[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 23



CANADA:

Marking the 40th anniversary of the end of the death penalty


Wednesday marks the 40th anniversary of the House of Commons vote to abolish 
the death penalty in Canada.

The final execution in Halifax took place in 1935. Daniel Sampson was arrested 
and charged with the murder of 2 young brothers who had been beaten to death 
near what's now the Armdale Rotary.

Sampson's execution followed a lengthy legal battle, including a new trial. He 
was visited by his mother the day before the execution, and reportedly signed a 
confession on his way to the gallows, admitting that he killed the 2 brothers.

But he said it was because they were tormenting him. Some believe that torment 
continues to this day.

"As I understand it, when janitors and other staff walk through there, they 
just get a very odd, creepy feeling - particularly in the attic area," said 
Halifax ghost tour operator Andy Smith.

The Nova Scotia Archives has a few pictures of the actual gallows, which stood 
in what's now the back parking lot.

For decades, rumours have persisted about what happened next.

"After the hangings ended, they took the gallows down and some of the wood that 
was used was placed in the courthouse building," said Smith.

Old court records are stored in the attic of the Nova Scotia Courthouse, but no 
sign of the gallows.

"We've had many people ask that same question," said court administrator Tanya 
Pellow. "We have looked for it, and never found any wood."

But perhaps for a place so steeped in history, such a tale is entirely 
appropriate - adding another layer of mystique in an impressive and imposing 
place.

(source: ctvnews.ca)






BANGLADESH:

5 get death for killing lawyer in Gazipur


A Gazipur Court sentenced 5 people to death penalty for killing lawyer 
Firozuzzaman Sohel in 2008.

Judge M Fazle Elahi Bhuiyan of Gazipur Additional and Session Judge Court 
handed down the verdict on Thursday noon.

The court also fined Tk 10,000 each.

The death-row convicts are one Abudur Rauf's wife Amena Begum, 53, a tenant of 
Rafiqul Islam`s house of Madha Chhayabithi area of the district, and his 3 
sons- Sajal, 28, Tithi 31, and Bappi, 33, and Badal, son of Kafil Uddin Master 
of Fulbaria village of Kapasia upazila.

Abdur Rauf hailed from Madhya Madanpura of Baufal upazila of Potuakhali.

Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) of Gazipur Court Ataur Rahman said the 
convicts killed apprentice lawyer Firozuzzaman Shohel over previous enmity.

After the incident, deceased's father Sohrab Uddin Vandari filed a murder case 
with Joydevpur Police Station, he added.

(source: businessnews24bd.com)






IRAQ:

KRG to execute 7 prepetrators of 2014 Erbil bomb attack


A court in Erbil sentenced s7 members of Islamic State (ISIS) to death and 
sentenced 5 others to life in prison for their role in the car bomb attack 
against the Erbil Governorate building in November 2014, the Kurdistan Security 
Council announced on Wednesday.

"The criminals were directly involved in planning and carrying out the attack 
and were members of Daesh (ISIS) and also carried out several other attacks in 
the city of Kirkuk, the statement said.

The car bomb attack carried out at noon on November 19th 2014 killed 4 people 
and wounded at least 29 others.

Bomb attacks in the Kurdish capital of Erbil are rare, but occur almost on a 
daily basis in Baghdad, primarily in Shiite-majority areas, such as Sadr City.

(source: rudaw.net)






IRAN:

Call to halt execution of 2 prisoners in western Iran


On Wednesday, June 22, coinciding with a visit by the Iranian regime's Foreign 
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to France and the Netherlands, and simultaneous 
with the global conference against the death penalty with the participation of 
more than 90 countries in Oslo, officials of the mullahs' regime in Iran have 
sent 2 prisoners by the names of Farzad Bizhani and Farhad Souri in Sanandaj 
Prison (western Iran) to solitary confinement in preparation for their 
executions.

On this very day the criminal public prosecutor in the city of Mashhad 
(northeastern Iran) requested hand amputation verdicts for 3 prisoners accused 
of robbery (state Tabnak website - June 22).

Continuous executions, torture and floggings even during the holy month of 
Ramadan, considered amongst Muslims in Iran and all Islamic countries as a 
month of tolerance, kindness and benevolence, brings an end to the myth of 
moderation within the religious, fascist regime ruling Iran that cannot even 
temporary halt these crimes for a few days to merely save face.

The Iranian Resistance calls for measures to save the lives of the 2 prisoners 
on the brink of execution and to prevent a verdict and implementation of hand 
amputation for the three inmates in Mashhad Prison. The Iranian Resistance also 
calls on all international humanitarian organizations to condemn these inhumane 
crimes. Furthermore, the international community is urged to condition its 
economic and political relations with this inhumane regime, being the source of 
all the devastations, pains and sufferings of the people of Iran and the entire 
region, on an improvement of human rights in Iran.

(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)






PHILIPPINES:

Catholic bishops challenge Duterte over death penalty


The Catholic Church in the Phillipines will petition the new president against 
reintroducing the death penalty in the country, according to Fides.

The president of the Episcopal Conference of the Philippines, Archbishop 
Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, said he will seek a meeting with 
President Rodrigo Duterte to urge him to stop his plans to reintroduce the 
death penalty.

Several bishops have challenged Duterte's plan to submit a measure to 
Philippine Congress to restore the death penalty, which was abolished in 2006.

He hopes to apply it for offences including drug offences, rape, robbery, car 
theft and corruption.

The Archbishop of Lipa, Ramon Arguelles, disputed Duterte's claim that the 
death penalty is a deterrent towards crime. He said he hoped the move "does not 
happen, especially while the Church celebrates the year of mercy".

Speaking at the Sixth World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Oslo last 
week, Pope Francis called the death penalty "unacceptable".

"It is an offence to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human 
person. It likewise contradicts God's plan for individuals and society, and his 
merciful justice," he said.

"Nor is it consonant with any just purpose of punishment. It does not render 
justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance. The commandment 'Thou shalt 
not kill' has absolute value and applies both to the innocent and to the 
guilty."

Bishops in the Philippines echoed the Pope's sentiments.

"God alone has power over life. God gives life and God takes it away. No one 
should play God," said Bishop of Balanga, Ruperto Santos. Instead, the 
government should "reform... the judicial and prison system," he added.

(source: Christian Today)

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

Bishops in Philippines will oppose bid to restore capital punishment


The Catholic bishops of the Philippines will strongly oppose a bit by newly 
elected President Rodrigo Duterte to restore the death penalty, the Fides news 
service reports.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, the president of the 
country's episcopal cofnerence, says that he will ask to meet with Duterte in a 
bid to dissuade him from his plan to reintroduce capital punishment. Several 
other bishops have made statements opposing that plan.

Duterte campaigned for the presidency on a tough law-and-order platform, and 
argued for the execution of criminals convicted of grave crimes.

(source: catholicculture.org)



INDONESIA:

Court sentences 4 drug smugglers to death


The Medan District Court on Wednesday decided on capital punishment for 4 
Indonesians convicted of smuggling 270 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine 
from Malaysia to North Sumatra.

The 4 defendants are businessmen Ayau and Daud, alias Athiam, from Bengkalis, 
Riau, Lukmansyah, a security guard in Dumai, Riau, and Jimmy Syahputra, a 
resident of Deli Serdang, North Sumatra.

The panel of judges found that they violated the Narcotics Law, which carries a 
maximum penalty of death for traffickers.

"The defendants are proven to have conspired to traffic narcotics. With all the 
evidence, the judges rejected their defence and ordered the death penalty," 
said presiding judge Asmar while reading out the verdict on Wednesday night.

In October, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), along with the Dumai Customs 
Office, foiled the smuggling in Medan, North Sumatra.

Almost 300 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu, 
were packaged in 45 boxes.

The value of the substance is estimated to be Rp 500 billion, with the average 
price of meth in Indonesia Rp 2 billion per kilogram.

Indonesia is currently one of the main markets for meth trafficking in Asia. A 
number of smuggling attempts in large amounts have been successfully foiled by 
the authorities.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has implemented a tough drug policy by ordering 
executions of drug traffickers since he took office in 2014.

The government is currently preparing for a 3rd round of executions of 18 
inmates, despite condemnation from human rights activists.

Asmar said the syndicate transported the meth from China to Malaysia and 
finally to Medan, North Sumatra.

Daud first met a person, identified as Lau Lai alias Aan alias Jecky who is 
still at large, at the CK Malaka Hotel in Malaysia in August.

They later plotted to smuggle the drugs to Medan. Lau Lai asked Daud to find a 
receiver and a warehouse to keep the meth in Medan.

Daud later contacted Ayau and Irwan Toni, also still at large, to find the meth 
storage place in Medan.

Daud also contacted Jimmy and transferred Rp 55 million to the latter's account 
to purchase a car to unload and transport the large amount of meth from Dumai 
port, Riau, to Medan.

The court also revealed that in September Irwan contacted Lukmansyah to tell 
him that the meth packages were on their way to Medan. It was at this time that 
the information was leaked to the custom officials in Dumai.

The meth arrived at Dumai in October and was initially to be kept in a water 
tank at the Jade Square warehouse complex on Jl. Yos Sudarso, Medan.

Authorities raided the warehouse a day after the meth arrived and arrested 
Jimmy and seized the meth packages.

The lawyer of the 4 defendants, Nurwadi Aco, said he would appeal the verdict.

"Several facts are still in dispute," he said after the trial.

(source: The Jakart Post)






SRI LANKA:

Abolishing death penalty requires collective leadership - Mangala


Abolishing the death penalty requires persuasion and resolve but above all it 
requires leadership - the collective leadership of legislators, activists, 
editors, academics and jurors, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

The Foreign Minister said so delivering the opening address at the Sixth World 
Congress Against the Death Penalty, in Oslo, recently.

Excerpts of the speech:

Despite its widespread use, for millennia the death penalty has caused 
lingering societal discomfort and unease. Fairly early on in history many 
enlightened leaders have found the death penalty degrading of human dignity. 
For example, in ancient Sri Lanka a number of kings - influenced by the 
Buddha???s teaching - abolished the death penalty. In fact, for much of the 
1st, 3rd, 4th and 13th centuries the death penalty was not employed in Sri 
Lanka.

This may help explain why for nearly a century there has been a consensus among 
the legislative leadership of my country that the death penalty ought to be 
abolished. This consensus was based both on moral grounds and on the 
ineffectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent. As far back as 1928 the 
Ceylon Legislative Assembly voted 19 to 7 in favour of a resolution on 
abolishing the death penalty, which was moved by Prime Minister D. S. 
Senanayake. In the end, abolition was only thwarted by the high-handedness of 
the colonial authorities of the time.

In 1956, a few years after Independence, my father, then the Parliamentary 
Secretary for Justice, proposed a Bill ending capital punishment which was 
supported by Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. The Bill passed but 
tragically the death penalty was resumed a few years later as result of Mr. 
Bandaranaike's assassination until a de facto moratorium was instituted in 
1976.

I daresay that even today the vast majority of my colleagues in Parliament find 
the death penalty morally repugnant and are aware of its inefficaciousness. 
However, as they fear the knee-jerk reaction of uninformed public opinion they 
have proved unwilling to take the courageous step the government took in 1956. 
I believe that this fear is true not only of legislators and jurors in Sri 
Lanka, but of other Asian states where the death penalty is yet to be 
abolished.

Therefore, the common challenge facing us today is persuading our respective 
people and perhaps even more importantly having the collective courage to lead 
by acting.

However, changing public opinion is a time consuming and resource intensive 
process. And the evidence points out that, despite persistent advocacy, public 
opinion on the subject of the death penalty is relatively static in many 
countries.

Therefore, overcoming this key challenge requires an act of political courage. 
Studies have shown that when people are asked to sit in mock judgement, rather 
than simply answer survey questions, no more than 30 % of people support the 
death penalty, even in the most serious of cases. In France, although public 
opinion was overwhelmingly in favour of the death penalty in 1981, its 
abolition decided by the then President of France led to a change of public 
opinion. It is clear that the debate resulting from the process of abolishing 
the death penalty and the lack of change in crime rates after the death penalty 
has been abolished allays the public's fears. As a result there have been very, 
very few cases of reversal once the death penalty is abolished.

Momentum is slowly building in Asia, where more executions take place than the 
rest of the world combined. In South-East Asia the number of executions has 
declined significantly, in South Asia there have been both short and long de 
facto moratoria. In 2007, 24 Asian states voted against the UN Resolution on a 
Death Penalty Moratorium, in 2014 that number had declined to 18.

There is further good news: Sri Lanka's Minister of Justice, who will also be 
addressing a session at this Conference, has informed Parliament that Sri Lanka 
will return to its traditional position of voting in favour of this resolution 
as it did in 2007, 2008 and 2010 and, more importantly, continuing the four 
decades long de facto moratorium.

The Foreign Minister said, As momentum towards critical mass develops, I am 
confident that the coming years will see the death of the death penalty in our 
region.

(source: Daily News)