[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 12



SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Saudi beheads 80th person this year



Saudi Arabia Tuesday carried out its 80th beheading of the year, edging closer 
to the 87 executions it carried out during all of 2014, according to AFP 
tallies.

The interior ministry said a Saudi citizen, Rabie al-Sai'ari, had been 
convicted of trying to smuggle hashish into the kingdom.

He was executed in Najran, a district on the border with Yemen, a ministry 
statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency said.

The ministry has cited deterrence as a reason for its use of the death penalty 
despite criticism from human rights watchdogs.

Amnesty International ranked Saudi Arabia among the world's top 3 executioners 
of 2014.

On a visit to Riyadh this month, French President Francois Hollande said that 
capital punishment "should be banned," and his country is campaigning around 
the world for its abolition.

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

(source: The Daily Star)








INDONESIA:

Indonesian lawyer: Mary Jane Veloso's death sentence can still be canceled or 
commuted



The Indonesian lawyer of Mary Jane Veloso said on Tuesday the cancellation of 
the death penalty on the convicted overseas worker is still possible.

Atty. Rudyantho, who is in the country along with 2 other Indonesian lawyers, 
made the statement at the Department of Justice (DOJ), where they met with DOJ 
Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar and chief legal counsel Ricardo Paras to 
discuss Veloso's case.

"The cancellation of the death penalty is still possible," Rudyantho said, 
adding that it is their intent to have the death penalty canceled or commuted.

"I am a lawyer. I have to be optimistic to help my client," he further said.

The Indonesian lawyers, who are to return to Indonesia Thursday, said they 
decided to come to Manila even without a formal invitation from the Philippine 
government, to gather evidence and documents that would help permanently save 
Veloso from the death penalty.

"I came here to try to find out how to help Mary Jane. We will try our best to 
help her, to find out the real story, including what happened in Malaysia when 
Sergio recruited her and sent her to Indonesia," he added.

The impending execution by firing squad of Veloso was interrupted by a 
last-minute reprieve from Indonesian President Joko Widodo last month.

The Indonesian government said the reprieve was to allow Veloso to testify 
against the case of her illegal recruiters in the Philippines.

This developed as DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima disclosed more alleged victims of 
Veloso's recruiters, Ma. Cristina Sergio and her live-in-partner, Julius 
Lacanilao, have also approached the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 
while still others were referred to them by the Department of Foreign Affairs 
(DFA).

De Lima said some of the victims have sent handwritten letters to the NBI 
detailing their harrowing experiences with Sergio.

De Lima said the cases are now being investigated by the NBI.

"The DFA referred to us the additional cases for verification or validation, 
and these were automatically assigned to the NBI for investigation," she 
explained.

Earlier, 10 others, aside from Veloso and Lorna Valino, Ana Maries Gonzales and 
Jenalyn Paraiso, came forward and filed charges of illegal recruitment and 
human trafficking before the NBI.

(source: interaksyon.com)








AUSTRALIA:

Executioners, Song, Silence



Just after midnight a few days ago, a small crowd gathered in a jungle clearing 
on Nuksakambangan, a prison island in Indonesia.

It was an awful, terrifying moment. And so powerful it seemed strangely holy.

A row of 8 men, tied to wooden crosses, with arms outstretched and feet bound, 
faced a firing squad. The men wore white shirts. A black cross was taped on the 
chests of the condemned to show where their hearts were.

All 8 refused blindfolds, choosing instead to look their executioners in the 
eye. As they waited for the gunfire, the men - from Australia, Nigeria, 
Indonesia, Brazil and Ghana; all convicted of offenses related to drug 
smuggling - sang hymns. A pastor who was present, Karina de Vega, said that 
even though they were not all Christians, they sang like a choir: "It was 
breathtaking."

Brintha Sukumaran, a sister of Myuran Sukumaran, an Australian man on death 
row, as she arrived at a prison island to visit her brother ahead of the 
executions in Indonesia on Tuesday.

2 Australians, Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 34, led the group. Former 
ringleaders of what became known as the "Bali 9" drug operation, the pair had 
undergone a transformation in the decade they had spent in jail. Mr. Chan had 
been ordained a minister, while Mr. Sukumaran had become an accomplished 
artist.

The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, and the foreign minister, Julie 
Bishop, had pleaded for stays of execution, in vain. And, over the final weeks, 
Australians had been galvanized into unexpected protests.

As the members of the firing squad cocked their rifles, the strains of "Amazing 
Grace" were heard in the darkness. The drug smugglers were singing a hymn 
written by a former slave ship captain, John Newton, also a wretch who wanted 
to be saved.

Then the bullets came.

And an amazing thing happened: Australia, a proudly secular, cynical country, 
stopped. Even those who did not weep were silent; a curious stillness infected 
the country the day after the shooting. 2 of them were ours, and they had been 
shot dead.

In the hours before the executions, thousands held candles at vigils, lay 
sleepless in their beds or woke early, fumbling for the news on their phones.

The appeals for clemency had been a tortuous, protracted process, and we grew 
accustomed to the faces of the condemned on our screens and newspaper pages. 
Now their lives were snuffed out and many felt anguished and distressed.

According to a recent poll, almost 1/2 of Australians are atheists: 48 % of 
respondents said they had never believed in a "classical creator God" or no 
longer did; and 60 % think the Bible is a book of myths.

Yet the story of redemption in an Indonesia jail persuaded my country to 
rethink its attitude toward the death penalty. Mr. Abbott called the executions 
"cruel and unnecessary," pointing to the fact that the men were "fully 
rehabilitated." After the executions, he announced that Australia would 
withdraw its ambassador to Indonesia.

Australia is officially opposed to the death penalty - the last person to be 
executed was hanged in 1967 - but polls have shown us to be conflicted and 
inconsistent on the question. We don't favor it here, but Australian public 
opinion is more sympathetic toward it in other countries or if it is used 
against terrorists (like those responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings that 
killed 202 people, including 88 Australians). A recent poll found that 52 % 
agreed that fellow Australians who had been convicted of drug trafficking and 
sentenced to death in another country should be executed.

Yet almost the same number (53 %) objected to the executions of Mr. Chan and 
Mr. Sukumaran. The 2 also drew support from both sides of Parliament and across 
the media.

Perhaps it was because the former traffickers had genuinely reformed. They had 
become figureheads within the prison, helping inmates and leading church 
services. It was also reported that Mr. Chan and Mr. Sukumaran had risked their 
own safety to protect women's quarters when a riot broke out in 2012.

Mr. Chan converted to Christianity during a stint in solitary confinement when 
he realized his death sentence was likely to be carried out. To ensure that his 
prison ministry would continue, Mr. Chan trained others to be leaders. "Jesus 
set me free," he said.

Sincerity is judged exactingly in Australia; we have crude words for those who 
try to pull the wool over our eyes, for fraudsters or pretenders. We are also 
deeply suspicious of piety. But we believed these men as they cried for another 
chance. (A poll taken after the executions found 71 % of Australians thought 
the death penalty should not be used against drug traffickers, and just over 
half thought Australia should take a more aggressive stance on the subject 
globally.)

And this is why their long trek to a brutal death became somehow sacred. It 
made many of us reconsider the possibility of change, the potency of mercy and 
the terrible finality of taking another's life. In the run-up to the 
executions, Simon Smart, the director of the Center for Public Christianity, 
asked: "Why do we long for redemption stories? Where do we find hope in the 
midst of struggle and disappointment? The short, beautifully tragic lives of 
these young men seemed to point to something of an answer. Were they on to 
something as they sang their way to their graves?"

On top of those questions, more are now being asked: Should we make stronger 
efforts globally to lobby against the death penalty? How should we respond to 
the fact that Indonesian officials continue to ask for clemency for their own 
citizens on death row in other countries - slam them as hypocrites or fight 
with them? If Mr. Chan and Mr. Sukumaran forgave their persecutors, can we?

The Rev. Christie Buckingham was with the men before they died. Their last 
hour, the pastor said, was one of their finest: "giving comfort to all around 
them, including the guards who had become fond of them."

If there are any moments that should compel a country to pause and think, this 
was one.

(source: Opinion; Julia Baird, a journalist and television presenter with the 
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, is working on a biography of Queen 
Victoria----New York Times)



IRAN----executions

Public Executions Scheduled in Iran's Ethnic Region



3 people are scheduled to be hanged publicly in the town of Hamidiyeh 
(Southwestern Iran), reported the Iranian state media. Quoting the head of the 
judiciary in Khuzestan, Farhad Afsharnia, the report said that these people 
were involved in the shootings in early April in Hamidiyeh where 3 security 
officers were killed. Several people were arrested in connection with the 
shooting but none of them have been identified by name and no further details 
have been provided by the edam4authorities.

The public hangings are scheduled to take place in the coming days. Khuzestan 
province is the home of Iran's Arab minority where there have been several 
protests against the authorities in the past few months. In the past few days 
there have also been protests in Kurdistan, home to the Kurdish ethnic group.

IHR strongly condemns the scheduled public hangings in Hamidiyeh. Mahmood 
Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: "The public executions are meant 
to spread fear in the society. It seems that the scheduled public executions 
are the authorities' response to the recent protests in Khuzestan and 
Kurdistan. We call on the international community to react to the violent 
crackdown in the ethnic regions of Iran."

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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

6 prisoners hanged



The Iranian regime's henchmen hanged at least 6 men in the northwestern city of 
Orumiyeh on Thursday.

Prisoners Shahin Salehi, Haji Abbassi, Ahmad Shiri, Latif Alizadeh, Abdolaziz 
Fouladi and Hassan Bina all were executed in the city's main prison.

Also on Saturday a prisoner was hanged in public in the city of Rasht.

UN human rights experts condemned the recent surge in executions in Iran, the 
majority of which are unreported.

Reports received from Geneva on 8th May 2015 from United Nations Special 
Rapporteurs involving the situation of human rights in Iran by Ahmed Shaheed 
and on extrajudicial executions by Christof Heyns have condemned the drastic 
increase in executions since the past few weeks.

In many cases executions have gone unreported by official sources and the names 
of those being executed have not been disclosed to the public.

"When the Iranian government refuses to even acknowledge the full extent of 
executions which have occurred, it shows a callous disregard for both human 
dignity and international human rights law," Mr. Shaheed stressed.

Between the 9th and the 26th of April as many as 98 prisoners are reported to 
have been executed at an average of 6 per day.

"We are alarmed by the recent surge in the number of executions, which has 
occurred despite serious questions about fair trial standards," Mr. Heyns 
noted.

(source: NCR-Iran)

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

Iran summarily executed 98 people in a month: U.N. report



The United Nations expressed its condemnation of the latest figures of 
executions carried out by the Iranian authorities during the past few months.

According to a report documented by Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the Special Rapporteur 
on Human Rights in Iran, and Christophe Heinz, the Special Rapporteur on 
arbitrary executions, Iranian authorities executed 98 prisoners in April.

Shaheed said that the Iranian government refuses to acknowledge the number of 
arbitrary executions that took place last month.

"This is a complete contempt for human dignity, and the international 
principles of human rights," he added.

On the other hand, Heinz expressed his "shock" about the high number of 
executions in Iran.

The report pointed out that since the beginning of January, 340 people were 
executed in Iran, including dozens of political prisoners, seven of them were 
women, including activist Rehana Jabari.

At least 15 cases were subject to public executions, according the U.N.

The report also indicated that some 852 people were executed in Iran in 2014, 
including women and minors.

Heinz and Shaheed appealed to the Iranian authorities to abolish the death 
penalty and abide by international conventions.

In the meantime, peaceful protests swept the Kurdish city of Mahabad, and 
expanded to other cities in northwestern Iran where Kurds constitute majority 
following decades of suppression.

The Iranian security forces started taking more repressive measures against 
angry Kurdish protesters, who started taking to the street after the 
23-year-old Kurdish girl, Farinaz Khosrawani, committed suicide following a 
sexual harassment by an Iranian security officer last Thursday.

Last February, the Kurdish political activist Saman Nesim was executed in the 
jail of the city of Urmia, in western Iran, on charges of participating in 
armed activities of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan against the Iranian 
government.

The Iranian government is facing severe criticism from the United Nations and 
the international organizations for violations against human rights, especially 
after the documentation of dozens of summary executions of opponents, 
journalists and civil rights activists.

(source: aranews.net)

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

Iran hardliners cling to death penalty



The jailing of a well-known campaigner against the death penalty and a sharp 
rise in executions has once again put Iran's poor human rights record in the 
spotlight.

Why has President Hassan Rouhani and his team failed to meet hopes for reform 
at home despite making gains on the international stage?

"They took my mummy to Evin prison again," says 8-year-old Kiana.

In their short lives, Kiana and her twin brother, Ali, have seen many arrests 
and raids on their home.

Their mother is Narges Mohammadi, a well-known human rights lawyer and 
campaigner, who has been in and out of jail on charges related to her work, for 
much of the past 5 years.

In 2012, after suffering severe ill-health, Ms Mohammadi was granted leave to 
serve the remainder of a 6-year prison sentence at home.

But last week while the children were at school, intelligence officials came to 
the house, with no warning or explanation, and took her back to jail.

One of the charges levelled against Ms Mohammadi was that she was running an 
"illegal group" campaigning against the death penalty.

It is a tough cause to fight in a country that has the second highest rate of 
executions in the world, after China.

When President Rouhani swept to power in 2013, there were hopes his more 
moderate stance would mean improvements in human rights.

But since he took office, the number of executions carried out in Iran has 
actually risen.

President Rouhani is thought to be a moderate influence

The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights organisation says Iran executed 735 people in 
2014 - a 10% increase on the previous year.

In April the group said it had documented 43 judicial killings in Iran in just 
3 days.

It is impossible to independently verify these numbers, but most human right 
observers say they are credible.

The majority of executions carried out in Iran are for drugs-related offences 
And in a country with a serious addiction problem, they elicit little public 
sympathy.

But in the past 2 years, there have been a number of high-profile death row 
cases - mainly involving juvenile offenders or women - which have struck a 
chord with the public, prompting appeals for clemency.

But President Rouhani has so far kept silent about the death penalty.

The main reason is that constitutionally he has very little room to act.

Although he is the elected president, Iran's complex power structure means Mr 
Rouhani has no power over the judiciary, which answers instead to the Supreme 
Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Internal suspicion

The judiciary is dominated by hardliners deeply suspicious of the overtures Mr 
Rouhani has been making to old adversaries such as the US.

The more ground the president gains on the international stage, the more 
resistance the hardliners will put up to any change to the status quo at home. 
line

--

Executions in Iran:

In the 18 months since the election of President Rouhani in June 2013, Iranian 
authorities executed more than 1,193 people. This is an average of more than 2 
executions every day.

The number of executions in that period was 31% higher than the number in the 
18 months before President Rouhani assumed power.

The number of juvenile offenders executed in 2014 was the highest since 1990.

[source: Iran Human Rights (March 2015)]

--

"There is an internal conflict going on now between the hard-line judiciary and 
Rouhani's moderate administration," says Iranian human rights campaigner Taghi 
Rahmani.

Taghi Rahmani says the authorities are trying to silence dissenting voices

"And it's the activists who are paying the price."

Mr Rahmani is married to Narges Mohammadi, and like his wife a veteran of the 
Iranian prison system. He has spent 14 years in jail for his political 
activities.

Ms Mohammadi is not the only campaigner to make the headlines.

In recent weeks, there has been outcry on Iranian opposition social-media sites 
over the judiciary's treatment of a number of well-known activists.

Ahmad Hashemi is a respected former government official in his 60s who was 
jailed for supporting the opposition protests in 2009.

In early May, he was allowed out of prison to visit his terminally ill wife 
only to discover that she had already died and he was in fact going to her 
funeral.

At the same time Majid Tavakoli, a charismatic student activist, was also given 
leave towards the end of a 4-year prison sentence.

But after just 3 days at home with his mother, he was suddenly recalled to 
serve out the remaining 2 weeks of his sentence.

As Iran prepares to hold a general election in February 2016, the stand-off 
between moderates and hardliners is expected to intensify, and there are fears 
that this will lead to a further crackdown on opposition activists, journalists 
and campaigners.

Taghi Rahmani told the BBC his wife's detention was a warning shot.

"By arresting her, they are trying to send a signal to others to stay quiet," 
he said.

Narges MohammadiNarges Mohammadi had been released on the grounds of ill health

With international talks over Iran's nuclear programme now approaching a 
crucial June deadline, President Rouhani is focusing all his efforts on 
reaching a final agreement.

To clinch a deal, he needs the support of the country's supreme leader. And 
observers say this means that right now he has neither the time nor the will to 
address human rights reform or the death penalty.

Mr Rahmani says whatever happens, he and his wife are not planning to give up 
their political activities.

But it is clear they and their family are paying a heavy price.

Mr Rahmani now lives in self-imposed exile in France and has only seen his 
children once in the past 3 years.

With his wife back in jail, Kiana and Ali are now living with their 
grandmother.

"The one thing I really worry about," he told the BBC.

"Is that one day, my kids might question our decision to take a stand."

(source: BBC news)

***********

Iran Rejects UN Human Rights Report on Executions



Iran's Foreign Ministry rejected as "downright lie" a recent report prepared by 
the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Ahmed 
Shaheed, and Christof Heyns, the UN rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or 
arbitrary executions.

The report on the alleged unreported executions in Iran or the execution of 
political prisoners is a downright lie, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh 
Afkham said on Sunday, stressing that such untrue claims run counter to the 
professional responsibilities of Shaheed and Heyns.

Her comments came after the two UN staffers in a May 8 report condemned what 
they called a sharp increase in executions in recent weeks in Iran, alleging 
that many executions have gone unreported by official sources, and the names of 
prisoners have not been published.

Maldivian Shaheed and South African Heyns have also alleged that 98 prisoners 
"are reported to have been executed" in Iran between April 9 and 26, including 
at least 6 political prisoners and 7 women.

In reaction, Afkham underscored that the allegation of a rise in the death 
penalty and "reliance on the estimated figures without any source or sources 
that are not authentic" nullify such a report.

"It's a great pity that the trend of the (UN) special rapporteur's (Shaheed's) 
activities suggest that he does not seek credible evidence, and despite the 
reports and documents issued by Iran, such claims are continuously repeated 
with quite political purposes," she noted.

The spokeswoman explained that Iran's law hands out capital punishment only for 
"the most serious crimes, including narcotics trafficking".

"The Islamic republic of Iran calls on the special rapporteur not to include 
traffickers, murderers and those who have committed terrorist crimes in the 
list of the political prisoners," she pointed out.

(source: Tasnim News)








NORTHERN IRELAND:

Couple incarcerated on death row while wrongly accused of murder set to share 
their experiences in Belfast ---- The pair attribute yoga and meditation 
practices developed in prison for much of their strength and their ultimate 
survival

Peter Pringle and Sunny Jacobs - who both faced the death penalty after being 
convicted of murders they didn't commit - are coming to Belfast.

Before they met, Sunny and Peter faced the death penalty for separate crimes.

In 1976, Sunny was placed on death row in Florida for the murder of 2 police 
officers.

4 years later, in Dublin, Peter was sentenced to death for the murder of 2 
officers in the Republic.

Sunny served 17 years and Peter 15 years behind bars.

But were victims of wrongful convictions and after lengthy battles for justice 
were exonerated.

They met in 1998 when Sunny travelled to Ireland to speak at an Amnesty 
International event.

Peter was one of the last people in Ireland to be sentenced to death in 1980.

Capital punishment was only abolished in 1990.

2 weeks before he was due to be killed, Peter was told he would instead spend 
40 years behind bars.

He began to study law and his case was reopened in 1992. He was subsequently 
cleared.

The couple attribute yoga and meditation practices developed in prison for much 
of their strength and ultimate survival.

It took the confession of another, 15 years after her conviction, for Sunny's 
long-maintained innocence to be realised. During her incarceration awaiting 
execution, Sunny was placed for 5 years in solitary confinement in a cell 6ft 
by 9ft.

Despite the years they lost in prison and everything they have been through, 
they are not bitter.

Peter said: "Life has turned out beautifully.

"Sure, it's not without its difficulties. We have no money. But we do good 
work.

"We are at peace. And we have a great life together. We look forward, and we 
live in the moment."

The couple will visit the Yoga Fellowship on Saturday.

(source: Belfastlive.com)








UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

UAE court orders revew of torture evidence in migrant worker death row case



Abu Dhabi's highest court has commissioned a new panel of doctors to review the 
medical evidence in the case of an Indian migrant worker sentenced to death on 
the basis of a 'confession' extracted under torture.

At a hearing in the case of Ezhur Gangadharan, sentenced to death in 2013, the 
Abu Dhabi Supreme Court ordered a panel of 3 new doctors to review all of the 
medical evidence in the case - including that of Mr Gangadharan's torture.

Gangadharan, a father of 3 who works in the UAE to support his family in 
Kerala, India, was arrested in 2013 in connection with the rape of a minor at 
the school where he worked for 32 years.

The legal charity Reprieve says that upon arrest, Mr Gangadharan was repeatedly 
tortured by police. He was reportedly told that if he did not confess to 
committing the crime, the abuse would continue. The injuries Mr Gangadharan 
sustained were detailed in 2 medical reports submitted at trial. There was no 
physical or DNA evidence linking Mr Gangadharan to the crime. A number of other 
Indian nationals were also detained and tortured in relation to the offence.

In February 2014, the Abu Dhabi Supreme Court vacated Mr Gangadharan's death 
sentence and ordered the Court of Appeal to re-consider the evidence of his 
torture at the hands of police. However, when reconsidering the case, the Court 
ignored this evidence, as well as expert testimony on the lack of DNA evidence, 
relying exclusively on his coerced confession to confirm the death sentence.

Indian embassy officials attended court today (11 May 2015), at which the judge 
set May 25th as the date for the next hearing.

Maya Foa, director of Reprieve's death penalty team, said: "Mr Gangadharan was 
sentenced to death primarily on the basis of nothing other than a 'confession' 
extracted after brutal police torture, despite a large amount of evidence 
pointing to his innocence. All of this evidence must be fully considered, and 
today's hearing suggests that the court agrees. It is understandable that 
victim's families seek justice, especially in a case of this nature, but 
scapegoating a man from one of the UAE's most vulnerable groups of people is 
not justice of any sort."

(source: ekklesia.co.uk)








MALDIVES:

2 sentenced to death over crimes committed as minors



The juvenile court has today sentenced 2 young men to death over a murder 
committed when the pair were minors, but the 2 are unlikely to face the death 
penalty.

The 2 unnamed 19-year-olds denied charges over the stabbing and death of 
Hussain Waheed in Male in December 2013. They were 16 at the time.

Waheed had died of heart failure due to the stab wounds to his chest.

Speaking at the UN human rights council last week, legal affairs secretary at 
the president's office, Aishath Bisham, said "it would be legally impossible to 
issue the death sentence" if the accused denies murder charges at any stage of 
prosecution.

1 of the suspects was charged with murder while the other was charged with 
being an accomplice to the murder. Another 14-year-old was arrested at the time 
and charged with assaulting an individual on the scene.

The juvenile court sentenced the pair based on testimony by 4 eyewitnesses. All 
9 heirs of the victim have asked the court to implement the death penalty.

In 2014, the Maldives repealed a 6-decade-old de facto moratorium on the death 
penalty, ostensibly to tackle a surge in fatal stabbings. Over 30 people have 
been killed in violent crimes in the past 7 years.

Under the new regulations, individuals as young as 7 years of age can be 
sentenced to death if convicted of wilful murder.

The juvenile court has now sentenced a total of 4 young men to death for 
murders committed when they were minors. 2 young men convicted of wilful murder 
in the death of Abdul 'Bobby' Muheeth were also sentenced to death in May 2013.

The government says capital punishment can only be enforced if all 3 tiers of 
the judiciary find the accused to be guilty and if all heirs of the victim 
request the death penalty. Bisham also said the president is required to review 
if due process was followed before he enforces the death sentence.

The last person executed in the Maldives was Hakim Didi, who was found guilty 
of practicing black magic in 1953.

The common practice has since been for the president to commute all death 
sentences to life imprisonment through powers vested in him by the Clemency 
Act. The new regulations has revoked president's authority.

Several countries at the Universal Periodic Review, including France, the 
United Kingdom, Ukraine, Namibia, Spain, Australia and Montenegro expressed 
concern over Maldives' decision to end the unofficial moratorium on the death 
penalty.

(source: minivannews.com)