[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 29



SINGAPORE:

Halt imminent execution of Malaysian national


The Singaporean authorities must immediately halt the imminent execution of 
31-year-old Malaysian national Kho Jabing amid concerns his death sentence was 
re-imposed at the last stage and on the basis of a disputed reconstruction of 
the circumstances of the crime, Amnesty International said today.

"We urge the President of Singapore to immediately halt Kho Jabing's execution 
and reconsider the decision to reject his clemency application. The decision to 
take his life is based on disputed facts and even the country's Apex Court was 
divided on the life and death decision in his case. With no legal avenues left, 
clemency is the only way to safeguard Kho Jabing's life," said Josef Benedict, 
Campaigns Director for South East Asia and the Pacific at Amnesty 
International.

In 2010 Kho Jabing and a co-defendant were charged with murder, punishable at 
the time by the mandatory death penalty. After Singapore reviewed its mandatory 
death penalty laws in 2012 and allowed sentencing discretion for unintentional 
murder, the High Court resentenced Kho Jabing to life imprisonment and 24 
strokes of the cane, but the prosecution appealed.

At Kho Jabing's resentencing, the 5-judge bench unanimously established that 
the death penalty should be imposed if the murder he committed exhibited 
"...viciousness or a blatant disregard for human life".

However, despite all 5 Supreme Court judges agreeing that there was not enough 
evidence available in Kho Jabing's case to allow for a precise reconstruction 
of the murder, they failed to agree whether it was possible to prove beyond 
reasonable doubt that the murder was particularly vicious. 3 judges found that 
his actions did deserve to be punished by death, while the other 2 held that 
the evidence available did not prove that he had hit the victim more than 
twice, necessary to meet the criteria for "blatant disregard". The death 
penalty was therefore re-imposed with a close 3-to-2 majority and with no 
further avenue for legal appeal.

"The holes in the evidence available in Kho Jabing's case, and the disagreement 
between the judges, raise questions that go beyond his case. These deal with 
the impact of the legal reforms of Singapore's mandatory laws, particularly the 
use of Singapore's power to grant clemency. A man could now be killed after 
such a disputed life and death decision. International safeguards guarantee in 
all cases the right for anyone sentenced to death to appeal against the death 
sentence, but Kho Jabing is left without any legal avenues. The President of 
Singapore must reconsider his earlier rejection of clemency for Kho Jabing and 
stop this execution immediately," said Josef Benedict.

In 2011 Kho Jabing's co-defendant was spared the death sentence after his 
conviction was commuted to 'robbery with hurt'.

"The dithering lack of consensus over Kho Jabing's sentence is just another 
indication of why the death penalty must end. We are calling on the Singaporean 
authorities to immediately re-impose an official moratorium on executions with 
a view to abolishing the death penalty for good," said Josef Benedict.

The last execution announced in Singapore was carried out on 17 April 2015 for 
intentional murder, an offence which still carries the mandatory death penalty.

Background

As of today, 140 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice; 
3 more countries - Fiji, Madagascar, and Suriname - have abolished the death 
penalty for all crimes in 2015. One more US state, Nebraska, has also become 
abolitionist and the Governor of Pennsylvania established an official 
moratorium on executions earlier this year.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, 
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or 
other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to 
carry out the execution.

(source: Amnesty International USA)






AUSTRALIA:

Restrict police cooperation in death penalty cases: LCA, ABA


Legal professional groups have urged the government to restrict Australia's 
involvement in transnational crime investigations that could end in executions. 
The Law Council of Australia and the Australian Bar Association have called for 
reform to the Australian Federal Police Act 1979 (Cth) to prevent authorities 
from providing information to foreign countries in cases that could lead to a 
person facing the death penalty.

In a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and 
Trade this month, the legal bodies said current practice was inconsistent with 
Australia's "absolute opposition" to capital punishment.

"The death penalty is cruel and inhuman, and has not been shown to deter 
crime," the submission states.

"Legislative reform would relieve the Australian Federal Police of the burden 
of making such complex decisions in life and death matters."

According to the submission, the majority of the 1,847 names provided by the 
AFP to foreign police between 2009-14 were being investigated for drug offences 
in countries with the death penalty.

However, between three and 15 requests for assistance in cases involving the 
death penalty were denied by the AFP. This indicates that the AFP is already 
exercising discretion, while still approving the "vast majority" of these 
cases, according to the submission.

"The issue is then whether this is an appropriate outcome in light of 
Australia's opposition to the death penalty," the submission reads.

Under the Extradition Act 1988 (Cth) a person cannot be extradited to face the 
death penalty.

In the submission, the legal bodies argue that there is no real distinction 
between sending a person to face the death penalty directly and helping with an 
investigation that may lead to that outcome.

The ABA and LCA's submission also promotes government strategies for persuading 
other countries to abolish capital punishment, arguing that Australia is "well 
placed to be a leading state actor" in the Asia-Pacific region.

While Australia ditched the death penalty for good in 1967, 9 countries carried 
out executions every year between 2009-13, including Bangladesh, China, Iran, 
Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the US and Yemen. China alone executed 
more than 1,000 people in 2014.

However, more than 4 out of 5 countries are either abolishing the death penalty 
or not practising it.

(source: Lawyers Weekly)