Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Promoting human rights from Salisbury UK
July 2026.
There is a lot of interest in this month’s report which covers the period mid-June to mid-July 2026 and is preprared by group member Lesley to whom we are grateful for the work in compiling it. There is more content in this report on conferences where the future of the penalty was discussed for example the Ninth World Congress Against the Death Penalty.
June 2026
After facing nine execution dates, and being given three last meals, Richard Glossip was released on bail on May 14, 2026 and set foot outside of prison walls for the first time in nearly three decades. In an interview with The Intercept, Mr. Glossip discusses adjusting physically and emotionally to his new life as he awaits a possible retrial for the 1997 crime that sent him to death row, despite his longstanding claims of innocence. Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai ordered his release on a $500,000 bond, stating “The Court hopes that a new trial, free of error, will provide all interested parties, and the citizens of Oklahoma, the closure they deserve.”
“I tried never to let myself become institutionalized… But I mean it’s hard. You go through all these horrible things and all these different dates … and last meals and everything. And then it doesn’t look like this day will ever get here. But you always hope that it will“.
Mr. Glossip said of the widespread attention on his case, “It’s overwhelming but it’s amazing at the same time.” Since his release, he has been able to reunite with his wife Lea, with whom he first corresponded and later married while in prison. In a conversation with The Intercept, Mr. Glossip described initially having difficulty sleeping without the constant noise of prison, eating at a neighborhood Italian restaurant with his wife, and going food shopping. He also discussed feeling supported by his community in Oklahoma. He recounted several stories of being recognized, including by a barber who refused payment for his haircut, telling Mr. Glossip it was “an honor” to cut his hair.
“Once you’re out here and you see all the things that was taken away from you — and all the times they almost took everything away from me, my life and everything — you see all of it now… And it kind of still makes me angry at times because none of this should have ever happened. And this should have never been taken from me in the first place”.
Mr. Glossip is now awaiting a possible retrial for his alleged involvement in the 1997 “murder-for-hire” of Barry Van Trees, his boss at an Oklahoma City Motel. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who previously confessed error in the prosecutions that ended in Mr. Glossip’s death sentence, announced that his office will not seek the death penalty in his new trial. The Supreme Court vacated Mr. Glossip’s conviction and death sentence in February 2025, finding that prosecutors allowed a key witness to lie in court and withheld crucial information from the defense about the same witness. AG Drummond, who supported Mr. Glossip’s appeal to the United States Supreme Court, now says “…my office will make sure Mr. Glossip receives a fair trial based on hard facts, solid evidence and truthful testimony.”
They’ll make the right decisions. I know they will. I wouldn’t be out here today if they wasn’t… So I’m just going to let them handle it. … I’m just gonna enjoy life.
This text is from the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
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May 2026
The pace of executions in Florida continues and the latest is Dusty Ray Spencer who has been on death row since 1992. Gov. De Santis has signed the warrant and the due date is noon on June 25th. Florida accounts for 40% of all US executions last year according to Amnesty International. It is the tenth such warrant signed by the governor this year. The state set a record in 2025 with 19 executions.
Spencer was convicted of murdering his wife in a violent assault. This was witnessed by his son who tried unsuccessfully to intervene. The Jury voted 7-5 in favour of execution. There have been a number of appeals. Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty state that if the case was heard today, he would be unlikely to receive the death penalty. In the light of all the executions FADP say that ‘We reject the idea that executions are inevitable. Nothing requires the state of Florida to respond to violence with more violence. Our leaders still have a choice’.
In preparing this piece we have explored a number of articles in the US and Florida media and there is little to explain how a marine who apparently had a good service record, became this violent individual. There are brief mentions of his mental state but little else.
If you visit the FADP site there is a petition. Amnesty is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. We publish a report each month on the use of the penalty around the world.
Sources: CBS News, FADP, Tampa Bay Times, Justia Law, ‘They Will Kill You’
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April 2026
We are pleased to attach this month’s report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Featured this month are Florida with Governor De Santis’ spate of executions – the highest in the State’s history – the disturbing number of executions in Iran to add to the slaughter of its citizens in the streets, and the discriminatory bill passed by the Knesset in Israel for the execution of Palestinians in the West Bank.
As ever we note that China does not feature despite executing more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined.
January 2026
Florida plans to execute Ronald “Ronnie” Heath on February 10, despite overwhelming evidence that execution would serve no purpose of justice, fairness, or accountability. Ronnie has spent nearly 35 years on death row for the murder of Michael Sheridan, a devastating crime that ended a human life and caused immeasurable harm to the people who loved him. Nothing in this request diminishes that loss or the gravity of the violence that occurred.
Ronnie has endured decades of incarceration, survived extreme trauma, and demonstrated profound growth and change. Meanwhile, his equally culpable co-defendant — his own brother — is alive, incarcerated, and now eligible for parole. Clemency exists for cases exactly like this: when punishment has become disproportionate, when juries never heard critical life-shaping evidence, when modern science changes how we understand culpability, and when execution would only compound harm rather than serve justice.
The Governor and Florida’s Clemency Board have the power and the responsibility to stop this execution. Your letter can help make that difference.
The above text by Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. The petition to sign can be accessed from this link.
FADP is a Florida-based, state-wide organization working to end the death penalty in Florida. Their network includes dozens of state and local groups and thousands of individual Floridians, including murder victims’ family members and other survivors of violent crime, law enforcement professionals, families of the incarcerated, and death row exonerees.
Amnesty is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. It is not a deterrent and mistakes, which are not infrequent, cannot afterwards be rectified. We deprecate what appears to be the Florida state governor, Ron DeSantis using the penalty to demonstrate he is ‘tough on crime’ as part of his alleged desire to be the next president of the USA.
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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.
November 2025
We are pleased to attach the current death penalty report for mid October to mid November thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Florida features quite strongly as does Iran which is executing young people – a truly horrific act. There is also material on Israel which is considering laws for Palestinians quite different from the Jewish population, an example of apartheid which operates there. We note as ever that even though China makes a brief entry, the country is believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined but details are a state secret.
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October 2025
We are pleased to attach the latest death penalty report for the period mid-September to mid-October thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. There has been a lot of activity in America but we must point out as always that China is believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined but details are a state secret.
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.
August 2025
We are pleased to attach the latest report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in preparing it. As ever, we note that China does not appear despite possibly executing more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined but details are a state secret.
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