Entries tagged with “United Kingdom”
Women
,Jul 14, 2026
Nearly 71 Years After Her Execution, Ruth Ellis, the Last Woman Executed in the UK, Receives Conditional Pardon from King Charles
On July 8, 2026, King Charles, following the advice of Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, granted a posthumous conditional pardon to Ruth Ellis, converting her death sentence to a term of life imprisonment. Ms. Ellis was originally sentenced to death for the April 10, 1955 murder of her romantic partner David Blakely, and she was the last woman hanged in the United Kingdom on July 13, 1955. A press release from the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Justice explains that this…
Issues
Victims' Families
,New Voices
,Aug 30, 2022
Mother of Murdered Journalist Calls Life Sentence for ISIS Captors ‘A Huge Victory,’ Better than the Death Penalty
On the eighth anniversary of the August 19, 2014 murder of kidnapped journalist James Foley, a U.S. federal district court in Virginia sentenced his killer, Islamic State militant El Shafee Elsheikh, to eight life sentences in prison. His mother, Diane Foley (pictured), a leading advocate for Americans held hostage abroad, hailed the life sentence as“a huge victory” and“a very important…
Issues
Mar 26, 2020
United Kingdom Supreme Court Rules Britain Cannot Provide Evidence to U.S. for Use in Death-Penalty Cases
In a decision that exposed the deep divide between the United States and its European allies on capital punishment issues, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom unanimously ruled that the British government unlawfully provided information to the United States about two suspected Islamic State members without first obtaining assurances that the information would not be used to impose or carry out the…
Issues
Military
,Jul 24, 2003
U.S. Will Not Seek Death Penalty Against Two British Nationals
Pentagon general counsel William J. Haynes II has assured British Prime Minister Tony Blair that the U.S. will not seek the death penalty against two British citizens facing trial on terrorism charges before military tribunals. The two men, Feroz Abbasi and Moazzam Begg, are among the 680 prisoners from 42 countries being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in connection with the campaign against terrorism. Prior to Blair’s recent visit to Washington, during which he raised…