MONTGOMERY, Alabama: A federal judge on Friday ruled that a Muslim inmate’s scheduled lethal injection can proceed next week without an imam present but said Alabama must keep a Christian prison chaplain out of the execution chamber.
US District Judge Keith Watkins denied a stay requested by Dominique Ray, 42. Ray is scheduled to be executed Feb. 7 for the 1995 fatal stabbing of 15-year-old Tiffany Harville.
Ray says his religious rights are being violated because Alabama has a Christian prison chaplain present at lethal injections, but will not let him have an imam in the room with him as the lethal drugs are administered.
Ray’s lawyers argued that he has the same right to religious comfort in his final moments as a Christian inmate.
Watkins said for security reasons the state can limit death chamber access to prison employees.
The judge ordered the state to keep the prison chaplain out of the death chamber during Ray’s execution. The state already said it was willing to do so.
Condemned inmates in Alabama can visit with their spiritual adviser before their execution and have the person witness the procedure through the glass window of an adjoining room. However, only the prison chaplain and a correctional officer are in the room with the inmate during the lethal injection procedure.
The chaplain will sometimes kneel and pray with an inmate who is strapped to a gurney.
Court records indicate that Ray is appealing.
Ray’s lawyers are also seeking a new trial, saying prosecutors did not disclose records that showed a key witness was suffering from symptoms of schizophrenia before he testified against Ray.
Harville disappeared from her Selma home in July 1995. Her decomposing body was found in a field a month later.
Ray was convicted in 1999 after co-defendant Marcus Owden told police that they had picked the girl up for a night out on the town and then raped her. Owden said Ray cut the girl’s throat and they also took the girl’s purse, which had $6 or $7 in it.
Owden pleaded guilty to murder, testified against Ray and is serving a life sentence without parole.
Judge says execution can proceed without imam present
Judge says execution can proceed without imam present
- The judge ordered the state to keep the prison chaplain out of the death chamber during Ray’s execution
Kremlin says Putin is mediating in Iran to normalize situation
- Putin had then been briefed by Pezeshkian in a separate call on what the Kremlin called Tehran’s “sustained efforts” to normalize the situation inside Iran
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin is mediating in the Iran situation to quickly de-escalate tensions, the Kremlin said on Friday, after the Russian leader spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Moscow has condemned US threats of new military strikes after Iran acted against protests that broke out late last month.
Putin in his call with Netanyahu expressed Russia’s willingness to “continue its mediation efforts and to promote constructive dialogue with the participation of all interested states,” the Kremlin said, adding he had set out his ideas for boosting stability in the Middle East.
No further details were given on Putin’s mediation attempt.
Putin had then been briefed by Pezeshkian in a separate call on what the Kremlin called Tehran’s “sustained efforts” to normalize the situation inside Iran.
“It was noted that Russia and Iran unanimously and consistently support de-escalating
the tensions — both surrounding Iran and in the region as a whole — as soon as possible
and resolving any emerging issues through exclusively political and diplomatic means,” the Kremlin said.
Putin and Pezeshkian had confirmed their commitment to their countries’ strategic partnership and to implementing joint economic projects, the Kremlin added.
Separately, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Russia, China, India, and Iran, among others, said it opposed external interference in Iran and blamed Western sanctions for creating conditions for unrest.
“Unilateral sanctions have had a significant negative impact on the economic stability of the state, led to a deterioration in people’s living conditions, and objectively limited the ability of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to implement measures to ensure the country’s socio-economic development,” the SCO said in a statement.
Protests erupted on Dec. 28 over soaring inflation in Iran, whose economy has been crippled by sanctions.
Asked what support Russia could provide to Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Russia is already providing assistance not only to Iran but also to the entire region, and to the cause of regional stability and peace. This is partly thanks to the president’s efforts to help de-escalate tensions.”
The US Treasury on Thursday announced new sanctions targeting Iranian officials, including Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security.
