[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 28



BANGLADESH:

Tension ahead of verdict on Bangla cleric today


Bangladesh's war crimes court is set to deliver a long-awaited verdict on the 
leader of the largest Islamist party, the prosecutor said on Tuesday, amid 
fears it will trigger violence from supporters.

Motiur Rahman Nizami, 71, could face the death penalty if convicted on 
Wednesday of 16 charges including genocide, rape and arson allegedly carried 
out during the 1971 war of independence.

The verdict, originally scheduled for June, was postponed at the 11th hour 
because of a sudden deterioration in Nizami's health.

"We are finally going to get the long-waited verdict on Wednesday," prosecutor 
Tureen Afroz told reporters. "We hope he will be sentenced to death for his 
crimes during the war."

Nizami is suspected of leading one of the war's most notorious militias, which 
allegedly killed top intellectuals as it became clear the new nation of 
Bangladesh would emerge from what was then East Pakistan.

Deputy commissioner of Dhaka police Abdul Baten told reporters security has 
been tightened in the capital with extra police deployed.

Authorities fear a death sentence could trigger violent protests by Nizami's 
Jamaat-e-Islami party, which has hundreds of thousands of activists and other 
supporters.

"We won't tolerate any attempt to create instability or chaos," junior home 
minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters.

Other verdicts as well as the execution of a senior Jamaat leader last year 
plunged the country into one of its worst crises as Islamists battled security 
forces, leaving around 200 people dead.

(source: Agence France-Presse)






IRAN:

UN Seriously Concerned about Iran's Death Penalty Record


International reactions towards the execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari are 
continuing. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued the following 
statement today expressing grave concern about Iran's use of the death penalty:

Iran execution

We are shocked and saddened by the execution on 25 October of Ms. Reyhaneh 
Jabbari, who was sentenced to death for the alleged murder of Morteza Abdolali 
Sarbandi, a former employee of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry. The execution 
of Ms Jabbari was carried out on Saturday despite repeated calls on the 
authorities by various United Nations human rights mechanisms not to execute 
her.

Serious concerns were raised about due process in connection with Ms. Jabbari's 
case - in particular the allegation that her conviction was based on 
confessions made under duress. The court also apparently failed to take all 
relevant circumstantial evidence into account.

On 7 July 2007, Ms. Jabbari reportedly stabbed Mr. Sarbandi in the shoulder 
after he offered to hire her to redesign his office and then took her to a 
residence, where, according to her, he attempted to sexually assault her. Ms. 
Jabbari maintained that her actions were taken in self-defence, in order to 
prevent a serious assault on her person.

The Iranian authorities apparently did make attempts to prevent the execution, 
which was stayed at least twice, in April and September, in order to enable the 
2 families to reach a settlement. However, it is the Government's 
responsibility to prevent execution, especially when there is so much 
uncertainty about the events surrounding the killing, and concerns over due 
process.

We are very concerned about the increased use of the death penalty in Iran, as 
highlighted in the report of the Special Rapporteur on Iran which is being 
presented to the General Assembly later today. Iran is scheduled to appear 
before the Human Rights Council under the Universal Periodic Review this Friday 
(31 October), and we call on the Iranian authorities to make an explicit 
commitment to immediately institute a moratorium on the death penalty, 
particularly in light of the high number of executions and the continuing 
serious concerns about fair trial and due process.

(source: Iran Human Righs)






SINGAPORE:

Malaysian man escapes death penalty under amended Singapore drug laws


A 29-year-old Malaysian condemned to hang in 2009 for drug trafficking had his 
sentence commuted to life imprisonment as he was intellectually challenged and 
suffering from depression at the time.

Wilkinson Primus, who looked relaxed in court, was spared the gallows under 
amended laws that give judges the discretion to impose life terms on drug 
traffickers who suffer from an "abnormality of mind" that substantially reduce 
their mental responsibility for their acts.

He was riding a motorcycle into Singapore on Nov 3, 2008 when he was arrested 
at the Woodlands Checkpoint. A bundle in the basket of the motorcycle was later 
analysed to contain 35.66g of heroin.

Wilkinson was given the then-mandatory death penalty in 2009 after he was 
convicted of drug trafficking

(source: The Straits Times)






SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Saudi Arabia Carries Out 61st Execution Of 2014; Rape, murder, apostasy, armed 
robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's 
strict version of Islamic sharia law.

Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani convicted of heroin smuggling Tuesday, the 
interior ministry said, bringing the number executed in 2 weeks to 4.

It said a Saudi national was also executed in a separate case, raising to 61 
the number of death sentences carried out in the kingdom this year, according 
to an AFP tally.

Mohammed Gul Rahma of Pakistan was executed in Qatif in the kingdom's oil-rich 
Eastern Province, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing the 
interior ministry.

Rahma "was caught smuggling a large quantity of heroin," SPA said.

3 other Pakistanis found guilty of heroin smuggling have also been beheaded 
this month, 2 of them in the Eastern Province.

Also on Tuesday, Mohammed bin Noun bin Nasser Al-Dhufairi of Saudi Arabia was 
executed in northern Jawf region for smuggling amphetamines pills, SPA said.

The interior ministry says the government "is keen on combating narcotics due 
to their great harm to individuals and society."

A United Nations independent expert called in September for an immediate 
moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.

Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or 
arbitrary executions, said trials "are by all accounts grossly unfair" and 
defendants are often not allowed a lawyer.

He said confessions were obtained under torture.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable 
by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of Islamic sharia law.

Human Rights Watch expressed alarm in August at a surge in executions, which 
saw 19 people beheaded between in 16 days.

HRW said a number of those executed had been convicted of non-violent offenses 
such as drug trafficking and "sorcery," and described the use of the death 
penalty in their cases as "particularly egregious."

Moreover, Saudi judges have this year passed death sentences on 5 members of 
the country's Shia Muslim minority for their part in pro-democracy protests.

(source: Mint Press News)