[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 15




NIGERIA:

25 years jail term or death penalty awaits land grabbers, as Amosun signs bill 
into law


Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State has signed a Bill into law which 
prescribed 25 years jail term or death penalty for anybody found guilty of land 
grabbing in the state.


The Bill "H.B. No. 03/2016 - A bill for a law to prohibit forcible entry and 
occupation of landed properties, violent and fraudulent conducts in relation to 
landed properties, armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism and allied matters and 
for other matters incidental thereto or connected therewith" was passed a month 
ago by the state House of Assembly making land grabbing or forceful takeover of 
landed property in the state a criminal offence.

Singning the Bill on Monday after the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Suraj 
Adekunbi, led some of the lawmakers to present a clean copy of the bill to him, 
the Governor said that Ogun State would not be made a safe haven for criminals, 
adding that whoever flouts the law would face the consequences according to the 
provisions of the law.

He said, "We want to let people know that Ogun State will not be comfort zone 
for any criminal or so-called omo oniles (land grabbers). They have engaged 
maiming, killing and lawlessness. But now, the law will go after them.

"We are now having enabling law to prosecute and anybody that runs foul of this 
law, of course, will have himself or herself to blame.

"To the kidnappers, they know that this is their end. Anybody that involves 
himself in kidnapping, armed robbery and all these social vices will not be 
allowed in Ogun State. I want to believe that with the operation of this law, 
criminals will run away from the state."

Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, who addressed journalists after the bill 
was signed pledged to enforce the law.

He said, "This is a clarion call to all criminals, armed robbers, kidnappers, 
cultists and so on that there is no place for them in Ogun State. They should 
relocate because there is no room for them. We are ready to enforce the law."

(source: worldstagegroup.com)






SOUTH KOREA:

Prosecution wants death penalty for child abusers ---- The Supreme Prosecutors' 
Office said Monday it will seek the death penalty for those indicted for child 
abuse when the child dies for any reason.

The prosecution will get tougher on child abusers in response to a growing 
public outcry, including seeking the death penalty.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office said Monday it will seek the death penalty for 
those indicted for child abuse when the child dies for any reason. It will also 
seek detention of suspects before an official probe to ensure a thorough 
investigation.

This tougher stance reflects growing public demand for harsher punishment for 
child abusers.

"There has been much criticism from the public and within the prosecution 
regarding the level of punishment given to child abusers," a Supreme 
Prosecutors' Office official said. "The demanded level of punishment seemed to 
differ from whether or not the case received media attention. Therefore, we 
have set these measures as a baseline for future cases."

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office also issued a guideline to prosecutors to seek 
additional punishment for those obliged to report child abuse, such as nursery 
teachers, teaching staff, the medical profession and child welfare institution 
employees. The guideline will also extend to parents, guardians and 
distributors or makers of child pornography.

(source: The Korea Times)






TURKEY:

Boris Johnson urges EU to go soft on Turkey's plan to reintroduce the death 
penalty----The Foreign Secretary warned against pushing President Erdogan into 
a 'corner'


Boris Johnson stunned his EU foreign minister counterparts this afternoon by 
calling on the bloc to tone down its opposition to Turkey reintroducing the 
death penalty, it has been reported.

Diplomats present at the foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels said that Mr 
Johnson had warned against pushing Turkey "into a corner" over the issue.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backed the return of the death penalty this 
summer after he purged over 100,000 potential political opponents from the 
country's civil service and arrested opposition political parties.

Turkey could put EU talks to a referendum next year, says Erdogan

With Turkey still on paper a candidate for EU ascension and the abolition of 
the death penalty a condition of joining the bloc, a number of European 
countries have called for a halt to Turkey???s accession negotiations.

One diplomat described Mr Johnson's intervention as "unbelievable", according 
to The Financial Times newspaper.

Mr Johnson told the room that some EU states had previously taken time to 
abolish the death penalty in the 1980s and 1990s - and that this had no been an 
automatic bar on membership.

Foreign diplomats and ministers in the room are said to have interpreted Mr 
Johnson's comments as a suggestion that the EU accession rules could be bent 
for Turkey.

A British diplomatic source with knowledge of the meeting however told The 
Independent that "the Foreign Secretary was in no way defending Erdogan but 
simply stating the facts".

"The Foreign Secretary opposes the death penalty in all circumstances," he 
added.

Mr Johnson campaigned hard for Brexit during the European Union referendum 
campaign on the basis that Turkey was about to join the bloc and open up free 
movement with the UK.

Since his appointment to the Cabinet the former Mayor of London has said 
however clarified that he in fact supports Turkey joining the EU.

"We should not push Turkey into a corner, we should not overreact in a way that 
is against our collective interests," Mr Johnson told reporters outside the 
meeting.

(source: The Independent)



IRAN----executions

9 executions in Orumiyeh and Rasht----Officials emphasize on the regime's 
continued need for the death penalty


6 prisoners were executed in the Orumiyeh Prison (northwest Iran) and three in 
the Rasht Prison (northern Iran) between November 12 and 14, 2016.

5 of those executed in Orumiyeh were from the Iranian Kurdistan and included an 
Army officer.

The number of the executions registered in the first 2 weeks of November thus 
amounts to 37. The actual number of executions is considered much higher as the 
Iranian regime prevents leakage of news and details of its crimes.

Despite hollow and absurd maneuverings of some regime officials on cutting down 
the number of executions, the Iranian deputy Foreign Minister, Majid Takht-e 
Ravanchi, made a vivid comment on the regime's human rights talks with the 
European Union, underlining that executions are the regime's "red line" and 
"cannot be given up." (The state-run ILNA - November 11, 2016)

Mullah Sadeq Larijani, head of the Iranian Judiciary, also said, "(The European 
Union) must understand that their remarks about abolishment of retribution and 
executions violate our people's rights." (The state-run media in Iran, November 
14, 2016)

At the same time, Massoud Zahedian, commander of the State Security Force's 
Anti-Narcotics Police, said the following about the ceaseless practice of 
executions in Iran: "The positive effects of executions have already become 
obvious, but to have a greater impact, the executions must be carried out 
promptly. I mean, when an execution is carried out several years after 
committing the crime, surely it does not have sufficient impact on other 
drug-smugglers." (The state-run media, November 14, 2016)

The Iranian regime maintains its power solely by relying on executions and 
torture. Holding human rights dialogues with this barbaric regime only fuels 
their machinery for murder and suppression.

The Iranian regime's dossier must be submitted to the UN Security Council and 
its officials brought to justice for 37 years of committing crimes against 
humanity including the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988.

(source: The secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)

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

Iranian Lawmakers Mull Ending Death Penalty for Drug Offences


The continued use of the death penalty as a punishment for drug offences is 
becoming an increasingly contentious issue in Iran, with numerous political 
figures endorsing its repeal.

Without specifically referring to drugs, Iran???s Justice Minister, Mostafa 
Pourmohammadi, announced in October that the death penalty is applied as 
punishment in too many cases. He said he sought to find a non-lethal punishment 
for most capital offences as the current approach had not had a deterrent 
effect, although he favoured retaining the death penalty for "corrupt people".

Pourmohammadi's comments came shortly before it was announced that a motion 
signed by 76 Members of Parliament has been brought before the Iranian 
Parliament with the aim of ruling out the death penalty for 1st-time drug 
smugglers, many of whom are juveniles.

This is in addition to a bill which has been under consideration since December 
2015 which proposes to eliminate the death penalty for all drug offences - 
including possession and production - with the exception of armed drug 
smuggling. This bill has been endorsed by around 150 members of the 290-seat 
Parliament and is under review by the legislature's Legal and Judicial 
Committee.

Yahya Kamalpur, the Deputy Head of the Legal and Judicial Committee voiced his 
support for reform, stating that the execution of people who smuggle drugs 
"will not benefit the people or the country", and that the punishment could be 
replaced by long prison sentences or hard labour. Kamalpur has called for a 
"scientific and not an emotional solution".

Despite growing political support, the bill won't necessarily become law if it 
passes through Parliament. It would still require ratification by the Guardian 
Council of Islamic Jurists, a hard-line conservative force which has thus far 
stood in the way of many changes desired by the relatively moderate Rouhani 
administration.

The head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani, has said that there 
should be no let-up in executions for drug offences as they cause "the 
destruction of families".

In 2011, the UN reported that Iran had the 2nd highest rate of opiate use in 
the world, with over 2 % of the adult population (aged 15-64) reporting use 
during the past year.

Iran also has the 2nd highest number of executions in the world, after China. 
In 2015 alone, Iran executed at least 977 people, the majority of whom were 
killed for drug offences. The actual number of executions that take place may 
be even higher due to government underreporting.

Punishments for violating drug laws have become increasingly strict in recent 
years. Until 2011, any person found to be possessing, producing, or selling 
more than 30 grams of cocaine or heroin would be branded a "corruptor on earth" 
before being executed by the state. Since then, that punishment has also become 
a requirement for anyone possessing the same amount of illegal synthetic drugs, 
such as methamphetamine.

The death penalty is not mandated for drug offenders by Sharia Law. Rather, 
such strict punishments may be better explained through a geopolitical lens. 
The Iranian government has long-struggled with heroin trafficking - and the 
instability that brings - along its eastern borders with Afghanistan and 
Pakistan.

Between 1987 and 2007, over 3,500 Iranian soldiers and police officers were 
killed in clashes with drug smugglers in a border war that is still ongoing.

Soaring production rates of opium in Afghanistan, cross-border trafficking, and 
a population crippled by foreign economic sanctions, have contributed to high 
rates of problematic drug use in Iran. This has reinforced Iran's role as both 
a transit country and a destination on the opiate trafficking route from 
Afghanistan to Europe.

Iran's counter-narcotic efforts rely heavily on international funding, 
particularly from European countries. However, the UK, Ireland, and Denmark 
withdrew such funding in 2015 due to Iran???s increasing execution rate, 
according to Reprieve.

The combination of economic pressures and an apparent thawing of political 
relations between Iran and the West over the last year has perhaps encouraged 
political support for ending the death penalty. Despite this momentum, the 
Guardian Council of Islamic Jurists remains a serious obstacle in the pursuit 
of Iranian drug policy reform.

(source: HRANA News Agency)




CHINA:

Outcry as China executes symbol of injustice Jia Jinglong ---- Villager 
convicted of murdering official said he was driven to it by the man ordering 
the illegal demolition of his home on eve of his wedding


Chinese authorities faced a bitter outcry after executing a villager who became 
a symbol of injustices endured by the country's disenfranchised masses.

Jia Jinglong, a farmer from the northern province of Hebei, was put to death on 
Tuesday for the murder of a Communist party official he blamed for destroying 
his life.

Jia had been convicted in 2015 of using an adapted nail gun to kill He Jianhua, 
the 55-year-old chief of the village where he lived.

Jia, 29, claimed he carried out the killing in February 2015 in retribution 
after the official masterminded the illegal demolition of his home 2 years 
earlier on the eve of his wedding, which Jia???s fianc???e subsequently called 
off.

Jia's lawyers did not dispute that he was responsible for the killing but 
instead sought to portray him as the victim of an unjust and ineffective 
judicial system that frequently fails China's poor.

The country's legal community rallied behind the farmer as he waited on death 
row and, unusually, state-run newspapers also attempted to stave of the threat 
of execution.

"Jia would probably not have acted as he did if his loss had been properly 
taken care of," the China Daily argued in a recent editorial which urged 
authorities to halt the execution and "avoid the double tragedy to which we are 
dangerously close".

The newspaper claimed Jia had killed the official in response to "the ruthless, 
illicit forced demolition of his home", adding: "We feel strongly that the 
[execution] order must not be carried out".

Those pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears, to the dismay of campaigners and 
supporters who viewed his sentence as a travesty of justice.

Xinhua, China's official news agency, said Jia was executed on Tuesday morning 
in the northern city of Shijiazhuang after a local court ruled the sentence 
should be carried out. The prisoner was reportedly allowed to meet relatives 
shortly before being executed.

Zhang Qianfan, a Peking University law scholar who was among those calling for 
Jia's life to be spared, said he felt disappointed and heartbroken.

"The legal community and the whole of society have been calling for the death 
penalty not to be carried out. But in the end even this wasn't able to change 
the court's decision. I think it shows indifference towards a citizen's right 
to life."

Zhang noted that the wife of the disgraced Communist party politician Bo Xilai 
had escaped execution for the 2011 murder of British businessman Neil Heywood 
and her attempts to cover up the crime.

"She was not sentenced to death so what is the reason to sentence an ordinary 
person to death?" Zhang asked.

Criticism also rained down from the general public who saw Jia as a symbol of 
the commoner's struggle against rampant injustice.

Writing on Weibo social media, one critic said the decision to follow through 
with the punishment made clear the stance of Zhou Qiang, the president of 
China's supreme court: "If it is an ordinary person who we can choose to 
execute or not execute, then we will choose to execute him; if it is an 
official ... we will choose not to."

Zhang, the legal scholar, said many Chinese citizens empathised with how Jia 
appeared to have believed that such drastic action was "the only way to vent 
his emotions" having failed to secure compensation through legal channels.

In an interview on the eve of his execution, Jia's sister, Jia Jingyuan, said 
the wrongdoing he had suffered resonated with many citizens who felt justice 
was beyond their reach.

"Because my brother is part of this society's underclass, he represents the 
lives of many ordinary people," she told the Associated Press.

"What he has experienced is what many are going through or will be going 
through ... There is a lot of injustice in society and people's basic rights 
haven't been upheld."

Forced demolitions and evictions have become a recurrent feature of China's 
breakneck urbanisation process, with corrupt local officials often acting in 
cahoots with property developers.

A 2012 Amnesty International report claimed there had been a spike in such 
demolitions, with local authorities using suspect land deals to offset huge 
debts.

The result was a wave of "deaths, beatings, harassment and imprisonment of 
residents who have been forced from their homes across the country in both 
rural and urban areas", Amnesty said.

"Some were in such despair they set themselves on fire in drastic protests of 
last resort."

(source: The Guardian)






PHILIPPINES:

Aguirre to solons: Death penalty will instill fear among criminals


Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Tuesday asked the House of 
Representatives to pass the bills seeking to restore the death penalty for 
heinous crimes to instill fear of death among hardened criminals.

During the House of Representatives justice committee hearing on the death 
penalty proposals, Aguirre maintained that the restoration of capital 
punishment will curb crime.

Although he does not have statistics to show that the death penalty could lower 
crime rate, Aguirre said he could only speak of personal experience.

He noted that during the Marcos regime, there was practically no drug incidence 
for 2 years when the dictator Ferdinand Marcos implemented the death penalty.

"We really could not have any empirical data or definite data on this. My only 
argument here is my personal experience. That I would never commit a heinous 
crime because I will be penalized and death penalty imposed on me," Aguirre 
said.

Aguirre said death penalty needs to be imposed to send a chilling effect to 
criminals, noting that the death penalty was never abolished by the 1987 
Constitution.

"If the law on death penalty will be strictly enforced, there is no iota of 
doubt that this will instill the fear of death in the minds of would-be 
criminals. In this way, people with criminal mind would think twice before they 
commit crimes, especially heinous ones," Aguirre said.

Aguirre said the Constitution has allowed Congress to reimpose the death 
penalty if needed, which means it was never absent in the country???s Charter.

"The penalty is not completely abolished by the 1987 Constitution. Rather it 
merely suspended death penalty and gave Congress discretion to review it ... 
Death penalty is still present in our Constitution and if Congress decides to 
revive it, it could be done," Aguirre said.

Aguirre said life imprisonment has failed to stop people from committing 
crimes, citing the proliferation of drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison by 
convicted criminals from behind bars.

"We have the inmates at the Bilibid prison being sentenced to life 
imprisonment, and yet it could not serve as deterrent, as a matter of fact, 
they are enjoying life there and engaging in drug trades," Aguirre said.

"By just giving them imprisonment, we are giving them favors. If they are put 
to death, it would stop their criminal activities," Aguirre added.

For his part, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, the veteran lawmaker who pushed for the 
abolition of capital punishment by Congress in 2006, said death penalty has 
been a punishment since time immemorial but still failed to curb crimes.

He cited the classic tale of pickpocketing being rampant during public hangings 
in England despite pickpocketing being a crime also punishable by death.

"That would only validate that since time immemorial, death penalty is imposed 
for varying types of crimes but until now, crimes punishable by death penalty 
are still committed so much so that the conclusion is that there is no 
deterrent effect," Lagman said.

Lagman said the 1987 Constitution clearly abolished death penalty. "It's clear 
the Constitution of 1987 abolished death penalty ... If we read the 
constitutional provisions which say neither shall death penalty be imposed 
unless for compelling reasons ... That's a virtual abolition of death penalty," 
Lagman said.

He said there are other forms of meting out justice against criminals, citing 
the range of maximum penalties and life imprisonment.

"Justice can be served other than imposing the death penalty. When the death 
penalty was not imposed under the new Constitution, was justice not served for 
those who were convicted of crimes? They were served with imprisonment, which 
is a form of justice to the victims of crimes," Lagman said.

"Death penalty is not the only penalty to give justice to the victims. That???s 
why there is a range of penalties because this range of penalties will be 
serving justice in different degrees," he added.

For his part, Chief Supt. Augusto Marquez Jr. of the Philippine National Police 
told lawmakers that the police supports the reimposition of death penalty to 
aid law enforcement agencies to curb crime.

"The PNP supports the consolidation and passage of bills for reimposition of 
death penalty, as they would aid law enforcement agencies in deterring the 
commission of crime," Marquez said, noting that the threat of death to 
criminals effectively curbed the crime rate since the administration waged its 
bloody war on drugs.

It was Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who first filed the bill seeking to reimpose 
death penalty after former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo abolished capital 
punishment in 2006 for its failure to deter crime.

Alvarez filed the bill to reinstate death penalty, pursuant to President 
Rodrigo Duterte's campaign promise of returning capital punishment against 
heinous criminals.

Alvarez's bill sought to reimpose death penalty on heinous crimes listed under 
Republic Act 7659, including murder, plunder, rape, kidnapping and serious 
illegal detention, sale, use and possession of illegal drugs, carnapping with 
homicide, among others.

In the bill he co-authored with deputy speaker Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro, 
Alvarez said there is a need to reimpose death penalty because "the national 
crime rate has grown to such alarming proportions requiring an all-out 
offensive against all forms of felonious acts."

"Philippine society is left with no option but to deal with certain grievous 
offenders in a manner commensurate to the gravity, perversity, atrociousness 
and repugnance of their crimes," according to the bill.

Duterte has won the elections in a campaign promise to restore death penalty by 
hanging, even making a snide remark that the convicts??? head should be severed 
from the hanging. Alvarez said Congress would look into the cheapest way for 
death penalty, either by firing squad, lethal injection, or by hanging.

(source: newsinfo.inquirer.net)






EGYPT:

Egypt's highest court quashes ex-President Morsi's death penalty


The Egyptian Court of Cassation annulled Tuesday the death sentence of former 
Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and ordered a new trial before a criminal 
court.

The Court of Cassation also quashed the convictions of 5 of Morsi's 
co-defendants, including the former Supreme Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood 
Mohamed Badie.

In the same trial, nearly 100 other people were sentenced to death in absentia.

Morsi was sentenced to death in June 2015 for his role in massive prison 
escapes and attacks against the police during the revolt that expelled Hosni 
Mubarak from power in 2011.

Mohamed Morsi has already been sentenced in 4 trials since his dismissal.

In 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison in a trial for espionage, this time 
in favour of Iran, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the Lebanese 
Shiite movement Hezbollah.

His last conviction was in June 18 in another trial for espionage and this time 
for "stealing secret documents concerning state security and delivering them to 
Qatar through intermediaries". He was again sentenced to life imprisonment.

Morsi is under detention at the Borg-el-Arab prison near Alexandria.

(source: africanews.com)






INDIA:

Senari massacre: 10 awarded death penalty----A Jehanabad court on Tuesday 
awarded death penalty to 10 and sentenced 3 to life impronsment in connection 
with the Senari massacre, which left 34 dead


A Jehanabad court on Tuesday awarded death penalty to 10 and sentenced 3 to 
life impronsment in connection with the Senari massacre, which left 34 people 
dead in 1999.

The court had last month convicted 15 people and acquitted 23 others in the 
case.

According to reports, the police filed a chargesheet against 74 people in 2002, 
but trial against 56 took place while 18 remained absconders.

The carnage took place on the night of March 18, 1999 when the left extremists 
dragged 34 people belonging to a particular upper caste out of their homes to a 
temple and slit their throats.

Reports say that at least 1,000 armed Maoists surrounded the village and made 
the villagers captive. The killings started around 7.30pm and continued till 
10pm after which the Maoists fled.

(source: oneindia.com)