[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 12



INDIA:

Lajpat Nagar blast: High court reserves order on pleas


The Delhi High Court Wednesday reserved its order on the appeal of three 
militants given death penalty for the 1996 Lajpat Nagar blasts that killed 13.

A division bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice G.P. Mittal reserved 
the order after the Delhi Police standing counsel Pawan Sharma and the defence 
concluded their arguments.

The court also reserved the order on the appeal of Javed Ahmed Khan, who has 
been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Sharma had earlier urged that the trial court had rightly convicted and awarded 
capital punishment to the three Jammu Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF) militants. 
'They carried out the blast just to create terror,' he said.

Counsel sought confirmation of the death sentence awarded to the three as there 
was ample evidence to prove their involvement in the terror act.

Documents seized from the accused after the blast showed their involvement in 
the terrorist attack, he said earlier.

The court was hearing the appeals of the six convicted, of whom three are on 
death row, for the blast in the crowded south Delhi market.

The trial court in its 2010 verdict had termed the crime a 'dastardly act' that 
fell under the 'rarest of rare' category.

Of the 6 convicts, Mohammed Naushad, Mohammed Ali Bhatt and Mirza Nissar 
Hussain were given death penalty. Javed Ahmed Khan, held guilty of murder, 
conspiracy and attempt to murder, was given life imprisonment.

Farooq Ahmed Khan and Farida Dar, held guilty under milder penal provisions, 
were sentenced to seven years' jail term. However, they were released as they 
had already spent much more time than that in prison.

10 people were arrested and put on trial. Besides these six, the others were 
Mirza Iftikhar, Latif Ahmed Waza, Syed Maqbool Shah and Abdul Gani.

(source: Calcutta News)






MALAYSIA:

Abolish death penalty, Lawyers for Liberty urges govt to heel global call


Lawyers For Liberty calls on the Government of Malaysia to immediately abolish 
the death penalty which resonates the global call to end the death penalty as a 
form of punishment. The Government of Malaysia is urged to immediately abolish 
the death penalty, in line with its re-election as a member of the UN Human 
Rights Council in 2010 to reflect its responsibility in strengthening the 
promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.

This global call to end the death penalty is in line with the studies conducted 
throughout the world over the past seventy years which show the absence of 
convincing evidence that the death penalty is a more effective deterrent of 
crime than long-term imprisonment.

The call for the immediate abolition of death penalty coincides with the fact 
that Malaysia lacks safeguards that would ensure a fair trial such as the right 
to immediate access to a lawyer upon arrest, right to full disclosure of 
evidence in the possession of the police and prosecution, and has to the 
extreme prejudice of accused persons loaded a capital crime statute such as the 
Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 ( which generates the largest number of death 
sentences annually ) with presumptions of trafficking that compromise the 
presumption of innocence which is integral to any fair and just criminal 
justice system.

Don't risk innocent lives

Lawyers For Liberty reiterates that in the absence of a fair and just criminal 
justice system, the imposition of the death penalty will result in high 
probability of innocent lives being subject to the death penalty. The 
imposition of death penalty is irreversible and wrongful convictions cannot be 
remedied.

In light of the above, Lawyers For Liberty therefore urges the Minister in the 
Prime Minister’s Department, Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and the Attorney General, 
Abdul Gani Patail who will be addressing a public event in Kuala Lumpur on 13 
October 2011 on the abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia to move the 
Government of Malaysia to commit to the following:-

1) Abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia;

2) An immediate moratorium on all executions pending abolition;

3) Commutation of the sentences of all persons currently on death row;

4) Ratification by Malaysia of the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.

(source: Malaysia Chronicle)






NIGERIA:

Lawmaker Wants Death Penalty for Corrupt Officials


The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) minority leader in Kogi State House of 
Assembly, Yori Afolabi, representing Ijumu constituency, has advocated death 
penalty for corrupt public office holders in the country.

Yori who made the call yesterday while speaking with Daily Trust on the federal 
government decision to remove fuel subsidy, said the problem in the country is 
corruption and not the money spent on fuel subsidy, adding that only capital 
punishment can solve the nation's problem

"The problem of the country is corruption and the more money a public officer 
steals the more he is celebrated and let off the hook. If it is a high profile 
scandal, they will opt for plea bargain. People who had caused damages to many 
Nigerians as a result of the fraud perpetuated are given plea bargain so people 
steal with impunity. As it the only solution is capital punishment for corrupt 
officers," he said.

The law maker posited that Nigeria masses are at the mercies of few individuals 
who steal public funds that should have been used for developmental activities.

He however attributed the inability of the country to solve the problem of 
importation of fuel to too many financial leakages in the act of governance in 
the country and importation of fuel into the country.

(source: All Africa News)






ISRAEL:

Israel Needs a Death Penalty for Terrorism


I hate the death penalty and always have, so I do not say this lightly, but 
it’s high time even opponents of capital punishment start thinking seriously 
about executing convicted terrorists. Unlike even the worst criminals such as 
serial killers, terrorists remain dangerous to societies at large even after 
they’ve been locked up with life sentences because innocents outside the prison 
walls are frequently kidnapped to secure their release.

The Israeli government just struck a deal with Hamas to free Gilad Shalit, a 
soldier who was kidnapped 5 years ago near the border with Gaza. In exchange 
for Shalit’s release, hundreds of Hamas prisoners will also be freed. All the 
hard work that went into capturing these people and removing them from the 
field has now been undone. Not even the most violent terrorists are executed by 
Israel because the country removed the death penalty from the books in 1954. 
Those hundreds collectively will almost certainly end up being responsible for 
more Israeli casualties.

Israel is not wrong to do everything possible to get its citizens out of enemy 
hands. It’s what decent societies do. But this is an awfully steep price, a 
price that would have been drastically lower if dangerous terrorists, rather 
than run-of-the-mill criminals or conventional prisoners of war, were no longer 
waiting for their comrades-in-arms to kidnap innocents on their behalf.

(source: Commentary, Michael Totten, Commentary Magazine)