[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 6



SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Saudi Arabia executes man for murder


A Saudi man was beheaded by the sword in the holy city of Mecca on
Wednesday after being convicted of murder, the interior ministry said.

Khaled al-Dadi was executed for stabbing Imad al-Swaihiri to death during
a fight, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news
agency.

His execution brought to 25 the number announced by the Saudi authorities
so far this year, after a record 153 people were put to death in 2007.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry
the death penalty in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, where
executions are usually carried out in public.

(source: Agence France-Presse)






INDONESIA:

Bali bombers 'ready' for execution


3 death row Bali bombers have denied they are intentionally delaying their
executions with new legal action, saying they see death as a "victory".

Indonesian authorities have said the 3 - the so-called smiling assassin
Amrozi Nurhasyim, his brother Ali Ghufron (alias Mukhlas) and Imam Samudra
- will not be executed until Indonesia's Supreme Court rules on their
latest appeal, possibly months away.

The men played key roles in the twin nightclub bombings in Kuta, Bali, on
October 12, 2002, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians.

Lawyers for the 3 lodged an application for a new judicial review of their
cases weeks ago, and it was approved by the Supreme Court this week.

They had been due to be executed imminently.

"We're not delaying," Mukhlas said from his Nusakambangan prison, in
Central Java.

"We refused clemency and submitted the judicial review .... (because) the
law must be reviewed, not to delay the time (for execution).

"If I must, if now I should be executed, then go ahead.

"I don't feel that Im delaying because its their own mistake.

"How come the court, that big institution, made such mistake in laws.

"I, even when I was in Bali, have been ready to be executed.

"But for 5 years, there has been no execution and we never think about
that matter, whether we will be executed or not.

"We're just being istiqomah (strong hearted).

"Legal matters, I just hand it over to our Muslim legal team.

"Actually, I'm ready to die."

Samudra added death would be a victory for the 3.

"We are ready to accept the decision whatever it will be because for us,
execution is a victory for us," he said.

Denpasar District Court had appointed 3 judges to handle each of the 3
cases, with the hearing possibly taking place within weeks.

The bombers' lawyers have previously said the lawsuit will challenge
retroactive laws under which the men were convicted.

(source: The Age)