[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 23



PHILIPPINES:

Chiz opposes death penalty


Vice presidential aspirant Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero yesterday reiterated 
his belief that law offenders deserve 2nd chances, echoing Pope Francis' 
position for the need to abolish the death penalty across the globe.

"Habang may buhay, may pag-asa at may pagkakataong iwasto ang pagkakamali," 
Escudero said.

Proposals to revive the capital punishment are being floated for offenders of 
drug trafficking and other heinous crimes at the height of the May 2016 
election campaign.

Escudero said that while such policy is easy to propose, there is no guarantee 
such move would deter offenders from committing heinous crimes.

"It's easy to say I will kill all criminals. What if it's your sibling, your 
spouse, parent or child who would be accused of being a criminal? What if it's 
true? If he is convicted as a criminal, does it mean he has no chance of 
changing? That he cannot correct his mistakes?" Escudero pointed out.

"I believe no one is born evil. One becomes a bad or commits crime due to the 
environment he is in. And if he becomes bad, you see even God gives 2nd 
chances, shouldn't people do the same?" Escudero added.

The senator's statement came at a time when Pope Francis urged Catholic leaders 
around the world to suspend death sentences for a year to mark the Holy Year of 
Mercy, while insisting that the commandment "You shall not kill" was absolute 
and equally valid for the guilty as for the innocent.

Since 1998, Escudero has been a staunch advocate of the repeal of the death 
penalty since he first became a lawmaker, until the capital punishment was 
finally abolished in 2006 during his 3rd and final term as representative of 
the 1st district of Sorsogon in Congress.

(source: tempo.com.ph)






PAKISTAN----executions

Sahiwal: 2 death row prisoners hanged


2 death row convicts were sent to the gallows in the Central Jail Sahiwal on 
early Tuesday morning while execution of another death row prisoner was 
postponed, Dunya News reported. The dead bodies of the prisoners were handed 
over to their heirs.

According to details, death row prisoner Faiz was executed for killing a man 
named Barkat in 1992. Death row prisoner Ramzan was hanged for murdering 3 
women in 2004.

Meanwhile, the execution of death row prisoner Ghulam Murtaza was postponed 
after the 2 rival parties reached a settlement.

(source: Dunya News)






DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC of CONGO:

DR Congo court sentences journalist's killer to death


A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced a man to death for 
murdering a journalist, but acquitted 4 other defendants in the case, the 
lawyer for the victim's family said Tuesday.

The penalty was handed down by the High Court in the northeastern town Boende 
late Monday after Eoma Pendeli Musa was found "guilty of the murder of Soleil 
Balanga", Elvis Boto told AFP by telephone.

Balanga, 45, worked for a community radio station, Monkoto Soso Eleli ("The 
Cock Crows" in Lingala) in Monkoto, a town of about 5,000 people that sits in 
the nation's northwest.

Musa slit Balanga's throat on April 15, 2015, accusing the journalist of 
broadcasting news that his father Jean-Pierre Soma Pendeli Domaro was to be 
replaced in his hospital supervisor's post.

Judicial authorities arrested 5 people after the murder and put them on trial. 
Boto said he was "disappointed by this verdict", which acquitted Musa's father 
and a former doctor at the hospital, Charles Tete Ndjeka, along with 2 others.

According to the lawyer, Pendeli Domaro and Ndjeka were "morally responsible 
for the murder".

"We plan to appeal," Boto added.

Press freedom group OLPA, a Congolese non-governmental organisation, welcomed 
Musa's conviction.

"This is a strong signal to anybody who threatens the life of a journalist and 
who is tempted to believe that they will enjoy impunity," OLPA executive 
secretary Joseph Alain Kabongo told AFP.

In April last year, international watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 
denounced Balanga's murder and stated that deadly attacks on journalists in the 
DRC were rarely investigated.

In 2013 and 2014, "60 journalists were beaten or threatened" in the vast 
central African country, according to RSF.

The DRC stood in 150th place out of 180 in the global press freedom ratings 
released by RSF for 2015.

(source: thepeninsulaqatar.com)






BANGLADESH:

War criminal Mir Quasem's appeal hearing to end today


The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday heard the prosecution 
arguments in the appeals case of condemned Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali.

A 5-member panel headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha adjourned the 
hearing until today after Attorney General Mahbubey Alam placed his arguments 
against Quasem, who had been a commander of notorious al-Badr force in the 
Chittagong during the Liberation War.

At one stage of the hearing, the court expressed dissatisfaction over the 
prosecution and the investigators of the International Crimes Tribunal for 
their "incompetence" as they had failed to bring witnesses against some charges 
brought against the war criminal.

The court said that they were shocked at the performance of the tribunal's 
prosecution team and the investigators. "Huge amount of money is being spent, 
but their responsibilities are not reflected in their performance," it said.

The court also asked the prosecution to end their arguments by today.

The defence earlier claimed that his client had not been directly involved in 
any of the incidents and that the witnesses produced unreal depositions.

Top Jamaat-e-Islami financier Quasem, now 64, was awarded capital punishment by 
the tribunal on November 3, 2014. As many as 24 prosecution witnesses testified 
against Quasem.

The tribunal handed down the death penalty on 2 charges - for killing 7 people, 
including teenage freedom fighter Jasimuddin, after abduction. He was also 
awarded a total of 72-year imprisonment on the 8 other proven charges of 
abduction, conspiracy and planning.

The Appellate Division started hearing on his appeal on February 9. It is the 
7th appeals case heard by the top court.

Quasem joined Islami Chhatra Sangha, then student wing of Jamaat, in 1967 while 
studying at Chittagong Collegiate School. He later became its Chittagong city 
unit general secretary. He played an important role in forming al-Badr Bahini.

He had set up makeshift torture camps at different places in the port city. 
According to the government, Quasem has also spent a large amount of money 
abroad to make the war crimes trials controversial.

(source: dhakatribune.com)

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

War crimes: Prosecution, investigators' performance irks SC


The Supreme Court today expressed dissatisfaction over prosecution and 
investigators dealing with the war crimes cases for their 'incompetence'. Chief 
Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha came up with the remark when a 5-member bench of 
the Appellate Division led by him was hearing an appeal filed by war crimes 
accused Mir Quasem Ali challenging his death penalty.

The bench gave the observation after receiving records and documents of 
International Crimes Tribunal-2, saying that the prosecution could not produce 
witnesses in some charges brought against Quasem.

During the hearing, the chief justice said they are shocked at the performance 
of the prosecution and the investigators for their incompetence in dealing the 
war crimes cases.

Huge amount of money are being spent, but their responsibilities are not 
reflected in their performance, the CJ observed.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alalm today placed arguments before the court on 
Quasem's appeal.

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on November 2, 2014 sentenced Quasem to 
death after finding him guilty on 10 charges of abducting, confining and 
torturing people during the Liberation War.

Around 4 weeks later, he filed an appeal with the SC challenging the tribunal's 
verdict.

Quasem, a member of Jamaat's Central Executive Council, in his appeal cited 181 
reasons for his acquittal on all the charges.

(source: The Daily Star)