[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 10




PAKISTAN:

Christian teen accused of burning Koran face death sentence and mob violence



A Pakistani Christian teen who was arrested on Aug. 12 on blasphemy charges 
after being accused of burning pages of the Koran now faces a possible death 
sentence if he is convicted or mob violence at the hands of the local Muslim 
community.

Asif Massih, 18, has been accused of burning pages of the Koran outside a 
Muslim shrine in Jam Kayk Chattha village Wazirabad in Punjab province. Police 
had to transfer him to another station after an angry mob crowded around the 
one he was previously detained in and demanded that authorities hand him over, 
Fox News detailed.

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

Reports showed that at least 71 individuals have been killed in hardline mob 
attacks over blasphemy allegations since 1990. In April, a student mob killed 
university student Mashal Khanin in the city of Mardan over false accusations 
of blasphemy.

In Pakistan, blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue, and there are dozens of 
convicts who are lined up on death row over allegations of insulting the 
Prophet Muhammad or desecrating the Muslims' Holy Book. In some cases, even 
unproven accusations can stir mob lynching.

Last month, the Islamabad High Court requested parliament to make reforms to 
Pakistan's blasphemy law to prevent false accusations of the crime. In his 
order, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui suggested the death penalty for people who 
will cast false blasphemy accusations, Al Jazeera reported.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan's chairman Mehdi Hasan welcomed Justice 
Siddiqui's order. He told Al Jazeera that the blasphemy law was being abused by 
people to settle personal disputes.

Despite the positive reactions to the recommendation, legal experts see little 
hope in the revision or repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy law. Previous attempts 
to do the same were reportedly unsuccessful.

(source: christiandaily.com)








INDONESIA:

Drug trafficking, among 16 punishable by death penalty in Indonesia



His Excellency, Mr. Harry Purwanto is the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, 
Cameroon, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Gabon, Liberia, Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Niger, 
Sao Tome and Principe and ECOWAS. In this interview with Vera Samuel Anyagafu, 
he disclosed the critical state of drug abuse in Indonesia and how after the 
inauguration of the Indonesian President in 2014, he immediately declared there 
would be no clemency for drug-related cases.

This decision made drug trafficking part of 16 serious offences that are 
subject to death penalty in the country, and much more.

Excerpts:

What would you say on the issue of Indonesian government prescribing death 
sentence for drug traffickers? Drug trafficking is a very serious challenge in 
Indonesia. According to statistics in 2014, 4.5 million Indonesians were in 
need of rehabilitation from illicit drugs. This means 30-50 Indonesians are 
dying each day due to illegal drug use.

Considering the critical state of drug abuse in Indonesia, after the 
inauguration of the Indonesian President in 2014, he immediately declared that 
there will be no clemency for drug-related cases.

Drug trafficking is part of 16 serious offences that are subject to the death 
penalty in Indonesia, which also includes corruption, terrorism, treason, 
pre-meditated murder, and so on.

Considering the extreme nature of the death penalty, it is stipulated in the 
Indonesian criminal justice system that death penalty is only imposed under the 
most serious crimes, and applied as a last resort after strict and transparent 
due process of the law has been exhausted.

With regards to death sentence, Indonesia attaches great importance in ensuring 
the transparent, credible, and accountable due process of the law with maximum 
prevention of miscarriage of justice.

The execution is carried out only after the verdict has a permanent legal 
force; after all appeals, legal defenses, and other legal avenue have been 
exhausted; and after clemency has been denied.

The defendant is granted and protected in exercising their rights for a fair, 
transparent, and open legal process. In the case of foreigners, their 
respective Embassies and Consulates are given frequent access in providing 
consular assistance from the beginning, during detention, the trial, 
imprisonment, until the planned execution.

Going by the last Indonesia Trade and Investment Forum in Nigeria, would you 
say both countries maintain win-win cooperation, spotlighting some of your 
country's assisted social responsibility to Nigeria.

Although there are dynamics and fluctuation in our balance of trade, economic 
and trade relations between Indonesia and Nigeria continues to grow and become 
stronger. Over the past several months, the Indonesian Minister for Foreign 
Affairs and Indonesian Minister of Trade paid a working visit to Nigeria, 
bringing with them a strong delegation of Indonesian businesspeople.

During the last Indonesia Business Forum that was held on July in Lagos, we 
managed to seal business deals worth USD.21.1 million. There are Indonesian 
investors that are interested in doing business and invest in Nigeria.

A number of them, in refinery and mining, are in their finalization phase of 
due diligence as well as installing basic equipments.

Aside from economic and trade, Indonesia has also engaged on other fields of 
cooperation with Nigeria, including various capacity building programs for 
Nigerians. These programs include internship and training for Nigerian 
officials in agriculture, fisheries, good governance, etc.

The Indonesian government also grants Post-graduate scholarships as well as 
arts and culture scholarships for Nigerian students in some of Indonesia's most 
prestigious universities, through the Developing Countries Partnership Program 
(KNB) Scholarship and the Darmasiswa Arts and Culture Scholarship.

You may please tell us the exact visa fee Nigerians intending visiting 
Indonesia are expected to pay and how high visa fee to Nigeria is dampening the 
spirit of Indonesians intending coming to Nigeria, the reason we have less 
Indonesians living here?

The single entry visa fee to enter Nigeria from Indonesia is USD.245 for 
regular passport bearers. It is the most expensive visa fee for Indonesians 
planning to travel abroad.

Whereas a single entry visa to enter Indonesia from Nigeria is USD.50 for 
regular passports. All Indonesian visa applicants from abroad are processed 
through headquarters in Jakarta, hence Nigerian applicants are advised to 
submit their applications at least 3 weeks in advance.

We have submitted inquiries to the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to 
review Nigeria's visa policy to Indonesians. Such review would enable Nigeria 
to be one of Indonesia's frequent travelling destinations, which in turn may 
also increase investment from Indonesian business communities as well as 
exchange of Indonesian and Nigerian scholars/experts.

(source: vanguardngr.com)