Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Promoting human rights from Salisbury UK
January 2026
We are pleased to attach the latest death penalty report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Florida is a feature this month with the rapid increase in the number of executions. Saudi has executed a huge number of people – almost one a day. We note as ever that China executes more of its people than the rest of the world combined but details are a state secret.
January 2026
Florida is carving out for itself an unenviable reputation as the state with the worst record for executions in America. The US is the only country in the Americas to retain the penalty in some states at least and under Governor DeSantis, Florida is rapidly increasing the numbers heading for execution.
There is an organisation Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) which is seeking to end the use of the penalty in the state and is campaigning for that to happen. They have recently published a report ‘We the People’ – the opening words of the US Constitution – and this post draws largely on that.
It is 10 years ago we drew attention the legal process in the US and the work of the British lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith who has campaigned for many years on behalf of those on death row. He wrote a book called Injustice and we discussed aspects from it in that post. Essentially the process is profoundly flawed which is of life and death importance to those caught up in it. Evidence favourable to the defendant is not always released to the defence and lawyers are sometimes ill-equipped to carry out trials of such importance.
If anything the situation has got worse. The rule now is that only 8 out of 12 jurors are needed for a conviction which clearly means those who have misgivings are ignored. Sex trafficking has been added to the list of crimes subject to the penalty which will increase the incentive to silence victims thus making the situation worse not better.
Another disturbing feature is that seven of the 19 who were executed were veterans and clearly indicates that these are not people who could be termed ‘the worst of the worst’. They may be disturbed as a result of their service – in Afghanistan for example – and execution is not an answer.
With Florida responsible for 40% of the nations executions there is something happening quite outside any increase in criminality. It seems that the Governor, Ron DeSantis is a keen proponent signing orders almost as soon as the jury has left the court. It is suggested that this rise in executions is part of his drive to show he is ‘tough on crime’ and his desire to be the next President. Yet as we have pointed out on many occasions, there has been no evidence of the penalty having a deterrent effect. It is as barbaric as it is ineffective.
FADP reports that the executions take place in remote parts of the state possibly to discourage media reporting which seems curious in view of the Governor’s desire to show toughness.
The group produces a report on the death penalty around the world each month.
November 2025
UPDATE: 21 November. Randolph was executed yesterday making it the 17th in the state. Further background can be read in a Tallahassee Democrat post. There is also material on Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty FADP.
There has been a big increase in executions in Florida – 15 so far this year and another one due to take place today (20 November) of Richard Barry Randolph. This compares with 1 last year and a downward trend in the US as a whole. The reason for this surge is hard to determine but much of the US media and opinion seems to point to the Governor Ron DeSantis. It is alleged that this sudden surge is part of his campaign to run for president in 2028 at the end (?) of the Trump era.
There are many troubling aspects about the executions. Florida is almost unique in allowing the governor
to have the final decision. Other states now leave this to the judiciary. But there is also disquiet about the secrecy of the decision making process. ‘Florida’s governor has no criteria, procedure, or guidelines in place for selecting who lives and who dies…Granting the governor unfettered discretion has, in practice, led to a completely arbitrary process for determining who lives and who dies‘ [attorney for Thomas Gudinas]. De Santis has offered no explanation for this sudden increase in executions.
Anyone who has read Clive Stafford-Smith’s book Injustice will know the inefficient court process in the US particularly for poor people. The level of mistakes in the state is high. Since 1989 there have been no less than 93 individuals wrongfully convicted and exonerated. Needless to say, if someone has already been executed it’s a mistake that cannot be rectified.
The judicial process seems to offer little confidence with 6 or the seven justices on the Florida Supreme Court appointed by the governor. The jury system has been altered so that only 8 out of the 12 jurors is needed for a guilty verdict. The results are clear to see with 35% of those on death row are Black whereas they represent only 17% of the population.
There is no evidence that the death penalty is a deterrence. As we have noted, mistakes cannot be afterwards rectified. It would appear that this sudden rise is due to the Governor’s desire to raise his credibility with a view to the presidential election in 2028. As the Palm Beach Post notes, ‘the system is riddled with issues ..’ (18 November).
Sources: Palm Beach Post, WUSF, The Conversation, Guardian, FADP
See our monthly Death Penalty Report
Recent posts:
September 2025
We are pleased to attach the latest death penalty report for the above period thanks for the work put in by group member Lesley in compiling it. Contains extensive information from the US where the appetite for executions seems to be increasing in some states. Florida for example is the leading state at the moment. We have to caution as ever that China executes more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined but information is a state secret.
Sharifa Mohamadi sentenced to death in Iran for her human rights work.
Stafford Smith has represented many individuals on death row in the USA so his experience of a dysfunctional and unfair system is considerable. Many more black people are convicted than white people. There is no obligation on the police to make exculpatory evidence available. Prisoners spend decades on death row going through seemingly endless appeals. One case – Kris Maharaj – which we have highlighted on this site, is a case of miscarriage gone badly wrong. Despite copious evidence that he had nothing to do with the murder, he still languishes in prison in Florida. New evidence cannot be introduced at the appeal stage. The level of mistakes is high at around 10% and one of the problems with executions is that they cannot be put right.
Judges may have little criminal experience. Defendants are usually poor and cannot afford experienced or capable lawyers.
This account is of the USA but we should remember that the system is much worse in some other countries of the world: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran for example and that thousands are executed in China where details are a state secret.
Source: Al Jazeera
Today is Marita Maharaj’s birthday.
She is 81 years old – she’s now had 34 birthdays without her beloved husband Kris by her side.
It’s been a difficult year for the elderly couple. A judge found that Kris was innocent by “clear and convincing evidence” but still refused to order his release.
Marita worries about Kris, this year more than ever before – he’s 81 years old, in poor health and at risk of the worst effects of coronavirus in a crowded Florida prison. And because of the pandemic, instead of a visit each week, she has not been able to see him since March.
Further details can be found on this link about this shocking case and miscarriage of justice in America.
Justice for Kris Maharaj has been denied again in Florida. After all the work that was done to prove that he was innocent, he still languishes in gaol after 33 years. It was hoped his hearing – already delayed by several months – would have been heard this month and he would be freed. But now it has been delayed again, this time indefinitely. You can read the full story by Clive Stafford Smith of Reprieve who must be close to despairing that this rotten US justice system will ever admit its mistake and release him.
WE attach the latest message from Reprieve about this man’s continuing incarceration in Florida despite his innocence being demonstrated beyond doubt. We have written about this case before.
Every time I [Clive Stafford Smith] think that Kris Maharaj cannot be subjected to any more injustice, agents of the State of Florida comes up trumps. I last visited Kris in the euphemistically named South Florida Reception in September. I went to share the good news that the Magistrate Judge had set a hearing for October 17th. This meant we would finally be allowed to prove that his trial was manifestly unfair – and the last 33 years he’s spent in Florida’s prison system are unjust.
I should have known the devastating impact of a broken justice system could not be remedied so quickly – 33 years and counting. The Magistrate had already agreed that we had submitted proof such that no reasonable juror could now convict Kris of the murders of Derrick and Duane Moo Young in Room 1215 of Miami’s Dupont Plaza Hotel all those years ago on October 16th, 1986. We dismantled every element of the prosecution case against Kris, and obtained sworn testimony from six unimpeached alibi witnesses who placed him far away. Kris even passed his lie detector test: the prosecution’s star witness did not.
Lastly, we lined up half a dozen Colombian cartel witnesses who expressed shock that Kris was locked up for killing the Moo Youngs. The murders were a hit ordered by Pablo Escobar, they said – the Moo Youngs had been stealing from the Narcos and “had to die.” One might imagine that this would be sufficient for Kris to be restored to the arms of his long-suffering wife Marita, but under current U.S. precedent it is – we are told – possible that a fair trial should come to the wrong result. Hence, logic mandates, the mere fact that you are innocent is not enough: you must prove the trial was itself marred.
I stayed with Marita the night before my prison visit. She lives a lonely life in Florida, only permitted to visit her husband every week or two. Those visits are sacred to both of them. The only disciplinary sanction Kris has got in the last three decades he has spent in prison involved a violation of the visitation policy – he stole a second kiss with his wife, when the rules only allow one. Marita’s cottage is a shrine to the life they once had, with pictures of the couple in their London heyday, when Kris was a self-made millionaire.
She served me breakfast at the table where, every Christmas for the past 33 years, she has set a place for her husband, maintaining the fantasy that he might walk in any moment. In the prison visitation area, Kris and I planned for his hearing. Though the Magistrate had only given us three weeks to prepare, we would meet the deadline. After all, it meant that Kris and Marita might – at long last – actually share their Christmas dinner this year.
AFTER 26 years working on the case, we were ready to prove multiple constitutional violations – from the suppression of exculpatory evidence (a government informant told them in 1986 that the cartel committed the murders), to the fact that the judge had himself been arrested on the third day of the trial for taking a bribe from a law enforcement agent posing as a drug dealer.
The first slap came with the State’s request for three months extra to prepare. That may not seem much, but it takes us into 2020, by which time Kris will be 81-years-old and Marita 80. The potential knock-out blow came the next day when the State filed an appeal, to try to prevent the hearing altogether. For 20 pages they argued that Kris should be barred from presenting evidence at all. It is all nonsense, of course.
They even had the gall to argue that we have not been diligent in pursuing proof of innocence, when I have been to Colombia and back to get it. We will do what we have always done: trudge on towards justice, hoping to persuade the appellate judge to respond with expedition. Meanwhile the State’s lawyers callously run down the clock on Kris’s life. I do sometimes wonder how people sleep at night. I know I have often not been able to in the 26 years when Kris and Marita have been my responsibility, but that is because I fear I have not done enough, rather than too much.
I am working with Kris and the team at Reprieve to prepare for Kris’ trial in January. Hopefully, no other blows hit us between now and then. Kris and Marita should not have to spend any more time apart because of an unfair trial 33 years ago.
Thank you for reading,
Read our latest death penalty report.
If you live in the Salisbury/Amesbury/Downton area and would like to join our group you would be most welcome. You can come to one of our monthly meetings which take place on the second Thursday at 7:30 in Victoria Road Salisbury or come along to one of our events and make yourself known. Keep and eye on this site or on Facebook or Twitter to see what we have planned.
In a recent post we described the situation Kris Maharaj has experienced in Florida USA where he has been imprisoned for 33 years for a crime he did not commit. There was to be a hearing on 17th of this month but we have just heard from Reprieve that this has been put back until January. The message from Reprieve is copied below:
Justice delayed is justice denied.
Since you wrote your message of support to Kris Maharaj and his wife Marita, I’m sorry to say there has been a frustrating development. Kris’ chance at justice was set for October 17th – but yesterday we heard it will not even happen this year.
That’s because the Florida Department of Corrections immediately sought and was granted a 90-day extension until January 18th 2020. 90 days may not sound like a lot, but Kris and his wife Marita have already been waiting 33 years for this nightmare to end.
Any delay is an injustice – and this will take us almost to Kris’ 81st birthday. We need to make sure they do not lose hope.
Can you share this latest instalment of injustice with your friends and family and ask them to add their own words of support? Here’s a suggested message you can send them:
Kris is a British man who was charged with a murder he could not have committed. Yet he remains in a Florida prison. His chance at justice has again been delayed, this time for another 90 days. Add your words of support to Kris and his wife Marita as they endure the latest instalment of their ordeal: https://act.reprieve.org.uk/page/s/send-a-message-of-support-to-kris-and-marita
Or, you can share this story on Facebook or WhatsApp using the below buttons.
UPDATE: Reprieve have sent through a request to send a message of support to Kris and this can be accessed here. (24 September 2019)
We report – via Reprieve – the good news that a Briton held for 33 years in Florida, has gained the chance of release about 4 years after it was proved he was innocent. We have received an email from them which is reproduced in full below:
I’ve [Clive Stafford Smith] just had some incredibly exciting news on the case of Kris Maharaj, the Brit who has already spent 33 unjust years in Florida’s prison system for a murder he did not commit. Kris will finally have an evidentiary hearing on October 17th. The meaning of that might not be initially obvious, but I assure you it’s a very significant development. It’s one I have been pushing for, for a long time. It means that Kris finally has the chance to prove in a US federal court that he should not have been deprived of his liberty for more than three decades, let alone have been sentenced to death.
I’ve been involved in more than 400 capital cases over the years, and Kris’ is the greatest injustice of them all. Evidence uncovered in 2014 proved beyond doubt that Kris is not guilty of the murders for which he has been imprisoned. The state trial court nevertheless refused to order a new trial at the time. That’s why I’ve been pushing for a Federal evidentiary hearing.
When I took on this case back in 1993, I had no grey hairs. Twenty-six years on, you’d be hard pushed to find a hair on my head that isn’t grey or white – and a fair number of them have been caused by the traumas of Kris’ case. But just imagine the impact of the last 33 years on Kris and his wife Marita. It is hard to believe that we could get justice after all the crushing disappointments we’ve been through over the years, but perhaps – just perhaps – Kris will finally come home for his first Christmas in more than three decades.
The possibility of justice would never have arisen were it not for the kindness of all his supporters. Both Kris and Marita have said their hope wouldn’t have lasted this long without the support they get from the Reprieve community.It’s going to be a busy month ahead as I prepare for this hearing, but the Campaigns team at Reprieve will be in touch to update you in the run-up to the 17th October. Thank you, as always, for your support of Reprieve so we can help many people like Kris and Marita.
We reviewed on these pages, a book, Injustice, on this case by Stafford Smith making the point how unsound the American system is. So Kris is likely to walk free but it is important to bear in mind that he might have been executed by now. The book goes into remorseless detail about the inadequacies of the American trial system. We are conditioned by Hollywood films and TV about how heroic it is but for the poor, the system is rotten. The police do not have to release evidence to the defence (defense) which helps the defendant, a situation which happened in the UK before PACE was passed.
This is an uplifting story but tragically, he has had to spend over 3 decades in gaol for a crime he did not commit.
A search of his name comes up with a photograph of him with the caption ‘Kris Maharaj, murderer’.
Piece by the Sun newspaper on this case.
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 