[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 8



INDONESIA:

3 Taiwanese get death for smuggling 1 ton of crystal meth



3 Taiwanese get death for smuggling 1 ton of crystal meth Taiwanese defendants 
sit in a hearing in South Jakarta District Court on April 26 for alleged drug 
smuggling. 3 of them have been found guilty and sentenced to death.

A panel of judges at the South Jakarta District court handed down the death 
penalty on Thursday to 3 Taiwanese standing trial for their roles in smuggling 
crystal methamphetamine in July last year.

The 3 were identified as Liao Guan Yu, Chen Wei Cyuan and Hsu Yung Li.

"The defendants have been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," presiding 
judge Efendi Mukhtar read out the verdict.

While there was no mitigating factor to hand down a lighter sentence, the judge 
said the crime had contravened government efforts to fight illegal drugs and 
could harm the country's future generations.

According to a statement in the previous hearing, the 3 men were waiting in 
Anyer Beach in the province of Banten for the 5 other suspects to offload the 
amphetamines from a Taiwanese yacht. The police said the drugs weighed 1 metric 
ton and were worth Rp 2 trillion (US$143.9 million).

The 3 remained silent when a translator delivered the judge's verdict.

The court will issue another verdict to the other 5 in a separate hearing on 
Thursday.

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

Antigraft activist Abraham Samad demands death sentence for corruption convicts



Former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Abraham Samad called 
for the implementation of the death penalty for corruption convicts during a 
speech in which he declared his intention to run as a presidential candidate, 
in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Monday.

"Corruptors must be given a severe punishment [...] and their assets must be 
confiscated by the state. Implement the death penalty for corruptors, if 
necessary. This can provide legal certainty," said Abraham.

He further said corruption had damaged the country and led to poverty, causing 
the state to lose its authority.

"How can we get out of this slump? The only answer is by combating corruption. 
Whatever the way is, no matter how scary the risk is, we must fight against 
corruption," he said.

The Eastern Indonesian People's Coalition declared its support for Abraham 
Samad to run as a presidential candidate at Losari Beach in Makassar on Monday 
afternoon.

The coalition said Indonesia needed a tough and brave leader with integrity and 
a strong commitment to combating corruption. Abraham was a figure with all of 
those leadership qualities, it stated.

During his speech, Abraham also said politics must bring the nation to 
prosperity. Politics that only cared about money must be banished since it 
would only fool and mislead the people, he said.

In 2015, Abraham and former KPK commissioner Bambang Widjajanto, along with KPK 
investigator Novel Baswedan, were arrested by the police over suspected law 
violations. Human rights organizations called the police???s move an effort to 
criminalize the KPK leaders.

(source for both: The Jakarta Post)








BANGLADESH:

2 get death for killing A-level student in Dhaka



The High Court today handed down death penalty to 2 people and life-term jail 
to 2 others for the killing Ashikur Rahman Khan Apu, an A-level student, in 
Dhaka's Wari area in 2008.

The HC bench of Justice Md Ruhul Quddus and Justice Bhishma Dev Chakrabortty 
came up with the verdict after hearing the death reference of the case and the 
appeals filed by the convicted accused challenging the trial verdict on them.

Deputy Attorney General Moniruzzaman Rubel said the HC upheld the death penalty 
of Monjurul Abedin Russell and Nawshad Hossain Mollah alias Robin as they were 
directly involved in the killing and the allegations brought against them were 
proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Apu was shot dead and his 2 brothers Arifur Rahman Khan Setu and Atikur Rahman 
Khan Bappy were injured in a gun attack in front of their house at Wari 
locality on May 23, 2008.

The lower court rewarded life imprisonment to Mahbub and Biplob and it will 
remain in force, DAG Moniruzzaman said. (source: The Daily Star)








INDIA:

Death penalty for culprits in rape cases not a solution



If and when crime takes place the conviction rate should go up and the current 
pendency of cases in the courts should be brought down.

An ordinance passed on April 21, 2018 allowing courts to pronounce death 
penalty for those convicted of raping children below the age of 12 years raises 
many questions about protection of children against sexual assault and of 
whether if what law prescribes is the actual reality of justice given to the 
assaulted.

Will this demand for extreme punishment be able to safeguard the female sex 
from sexual atrocities, especially when such crimes are under reported and the 
victim fearful of the case going public? In addition is the unfortunate reality 
of the offenders being known to the victims in majority of the cases and at 
times is a close relative or a friend. Further is the question that even if the 
law is made stringent, will it be able to cover the loopholes which generally 
come in the way of legal recourse in seeking justice in our country. Many 
experts against death penalty also argue that such an ordinance will encourage 
rapists to become murderers as leaving no trace behind would be better than 
allowing the victim to live. Above all we are faced with the grim reality of 
whether the kind of measures we adopt to protect the victims and provide 
justice can become part of the much needed support system for the victim to get 
back to normal life.

Evidence from many parts of the world indicate that increasing the severity of 
punishment for rape perpetrators is not a solution in the interest of the 
victim nor the society as a whole. Convictions take a long time and the process 
of seeking justice not only has adverse impact on the victim but generally is 
devoid of any support to the rape victim nor lessens the trauma experienced as 
part of the incident and thereafter in getting the perpetrator taken to task. 
The process of filing a complaint, dealing with police investigations, medical 
examinations and appearing in courts many times, going through the legal 
interrogations are a daunting experience for the victim which needs to be 
tackled more than having a provision for death penalty for the perpetrators. 
Rape survivors express the need for sensitivity, compassion, being treated with 
dignity and respect along with quick punishment for the perpetrator which may 
be brings repentance.

The abysmally low conviction rate of sexual assaulters in our country should 
make us reflect on solutions going beyond the sanctioning of the death sentence 
on the perpetrator of the rape. Should we not think of ways of overhauling the 
legal enforcement system including the police forces and the judicial machinery 
for prompt, sensitive responses to give justice to rape victims and bring down 
their trauma and humiliating experience so that the rapist is put to shame 
rather than the victim being made to feel guilty. Isn't it more appropriate to 
focus on mechanisms to protect the victims and more significantly to provide 
safer environment for girls and women and bring down incidences of rape.

We urgently need to reform the criminal justice system and focus more on root 
causes of crime than increasing the severity of punishments and create other 
kinds of problems for our girls and women. Till the ordinance for death penalty 
is ratified by the parliament in the next few weeks let us not divert our 
attention from finding solutions to better investigations, improving the 
functioning of the criminal justice system, increasing provisions for crime 
prevention, safeguarding the rights of the victims of rape and critically 
reviewing the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences 
(POCSO) Act, which as many jurists, social activists and rights based 
individuals point out is stringent, proportionate and sufficient.

Should the amendments to POCSO Act be in the form of introducing the death 
penalty to the convicts of child rapes or should we think of other effective 
ways to address sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children. The focus 
should be on making the criminal justice system efficient with more manpower 
conversant and receptive to the needs of sexual violence victims and bringing 
confidence in the citizens especially among the vulnerable population for safer 
and abuse free lives. If and when crime takes place the conviction rate should 
go up and the current pendency of cases in the courts should be brought down.

While fast track courts do help matters but till the number of cases is not 
brought down and trails resulting in convictions not given adequate attention, 
the fight against the menace of sexual violence particularly against 
unsuspecting and innocent children will not end. The solutions sought need more 
of societal responses than death penalty as punishment. Above all it needs 
political will to deal with the concern holistically, integrally with multi 
dimensional approach by keeping attention foremost on protection of children in 
all respects, and not endangering their lives by adding to another aspect of 
crime besides rape. The complexity of the concern with death penalty as 
punishment should not be overlooked.

(source: Kapur Shankardass; The writer is associate professor, department of 
sociology, Maitreyi College, University of Delhi, with specialisation in 
health, gerontology and development studies----The Asian Age)








IRAN:

Kurdish prisoner on death row was unarmed as claimed by Iran



The family and lawyer of Ramin Hossein Panahi, a Kurdish man on death row in 
Iran, reject the court verdict that he was armed during his arrest by security 
forces lasy year and that he had never shot anyone.

An Iranian court recently defended its decision to uphold the death sentence 
against Ramin Hossein Panahi, whose case has drawn international attention, 
explaining that the Kurdish man was an armed threat. But the man's lawyer has 
countered with a different version of events and further accusations that 
authorities tortured Panahi.

Panahi was arrested on June 22, 2017 in Sanandaj, charged with being a member 
of the Kurdish opposition party Komala. The court stated that Panahi had 
received military training and was carrying a gun and a grenade at the time of 
his arrest.

Panahi's brother, Rafiq, confirmed to Rudaw in a recent interview that his 
brother is a Komala Peshmerga but that he was in Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan) 
to visit family when he was shot and injured by Iranian security forces.

According to Panahi's lawyer, Hossein Ahmadi Niyaz, his client was unarmed and 
in the back seat of the vehicle that was "attacked" by Iran's Revolutionary 
Guards.

"Ramin neither held a gun nor shot anybody. He was not involved in the armed 
dispute," Niyaz said in a recent detailed statement published by the Kurdistan 
Human Rights Network (KHRN).

Panahi was wounded and lost consciousness in the attack that killed 3 of his 
relatives.

Whether the family members he was travelling with were armed or returned fire 
in the incident is not clear, but Niyaz insists "my client was never armed."

The lawyer also notes that no Revolutionary Guards were injured, as per an 
official statement from the force, "which shows that the IRGC agents had been 
prepared for an armed conflict."

Panahi was taken to hospital in Sanandaj where he underwent surgery and then 
was "immediately" transferred to solitary confinement rather than remaining in 
hospital to recover, his lawyer stated.

He was also interrogated, despite being in poor health and in the absence of 
the presence of a court-appointed lawyer.

Niyaz, retained by Panahi to represent him, attended his first court hearing in 
Sanandaj on January 15, 2018. In the private hearing, Panahi said he had been 
tortured.

The lawyer said the court ignored a request to deal with this allegation before 
proceeding.

Panahi was sentenced to death by hanging on January 25, 2018.

Niyaz appealed. A court decided on the appeal without holding a hearing, 
upholding the death sentence a month after the appeal was filed.

According to Niyaz, Panahi was not armed at the time of his wounding and 
arrest, nor was he involved in an assassination plan. His punishment, 
therefore, "is not in accordance with the principle of proportionality."

"The penalty for membership in the Komala Party and promoting its values is not 
death penalty per the Regulations of Islamic Republic of Iran. The penalty for 
such charge is only imprisonment and not execution," the lawyer stated.

Komala is a Kurdish opposition group accused by Tehran of carrying out terror 
attacks. The party resumed its armed struggle against Iran in 2015.

The court has insisted that Panahi received a fair trial and had confessed to 
the crime.

The case drew international condemnation - from UN officials and Amnesty 
International.

Panahi's scheduled execution was temporarily stayed last week.

His brother Rafiq told Rudaw that another brother was able to visit Panahi this 
weekend. While Panahi and his family are happy about his reprieve, the suicide 
of another family member has hit them hard.

Nishtiman, a niece of Panahi, killed herself under the stress of her uncle's 
imminent execution and the continued detention of her husband.

The whole family is "a revolutionary family and we have martyrs" who have given 
their lives for the Kurdish cause, said Rafiq. "Therefore, the state executes 
Ramin in a bid to retaliate and scare Rojhelat youth."

He believes the temporary stay of execution was because of the international 
pressure and because authorities feared widespread protests if Panahi was 
killed so soon after his niece's suicide.

"My mother and extended family have told Iran that Ramin is a red line for us. 
They will face a widespread protest if they execute him," Rafiq said.

The lawyer Niyaz agrees: "My young client is completely innocent and the people 
of Kurdistan and Iran know that killing an innocent person is like killing the 
whole nation. The government should practice tolerance and patience instead of 
attempting to eliminate problems by killing innocent people."

Panahi's mother has endured a lot over the years - another of her sons, Anwar, 
was sentenced to death 6 years ago, but his sentence was converted to prison 
time and he was released after 8 years. Another son was killed and 1 more is in 
jail, serving years. But Rafiq described his mother's morale as "still high."

(source: rudaw.net)








BAHRAIN:

Ministry plea to reconsider capital punishment ruling



Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al 
Khalifa, has requested the Court of Cassation to reconsider death sentence 
ruling in the murder of a police officer and attempted murder of other officers 
in a terrorist bombing.

Justice Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa on Monday said that the 
decision to apply for a reconsideration of the verdict was taken following a 
proposal presented by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to the ministry.

"A decision was made to apply to the President of the Court of Cassation to 
reconsider the death sentences. The decision is subject to the privileges 
granted under the Court of Cassation Law that allow the Minister of Justice to 
request a reconsideration of sentences under certain circumstances," the 
minister said.

Shaikh Khalid pointed out that such an application is made under the authority 
vested in the Minister of Justice to ensure that justice is served after 
exhausting all legal avenues to the maximum extent possible in order to uncover 
the truth, subject to Court of Cassation Law.

He said that the decision was within the privileges granted under the Court of 
Cassation Law that allow the Minister of Justice to request the reconsideration 
of sentences under certain circumstances.

"The Court of Cassation has absolute discretion, based on the investigations 
carried out by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and the new documents filed 
in respect of evidence in the case against the convicts," he said.

The minister underscored Bahrain's deep commitment to safeguarding the legal 
rights guaranteed by its legislature to ensure that justice is served to the 
fullest extent of the law.

The request to reconsider the ruling was prompted by the findings of the 
Ministry of Interior Ombudsman as he reviewed the case.

The Ministry of Interior Ombudsman had reviewed the case and notified the SIU 
of their findings.

The SIU had in turn investigated the case and proposed a reconsideration of the 
sentences against the two convicts in light of uncovering new documents which 
were not presented to the Court that issued the sentences.

In March, Advocate General Ali Al Buainain said that he received a note from 
the SIU suggesting a retrial of the 2 defendants.

The SIU said that it was in possession of medical reports by Ministry of 
Interior doctors that were not available during the initial investigation of 
the defendants and throughout the stages of the trial.

The SIU said that, given the new documents and for the sake of full justice, it 
asked the justice minister to ask the Court of Cassation to reconsider its 
verdict.

(source: DT News Network/Gulf News)