[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----CHINA, PHILIP., IRAN/S. ARAB.

Sun Apr 28 11:27:07 CDT 2019

April 28

CHINA:

Of life and death: Xiao Yang, former head of China’s Supreme People’s Court, 
dies at 80

Legal scholars and lawyers have been mourning the death of Xiao Yang, the 
former president of China’s Supreme People’s Court who is best remembered for 
his reforms on capital punishment and efforts to increase transparency within 
the judiciary.

The country’s top judge for a decade until 2008, Xiao died on April 19 at the 
age of 80 after a period of illness. A photograph shared on social media of him 
laughing at the 2008 National People’s Congress in Beijing – China’s 
rubber-stamp parliament and an event not normally associated with joviality – 
has provided a backdrop for people to pay their last respects.

“[Xiao] was fairly open-minded and well recognised by people inside and outside 
the government,” said Xu Xin, a law professor at the Beijing Institute of 
Technology, who represents people involved in politically sensitive legal 
cases.

“His efforts to reform the death penalty system saved numerous lives and his 
push for judicial openness is still being implemented … [His work] has become 
part of the basis for building a fairer judicial system.”

Xiao initiated a series of reforms while head of the top court, the most 
significant being the restoration of its right of review cases where the 
sentence is capital punishment. He also openly slammed the decades-long 
tradition of holding trials in secret, effectively paving the way for public 
access to almost all courtrooms.

As the first formally trained judge to hold the most senior position in China’s 
judicial system, Xiao pushed to have the entry requirements for judges raised – 
as many incumbents had little or no professional education – and called for 
greater independence for the judiciary.

In another, symbolic, move in 2000 he introduced black robes as the official 
garb for all Chinese judges, replacing their former military-style outfits.

China risks ‘legitimacy of Party’s regime’ without changes

While the boldness of Xiao’s reforms is noted to this day, the fact he was able 
to make them reflects the political situation at the time, according to Jerome 
Cohen, a professor at New York University and an expert in Chinese law.

“Xiao Yang’s era allowed him more scope than in the current, Zhou Qiang, era,” 
he said, referring to the Supreme People’s Court incumbent president who worked 
under Xiao.

“In both cases, statutory, institutional and procedural reforms always have to 
be cloaked in obeisance to the [Communist] party line and, more sinisterly, 
adherence to the line in handling concrete cases,” he said.

Zhou, who has been China’s top judge since 2013, sparked huge controversy with 
his rejection of the Western model of judicial independence and constitutional 
democracy. Criticism of him peaked in 2017, when dozens of Chinese law scholars 
and lawyers called for his resignation.

Despite their protests, in its annual work report for that year, the top court 
actually boasted how it had upheld China’s national security with the jailing 
of rights activists and the lawyers who represented them.

Tian Feilong, a law professor at Beijing’s Beihang University, said that while 
most of the reforms initiated by Xiao more than a decade ago were still being 
implemented, their impact had been lessened by greater party controls on the 
judiciary.

“The things he started haven’t been put on hold, but they are under greater 
scrutiny by the political system and look less convincing … the party plays a 
bigger role in all aspects of public life now, not just the legal system,” he 
said.

(source: Yahoo News)

PHILIPPINES:

Death for drug pushers – Jinggoy

Drug pushers should be subjected to the death penalty while drug users should 
be rehabilitated, according to candidate for senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada.

“If the death penalty will be a deterrent, I am 100 % in favor of the death 
penalty, but it should only be for drug traffickers. Don’t include drug users,” 
he said at the Kapihan sa Quezon City on Saturday.

Estrada added that there was still hope for drug pushers to stay away from 
drugs and change their lives.

On the other hand, he said drug pushers could not be reformed anymore because 
they were driven by money.

“Those drug users, they can still be reformed… Some underwent rehabilitation 
and now, they have jobs,” Estrada added.

He said, “Drug Traffickers? How can you reform drug traffickers?… They are 
driven by money. For me, drug users can still change while it is impossible for 
drug pushers.”

He is part of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HnP) slate for the Senate.

The HnP is a group of candidates for senator who are in favor of President 
Rodrigo Duterte’s policies and programs.

One of President Rodrigo Duterte’s programs was the crackdown on drugs that saw 
the death of more than 5,000 alleged drug users and drug pushers.

Despite insisting that there were no extrajudicial killings in the campaign, 
Duterte said many times that anyone involved in illegal drugs should be killed.

Based on the latest update of RealNumbers PH, a total of 357,994 drug users and 
pushers were already rehabilitated through the government’s recovery and 
wellness program.

Estrada attributed to the Aquino administration the failure of Duterte to 
fulfill his promise of eliminating drugs in the country in 3 to 6 months.

“Maybe the President was not able to fulfill his promise of 3 to 6 months of 
eliminating drugs because the drug problem was not addressed properly by the 
previous administration that it became so big for the President to handle,” he 
said.

“As far as I’m concerned, we just need to help President Duterte,” Estrada 
added.

Besides drug traffickers, he said the death penalty should be brought back for 
people who commit rape, murder and other heinous crimes.

Estrada also previously expressed his wish for plunderers to be meted out 
capital punishment.

He and fellow candidates for senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce 
Enrile were charged with plunder for their alleged involvement in a P10-billion 
“pork barrel” scam.

Estrada had posted bail for plunder and 15 counts of graft.

He, however, insisted on his innocence and said they were victims of selective 
justice.

Based on a recent Pulse Asia survey, Estrada ranks 10th to 16th in the race to 
the Senate.

(source: The Manila Times)

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

4 Senate bets bat for death penalty, but for which crimes?

4 Senate bets are for the reimposition of the death penalty, each with their 
own different condition.

Senatorial candidates backed by the President Rodrigo Duterte — Rafael Alunan, 
Ronald Dela Rosa and JV Ejercito — were all for the reimposition of death 
penalty for drug trafficking.

Dela Rosa, who was police chief during the implementation of the controversial 
Oplan Tokhang in 2016, said that it was a matter of choosing who lives or who 
dies.

"We are now at the crossroads of making the right decision kung kaninong buhay 
ang dapat i-salba, yung Chinese druglord o yung libo-libong batang Pilipino na 
nasisira ang buhay dahil sa droga," Dela Rosa said.

[Translation: We are now at the crossroads of making the right decision on 
whose lives should be saved, the Chinese druglords or the thousands of Filipino 
children whose lives are destroyed by drugs.]

Ejercito said that he is for death penalty, but hinted at a limited period of 
time.

"I consider death penalty only for high level drug trafficking until 
mag-normalize ang situation (until the situation returns to normal)," the 
re-electionist senator said.

On the other hand, Alunan wants the death penalty imposed not only for drug 
traffcking but for other crimes.

"I’m in favor of reimposition of death penalty for drugs and other crimes 
against humanity — murder, corruption. Criminals operate here freely without 
any fear," the former Interior Secretary said.

But there's a caveat, the justice system also has to be reformed.

"At the same time, we have to reform our justice system," he added.

Chong, who is not endorsed by Duterte, also wants the death penalty for 
election sabotage.

"I reserve my support for death penalty only for plunder, election sabotage, 
heinous crimes committed by persons in authority, and for drug trafficking," he 
added.

Chong is a critic of the automated elections system used in the 2016 elections, 
and of Vice President leni Robredo.

Opposition candidates who took part in the debate -- Otso-Diretso bets Chel 
Diokno, Gary Alejano, Florin Hilbay, Samira Gutoc, Erin Taada, Romulo 
Macalintal and Makabayan's Neri Colmenares-- are against the reimposition of 
death penalty.

(source: CCN Philippines)

IRAN/SAUDI ARABIA:

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi slams int’l circles’ silence on Saudi mass execution

Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi deplored the 
international organizations’ silence on the mass execution of 37 political 
prisoners in Saudi Arabia.

“A number of Muslims in Saudi Arabia, including pure Shiites, have been 
mercilessly martyred by the Al Saud regime without any trial and special 
reason,” Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi said in a speech in the central city of Qom 
on Saturday.

This mass execution is only a small part of the Saudi regime's crimes against 
humanity, the cleric added.

He further decried the international organizations’ silence on the issue and 
said if one of the 37 executions had occurred in Iran, all the global circles 
would have raised a hue and cry.

Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry said it executed 37 people, mostly Shiites, in 
connection with “terrorism” crimes, a report said.

The death penalty was implemented... on a number of culprits for adopting 
extremist terrorist ideologies and forming terrorist cells to corrupt and 
disrupt security as well as spread chaos and provoke sectarian strife,” the 
official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Tuesday citing a statement issued by 
the ministry.

A media report also said on Friday that some victims of the Saudi mass 
execution made impassioned pleas to the courts that their confessions were 
false and obtained under torture in a bid to save their lives but were still 
beheaded.

Many said they were totally innocent, that their confessions had been written 
by the same people who had tortured them. Some claimed to have evidence of 
their abuse at the hands of their interrogators.

(source: AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA) )