BEIJING: China executed a former executive of a top state-controlled asset management firm for corruption on Tuesday, state media reported. Bai Tianhui, the ex-general manager of China Huarong International Holdings (CHIH), was found guilty of accepting more than $156 million while offering favourable treatment in the acquisition and financing of projects between 2014 and 2018, state broadcaster CCTV said. CHIH is a subsidiary of China Huarong Asset Management, which focuses on bad-debt management as one of the country&#39;s largest asset management funds. Huarong has been a major target of President Xi Jinping&#39;s years-long graft crackdown, with its former chairman Lai Xiaomin executed in January 2021 for receiving bribes worth $253 million. Several other Huarong executives have also been snared in anti-corruption investigations. Death sentences for corruption in China are often issued with a two-year reprieve and then commuted to life in prison. But Bai&#39;s sentence, first handed down in May 2024 by a court in the northern city of Tianjin, was not suspended.&nbsp;He appealed against his conviction but the original verdict was upheld in February. The Supreme People&#39;s Court, China&#39;s highest court, confirmed the decision after review, stating that Bai&#39;s crimes were &quot;extremely serious,&quot; CCTV reported. &quot;(Bai) accepted bribes of an exceptionally large amount, the circumstances of his crimes were exceptionally serious, the social impact was especially egregious, and the interests of the state and the people suffered exceptionally significant losses,&quot; CCTV quoted the SPC as saying. Bai was put to death in Tianjin on Tuesday morning after meeting with close relatives, the broadcaster said, without specifying how he was executed. China classifies death penalty statistics as a state secret, though Amnesty and other rights groups believe thousands of people are executed in the country every year. Bai is the latest high-ranking figure to face punishment in a long-running crackdown on corruption in China&#39;s finance industry. Yi Huiman, former chief of China&#39;s top securities regulator, was placed under investigation for corruption in September. In March, Li Xiaopeng, the former head of state-owned banking giant Everbright Group, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes totaling 60 million yuan. Liu Liange, former chairman of the Bank of China, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in November 2024 for accepting bribes totalling 121 million yuan. Supporters say the anti-corruption campaign promotes clean governance, but critics say it also provides Xi with the power to purge political rivals.

This photo released by the Tianjin No.2 Intermediate People’s Court on May 28, 2024 shows Bai Tianhui (C), the former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings (CHIH), during his sentencing at the court on May 28, 2024. (TIANJIN NO.2 INTERME

China

China executed former China Huarong International Holdings executive Bai Tianhui for accepting $156 million in bribes between 2014-2018, marking the latest high-profile punishment in President Xi Jinping's ongoing anti-corruption campaign targeting China's finance industry.

China executes former senior banker for taking $156M bribes

TEHRAN: Iranian authorities on Tuesday carried out a public execution of a man convicted of killing a physician in the southwest of the country, the judiciary said. &quot;The qisas (retribution) sentence for the murderer of Dr Davoudi... was carried out in public this morning in Yasuj,&quot; capital of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, the judiciary&#39;s official outlet, Mizan Online reported. The verdict followed a mental health evaluation of the defendant and the Supreme Court upholding the sentence, the judiciary said. &quot;The implementation of this sentence is a message to those who seek to disturb the security of society and citizens,&quot; Mizan cited provincial prosecutor Vahid Mousavian as saying. Iran, which carries out executions by hanging, is the world&#39;s second most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups including Amnesty International. Most executions take place in prison, although there are occasional public hangings.

Middle East

Iran publicly executes a man in Yasuj for killing Dr. Davoudi, following a mental health evaluation and Supreme Court confirmation. Officials said the execution serves as a warning, with Iran ranking second globally in executions.

Iran executes man in public over killing of physician

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Francesca Albanese, has condemned Israel&rsquo;s move to advance a law permitting the execution of Palestinian detainees &mdash; including minors &mdash; calling it part of the ongoing &ldquo;violence of ethnic cleansing.&rdquo; Reacting to the development, Albanese wrote on X: &ldquo;In Palestine there is NO ceasefire, NO peace, only destruction and the violence of ethnic cleansing. Watching world leaders play &lsquo;let&rsquo;s pretend&rsquo; with the light-heartedness of 4th graders playing Lego is sickening. We will all pay for their complicity &amp; the insecurity it is sowing.&rdquo; <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1985764774538363190&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fdashboard%2F&sessionId=00d6f132e353121768d427d40bb51884a1f318cc&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 939px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> According to a report by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, the Israeli Knesset&rsquo;s Security Committee approved the bill on Monday, giving the green light for its advancement to the Knesset plenum for further debate and voting in the next legislative stages. A final vote is expected next Wednesday. Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally endorsed the bill&rsquo;s progression. The bill, long championed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, is part of the coalition agreements between Netanyahu&rsquo;s Likud party and Ben-Gvir&rsquo;s Jewish Power party. It authorizes the death penalty for Palestinians accused of killing Israelis &ldquo;out of racist or hateful motives and to harm Israel.&rdquo; WAFA noted that the legislation has been revived multiple times over the years, most recently gaining preliminary approval in March 2023. Its renewed momentum now reflects the government&rsquo;s intensified policies toward Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza and increased violence in the occupied West Bank. Earlier, ReliefWeb, a humanitarian portal managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reported that the Knesset&rsquo;s National Security Committee had initially endorsed the draft bill for first reading on Sep. 28. The bill allows judges to impose death sentences by a simple majority rather than unanimous decision &mdash; a change that rights groups say paves the way for politically motivated executions. Since October 2023, thousands of Palestinians have been arbitrarily detained across Gaza and the West Bank, with humanitarian monitors documenting torture, inhumane conditions, and numerous deaths in custody. Albanese said the bill represents a &ldquo;dangerous normalization of state-sanctioned killing&rdquo; and underscores global failure to confront what she described as Israel&rsquo;s &ldquo;genocidal policies&rdquo; against the Palestinian people.

Israeli media reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally endorsed the bill’s progression.

UN rights expert condemns Israeli bill allowing execution of Palestinian hostages, including children

KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore&rsquo;s prison hanged a Malaysian drug trafficker Wednesday, marking the second execution in two weeks and raising the number of executions in the city-state to 12 this year despite pressure to abolish the death penalty. A Singapore anti-death penalty activist, Kirsten Han, confirmed that 38-year-old Pannir Selvam Pranthaman was executed at Changi Prison. Han, who is accompanying his family, said they have collected Pannir&rsquo;s belongings from the prison. Pannir was arrested in 2014 for having 52 grams (about 1.8 ounces) of heroin and sentenced to death in 2017. He was originally scheduled for execution in February but received a stay of execution due to pending legal matters. Malaysian police had interviewed Pannir on Sept. 27 when lawyers said he provided information about the people who had handed him the drugs. It raised hopes his execution would be postponed again for a new investigation. But Malaysia&rsquo;s home ministry said on Tuesday that Pannir didn&rsquo;t provide any new leads for police to conduct further probes. His execution came after the court rejected his final appeal and he failed to secure a presidential clemency. It marked the second execution in two weeks following that of fellow Malaysian Datchinamurthy Kataiah on Sept. 25. Pannir was the fourth Malaysian and 12th person to be executed so far this year in Singapore, the majority of those for drug-related offenses, activists said. This was up from nine executions for the whole of 2024. More than 40 people remain on death row in the city-state. &ldquo;It is indefensible that Singapore continues to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,&rdquo; Amnesty International&rsquo;s death penalty adviser Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement Wednesday. &ldquo; Yet there is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.&rdquo; Singapore&rsquo;s strict drug laws mandate the death penalty for anyone caught carrying more than 15 grams of heroin or 500 grams of cannabis. Critics say the law only targets low-level traffickers and couriers. But Singapore&#39;s government defends it as vital for public safety. Pannir&rsquo;s family, his lawyers and various rights groups noted the Singapore court had found he was merely a courier transporting the substance. Pannir had said he didn&rsquo;t know he was carrying drugs. Still, the court had to hand down the death sentence after prosecutors refused to issue Pannir a certificate of substantive assistance vouching that he helped their investigation, which would have spared his life, they said. Pannir, the third of six children, was the son of a church pastor who worked as a lorry driver to make ends meet, activists said. He loved music and played in a church band growing up. In prison, Pannir penned letters, songs and poems about the anguish of being on death row and hopes of a second chance. His family has shared some of his songs, which were sung by several Malaysian singers.

Asia

Singapore executed Malaysian Pannir Selvam Pranthaman for drug trafficking, marking its 12th execution in 2025. Despite appeals and activism, his clemency was denied, highlighting ongoing controversy over Singapore’s strict drug laws.

Articles tagged with "Execution"

China executes former senior banker for taking $156M bribes

Iran executes man in public over killing of physician

UN rights expert condemns Israeli bill allowing execution of Palestinian hostages, including children

12th execution in Singapore: Malaysian drug trafficker hanged