[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 5




INDIA:

Jigisha: HC issues production warrant to death row convicts


HC today issued production warrants to two death row convicts in the 2009 
Jigisha Ghosh murder case on trial court reference for confirmation of capital 
punishment given to them.

A bench of justices Gita Mittal and R K Gauba directed Tihar Jail authorities 
here to produce convicts Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla before it on September 15.

The order came on submission of Delhi Police that the court could direct 
production of the convicts to know whether they are going to file an appeal 
against the trial court's judgement convicting and sentencing them in the case.

On August 22, while awarding capital punishment to Kapoor and Shukla, 
Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav had referred the case to high court for 
confirmation of sentence.

It is mandatory for the trial court to refer each death penalty case to a high 
court for confirmation of sentence within 30 days of the pronouncement of the 
verdict.

The trial court had on July 14 held the duo guilty on various counts, including 
the murder of 28-year-old IT executive Jigisha Ghosh.

The court while sentencing the 2 to death said the girl was killed in a 
"cold-blooded, inhuman and cruel manner" and "brutally mauled to death".

It had said the magnitude and brutality exhibited by the convicts made the case 
'rarest of rare', warranting capital punishment for Kapoor and Shukla. The 
third offender Baljeet Malik was given reprieve from the gallows and sent to 
life imprisonment for his good conduct in jail.

Shukla has orally filed an appeal against the death sentence awarded to him 
while Malik has filed an appeal through counsel Amit Kumar in the high court 
challenging the conviction and sentence.

"Let all the appeals filed by the state and the convicts be heard together on 
September 15," the High Court said.

Ravi Kapoor has not yet challenged trial court judgement.

Malik, in his appeal, has stated that the trial court "failed to appreciate 
that there have been contradictions and discrepancies in the depositions of the 
prosecution witnesses (PWs) and therefore conviction and sentence awarded to 
him is liable to be set aside".

"The trial court has failed to appreciate that prosecution has planted PW-2... 
As a last seen witness with intent to falsely proving the presence of the 
appellant in the company of deceased (Jigisha) at about 4.45 AM on March 18, 
2009 at SBI ATM at Mahipalpur," the appeal said.

Malik's appeal further said, "The presence of PW-2, who has been falsely shown 
as a last seen witness, is extremely improbable and doubtful, and, therefore 
his deposition with regard to being last seen witness cannot be considered 
credible and probable evidence."

The trial court had also imposed varying fines on the convicts, with Kapoor 
being slapped with a fine of Rs 1.2 lakh due to his incapacity to pay, while 
Shukla and Malik were directed to pay Rs 2.8 lakh and Rs 5.8 lakh respectively 
as pre-sentencing report suggested they were financially stronger.

The trio are also facing trial for the murder of TV journalist Soumya 
Viswanathan, killed a year before Jigisha.

The court had said leniency cannot be shown to these convicts as there was a 
rise of gruesome crimes against women which needed to be dealt with in an 
appropriate sentence.

It had also directed that out of the total fine of Rs 9.8 lakh, Rs 6 lakh be 
paid to the parents of the victim, and an adequate compensation amount be 
decided by the District Legal Service Authority (South).

It had held the 3 men guilty under several sections of IPC, including 302 
(murder), 364 (abducting for murder), 201 (destruction of evidence), 394 
(voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), 468 (forgery for purpose of 
cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document).

The additional sessions judge, however, held that the charge of criminal 
conspiracy (120-B of IPC) could not be proved against them.

The police had filed the charge sheet in the case in June 2009, stating that 
Jigisha's post-mortem report revealed that she was killed by smothering. The 
trial in the case began in April 2010.

Recovery of the weapon allegedly used in Jigisha's murder had led to cracking 
of the murder case of Soumya Vishwanathan, who was a journalist with a news 
channel.

Soumya was shot dead on September 30, 2008 while she was returning home in her 
car from office in the wee hours.

The police had claimed robbery as the motive behind the killings of both 
Jigisha and Soumya.

(source: Press Trust of India)






JAPAN:

Bar federation's declaration to call for abolition of death sentence


The Japan Federation of Bar Associations for the 1st time will clearly call for 
abolishing the death sentence in light of global trends against capital 
punishment and wrongful convictions of death-row inmates.

The federation until now has taken measures to spur public debate about 
eliminating the death sentence.

But in a draft declaration that will be submitted to a national human rights 
protection conference of members in Fukui city in October, the federation will 
push for reform of Japan's criminal penalty system, including the annulment of 
the death sentence.

Such conferences are held to decide on how the federation responds to important 
themes and issues.

Although the draft touches upon the importance of providing support to crime 
victims, it also states, "Even if a horrible crime has been committed, people 
can change if they receive the appropriate treatment."

The federation's draft states that the criminal penalty system should not only 
serve as a retribution against crime, but it should also seek to recover the 
humanity of the criminals and facilitate their return to society.

Such measures would help to prevent further crimes and lead to greater safety 
in society, according to the document.

The draft also states that carrying out a death sentence based on a wrongful 
conviction can never be rectified.

In the 1980s, defendants in four cases who were sentenced to death were given 
new trials and found innocent because of wrongful convictions.

In 2014, Iwao Hakamada was freed after more than 3 decades on death row after a 
district court granted him a retrial.

The document goes on to explain that 140 nations have abolished the death 
sentence or suspended the administration of such penalties.

The federation calls on the Japanese government to introduce life sentences 
without the possibility of parole and to abolish the death sentence by 2020, 
when Japan will host a U.N. conference related to criminal justice.

"There is a huge impact in having Japan's largest human rights protection body 
come out in favor of eliminating the death sentence," said Kana Sasakura, 
professor of law at Konan University who is knowledgeable about capital 
punishment. "I hope this will stimulate debate."

Concern for the feelings of bereaved family members of crime victims has been 
one reason for a cautious approach to ending capital punishment.

In its national conference on human rights protection in 2011, the federation 
did not go as far as proposing the abolition of the death sentence, but it 
agreed on a statement urging debate among all members of society on whether 
Japan should continue with capital punishment.

(source: The Asahi Shimbun)






BANGLADESH:

Execution of Mir Quasem Ali will not deliver justice


Reacting to the execution on Saturday of Mir Quasem Ali - a key financier of 
Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami party, who was found guilty by the country's 
International Crimes Tribunal in a flawed trial - Amnesty International said:

"The execution of Mir Quasem Ali, following a trial whose fairness was 
questioned by the UN, will not deliver justice that the people of Bangladesh 
deserve for crimes committed during the War of Independence. The death penalty 
is a cruel and irreversible punishment that most of the world's countries have 
now rid themselves of," said Champa Patel, Amnesty International's South Asia 
Director.

(source: Amnesty International)






EGYPT:

Cairo court sentences 4 to death in Tanta cell case----Death sentences in Egypt 
sparked widespread controversy among rights groups


Cairo Criminal Court sentenced on Sunday four defendants to death, six to 10 
years strict imprisonment, and 2 to 15 years strict imprisonment in what is 
known as the Tanta cell case.

The defendants were facing charges of establishing an illegal group that aims 
to misrepresent the authorities, and assault the personal freedoms of citizens.

Death sentences in Egypt over the past three years have drawn widespread 
controversy.

The local independent movement, Against Death Sentences, called on civil 
society organisations and political parties to call for the suspension of death 
sentences for the next 5 years, in an official statement on Sunday.

The movement suggested this suspension should allow public discussion on the 
different aspects of death sentences.

"A death sentence is an irreversible verdict that strips away the lives of 
defendants even if it is proven later that they were not guilty," the statement 
read.

According to the movement, this topic was not publicly discussed in Egypt 
before. The statement also stated that some countries had already abolished 
death sentences, like Algeria and Morocco.

Multiple local rights groups jointly organised a session on Saturday on the 2nd 
anniversary of prominent lawyer Ahmed Seif's death.

The groups, including Hesham Mubarak Center, El Nadeem Center for 
Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, the Arab Network for Human Rights and 
Information (ANHRI), and the Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression 
(AFTE), criticised the death sentence.

Nasser Amin, member of the National Council for Human Rights, said during the 
session that there are about 105 crimes in Egypt's legislations that are 
subject to the death penalty, which he described as a "legislative disaster."

Amin also cited international treaties that stipulate preserving the right to 
life.

Meanwhile, Gamal Eid, director of ANHRI, also described death sentences in 
Egypt as a tool for political revenge, noting that countries around the world 
are increasing their efforts to abolish it.

The session also brought together families of people who were sentenced to 
death to share their testimonies.

Since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and the security chase of 
Muslim Brotherhood members, the number of death sentences in political cases 
increased. They included Brotherhood leaders, such as Morsi himself and former 
supreme guide Mohamed Badie.

In many cases, death penalties are given as the strictest sentence against 
defendants in absentia, who have the right to call for a re-trial upon showing 
up in court. Usually, the Cassation Court does not uphold the death penalty.

A few cases sparked controversy among human rights advocates. In May 2015, 6 
convicts in the Arab Sharkas cell case were executed by the Egyptian 
authorities.

They were charged with, according to the military prosecution, killing a 
military officer in Cairo in March 2014, and murdering another 6 soldiers in 
the same month.

They also faced the charge of killing 2 high ranking officers during clashes 
with riot police. The defendants were denied appeals on their verdict.

Earlier in 2013, Mahmoud Ramadan, who was sentenced to death on charges of 
throwing a child off a rooftop in Alexandria, was executed on 7 March.

(source: Daily News Egypt)






PHILIPPINES:

PDEA thinks death penalty acts as a strong deterrent against drug offenders


The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) firmly believes that death 
penalty will be a strong deterrent against all drug-related offenders in the 
Philippines.

"Manufacturers, smugglers, pushers and all the more coddlers and protectors of 
illegal drugs in the country, both foreign and domestic, who were proven guilty 
in court, deserve nothing more than capital punishment," said PDEA Director 
General Isidro S. Lapena.

"Harsher penalties must be dealt for all drug traffickers to send a strong 
signal to them not to turn our country into a business hub for drugs. Our 
judicial system must toughen up because foreign-led organized drug syndicates 
tend to capitalize on our laws which still have loose ends," Lapena said, 
adding that foreigners convicted of criminal acts may sometimes lead to 
deportation after serving time behind bars.

On the part of convicted local drug offenders, investigations have revealed 
that a number of detained drug lords are remotely running their trafficking 
operations even within the confines of the prison. "These high-profile inmates 
can still make contacts outside and operate freely while in incarceration," 
Lapena added.

"Evil given for evil done-I believe that the re-imposition of the death penalty 
is a form of retribution. You have to pay. It is what is given in return for 
past good or evil that you have done. We are not promoting a culture of 
violence here. However, it is morally justified in levying a death sentence to 
people who seek to destroy the lives of our people- the Filipino youth in 
general. This is our obligation for the sake of our future generations," the 
PDEA chief said.

(source: pia.gov.ph)