[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 23



NIGERIA:

Without evidence of death, you cannot impose capital punishment, says Femi 
Falana


The General Court Martial which tried the group of 18 soldiers for mutinous 
acts which occurred at Maiduguri, Borno State on May 14, 2014 delivered its 
judgment last week. Five of the soldiers were discharged and acquitted, one was 
jailed for 28 days while 12 others were convicted and sentenced to death. The 
convicts were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, mutiny, attempt to commit 
murder, insubordination to a particular order and false accusation. In this 
interview with a Lagos-based lawyer and human rights activist, Mr Femi Falana 
(SAN) he told YETUNDE AYOBAMI OJO that the death sentence should be reversed 
with immediete effect. Excerpts:

A military court martial has just sentenced 12 soldier to death for committing 
mutiny over their protest against General Officer Commanding (GOC) Gen Mohammed 
Saleh of the Seventh Mechanised Division, Maiduguri. What is your message to 
the Army Council in their review of the death sentence?

I will strongly appeal to the Army Council not to confirm the death sentence 
passed on the 12 soldiers but commute same to imprisonment in the interest of 
Justice. The facts of the case in my view cannot grant conviction of murder 
charge. The Army Council should, in the interest of justice take a painstaking 
analysis of the facts in issue and the circumstances of the offence in their 
consideration of the death sentence.

Before the incident, the soldiers at the Maimalari cantonment had complained of 
insufficient ammunition, food and allowances. It should be noted that these 
were soldiers in full combat operations. They were at the battle front fighting 
the Boko Haram insurgents. Putting their lives on line to save their father 
land and yet there were clear evidence of poor welfare, poor motivation and 
insufficient ammunitions. The question is who was to blame? The soldiers 
squarely answered this question in their protest against the visiting GOC.

According to the report, the visit of the GOC was said to have coincided with 
the arrival of the corpses of soldiers freshly killed in an ambush in Chibok by 
the Boko Haram insurgents on the night of May 13, 2014. Don't forget these were 
corpses of their colleagues. It was the tragic situation which reportedly 
infuriated the soldiers. Following the unfortunate incident the military 
authorities in their wisdom, investigated and confirmed the circumstances which 
led to the mutinous act. The result of their investigation was the immediate 
removal of the GOC. The only inference that could be drawn from the removal of 
the GOC was that he must have been found wanting in the performance of huge 
responsibilities imposed on him by his official callings.

In this regard, the Army Council in its consideration should examine in 
totality the very circumstances of the mutinous act of the affected soldiers 
and commute the death sentence to imprisonment terms.

Beyond the circumstances of the case, is there any legal basis why the Army 
should not confirm the death sentence?

With due respect to the General Court Martial that convicted the 12 soldiers, 
my humble view is that the soldiers were charged under the wrong law. Before 
any person can be charged with murder, there must be evidence of death as fact 
in issue. Since death was not considered as fact in issue in the circumstance 
of the case, charging the soldiers under the law that provides for capital 
punishment appears in my view a bit over flogging the issue which cannot stand 
the test of legal scrutiny in our court.

Although, mutiny cannot be condoned by the armed forces because it strikes at 
the foundation of discipline in the military, it is my view that it ought to be 
pointed out that the 18 soldiers were erroneously charged under Section 52(1) 
of the Armed Forces Act Cap A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. 
Fortunately, the General Officer Commanding whose car was shot at was not 
killed. Hence, the soldiers were charged with attempted murder which does not 
attract the death penalty. In the circumstance, the 12 convicts should have 
been charged under section 52(2) of the Armed Forces Act which provides for 
life imprisonment.

Do these precedents support your position on this matter?

Of course, we have precedents in which soldiers who were convicted by military 
court martial and sentenced to death had their sentences commuted to prison 
terms and pardon.

I recall, the case of Yussuf and 21 Ors v Nigerian Army (2003) 36 WRN 68 where 
late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) handled the defence of the accused, the 
sentence of life imprisonment passed on the appellants who had rioted at the 
Cairo Airport in Egypt was quashed. It was the finding of the Court that the 
offence of mutiny complained of by the respondent was instigated by the 
officers who had diverted the medical allowances which ought to have been paid 
to the convicts while receiving medical treatment in Egypt. It is clear, just 
like the instance case the court cannot gloss over the circumstances of the 
mutiny.

So also, in the case of the Akure 27, where I handled the defence of the 
convicted soldiers who were equally charged with mutiny but convicted and 
sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Army Council after painstaking review of the case of the affected soldiers, 
who had served as part of ECOMOG troops in Liberia, reduced the sentence of 
life imprisonment to 7 years and later pardoned the convicts. The fact of the 
case was that the allowances of the convicts who had served in Liberia were 
diverted by some military officers. This was taken into cognizance by the Army 
Council.

Again as you can see, the Army Council took the special circumstance of the 
protest of the soldiers which led to the charge of mutiny for which they were 
tried into consideration just like the instance case. So, I strongly advise the 
Army Council to follow its earlier precedents in the cases cited in the 
interest of justice and equity.

Peradventure, if in spite of this your analysis and persionate appeal to the 
Army Council to commute the death sentence passed on the 12 soldiers to 
imprisonment terms, the council still goes ahead to confirm the sentence, what 
will be your advice to the affected soldiers?

Honestly, I expect the council to follow its precedents as earlier stated. 
However if the unexpected happens and the council affirms the death sentence, 
the convicts should seek remedy in the regular court. They should explore all 
the legally available window. And as a matter of fact, the regular court will 
do justice in the matter. They will look at not just the circumstances that led 
to the mutinous act but also the charge itself, whether in the absence of 
death, the conviction and death sentence can stand. I strongly believe the 
contrary. Without death as fact in issue, the conviction and the death sentence 
as passed by the court martial cannot stand. I am sure the court will always 
preserve the sanctity of life of every citizen irrespective of class.

(source: The Guardian)






IRAN:

3 Pastors in Iran Facing Death Penalty


3 pastors are facing charges that could lead to the death penalty for their 
involvement in Iran's underground house-church movement, according to Morning 
Star News.

Iranian authorities recently filed charges against Behnam Irani and Silas 
Rabbani - both pastors of the Church of Iran in Karaj - for "Mofsed-fel-arz" or 
"spreading corruption on [the] Earth." Prior to these charges, the 
Revolutionary Tribunal had charged Abdolreza Ali-Haghnejad - another leader of 
the Church of Iran - with "Moharebeh" or "warring against God," but the court 
later changed the charge to "spreading corruption on [the] Earth."

While "warring against God" and "spreading corruption on [the] Earth" can both 
carry the death penalty, the legal requirements for a conviction of the latter 
are less demanding.

In Iran, "warring against God" has been a capital offense often used against 
political opponents, or dissident members of ethnic minorities. Hashem 
Shabaninejad - an Arab-Iranian poet and human rights activist - was hanged on 
Jan. 25 after being found guilty of "spreading corruption on [the] Earth" and 
"warring against God" for simply speaking out against the maltreatment of 
Iranian Arabs in Khuzestan Province.

So far this year, Iran has executed 12 people for allegedly "warring against 
God" and 2 for "spreading corruption on [the] Earth."

(source: Worthy News)

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

Sunni prisoner awaiting execution transferred to hospital


Barzan Nasrollah Zadeh, a Sunni prisoner of conscience awaiting execution in 
Iran's Rajai Shahr prison, was transferred to hospital yesterday following a 
deterioration in his condition.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), despite 
doctors saying that Barzan was in urgent need of surgery, he was transferred 
for an unknown reason back to Rajai Shahr prison within a few hours, without 
receiving medical treatment.

The transfer to hospital followed a deterioration in his condition, after he 
endured 4 years of extreme abdominal pain with prison officials refusing to 
provide him with adequate medical treatment.

Barzan Nasrollah Zadeh has been suffering from health problems since his arrest 
on 29 May 2010. He was shot in the abdomen by plain-clothed officers from the 
Ministry of Intelligence who arrested him as he walked home from school in 
Sanandaj, Kurdistan province of Iran. He was only 17 years old at the time.

Despite his severe injuries, he was admitted to the local hospital for 
approximately 1 hour, before being transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence 
Detention Center in Sanandaj. He lost his spleen due to the lack of medical 
care he received.

He was subjected to torture whilst held at the Ministry of Intelligence 
Detention Center in Sanandaj, and was also psychologically tortured by being 
forced to watch other detainees being tortured by Intelligence officers.

Barzan Nasrollah Zadeh was then filmed by interrogators who forced him to make 
a false 'confession' that he had 'contact with Salafi groups'.

Following the 'confession', he was sentenced to death in Branch 28 of the 
Tehran Revolutionary Court, along with 2 other Sunni men, after being convicted 
of 'Moharebeh (enmity against God) through the support of Salafi groups'.

(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)

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

4 Prisoners Executed for Drug-Related Charges in Southern Iran


4 prisoners were hanged in the prison of Bandar Abbas (southern Iran) Thursday 
morning September 18, reported the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in 
Hormozgan Province.

According to the report the prisoners were identified as "F.M." and "A.R." 
charged with participation in possession and trafficking of 970 grams of 
heroin, "H.R." for participation in trafficking of 582 kilograms and 350 grams 
of opium and "A.N." for possession and trafficking of 1460 grams of heroin. All 
the prisoners had been sentenced to death by the section 3 of Bandar Abbas 
Revolution Court. The executions were carried out at the Central prison of 
Bandar Abbas, said the report.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Seven terrorists sentenced to death


7 Saudi men have been sentenced to death for their role in one of the Kingdom's 
largest terror cells, which consisted of 94 persons and aimed to target oil 
facilities and assassinate security officers, scholars, senior officials and 
journalists.

The Special Criminal Court in Riyadh awarded death penalty to three terror 
suspects on Monday and 4 others on Sunday. 40 suspects were sentenced to prison 
terms. On Monday, the court sentenced 20 suspects to prison terms ranging from 
5 to 25 years, in addition to a travel ban. All the convicts are Saudis. The 
convicts can appeal the verdict within 30 days, the Saudi Press Agency 
reported. The charges against the convicts included kidnapping and killing a 
foreigner, armed confrontation with the security forces, embracing deviant 
ideology, joining Al-Qaeda, disobedience of the ruler, making explosives, and 
receiving training in the use of weapons.

On Sunday, the court jailed as many as 20 suspects for between 2 and 23 years 
for a variety of crimes ranging from joining a terror cell, providing shelter 
for terrorists to embracing a takfiri ideology (labeling others as infidels).

The 4 sentenced to death were convicted of various crimes. The 1st defendant 
was guilty of receiving military training abroad to fight against his own 
country and planning to kill policemen, carrying out suicide bombings, 
exploding oil pipelines, and killing foreigners as well as Islamic religious 
leaders.

The 2nd defendant was guilty of joining a terrorist cell, working with Al-Qaeda 
inside the country, recruiting members for the cell, meeting leaders of the 
terrorist cell, providing them with shelter and resisting security officers 
during their raid. He was convicted of wearing a special uniform that had 3 
pockets for ammunition.

The 3rd defendant was guilty of receiving training on how to dismantle and put 
together arms, meeting top leaders of the terrorist cell, supporting them in 
their action, providing them with shelter, not reporting them to the police, 
helping them put together explosives and opening fire on security officers who 
raided their place.

He was convicted of firing 90 bullets with the intention of killing security 
officers who foiled their attempt to carry out a suicide bombing inside the 
country.

He was holding a machine gun, 60 bullets, 2 grenades, and a number of arms with 
the intention to destabilize security.

(source: Saudi Gazette)