[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 23



CANADA:

Feb. 3, 1953: Last hanging at Hamilton's Barton Jail ---- Harry Lee, last man 
to hang in Hamilton, was convicted of murdering Mary Rosenblatt.


The last person sentenced to the death penalty in Hamilton and hanged at the 
Barton Jail was a man named Harry Lee, a synagogue caretaker who was convicted 
of the rifle-slaying of Mary Rosenblatt, a married Jewish mother of two. 
Rosenblatt's body and Lee were found by police in a car on a side road near the 
village of Sheffield. Lee was wounded by the same weapon that killed 
Rosenblatt. He claimed the pair had been kidnapped, driven to a secluded area 
and shot. But the jury didn't buy it.

SIGNIFICANCE

Lee, who was deeply religious, held out he was innocent right to the end - 
saying, "No ... I did not (kill her). They're hanging the wrong man." He 
refused a Crown offer to plead guilty to manslaughter, which would not have 
carried the death penalty.

There was a letter-writing campaign and petition to try to save him. But Lee 
was hanged on Feb. 3, 1953. Many still contend Lee - whose mother was black and 
father was of Spanish background - was victimized for racial reasons.

"It was racism. There was no doubt about it, as far as I am concerned," Allison 
Gowling told The Spectator in 2013. Her father knew Lee in the small village of 
Canfield in Haldimand. Lee grew up in the community before moving to Hamilton 
in the late 1930s.

"The general consensus was, I remember my mother talking about it, is that he 
did not do it. He was set up. They were a target because she was a Jewish girl 
running around with a black man."

Hanged in Hamilton

A total of 8 people were hanged at Hamilton's Barton Street jail for murder 
from 1876 to 1953. All were men.

March 14, 1876

Michael McConnell, 38, was hanged for the murder of Nelson Mills. Mills was a 
tenant of McConnell, and a dispute escalated to a fit of rage on the part of 
McConnell, who stabbed Mills to death.

June 23, 1899

Benjamin Parrott, 30, was hanged for the murder of his 60-year-old mother, 
Bridget. During a drunken argument, Parrott split his mother's head open with 
an axe.

Dec. 7, 1900

George Arthur Pearson, 20, was hanged for murdering Annie Griffin. He claimed 
he meant only to threaten her with a revolver when the gun went off and the 
victim was struck in the head. After this, and realizing the "enormity" of what 
had taken place, he said he panicked and shot her a 2nd time.

Dec. 27, 1907

Jacob Sunfield was hanged for shooting and killing Andrew Radzik. Sunfield 
claimed he was innocent. His last words were, "I have been warned not to make a 
statement. Goodbye, gentlemen."

Dec. 19, 1919

Paul Kowalski was hanged for murdering Ignace (Knot) Trembluk during a robbery 
of $700. 2 weeks before his hanging, Kowalski murdered 2 of his jailers. He was 
not charged in those cases because it was argued he was being hanged and no 
further punishment could be inflicted on him.

Jan. 12, 1927

John Barty, 50, was hanged for the hammer killing of Nancy Cook of Welland. 
It's said that "he took his last hours as calmly as if he were settling down 
before the fireplace for an evening's smoke."

July 8, 1930

Mike Smith, 46, was hanged for the brutal murder of John Iwanetz, who was shot 
and pushed down some stairs at his Winona home during a robbery. F4 faced 
charges in the robbery, but Smith was the one to go to gallows. He claimed he 
was not the robber who fired the shot.

Feb. 3, 1953

Harry Lee, 37, was hanged for murdering his girlfriend, Mary Rosenblatt. Lee 
claimed innocence but the Crown held that Rosenblatt died during a 
murder-suicide attempt that Lee managed to live through after shooting himself.

Capital punishment in Canada

Between 1867 and 1962, 702 executions were carried out; 691 of them were men.

The last Canadian execution took place on Dec. 11, 1962, at the Don Jail in 
Toronto. Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas hanged for separate murders.

Crimes that have been punishable by death at various times included murder, 
rape and treason. Only 2 people have been executed for treason, 1 of whom was 
Louis Riel in November 1885 for leading an uprising.

After years of commuting death sentences, the House of Commons abolished 
capital punishment on July 14, 1976, in a free vote. 1st-degree murder became 
punishable by life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for 25 years.

(source: The Hamilton Spectator)






SINGAPORE:

Singapore tells world leaders to take balanced view as it defends death 
penalty----Death penalty has deterred major drug syndicates from setting up in 
Singapore.


Singapore has come out strongly backing capital punishment for drug-related 
offences, telling world leaders to respect the alternative views held by other 
countries. The city-state held itself up as a poster-boy for the effectiveness 
of the capital punishment deterrent, saying it has helped keep the nation 
drug-free and safe.

Speaking at a meeting taking place on the sidelines of the United Nations 
General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, 21 September, Singapore's Foreign 
Minister Vivian Balakrishnan urged world leaders to take a more balanced 
assessment of the death penalty.

"This debate is a heated, painful and emotional one but I just ask members ... 
to respectfully reflect on the views expressed, the diversity of the 
circumstances and the impact on the ground. And to give each state its 
sovereign right to choose the most appropriate judicial approach so that we can 
adopt a more balanced perspective on this complex issue," he said.

The Straits Times noted that speakers at the panel had placards stating 
#EndExecutions.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his opening speech at the meeting, had 
called on all countries to stop meting out capital punishment. "The world 
reached a major turning point in 2007 when the general assembly called for a 
worldwide moratorium. Since then the movement against capital punishment has 
been growing," he said.

Not directly referring to the spate of vigilante executions of drug offenders 
in the Philippines following newly-elected President Rodrigo Duterte's fight 
against illegal drugs, Ban said: "I am gravely concerned that some countries 
are suddenly resuming executions. Others are considering reintroducing the 
death penalty. We have to keep up the fight for the right to life."

Both the Philippines and Turkey are considering imposing the death penalty on 
certain crimes.

While not disagreeing that all human life is sacred, Balakrishnan said: "The 
immediate question that confronts all of us, whether within or without this 
room, is whether the death penalty, within the proper context, and in strictly 
limited circumstances, plays any role in protecting the sanctity of life."

Death penalty key in keeping Singapore safe

The minister outlined Singapore's approach to the use of the death penalty and 
why it continues to remain on its statute books. He said that the death penalty 
is applied "strictly in the context of an unwavering commitment to the rule of 
law ... resting on a strong and independent judiciary, there must be fair, 
transparent laws and due process."

He argued that the way Singapore has implemented its judicial system "has been 
pivotal in our efforts to foster a peaceful, safe, harmonious and inclusive 
society."

Balakrishnan added that capital punishment meted out to drugs-related offences 
and murder "has been a key element in keeping Singapore drug free and keeping 
Singapore safe. Singapore is probably one of the few countries in the world 
which has successfully fought this drug problem."

He continued: "We do not have slums, we do not have ghettos, we do not have 
no-go zones for the police. The death penalty has deterred major drug 
syndicates from establishing themselves in Singapore, and successfully kept the 
drug situation under control."

"For what it is worth, I can stand here and tell you that Singapore is one of 
the safest countries in the world. Our residents, including women and children, 
can go anywhere they please, freely and without fear, at any time of the day or 
night."

While there was strong support from Singaporeans for the death penalty, he 
said: "From time to time we will continue to review our legislation and make 
changes, according to our circumstances."

(source: ibtimes.co.uk)






PAKISTAN:

COAS confirms death penalty of 7 terrorists


Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif on Thursday confirmed death sentences 
awarded to another 7 hardcore terrorists who were involved in committing 
heinous offences, including the killing of innocent civilians, police officials 
and armed forces personnel.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the convicts - tried 
by military courts - were also involved in sectarian killings, while firearms 
and explosives were recovered from their possession at the time of their 
arrests.

According to the military spokesman, 3 of the convicts - Muhammad Qasim Tori 
s/o Muhammad Farooq, Abid Ali s/o Muhammad Ramzan and Muhammad Danish s/o Noor 
Bux - were active members of different proscribed organisations. They were 
involved in attacking personnel of law enforcement agencies, which resulted in 
the death of Inspector Ali Asghar Dahri and Head Constable Raja Tariq.

Similarly, convicts Syed Jehangir Haider s/o Syed Karam Haider and Zeeshan s/o 
Mureed Abbas were involved in sectarian killings and attacking personnel of law 
enforcement agencies. The spokesman said that both the convicts had confessed 
to their crimes and hence were awarded death sentences.

Moreover, convicts Mutabar Khan s/o Parvanat Khan and Rehmanuddin s/o Moamber 
were active members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). They were involved 
in attacking personnel of the armed forces and law enforcement agencies, and 
the killing of a member of a peace committee.

(source: Daily Times)






PHILIPPINES:

Australian child molester Peter Scully faces death penalty in Philippines


WARNING: Graphic content

He is a 53-year-old Australian accused of the torture and murder of children 
for his own sexual gratification that authorities are considering reintroducing 
the death penalty for.

Peter Gerard Scully, a father of 2 from Melbourne, is in a Philippine prison 
charged with some of the vilest acts known to humanity.

During court hearings and while being filmed in prison, the man believed to 
have perpetrated some of the worst crimes against children laughed, joked and 
acted nonchalant about his alleged crimes.

His former lawyer Alejandra Jose Pallugna has revealed Scully treats jail like 
a holiday and has demanded a mobile phone and fresh beef, pork and chicken.

But that may change now the Philippines is considering putting him before a 
firing squad.

And it is the fate of 1 victim in particular that has prompted appalled 
Filipino prosecutors to call for Scully's execution.

Shocking details can be revealed about the 5-year-old girl who Scully hung 
upside down as he raped and tortured her with 2 accomplices.

Recording on videos which he then sold to paedophiles around the world, Scully 
also sexually abused a baby, and filmed his torture and rape of young girls as 
he made them dig their own graves.

Filipino police say Scully also buried a 11-year-old under the floor of a house 
he was renting after making a film of him raping her and strangling her to 
death.

Now the Philippines may reinstate the death penalty as the only punishment 
appropriate for Scully's "heinous crimes".

Capital punishment was outlawed in 1986 at the end of the brutal Marcos 
regimen, but assisted by widespread poverty, the country has become a hub of a 
billion-dollar, global child cybersex industry.

Scully allegedly committed unspeakable acts of abuse on young girls for his own 
sexual gratification.

Scullys 2 accomplices Carmen Alvarez and Liezyl Magallo wore masks for his most 
vile exploitation film, Daisy's Destruction.

According to a Fairfax report, during a court hearing where he faced the first 
6 of 75 charges, Scully laughed and joked with his co-accused, who include 4 
men, Christian Rouche, Alexander Lao, and Marshall Ruskin and Haniel Caetano de 
Oliveira.

Chief Philippine prosecutor Jaime Umpa told Fairfax that Scully was the 
mastermind of an extreme child sex and torture video syndicate based in the 
southern cities of Surigao, Cagayan de Oro and Malaybalay.

Scully fled to the Philippines from Australia in 2011 after he was charged with 
fraud.

Scully lured children away from impoverished parents with the promise of food 
and education or used teenage girl accomplices to kidnap them.

He then drugged the children and made films of him raping and torturing them 
for an international paedophile ring.

The title page of Peter Scully's most depraved video, Daisy's Destruction on 
his Dark Web 'No Limits Fun' channel shocked police.

Operating a secret child pornography site on the Dark Web called "No Limits 
Fun", he sold the videos for up to $10,000 per view.

But of all his despicable acts, his most infamous is the film he made for the 
Dark Web is Daisy's Destruction.

It is this film which shocked even seasoned child trafficking investigators, a 
Filipino police chief calling it "the worst we have encountered in our years 
campaigning against child pornography".

It is believed the victim in the film is a girl called Barbie, who was taken 
from her family at the age of 5 by one of Scully's cohorts, Liezyl Magallo.

Margallo and another young girl Carmen Ann Alvarez are also facing charges of 
child exploitation.

Alvarez is said to have been taken in by Sully as his girlfriend after he met 
her as a 14-year-old prostitute.

In the film, with Barbie playing "Daisy", Alvarez and Margallo participate in 
the child's torture and sexual assault.

The little girl screams and cries as she is beaten, raped, tortured and defiled 
by Scully and his 2 masked accomplices.

Scully uses hot wax, a lighter, barbed wire, submersion in water and sex aids. 
Scully sold his videos to customers in Germany, the US and Brazil.

His vile crimes went largely undetected until 2 of his victims, cousins Queenie 
and Daisy, aged 9 and 12, escaped.

Offered food and shelter by Alvarez, the girls were taken in, raped and 
tortured and held captive wearing dog collars and chains for 5 days.

Alvarez, known as Mistress Scully, made them perform sexual acts upon each 
other while Scully filmed it.

On camera, they were recorded digging their own graves while being continually 
raped. Alvarez reportedly let them go out of guilt.

Assisted by the Australian Federal Police and filmed by the Nine's 60 Minutes, 
Philippine police arrested Scully in February last year.

Alvarez led them to the apartment where the 11-year-old was buried and to 
another addresses where Scully raped and tortured his child victims.

Scully has pleaded not guilty to the rape and trafficking of 2 teenage girls 
and is being held in the Cagayan de Oro City jail.

(source: news.com.au)






AUSTRALIA:

Some crimes, like those of Peter Scully, deserve nothing but the death penalty


I'm sure the invitation is in the mail. But the delay is understandable. It's 
probably been pretty busy at your end this week, waiting for your moral cloak 
of superiority to come back from the dry cleaners as you begin to summon a 
fresh sense of outrage over the decision by Philippines prosecutors to call for 
the reintroduction of the death penalty for the Australian Peter Scully.

You know about his case, of course. You must be angry. Again. Scully fled 
Melbourne a few years ago after being involved in the fleecing of more than 
$2.6 million in a property scam. Made his way to the Philippines, where he set 
himself up filming the torturing and sexual abuse of little girls, which he 
later sold on a pay-per-view basis to like-minded scum around the world.

Australian Peter Scully appears in court on Tuesday facing child sex abuse and 
human trafficking charges in the southern Philippines.

He told 60 Minutes last year he wasn't sure why he'd ended up following such a 
depraved path but he was still wrestling with the notion of regret over his 
actions. "At what point do you have remorse? I can't answer that honestly yet," 
he said. Scully is now facing more than 70 charges, including the murder of an 
11-year-old girl whose body was found, strangled, in a shallow grave beneath a 
house he was renting.

Prosecutors want the death penalty brought back for this case after the 
Philippines scrapped it in 2006, largely at the instigation of the Catholic 
Church.

This is a tough case for you, isn't it. You're opposed to capital punishment on 
all the usual grounds - that it debases us as a civilised society, that it 
lowers us to the same level as the perpetrator, that errors in law too often 
see the wrong person executed, that there is no evidence that the death penalty 
serves as a deterrent. But Scully's crimes are so horrendous that even you, 
staunch moral guardian that you are, must have paused and thought about your 
stance.

Still, your anger that anyone would dare question the sanctity of life and 
raise the spectre of execution has surely won out. That's why I'm keen to know 
if you have sent out the invitations for a candlelight vigil for Peter Scully. 
After all, you're morally obliged to hold one, aren't you?

Last year you wept and railed in Martin Place against the Indonesian 
government's decision to slay Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan over their role 
in a stupidly botched attempt to smuggle drugs.

You wrote letters of condemnation. You organised petitions on street corners 
and throughout social media. You called for all Australians to boycott travel 
plans to Bali and the rest of that nation.

And you spoke from a position of strength. Federal Parliament passed 
legislation 6 years ago preventing any state from reintroducing the death 
penalty. The people we elect won't even broach the subject. And if the 
Philippines do bring back the death penalty and execute Scully, it will be 
those same representatives in Canberra who will be obligated to lodge a formal 
protest with the Filipino government, as we do in all circumstances when an 
Australian is sentenced to death overseas. What an outstanding moral stance 
that will be.

So how about we add a question to next year's planned plebiscite on gay 
marriage asking Australians if they would support the idea of execution in 
certain circumstances where crimes are deemed so horrendous they are beyond 
comprehension. Cases like Peter Scully.

That won't happen, of course, because you know what the result would be. God 
help us. It might trigger a wave of changes that could see majority opinion 
becoming the norm in this country. And as you know, the masses have never known 
what's good for them.

The tiring argument you put forward is that sentencing people to life 
imprisonment, to be trapped by their thoughts and drown in their remorse, is a 
punishment befitting the snuffing out of an innocent human life. Do you 
honestly think Martin Bryant has suffered more than his victims and their 
families after the devastation he inflicted at Port Arthur?

Take off that moral cloak. People who believe in capital punishment in certain 
circumstances don't want to drag society back to the Middle Ages. Most don't 
even believe it is a deterrent. And they're even willing to take a risk that 
sometimes the law might get it wrong if it means real justice is served in 
certain circumstances.

Try a different moral standpoint. We should have no qualms about executing 
people like Peter Scully if found guilty because they have forfeited what it is 
to be human. Once you stop treating him as a fellow being, the rest comes 
naturally.

Most of us would like him to die as slowly and as horribly as his victims did. 
The last thing he realises in his miserable life? The knowledge that he failed 
that most basic of entry tests - a place among our species.

Go ahead and organise your candlelight vigil for Scully. You know you have to. 
Send the invitation if you must but I won't be able to make it.

Good luck drawing a crowd.

(source: Garry Linnell is co-presenter of The Breakfast Show on 2UE Talking 
Lifestyle----Sydney Morning Herald)






SUDAN:

Sudan bishop calls on UN to help Christian pastors facing death sentence


A Sudanese bishop has called on the United Nations (UN) and the U.S. government 
to help 2 Christian pastors facing the death penalty in Sudan.

In December, Rev. Abdulraheem Kodi and Rev. Kuwa Shamal Abu Zumam from the 
Church of Christ in Sudan were arrested and jailed for several offenses 
including espionage and waging war against the state. The 2 ministers are now 
facing trial and could be sentenced to death if found guilty of the charges, 
Fox News details.

"We call for their protection and immediate release and urge that the U.N., 
U.S. government - including Congress - and other world communities demand the 
freedom of these 2 men of God and other prisoners," the Rev. Andudu Adam 
Elnail, bishop of Kadugli Diocese, told Fox in an interview.

Elnail, who is now based in South Carolina after he fled from Sudan5 years ago 
due to threats from government forces, lamented the absence of religious 
freedom in Sudan. He said the 2 pastors were "unfairly targeted" when they were 
accused of sharing evidence of the government's attacks against churches in 
Khartoum and the Nuba Mountains.

Rev. Elnail said the government has a policy of keeping this information 
confidential to avoid being pressured by the international community. Now, the 
Sudanese bishop is appealing to the international community to pressure the 
government to grant people their freedom of religion.

In addition, Elnail said the hearings of the pastors keep getting postponed 
although a lot of people are attending these hearings. He also said some 
attorneys for the accused pastors were unable to attend the hearings. The 
pastors' defenders say the accusations of exposing state secrets have only been 
fabricated.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide chief executive Mervyn Thomas released a 
statement accusing the Sudanese authorities of manipulating the country's 
criminal justice system to target ethnic and religious minorities. He also 
urged the government to scrap the charges against the pastors without 
condition.

Meanwhile, a representative from the U.S. State Department said officials at 
the embassy in Khartoum are monitoring the case since the arrest of the 
pastors. The spokesperson also conveyed the department's commitment to work 
with countries in addressing issues involving religious freedom.

(source: Christian Daily)






CHINA:

Chinese Premier Defends Death Penalty ---- Canada-China extradition deal will 
not compromise values, says Trudeau


Chinese Premier Li Keqiang defended China's use of the death penalty when asked 
about an extradition treaty with Canada during a joint press conference with 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sept 22.

"If we abolish the death penalty, more innocent people will probably lose their 
lives. Many developed countries also maintain the death penalty," said Li.

Li said Chinese law provides for the humane treatment of prisoners and that 
judicial and law enforcement personnel follow those rules strictly. Human 
rights groups disagree, as do many Members of Parliament.

Conservative foreign affairs critic Peter Kent said any extradition treaty must 
include an absolute guarantee no individual sent back to China would face the 
death penalty given "the unfortunate history that China has of extrajudicial 
arrests and imprisonment, torture in prison, and execution on some of the 
flimsiest of charges."

One of Trudeau's top advisors overseeing the possible extradition treaty, 
however, told the previous government that China's so-called "economic 
fugitives" don't belong on Canadian soil, according to files obtained by The 
Canadian Press.

Then-deputy minister Daniel Jean offered that advice in a 2015 briefing note to 
the former Conservative government prior to his appointment in May as Prime 
Minister Justin Trudeau's national security adviser.

"Canada does not want to be seen as a safe haven for fugitives and it is in 
Canada's interest to have such persons removed," said the note, obtained by The 
Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

In his new role with the Liberal government, Jean was in Beijing last week for 
the start of a new "high level dialogue" between Canada and China on national 
security and the rule of law - talks that include breaking ground on an 
extradition treaty.

Word of those talks sparked opposition charges Tuesday that the Liberals were 
abandoning their human rights principles. 2 major human rights organizations, 
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, questioned Canada's pursuit of an 
extradition deal, saying it doesn't square with China's rights record, 
including its widespread use of the death penalty.

China has mounted a vigorous international campaign to hunt down alleged 
economic criminals on foreign soil it says have absconded with millions of 
dollars of assets.

In the briefing note, Jean further describes Canada's response to China's 2014 
campaign, dubbed "Operation Fox Hunt," an outgrowth of President Xi Jinping's 
anti-corruption campaign in which he "vowed to swat down both 'tigers' and 
'flies,' regardless of their level, in efforts to clean up the Communist Party 
in China."

The targets were "corrupt public officials and private citizens alleged to have 
committed economic crimes such as financial fraud against persons, businesses 
and banks." The Chinese government estimated in 2014 that 208 people had fled 
with an estimated $1.93 million.

Even if China wants to bring back legitimate economic criminals, there are 
widespread human rights concerns about the Chinese legal system, said Amnesty 
International secretary general Alex Neve.

"It's impossible to imagine how you would have an extradition treaty that would 
line up with Canada's obligations to not send people to face the death 
penalty," Neve said in an interview.

"It's very clear that China regularly seeks the return to China of individuals 
who are wanted for political reasons or religious reasons."

Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, said it is "peculiar" 
for Canada and to be pursing an extradition treaty with China, because it is 1 
of 3 countries - including the United States and Australia - that have rebuffed 
Beijing's requests in the past.

"I think China's particular interest in pushing this with Canada at the moment 
is to then be able to say to the U.S. and Australia, 'They did it, why won't 
you?'"

With or without a treaty, "the standard rules of the road are that you cannot 
forcibly return anyone to a country where they face a well-founded fear of 
persecution, or ill-treatment," she added.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Canada will address China's use of the 
death penalty during future negotiations.

On Tuesday, Trudeau told a news conference in New York that Canada would not be 
compromising its own values for the sake of diplomatic expediency.

"Extradition is certainly one of the things the Chinese have indicated they 
wanted to talk about. But as everyone knows, Canada has very high standards in 
terms of extradition treaties, in accordance with our values," he said.

(source: The Epoch Times)

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

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang defends use of death penalty as extradition talks 
continue


Chinese Premier Li Keqiang defended his country's continued reliance on the 
death penalty while visiting Ottawa on Thursday, even as he and Prime Minister 
Justin Trudeau continue to work toward a formal extradition treaty.

Li was asked about capital punishment in China by reporters on Parliament Hill, 
and responded that China is one of many nations that still use the death 
penalty to punish serious crimes.

He cited the country's enormous population as one of the reasons it has not 
been abolished, arguing that more innocent people could be hurt if the 
punishment were not so severe.

"In the society there are often crimes, and violent crimes," Li added, standing 
next to Trudeau.

"We maintain that the penalty is consistent with our national conditions and 
for years the ruling on the death penalty has been very strict."

Li said that movies and television shows may depict torture in the Chinese 
judicial system, and he cannot guarantee that this never occurs. But his 
country is moving toward a law-based society.

"Chinese law clearly provides that there must be strict compliance with 
judicial procedures and there shall be no torture," the premier said. 
"Humanitarian treatment must be applied."

The death penalty question may present a serious problem for the Trudeau 
government as the 2 countries move toward an extradition treaty. Even the 
mention of such a treaty has already prompted criticism from human rights 
groups because of concerns about China's lack of due process.

The government recently announced the possible deal after Trudeau's national 
security adviser, Daniel Jean, went to Beijing on Sept. 12 and agreed to start 
talks about an extradition treaty as part of a broader security dialogue.

On Thursday, Trudeau pointed out that Canada and China have been talking about 
extradition "for years."

"Up until now, it's been on an ad-hoc basis," he explained, adding that under 
no circumstances will Chinese citizens be sent home to be executed.

"Because we do not have capital punishment in Canada ... we will not extradite 
into situations of capital punishment," Trudeau said.

"We recognize that Canada and China have different systems of law and order ... 
it will be very important that any future agreement be based on reflecting the 
realities, the principles, the values that our citizens hold dear in each of 
our countries."

Li agreed that no deal will be signed until both sides can agree.

"We have been discussing it for many years, it must be based on the national 
conditions of both countries. The will of both sides."

(source: Global News)






INDIA:

35-yr-old man gets death sentence for killing minor


LANDMARK JUDGMENT BY SPECIAL COURT IN RAJGURUNAGAR

Calling it rarest of rare cases, this is the court's first ruling under the new 
law, POCSO Act, 2012

Claiming it to be the rarest of rare crimes, a special court in Rajgurunagar on 
Thursday awarded death sentence to a 35-year-old man for brutally sodomising 
and strangulating an 8- year-old boy near a construction site at Chakan in 
2013.

Special judge S R Jagtap while awarding the sentence to convict Khalaksinh 
Janaksingh Panchal - a resident of Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh - observed that 
such gruesome and brutal crimes against children were on the rise and any 
leniency to the offender would send a wrong message to the cultured society. 
"There is no scope to leniency since he lured the child and then abused him. 
Further, to hide the crime, he killed him. The presence of such people in the 
society can cause a huge threat and thus the convict has no right to remain 
alive," the judge said.

The judge also sentenced life imprisonment to the convict for sodomising and 
another 7 years' rigorous imprisonment for several other sections under the 
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and other relevant 
sections under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

This is the 1st case under the provisions of POCSO Act, 2012, in the district, 
in which the special court has awarded death penalty ever since the new law was 
enforced in 2012.

A contract labourer by profession, Panchal, on May 15, 2013, lured the boy and 
sodomised him and later strangulated him to death. The heinous crime occurred 
at a construction site in Kadachiwadi, Chakan. The deceased's father also 
worked at the same site.

The investigation revealed that Panchal also sexually harassed and killed an 
8-year-old girl in Narhe in Haveli taluka 2 years before this incident and that 
the case is still pending.

The police investigation further revealed that Panchal had been working at the 
site for one-and-half years and was staying at the same premises alone. In the 
evening, after completing his work, he used to call kids who stayed with their 
parents at labour camps and lure them with chocolates.

On the day of the incident, Panchal had called the kids, including the 
deceased, and gave them chocolates and stayed with them for some time. Later, 
all the other kids, except the deceased, returned home. When the victim did not 
return home till 10 pm, the parents got worried and started searching him and 
even consulted Panchal with whom the kid was last spotted. He, however, said 
that the deceased took chocolates and left for home. The child was found dead 
at the under-construction building site with blood around the mouth and without 
his clothes.

Later, Panchal's room was found locked from outside so the Chakan police 
attempted to trace him at Pune railway station. Panchal soon got arrested and 
confessed to the crime. He stated that he sodomised the kid before killing him.

Talking to Pune Mirror, assistant public prosecutor (APP) Kobal said, "We 
examined 10 witnesses, including a friend of the boy, shopkeepers, a labour 
contractor and the doctor who treated him. Looking at the brutality of the 
crime, the court has awarded death sentence to the convict which is first-ever 
in the district since the POCSO Act has been enforced." The accused was 
arrested under sections 302 (murder), 377 (unnatural sex) and relevant sections 
of the POCSO Act.

BOY'S FAMILY FAILS TO SHOW UP AT COURT:

The deceased child's parents hail from Nevasa in Ahmednagar district and have 
been working in Chakan for 15 years. However, after the incident, only the 
father of the boy stayed in Chakan, but never attended the trial except the day 
to record his statement. He was absent on the day of judgment, too. The mother 
of the child and 2 sisters left to their native place and never returned.

(source: Pune Mirror)

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

Bilkis case: No permission for re-examination of witnesses


The Bombay High Court today rejected an application filed by the lawyer of the 
convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape case seeking re-examination of some 
of the witnesses.

A division bench of justices V K Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar said it can't 
entertain such an application at a stage when trial is over and appeals are 
being heard.

Defence lawyer Harshad Ponda had sought the permission to re-examine 
prosecution witnesses K N Sinha, who led the CBI team which probed the case; 
Bilkis' nephew Saddam, who was 8-years-old at the time of the incident; and 
Budhsingh Patel, a 'writer constable' at Limkheda police station who wrote down 
the first FIR lodged by Bilkis.

Ponda also wanted to call a new witness, Mangal Singh, another 'writer 
constable' at Limkheda police station.

He wanted to re-examine the witnesses because the defence lawyers had made some 
mistakes during the trial and overlooked certain significant facts when 
cross-examining, he said.

CBI lawyer Hiten Venegaonkar opposed the application, saying it had come at a 
"belated stage".

Law does not allow calling of new witness or re-examination of a witness at a 
stage when the defence has concluded its arguments in the appeal, Venegaonkar 
said.

The Bombay High Court is hearing appeals filed by 11 convicts in the case, as 
well as the appeal filed by CBI seeking death penalty for 3 of them.

The accused were sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court here in 2008 
for the gangrape of Bilkis and murder of her family members during a 
post-Godhra riot.

On March 3, 2002, a mob attacked Bilkis' house at Randhikpur near Ahmedabad and 
killed seven members of the family. Bilkis, who was 5 months pregnant, was 
gangraped.

The trial was transferred out of Gujarat for the fear that witnesses might be 
intimidated or influenced.

(source: newindianexpress.com)






INDONESIA:

A Moratorium on the Death Penalty


President Joko Widodo should have the courage to impose a moratorium on the 
death penalty. With our legal system in chaos, there is a high probability that 
the wrong people can be victimized.

The case of Zulfiqar Ali is an example of the dangers of the death penalty. The 
Pakistani citizen was almost executed by firing squad on July 29 along with 
narcotics boss Freddy Budiman and his associates. But Zulfiqar was neither a 
courier nor a drug dealer. In 2004, he was arrested merely because he was a 
friend of Gurdip Singh and bought a Jakarta-Surabaya plane ticket. The official 
statement from Patrialis Akbar, the justice and human rights minister during 
the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, that Zulfiqar was 
innocent, counted for nothing.

Our sense of justice finds outrageous the fact that law enforcement authorities 
from both the Yudhoyono and Jokowi administrations could behave so rashly in 
the Zulfiqar case. The textile trader from Tanah Abang, Jakarta, was arrested 
three months after Gurdip was detained in August 2004 in possession of 300 
grams of heroin on a flight to Surabaya. Following torture at the hands of the 
police, Gurdip said he had obtained the heroin from Zulfiqar. It was Gurdip's 
confession that led to Zulfiqar being jailed. There was not a shred of evidence 
to back the charge.

At the beginning of the trial, because he had no legal adviser, Zulfiqar was 
unable to uncover the machinations of the case he had been dragged into. 
Eventually, the Supreme Court sentenced him to death. Even when a review of the 
case was requested, the judges closed their eyes to the facts. Gurdip's 
testimony before a notary, in which he stated the heroin had not come from 
Zulfiqar, was simply ignored.

The judges also paid no attention to the results of an investigation by a team 
set up by Minister Patrialis Akbar in September 2010, despite the unambiguous 
nature of the minister's conclusion that Zulfiqar had never in his whole life 
been involved with drugs. The case was contrived and rife with human rights 
violation.

This arbitrary verdict that nearly led to the death of Zulfiqar then came into 
the public spotlight. Indonesia's 3rd president, B.J. Habibie, wrote to 
President Jokowi, and the Pakistani government has just asked Indonesia to 
quash the verdict.

Jokowi should take the courageous step of pushing for the end of the death 
penalty. If executions are supposed to have a deterrent effect, the facts show 
that the number of criminals continues to rise. Many drug distributors have 
faced the firing squad but their numbers continue to grow. People are not 
afraid of the death penalty.

The serious problem is that the death penalty has often been imposed on the 
wrong people. Meanwhile, our legal system is in a state of chaos, with some 
court and law enforcement officials readily taking bribes. Besides Zulfiqar, 
there are a number of other similar cases. These were uncovered by the Freddy 
Budiman fact-finding team, which discovered that the government had wrongly 
passed the death penalty on the Teja case.

Teja, who knew nothing about drugs, was caught after Freddy asked him to meet a 
man called Rudi. When the case involving the possession of 1.4 million ecstasy 
pills came to light, Teja was caught up in it. Initially, he was only a 
witness, but then became a suspect, and was eventually sentenced to death.

President Jokowi must realize that there is much uncertainty related to the 
death penalty. Hence, it should not be applied. Humans have no right to play 
god, especially if the death penalty in drugs cases is only used as a political 
campaign tool for the purpose of seeking popularity.

(source: tempo.co)