[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 6



PHILIPPINES:

House seeks replacement of Revised Penal Code



The House of Representatives justice committee has batted for the measure 
overhauling the country's 85-year old Revised Penal Code, renaming penalties, 
adjusting fines, requiring joint civil and criminal proceedings, introducing 
community service, and lowering the minimum age of criminal liability to 12 
years.

In a statement, committee chair Rep. Reynaldo Umali sought the speedy passage 
of House Bill No. 6204, which seeks to replace Book 1, or the first 113 
articles of the 367-article RPC. Book 1 was trimmed to just 78 articles.

Umali was quoted in the statement as saying that legal complications and 
difficulty have arisen from the passage of special penal laws in the past eight 
decades.

"Now we can hardly keep track of the exact number of penal laws that we have 
and there is difficulty in determining which law or laws are to be used to 
prosecute a particular criminal conduct," Umali added.

Book 1 covers the "general principles on the application of this Code, the 
offenses, the persons liable and the table of penalties." The proposed 
replacement of the RPC would be named "the Philippine Code of Crimes."

The bill had been prepared for the past 3 years by the Institute of Government 
and Law Reform of the University of the Philippines Law Center, which 
constituted an 8-member Code of Crimes Committee that included Umali.

Asked if the provisions recommended by the UP Law Center committee would still 
be changed by the House justice committee, Umali said in a phone interview: "Of 
course, it can. That will depend on the committee."

Age of criminal liability

Among the likely controversial provisions of the proposed code is the lowering 
of the minimum age of criminal liability to "12 years of age or below" or 
"above 12 years of age and under 15 acting without discernment."

This changes the threshold of 15 years old (or 15 to 18 years for those acting 
without discernment) as set under Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, 
which raised the minimum age of criminal responsibility from the original age 
of 9 fixed by the RPC in 1932.

Another change is the Code's proposal to let convicts render community services 
in case of failure to pay fines - instead of the current subsidiary 
imprisonment at a rate of 1 day for every 8 pesos of unpaid fine.

This ranges from 4 to 6 months for grave crimes, 1 to 4 months for less grave 
crimes, and a maximum of 30 days for light crimes.

The RPC provision for the court to consider "the wealth or means of the 
culprit" in imposing fines, however, was deleted because it violated the equal 
protection clause.

No 'prescription of penalties'

The proposed Code would also do away with the prescription of penalties, the 
limitation within which the penalty can be imposed when the convict escapes the 
service of his sentence.

It would also require civil liabilities to be tried simultaneously and jointly 
with the criminal proceedings against a defendant. If the civil action is 
instituted first, it would have to be transferred to the court where the 
criminal case is subsequently filed.

"The filing of the criminal action shall carry with it the filing of civil 
action, and no right to reserve the filing of such civil action separately from 
the criminal action shall be allowed," the bill read.

Renamed penalties

The proposed Code of Crimes also replaced the terminologies, starting with the 
use of the word "crime" in place of "felony."

Capital punishment is referred to as "punitive penalties" with "punitive 1" 
referring to the death penalty, and "punitive 2" to imprisonment of 20 years 
and 1 day to 40 years.

The proposed afflictive penalties are "afflictive 1" (12 years and 1 day to 20 
years, or the current prision temporal), and "afflictive 2 and temporary 
disqualification" (6 years and 1 day to 12 years, or the current prision 
mayor).

The current penalty of prision correccional (6 months and 1 day to 6 years) 
would be split into 2 penalties of "corrective 1 and suspension" (3 years and 1 
day to 6 years) and "corrective 2" (6 months and 1 day to 3 years).

What are currently called light penalties will be renamed "restorative 
penalties." These include "restorative 1" (1 month and 1 day to 6 months), 
which is equivalent to arresto mayor, currently a corrective penalty.

"Restorative 2" (1 to 30 days) is equivalent to the current penalty of arresto 
menor.

The proposed code would also introduce the penalties of "community service" of 
1 day to 6 months, and "restrictive penalty" of 6 months to 2 years.

Updated outline of crimes

Umali could not say yet if Book 2 of the RPC, which lists down the crimes and 
their correspending penalties, would be passed together with Book 1 under one 
House bill.

He said the committee "hopes to complete" its work on the crimes and penalties 
that may be covered by the overhauled Code of Crimes by March next year.

The Code of Crimes Committee was also composed by Court of Appeals Associate 
Justice Mario Lopez, Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval, former Special 
Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, former Sandiganbayan Justice Rodolfo Palattao, 
former UP College of Law Dean Bartolome Carale, UP Vice-President for Legal 
Affairs Hector Danny Uy, and Reps. Umali and Ramon Rocamora.

The 22-page House bill, meanwhile, was authored by Umali, Rocamora, Speaker 
Pantaleon Alvarez, Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Farinas, and Rep. Marlyn 
Primicias-Agabas.

(source: newsinfo.inquirer.net)








PAKISTAN:

Death penalty, angry mob await Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy



A young Christian man remains behind bars in Pakistan weeks after he was 
arrested for allegedly burning pages of the Koran outside a Muslim shrine, but 
jail may be the safest place for him - at least for now.

Asif Massih, 18 was arrested Aug. 12 on blasphemy charges stemming from an 
incident in Jam Kayk Chattha village Wazirabad, a central town of the Punjab 
province.

"He is on judicial remand on the order of the judge," Alipur Chattha police 
spokesman Malik Irfan told Fox News. "People had witnessed that Massih had 
burnt the Holy Koran by pouring petrol on it outside Muslim shrine."

After Massih was arrested, an angry crowd of around 200 men gathered outside 
the police station and demanded that he be handed over, Irfan said. Police 
moved him to another police station to save him from angry mob, Irfan added.

Massih is charged under 295-B of Pakistan's penal code, the murky part of the 
Pakistan's constitution that can lead to a death sentence for anyone convicted 
of desecrating the Koran.

Blasphemy is highly sensitive issue in predominantly Muslim majority Pakistan, 
where dozens sit on death row for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad or 
mistreating the Koran. Even mere accusations are enough for huge uproar that 
can ultimately lead to mob lynching and riots.

A court is recommending that parliament review Pakistan's controversial 
blasphemy law and make changes that will prevent people from being falsely 
accused of the crime. Islamabad's highest court recently recommended parliament 
amend the law to require the same punishment - the death penalty - for those 
who falsely allege blasphemy.

"Pakistan top court's ruling for falsely using these laws is welcome initiative 
and at least it can bring some debate about reviewing these draconian laws," 
said Farzana Bari, an Islamabad-based human rights activist.

In recent months, several violent blasphemy allegations have alarmed the human 
rights groups across the country. Critics believe blasphemy allegations are 
often used to settle personal and political scores.

"The blasphemy accused persons in Pakistan are not properly investigated and 
innocents are being victimized on false accusations," said Kapil Dev, another 
Islamabad-based human rights activist.

According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, around 40 
people are on death row or serving life sentences in Pakistan for committing 
blasphemy.

"It is my hope that the new prime minister and his government will promote 
interfaith harmony and protect the rights of religious minorities," U.S. 
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said while releasing the annual US report on 
religious freedom for 2016.

Hardline mobs have killed at least 71 people over alleged blasphemy since 1990, 
according to reports.

In April, outspoken university student Mashal Khan was killed by a student mob 
after being falsely accused of blasphemy in the northern city of Mardan, which 
prompted huge calls for a change in the law. Police are currently probing more 
than 50 students and some faculty members at the school Khan attended in 
connection with his lynching following a dorm debate Islam.

(source: Fox News)








IRAN----executions

3 Prisoners Hanged



A prisoner was reportedly hanged at Ardabil Central Prison on murder charges, 
and 2 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Tabriz Central Prison on rape 
charges.

According to the human rights news agency, HRANA, the execution at Ardabil 
Central Prison was carried out on Sunday September 3. The prisoner has been 
identified as Adel Karimi, a man in his 50's. Sources close to Iran Human 
Rights have confirmed the execution of Adel Karimi.

According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, the executions at Tabriz 
Central Prison were also carried out on Sunday. The prisoners have been 
identified as Dariush Rashidi and Kazem Shiri. Sources close to Iran Human 
Rights have confirmed the execution of these 2 men and say that their death 
sentences were reversed several times due to ambiguities in their case files, 
but they were executed anyway.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and state-run media, have not 
announced these 3 executions.

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

Unidentified Prisoner Hanged in Public on Murder Charges



An unidentified prisoner was hanged at 22 Bahman Square in the city of Ilam in 
front of a crowd of people. According to the Iranian state-run media, ISNA, the 
prisoner was executed on the morning of Tuesday September 5 on murder charges.

The research of Iran Human Rights shows 34 people were hanged in public in Iran 
in 2016; and an audience of hundreds of people, including children, were 
present for most of these hangings. Human rights activists and informed membes 
of civil society have always severely criticized this issue.

(source for both: Iran Human Rights)








MALAYSIA:

Australian grandmother fronts court as she faces execution for drug trafficking 
after she was arrested at Kuala Lumpur Airport with 1.5kg of crystal meth



An Australian grandmother is facing a death sentence for trafficking drugs 
through a Malaysian airport.

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto was arrested at Kuala Lumpur Airport with 1.5kg of 
crystal meth in 2014, which she claimed was not hers.

The 54-year-old was escorted into Shah Alam court by a Malaysian policewoman as 
she arrived at her trial on Tuesday.

The mother-of-4 may yet escape a death penalty however, after the Malaysian 
government agreed to scrap mandatory capital punishment for drug trafficking.

Instead, judges could impose a term of imprisonment for anyone caught with more 
than 50 grams of ice, which is assumed to be trafficking.

Malaysia's Parliament is yet to approve the decision by the country's cabinet 
but is expected to do so, according to News Corp.

Ms Exposto's lawyer previously told reporters her chance of acquittal was 'more 
than 50 per cent' because of evidence she had no knowledge of the drugs in the 
bag.

She claimed to be in Malaysia to lodge documents for her boyfriend, a U.S. 
soldier serving in Afghanistan, to retire from the army.

The Sydney woman said she only saw clothes when she opened her suitcase, which 
was given to her at the last minute by a friend of her boyfriend as she left 
Shanghai.

The drugs were hidden in a secret compartment she claimed not to have known 
about, and were not heavy enough for her to notice.

There were fears Ms Exposto could have been ensnared by an online dating scam 
that the U.S. military warned were 'a growing epidemic'.

They involved stealing photos of soldiers and using them on dating sites to 
'lure unsuspecting citizens into providing money to them for such reasons as 
transportation costs, communications fees, marriages, processing and medical 
fees'.

Ms Exposto's Malaysian lawyer Shafee Abdullah told reporters after her arrest 
that his client was a 'responsible mother' who maintained her innocence.

He said she was so anti-drugs that if her four children ever got involved with 
drugs she would kill them herself.

Mr Abdullah also argued she must be innocent because she voluntarily put her 
back through the scanner when passengers are randomly chosen.

'She wasn't even asked.If she was a person conscious of the contents, she would 
... probably put the bag that was without the drugs,' he said.

(source: dailymail.co.uk)