August 10, 2018

IDPN 2018  Issue 32


India:  The death penalty has been sought for 38-year-old Ayyaz Mohammed Ali Ansari, who has been convicted of raping a female minor.  In April 2017, he was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl.  Prosecutors argue that he should be sentenced to death for being a repeat offender.


On Wednesday, August 8, 2018, the Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld the death sentence for 22-year-old Vinod, alias Rahul Choutha.  He was convicted of raping and murdering a four-year-old female child on May 13, 2017.



Indonesia:  Two pilots, identified by initials only, have been arrested for possessing and using illegal narcotics.  If convicted, both men could face execution.  One of the men arrested, works part time and a pilot and also works for the Transportation Ministry as a flight examiner, ensuring that pilots are capable of flying.  Both men could be sentenced to death if convicted.


Fifty-five-year-old Siegfried Karl Achim Ruckel, a German national, has been sentenced for possessing and carrying drugs.  He received a 10 year sentence, with a large fine.  If he is unable to pay the fine, he faces an additional seven months in prison.  In comparison to many who are convicted of possessing drugs, Siegfried has received a light sentence.



Iran: On Thursday, August 2, 2018, Miran Baluchi was executed by hanging at Zahedan Central Prison.  He was convicted of murder.


On Tuesday, August 7, 2018, 46-year-old Amir Ali Kalivand was executed by hanging at Bandar Abbas Central Prison.  He was executed for murdering a minibus driver, but he was also convicted of possession of methamphetamine.


On Wednesday, August 8, 2018, three individuals were executed by hanging at Minab Prison.  The names of the three individuals were not reported.  All were convicted of rape.  



Iraq: On Sunday, August 5, 2018, an unnamed al-Qaeda member has ben sentenced to death for his part in an attack on the village of Amiriya-al-Rawashd 11 years ago that left 19 individuals dead.  He was officially convicted of terrorism.  During the same attack, at least two individuals were also kidnapped.


Five individuals convicted of being member of the Islamic State have been sentenced to death by hanging.  The worked in different areas for the terrorist group.  Over the past two years, Iraqi security forces have arrested tens of thousands of individuals belonging to the terrorist group.  Most are awaiting sentencing, however many of those convicted have been sentenced to death.


Pakistan:  Imran Ali has been sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court, for the rape and murder of 6-year-old Zainab Amin.  He has been given another death sentence for the rape and murder of three other girls.  Imran is suspected of being involved in at least five other cases in which minor girls were raped and murdered.



Saudi Arabia: Elias Abulkalaam Jamaleddeen was executed by crucifixion on Wednesday, August 8, 2018.  Crucifixion is reserved for the most egregious of crimes and is performed by hangin the body in public after being executed.  Elias was convicted of breaking into a home, robbing it, and murdering the occupant.  He was also accused of stealing weapons, attempting to kill a man whose home he broke into, and attempting to rape a woman.



United States of America:  On Thursday, August 9, 2018, Billy Ray Irick was executed by the state of Tennessee.  Billy was 59 years of age.  He was executed for the rape and murder of 7-year-old Paula Kay Dyer in Knoxville, Tennessee, on April 15, 1985.  To learn more about Billy and his case, click here.


A jury in Ohio has recommended that serial killer Anthony Kirkland be sentenced to death.  This is the second time Anthony has been sentenced to death.  A jury perviously sentenced him to death, but that sentence was overturned by the Ohio Supreme Court due to comments made by the prosecutor at the trial.  Anthony has admitted to killing five women and girls.  His first murder occurred in 1987, for which he spent 16 years in prison.  After being released, he murdered four other women from 2006 to 2009.  He preferred to kill by strangulation and then burned the bodies.


Scott Dozier, a death row inmate in Nevada has spoken out against those who have halted his execution.  Scott has voluntarily dropped all his appeals and was scheduled to be executed twice within the past year.  Both times the execution was halted over concerns regarding the execution drugs.  He described the legal fight as “tortuous…on him and his family.”  Scott is convicted of the murder of 22-year-old Jeremiah Miller on April 18, 2002, in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Read more about his case here.


Robert Gillett has had his death sentence commuted to life in prison in Mississippi.  Robert was convicted in 2007, of murdering 34-year-old Vernon Hulett and 37-year-old Linda Heintzelman in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  After murdering them, Robert dismembered the bodies and placed them in a freezer.  His convicted was overturned because the jury was given inadmissible evidence to consider during its deliberation.



Yemen: After the brutal rape and murder of a 10-year-old boy, the three pedophiles convicted of the crime were publicly shot and hanged from cranes.  The public display is meant to serve as a warning to those who would commit such crimes.