[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 22



GLOBAL:

Catholic faith? leads way on death penalty


Today in Rome, the Sant'Egidio Community, a worldwide Catholic peace and 
justice organization of which I've been an active member for many years, will 
conduct an international conference in opposition to the death penalty. It is 
certain to reignite debate on the death penalty - probably even in the U.S. 
presidential election.

When I was U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, the Sant'Egidio Church was in the 
forefront of many of the world most contentious moral debates, from the war in 
Bosnia, genocide in Rwanda, to the Population Control Conference in Beijing. 
Because of the United States' leading role in the world, I was required to play 
a leading role in each of those debates, both at the Vatican and on location in 
those respective countries - sometimes even in opposition to my own 
government's position.

Yesterday, Pope Francis spoke out clearly against the death penalty, adding his 
voice to the church's decades-old opposition. Francis called for the worldwide 
abolition of the death penalty, noting that "You shall not kill" was absolute 
and equally valid for the guilty as it is for the innocent. He also called on 
Catholic politicians worldwide to make a "courageous and exemplary gesture" by 
seeking a moratorium on executions during the church's current holy year. He 
made the strongest appeal yet to the conscience of those who govern to end the 
death penalty.

I am not surprised by the pope's strong statement in defense of all human life. 
His position is not Democratic or Republican, but authentically Catholic and 
consistent with the teaching of Jesus Christ. Americans like to think of 
themselves as independent political thinkers, but I've always been comfortable 
in following my own father's advice when needing to make a tough decision, 
"Ray, ask yourself, what would Jesus do?"

We are all entitled to our political opinion, but Catholics are not entitled to 
their own interpretation of the teachings of our Catholic faith. When Pope John 
Paul II issued a comprehensive statement on the death penalty, I was with him 
at the Vatican. He was asked for an example of how capital punishment is 
justified. He responded, "I can't think of one." I understood exactly what he 
meant. All life is sacred. It has absolutely nothing to do about what is 
politically popular, but what is true. Let the debate begin.

(source: Raymond L. Flynn is the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and 
former mayor of Boston----Boston Herald)






IRAN:

Appeals acquits 3 drugs death row suspects - Iranian's death penalty overturned


The Criminal Court of Appeals chaired by Judge Najib Al-Mulla overturned the 
verdict of First Instance Court that sentenced 3 suspects accused of smuggling 
40 kgs of hashish into Kuwait to death by hanging. The court discharged and 
acquitted them.

The prosecution officer claimed the suspects smuggled the substance from a 
neighboring country via the sea for trading purpose. He also forwarded a report 
to the Attorney General who authorized the officer to arrest them after the 
search procedures. The officer alongside Coast Guard officers then proceeded to 
search the container in which the illicit item was concealed, and referred the 
suspects for investigation before the judiciary sentenced them to death.

Representing the defendants, Lawyer Sultan Al-Mendel challenged the lower 
court's decision and maintained the officer had acted contrary to the provision 
of law, which rendered the warrant obtained from the Public Prosecution null 
and void. He noted the procedures implemented lacked seriousness which cases of 
such magnitude deserve. He observed the investigators did not bother to invite 
any of the Coast Guard officers involved in the inspection to testify.

Iranian acquitted: The Court of Appeals overturned the verdict of a lower court 
which imposed the death penalty on an Iranian accused of smuggling drugs into 
the country. Case files indicate the Public Prosecution charged the Iranian, 
together with other suspects, of smuggling drugs into the country through the 
sea.

They were also accused of bringing goods illegally into the country as they did 
not obtain proper documentation from the concerned authorities in Kuwait. 
According to the arresting officer, the accused smuggled 33 kgs of hashish 
through the sea with intention to deliver it to an unidentified person in 
Kuwait. The accused remained in a Kuwaiti jail until the Criminal Court 
sentenced them to death. Attorney Muhammad Hamza represented one of the accused 
in court. He questioned the arrest and search procedures which, he said, were 
carried out illegally. The Court of Appeals agreed with the lawyer so his 
client and the other defendants were acquitted.

(source: arabtimesonline.com)






MALAYSIA:

Mum vows to fight on for son facing the gallows


Death-row inmate Shahrul Izani Suparman, 32, is on tenterhooks, not knowing 
when he will face the gallows.

But his mother, Sapenah Nawawi, 58, has not given up hope of trying to get the 
various parties to commute the death sentence.

She has been sending pleas to the pardons board, the Attorney-General, the King 
and even the Sultan of Selangor's imam.

"Knowing your son will die is agonising, but not knowing when is torturous," 
she said, adding that a date for the death sentence has yet to be fixed.

Sapenah said she had asked the prison authorities but has yet to receive any 
answer.

In 2003, Shahrul Izani, then 19, was arrested during a routine roadblock after 
being found in possession of 622gm of cannabis.

In December 2009, he was convicted by the Shah Alam High Court for drug 
trafficking, an offence that carries the mandatory death penalty.

His eldest brother Soffhian Soffree, 36, said Shahrul was an avid reader and 
always kept tabs on news of other prisoners who got pardoned.

"Every time we visited Shahrul, he would ask the same question: 'Did they 
reply?'," he said, adding that the lack of answers left the family constantly 
on edge.

Having exhausted his appeals before the Court of Appeal and Federal Court, 
Shahrul's only chance to escape the noose is by way of a pardon.

The family has approached Amnesty International Malaysia for aid to campaign 
for Shahrul Izani's cause.

Amnesty International is collecting signatures to appeal to the Selangor state 
pardons board, urging it to commute the death sentence.

Amnesty executive director Shamini Darshni said Malaysia was 1 of 58 countries 
to still practise the death sentence and questioned its effectiveness as a 
deterrent against drug trafficking.

According to 2014 statistics, 70% of the 992 people on death row in Malaysia 
were convicted for drug trafficking.

(source: The Star)






JORDAN:

3 sentenced to death for killing officers


The State Security Court (SSC) on Sunday sentenced 3 men to the death penalty 
for murdering 2 police officers and a gendarme lieutenant in 2 separate cases 
in Irbid and Maan.

The shooting in Irbid took place earlier in December 2015, involving 5 men who 
shot and killed Captain Jamal Darawsheh and Corporal Usama Jarawreh near the 
Samma intersection to the west of Irbid while in their patrol vehicle.

1 of the defendants was the brother of a man from the village who was killed in 
a police shootout in October last year, when police were trying to arrest him 
for alleged vandalism of an Islamic cemetery.

The 2nd defendant was given life in prison for orchestrating the attack and 
transporting the weapon, while the 3rd defendant received 15 years in prison 
for providing the weapon while knowing it was going to be used against police 
officers, a judicial source told The Jordan Times.

Meanwhile in the Maan case, the SSC sentenced 2 men to death and a third 
suspect to life in prison, for murdering Second Lieutenant Nart Nafesh in Maan 
in August 2014.

The SSC charge sheet said 4 of the 5 defendants in the case sought to avenge 
the death of a relative during the unrest in the governorate and decided to 
target any police officer in the city.

In the same case, the court sentenced a 3rd suspect to life in prison, declared 
a 4th not guilty for lack of evidence and referred a minor to a juvenile court, 
a judicial source told The Jordan Times.

(source: The Jordan Times)