[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----BANG., PHILIP., CHINA, AUST., INDON.

[Rick Halperin]

June 21



BANGLADESH:

Man to die for killing wife for dowry in Mymensingh


A Mymensingh court yesterday sentenced a man to death for killing his wife for 
dowry in Muktagachha upazila in 2012.

The death penalty awardee is Ashraful Islam, 28, son of Nowsher Ali of 
Gandappur village in the upazila. The court also fined him Tk 10,000, court 
sources said.

According to the prosecution, Ashraful, a day labourer, married Rekha Akhtar, 
19, daughter of Billal Hossian of Nayanbari village under Phulbaria upazila in 
2011.

Within nine months of their marriage, Ashraful demanded dowry several times, 
but Rekha's parents could not manage the money.

On January 18, 2012, Ashraful locked in an altercation with Rekha over the 
issue. At one stage, he stabbed Rekha, leaving her dead on the spot.

On information, police rushed to the spot, recovered the body and sent it to 
Mymensingh Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Victim's father Billal Hossian lodged a case with Muktagachha Police Station 
the following day, accusing Ashraful. Police arrested Ashraful, who confessed 
to the killing before the court under Section 164.

Police later submitted a charge-sheet against Ashraful. After examining the 
witnesses and evidence, Judge Md Helal Uddin of Women and Children Repression 
Prevention Tribunal delivered the verdict.

Away in Bagerhat, a court yesterday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for 
killing his stepmother in Sadar upazila in 2015.

The convicted is Faruk Sheikh, 30, son of Mokshed Sheikh of Kartikdia village 
under the upazila. The court also fined the convict TK 20,000. In default, he 
is to suffer 6 months more in jail, reports our correspondent.

According to the prosecution, Hasina Begum, wife of Mokshed, was beaten to 
death by Faruk over a family feud on July 5, 2015. Locals caught him and handed 
him over to the police.

On July 6, the deceased's daughter Paira Begum filed a case with Bagerhat Model 
Police Station, accusing Faruk.

Sub-inspector Lutfor Rahman, also the investigation officer of the case, 
submitted the charge sheet against Farukh on September 8, 2015.

Examining all the records and 14 witnesses, District and Sessions Judge Mizanur 
Rahman handed down the verdict.

(source: The Daily Star)

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

Acquittal of 11 in Ahsanullah Master murder case stayed


The Supreme Court has stayed a High Court order that acquitted 11 accused in 
Awami League lawmaker Ahsanullah Master murder case. SC Chamber Judge Justice 
Hasan Foyez Siddiqui passed the order on Tuesday morning, in response to a 
petition filed by state side.

The full bench of Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar 
Sinha, will hold the next hearing of the petition on July 14. The government 
filed the petition on Monday seeking stay on the acquittal of 11 accused.

A petition was moved with the Supreme Court so that the persons acquitted by 
the High Court could not be released from jail until after the full text of the 
verdict is released.

On June 15 BNP leader Nurul Islam Sarkar and 5 others were sentenced to death 
by the High Court for the killing of popular Awami League MP Ahsanullah Master. 
Ahsanullah Master was gunned down at a public function in Gazipur over a decade 
ago.

The court also commuted 7 convicts' death sentences to life terms and upheld 
the life term for another convict who was sentenced in 2005 by the Speedy Trial 
Court. The life term of 1 convict who did not appeal against his sentence 
remains unchanged in the High Court verdict.

The High Court also acquitted 11 people who were awarded death sentences or 
life terms by the lower court. 2 died during trial and were exempted from the 
charges.

The Speedy Trial Tribunal on April 16, 2005 handed down the death penalty to 22 
people, including the main accused BNP leader Nurul Islam Sarkar and life in 
prison to 6 others for the high-profile murder.

(source: Dhaka Tribune)






PHILIPPINES:

Baldoz thumbs down death penalty for illegal recruiters


Outgoing Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on Tuesday said she is not in favor 
of death penalty, even on convicted illegal recruiters, despite her earlier 
call for President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to put illegal recruiters in his order 
of battle.

"I am pro-life and I remain so. I am not pushing for the death penalty because 
I firmly believe even the most-hardened criminal should be given a chance to 
change his ways and get back to his family and community to lead a transformed 
life," she said in a statement.

Baldoz was clarifying reports that she is pushing for the inclusion of illegal 
recruitment among crimes punishable by death.

"I said that if some in our society believe that the penalty under existing law 
for illegal recruitment is not enough, the next stiffest penalty to life 
imprisonment is the death penalty and the next administration may want to 
review the heinous nature of the crime as basis for the imposition of the death 
penalty," Baldoz explained.

However, she believes that "strong remedial measures must be implemented to 
complement preventive efforts." "That is why we at the DOLE has never ceased 
coming up with ways... to educate Filipinos about the illegal recruitment 
menace," Baldoz added.

Baldoz also believes that since many aspiring overseas Filipino workers are 
being victimized, illegal recruitment "can already be considered a syndicated 
or heinous crime."

She added that illegal recruitment as economic sabotage "merits the review of 
the heinous nature of the crime" as it affects hundreds of lives and is "by 
nature" a transnational crime.

"Even illegal recruitment involving just a single person destroys a family and 
a community. It saps the fabric of society and affects our efforts towards 
sustainable economic development and prosperity," Baldoz said.

Republic Act. 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, amended 
by R.A. 10022, classifies syndicated or large-scale illegal recruitment "as 
"economic sabotage" punishable by life imprisonment and a fine ranging from P2 
million to P5 million."

(source: gmanetwork.com)






CHINA:

Mother's fight to exonerate executed son exposes China???s justice-system 
failures


More than 2 decades after a young man in the northern province of Hebei was 
executed for the alleged rape and murder of a woman, his mother is anxiously 
awaiting a retrial to clear his name.

Ms Zhang Huanzhi's only son, Nie Shubin, was executed in 1995 - when he was 20 
- for raping and killing a woman in a cornfield near Shijiazhuang, the 
provincial capital. A decade later, another man arrested for a separate crime 
confessed to the murder.

Ms Zhang had fought for years after this fresh evidence emerged to exonerate 
her son, but she kept on hitting a wall. The case is back in the public 
spotlight after the country's highest court, the Supreme People's Court, on 
June 6 ordered a court in the eastern province of Shandong to review the 1995 
ruling, saying evidence that led to his death sentence was "unreliable and 
incomplete".

Ms Zhang's dogged pursuit, lodging repeated appeals at courts in her home 
province of Hebei and in Beijing, has helped turn Nie's case into an example of 
the flaws in the Chinese criminal justice system, including the use of torture, 
lack of due process and lax review of death sentences.

But Nie's is not the only incident of a possible miscarriage of justice 
reported in recent years.

In February, a man from the eastern province of Zhejiang, Mr Chen Man, 
convicted of arson and murder, was allowed to walk free after languishing in 
prison for 23 years when his sentence was overturned due to lack of evidence.

In late 2014, a court in Inner Mongolia said an 18-year-old killed by firing 
squad in 1996 for alleged rape and murder, was innocent. The Inner Mongolia 
Higher People's Court said the defendant, Huugjilt, was wrongfully convicted 
after being tortured into making a confession.

Nie's case had also galvanised the legal community, media and the public to 
scrutinise the gaping holes in the country's justice system.

"There is no doubt Nie will be exonerated soon," said Mr Ma Yulong, a former 
reporter at Dahe Daily, a newspaper in the central province of Henan, who has 
followed Nie's case starting in 2005.

Nie's retrial can help in some measure to restore public faith in China's legal 
system, said Mr Li Shuting, the lawyer representing his family.

QUEST FOR JUSTICE

The Shandong High Court in charge of reviewing the case said the evidence on 
which the original verdict was based was incomplete because many questions have 
gone unanswered, such as the exact time the crime was committed and the weapon 
used for the murder.

However, the court has not announced a date for a retrial.

Nie was sentenced for premeditated rape and murder on March 15, 1995 by the 
intermediate court in Shijiazhuang, after a closed-door trial, state media 
reports show. He was executed a month later.

In 2005, another suspect named Wang Shujin, arrested for a similar crime, 
confessed to raping and killing several women, one of whom turned out to be the 
victim in Nie's case. Mr Ma was the 1st to break the news, which attracted wide 
public attention to the case.

After this fresh evidence emerged, Mr Liu Jinguo, the head of the party's 
provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee at the time, who oversaw the 
security and legal systems in Hebei, set up a special team to reopen Nie's case 
and ordered the results to be published within 1 month, Mr Ma told Caixin.

Mr Liu's order gave Nie's family a glimmer of hope, but it vanished quickly. 
The investigation stalled when Mr Liu was promoted shortly afterwards to 
Vice-Minister of Public Security in Beijing, said Mr Ma.

>From then on, Ms Zhang Huanzhi has made countless trips to courts in Hebei and 
Beijing to appeal her son's case, but she was turned down by officials who said 
her documents were incomplete.

It was not until July 2007 when the Supreme Court in Beijing accepted Ms 
Zhang's appeal and ordered the Hebei High Court to review the case.

But this court never carried out the review. "We tried every means possible to 
get a retrial, but they were all in vain," said Mr Li.

In March 2007, the other suspect, Wang, received the death penalty for four 
counts of murder and rape. But this did not include the victim in Nie's case, 
although Wang admitted to the crime. In a twist of fate, Wang even appealed his 
verdict and insisted that he had killed the woman Nie was charged with 
murdering. But his appeal was turned down by the Hebei court in 2013.

Wang is now on death row, waiting for the Supreme Court to review his sentence, 
but the process has been delayed due to his connection to Nie's case, said Mr 
Li.

Mr Ma said he had learnt from sources in the Hebei public security system that 
officials had tortured Wang, forcing him to recant his confession connected to 
the 1994 murder in Shijiazhuang before the 2nd trial.

There are "invisible" forces in Hebei's police and legal system that have 
resisted the reopening of Nie's case, said Mr Ma.

FRESH HOPE

In December 2014, the Supreme Court ordered a high court in another province, 
Shandong, to re-examine the files of Nie's case. The Supreme Court's June 
decision for a retrial, which comes after 4 delays, have rekindled the family's 
hopes to have Nie exonerated.

Mr Li told Caixin that there were many holes in the evidence presented 
including Nie's testimony, the murder weapon used and even the exact date of 
his execution. He has been collecting evidence that shows Nie was tortured 
while in custody and highlights deficiencies in due process when handling the 
case.

Mr Li said the case "is obviously a wrongful conviction with little complexity, 
but it has taken more than 10 years to get a retrial due to delays by officials 
in Hebei".

Police officers' over-reliance on harsh interrogation techniques to elicit 
confessions from suspects in criminal investigation cases have led to many 
wrongful convictions, said Mr Li. Some investigators and officials rush to 
close a case to secure bonuses and promotions, he said.

The former journalist Mr Ma said "the lack of independence of the judicial 
system had led to the miscarriage of justice. Without further legal reform, 
there will be other cases like this in future."

(source: todayonline.com)




AUSTRALIA:

Vote 2016: Some voters want death penalty introduced for acts of terrorism, 
poll shows


More than 1/2 of voters would approve of the government introducing the death 
penalty for acts of terrorism, an exclusive SBS-commissioned Essential Media 
poll has found.

Some voters want to see those who commit terrorist acts receive harsher 
punishment, including the introduction of the death penalty, an exclusive 
SBS-commissioned Essential Media poll has found.

SBS asked voters whether or not they would approve of various actions the 
federal government could take to combat terrorism in Australia. Of those 
polled, 54 % said they would approve of the introduction of the death penalty 
for acts of terrorism.

There was wide-ranging support for the government to work with community 
leaders to combat radicalisation of young people, with 84 % of voters agreeing 
that that would be a favourable outcome. Only 15 % of voters thought giving 
Australian citizens more freedom to own guns to "protect themselves" was a good 
idea.

In the wake of the shooting in Orlando, 83 % of those polled said they would 
approve of the government taking measures to make it harder to purchase guns in 
Australia. The proposition of giving police more powers to detain people 
behaving suspiciously was fairly popular, with 69 % saying they would support 
it.

SBS has been asking voters for their opinions on various aspects of the major 
parties policies as the 8-week campaign draws to a close.

Elaine Dunwoody is an IT worker and mother of one who will be voting in the 
seat of Port Melbourne. Ms Dunwoody said anti-terrorism measures shouldn't come 
at a cost to civil liberties.

"I think it's important that the government puts something in place for 
anti-terrorism but at the same time you have to respect people's privacy," she 
said.

Jessica Downing-Ide is a young commerce student at the University of Queensland 
who said measures to curb terrorism shouldn't include the introduction of the 
death penalty.

"That's just an awful idea, it goes against everything that our criminal 
justice system and our society stands for," she said.

While Essential Media tried to get a snapshot of the nation, the response rate 
and coverage for the online poll meant an accurate cross section of Australia 
could not be ensured.

(source: sbs.com.au)






INDONESIA:

Executions won't fix the drug problem


For people convicted of drug crimes on Indonesia's death row, the Islamic Holy 
Month of Ramadan has added significance this year. After moving 15 prisoners to 
"Execution Island" last month and announcing that their deaths by firing squad 
could take place at any time, the country's attorney general conceded he might 
postpone the killings because "well, executing [during] fasting [month] is not 
good, is it?"

It's too bad that this moral sense isn't applied year-round. Although many 
countries punish people for their drug addiction, only 36 have laws that 
prescribe the death penalty for drug-related convictions. 7, including 
Indonesia, regularly enforce the death penalty as a sentence for drug offences 
(others include China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam).

Indonesia is currently the centre of international attention for a number of 
reasons - 1 of which is the fact that executions represent an abrupt about face 
for the country, which until last year had appeared to be upholding a de facto 
moratorium on the use of the death penalty. The upcoming executions were set in 
motion less than a month after the country's delegation to the U.N. was booed 
from the gallery during a speech about the use of the death penalty to combat 
drug trafficking, and are just one part of a chilling series of executions 
planned for 2016 and 2017.

Another reason for the international spotlight is the fact that Indonesia is 
executing foreigners - with blatant disregard for international opinion. 
Neither the booing at the U.N. nor direct appeals by other countries has had 
any impact.

In 2015, following intensive efforts by Brazil and the Netherlands to win 
clemency for 2 citizens convicted of drug offenses in Indonesia, the pair were 
executed by firing squad along with an Indonesian woman and 3 other foreigners 
(from Nigeria, Malawi and Vietnam). A few months later, 8 more people were 
executed. Brazil, Australia and the Netherlands temporarily recalled their 
ambassadors in response to the executions, but with little effect. According to 
Amnesty International, Jakarta imposed at least 46 new death sentences in 2015 
- including 29 for drug-related crimes - up from 6 in 2014.

The executions are partly tied to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's desire to 
play on the widespread belief that drug users are a menace to society - a fear 
inflated and dramatized in the war on drugs. Indonesia has a significant drug 
problem, but no reliable statistics on its size. Widodo declared a state of 
emergency over the country's drug use shortly after being sworn in. He cited 
government statistics that nearly 5 million people - or about 2 % of the 
population - are "affected" by drug consumption and that between 40 and 50 
Indonesians die every day because of drug use.

Although academics from the country's top universities questioned the 
government numbers - and earlier this year Indonesia's National Narcotics 
Agency said that it had overestimated drugs deaths by nearly 20 % - the war on 
drugs and use of the death penalty appears to have popular approval in 
Indonesia. Widodo has vowed to reject all requests for clemency for people 
convicted of drug-related crimes.

Capital punishment, threats and arrests are the wrong answer for Indonesia's 
drug problem. The people being executed in Indonesia are not the primary 
drivers of the illicit drug trade. Some of them are "drug mules" who were 
vulnerable to exploitation; others were unaware they were carrying drugs in the 
first place. Indonesian scholars point to data showing that drug use has not 
been reduced by criminalizing the behavior. Instead, such policies have fueled 
hepatitis C and HIV epidemics and driven people away from health services that 
might otherwise have helped them overcome their addiction.

Executions are inconsistent with Pancasila - Indonesia's official philosophical 
foundation, which calls for a just and civilized humanity. They are also a 
violation of Indonesia's commitments under the International Covenant on Civil 
and Political Rights, which says the death penalty should be imposed only for 
the most serious crimes and that those sentenced to it should have the right to 
seek a pardon.

Widodo's presidential campaign - based on an anti-corruption platform, 
projecting a man of the people ready to support farmers, protect minority 
groups, and resolve past human rights abuses - attracted domestic and 
international support. The 1st president not plucked from political dynasties 
or the military, Widodo's election was seen as a significant step in 
Indonesia's evolution towards a free and united democratic society. This was to 
be the final phase in a national journey that began in 1998, when Indonesians 
pulled themselves out of half a century of repression, violence and 
instability.

Yet Widodo's approval ratings dropped within months of taking office. Having 
risen from the ranks of domestic politics, he is often criticized for lacking 
foreign policy experience - an area in which his predecessor was strong. A 
tough stance on drug use gives him a political platform for big talk on 
Indonesian sovereignty - and he's determined that national drug policy will not 
be swayed by foreign opinion.

Widodo's politicization of the drug challenges faced by thousands of Indonesian 
families is a betrayal of his stance as a man of the people committed to 
protecting the people. Drug use is complex, poorly understood and heavily 
stigmatized - it's an issue that needs to be addressed with reason, science and 
in consultation with the people involved; not a punishment-oriented approach 
designed to advance a political and moral agenda.

Indonesia's move toward democracy has often set an example for the region. It 
needs a public health response to its drug problem that will allow it to be a 
model for the rest of the world, and which is based on programs that have been 
proven to work. The country has taken steps in this direction, including 
introducing opioid substitution therapy and increasing access to clean needles, 
syringes and HIV treatment. Widodo should expand access to these initiatives 
and abandon his use of the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

The government's decision not to kill during Ramadan gives us hope that 
rationality and compassion can change Indonesia's policy on drugs. The death 
penalty is a punishment of the past that has little place in a country looking 
towards the future.

(source: Commentary; Naomi Burke-Shyne is a senior program officer with the 
Public Health Program at the Open Society Foundations----Reuters)

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

Father slams AFP deal in cyanide case


The father of a woman allegedly murdered with a cyanide-laced coffee has hit 
out at an agreement between Australia and Indonesia that his daughter's accused 
killer would not face the death penalty.

The agreement should be void if she were convicted on evidence that Jakarta 
police had gathered, he says.

Canberra had sought the assurance on the death penalty after Indonesian 
prosecutors asked for the assistance of the Australian Federal Police to gather 
evidence from the time the 2 women had spent in Australia.

On January 6, Wayan Mirna Salihin collapsed and began frothing at the mouth at 
a popular Jakarta restaurant after drinking a Vietnamese iced coffee that her 
friend, Jessica Kumala Wongso, had ordered for her more than half an hour 
earlier.

Speaking before the 2nd week of Jessica's murder trial at Central Jakarta 
District Court on Tuesday, Mirna's father Edi Dermawan Salihin alleged she 
"killed my daughter like (she was) a rat".

He said he had been "shocked" when Jessica became the prime suspect in the 
murder as she and his daughter had been very close, studying together at the 
design college Billy Blue in Sydney for several years.

But upon seeing the CCTV of the events that allegedly led up to the murder, Mr 
Salihin said he became convinced of her guilt.

Prosecutors allege the 2 women had a falling out around the middle of last year 
when Mirna discovered Jessica was in a relationship with a man in Australia.

No details have yet been revealed about the boyfriend but prosecutors allege 
Mirna objected to him.

After Jessica broke it off, prosecutors claim she decided to "to avenge her 
pain ... and take away Mirna's life".

CCTV on the day of Mirna's death allegedly shows Jessica arriving at the 
Jakarta restaurant well before her friend.

After ordering an iced coffee for Mirna, she arranges a number of shopping bags 
around the drink, blocking any view of it.

After a few minutes she then allegedly returned to her original seat, cleared 
away the shopping bags and pushed the coffee into the middle of the table.

"Jessica, she came alone (to the restaurant), only with the devil," Mr Salihin 
said on Tuesday.

Jessica maintains she is innocent.

Mr Salihin said he had been heavily involved with the police and prosecutors' 
efforts in bringing the case against the 27-year-old and had handed over "key 
evidence" to police.

He said the agreement with Canberra should only stand if she is convicted based 
on evidence gathered by the AFP.

"If we find the evidence here in Jakarta, myself and police, how come we have 
to accept their agreement?"

On Tuesday, Jessica's legal team applied to have the case thrown out on a 
number of grounds, including that the indictment presented to the court failed 
to properly outline the evidence on which the charge of premeditated murder had 
been brought.

Prosecutors, they argued, had not shown where the cyanide had been purchased 
and had thus failed to illustrate any "pre-planning" by Jessica.

But prosecutors rejected their application, saying poison by its very nature 
illustrates pre-planning.

The judge will hand down his decision on the application next week.

(source: Yahoo News)