All posts tagged: executions

The DOJ will allow firing squads as Trump administration pushes to step up federal executions : NPR

The DOJ will allow firing squads as Trump administration pushes to step up federal executions : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

The U.S. Department of Justice logo is seen on a podium before a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, on May 6, 2025. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP hide caption toggle caption Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department will adopt firing squads as a permitted method of execution as the Trump administration moves to ramp up and expedite capital punishment cases, officials said Friday. The Justice Department is also reauthorizing the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital that were used to carry out 13 executions during the first Trump administration — more than under any president in modern history. The Biden administration had removed pentobarbital from the federal protocol over concerns about the potential for unnecessary pain and suffering. The moves were announced as part of a broader push to step up federal executions after a moratorium under the Biden administration. Only three defendants remain on federal death row after Democratic President Joe Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison, though the Trump administration has so far authorized …

DOJ says it will use firing squads again for federal executions

DOJ says it will use firing squads again for federal executions

Published by Sam Flores

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a news conference at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building on April 7, 2026 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images The U.S. government should add firing squads, electrocution and gas asphyxiation as methods of executing people convicted of the gravest federal crimes, the Department of Justice said on Friday in a report that noted difficulties in getting drugs for lethal injections. The report was a fulfillment of President Donald Trump’s promise to resume capital punishment in his second term. In his first term, which ended in 2021, he resumed it after a 20-year gap, executing 13 federal prisoners with lethal injections in his final few months in office. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who released the report, has authorized seeking death sentences against nine people after Trump rescinded a moratorium on federal executions by his predecessor, Joe Biden, the department said. “Among the actions taken are readopting the lethal injection protocol utilized during the first Trump Administration, expanding the protocol to include additional manners of …

Iran set to hang first female anti-regime protester | World | News

Iran set to hang first female anti-regime protester | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

Iran to execute first female anti-regime protester Bita Hemmati (Image: X) The Islamic Republic of Iran is poised to execute Bita Hemmati, who is set to become the first female protester to be hanged in connection with the recent anti-regime uprising. Hemmati is amongst an estimated 1,600 individuals sentenced to death by the regime over the past year. The protests, which broke out across the nation in January, have been brutally crushed by government forces. Following a hasty trial, Hemmati, her 34 year old husband Mohammadreza Majid Asl, and two other men, Behrouz and Kourosh Zamaninezhad, were all handed death sentences. A source close to the prisoners’ families, according to HRANA, said: “Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl and Bita Hemmati are a couple living in Tehran, and Amir Hemmati is a relative of the two. Kourosh Zamaninejad and Behrouz Zamaninejad were living in the same residential building, and their arrests took place simultaneously.” Iranian judge Iman Afshari alleged the individuals “injured forces at the scene” and the use of “explosive materials and unspecified weapons” at protests on January …

Never-before-seen photos of Nazi executions in Greece surface on eBay

Never-before-seen photos of Nazi executions in Greece surface on eBay

Published by Sam Flores

They look straight into the camera as they walk in a row, two by two, with their heads held high. They appear to be singing – even though they are walking straight to their deaths. The 12 yellowed black-and-white photos turned up on the online auction website eBay on February 14, and depict the Nazi massacre of Greek communist fighters in the Athenian suburb of Kaisariani, on May 1, 1944. “The photographs shocked me,” Polymeris Voglis, a professor in social history at the University of Thessaly in Greece, said. “Although the execution of 200 resistance fighters is a well-known historical event, until now there has been no photographic evidence of it.” “Some of the photographs show the faces of the men, reflecting their determination as they walk proudly towards the firing squad,” he added. The resistance fighters sing as they walk to their death in Kaisariani, Greece, on May 1, 1944. © Ebay/Greece at WW2 archives The discovery of the photos have sparked strong reaction in Greece, with virtually all media outlets reporting on their …

Brits held for 400 days in Iranian jail subjected to mock executions and starvation | World | News

Brits held for 400 days in Iranian jail subjected to mock executions and starvation | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

A British couple have endured more than 400 days of appalling conditions in an Iranian prison, with their son warning MPs that Lindsay and Craig Foreman are suffering from starvation, chronic medical neglect, and psychological torment. The couple, from East Sussex, were detained in January 2025 while on a world motorcycle tour and subsequently charged with espionage—a claim they deny. They remain imprisoned at Tehran’s notorious Evin facility, infamous for overcrowding and harsh treatment of detainees. Ms Foreman described the ordeal to ITV News from the prison as “psychological torture.”  She said: “I naively and ignorantly believed we would be safe,” citing their careful planning, including visas, an Iranian travel agent, and a tour guide.  She added: “We kind of felt… there’s a risk of detainment, but how bad can that be? If we’re innocent people, why would they detain us?” However, the reality has been starkly different. Joe Bennett, their son, told MP on Wednesday that his parents have been forced to sleep on concrete floors or metal bunks without mattresses and have lived …

China carries out further executions of Myanmar scam centre suspects | Crime News

China carries out further executions of Myanmar scam centre suspects | Crime News

Published by Sam Flores

The executions are part of broader crackdown by Beijing on centres across Southeast Asia, which are built on an industrial scale and hunt scam victims across the globe, as well as running kidnapping, prostitution and drugs rackets. Published On 2 Feb 20262 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share China has executed four people found guilty of causing six Chinese citizens’ deaths and running scam and gambling operations out of Myanmar worth more than $4bn. The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in southern China announced the executions on Monday morning in a statement. However, the timing of the executions was not clear. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The executions of 11 other people convicted of running scam centres in Myanmar had been announced last week. The Shenzhen court sentenced five people accused of running a network of scam centres and casinos to death in November. One of the defendants, group leader Bai Suocheng, died of illness before the sentence was carried out. The group had established industrial parks in …

No sign of new protests in Iran as a hard-line cleric calls for executions : NPR

No sign of new protests in Iran as a hard-line cleric calls for executions : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Iranian senior cleric Ahmad Khatami delivers his sermon during Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 5, 2018. Ebrahim Noroozi/AP hide caption toggle caption Ebrahim Noroozi/AP DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — As Iran returned to uneasy calm after a wave of protests that drew a bloody crackdown, a senior hard-line cleric called Friday for the death penalty for detained demonstrators and directly threatened U.S. President Trump — evidence of the rage gripping authorities in the Islamic Republic. Trump, though, struck a conciliatory note, thanking Iran’s leaders for not executing hundreds of detained protesters, in a further sign he may be backing away from a military strike. Executions, as well as the killing of peaceful protesters, are two of the red lines laid down by Trump for possible action against Iran. Harsh repression that has left several thousand people dead appears to have succeeded in stifling demonstrations that began Dec. 28 over Iran’s ailing economy and morphed into protests directly challenging the country’s theocracy. There have been no signs of protests for days in Tehran, …

No Sign of New Protests in Iran as a Hard-Line Cleric Calls for Executions and Threatens Trump

No Sign of New Protests in Iran as a Hard-Line Cleric Calls for Executions and Threatens Trump

Published by Sam Flores

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As Iran returned to uneasy calm after a wave of protests that drew a bloody crackdown, a senior hard-line cleric called Friday for the death penalty for detained demonstrators and directly threatened U.S. President Donald Trump — evidence of the rage gripping authorities in the Islamic Republic. Harsh repression that has left several thousand people dead appears to have succeeded in stifling demonstrations that began Dec. 28 over Iran’s ailing economy and morphed into protests directly challenging the country’s theocracy. There have been no signs of protests for days in Tehran, where shopping and street life have returned to outward normality, though a week-old internet blackout continued. Authorities have not reported any unrest elsewhere in the country. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Friday put the death toll, at 2,797. The number continues to rise. “Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people,” Trump told reporters in Washington, adding that “I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.” In a post referring to the canceled hangings on …

Iran blinks before Trump by ‘cancelling’ protestor hangings | World | News

Iran blinks before Trump by ‘cancelling’ protestor hangings | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

Iran has appeared to step back from carrying out a high-profile execution (Image: DM) Iran has bowed to pressure from the United States after “postponing” the execution of a young shop owner who had been due to be hanged on Wednesday. Erfan Soltani, 26, was sentenced to death after taking part in an anti-government protest last Thursday, becoming the first demonstrator in the latest wave of unrest to receive such a punishment. His family had publicly appealed to Donald Trump to intervene. In response to the sentencing, Mr Trump warned that the US would take “very strong action” if Iran began executing detained protesters, adding: “If they hang them, you’re going to see something.” Tehran now appears to have taken notice of that warning after Erfan’s family said his execution would no longer take place on Wednesday. However, relatives stressed the decision was only a delay, warning that Erfan — who remains in solitary confinement at Ghezel Hesar prison — could still be executed at any time. Hours after the reported postponement, Mr Trump said …