by MARYAM NAMAZIE
On September 23, forty-one-year-old Teresa Lewis was executed in the US state of Virginia despite having learning difficulties.
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At the surface, the case of Teresa Lewis of Virginia and Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani of Tabriz may seem different, most obviously in the method of execution. Teresa was executed by lethal injection. Sakineh, on the other hand, has been sentenced to death by stoning. A sentence which has still not been revoked but merely put on hold, due to public outcry. Teresa was executed for conspiring to murder her husband and stepson while Sakineh has been sentenced to death for adultery. But, there are far more similarities than differences here.
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Of course some will say Teresa got what she deserved. But justice has (or at least should have) nothing to do with retribution. We do not allow the rape of rapists, or the burning down of the houses of arsonists, do we? Also the eye for an eye argument ignores the reality that capital punishment is meted out for many different offences depending on time and place. In today’s Iran, for example, there are one-hundred-thirty offences punishable by death under Sharia law, including apostasy, heresy, blasphemy, and homosexuality.
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