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World

Iran executes British-Iranian accused of spying

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  • Alireza Akbari was a former Iranian deputy defence minister
  • Arrested in 2019, he was accused of spying for Britain
  • Execution piles more strain on fraught ties with West
  • UK’s Sunak calls it ‘a callous and cowardly act’
  • U.S. joins UK in condemning ‘barbaric act’

DUBAI/LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Iran has executed a British-Iranian national who once served as its deputy defence minister, its judiciary said, defying calls from London and Washington for his release after he was handed the death sentence on charges of spying for Britain.

Britain, which had declared the case against Alireza Akbari politically motivated, condemned the execution, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling it “a callous and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime”.

Akbari, 61, was arrested in 2019.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported the execution without saying when it had taken place. Late on Friday, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had urged Iran not to follow through with the sentence.

Also condemned by the United States and France, the execution looks set to further worsen Iran’s long-strained relations with the West, which have deteriorated since talks to revive its 2015 nuclear deal hit deadlock and after Tehran unleashed a deadly crackdown on protesters last year.

In an audio recording purportedly from Akbari and broadcast by BBC Persian on Wednesday, he said he had confessed to crimes he had not committed after extensive torture.

“Alireza Akbari, who was sentenced to death on charges of corruption on earth and extensive action against the country’s internal and external security through espionage for the British government’s intelligence service … was executed,” Mizan said.

The Mizan report accused Akbari of receiving payments of 1,805,000 euros ($1.95 million), 265,000 pounds ($323,989.00), and $50,000 for spying.

Cleverly said in a statement the execution would “not stand unchallenged”. He later announced Britain had summoned the Iranian Charge d’Affaires, imposed sanctions on Iran’s prosecutor general, and temporarily withdrawn its ambassador from Tehran for further consultations.

It marks a rare case of the Islamic Republic executing a serving or former senior official. One of the last occasions was in 1984, when Iranian navy commander Bahram Afzali was executed after being accused of spying for the Soviet Union.

British statements on the case have not addressed the Iranian charge that Akbari spied for Britain.

Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the British ambassador over what it called London’s “meddling in Iran’s national security realm”, the state news agency IRNA reported.

Iranian state media, which have portrayed Akbari as a super spy, broadcast a video on Thursday which they said showed he played a role in the 2020 assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed in an attack outside Tehran which authorities blamed at the time on Israel.

In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination but said a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh.

Iran’s state media often airs purported confessions by suspects in politically-charged cases.

Reuters could not establish the authenticity of the state media video and audio, or when or where they were recorded.

Akbari was a close ally of Ali Shamkhani, now the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who was defence minister from 1997 to 2005. Akbari fought during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s as a member of the Revolutionary Guards.

Alireza Akbari, Iran’s former deputy defence minister, speaks during an interview with Khabaronline in Tehran, Iran, in this undated picture obtained on January 12, 2023. Khabaronline/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Ramin Forghani, a nephew of Akbari, told Reuters the execution had come as a shock.

“I don’t think a person who spent all his life, from an early age, to serve the country – since the Iran-Iraq war – would spy for any country,” he said, noting Akbari had the rank of colonel in the Revolutionary Guards.

Speaking by phone from Luxembourg, he said Akbari’s wife, who lives in London, had tried but failed to persuade Iranian officials to spare his life. Reuters was unable to reach her.

‘DESPICABLE AND BARBARIC’

The U.S. State Department described the execution as politically motivated and unjust. The U.S. ambassador to London called it “appalling and sickening”. French President Emmanuel Macron called it a “despicable and barbaric act”.

Iran’s ties with the West have also been strained by its support for Russia in Ukraine, where Western states say Moscow has used Iranian drones.

Along with other Western states, Britain, which has a long history of fraught ties with Iran, has been fiercely critical of Tehran’s crackdown on anti-government protests, sparked by the death in custody of a young Iranian-Kurdish woman in September.

Iran has issued dozens of death sentences as part of the crackdown, executing at least four people.

A British minister said on Thursday Britain was actively considering proscribing the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation but had not reached a final decision.

In the recording broadcast by BBC Persian, Akbari said he had made false confessions due to torture.

“With more than 3,500 hours of torture, psychedelic drugs, and physiological and psychological pressure methods, they took away my will. They drove me to the brink of madness… and forced me to make false confessions by force of arms and death threats,” he said.

Amnesty International said the execution displayed again Tehran’s “abhorrent assault on the right to life”. In Akbari’s case, “it is particularly horrific given the violations he revealed he was subjected to in prison”.

The Iranian authorities have not responded to accusations Akbari was tortured.

An Iranian state TV report – details of which Reuters could not independently verify – said he was arrested on espionage charges in 2008 before he was freed on bail and left Iran.

In an interview with BBC Persian broadcast on Friday, Akbari’s brother Mehdi said he had returned to Iran in 2019 based on an invitation from Shamkhani.

($1 = 0.9235 euros)

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Reporting by Dubai newsroom, Michael Holden in London, Tassilo Hummel in Paris and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by William Mallard, Angus MacSwan, Tomasz Janowski and Christina Fincher

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Alireza Akbari: Iran executes dual British-Iranian citizen

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CNN
 — 

A dual British-Iranian citizen was hanged by Iran on charges of espionage and corruption, a state-affiliated media outlet reported Saturday, the latest in a string of executions carried out by a regime grappling with unprecedented protests across the country.

The Iranian official, Alireza Akbari, was executed for crimes including “corruption on earth,” according the Iranian judiciary-affiliated outlet Mizan. Akbari had also been accused of “extensive cooperation with British intelligence officers” for which he received “huge sums of money.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “appalled by the execution.” He added on Twitter: “This was a callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people. My thoughts are with Alireza’s friends and family.”

Mizan did not specify when the execution was carried out. Akbari’s death sentence was announced just days ago, on January 11, after his conviction on spying for the United Kingdom. Akbari had denied the charges.

According to allegations published in Mizan on Wednesday, Akbari had been arrested “some time ago.” The BBC reported Akbari was arrested in 2019.

“On this basis and after filing an indictment against the accused, the file was referred to court and hearings were held in the presence of the accused’s lawyer and based on the valid documents in this person’s file, he was sentenced to death for spying for the UK,” Mizan said.

Akbari previously served as Iran’s deputy defense minister and was the head of the Strategic Research Institute, as well as a member of the military organization that implemented the United Nations resolution that ended the Iran-Iraq war, according to Iranian pro-reform outlet Shargh Daily. He served under Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, a reformist who was in office from 1997 to 2005, according to the BBC.

Though Iran does not recognize dual nationality, the execution of an individual holding British citizenship will likely further fuel tensions between Tehran and Western democracies, which have been critical of the regime’s response to anti-government demonstrations that began in September last year.

Iran has long ranked among the world’s top executioners, and Akbari is one of three individuals to receive a death sentence in the first weeks of 2023. Two young men, a karate champion and a volunteer children’s coach, were hanged last weekend after being convicted of killing a member of the country’s Basij paramilitary force. Both had allegedly taken part in the protests that began after a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died while in custody of the country’s morality police.

Amini’s death sparked massive nationwide demonstrations against a regime often criticized as theocratic and dictatorial.

Critics have accused Tehran of responding to protests with excessive force – activist groups HRANA and Iran Human Rights say that 481 protesters have been killed – and using the country’s unjust judicial system to intimidate would-be demonstrators. United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk alleged that Tehran was “weaponizing” criminal procedures to carry out “state-sanctioned killing” of protesters.

As many as 41 more protesters have received death sentences in recent months, according to statements from both Iranian officials and in Iranian media reviewed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, but the number could be much higher.

Iranian state media has reported that dozens of government agents, from security officials to officers of the basij paramilitary force, have been killed in the unrest.

Though Akbari’s execution was, on its surface, unrelated to the recent protests, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley alleged that the act was “politically motivated.” He said Iran’s charge d’affaires would be summoned over the execution “to make clear our disgust at Iran’s actions.”

“The execution of British-Iranian Alireza Akbari is a barbaric act that deserves condemnation in the strongest possible terms. Through this politically motivated act, the Iranian regime has once again shown its callous disregard for human life,” Cleverly said on Twitter. “This will not stand unchallenged.”

The UK government had urged Iran not to execute Akbari, and the Foreign Office said it would continue to support his family.

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World

Iran executes first known prisoner arrested in protests

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Thursday it executed a prisoner convicted for a crime allegedly committed during the country’s ongoing nationwide protests, the first such death penalty carried out by Tehran.

The execution of Mohsen Shekari comes as other detainees also face the possibility of the death penalty for their involvement in the protests, which began in mid-September, first as an outcry against Iran’s morality police. The protests have expanded into one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Activists warn that others could also be put to death in the near future, saying that at least a dozen people so far have received death sentences over their involvement in the demonstrations.

The execution “must be met with strong reactions otherwise we will be facing daily executions of protesters,” wrote Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights. “This execution must have rapid practical consequences internationally.”

The Mizan news agency, run by Iran’s judiciary, said Shekari had been convicted in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, which typically holds closed-door cases. The tribunals have been internationally criticized for not allowing those on trial to pick their own lawyers or even see the evidence against them.

Shekari was accused of blocking a street in Tehran and attacking with a machete a member of the security forces, who required stitches for his wounds, the agency said.

The Mizan report also alleged that Shekari said he had been offered money by an acquaintance to attack the security forces.

Iran’s government for months has been trying to allege — without offering evidence — that foreign countries have fomented the unrest. Protesters say they are angry over the collapse of the economy, heavy-handed policing and the entrenched power of the country’s Islamic clergy.

Mizan said Shekari had been arrested on Sept. 25, then convicted on Nov. 20 on the charge of “moharebeh,” a Farsi word meaning “waging war against God.” That charge has been levied against others in the decades since 1979 and carries the death penalty. Mizan said an appeal by Shekari’s lawyer against the sentence failed.

After his execution, Iranian state television aired a heavily edited package showing the courtroom and parts of Shekari’s trial, presided over by Judge Abolghassem Salavati.

Salavati faces U.S. sanctions for meting out harsh punishments.

“Salavati alone has sentenced more than 100 political prisoners, human right activists, media workers and others seeking to exercise freedom of assembly to lengthy prison terms as well as several death sentences,” the U.S. Treasury said in sanctioning him in 2019.

“Judges on these Revolutionary Courts, including Salavati, have acted as both judge and prosecutor, deprived prisoners of access to lawyers and intimidated defendants.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said America was “appalled” by Shekari’s execution.

“Our message to Iran’s leadership is clear: End this brutal crackdown,” Blinken wrote on Twitter. “We will continue to hold the Iranian regime accountable.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock condemned Shekari’s execution in a Twitter post, saying “the Iranian regime’s contempt for humanity is limitless.”

James Cleverly, the United Kingdom’s foreign secretary, described himself as “outraged” and said: “The world cannot turn a blind eye to the abhorrent violence committed by the Iranian regime against its own people.”

France’s Foreign Ministry said the “execution is yet another instance of the serious, unacceptable violations of fundamental rights and freedoms committed by the Iranian authorities.”

And the European Union said it “condemns his execution in the strongest possible terms.”

Iran has been rocked by protests since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the country’s morality police. At least 475 people have been killed in the demonstrations amid a heavy-handed security crackdown, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that’s been monitoring the protests since they began. Over 18,000 have been detained by authorities.

Iran is one of the world’s top executioners. It typically executes prisoners by hanging. Already, Amnesty International said it obtained a document signed by one senior Iranian police commander asking an execution for one prisoner be “completed ‘in the shortest possible time’ and that his death sentence be carried out in public as ‘a heart-warming gesture towards the security forces.’”

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Thursday reiterated the organization’s strong opposition to the death penalty.

“And we deplore what we see today in Iran and sadly we see in other countries,” Dujarric said. “What we would want to see is a world where there is no death penalty.”

___

Associated Press writer Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.



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US

Kevin Johnson: Missouri executes man who murdered police officer

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CNN
 — 

[Breaking news update, published at 9:25 p.m. ET]

Kevin Johnson – who murdered a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer in 2005, but claimed racial bias in his prosecution – was executed Tuesday night by lethal injection. Johnson, 37, was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m. CT. He didn’t give a final statement, according to Department of Corrections spokesperson Karen Pojmann.

[Previous story, published at 6:49 a.m. ET]

The Missouri Supreme Court has denied a death row inmate’s request for a stay of his execution after hearing arguments that racial discrimination played a role in his prosecution for the murder of a police officer.

With Kevin Johnson set to be executed Tuesday, he will appeal to the United States Supreme Court, his attorneys said late Monday.

In a separate proceeding, Johnson’s 19-year-old daughter had failed this month to get a federal court to prevent the state from executing Johnson unless she was permitted to attend as a witness; Missouri law bars people younger than 21 from witnessing the proceeding.

Then, the Missouri Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in two requests for a stay: one by Johnson, who is Black, and the other by a special prosecutor appointed at the request of the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which secured Johnson’s conviction on a first-degree murder charge and death sentence for the murder of Kirkwood Police Sgt. William McEntee.

Both requests sought a stay so claims of racial prejudice could be heard by the St. Louis County Circuit Court, which previously denied a motion by the special prosecutor to vacate Johnson’s conviction, saying there was not enough time before Johnson’s scheduled execution to hold a hearing.

“There simply is nothing here that Johnson has not raised (and that this Court has not rejected) before and, even if there were, Johnson offers no basis for raising any new or re-packaged versions of these oft-rejected claims at this late date,” the Monday ruling said.

Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, also on Monday denied a request for clemency from Johnson’s attorneys.

“Mr. Johnson has received every protection afforded by the Missouri and United States Constitutions, and Mr. Johnson’s conviction and sentence remain for his horrendous and callous crime,” Parson said in a statement. “The State of Missouri will carry out Mr. Johnson’s sentence according to the Court’s order and deliver justice.”

A defense attorney for Johnson decried Monday’s state Supreme Court ruling as a “complete disregard for the law in this case.”

“The Prosecutor in this case had requested that the Court stop the execution based on the compelling evidence he uncovered this past month establishing that Mr. Johnson was sentenced to death because he is Black,” lawyer Shawn Nolan said in a statement. “The Missouri Supreme Court unconscionably refused to simply pause Mr. Johnson’s execution date so that the Prosecutor could present this evidence to the lower court, who refused to consider it in the first instance given the press of time.

Meantime, attorneys for Johnson, 37, argued in court records that racial discrimination played a role in his prosecution, pointing in their motion for a stay to “long-standing and pervasive racial bias” in St. Louis County prosecutors’ “handling of this case and other death-eligible prosecutions, including the office’s decisions of which offense to charge, which penalty to seek, and which jurors to strike.”

Per their request, the prosecuting attorney sought the death penalty against four of five defendants tried for the killing of a police officer while in office – all of them Black, while the fifth was White. In the case with a White defendant, Johnson’s request says, the prosecutor invited defense attorneys to submit mitigation evidence that might persuade the office not to seek death – an opportunity not afforded the Black defendants.

Additionally, they pointed to a study by a University of North Carolina political scientist of 408 death-eligible homicide prosecutions during this prosecutor’s tenure that found the office largely sought the death penalty when the victims were White.

Those claims appear supported by a special prosecutor, who was appointed to the case last month after the St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney’s Office cited a conflict of interest. The special prosecutor, Edward E.E. Keenan, similarly “determined that racist prosecution techniques infected Mr. Johnson’s conviction and death sentence,” he wrote in his own request for a stay.

The special prosecutor found “clear and convincing evidence of racial bias by the trial prosecutor,” he wrote in the request, citing similar evidence to that listed by Johnson’s attorneys in their request for a stay.

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office argued against a stay, saying the claims were without merit. The special prosecutor’s “unproven claims,” the AG’s office said in a brief, do not amount to a concession of wrongdoing by the state, which stands by the conviction.

“The McEntee family has waited long enough for justice,” the brief said, “and every day longer that they must wait is a day they are denied the chance to finally make peace with their loss.”

Bob McCulloch, the longtime St. Louis prosecuting attorney who was voted out of office in 2018 after 27 years, has denied he treated Black and White defendants differently.

“Show me a similar case where the victim was Black and I didn’t ask for death,” he was quoted as saying by St. Louis Public Radio earlier this month about his time in office. “And then we have something to talk about. But that case just doesn’t exist.”

Johnson was sentenced to die for the July 5, 2005, murder of McEntee, 43, who was called to Johnson’s neighborhood in response to a report of fireworks.

Earlier that day, Johnson’s 12-year-old brother had died after having a seizure at their family’s home, according to court records. Police were there at the time of the seizure, seeking to serve a warrant against Johnson, then 19, for a probation violation.

Johnson blamed the police, including McEntee, for his brother’s death. And when McEntee returned to the neighborhood later that day, Johnson approached the sergeant’s patrol car, accused him of killing his brother and opened fire.

He left behind a wife, a daughter and two sons, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.

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US

John Ramirez: Texas executes inmate whose pastor was allowed by SCOTUS to touch him and pray aloud as he died

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CNN
 — 

Texas has executed John Henry Ramirez, whose spiritual adviser was allowed to pray aloud and “lay hands” on him as he died after a US Supreme Court ruling led to new guidelines in his case and in similar requests in prisons across the country.

Ramirez, 38, was killed Wednesday evening by lethal injection at the state prison system’s Huntsville Unit for the 2004 murder of Pablo Castro, a grandfather to 14 and convenience store employee whom Ramirez robbed of $1.25 and stabbed 29 times.

According to Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Ramirez’s last words were: “I just want to say to the family of Pablo Castro, I appreciate everything that y’all did to try and communicate with me through the Victim’s Advocacy program. I tried to reply back, but there is nothing that I could have said or done that would have helped you.

“I have regret and remorse, this is such a heinous act. I hope this finds you comfort, if this helps you then I am glad. I hope in some shape or form this helps you find closure.

“To my wife, my friends, my son, grasshopper, Dana and homies, I love y’all. Just know that I fought a good fight, and I am ready to go. I am ready, Warden.”

He was pronounced dead at 6:41 p.m. CT.

The Rev. Dana Moore of Corpus Christi’s Second Baptist Church, who’d sworn to the high court he needed “to be in physical contact with John Ramirez during the most stressful and difficult time of his life in order to give him comfort,” was expected to be with the inmate when he died.

“Human touch has significance and power,” Moore wrote in an affidavit in support of Ramirez’s request for the pastor to “lay hands” on him at his execution.

“I will be there for John,” Moore recently told CNN, “be able to see him and just minister to him and be able to touch him, to kind of give him reassurance, some semblance of peace, that he’s got somebody who’s there on his side that’s with him.”

Texas is among 27 US states that still have capital punishment, with five more executions scheduled through March.

Ramirez’s legal dispute highlighted the balance between an inmate’s request for a religious accommodation at execution and a state’s wish to respect security and safety concerns in the chamber.

The convicted killer had been set to be executed on September 8, 2021. When he learned the date, he asked corrections officials if Moore could be with him in the execution chamber. That request was initially denied, but prison officials later changed their minds, court records state, amending their protocol to allow in a spiritual adviser.

Ramirez then asked that Moore be allowed to “lay hands” on him and “pray over” him, rituals he argued were a crucial part of the observance of his faith. Texas denied the request, and Ramirez appealed, then sued as his execution neared, arguing the department’s denial would violate his rights under the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The case was later expanded to include Ramirez’s desire that Moore be allowed to pray audibly after corrections officials denied that request.

The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which halted Ramirez’s execution at the eleventh hour – Moore was at the prison, waiting for it to begin – so it could hear his case.

The court in March ruled 8-1 in Ramirez’s favor.

A fresh legal twist emerged the next month, when the Nueces County district attorney filed a motion withdrawing his office’s request for a death warrant, citing his “firm belief that the death penalty is unethical.” A state appeals court last month denied the motion.

And a majority of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles this week decided not to recommend commuting Ramirez’s death sentence to a lesser penalty.

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US

Republicans rush to Trump’s defense after FBI executes search warrant at Mar-a-Lago

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Attorney General Merrick Garland to “preserve your documents and clear your calendar,” warning of an oversight probe “when” Republicans take back the chamber in the midterm elections.

“The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization,” said McCarthy.

Trump is also set to meet Tuesday with about a dozen members of the House Republican Study Committee, led by Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, at his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey, according to a person familiar with their plans, providing a timely opportunity for the former president to rally members to his side after the FBI search.

A July CNN poll found that a majority of Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters do not want Trump to be their party’s nominee in the 2024 presidential election. But the former president still is powerful within the party; Republican candidates across the country have sought his endorsement in their 2022 primaries, and on Saturday, Trump overwhelmingly won an unofficial straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas.

Rallying around Trump, many Republicans, including Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, attacked Democrats instead after news of the FBI search, with some saying that Biden himself must be investigated.

“There must be an immediate investigation and accountability into Joe Biden and his Administration’s weaponizing this department against their political opponents — the likely 2024 Republican candidate for President of the United States,” said New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of House GOP leadership.

Ohio Rep. Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, requested an “immediate briefing” from FBI Director Christopher Wray, saying the agency’s action was “unprecedented” and that he was “unaware of any actual or alleged national security threat” posed by materials in Trump’s possession.

Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, a potential 2024 contender, criticized Biden, saying that he “has taken our republic into dangerous waters” and called for Garland to either resign or be impeached.

“At a minimum, Garland must resign or be impeached. The search warrant must be published. Christoper Wray must be removed. And the FBI reformed top to bottom,” Hawley tweeted.

Former Vice President Mike Pence called on Garland to provide a “full accounting” of the FBI search.

“I share the deep concern of millions of Americans over the unprecedented search of the personal residence of President Trump,” Pence tweeted.

“Yesterday’s action undermines public confidence in our system of justice and Attorney General Garland must give a full accounting to the American people as to why this action was taken, and he must do so immediately,” he said.

Democrats responded that no one is above the law.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on NBC’s Today show that she first learned of the FBI’s search when it “flashed” on her phone, and repeatedly said she only knows what is public.

“We believe in the rule of the law,” Pelosi added.

And Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the chair of the House Oversight Committee investigating Trump’s handling of documents, called on the Justice Department to “fully investigate” the former president’s handling of information.

“Presidents have a solemn duty to protect America’s national security, and allegations that former President Trump put our security at risk by mishandling classified information warrant the utmost scrutiny,” said the New York Democrat. “Although details of today’s actions at Mar-a-Lago are still emerging, it is clear that the Department of Justice must fully investigate President Trump’s potentially grave mishandling of classified information.”

Some top Republicans did not attack the Justice Department immediately after the search. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office declined to comment.

But many others cried foul about the Justice Department taking action against Trump, a former and presumed future rival of President Joe Biden.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “President Trump is likely going to run again in 2024,” and noted the midterm elections are in less than 100 days away. “Launching such an investigation of a former President this close to an election is beyond problematic.”

The FBI search also quickly became a talking point in the Florida gubernatorial race. Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 Republican rival to Trump, tweeted, “The raid of MAL is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents,” referring to the Biden administration.

Florida Rep. Charlie Crist, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, shot back, “Governor DeSantis’s knee-jerk partisan response to this law enforcement action proves yet again he is more interested in playing politics than seeking justice or the rule of law.”

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Rebekah Metzler, Zachary Cohen and Kate Sullivan contributed to this report.



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World

Japan executes man over 2008 stabbing rampage | Death Penalty News

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Tomohiro Kato was convicted of killing seven people in an attack on Tokyo’s popular Akihabara district.

Japan has executed a man convicted of killing seven people in a stabbing rampage in Tokyo’s popular Akihabara electronics district in 2008.

Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said Tomohiro Kato had undertaken “meticulous preparation” for the attack and had shown a “strong intent” to kill.

“The death sentence in this case was finalised through sufficient deliberation in court,” he told reporters.

“Based on this fact, I approved the execution after extremely thorough scrutiny.”

The June 2008 attack, which also injured 10 people, began with Kato driving a truck into a crowd. After stabbing several people, the then 25-year-old was arrested at the scene, telling police: “I came to Akihabara to kill people. It didn’t matter who I’d kill.”

Police said he documented his journey to Akihabara on internet bulletin boards, typing messages on a mobile phone from behind the wheel of the truck and complaining of his unstable job and loneliness.

Japan’s top court confirmed Kato’s death sentence in 2015, saying there was “no grounds for leniency”. The attack was the country’s worst mass killing in seven years.

Tomohiro Kato was arrested at the scene. He drove a truck into pedestrians before going on a stabbing spree [File: Jiji Press via AFP]

The son of a banker, Kato grew up in Aomori prefecture in Japan’s north, where he graduated from a top high school. He failed his university entrance exams and eventually trained as a car mechanic, reports said.

Prosecutors said Kato’s self-confidence had plummeted after a woman he had chatted with online abruptly stopped emailing him after he sent her a photograph of himself.

His anger against the general public grew when his online comments, including his plans for a killing spree, drew no reaction, prosecutors said.

While awaiting trial, Kato wrote to a 56-year-old taxi driver whom he injured in the stabbing spree, expressing his remorse.

The victims “were enjoying their lives, and they had dreams, bright futures, warm families, lovers, friends and colleagues,” Kato wrote according to a copy published in the Shukan Asahi weekly.

Kato’s execution is the first in Japan this year and comes after three prisoners were hanged in December 2021. Those were the first executions in the country in two years.

The use of the death penalty in Japan is shrouded in secrecy. Those on death row might only find out the sentence will be carried out a few hours before or sometimes not at all, while their families are usually only notified afterwards, according to Amnesty International.

Amnesty, which is opposed to the death penalty in all cases, says the general trend around the world remains towards the abolition of capital punishment.

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World

Myanmar executes four democracy activists, drawing condemnation and outrage

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  • Executed include democracy figure, former lawmaker
  • Activists had been sentenced in Jan after closed-door trial
  • UN Myanmar special rapporteur ‘outraged and devastated’

July 25 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s military junta on Monday said it had executed four democracy activists accused of helping to carry out “terror acts” in the Southeast Asian nation’s first executions in decades, sparking widespread condemnation.

Sentenced to death in closed-door trials in January and April, the four men had been accused of helping militias to fight the army that seized power in a coup last year and unleashed a bloody crackdown on its opponents.

Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow administration outlawed by the ruling military junta, condemned the executions and called for international action against Myanmar’s junta.

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“Extremely saddened … condemn the junta’s cruelty,” the NUG president’s office spokesman Kyaw Zaw told Reuters via message. “The global community must punish their cruelty.”

Among those executed were democracy figure Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Jimmy, and former lawmaker and hip-hop artist Phyo Zeya Thaw, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

Kyaw Min Yu, 53, and Phyo Zeya Thaw, a 41-year-old ally of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, lost their appeals against the sentences in June. The two others executed were Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw.

“I am outraged and devastated at the news of the junta’s execution of Myanmar patriots and champions of human rights and democracy,” Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said in a statement.

“My heart goes out to their families, friends and loved ones and indeed all the people in Myanmar who are victims of the junta’s escalating atrocities … These depraved acts must be a turning point for the international community.”

Thazin Nyunt Aung, the wife of Phyo Zeyar Thaw, said she had not been told of her husband’s execution. Other relatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

The men had been held in the colonial-era Insein prison and a person with knowledge of the events said their families visited the prison last Friday. Only one relative was allowed to speak to the detainees via the Zoom online platform, said the person.

Myanmar’s state media on Monday reported the executions had taken place and junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun later confirmed the executions to Voice of Myanmar. Neither gave any details about when the executions occurred.

Previous executions in Myanmar have been by hanging.

An activist group, the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), said Myanmar’s last judicial executions were in the late 1980s.

INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION

Last month, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun defended the death penalty, saying it was justified and used in many countries.

“At least 50 innocent civilians, excluding security forces, died because of them,” he told a televised news conference.

“How can you say this is not justice?” he asked. “Required actions are needed to be done in the required moments.”

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), appealed in a letter in June to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing not to carry out the executions, relaying deep concern among Myanmar’s neighbours.

Myanmar’s ruling junta has condemned foreign statements about the execution orders as “reckless and interfering”.

Myanmar has been in chaos since last year’s coup, with conflict spreading nationwide after the army crushed mostly peaceful protests in cities.

“These horrendous executions were murders. They’re a part of the junta’s ongoing crimes against humanity and attack on the civilian population,” Matthew Smith, head of Southeast Asia’s Fortify Rights, told Reuters.

“The junta would be completely wrong to think this would instil fear in the hearts of the revolution.”

The AAPP says more than 2,100 people have been killed by the security forces since the coup. The junta says that figure is exaggerated.

The true picture of violence has been hard to assess as clashes have spread to more remote areas where ethnic minority insurgent groups are also fighting the military.

Last Friday, the World Court rejected Myanmar’s objections to a genocide case over its treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority, paving the way for the case to be heard in full. read more

The latest executions close off any chance of ending the unrest in the country, said Myanmar analyst Richard Horsey, of the International CRISIS group.

“Any possibility of dialogue to end the crisis created by the coup has now been removed,” Horsey told Reuters.

“This is the regime demonstrating that it will do what it wants and listen to no one. It sees this as a demonstration of strength, but it may be a serious miscalculation.”

Acting Asia director of Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson, said the executions aimed to chill the anti-coup protest movement.

“European Union member states, the United States, and other governments should show the junta that there will be a reckoning for its crimes,” said Pearson.

“They should demand immediate measures, including the release of all political prisoners, and let the junta know the atrocities it commits have consequences.”

(This story corrects paragraph 2 to clarify timing of trials)

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Reporting by Reuters Staff;
Writing by Ed Davies and Michael Perry; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Clarence Fernandez

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Myanmar junta executes democracy activists in first such killings in decades | Myanmar

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Myanmar’s junta has executed four prisoners, including a former lawmaker from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, state media said on Monday, in the country’s first use of capital punishment in decades.

Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former lawmaker from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) who was arrested in November, was sentenced to death in January for offences under anti-terrorism laws. Prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu – better known as “Jimmy” – received the same sentence from the military tribunal.

The two other men and sentenced to death for killing a woman they alleged was an informer for the junta in Yangon.

The four were executed for leading “brutal and inhumane terror acts”, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. The paper said the executions were carried out “under the prison’s procedure” without saying when or how the four men were killed.

The junta has sentenced dozens of anti-coup activists to death as part of its crackdown on dissent after seizing power last year, but Myanmar has not carried out an execution for decades.

The junta was heavily criticised by international powers when they announced last month their intention to carry out the executions.

United Nations secretary general António Guterres condemned the junta’s decision at the time, calling it “a blatant violation to the right to life, liberty and security of person”.

Phyo Zeya Thaw had been accused of orchestrating several attacks on regime forces, including a gun attack on a commuter train in Yangon in August that killed five policemen. A hip-hop pioneer whose subversive rhymes irked the previous junta, he was jailed in 2008 for membership in an illegal organisation and possession of foreign currency.

He was elected to parliament representing Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD in the 2015 elections, which ushered in a transition to civilian rule.

The country’s military alleged voter fraud during elections in 2020 – which the NLD won by a landslide – as justification for its coup on 1 February last year.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained since then and faces a slew of charges in a junta court that could see her face a prison sentence of more than 150 years.

Kyaw Min Yu, who rose to prominence during Myanmar’s 1988 student uprising against the country’s previous military regime, was arrested in an overnight raid in October.

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US

Texas executes its oldest death row inmate Carl Wayne Buntion

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HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Texas’ oldest death row inmate was executed Thursday for killing a Houston police officer during a traffic stop nearly 32 years ago.

Carl Wayne Buntion, 78, was executed at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the June 1990 fatal shooting of Houston police officer James Irby, a nearly 20-year member of the force.

The US Supreme Court had declined a request by Buntion’s attorneys to stop his execution.

“I wanted the Irby family to know one thing: I do have remorse for what I did,” Buntion said while strapped to the Texas death chamber gurney. “I pray to God that they get the closure for me killing their father and Ms. Irby’s husband.

“I hope to see you in heaven someday and when you show up I will give you a big hug.”

Buntion, joined by his spiritual adviser, began praying Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd…” as the lethal dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital began. He took a deep breath, coughed once, then took three less pronounced breaths before all movement stopped.

He was pronounced dead at 6:39 p.m., 13 minutes later.

Buntion said he was remorseful for the murder of Houston police officer James Irby.
Harris County District Attorney’

Several dozen motorcyclists, showing support for the slain motorcycle officer, loudly revved their engines as the execution took place, the roar clearly audible in the death chamber.

Buntion had been on parole for just six weeks when he shot the 37-year-old Irby. Buntion, who had an extensive criminal record, was a passenger in the car that Irby pulled over. In 2009, an appeals court vacated Buntion’s sentence, but another jury resentenced him to death three years later.

“I feel joy,” the officer’s widow, Maura Irby, said after watching Buntion’s execution. “I’m sorry someone died. But I didn’t think of him as a person. I just thought of him as a thing, as a cancer on the face of my family.”

Before his slaying, James Irby had talked of retirement and spending more time with his two children, who at the time were 1 and 3 years old, Maura Irby, 60, said earlier.

“He was ready to fill out the paperwork and stay home and open a feed store,” she said. “He wanted to be the dad that was there to go to all the ballgames and the father-daughter dances. He was a super guy, the love of my life.”

Leading up to his execution, various state and federal courts had also turned down appeals by Buntion’s lawyers to stop his death sentence. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday had rejected his clemency request.

Buntion’s attorneys said he was responsible for Irby’s death and “deserved to be punished severely for that crime.”

But they argued his execution was unconstitutional because the jury’s finding he would be a future danger to society — one of the reasons he was given a death sentence— has proven incorrect, and also his execution would serve no legitimate purpose because so much time has passed since his conviction. His attorneys described Buntion as a geriatric inmate who posed no threat as he suffers from arthritis, vertigo and needed a wheelchair.

“This delay of three decades undermines the rationale for the death penalty … Whatever deterrent effect there is diminished by delay,” his attorneys David Dow and Jeffrey Newberry, wrote in court documents.

Walter Leroy Moody Jr. is the oldest inmate in modern times to be executed.
Alabama Department of Corrections via AP

With his execution, Buntion became the oldest person Texas has put to death since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976. The oldest inmate executed in the US in modern times was Walter Moody Jr., who was 83 years old when he was put to death in Alabama in 2018.

Buntion was also the first inmate executed in Texas in 2022. Although Texas has been the nation’s busiest capital punishment state, it had been nearly seven months since it carried out an execution. There have been only three executions in each of the last two years, due in part to the coronavirus pandemic and delays over legal questions about Texas’ refusal to allow spiritual advisers to touch inmates and pray aloud in the death chamber.

In March, the US Supreme Court said states must accommodate requests to have faith leaders pray and touch inmates during executions.

As Texas prepared to execute Buntion, officials in Tennessee canceled the execution of an inmate Thursday in what would have been the state’s first execution since the start of the pandemic. Oscar Smith, 72, was scheduled to die for the 1989 killings of his estranged wife and her teenage sons. Republican Gov. Bill Lee didn’t elaborate on what issue forced the surprise 11th-hour stop to the planned execution.

Texas prison officials agreed to Buntion’s request to allow his spiritual adviser to pray aloud and touch him while he was put to death.

The adviser, Barry Brown, placed his right hand on Buntion’s right ankle in the moments before the drugs began flowing and prayed for about five minutes. He said Buntion no longer was the “hard-headed young man” but had been “humbled by the walls and cold steel of prison.”

While the execution stirred up painful memories for her, Irby said it also reminded her of her advocacy work in public safety after her husband’s death, including helping put together legislation that allowed victim impact statements at trials.

“I still miss him, 32 years later,” she said Thursday night.

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