[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 25




KENYA:

HE ARGUED HIS OWN CASE----Sentenced to hang in 1998, ex-convict becomes a 
lawyer and secures freedom; He believes he was sentenced through made-up 
evidence



He went to prison a naïve villager immediately after clearing form four when he 
was sentenced to hang, but confronted his adversity and emerged free as a 
lawyer, 21 years later.

“February 13, 2019, forever remains my new birthday, the actual date I was born 
is no longer meaningful to me,” a teary-eyed Wilson Kinywa, 40, said during an 
interview at the Star’s offices in Westlands, referring to the date he was 
released from Kamiti Maximum Prison last month.

Kinywa cleared form four in his Nyahururu backyard in 1998 and came to visit 
his kins in the city.

“The excitement of clearing form 4 could not be contained in the village. Like 
many rural chaps, I came to the city, pondering how I would join college."

But one morning that year, he was caught in the cross-fires between the police 
and armed robbers in the city.

The robbers escaped.

Looking to have something to show, the police arrested Kinywa, charging him 
with robbery with violence, a capital offence for which he was convicted and 
commenced his prison time on December 17, 1998.

“The police claimed that they recovered Sh2 million from the robbers but only 
produced Sh800,000 in court,” he said.

Kinywa believes his fate was sealed using conjured evidence with his poor 
background aggravating the situation.

“I was not able to get legal representation and the judge only heard the 
narrative by the police to hear and make a determination,” the ex-convict said.

Life in prison

As expected, life in prison has no inspiring side to tell.

“Kamiti or any prison in this country is a condemnation camp. You get 
dehumanised and the worst in you is invoked,” he said, adding that punishment 
was not just physical, but also emotional and psychological.

“Many times we were stripped naked. The sight of nude men, young and old was 
just traumatising. My cubicle was adjacent to the hangman’s nooses and it had 
an opening to see the nooses. This was an imaginable ordeal,” he said is a slow 
reflective tone.

However, President Daniel Moi was the last head of state to sign an execution 
order against a Kenyan - Sergeant Joseph Ogidi - who was hanged at Kamiti 
Prison in 1987 alongside six other Airforce soldiers of the Kenya Air Force for 
their role in the 1982 failed coup.

In 2009, President Mwai Kibaki commuted Kinywa's death sentence to life 
imprisonment.

“This gave me hope; I even enrolled for CPA now that I was a form four leaver. 
I managed to do it up to section four,” Kinywa said.

With time he became courageous, standing up for fellow prisoners.

“When visitors came to Kamiti, I would be the spokesman for my colleagues,” he 
added.

It is through this that he impressed Alexander McClay, a UK judge who was 
touring the correctional facility.

“McClay decided to sponsor me to study diploma in law in a distance learning 
arrangement with the University of London, which I cleared in 2014,” he said.

The British judge, through his African Prisons project, further sponsored 
Kinywa to study a law degree at the same institution under the same 
arrangement.

“I’m actually graduating this coming October,” a delighted Kinywa told the 
Star.

Kinywa’s used his newly-acquired legal knowledge to gain freedom.

“I, with a group of 11 other prisoners lodged a petition to the High Court 
against the death sentence which eventually saw that declared unconstitutional 
in 2016,” he says.

“I was the one who prosecuted the petition, doing both oral and written 
submissions,” he said, adding that "destroyed people have nothing else to lose” 
when asked about what motivated him to take the risk.

Kinywa is now out to “lead a movement and agitation to revolutionize the 
criminal justice system in this country.”

“What we have is not a correctional or a rehabilitative system. It is hardening 
criminals to be used to commit even worse crimes because the treatment there 
invokes the beast in you,” he says.

"Many innocent people are rotting in jail yet real criminals are roaming free."

About his life after the prison, Kinywa said he has nothing to his name, except 
his life.

“It is my brother hosting me, giving me food and clothing. My friends in civil 
society have been embraced me like their child,” he said.

(source: thestar-co.ke)








JAPAN:

Japan’s death penalty hinders defense talks with Australia



Japan’s use of the death penalty has hampered negotiations with Australia on 
what would be an unprecedented agreement to tighten maritime defense 
cooperation in the face of China’s aggressive behavior.

The talks are intended to set the legal status of both armed forces when they 
visit each other’s countries to respond to natural disasters or conduct joint 
operations.

Essentially, the proposed reciprocal access agreement would ease the 
immigration process for visiting forces and allow Australian military vehicles 
and fighter jets to enter Japan for use in the Self-Defense Forces’ exercise 
areas.

The 2 countries had worked to conclude an agreement by early 2019. It would be 
Japan’s first such pact with a foreign country regarding visiting forces.

However, Japanese government sources said Tokyo wants the agreement to include 
a clause that gives Japan preferential criminal jurisdiction rights over 
off-duty Australian personnel who commit crimes while visiting Japan for drills 
and other military-related purposes.

Likewise, Australia would be given preferential criminal jurisdiction over 
off-duty SDF personnel who commit crimes in Australia, according to the 
sources.

But Canberra has expressed concerns that Australian military personnel could be 
sentenced to death under Japanese law.

All Australian states abolished capital punishment by 1985, and the last 
execution carried out in the country was in 1967.

The Australian government in June 2018 also announced its diplomatic strategy 
to lobby the international community to abolish capital punishment.

Japan and the United States are among the minority, as more than 2/3 of the 
world’s countries do not issue death sentences, according to Amnesty 
International.

The Japanese government acknowledged that it is difficult to close the gap over 
the capital punishment issue with Australia, and that Tokyo remains cautious 
about exempting Australian troops from death sentences.

A Japanese Defense Ministry official said the negotiations currently “warrant 
no optimism.”

Under the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), Japan, in principal, 
has criminal jurisdiction over off-duty U.S. military personnel who commit 
crimes in the country.

U.S. military personnel convicted of heinous crimes in Japan can be sentenced 
to death, a Foreign Ministry official said.

To the inquiry from The Asahi Shimbun, a spokesperson of Australia’s defense 
ministry declined to comment on the criminal jurisdiction issue, saying the 
matter is under negotiation.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and then Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot agreed 
in July 2014 to start negotiations for a reciprocal access agreement.

With China continuing to make moves in the East China Sea and the South China 
Sea, Abe and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in November agreed to 
work for an early conclusion of the talks.

(source: The Asahi Shimbun)








NEW ZEALAND:

Death penalty a practice of the past, and rightly so



EVERY now and then there is a call for the reintroduction of an archaic 
practice long since abandoned in this country.

In today's Letters to the Editor, Gerald Godden says the man responsible for 
the New Zealand mosque shootings, which left 50 people dead and many more 
seriously injured, "must be a prime contender to undergo a lethal injection".

"Many people feel that it should be available to be used in the right 
circumstances," he writes. "This massacre must be the right circumstances."

Mr Godden is right - many people, maybe a majority, do believe the death 
penalty should be an option for the worst of crimes.

Independent Senate candidate Steve Mav has made advocating for the death 
penalty for child rape and murder a key plank of his campaign, and, judging by 
the social media reaction, has some strong support.

Yet being popular doesn't mean being right, and there are sound reasons why if 
Mr Mav were to be elected he would likely find next to zero backing in 
parliament for the state putting people to death.

It's actually a good example of how our elected representatives are generally a 
little more aware - compared to the average voter - that the devil is in the 
detail.

In principle, most might be agreeable with the idea of executing a criminal "in 
the right circumstances".

But what happens when those circumstances become a little more blurry and 
inevitably lead to the prospect an innocent person has been placed on death 
row, or, worse, executed?

Do we truly believe our system is perfect and that mistakes would never occur?

What about those entrusted to execute the condemned? While some may claim they 
would readily volunteer, such bravado won't do them any good when they are hit 
by the cold, hard reality of having taken a life.

The bigger question though is whether we want our society to be one in which 
violence is punished with violence.

It's too simplistic to focus on an individual case and argue this man deserves 
to die.

We - and our cousins across the ditch too - were right to abandon the death 
penalty.

(source: Editorial, The Advocate)








SRI LANKA:

Sri Lanka Navy detains 9 Iranians for drug smuggling



The Sri Lanka Navy on Sunday detained 9 Iranian nationals who attempted to 
smuggle 100 kg of heroin into the island country.

The Iranians were nabbed off the country's southern coast following a joint 
raid conducted by the Special Task Force and the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB), 
reports Xinhua news agency.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects threw 50 kg of the heroin 
into the sea as the officers was approaching their trawler.

Sri Lankan investigators have launched a major crackdown on drug dealers and 
smugglers since January, with several arrests made within the past 2 months.

Last month, President Maithripala Sirisena said he would impose the death 
penalty on convicted drug traffickers.

(source: newkerala.com)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Royal court adviser fired over Khashoggi killing 'not on trial'



A Saudi royal adviser fired over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is 
not among the 11 suspects on trial at secretive hearings in Riyadh despite 
Saudi pledges to bring those responsible to justice, sources familiar with the 
matter have told Reuters news agency.

The Saudi public prosecutor indicted 11 unnamed suspects in November, including 
five who could face the death penalty on charges of “ordering and committing 
the crime”.

The CIA and some Western countries believe Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 
(CMS) ordered the killing at the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of 
Istanbul last October — a claim denied by Saudi officials.

Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide to MBS until he was sacked then sanctioned by the 
US Treasury over his suspected role, is not on trial and has not appeared at 
any of the four court sessions convened since January, according to 7 sources 
who are familiar with the proceedings but have not attended the trial.

2 regional intelligence sources told Reuters that weeks after the killing 
Qahtani oversaw Khashoggi’s murder and dismemberment by giving orders via Skype 
to a team of security and intelligence operatives.

The Saudi public prosecutor said in November that Qahtani had coordinated with 
the deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Asiri, who ordered the repatriation of 
Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who had become a vocal critic of the 
crown prince’s policies following years as a royal insider.

The prosecutor said Qahtani had met the operatives charged with Khashoggi’s 
repatriation before their journey to Istanbul. When Khashoggi resisted, the 
lead negotiator decided to kill him, according to the prosecutor.

Asiri is on trial, the 7 sources told Reuters.

Three of the sources said that Maher Mutreb, the lead negotiator, and Salah 
Mohammed al-Tubaigy, a forensic expert who specialised in autopsies, are also 
on trial and could face the death penalty.

The sources said the defendants have legal counsel and have defended themselves 
in court by claiming they did not intend to kill Khashoggi or were merely 
carrying out orders.

The public prosecutor, the government media office, Qahtani and Asiri did not 
respond to requests for comment on the status of the trial. Reuters could not 
reach Mutreb, Tobaigy or any of the defendants’ lawyers.

Influential and active

Saudi Arabia wants to move on from the global outcry sparked by Khashoggi’s 
killing, which tarnished the crown prince’s reputation, prompted some investors 
to pull out, and intensified criticism of the country’s human rights record.

A credible investigation and trial are among Western demands to restore Saudi 
Arabia’s standing after the killing.

But Riyadh has refused to cooperate with a United Nations inquiry, rejecting it 
as interference in its internal affairs.

It is unclear what evidence, if any, has been presented in court. Khashoggi’s 
remains have not been discovered, and Riyadh says it has not received evidence 
it requested from Ankara, which says it has recordings related to the killing 
in which Qahtani features prominently.

A senior Turkish official said Ankara had shared all the necessary information 
with Saudi Arabia but that the cooperation had not been reciprocated. Turkey 
wants Riyadh to answer questions including the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body 
and which Saudis are standing trial in Riyadh.

3 of the sources said a representative for the Khashoggi family attended at 
least 1 session to ask for an update on the public prosecutor’s investigation 
into Qahtani and for him to be brought before the court.

Qahtani has continued to wield influence in the crown prince’s inner circle and 
remains active on behalf of the royal court, Western, Arab and Saudi sources 
with links to the royal court told Reuters in January.

A Saudi official denied those allegations when asked and said that Qahtani 
remained under investigation and has been banned from travel.

Access to the trial has been limited to diplomats from the United States, 
Britain, France, Russia, China and Turkey who are summoned on short notice and 
barred from bringing interpreters.

(source: Mail & Guardian)