[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 18



BANGLADESH:

Thakurgaon court awards death penalty to man for murdering father


A man in Thakurgaon has been given death sentence after he was found guilty of 
murdering his father.

In its verdict on Wednesday, the court of additional sessions judge convicted 
30-year-old Mozaharul Islam in the 2010 killing.

The court also slapped a Tk 10,000 fine on the convict.

Quoting court documents, Prosecutor Abdul Hamid said IdrisAli died on Dec 13, 
2010 after his son hit him with a spade following an argument.

Ali's eldest son Ansarul started a police case accusing Mozaharul, after which 
police arrested him.

The next day Mozaharul confessed to the killing in a court.

(source: bdnews.24.com)






NORTHERN IRELAND:

Last man to be given death penalty clears court hurdle


The last man to be handed the death penalty in Northern Ireland has cleared the 
1st stage in a High Court battle over disclosure of inquest documents. Liam 
Holden, 62, was sentenced to hang for the killing of a British solider in west 
Belfast in 1972.

The death penalty was then commuted to life in prison before a 40-year fight to 
clear his name resulted in his murder conviction being quashed in 2012. Mr 
Holden, who always maintained the military subjected him to water torture and 
death threats to extract a confession for the shooting of Private Frank Bell, 
is now claiming compensation for a miscarriage of justice.

He has also issued civil proceedings against the Ministry of Defence and the 
Chief Constable.The widowed father-of-two's legal representatives were seeking 
access to all material held on the Private Bell inquest as part of their case.

But before agreeing to disclose the file the Public Records Office of Northern 
Ireland (PRONI) wanted a binding undertaking that the documents would be kept 
in the strictest confidence.

Mr Holden's lawyers mounted a bid to judicially review the decision, arguing 
that the undertaking requirement is unreasonable and unlawful. The information 
requested includes details on the trajectory of the shooting of the 18-year-old 
soldier while on foot patrol in Springfield Avenue.

Ballistic evidence and the post-mortem report are also being sought.

Although documentation was later disclosed to Mr Holden's solicitor following 
an application under the Freedom of Information Act, the court heard 3 
categories of redactions remained in the revised file.

Counsel for PRONI argued that the challenge had been rendered academic by last 
year's introduction of the Court Files Privileged Access Rules (Northern 
Ireland) giving Mr Holden all available information. Despite the 2016 rules, Mr 
Justice Treacy still decided to grant leave to seek a judicial review.

He said it involves a similar undertaking requirement and held that others may 
be affected.

The judge added: "The Freedom of Information Act continues in force, and it is 
in the public interest to see that redactions made to information supplied 
under that Act are properly made."

The case will now proceed to a full hearing later this year.

Mr Holden, who was not in court, had his murder conviction quashed by the Court 
of Appeal following a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The 
body set up to examine potential miscarriages of justice deemed the conviction 
unsafe after an investigative journalist supplied evidence to back claims that 
waterboarding torture techniques were used.

A confidential dossier was also found to contain relevant material about 
military rules in 1972 for arresting and questioning a suspect, and a statement 
of evidence from a soldier.

Appeal judges held that the non-disclosure impacted on the safety of Mr 
Holden's conviction and could have supported an application to exclude 
confession evidence.

(source: newsletter.co.uk)






PAKISTAN:

No more love for hangings----A death penalty is a brutal form of punishment 
which has no space in modern age, and it should be opposed worldwide


Anomalies in the criminal justice system of Pakistan are very common. The 
example of this could be the recent Supreme Court judgements where it had 
acquitted 2 convicts who had already been executed a couple of months agoor had 
ordered the release of persons who had spent long years on death row. These 
incidences have become routine matter now. How can one argue for keeping the 
death penalty in such a criminal justice system? To answer this question, we 
have to see that recently Pakistan chose to vote against the resolution of the 
general assembly of the United Nations that called for placing a universal 
moratorium on the death penalty across the world. The resolution had the 
backing of 117 member states; 41 opted for voting against it, and 31 abstained. 
>From the recent voting trend, it appears that South Asian countries preferred 
to reject the universal moratorium resolution while some of the countries of 
this region such like Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal chose to vote in favour of 
the resolution. Those who abstained included: Bahrain, Cameroon, Comoros, 
Djibouti, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, 
Uganda and the UAE. Further more, it is noticeable that 57 member states of 
(OIC) voted in favour of the resolution, while 13 abstained and 18 voted 
against, meaning thereby Pakistan was among the minority of 18 members of OIC 
that voted against the resolution. From the factuality it appears that majority 
member states of OIC opted for favouring universal ban on the death penalty, 
while a small minority preferred to vote against the universal ban on the death 
penalty which included countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, 
Maldives, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, etc.

It can be encapsulated from the voting trend that the majority of OIC 
member-countries couldn't find any faith-based bar or Islamic ground for 
accepting are solution that called for a universal ban on the death penalty. It 
is Pakistan, or I must take a name of Bangladesh as well where religious 
scholars find arguments in support of the hangings. The leading nations of the 
OIC - one of the biggest forums of Muslim nations - categorically accepted the 
general assembly resolution, while minority rejected it. It is also noteworthy 
that the Law Commission of India in August 2015vide its Report 
No.262recommended for abolition the death penalty for all crimes but keeping it 
for terrorism-relatedoffences and waging war. Despitethis, India opted for 
voting against the resolution that called for placing a universal moratorium on 
the capital punishment. I think India could have abstained from voting against 
the resolution instead of voting against.

Being a human rights activist and a criminal lawyer, I oppose the death penalty 
for numerous reasons and the uttermost one could be that it is irreversible 
once a convict is executed. The criminal justice system of Pakistan is so 
flawed that anything can happen. People may be held liable for a guilty of the 
capital punishment on the basis of frivolous and concocted evidence. The 
prosecution in order to prove their case beyond the reasonable doubt may drive 
the whole crime scene against a person standing trial in connivance with the 
authorities.

It is noted that Pakistan warrants the death penalty for 27 crimes and the 
number was at two at the time of independence in 1947 - even Islam warrants the 
capital punishment for only 2 crimes. The question which needs to be asked from 
the authorities of Pakistan is how it can defend the death penalty for 27 
offences? The judiciary has also expressed that it is bound to pen down the 
death penalty as a punishment, as it is a part of the criminal justice system 
in circumstances that demands lesser punishment. It is not out of place to 
mention that the judiciary is bound by the provisions and law made by the 
Parliament to follow it in letter and spirit. As long as the death penalty is 
retained in the criminal justice system of Pakistan, the courts of Pakistan 
will have to follow it, and it cannot award lesser punishment.

In the wake of the Peshawar massacre in 2014,National Action Plan was launched 
to encounter terrorism and terror-related activities across Pakistan in lieu of 
which the civilian leadership in consultation with the military leadership, 
restored the brutal sentencing which was banned in Pakistan by the predecessor 
government of PPP in 2008. Since 2014, more than 400 convicts had been sent to 
gallows by the courts but even then, it has noted that the terror related 
activities and heinous offences in Pakistan had not decreased. This shows that 
the death penalty is not deterrence to crime at all. An adamant sentiment is to 
be builtin Pakistan against the abolition of the death penalty. The death 
penalty is not a social saviour or a way to make a country crime free. The 
leading nations of Europe, except Belarus, abolished the death penalty years 
ago, and there the ratio of crime is very low. Even some of American states 
have started thinking about abolishing the death penalty.

Pakistan must consider placing amoratoriumon death penalty so that juveniles or 
mentally ill persons are saved from this harsh punishment. Even all those 8,000 
inmates who are languishing in violent and notorious jails of Pakistan must be 
given a chance to settle in as civil citizens instead of sending to them to 
gallows. A death penalty is a brutal form of punishment which has no space in 
the modernage, and it should be opposed worldwide.

(source: Opinion, Sarmad Ali; Daily Times)






IRAN----executions

20 Executions in 1 Day; 57 Executions Since the Start of 2017 ---- Maryam 
Rajavi urges referral of the clerical regime's dossier of crimes to the UN 
Security Council


The religious fascism ruling Iran has kicked off the New Year with merciless 
executions en mass.

The execution of at least 57 prisoners, mostly youths, has been registered in 
Iran since the beginning of 2017. 20 of the victims were hanged on Saturday, 
January 14, 2017, in Gohardasht Prison, the Central Prison of Karaj, the Lakan 
Prison of Rasht, and the Dizelabad Prison of Kermanshah.

4 prisoners were executed in Vakilabad Prison of Mashhad on January 17, 2017. 
Another prisoner was hanged in public in the city of Miandoab, and at least 2 
prisoners were executed in Dastgerd Prison of Isfahan on January 16, 2017.

On January 15, 2 young men, 20 and 23, were hanged in the Prison of Kerman. 
Arman Bahrasmani who was executed in Kerman was only 16 at the time of arrest. 
2 other prisoners were executed on the same day in the Central Prison of 
Qazvin.

3 prisoners in Qazvin and another prisoner in Hamedan were executed on January 
12, 2017, and a 21-year-old prisoner was hanged on January 11, 2017, in the 
Prison of Sari.

The Iranian Resistance's President-elect Maryam Rajavi called on the UN 
Security Council and other relevant international authorities to condemn the 
wave of executions by the mullahs' inhuman regime and refer the dossier of the 
regime's flagrant and systematic violations of human rights to the UNSC.

Mrs. Rajavi added, "The crimes of the religious fascist regime ruling Iran 
including the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 as well as the 
torture of political prisoners and the mass executions carried out on a daily 
basis in Iran, are examples of crimes against humanity and those responsible 
for these crimes must be brought to justice. The International Community's 
silence and inaction on such crimes against humanity have led to the 
continuation of executions and killings of prisoners over the past 2 decades."

Mrs. Rajavi called on the courageous youths of Iran to stage protests against 
the regime's repressive measures and mass executions, and support the families 
of execution victims. She said, "With such medieval savageries, the clerical 
regime seeks to prevent the revolt of the people who are fed up with poverty 
and unemployment, and the repressive regime's oppression and corruption. These 
crimes, however, will only fuel social fury and discontent and further 
accelerate the regime's movement towards its ultimate downfall.

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

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

Juvenile Offender Executed in Kerman Prison, Another At Risk in Kermanshah


The Iranian judiciary has executed a juvenile offender who was just 16 years 
old at the time of the crime for which he received a capital sentence.

Arman Bahr Asemani was hanged the morning of Monday, January 16 in Kerman 
Prison along with an older co-defendant, Shams Allah R., despite the protest of 
his lawyer and civil society activists. Born February 10, 1997, Asemani was a 
legal minor at the time of the 2012 homicide for which he and Allah R. were 
arrested and charged.

The Iranian press has focused its coverage of the case on Allah R., the legal 
adult, with scarce reference to Asemani, reports HRANA.

The capital sentences were carried out as another juvenile offender (whose name 
has not been made public) at imminent risk of execution for his alleged role in 
a 2012 stabbing homicide has been brought to global attention by United Nations 
officials. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran Asma Jahangir, Special 
Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Agnes Callamard, 
and Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child Benyam Dawit Mezmur 
sharply criticized the judiciary's conduct in a joint statement Monday: "The 
Iranian authorities must immediately halt the execution of this juvenile and 
annul the death sentence against [the juvenile defendant] in compliance with 
international standards for the imposition of this form of punishment."

Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation has documented at least 122 executions of 
juvenile offenders in Iran since the beginning of 2000. Our juvenile offender 
project provides an in-depth look at the Iranian judiciary's continued policy 
of executing such offenders, a practice which clearly violates the country's 
international legal commitments.

(source: iranrights.org)

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

Political Prisoners on Death Row in Iran Fear Reinstatement of Long-Term 
Visitations Ban


Political prisoners Zanyar Moradi and Loghman Moradi, both ethnic Kurds on 
death row in Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj, have been denied visitations since 
mid-December 2016 without reason and worry a previous ban that lasted for years 
has been reinstated.

"I don't have a good feeling about this visitation ban," Loghman Moradi told 
the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in an interview from prison on January 
12, 2017. "I don't know what's about to happen."

"After our arrest in 2009 and until 2013, we were banned from having any 
visits," he added. "In 2013, they allowed us visitations like all the other 
prisoners. Now the ban has been reinstated. I don't know what their intention 
is. Do they want to put pressure on us?

"A month ago, Mr. Haji-Moradi, who recently replaced Mr. Hajilou as deputy 
prosecutor of Tehran, decided he doesn't want to let us, meaning me and 
Loghman, to have visitations. I wrote letters to both Mr. Hajilou and Mr. 
Haji-Moradi, but neither has written back. I'm not optimistic. It can't be good 
if they have isolated us after 3 years of regular visitations," said Loghman 
Moradi.

Zanyar Moradi and Loghman Moradi (no relation) were sentenced to death in 2009 
for "involvement in the murder of the Marivan Friday imam's (prayer leader's) 
son" and "moharebeh (enmity with God)." The men denied the charges in court and 
said they only confessed to the murder because agents of the Intelligence 
Ministry had tortured them.

Members of ethnic or religious minorities in Iran who engage in criticism of 
the government are singled out by the Judiciary for particularly harsh 
treatment, and there is a well-documented history of the Judiciary 
disproportionately meting out capital punishment to minority activists.

Zanyar Moradi, 27, and Loghman Moradi, 29, were held in 2009 for 9 months in 
the Intelligence Ministry's detention center in Sanandaj, the capital of 
Kurdistan Province, and 6 months in Sanandaj Central Prison before being 
transferred to Ward 209 in Evin Prison in Tehran.

On December 22, 2010 they were sentenced to death by Judge Abolqassem Salavati 
of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court and transferred to Rajaee Shahr Prison.

"We've been waiting for a new trial for more than 2 years now, but they won't 
try us because we have lots of witnesses and evidence that point to our 
acquittal, but that would be hard to accept for the Intelligence Ministry," 
Zanyar Moradi told the Campaign in December 2016.

"We have been held in prison for 8 years for what?" he added. "A civil servant 
went to the Friday prayer leader of Marivan and told him that we did not kill 
his son. There are other reasons why they won't release us and the main one is 
that the Intelligence Ministry doesn't want to be embarrassed."

"I demand a fair trial, a trial without bias where I can defend myself against 
any evidence the Intelligence Ministry wants to present," he said. "That's all 
I ask. I know myself and I insist on my innocence."

"We Were Tortured"

Speaking about the aftermath of their arrest on August 2, 2009 in Marivan, 
Kurdistan Province, Zanyar Moradi said: "We were tortured a lot. I still have 
the marks on my body. I was even operated on in 2012 and 2013 for my injuries. 
I have slipped discs. I was only 19. I didn't know anything about national 
security and I certainly didn't have the tolerance for torture. If they had 
told me to take responsibility for every assassination in Iran since 1970, I 
would have. I just wanted that terrible torture to end. They had my home 
address and threatened my mother and little sister. We had no choice. We said 
we'd accept everything they wanted. They wrote the scenario they were looking 
for and we signed it."

"Judge Salavati treated us very badly and told us that we should write down 
anything he says and ask for pardons," he added. "But we didn't trust the 
system anymore. We wrote the whole truth. But the judge rejected everything we 
wrote as nonsense."

The Supreme Court upheld the Revolutionary Court's ruling on July 9, 2011, but 
the men's fate has also been tied to parallel cases that have yet to convene in 
the Criminal Court.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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

Ordinary citizens in Iran rally to save death-row prisoners


Mahyaddin spent the final hours of 2016 in solitude, deciding whether to spare 
the life of a man on death row for killing his only son, Pouya. 5 years ago, 
Pouya was knifed to death by 17-year-old Hemin Oraminejad in a brawl over petty 
issues in the western Iranian city of Sanandaj. The Supreme Court rejected 
Oraminejad's appeal earlier last year and upheld the ruling, which was death by 
hanging with the consent of the victim's family under the retribution law known 
as "qisas." Oraminejad, now 22, was repentant and had asked for forgiveness 
from the family of his victim.

As the execution scheduled for Jan. 1 drew near, Simin Chaichi was in a state 
of anxiety. The 60-year-old poet was leading a campaign to save the killer's 
life by persuading the victim's family to forgive Oraminejad, which under 
Iranian law meant that he would avoid the gruesome execution chamber. It was 1 
of many such grass-roots campaigns in Iran that have sprung up in recent years 
to prevent executions. In 2015, at least 262 people on death row for murder 
were spared thanks to campaigns organized by citizens, according to the 
Norway-based Iran Human Rights.

"I think violence fuels more violence," Chaichi told Al-Monitor via telephone 
from Sanandaj. "That is why I believe these kind of grass-roots campaigns are 
important," he added.

Despite the efforts of campaigners across Iran to halt executions of convicted 
murderers under the retribution law, the Islamic Republic continues to use the 
death penalty extensively. On Dec. 19, 2016, it joined 39 other countries in 
voting against a UN General Assembly resolution on a moratorium on the use of 
the death penalty.

"Let's be clear, we are not asking for those who committed murder to be freed," 
Chaichi said, adding, "Once a family exercises its right to forgive, then it is 
up to the government to apply the law and keep a murderer behind bars."

In the city of Sanandaj alone, campaigners numbering over 2,000 managed to 
convince seven families to opt for forgiveness over the noose last year, 
according to Chaichi - a testimony to the power and influence of these 
grass-roots activists. Last August, a mother whose son was killed spared the 
murderer at the last minute and removed the noose from his neck. "We were under 
tremendous pressure, and scores of people were coming to our house asking for 
[our] forgiveness," her husband, Aba Ahmadi - the victim's father - told 
Al-Monitor via telephone. "I think the campaign was effective in convincing us, 
and we don't regret our decision to forgive our son's killer."

Energized by this victory, Chaichi and hundreds of other concerned citizens of 
Sanandaj set about trying to persuade Pouya's family to forgive their son's 
killer. They focused on Mahyaddin, who is in his late 40s and is a dervish and 
follower of the Kasnazan Sufi order, a branch of the mystical dimension of 
Islam.

The campaigners, led by 5 individuals, stayed in regular contact with 
Mahyaddin's local spiritual leader, the "pir" (elder).

Pouya's mother - and his grandfather, who was also a dervish from the same Sufi 
order - were against the execution, but the ultimate decision rested with the 
father, who was still reeling from the loss of his only son. A group of 
whirling dervishes even visited from the main base of the Kasnazan Sufi order 
in Iraq's Kurdistan region to try to persuade the grieving father to forgive 
his son's murderer. The pressure on Mahyaddin was intense.

Under pressure from the campaigners, Mahyaddin spent the last day of 2016 in a 
place of worship for Sufis, known as a Takia, as around 2,000 people gathered 
in a mosque nearby. He refused to see any of the campaigners and was adamant 
that the execution would go ahead.

"My heart was sinking with anxiety; we were all holding our breath waiting for 
Mahyaddin's decision," said Chaichi, still tearful in recalling that night. 
What made Chaichi and others fearful was that Mahyaddin had shown no sign that 
he would forgive the prisoner. But they stayed hopeful, as they knew miracles 
could happen seconds before executions.

As Mahyaddin arrived in the central prison of Sanandaj before dawn on Jan. 1, 
accompanied by his spiritual leader, the guards prepared Oraminejad for 
execution. Terrified and repentant, Oraminejad, in a blue prison uniform, made 
his last plea, but to no avail.

Even the prison guards and the judge overseeing the execution pleaded with 
Mahyaddin to pardon the young man. But Mahyaddin was resolute. In the execution 
room, he placed the noose around Oraminejad's neck as the convict said his last 
prayer.

At that moment, the pir, who spoke to Al-Monitor but refused to be quoted, 
reminded Mahyaddin of the graveness of the act he was about to perform. It was 
only then that Mahyaddin paused and quietly removed the noose. According to 
Chaichi, when the family of the murderer offered to sell their house in order 
to pay the blood money, which was close to $100,000, Mahyaddin simply 
responded, "I don't want any money. I did not forgive him for money."

The following day, around 2,000 people, many carrying red roses, went to the 
main cemetery in Sanandaj where Pouya is buried, paying tribute to the young 
man who had lost his life in a senseless incident. "Had you had Hemin 
[Oraminejad] executed, you would have been sitting at home on your own a bitter 
man," Chaichi said she whispered in Mahyaddin's ear as he stood by his son's 
grave. She told him, "Look at the smiles you have put on these people's faces. 
They are celebrating your son's life."

(source: al-monitor.com)