[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 24



UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Rare mass 'terror' trial opens in the UAE----Mass trials on terrorism charges 
are rare in the UAE which has largely been spared the Islamic militancy that 
has hit other Arab states


A rare mass trial of 41 radical Islamists accused of seeking to overthrow the 
government and links with "terrorists" opened on Monday in the United Arab 
Emirates, official media reported.

WAM news agency said the hearing at the state security court in Abu Dhabi was 
devoted to procedural measures, including the appointment of lawyers.

The judge then adjourned the trial to September 28.

Earlier this month, the prosecutor general accused the defendants, who include 
both Emiratis and foreigners, of plotting attacks aimed at trying to "seize 
power and establish a caliphate".

He also accused them of creating a group "with a terrorist, takfiri (Sunni 
Muslim extremist) ideology".

Takfiris regard Muslims who do not follow their extreme interpretation of Islam 
as apostates who can be killed.

The Islamic State group, which has set up a "caliphate" on territory it has 
captured in Syria and Iraq, follows the takfiri ideology, as does Al-Qaeda.

It was not immediately clear if the 41 suspects were accused of links to either 
group.

However, the prosecutor has said they were in touch with "foreign terrorist 
organisations... to help them achieve their goal".

The defendants could face the death penalty if found guilty.

They are also accused of setting up cells to train members in handling weapons 
and explosives in preparation for attacks in the UAE.

Authorities reported their arrest on August 2 and prosecutors immediately 
levelled the accusations against them and said they would face trial.

Such mass trials on terrorism charges are rare in the UAE which has largely 
been spared the Islamic militancy that has hit other Arab states.

The UAE is part of a US-led coalition that has been carrying out air strikes 
against IS in Syria since September last year.

The wealthy Gulf state has upped security measures in the aftermath of the 2011 
Arab Spring uprisings.

In July, it adopted tougher anti-terror legislation and introduced the death 
penalty for crimes linked to religious hatred and "takfiri groups".

These measures were taken a week after an Emirati woman convicted of the 
jihadist-inspired murder of a US schoolteacher was put to death by firing squad 
in a rare execution approved by President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

(source: Agence France-Presse)






IRAQI KURDISTAN----executions

Kurdistan hangs 3 offenders, breaking death penalty moratorium


A Kurdish man and his 2 wives, convicted of abducting and murdering 2 
schoolgirls, were hanged last week, the 1st judicial executions in the 
Kurdistan Region since a death penalty moratorium in 2008.

The hangings were announced by District Judge Abdulrahman Zebari, who had 
issued the death sentences in April 2014 at a court in Duhok city.

"The 3 convicts were hanged shortly after death sentences were signed by the 
Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani in accordance with protocol," Zebari said.

The 3 offenders were convicted for the abduction and murder of 2 schoolgirls in 
2011 and 2012.

Apart from terrorism-related cases, no other death sentence has been carried 
out since 2008, because President Barzani has imposed a moratorium by refusing 
to sign the execution orders.

The judge said the president was asked to make an exception and sign the 
verdicts for the 3 offenders, due to the gravity of the crime.

They were hanged for the deaths of 2 11-year-old girls, Avan Haji and Havin 
Hasan, who were kidnapped in Zakho before being abused and murdered.

1 of the girls was reported missing in November 2011 and the other in March 
2012.

The male offender was initially investigated by police in 2012 but was released 
for lack of evidence, police said.

"It was through 1 of his wives that we could charge the man again and find 
evidence," Captain Nashaat Sulaiman of the Zakho police force, told Rudaw.

"Initially, 1 of his wives came and complained that the man was beating her but 
then she revealed the bigger crimes concerning the 2 girls," Sulaiman said.

The man was a construction worker and had 6 children from the 2 marriages.

Both his wives were also charged and sentenced to death "for complicity" and 
"because of the gravity of the crime," the verdict read.

Kurdistan's Supreme Court did not overrule the sentences, despite lawyers' 
objections.

"There were growing public demands that we should respond to the cruelty with 
which the crimes were committed," the judge said.

The number of inmates on death row in Kurdistan has grown to a record high as 
authorities continue to maintain a de facto moratorium on death penalty.

In the region's 3 provinces, there are now 205 prisoners who have been 
sentenced to death. The number is higher than in any year since the 1990s, when 
the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) established its autonomous courts, 
virtually independent of Iraq's judiciary.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein and UN Special 
Representative for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov have urged Iraq to impose a 
moratorium on the death penalty and called on the Kurdistan region to abolish 
it permanently.

(source: rudaw.net)