helped Savitha get a
job in Bengaluru. She allegedly became close to one of her colleagues. Naik
disapproved of the purported liaison and killed Savitha as well as her mother
in Tumakuru. He later went to his hometown and killed his children.
Public prosecutor Vijaykumar Majage told the court that Naik had no remorse for
the murders. A division bench of Justices Ravi Malimath and John Michael Cunha
confirmed the death sentence on Friday.
(source: Deccan Herald)
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