Morocco confirms it will end death penalty News
Morocco confirms it will end death penalty

[JURIST] Morocco will become the first Arab country to eliminate the death penalty [JURIST news archive], a state representative confirmed on Thursday. President of the Consultative Committee on Human Rights, Ben Dhikri, made the comments in the run-up to this week's 3rd World Congress Against the Death Penalty [official website] in Paris. Dhikri confirmed that Moroccan MPs and Morocco's King Mohammed VI [official website] share a desire to revise the country's constitution to remove capital punishment as early as April.

Morocco has not carried out the death penalty since 1993. Currently, it is one of 29 countries that has a de facto ban on the practice but has not changed its actual legality. Last month, two Moroccans were sentenced to death for terrorism offenses. AKI has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.