[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 18


INDONESIA:

3 Bali bombers ready to die, lawyer says


A lawyer for the 3 Bali bombers on death row in Indonesia said yesterday
they were ready to die and had vowed their deaths would lead to "hell for
infidels".

The 3 were convicted over the 2002 nightclub bombings that killed 202
people, including 88 Australians.

The attacks were blamed on the Jemaah Islamiah militant network linked to
al-Qaida.

Indonesia's Supreme Court last month rejected an appeal from the men --
Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Gufron -- and lawyer Achmad Michdan said they
were ready to die.

"They are all ready should their executions have to be carried out. They
said they are even looking forward to their executions," he said.

He said they had signed a joint final statement but declined to give
details.

(source: Melbourne Herald Sun)

*******************

Catholics in Indonesia: "No death penalty for Bali terrorists."


While the country awaits the capital execution of Amrozi, one of the three
condemned to death for the 2002 Bali bombs, Catholic community leaders
warn : the death penalty does not resolve the problems in society, instead
we need to avoid "political verdicts" such as the case of the Poso 3.
Amrozi says he is happy to die, because he will meet the Prophet and
Islams martyrs.


An end to the death penalty in Indonesia and a guarantee that political
interests will not influence judge's decisions in delicate cases linked to
religious issues. This is what leaders of Indonesias Catholic are urging
as they comment to AsiaNews on the imminent execution of Amrozi, one of
the 3 terrorists condemned for the 2002 Bali bombs which killed 202
people. Along with him, Ali Gufron and Imam Samudra are awaiting
execution. On August 30th the Supreme Court rejected Amrozis appeal and is
now set to pass judgement on the other 2 cases.

All 3 have written a spiritual testament, a small segment of Amrozi's was
released by his lawyers. In the letter signed by the terrorist, he says he
is ready to 'take up the jihad once again" should he be saved from the
execution block, and even if he dies he is happy because in doing so he
will meet "the Prophet and all of Gods Warriors in paradise." "Our spilled
blood" - the text continues  will become a ray of light for all Muslims
and hell for all infidels."

The General Attorneys office in Jakarta refuses to provide details
surrounding the date and place of the execution. "According to law
explains public official Abdul Hakim Ritonga,  it should take place in
Bali where the crime was committed, but for security reasons it may be
moved elsewhere." If Amrozi does not avail of his right to ask for a
presidential pardon  concludes Jakarta  he will have to face execution.

However Catholic leaders, warn that execution can never be considered a
solution and ask that human life be respected. "I have my own opinion that
death penalty should be omitted from our national law regulation ",
declares Fr. Benny Susetyo, Secretary of The Indonesian Bishops of
Conference (KWI) Commission for Interfaith Dialogue." It is not only
against "human right," but also, from various hand-on experiences and
studies it is clearly that death sentence would not be able to "reduce"
the number of crimes and the brutality of criminals." And he adds: "I
think Amrozi merits life imprisonment not death. It is also a very heavy
burden."

Fr. Luluk Widyawan - Parish Priest of Mary Annunciate Church of Porong,
Sidoarjo

East Java Province, agrees: "the death penalty very often could does not
resolve problems as we Indonesian society saw in the case against the 3
Catholics in Poso, put to death following inter-religious violence in
Sulawesi in 2002; they died but the violence did not end. In the view of
the priest the case of the 3 Catholics is a clear example of the "weakness
of the Indonesian legal system, when political interests are brought to
bear on legal decisions."

(source: AsiaNews)






VIETNAM:

Death sentence for Aussie smuggler


A SYDNEY man was sentenced to death in Vietnam yesterday for trying to
smuggle almost a kilogram of heroin to Sydney in his underwear, as 2 other
Australians prepared to face trial in Hanoi tomorrow on unrelated heroin
trafficking charges.

The convicted man, 40-year-old Tony Manh, will be supported in his
expected appeal for clemency by the Australian Government, a spokesman for
the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said last night.

"Recently, the fact that many Australians of Vietnamese descent are
involved in trafficking heroin from Vietnam to Australia has become a
phenomenon," said Phan Tanh of the People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City.

Manh was caught with the drugs on March 3 at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho
Chi Minh City as he prepared to board a flight to Sydney. He told the
court he was paid $US10,000 to transport the drugs out of the country.

(source: Sydney Morning Herald)






SOUTH KOREA:

Campaign Starts to Scrap Death Penalty


Religious, human rights and civic groups Tuesday called for the
government's abolishment of capital punishment and its signing a global
treaty against the system.

20 civic groups including Amnesty International and Lawyers for a
Democratic Society asked the government to join the moratorium on
executions introduced at the 62nd session of the United Nations General
Assembly that opened Tuesday. The issue is the most urgent one for this
session.

"The adoption of such a resolution by the U.N.'s principal organ would be
an important milestone toward the abolition of the death penalty,'' the
Association for the Abolishment of the Death Penalty said. Amnesty's High
Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour called the punishment "a
sanction that should have no place in any society that claims to value
human rights.''

The association will hold a 100-day campaign, as the government is yet
reluctant to show its standpoint. Many voices in and outside of the
country requested the government join the signing since the resolution was
first proposed in 1977.

"A total of 131 countries legally or practically abolished the system and
only 25 are performing it. Korea has the U.N. Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon who leads the world's human rights. Still, it has 64 people
sentenced to death,'' Kim Ho-soo, the human rights watch dog's campaigner,
said.

He said Korea is near to the goal in reality. The last executions were in
1997 when 23 people were hung, and by Dec. 29 this year, the country will
be classified as "abolitionist in practice'' by Amnesty.

Also, the abolishment bill has been supported by 175 lawmakers and is
pending at the National Assembly for approval.

The association spokesman said that history such as "Inhyeokdang"
incident, which resulted in the deaths of 8 pro-democracy activists
wrongfully accused by a dictatorship in 1970s, showed that courts and
humans do make mistakes but cannot bring back lives.

The groups will hold road campaigns with citizens to write letters to the
Legislation-Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly and to attend
prayer meetings organized by each religious group.

(source: Korea Times)