[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 11



INDIA:

Sakshi Maharaj seeks death for Uber cabbie


"I am not from a culture that believes in conversion at sword-point"

Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Unnao Swami Sakshi Maharaj on Wednesday called 
for death penalty for the Uber cab driver who allegedly raped a 27-year-old 
woman last week.

"I have asked my government to hang the accused in this case. Only Prime 
Minister Narendra Modi can take such a courageous decision," he said.

Speaking at a 'nukkad sabha' in South Delhi's Deoli, Sakshi Maharaj also made 
references to the mass conversion that took place in Agra recently. Stating 
that he was "not from a culture that believes in conversion at sword point," he 
said, "We don't believe in the sword, we believe in love."

He said he "welcomed their ghar wapsi (homecoming)" since it must have been a 
'difficulty' that forced them to covert to another religion.

Meanwhile, at Jailerwala Bagh in North-West Delhi's Keshavpuram, BJP MP from 
Bahraich Sadhvi Savitri Phule addressed a corner meeting.

Pro-poor schemes

Ms. Phule's address which was filled with references to the pro-poor schemes 
announced by the Narendra Modi government did not however make any references 
to the poorly-lit approach road to the venue of the meeting.

The Hindu spotted several young women walking the stretch alone or older women 
defecating in the open since the only community toilet available was not 
functional.

Ms. Phule, who charged at Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal for 
"resigning from government and betraying the people", urged the local residents 
to ensure they vote for the BJP so they can reap the benefits.

Support as debt

"We are not begging for your vote. Your support will come to us in the form of 
debt which the party will repay through its actions," she said. (source: The 
Hindu)






CHINA:

China sentences state-owned firm chief to death for graft


China has sentenced the head of a state-owned company to death for corruption 
involving nearly 400 million yuan ($64.8 million), state media reported, in a 
rare instance of an official being condemned to die.

Communist Party authorities have waged a much-publicised anti-graft campaign 
since Xi Jinping ascended to the organisation's leadership 2 years ago, with 
the powerful former security czar Zhou Yongkang being the highest-ranking 
official ensnared.

But while China executes more people than the rest of the world combined, 
according to rights groups, it is very rare for corrupt officials to face the 
ultimate penalty.

A court in the southern city of Guangzhou convicted Zhang Xinhua, former 
general manager of the Baiyun Industrial and Agricultural Corporation, of 
bribery and embezzlement on Wednesday, the Xinhua news agency said, citing the 
verdict.

Zhang was found to have embezzled company assets worth more than 280 million 
yuan since 2003, it said.

He also took bribes worth around 95 million yuan in exchange for various 
favours, according to the report.

Zhang's conviction came on the same day that Liu Tienan, deputy director of the 
National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning 
agency, was sentenced to life in prison for graft.

Liu ranked far above Zhang in the country's hierarchy, but his conviction 
involved 35.58 million yuan -- less than 10 % of what Zhang was found to have 
obtained.

The last Chinese official to be executed for graft was Xu Maiyong, the former 
vice mayor of the wealthy eastern city of Hangzhou, who was put to death in 
2011 after being convicted of taking bribes reportedly worth 198 million yuan, 
embezzlement and abuse of power.

The current anti-graft campaign has netted high-level "tigers" as well as 
low-level "flies", but critics say the ruling party has failed to introduce 
systemic reforms to prevent corruption, such as public disclosure of assets.

Xinhua said that Zhang appealed Wednesday after the verdict was announced.

"The corruption of people like Zhang Xinhua caused significant losses to the 
country... and challenged the public's basic moral principles," the report 
quoted Zheng Yunzhan, a judge of the court, as saying.

"We must firmly punish with severity crimes by people who take advantage of 
their official posts, that are vile in nature and cause great harm," Zheng 
said, according to the report.

(source: Agence France-Presse)






THAILAND:

Concern over trial of Burmese men charged with murder of UK tourists ---- 
Allegations that Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, charged over killing of Hannah 
Witheridge and David Miller, may have been tortured


Rights groups have expressed alarm after it emerged that lawyers representing 
Burmese migrant workers accused of killing 2 British tourists in Thailand have 
been given just a week to present their defence case, and without any access to 
the prosecution evidence.

The new timetable for the trial of the men accused of murdering Hannah 
Witheridge and David Miller on Koh Tao in September comes as more details were 
revealed about Thai police allegedly torturing other suspects and includes 
testimony from Burmese migrant workers on Koh Tao who say they were beaten, and 
scalded with boiling water.

Police eventually arrested Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, both 21, a fortnight after the 
murders. The men were said to have initially confessed, but soon retracted 
this, claiming they too had been beaten and threatened with death by their 
interrogators.

Last week they were formally charged with beating the Britons to death with a 
garden hoe, and raping Witheridge, and face possible execution. According to 
Nakhon Chompuchat, the lawyer leading the defence case, the start of the trial 
has now been brought forward from 25 February to 26 December, with the court on 
Koh Samui, the larger island near Koh Tao, demanding the full defence case be 
lodged in the next week, by 18 December.

This must be done without the defence team being allowed to see the prosecution 
case, only a basic 6-page document outlining the charges and some details of 
the injuries suffered by Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk and Miller, 24, from 
Jersey.

The British government, which sent a Metropolitan police team to Thailand to 
look over the inquiry, does have details of the prosecution case. These have 
been shared with the victims??? families, who last week said they considered 
the case against the Burmese men strong. However, none of it has been passed to 
defence lawyers.

Maya Foa from the fair trials group Reprieve, said the group extended deep 
sympathies to the victims' families and "understand their desire to see that 
those responsible are held to account".

She added: "We also share their desire to see a fair and transparent trial 
process. At the moment, however, this does not seem to be happening. There have 
been widely reported concerns about tainting of the crime scene, confessions 
extracted by torture and the unreliability of forensic testing. The defence 
team has not seen any of the prosecution evidence - despite it having been 
shared with the metropolitan police - and they now have been given only seven 
days to submit their case.

"The British government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, yet it 
appears that their actions in this case could be contributing to death 
sentences for Burmese migrants after an extremely unfair trial. The UK should 
adhere to their policy on the death penalty and should urge the Thai 
authorities to conduct a fair and open trial that does not result in the 
executions of potentially innocent individuals."

Andy Hall, a British activist who works with Burmese migrants in Thailand and 
has been assisting the defence team, said the lack of access to the prosecution 
case made the task of compiling the defence "almost impossible".

He said: "Our team are confused about what evidence the prosecution have. We 
don't know anything but media speculation. We'll only know at the time we 
submit our own evidence. It's an impossible situation - how do you prepare when 
you don't know the case against you? That's a principle of criminal justice, 
that you need to know the case against you to defend yourself."

He added: "Also the UK government say they want a fair trial, but they're also 
not sharing any information. They've got autopsy reports and witness statements 
of Britons who came back to the UK. If it's such a strong case, why not share 
it?"

Separately, on Tuesday Hall passed to Thailand's human rights commission a 
dossier of evidence he helped compile of allegations from other Burmese men 
living on Koh Tao who say they were seriously mistreated by police during the 
investigation into the killings. Thai police deny the claims.

Among the photographic, audio and video evidence were statements from young 
Burmese men who say they were beaten by local officers during questioning, and 
others who claim they were scalded with boiling water.

Other allegations include that suspects were questioned with their heads 
covered tightly with plastic bags, hands were behind their backs or they were 
beaten and threatened verbally.

Groups including Amnesty International have expressed worries at the 
investigation and the torture allegations. Among concerns are that DNA evidence 
allegedly linking the men to the crime could have been tainted after a large 
number of people trampled over the murder scene, and previous cases where Thai 
police have attempted to wrongly pin high profile crimes on migrant workers.

Despite these concerns on Friday evening the Foreign Office released statements 
from the victims' families expressing confidence in the Thai police inquiry.

The Witheridge family said they were "confident in the work that has been 
carried out into these atrocious crimes", and criticised the media for 
widespread reports into concerns Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo might have been used as 
scapegoats.

In their statement, the Millers said: "From what we have seen, the suspects 
have a difficult case to answer. The evidence against them appears to be 
powerful and convincing. They must respond to these charges, and their 
arguments must be considered with the same scrutiny as those of the 
prosecution."

(source: The Guardian)






NIGERIA:

Human Rights Day : Nigeria : Focus on the work of the Legal Defence and 
Assistance project----The British High Commission supports action to prevent 
the use of the death penalty


The UK along with other European Union Member States is opposed to the use of 
the death penalty in all circumstances.

The British High Commission has been proud to support the Legal Defence and 
Assistance project LEDAP for the last 2 years as they support prisoners on 
death-row.

The population of prisoners on death row in Nigeria has increased by almost 5% 
annually, from 610 persons in 2005 to 1220 persons in 2013. Nearly all death 
row inmates are Nigerian and many are mentally ill or in deteriorating 
ill-heath. Since 2011, LEDAP has assisted with the legal defence of several 
prisoners facing the death sentence, most often resulting in their exoneration.

The British High Commission welcomed the release of two prisoners in Benin city 
recently by the governor of Kaduna state and hopes this will set a precedent 
for other states to uphold the moratorium on the use of the death penalty in 
Nigeria.

(source: British High Commission Abuja)



IRAN----executions

7 prisoners hanged at Mashhad Prison


7 prisoners with drug-related charges were executed by hanging in Vakil Abad 
prison in Mashhad.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), these 7 
prisoners at dawn Wednesday, 3rd December, were executed by hanging in the 
prison courtyard in Vaki Abad prison in Mashhad.

These executions were not announced by the official media in Iran.

It is to say, Mohammad Javad Larijani, secretary of Human Rights Council of 
Iran???s Judiciary, on Friday, 5th December, declared that "we are trying to 
change the rules about drug-related executions."

(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)

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

Amid Human Rights Day, 10 more executions in Iran


On Sunday, December 7, 4 prisoners are reported to have been executed in the 
Central Prison in the city of Zahedan, capital of the Sistan Baluchestan 
province in southeastern Iran.

The news of these executions have not been published by the regime.

Reports from Iran also indicate that another 7 prisoners have been hanged in 
the courtyard of Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad (the 2nd largest city of Iran in 
the north). These 7 prisoners were hanged on Wednesday, December 3.

Like the executions in Zahedan, the executions in Mashad were not officially 
announced by the clerical regime. On November 5, Mohammad Javad Larijani, 
Secretary of Human Rights Council in Mullah's Judiciary had deceptively 
announced: "We are trying to change the law pertaining to drug related death 
sentences." However, in the last 2 weeks 50 people have been executed in 
various prisons in Iran.

Iran executes more people per capita than any other country in the world.

Read more about the blatant violation of human rights in Iran here: 
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/17661-prisoners-hunger-strike-to-demand-end-to-death-penalty-in-iran

(source: NCR-Iran)

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

Woman Executed for Drug-Related Charges in Iran


At least 27 people have been executed for drug-related charges in the first 10 
days of December 2014.

A female prisoner was hanged in the prison of Qazvin (Western Iran) early this 
morning, reported the Iranian state media.

According to the state run Iranian news agency ISCA, a woman identified as "F. 
Gh." was arrested for trafficking of 2 kilograms of heroin and 6 kilograms of 
opium. The report said that "she was smuggling the drugs on behalf of others".

Drug-related charges account for the majority of the executions in the last 5 
years in Iran. Those charged with possession or trafficking of narcotic drugs 
are tried by the Revolution Courts, behind the closed doors, and they don't 
have the right to appeal.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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

Condemned prisoners sent to solitary in another prison


35 Iranian prisoners on death row in Qezel Hessar Prison were transferred on 
Sunday December 7 to solitary confinement in Rejai Shahr Prison in Karaj.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that some prisoners have 
said the transfer could be a step toward their execution.

Ward 2 prisoners in Qezel Hessar have been on a hunger strike since last week 
to protest the sudden rise in the number of executions in recent weeks. The 
prisoners were threatened by prison authorities with a further rise in 
executions if they didn't end their strike.

There are 3,000 prisoners in Ward 2 of Qezel Hessar sentenced for drug charges 
and 1,000 of them are sentenced to death.

Last fall, a hunger strike by prisoners forced the authorities to halt 
executions for about 6 months.

According to Iranian penal law, the transportation or possession of a certain 
amount of drugs carries the death penalty.

(source: Radio Zamaneh)






INDONESIA:

Russian woman arrested in Bali for drugs, faces death penalty


A young Russian woman may face the death penalty for allegedly attempting to 
smuggle crystal methamphetamine into the resort island of Bali, an Indonesian 
customs official said on Thursday.

Aleksandra Magnaeva, 26, was detained on Sunday after arriving in Bali on a 
flight from Hong Kong with 2.1kg of the drug stashed in her 2 bags.

"The maximum penalty is death," said Budi Harjanto, the Bali airport customs 
chief. He did not give an estimated street value for the drugs.

Magnaeva said during questioning that her boyfriend, with whom she had been 
living in China, had told her to pass the drugs on to someone on Bali, the 
official said.

The Russian said she had brought the drugs via land from mainland China to Hong 
Kong, and that it was her first time smuggling drugs into Bali, Harjanto said.

However she told officials that she had trafficked drugs throughout Asia, 
including to Thailand, numerous times, he added.

Customs officials detected similarities in her case and that of a New Zealand 
man caught attempting to smuggle crystal methamphetamine into Bali last week, 
but said authorities were yet to conclude whether the 2 were linked.

Indonesia enforces some of the stiffest penalties for drug trafficking in the 
world, including life imprisonment and death.

Foreigners are frequently arrested for attempting to smuggle narcotics into 
hard-partying Bali, and some have been handed the death sentence.

New Indonesian President Joko Widodo said this week that there will be no 
pardons for drug traffickers on death row, dashing hopes he might take a softer 
stance on capital punishment.

(source: therakyatpost.com)






MALAYSIA:

'Abolish mandatory death penalty'


Malaysia's mandatory death penalty is arbitrary and discriminatory and ought to 
be abolished, stated a prominent human rights lawyer.

Speaking at the Forum on Death Penalty in Malaysia organised by Hakam in 
conjunction with Human Rights Week (Dec 8-12), Abdul Rashid Ismail said that 
since the mandatory death penalty does not consider the circumstances of its 
offences, it violates the basic right to life, as enshrined in international 
human rights laws.

Citing past cases in Malaysia, Abdul Rashid, who is also Hakam's immediate 
presiding president, pointed out that most nations retaining the death penalty 
have done away with its mandatory nature, reserving it for serious and 
extraordinary crimes.

Highlighting Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights (ICCPR), he stated it contravenes the mandatory death penalty as the 
ICCPR is customary international law and should therefore be a part of 
Malaysian law.

He was also careful to stress that the ICCPR does not abolish the death penalty 
itself but only removes its mandatory nature.

"For offences such as drug trafficking, the mandatory sentence is automatic and 
indisputable. This is unjust as most individuals sentenced for drug trafficking 
are commonly duped low-ranking mules while the kingpins often escape the net," 
said Abdul Rashid.

(source: The Sun Daily)