[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 22



LATVIA:

Almost 40 % of Latvians call for the re-introduction of the death penalty


According to a recent survey by Latvian research company, SKDS, slightly over 
1/3 of Latvian residents believe that the country should re-introduce the death 
penalty.

The survey took place in January 2016, with 36.6 % of recipients calling for 
the re-instatement of the death penalty.

Meanwhile, 47.3 % had an opposite opinion on this matter and believe that the 
death penalty should not be re-introduced in Latvia.

16.1 % of those surveyed did not have a point of view.

The death penalty was abolished in Latvia in 1991, when it gained independence 
from the Soviet Union.

(source: The Baltic Times)






PAKISTAN:

SC maintains Abid Hussain's death penalty


The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday maintained the conviction of Abid Hussain over 
killing of an innocent citizen and and dismissed his appeal.

The 2-member bench comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Manzoor Ahmed 
Malik heard the case filed by Abid Hussain against his death penalty.

Justice Mnnzoor Malik remarked that lower courts and all other courts had 
dismissed all the petitions against his death sentence. The President had also 
dismissed his mercy appeal, he added.

Advocate Sohail Dar told the court that his client was in prison for more than 
22 years.

Abid Hussain was awarded death penalty over killing of Muhamamd Fayyaz.

(source: Business Recorder)






UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

UAE tries Sudanese for bomb plot against foreigners


A Sudanese man is being tried in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly 
plotting a bomb attack in Abu Dhabi aimed at killing foreigners, a local 
newspaper reported Monday.

The National daily said that the unnamed 29-year-old defendant faces charges 
related to plotting to "commit acts of terror in the capital".

"He scouted and inspected locations to execute his plan of planting explosives 
to kill foreigners in the country," the newspaper said on its website quoting 
court documents.

It also quoted the prosecution as saying the defendant had posted on Facebook 
and Twitter material aimed at promoting and recruiting members for the Islamic 
State group.

The man who appeared before an Abu Dhabi court is being tried under the UAE's 
anti-terror law.

If convicted, he could face execution, life imprisonment and or fines of up to 
100 million dirhams ($27.2 million), the paper said.

The defendant has denied the charges against him.

He has also asked for a court appointed lawyer saying he could not afford the 
legal fees, the newspaper added.

The case was adjourned to March 14.

UAE authorities have enacted tougher anti-terror legislation, including harsher 
jail terms and even introducing the death penalty for crimes linked to 
religious hatred and extremist groups.

In July, the UAE executed an Emirati woman for the jihadist-inspired 2014 
murder of an American school teacher in an Abu Dhabi shopping mall.

Her husband is accused of seeking to carry out attacks on targets including Abu 
Dhabi's Formula 1 circuit and has reportedly claimed to be the local leader of 
IS. He is currently on trial.

(source: Gulf Times)






MALAYSIA:

Come give a death-row inmate a little cheer----Amnesty International Malaysia 
is urging Malaysians to celebrate 32nd birthday of inmate facing the gallows to 
give him a little comfort as Pardons Board hears his case.


Amnesty International Malaysia is planning to bring a death row inmate some joy 
by getting Malaysians to celebrate his 32nd birthday next month.

Shahrul Izani Suparman was handed down the death sentence in 2009, 6 years 
after he was arrested when a stash of cannabis was discovered hidden in a 
motorcycle he had borrowed.

For 13 years, Shahrul Izani had maintained he did not know the drugs were 
stashed in the basket of the motorcycle and is currently awaiting his clemency 
application to be heard before the state Pardons Board.

AI Malaysia Executive Director Shamini Darshni, in a statement, explained the 
aim of the campaign was to give the young man hope, which was currently in 
"short supply."

"For a man who is forced to listen to a fellow death row inmate struggle to 
breathe his last when hanging from the rope, we hope that this action would 
bring him some small comfort."

She hoped that by celebrating Shahrul Izani's birthday, by sending him greeting 
cards, the initiative would become a platform that would bring people together 
as a sign of solidarity and send a strong signal to the authorities that the 
death penalty had no place in today's society.

Shamini is also hoping the birthday greetings would give encouragement to 
Shahrul Izani and his family and show them that he was not forgotten and there 
were still those who would continue to stand with him.

"On another level, AI Malaysia also hopes that this campaign will drive home 
the point that the death penalty solves no crime, nor will it deter drugs from 
entering the market or prevent other crimes from happening."

Those wanting to participate in the campaign may purchase a birthday card and 
write a message for Shahrul Izani.

Completed birthday cards should be posted to AI Malaysia at D-2-33A, 8 Avenue, 
Jalan Sungai Jernih 8/1, Section 8, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, 
which will act as a collection centre.

E-cards with a message to Shahrul Izani should be sent to 
aimalaysia at aimalaysia.org.

Additionally, AI Malaysia is also encouraging people to download a photo tag of 
a specialised birthday greeting to Shahrul Izani from aimalaysia.org.

Once this photo tag is downloaded, the public will be encouraged to take a 
selfie or a wefie with the photo tag and post it on any or all of the social 
media platforms with the hashtag #ShahrulIzani.

There is also an online petition that Malaysians can sign to urge the Selangor 
Clemency Board to commute Shahrul Izani's death sentence to life imprisonment 
as he could be executed at any time.

(source: Free Malaysia Today)






INDONESIA:

Rock band urges House to create pro-death-penalty-law for corruptors


Legendary Indonesian rock band Slank has called on the House of Representatives 
to create a law that imposes the death penalty on people who have committed 
corruption.

During their short musical performance at the Corruption Eradication Commission 
(KPK) headquarters, on Monday, lead vocalist Akhadi Wira Satriaji, who is 
popularly known as Kaka, and drummer Bimbim voiced their support for the 
antigraft body to the audience.

"Instead of proposing amendments to the 2002 KPK Law, it's better for House 
members to produce a law that stipulates a death penalty for corrupt 
officials," said Bimbim. He made the statement before the veteran rock band 
performed one of its popular songs, entitled "Koruptor Dor".

Earlier, Kaka said Slank's performance at the KPK headquarters was done in 
support of the antigraft body. "We are performing today to assert that Slank is 
anticorruption and supports the KPK," said the band's vocalist before he sang a 
song entitled "Seperti Para Koruptor", the 1st of 5 songs the band played. The 
3 others songs were "Halal", "Hey Bung", a song that captures Indonesia's 
situation during the authoritarian New Order era, and "Ku Tak Bisa". Before the 
band's musical performance, a representative of the KPK employees association 
(WP KPK), who identified himself only as Faisal, conveyed all KPK employees' 
rejection of the planned amendments of the KPK law.

The WP KPK urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to withdraw the draft KPK Law 
revisions already submitted by the government to the House, Faisal read from an 
association statement. It also urged the House to stop the discussion on the 
revisions. In the statement, the WP KPK voiced its support for the KPK leaders 
who had strongly rejected the plan. The House started discussions over the 
revisions earlier this month despite a public outcry. Many parties have feared 
that such a move will weaken the KPK, an antigraft institution that has largely 
won the public trust. The revisions of the KPK Law are listed as one of the 
priority bills in the 2016 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).

The House has 40 priority bills on the Prolegnas 2016, which must be finished 
this year. Several lawmakers, many of them from the Indonesian Democratic Party 
of Struggle (PDI-P), Jokowi's supporting party, which is also the main driver 
of the revisions, have denied suspicions that they intend to weaken the KPK. 
The proposed KPK Law revisions consists of 4 amendment points that have been 
strongly criticized by the public.

The 4 amendments would mandate the establishment of an oversight council to 
monitor the antigraft body's performance, give the KPK the authority to issue 
investigation termination warrants in corruption cases, require the KPK to 
obtain permits to conduct wiretaps and remove the KPK's ability to recruit its 
own investigators.

(source: The Jakarta Post)