[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 14




JAPAN:

Rights group slams Japan's latest executions as 'inhumane' as 2 murderers are 
hanged----The deaths bring the total number since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 
took power in 2012 to 19

Japan executed 2 convicted murderers on Thursday, the justice ministry said, 
ignoring calls from international rights groups to end capital punishment.

The hangings of Masakatsu Nishikawa and Koichi Sumida bring the total number of 
executions since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took power in 2012 to 19.

Nishikawa, 61, was convicted of killing 4 women in western Japan in 1991, while 
Sumida, 34, was sentenced to death for killing a female colleague in 2011 and 
dismembering her body.

"Both are extremely cruel cases in which victims were deprived of their 
precious lives on truly selfish motives," Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda 
said.

Calls to abolish death penalty grow louder in Japan

Japan's Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda faces tough questions on capital 
punishment after 2 murderers were hanged.

"I ordered the executions after careful consideration," he added.

Amnesty International condemned Japan's continued use of the death penalty and 
said it was a "wanton disregard for the right to life".

"The death penalty never delivers justice, it is the ultimate cruel and 
inhumane punishment," Hiroka Shoji, East Asia researcher for the group, said.

Nishikawa was hanged while seeking a retrial. Though not unprecedented, it is 
rare in Japan. Kaneda indicated it was wrong to believe that death row inmates 
could not be executed while their retrial pleas are pending.

"When a rejection is naturally expected, we cannot help avoiding carrying out 
[capital punishment]," Kaneda said, noting he was not commenting on either of 
Thursday's cases.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Kaneda made the decision 
"appropriately under the provision of the law".

The death penalty has overwhelming public support in Japan despite protests 
from European governments and rights groups.

Opponents say Japan's system is cruel because inmates can be on death row for 
many years in solitary confinement and are only told of their impending 
execution a few hours ahead of time.

Out of 124 death-row inmates, 91 are seeking a retrial, according to Jiji 
Press.

(source: South China Morning Post)





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

Germany Urges Japan to Abolish Death Penalty - Commissioner for Human Rights


Germany calls on Japan to abolish capital punishment, Federal Government 
Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal 
Foreign Office Baerbel Kofler said Thursday.

Earlier in the day, media reported that 2 criminals were executed in Japan 
despite international criticism.

"The federal government is against the death penalty ... I would like to ask 
the Japanese government to reconsider this practice and to stop further use of 
death penalty. In Japan there is an open discussion in the civil society 
regarding the matter of the abolition of the death penalty. I welcome this 
discussion, it is an important starting point for dialogue," Kofler said as 
quoted in the newsletter of the German Foreign Ministry.

Kofler stressed that Germany and Japan worked closely and trustingly on many 
issues.

(source: sputniknews.com)






SINGAPORE----execution

Singapore hangs Malaysian despite UN plea to pause death penalty


Malaysian S. Prabagaran was hanged in Singapore this morning despite calls from 
the United Nations and others to suspend his execution.

The 29-year-old who was convicted of drug trafficking was executed at Changi 
Prison at 6am, according to Kirsten Han from a non-governmental group called We 
Believe in Second Chances.

"The family is collecting his body now," she was quoted saying in a report by 
The Star Online.

Prabagaran's lawyers had also called for a halt on the execution, saying their 
client still had a case pending with the Malaysian Court of Appeal.

His lawyers had previously filed for an application with the Appellate Court in 
Putrajaya for the case to brought up to the International Court of Justice.

But the Singapore Court of Appeal rejected the application just a day after the 
UN Human Rights Office in South-east Asia urged for the execution to be put on 
hold.

Prabagaran was arrested on a drug charge in 2012 when a car he was driving at 
the Singapore immigration checkpoint was found to contain 22.24g of 
diamorphine, the pure form of heroin.

He had however claimed that the car he was driving belonged to other 
individuals and that he was not aware of the presence of the drugs in the car.

(source: themalaymailonline.com)

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

Malaysian executed for drugs conviction after unfair trial


Responding to the news of Malaysian national Prabagaran Srivijayan's execution 
in Singapore today, James Gomez, Amnesty International's Director for South 
East Asia and the Pacific said:

"This execution is a shocking violation of the human right to life. That this 
cruel punishment has been administered after a trial filled with flaws makes 
this flouting of international law all the more disturbing.

"That an appeal was pending on this case in his home country at the time of 
execution, and that there were serious concerns about the fairness of his 
trial, underlines a flagrant disregard for due process in profoundly dubious 
circumstances."

Background

Prabagaran Srivijayan was convicted of drug trafficking and given a mandatory 
death sentence in 2012 after 22.24g of diamorphine was found in the arm rest of 
a car he borrowed. He has consistently maintained his innocence.

Prabagaran Srivijayan's legal team have raised serious concerns about the 
fairness of his trial, including the authorities' failure to follow up leads 
and call on key witnesses that would corroborate his version of events.

His legal representatives also launched a case in Malaysia in March 2017 to 
urge the country to seek the intervention of the International Court of 
Justice, with an appeal on the matter still being considered at the Court of 
Appeal. International safeguards for death row prisoners clearly state that the 
death penalty must not be carried out while appeals are pending.

An application for a stay of execution was filed at the Singaporean Court of 
Appeal but dismissed on 13 July.

(source: Amnesety International)

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

Murder of wife's ex-lover: Death penalty sought----Prosecution says assault was 
'savage' and 'cruel'; High Court to deliver decision at a later date


Prosecutors yesterday urged the High Court to impose the death penalty on a 
57-year-old businessman for the savage murder of his wife's former lover.

Chia Kee Chen had been found guilty in January of forcing the victim, 
37-year-old material analyst Dexmon Chua Yizhi, into the back of a van and 
assaulting him, together with Indonesian Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko, between Dec 
28 and Dec 29, 2013.

A 2nd accomplice, Chua Leong Aik, drove the van but later fled.

"This was a planned and premeditated attack on an unsuspecting victim who had 
made a cuckold out of the accused," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Wen 
Hsien.

She argued that Chia, who found out about his wife's extramarital affair in 
November 2012, clearly bore fatal grudges against the younger man.

The victim had made police reports that Chia was making threatening phone calls 
to him and stalking him.

Ms Tan argued that the assault was "savage" and "cruel". The victim was tied up 
and thrown into the back of the van and was battered so viciously that almost 
every bone in his face below the eyes was fractured.

She noted that Chia had carried out his attack in a calm and collected manner. 
On the day of the murder, he attended a wedding lunch with his family and had a 
nap before collecting the borrowed van to calmly lay in wait for the victim to 
turn up at the carpark near his Choa Chu Kang home.

After dumping the victim's body at a military live-firing area in Lim Chu Kang 
and cleaning the van, Chia went to Malaysia for a holiday with his family.

Ms Tan also pointed to his "utter lack of remorse". It was only 10 days after 
his arrest that Chia admitted he had hit the victim with a hammer-like object.

During his trial, Chia tried to downplay his role and pinned the blame on a 
fictional character named "Ali", she pointed out.

But Chia's lawyer, Mr Anand Nalachandran, pushed for life imprisonment, arguing 
that it was unsafe to hang him as there were contradictions between the 
accounts of Febri and Chua Leong Aik.

Mr Nalachandran argued that Febri, who fled to Indonesia but had given a 
statement to local police, cannot be believed as his version was 
"self-serving". Chua Leong Aik is serving a 5-year jail term.

For instance, Febri said the trio had discussed a "murder plan" but Chua Leong 
Aik said it was just a plan to "attack" the victim to teach him a lesson.

The lawyer argued that there was only a plan to abduct the victim and there was 
no conclusive evidence that Chia had any plan to commit murder.

Justice Choo Han Teck will deliver his decision at a later date.

(source: The Straits Times)