[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 24



SINGAPORE:

Indonesian faces death penalty



A month after starting work for a family in Telok Kurau, an Indonesian maid 
became so homesick and filled with longing for her lover in Hong Kong, that she 
hatched a “ruthless plan” to kill her employer.

Daryati, 26, wanted to get her passport that was kept in a safe and to steal 
money from a locked drawer so that she can return home, prosecutors told the 
High Court yesterday on the first day of her murder trial.

She is facing the death penalty for stabbing and slashing Seow Kim Choo, 59, on 
June 7, 2016, leaving Seow with 98 knife wounds, most of which were on her head 
and neck.

In opening its case against Daryati, the prosecution cited her own words that 
she had written in her diary.

The translated entry read: “I must carry out this plan quickly. I have to be 
brave even though (a) life is at stake. I am ready to face all 
risks/consequences, whatever the risk, I must be ready to accept it.”

Deputy Public Prosecutor Wong Kok Weng said these chilling words were in effect 
an “ex-ante” (before the event) confession of the “brutal and cold-blooded” 
killing which she would eventually perpetrate.

He said the prosecution will rely on Daryati’s police statements, in which she 
confessed to, among other things, slitting Seow’s neck and stabbing her 
multiple times.

Seow lived in the 3-storey house with her husband, 2 adult sons, 
daughter-in-law and 2 grandchildren.

Daryati started working for the family on April 13, 2016.

Her passport was kept in a safe in the master bedroom and only Seow and her 
husband, Ong Thiam Soon, had the keys.

The DPP said Daryati devised a plan to kill Seow as early as May 12 so that she 
can retrieve her passport, steal money and return to Indonesia.

Daryati roped in the 2nd maid in the household to help, but did not say that 
the plan involved murder.

In the days before she stabbed Seow, whom she later described to police as “a 
very nice person”, Daryati hid weapons on the second floor of the 3-storey 
house, said the DPP.

On June 7, hiding a knife in her clothing, Daryati went up to the master 
bedroom with a pair of trousers she had ironed for Seow.

In the room, Daryati whipped out the knife and demanded the return of her 
passport.

When Seow shouted, Daryati dragged her into the toilet, closed the door and 
repeatedly slashed and stabbed her neck, head and face until Seow collapsed on 
the floor.

To ensure she was dead, Daryati retrieved the short knife she had hidden under 
the sink and repeatedly stabbed Seow in the neck, said the DPP. By this time, 
Ong had entered the master bedroom and used a screwdriver to open the toilet 
door.

When the door opened, Daryati attacked Ong by stabbing his neck. He managed to 
disarm her but when he went to check on Seow, Daryati retrieved the knife and 
stabbed him on the neck a 2nd time.

Ong eventually restrained Daryati and tied her hands with cable ties.

A psychiatric report said Daryati was suffering from adjustment disorder at the 
time but this did not amount to a major mental disorder that would diminish her 
responsibility for her actions.

(sources: The Straits Times/Asia News Network)








INDIA:

Convicts’ mental status and gallows



Can a convict on death row, subsequently developing mental illness of one form 
or the other, be justified to be hanged all goes against the basic tenets of 
the justice as such a state of one’s health must, as a natural corollary, save 
one from going to gallows.

In a landmark judgment, a 3 Judges Bench headed by Justice NV Ramana came in as 
a messiah for a condemned prisoner due to his suffering from such an ailment 
and was instead awarded a jail term for the remainder of his life. It therefore 
has set precedence and a legal guidance in respect of such people who were 
condemned but developed severe mental disorders post conviction as they would 
now be spared from the hangman’s noose. Such an illness would be a sufficient 
ground as mitigating factor in respect of the capital punishment. The entire 
issue raised complex and intricate legal, social and health related questions 
which connects such illness and the crime and how culpability could be 
established. The Supreme Court, therefore has clarified and explained the issue 
without any ambiguities to guide the interpreters of law over the subject. Now, 
it is again an academic issue whether even life imprisonment was justified to 
such a person as the very purpose of awarding punishment was to make the 
convict realise the consequences of the violation of the law. How could a 
mental patient realise that? That could be merely more of an academic nature 
rather than of a legal one.

(source: Daily Excelsior)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi Arabia executes 37 people, crucifying one, for terror-related crimes



Saudi Arabia has executed 37 men convicted of terror-related crimes, the 
kingdom's official news agency said Tuesday.

One of the convicts was crucified, according to an interior ministry statement 
carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

"The death penalty was implemented on a number of criminals for adopting 
extremist terrorist ideologies and forming terrorist cells to corrupt and 
disrupt security as well as spreading chaos and provoking sectarian strife," 
SPA said in a tweet.

The statement listed the names of the 37 Saudi nationals who were executed in 
various parts of the country. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest death penalty 
rates in the world.

It carried out one of its largest mass executions in January 2016 when 47 
people were put to death, including prominent Shia leader Nimr al-Nimr. The 
executed prisoners were accused of terrorism and having extremist ideology.

Since Prince Mohammed bin Salman first emerged onto the kingdom's political 
scene in 2015, he has overseen an intensified crackdown on dissent. He began 
his political career as defense minister and was elevated to Crown Prince in 
2017.

In recent years, the Crown Prince has ordered the rounding up of scores of 
activists, high-profile clerics, analysts, businessmen and princes, as well as 
women's rights defenders who were allegedly tortured and who authorities accuse 
of "suspicious contact" with foreign entities.

(source: CNN)

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

Saudi in mass execution of 37 convicted of 'terrorism'



Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed 37 of its citizens convicted of terrorism, 3 
years after another mass execution that ultimately led to a break in relations 
with Iran.

The latest executions were carried out in Riyadh, the Muslim holy cities of 
Mecca and Medina, the predominantly Sunni province of Qassim, and in the 
Eastern Province, home to the country's Shiite minority.

The men were executed "for adopting terrorist and extremist thinking and for 
forming terrorist cells to corrupt and destabilise security", said the official 
Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

It said 1 person was crucified after his execution, a punishment reserved for 
particularly serious crimes.

At least 100 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia since the start of the 
year, according to data released by SPA.

On Sunday, 4 men were killed in an attack on a security services base north of 
the capital Riyadh in an ass ault claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group.

Saudi authorities arrested 13 "terrorist" suspects the next day, but they did 
not say where the arrests took place or if they were linked to Sunday's attack.

'Sectarian strife'

The interior ministry said some of those executed Tuesday were accused of 
"inciting sectarian strife", a charge often used in Saudi Arabia against Shiite 
activists.

The Eastern Province has seen bouts of unrest since 2011 when protesters 
emboldened by the Arab Spring took to the streets demanding an end to alleged 
discrimination by the Sunni-dominated government.

Although no official figures exist, Shiites make up an estimated 10-15 % of the 
ultra-conservative kingdom's 32 million population.

In January 2016, Saudi Arabia enraged Shiite Iran with the execution of 
prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, among a group of 47 people convicted of 
"terrorism".

Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran were attacked in violent demonstrations, 
prompting Riyadh to sever relations with Tehran. Riyadh accuses Tehran of 
attempting to "destabilise" the region and of interfering in other countries' 
internal affairs.

- Concerns about fairness of trials - Rights experts have repeatedly raised 
concerns about the fairness of trials in Saudi Arabia, governed under a strict 
form of Islamic law.

Executions in the ultra-conservative kingdom are usually carried out by 
beheading. Last year, the oil-rich Gulf state carried out 149 death sentences, 
according to Amnesty International, which said only Iran was known to have 
executed more people.

People convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery and drug 
trafficking face the death penalty, which the Saudi government says serves as a 
deterrent against serious crime.

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

Iran condemns Trump silence on Saudi mass execution



Iran criticised US President Donald Trump for failing to condemn Saudi Arabia's 
mass execution

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday condemned the 
silence of US President Donald Trump's administration on Saudi Arabia's mass 
execution of 37 people convicted of terrorism.

"After a wink at the dismembering of a journalist, not a whisper from the Trump 
administration when Saudi Arabia beheads 37 men in one day -- even crucifying 
one 2 days after Easter," Zarif said on Twitter.

He was referring to the murder of prominent Saudi journalist and regime critic 
Jamal Khashoggi last year in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The 37 Saudi nationals were executed on Tuesday "for adopting terrorist and 
extremist thinking and for forming terrorist cells to corrupt and destabilise 
security", according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

It said one person was crucified after his execution, a punishment reserved for 
particularly serious crimes. Executions in the ultra-conservative oil-rich 
kingdom are usually carried out by beheading.

Rights group Amnesty International, in a statement, said most of those executed 
were Shiite men "convicted after sham trials that violated international fair 
trial standards (and) which relied on confessions extracted through torture".

The rights watchdog said 11 of those executed were convicted of spying for 
Shiite majority Iran, while at least 14 others were sentenced in connection 
with anti-government protests between 2011 and 2012 in the Eastern Province 
where most of Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority live.

At least 100 people have been executed in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia since 
the start of the year, according to data released by SPA.

In 2016 Saudi Arabia angered Iran with the execution of 47 people convicted of 
"terrorism", including prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Saudi diplomatic 
missions in Iran were attacked in violent demonstrations, prompting Riyadh to 
sever relations with Tehran.

Both countries accuse each other of attempting to "destabilise" the region and 
of interfering in their own internal affairs.

Last year, Saudi Arabia carried out 149 death sentences, making it one of the 
world's top 3 executioners along with China and Iran, according to Amnesty 
International.

(source for both: al-monitor.com)

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

Saudi Arabia: 37 put to death in shocking execution spree



The execution of 37 people convicted on “terrorism” charges marks an alarming 
escalation in Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty, said Amnesty 
International today. Among those put to death was a young man who was convicted 
of a crime that took place while he was under the age of 18.

“Today’s mass execution is a chilling demonstration of the Saudi Arabian 
authorities callous disregard for human life. It is also yet another gruesome 
indication of how the death penalty is being used as a political tool to crush 
dissent from within the country’s Shi’a minority,” said Lynn Maalouf Middle 
East Research Director at Amnesty International.

The majority of those executed were Shi’a men who were convicted after sham 
trials that violated international fair trial standards which relied on 
confessions extracted through torture.

They include 11 men who were convicted of spying for Iran and sentenced to 
death after a grossly unfair trial. At least 14 others executed were convicted 
of violent offences related to their participation in anti-government 
demonstrations in Saudi Arabia’s Shi’a majority Eastern Province between 2011 
and 2012. The 14 men were subjected to prolonged pre-trial detention and told 
the court that they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated during their 
interrogation in order to have ‘confessions’ extracted from them.

Also among those executed is Abdulkareem al-Hawaj – a young Shi’a man who was 
arrested at the age of 16 and convicted of offences related to his involvement 
in anti-government protests. Under international law, the use of the death 
penalty against people who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime is 
strictly prohibited.

Amnesty International understands that the families were not informed about the 
executions in advance and were shocked to learn of the news.

“The use of the death penalty is always appalling but it is even more shocking 
when it is applied after unfair trials or against people who were under 18 at 
the time of the crime, in flagrant violation of international law,” said Lynn 
Maalouf.

All of those executed today were Saudi Arabian nationals. So far this year, at 
least 104 people have been executed by Saudi Arabia – at least 44 of them are 
foreign nationals, the majority of whom were convicted of drug-related crimes. 
In 2018, Saudi Arabia carried out 149 executions during the whole year.

“Instead of stepping up executions at an alarming rate in the name of 
countering terrorism, Saudi Arabia’s must halt this bloody execution spree 
immediately and establish an official moratorium on executions as a 1st step 
towards abolishing the death penalty completely,” said Lynn Maalouf.

Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher, from the Shi’a minority 
and who were below the age of 18 at the time of the crime, remain on death row 
and at imminent risk of execution.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, regardless of who 
is accused, the crime, their guilt or innocence or the method of execution.

(source: Amnesty International)

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

Saudi Arabia carries out 'chilling' mass execution of 37 people for 'terrorism 
offences'----Most of those convicted were members of Saudi Arabia's Shia 
minority



Saudi Arabia executed 37 people for terror offences on Tuesday, the country’s 
interior minister said, in one of the largest mass executions in recent years.

Human Rights Watch described the punishment as "grotesque," and said the news 
represented a "day we have feared."

The country’s state news agency said the Saudi nationals were guilty of 
“adopting extremist terrorist ideologies and forming terrorist cells to corrupt 
and disrupt security as well as spread chaos and provoke sectarian strife.”

The individuals were found guilty of attacking security installations with 
explosives and killing a number of security officers, the Interior Ministry 
said. It added that the executions were carried out by beheading, and that 
authorities pinned two of the bodies to a pole as a warning to others.

The killings were quickly condemned by Human Rights Watch, which said that most 
of the convicted were members of the country’s persecuted Shia minority.

“Today's mass execution of mostly Shia citizens is a day we have feared for 
several years. The punishments are especially grotesque when they result from a 
flawed justice system that ignores torture allegations," said Adam Coogle, 
Middle East researcher at HRW.

Amnesty International called the execution "a chilling demonstration of the 
Saudi Arabian authorities callous disregard for human life."

"It is also yet another gruesome indication of how the death penalty is being 
used as a political tool to crush dissent from within the country’s Shia 
minority," said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research 
Director.

“The use of the death penalty is always appalling but it is even more shocking 
when it is applied after unfair trials or against people who were under 18 at 
the time of the crime, in flagrant violation of international law.," she added.

Shia citizens of Saudi Arabia, who make up 10-15 % of the country's population, 
have longed complained of discrimination at the hands of Saudi authorities.

In 2017, deadly clashes broke out between Saudi security forces and Shia 
militants in the country’s east following demolitions in the Shia town of 
Awamiya. At least 20 civilians were killed.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s top executioners, behind only China and 
Iran. While executions have fallen worldwide in recent years, Saudi Arabia has 
seen an increase, and looks set to break records in 2019. It carried out 149 
executions in 2018.

So far this year the Kingdom has executed 59 people, according to Death Penalty 
Worldwide. The new deaths bring the year’s tally to 96, which puts it on course 
to surpass the 157 executions it carried out in 2015 – the highest number for 
decades.

Foreign nationals often account for a high proportion of executions in Saudi 
Arabia. Among those killed in 2019 were three female foreign nationals from 
Nigeria, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Around half of those executed in 2018 
were believed to be foreign.

Tuesday's mass execution ranks among the highest in recent years. In January 
2016, Saudi Arabia carried out its largest since 1980 when it beheaded 47 
people for terrorism offences.

(source: independent.co.uk)

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

Lad, 21, beheaded in Saudi Arabia’s mass executions for taking part in 
‘anti-government’ protests when he was just 16----The only consolation for 
Abdulkareem al-Hawaj’s family was that his headless body was not publicly 
displayed on a pole as a warning to others



A YOUNG man's head was chopped off in public — along with 36 others the same 
day — 4 years after demonstrating against Saudi Arabia’s hardline regime, it’s 
claimed.

Abdulkareem al-Hawaj was locked up aged 16 before being tortured and tried in a 
“sham trial”. Yesterday he was decapitated in a bloodbath that has shocked the 
world.

A majority of executions in Saudi Arabia are carried out by public beheading

The young man was then let stew in jail for years, all the while knowing the 
grisly fate he faced. Repeated appeals failed.

As a teenage Shiite Muslim, a persecuted minority group in the Sunni dominated 
Saudi Arabia, he had been taking part in demonstration against government in 
the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

He was then arrested and accused of being a terrorist.

But Amnesty International says his trial was a farce because he made sign a 
confession after being tortured and threatened with having his family killed.

This admission was the sole basis for his conviction and he was denied a proper 
defence lawyer.

When the day finally arrived for his execution, Abdulkareem al-Hawaj was among 
36 others who had their heads chopped off in public.

The killings were carried out in Riyadh, the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and 
Medina, central Qassim province and Eastern Province, home to the country's 
Shiite minority.

'CALLOUS DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE'

Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International, said the 
mass execution was a chilling demonstration of the Saudi Arabian authorities 
callous disregard for human life.

She said: “It is also yet another gruesome indication of how the death penalty 
is being used as a political tool to crush dissent from within the country’s 
Shiite minority.”

For Abdulkareem al-Hawaj’s family, perhaps it was consolation their son’s 
decapitated head and body was not impaled and put on display as a warning to 
others.

Others were not so fortunate.

The 37 citizens killed during beheading bloodbath had all been convicted of 
terrorism offences in the hardline kingdom. It emerged one man had even been 
crucified.

Saudi lawmakers insist the men were charged with "adopting terrorist extremist 
ideology, forming terrorist cells" and harming the "peace and security of 
society".

Those executed had been involved in attacking a base killing a number of 
security officers, the Saudi Press Agency statement said.

The slaughter of mainly minority Shiites is likely to stoke further regional 
and sectarian tensions between rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Saudi dissident Ali Al-Ahmed, who runs the Gulf Institute in Washington, 
identified 34 of those executed as Shiites based on the names announced by the 
Interior Ministry.

"This is the largest mass execution of Shiites in the kingdom's history," he 
said.

SHAM TRIALS

In fact it marked the largest number of executions in a single day in Saudi 
Arabia since January 2, 2016, when the kingdom executed 47 people for 
terrorism-related crimes.

The Interior Ministry's statement said those executed had adopted extremist 
ideologies and formed terrorist cells with the aim of spreading chaos and 
provoking sectarian strife.

It said the individuals had been found guilty according to the law and ordered 
executed by the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh, which handles terrorism 
trials, and the country's high court.

Amnesty International said 11 of the men were convicted of spying for Iran and 
sentenced to death after a "grossly unfair trial."

At least 14 others executed were convicted of violent offences related to their 
participation in anti-government demonstrations in Shiite-populated areas of 
Saudi Arabia between 2011 and 2012.

The Interior Ministry said the body of one of the executed men Khaled bin Abdel 
Karim al-Tuwaijri was publicly pinned to a pole.

The statement did not say in which city of Saudi Arabia the public display took 
place.

Amnesty International reveal dramatic rise in the number of people executed 
globally since 1989

He appears to have been convicted as a Sunni militant, though the government 
did not give a detailed explanation of the charges against each individual 
executed.

The killings brings the number of people executed since the start of the year 
to around 100, according to official announcements.

Last year, the kingdom executed 149 people, most of them drug smugglers 
convicted of non-violent crimes, according to Amnesty's most recent figures. 
King Salman, pictured with PM Theresa May, makes the final decision on 
executions in Saudi Arabia.

(source: thesun.co.uk)








BANGLADESH:

War crimes: 2 Netrakona men sentenced to death----One of the convicted, Sohrab, 
was present during the verdict



The 2 accused war criminals from Netrakona have been sentenced to death for 
their crimes against humanity.

A 3-member bench of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) led by Justice Md 
Shahinur Islam passed the order on Wednesday.

The 2 convicted were charged for crimes against humanity—which include murder 
and genocide, abduction, detention and torture, looting, arson, and rape— 
during Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971.

The 2 convicted are: Sohrab Fakir, 88, and Hedayet Ullah, 80, from Kuloshri in 
Atpara upazila in Netrokona.

One of the convicted, Sohrab, was present during the verdict whereas another 
convict, Hedayet Ullah is yet to be arrested.

Chief Prosecutor Golam Arif Tipu along with Prosecutor Zead Al Malum, Mukhlesur 
Rahman Badal, Sabina Yasmin Munni, Tapos Kanti Baul, and defence lawyer Abdus 
Sukur Khan were present at the court during the proceedings.

Previously, on March 7, the tribunal kept the case to announce the verdict any 
day after hearing the depositions of both sides.

The tribunal's investigation team published the final investigation report on 
September 8, 2016. Later it was submitted to the tribunal.

There were originally 3 accused in the case. However, Enayet Ullah alias Manju, 
70, died during trial; and Hedayet Ullah remains a fugitive.

(source: Dhaka Tribune)