[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 27



VIETNAM:

6 arrested in Hanoi with 120 kg of heroin in gas cylinders


Investigators from the Ministry of Public Security have arrested 6 people for 
allegedly trying to smuggle nearly 120 kilograms of heroin in used gas 
cylinders to China.

They cut the bottom of the cylinders and put the drugs inside before welding 
the parts back, the police said, adding it was the 1st time someone had been 
caught in Vietnam attempting it.

Officers in Hanoi busted the operation last Thursday when they checked three 
parked cars and found a gas cylinder with traces of welding at the bottom.

They found 42 kilograms of heroin inside it and arrested all 6 people in the 
cars.

They found the rest of the heroin in two other cylinders along with 2 pistols 
at a restaurant owned by the kingpin, Nguyen Quoc Hung, 32.

Hung and the others said they brought the drugs from Son La Province on the 
Laos border to Hanoi and were on their way to China.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws.

Those convicted of trafficking more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 
kilos of methamphetamine face death.

Producing or selling 100 g of heroin or 300 g of other drugs also carries the 
death penalty.

(source: Thanh Nien News)

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

Thai among 17 busted in Vietnam-Laos drug blitz


Vietnam has a Thai man and 17 others after a blitz on drug crime uncovered 
major stashes of heroin, cannabis and precursor chemicals, state media said 
Monday.

6 Vietnamese were arrested in Hanoi after being caught with some 120 
kilogrammes of heroin hidden inside household gas canisters, the Thanh Nien 
newspaper said on Monday.

"The suspects confessed to having brought the heroin from northern mountainous 
Son La province to Hanoi," the report said.

Eleven more people were arrested in a separate operation targeting drugs being 
smuggled into Vietnam from Laos, the state-run Vietnam News reported.

"Ten Laos nationals and one suspect from Thailand were arrested in the Laos 
province of Bolikhamxay on July 23," during the "largest ever" joint operation 
between Vietnamese and Laos police, the report said.

Some 5.5 tonnes of precursor chemicals and cannabis were seized during the 
raid, the report said.

It did not specify what the chemicals were for but precursors are needed to 
manufacture a range of synthetic drugs including methamphetamines, which are 
popular across Southeast Asia.

Communist Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Anyone found 
guilty of possessing more than 600 grammes of heroin, or more than 20 kilos of 
opium, can face the death penalty.

Convictions and sentences are usually revealed only by local media, which is 
strictly under state control.

The "Golden Triangle" region covering part of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand was 
once the world's top source of opium but has been overtaken by Afghanistan.

Vietnam has sentenced dozens of foreigners to death for drug offences, but it 
has been decades since a foreign national was executed in the country.

The communist government enforces compulsory "rehabilitation" programs for the 
country's estimated 140,000 drug addicts, which rights groups have strongly 
criticised, pointing to allegations of forced labour and abuse.

(source: Bangkok Post)






BANGLADESH:

AG hopeful about full verdict in 3 wks


Attorney General Mahbubey Alam has expressed hope that the Supreme Court will 
release its full verdict, which upheld the death sentence on Jamaat-e-Islami 
leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed for war crimes, in 2 to 3 weeks.

After the verdict is released the government can start the process of 
Mojaheed's execution, the attorney general told The Daily Star yesterday. On 
June 16, the SC in the short verdict upheld Mojaheed's death penalty for 
planning and instigating the killing of intellectuals and professionals near 
the end of the Liberation War.

After release of the full verdict Mojaheed can file a review petition with the 
SC within 15 days, but if it is rejected his last option to save himself is 
presidential clemency.

(source: The Daily Star)

*******

Worker to die for killing co-worker in Gazipur


A spinning mill worker was awarded death penalty for killing his colleague 
Mohammed Masud Miah, 16, of same factory in Gazipur.

A. K. M. Enamul Haque, the district and session judge of Gazipur announced the 
oreder against convict Mohammed Abdul Halim, 26, son of Mohammed Masud Mondol 
of Monar Potol village under Sonatola upazila in Bogra district.

Public prosecutor of Gazipur advocate Haris Uddin Ahmed said, Mohammed Masud 
Miah,16, son of Shah Alam of Joysen village under Pirgachha upazila in Rangpur 
district was a worker of Hanif Spinning Mill at Mouchak area under Kaliakoir 
upazila in Gazipur district.

He lived with his family in a rental house owned by one Abdur Rashid at 
Dulipara area of the upazila and worked as a worker of Hanif Spinning Mill. On 
March 16, in 2011, police recovered the slaughtered body of Mohammed Masud Miah 
from the ground floor of the factory.

The deceased father Shah Alam filed a case with Kaliakoir police station 
accusing some unidentified men.

Later, investigation officer of the case and sub inspector of Kaliakoir police 
station Mohammed Saiful Alam arrested Abdul Halim as a suspect. Abdul Halim 
later admitted of his involvement with the murder to police.

Police submitted the chargesheet against Abdul Halim on May 14 in 2011 after 
investigation.

After a long hearing, the Judge of Gazipur district and session judge court 
awarded the verdict to Abdul Halim on Sunday. The court also fined Tk 10,000 to 
the accused.

(source: The Financial Express)






IRAN----executions

2 Baluchi men hanged in southern Iran prison


2 Iranian men were hanged on Sunday in the main prison in Bandar Abbas, 
southern Iran.

The 2 men, originally from Iran's Sistan-va-Baluchestan Province, south-eastern 
Iran, had been imprisoned in Bandar Abbas for the past 2 years.

Their hanging followed the execution on Saturday of 3 men in a prison in the 
city of Ilam, western Iran.

The 3 men, only identified by their initials A.K., R.E. and N.S., were hanged 
in the central prison of Ilam, the regime's judiciary in Ilam Province said on 
Saturday.

On Wednesday (July 22), in a criminal act, the inhuman regime collectively 
hanged 10 prisoners in Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) Prison in Karaj, west of 
Tehran. Another prisoner was hanged on the same day in Esfahan Prison, central 
Iran.

These atrocities were committed simultaneous with a major protest by Iranian 
teachers last week outside the regime's Majlis (Parliament) demanding freedom 
for their imprisoned colleagues and their basic rights.

Faced with escalating popular discontent and unable to respond to the rightful 
demands of the majority of the Iranian people who are living under the poverty 
line, the religious fascism ruling Iran - dubbed the 'godfather of ISIS' by the 
Iranian people - is ramping up suppression.

On Thursday, Amnesty International said that the Iranian regime has executed an 
astonishing 694 people between January 1 and July 15, 2015.

"Iran's staggering execution toll for the 1st half of this year paints a 
sinister picture of the machinery of state carrying out premeditated 
judicially-sanctioned killing on a mass scale," it said.

Since mullah Hasssan Rouhani took office as President, more than 1,800 
prisoners have been executed in Iran.

Turning a blind eye by the international community, especially the European 
Union and the United States, regarding the catastrophic human rights situation 
in Iran emboldens the mullahs' regime to step up suppression and slaughter the 
Iranian people. Any relations with the Iranian regime must be contingent upon 
an improvement of the situation of human rights in Iran, including the release 
of all political prisoners.

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

Another 2 hanged in Iran, 10 more on death row


2 more prisoners were hanged Monday morning in Iran's notorious Qezelhesar 
Prison in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran.

The 2 prisoners were identified as Saeid Ganji and Firouz Nouri-Majd.

Ganji, Nouri-Majd and at least 1 other prisoner in Qezelhesar Prison were 
transferred to solitary confinement on Sunday in preparation for their 
execution, and their relatives were contacted to meet with them in the prison 
for a final time.

There are reports that the number of prisoners awaiting imminent execution in 
the jail could in fact be higher.

Another 10 death-row prisoners in Iran have been transferred to solitary 
confinement in preparation for their execution.

9 prisoners, being held in a detention center in Karaj, west of Tehran, were 
transferred to solitary confinement on Saturday in preparation for their 
execution. On Sunday, their relatives were told to come to the jail to meet for 
a final time with their loved ones.

The 9 prisoners were identified as Omid Mohammadi-Dara, Mostafa Ghafarzadeh, 
Omidreza Karampour, Shahriar Hassan-Zadeh, Hossein Afghan, Yareh Hassan-Zadeh, 
Sasan Salari, Meysam Hosseini-Nejad, and Amanollah Baluch-Zehi.

At least 18 prisoners have been executed in Iran in the past 6 days.

(source for both: NCR-Iran)






PAKISTAN----executions

Pakistan resumes capital punishment after 1 month break: officials


Authorities on Monday resumed executions by hanging 2 murder convicts following 
a 1-month break during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that ended last week.

The hangings, which took place in the central city of Multan early in the 
morning, brought to 176 the total number of people executed since December when 
the country ended a 6-year moratorium on the death penalty, according to the 
independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

"2 prisoners, Farooq alias Farooqa and Karim Nawaz, who had been awarded 
capital punishment, have been hanged in central jail in Multan today," Chaudhry 
Arshad Saeed, a senior government advisor for prisons in the Punjab province 
told AFP.

"Both of these convicts were awaiting the death penalty for murdering people in 
separate cases. They have been executed today after resumption of hangings 
following a temporary moratorium because of Ramadan," he said.

Another senior official of the prisons department who is responsible for all 
operations confirmed the hangings.

Pakistan ended its 2008 - 2013 moratorium on the death penalty following a 
Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar that killed more than 150 people -- 
mostly children -- in the country's deadliest ever terror attack.

The death penalty was initially reserved for terror convicts but was extended 
to all capital crimes in March.

Critics say the country s criminal justice system is marred by police torture 
and poor legal representation, meaning many of those now facing the gallows 
have not had a fair trial.

Among those currently on death row are murder convict Shafqat Hussain, whose 
case has drawn international criticism because his family and lawyers say he 
was under 18 at the time of the killing and claim he was tortured into 
confessing.

The European Union, the United Nations and human rights campaigners have all 
urged Pakistan to reinstate the moratorium.

Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on 
death row, most of whom have exhausted their appeals.

(source: Dunya News)

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

Militants in minority in Pakistan execution drive, deterrent effect debated


When Pakistan resumed executions after the massacre of 134 pupils at an 
army-run school last December, the government promised hangings would help 
deter Islamist militants.

A Reuters analysis of 180 people hanged since late December, however, shows 
that fewer than 1 in 6 were linked to militancy.

Hangings are set to resume this week after a hiatus for the Muslim month of 
fasting, and the findings raise questions over whether Pakistan's capital 
punishment is having the desired effect.

Lawyers and rights groups say several cases that ended in execution had serious 
legal shortcomings, and although the campaign is broadly popular at home it has 
drawn condemnation from international partners.

Within 6 months, Pakistan has become the world's 3rd-ranking country in terms 
of executions, behind China and Iran.

Of 180 people executed since January, 29 were convicted of assassinations or 
assassination attempts, sectarian murders, a hijacking or killing of security 
officials - falling under a broad definition of militancy.

Almost all were hanged immediately after the massacre. Since then, most 
executions were of murderers with no militant links.

Officials say the death penalty has deterred militant attacks.

"You've seen the number of terrorist attacks going down drastically," the prime 
minister's special assistant for law, Ashtar Ausaf Ali, told Reuters. "One of 
the reasons is fear. Fear of being executed."

LINK IN DOUBT

He did not provide figures, but the executions coincide with a steady fall in 
militant attacks since 2010, when the military began seizing territory from 
Taliban insurgents. A further crackdown launched a year ago was another factor.

There was no dramatic decline this year, however, suggesting the link to 
executions was "not major", said Muhammad Amir Rana, head of the Pakistan 
Institute for Peace Studies, which runs a database on militant attacks.

That showed 976 people died in the first 6 months of 2014, 747 in the 2nd 6 
months of 2014 and 612 in the first 6 months of 2015.

The Taliban and other militants scoffed at the idea that hanging might stop 
them.

"When we can blow up ourselves to hit targets and embrace martyrdom, how can 
hangings scare us?" one militant asked.

The interior ministry did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

One senior security official said the death penalty was designed to quench 
public thirst for vengeance after the school massacre, while at the same time 
leaving militant groups deemed useful untouched.

Some militants have historic links with Pakistan's powerful armed forces and 
intelligence, which used them as proxy forces against arch-rival India. Several 
banned groups still operate freely and hold public rallies.

"It was never meant for militants, and if it was, it was only for those few who 
were no longer dancing to our tune," said the official, who asked not to be 
named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The military did not respond to requests for comment, but has denied 
operational links to militants.

Ali said many jailed militants had appeals pending, and they would be executed 
if the appeals failed.

About 100 cases have gone to secret military courts set up after the Peshawar 
attack and 27 judgments have been passed, Ali said. The case files are secret.

Pakistan's antiquated and overburdened justice system does not have public data 
on executions, the number of people on death row and the crimes for which they 
are being held.

Reuters analysed databases of news reports collated by legal aid group Reprieve 
and rights group Amnesty International. Not all the reports were verified.

"STAGGERING INCOMPETENCE"

European legislator Richard Howitt said the hangings were "a cause of great 
European concern" and could endanger a tax break for Pakistan linked to human 
rights.

The "GSP plus" status gives Pakistani manufacturers favourable access to 
European markets and generated more than a billion dollars in increased trade 
for Pakistan last year.

"I want to appeal to Pakistan to refrain from further executions which could 
indeed impinge renewal of trade preferences with the EU," he told Reuters. 
Human rights lawyer Saroop Ijaz has worked on dozens of death penalty appeals, 
and says an overwhelming number show "staggering incompetence" in the criminal 
justice system.

Police rarely gather evidence, he said, instead relying on witnesses who may be 
bribed or intimidated. Some defendants are tried in a language they do not 
speak, and some say they were tortured into confessing.

Poor defendants are represented by public defense lawyers, typically paid 
10-14,000 rupees ($100-$140) a month. They often don't show up.

Naval officer Zulfiqar Ali Khan was hanged after being convicted of a double 
murder 16 years ago. His lawyers said he was defending himself during a 
robbery.

His court-appointed lawyer did not meet him once outside of court, present 
evidence in his defensse or properly challenge witness statements, said legal 
aid group Justice Project Pakistan.

"Poverty did not allow us to hire a private lawyer at any stage," said Khan's 
brother Abdul Qayyum, a low-paid clerk. "I cannot forget the moment I received 
the body of my brother... I will take the sense of loss and helplessness to my 
grave."

(source: Reuters)

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

ATC re-issues death warrants of Shafqat Hussain


Anti Terrorist Court (ATC) on Monday once again issued the death warrants of 
Shafqat Hussain over the murder of 7 year old child.

Shafqat Hussain will be hanged on August in the central jail of Karachi. ATC 
issued the warrants of Shafqat Hussain for the 7th time.

It is pertinent to mention here that death execution of Shafqat Hussain, 
prolonged due to Human Rights commission claim that he was underage at time of 
committing the murder.

In 2004, Shafqat Hussain had killed a 7 years old child after kidnapping him. 
The stay order against the execution of death penalty has been discharged by 
the court.

(source: thenewstribe.com)

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

4 handed down death


The Additional District and Sessions court sentenced to death four murder 
accused on 2 count and fined them in a double murder case.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Zulfiqar Naeem Ranjha handed down death 
penalty on 2 counts to 4 murder accused including Shah Nawaz alias Shahni, 
Afzal alias Aslah, Qaisar Ali and Mohammad Zaman and fined them Rs700,000 each.

According to prosecution, the accused have shot dead two persons in Chak 202 JB 
in the remit of Langrana area in 2011 on resistance during a dacoity.

All the accused are belonging to caste Rajoka and Chak 202/JB.

(source: The Nation)