[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 26



SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Saudi Arabia executes Ethiopian maid


Saudi authorities on Monday executed an Ethiopian housemaid convicted of 
killing the child of her employer more than 3 years ago, the Interior Ministry 
said.

The ministry noted in a statement that the execution was carried out after the 
death sentence was endorsed by the king.

Meanwhile the convict had confessed having knifed to death the 6-year-old girl 
in June 2013, allegedly in retaliation for her family's ill-treatment.

Monday's beheading brings to 119 the total number of executions so far this 
year in the conservative kingdom.

According to international rights groups, Saudi Arabia is among the top 
executioners in the world.

On Jan. 2, authorities beheaded 47 people, including a prominent Shiite cleric, 
on terrorism-related charges.

Report says Saudi Arabia has imposed death penalty for murder, armed robbery, 
banditry, rape, drug-trafficking and witchcraft.

The kingdom, which applies a strict interpretation of Islamic law, has 
repeatedly rejected calls to end the death penalty, saying the punishment 
deters would-be offenders.

The rate of crime in Saudi Arabia is often described as low by foreign 
ministries and other sources.

In many countries, there are established minimum and maximum sentences for 
different crimes or a penal code; in Saudi Arabia, that is virtually 
non-existent.

Only a handful of crimes, including murder, adultery and "consensual sexual 
relations between adults of the same sex," carry specific punishments, and in 
each of those cases, it's death, according to Death Penalty Worldwide.

(source: dailytrust.com.ng)






JORDAN:

Family of murdered writer calls for Jordanian prime minister to resign


The family of a Jordanian writer who was shot dead outside an Amman courthouse 
called on the prime minister to resign on Monday.

"We demand that all those whose actions lead to the assassination of the martyr 
be held accountable," said Majed Hattar, 51, a brother of murdered Nahed 
Hattar. He added that the family had so far refused to collect the 
56-year-old's body for burial.

Nahed Hattar, an outspoken leftist and secular writer from a Christian family, 
was shot 3 times at close range on Sunday as he arrived at the court of justice 
to face charges of offending Islam. His killer, who was arrested at the scene, 
has been identified as Riyad Ismaeel Abdullah, 49. Local media has said he 
holds extremist views.

On Monday, authorities referred Abdullah to the state security court on 
terrorism-related charges. A judicial source said he had been remanded for 15 
days and faces the death penalty.

Meanwhile, around 300 of Hattar's relatives rallied in front of the prime 
minister's office, chanting slogans against Hani Mulki who was reappointed to 
the role on Sunday following parliamentary elections.

"Out out Mulki," they chanted. "Mulki you coward, you betrayed justice."

Hattar's family said the writer was given no protection by the authorities 
despite receiving hundreds of death threats after he shared a cartoon on 
Facebook that was deemed offensive to Islam.

"We handed over 200 names [of people who had threatened the writer] to the 
governor [of Amman], including that of the assassin, and demanded protection," 
said Khaled Hattar, another of the victim's brothers.

"But he refused, saying there was 'no real threat'."

Relatives also say Hattar's death could have been prevented if Mr Mulki had not 
ordered an investigation into the writer's sharing of the cartoon, which 
resulted in multiple charges against him, including offending Islam, inciting 
sectarian strife and racism, and insulting religion.

"The prime minister should have left it to the judiciary," said Mary Hattar, 
58, one of Nahed's cousins. "He asked for protection but when he was released 
from prison he was asked to sign a document [stating] that he was responsible 
for his own safety."

Human Rights Watch agreed that the charges against Hattar made him a target for 
"vigilante reprisals".

"Nahed Hattar's senseless murder in front of an Amman courthouse comes on the 
heels of the government's senseless charges against him over a cartoon he 
posted to his Facebook page," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the New York-based 
organisation's Middle East director.

"Arbitrary prosecutions for defamation of religion stigmatise individuals and 
make them targets for vigilante reprisals."

(source: The National)






PAKISTAN:

Stop execution of death row prisoner with mental disability


Pakistan's authorities must not execute Imdad Ali, a death row prisoner with a 
history of mental illness, Amnesty International said today.

Imdad Ali was convicted of the murder of a religious teacher in 2002. In 2012, 
he was diagnosed a suffering from "paranoid schizophrenia," a condition the 
doctor who examined him described as "a chronic and disabling psychiatric 
illness."

Dr. Naeemullah Leghari, the head of psychiatry at Nishtar Hospital in the 
central Pakistani city of Multan, added that Imdad Ali's illness "impairs the 
person's rational thinking and decision-making capabilities."

The latest execution was scheduled for Tuesday, 20th September 2016, but he was 
given a stay at the last minute so the Supreme Court could consider whether his 
execution warrant should be suspended on grounds of his mental illness.

On Tuesday 27 September, the Supreme Court will hold a hearing to decide 
whether to suspend Imdad Ali's execution warrant.

Imdad Ali remains at risk of execution. If the Supreme Court rejects the 
petition to suspend the execution warrant, a new date for execution can be set 
immediately.

This is the 2nd execution warrant that has been issued in Imdad Ali's case. In 
2015, the Pakistani Supreme Court rejected his appeal, ruling that there was no 
evidence of his mental disability.

However, the Supreme Court's judgment shows that Imdad Ali's lawyer had not 
included the 2012 medical report diagnosing him with paranoid schizophrenia as 
evidence. This oversight raises fair trial concerns.

"The minority of the world's countries that still resort to the death penalty 
can only do so in line with international human rights standards. This includes 
the prohibition against executing against people with mental illness. Imdad Ali 
should not be subjected to this cruel punishment," said Champa Patel.

Background

Pakistan is the world's 3rd most prolific executioner after China and Iran. 
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, 
regardless of the crime or the method of execution. It is the ultimate, cruel, 
inhuman and degrading punishment.

Pakistan has executed more than 400 people since a moratorium on executions was 
lifted in December 2014. Some of the prisoners executed were juveniles at the 
time of the offence they were convicted for or had a mental disability.

Amnesty International is also concerned that in Pakistan many death sentences 
are handed down after trials that do not meet international fair trial 
standards and violate Article 10(A) of Pakistan's constitution, which calls for 
a fair trial and due process for the determination of a person's civil rights 
and obligations in any criminal charge.

(source: Amnesty International)