[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 12



INDONESIA:

Indonesia's mixed messages on fate of drug traffickers on death row


Some time soon, 5 men will be taken before dawn from their isolation cells to 
secret locations. White aprons will be hung carefully around their necks, with 
red targets positioned over their chests. They will be offered blindfolds, and 
asked if they would like to stand, sit or lie down.

Then their hearts will be riddled with judicially sanctioned bullets until they 
are dead.

Indonesia's method of execution has not changed since a decree signed by its 
first president in 1964. The enthusiasm with which it is applied has waxed and 
waned over the 50 years since, but from his early talk, the seventh President, 
Joko Widodo, seems likely to be one of the more bloodthirsty.

First in the crosshairs will be drug traffickers.

"I will reject the clemency applications submitted by 64 convicts who are 
sentenced to death in drugs cases," the President told a university audience on 
Wednesday on the eve of International Human Rights Day.

These 64 official killings were necessary, he said, because Indonesia was in "a 
state of emergency on drugs" with people dying daily.

His ministers have occupied contradictory positions on this point, but the 
latest, and apparently most firmly held, is that 5 men will be executed by the 
end of the month. After that, according to the Attorney-General's spokesman, 
will come 20 more who have applied to the President directly for clemency but 
whose applications would be rejected "in the near future".

Although no names have yet been mentioned, and no timetable issued, 2 young 
Australians, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, of the Bali 9, have applied for 
clemency and appear to be among the 20. (Contrary to erroneous reports in 
Australia, they are not among the first 5.)

The President's approach suggests a blunt-force, mass rejection of clemency 
without the individual attention he is required to give under his constitution, 
and without taking note of Sukumaran's and Chan's rehabilitation. It has 
surprised, stressed and horrified their legal team.

"This is really a setback for Indonesian human rights," their Indonesian 
lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, told Fairfax Media.

It has also shocked people around the world who believed the fresh-faced, 
non-military President would behave more like a western liberal than an 
old-style Indonesian strongman. After all, in the decade in office of his 
predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, only 24 people were executed - 10 of them 
in one year, 2008, to bookend the Bali bombers.

Dr Lubis, who was a legal and human rights adviser on Mr Joko's "team success" 
during the election campaign, believes the new President's tough stance comes 
not just from the hardline advisers now surrounding him, but from Mr Joko 
personally.

"Jokowi would like to be seen by the world as firm, strong ... in going after 
drug dealers."

As for human rights: "It's not on his agenda, though he keeps saying it's on 
his agenda. His concern is to get as much investment as he can."

In Mr Joko's cabinet, and in the Indonesian political system generally, killing 
drug dealers has no electoral downside. Quite the reverse.

Although the main human rights bodies, Komnas Ham and KontraS, have opposed the 
executions, no single politician has spoken up to object.

The anti-drugs police agency, BNN, is an enthusiastic propagandist for the 
death penalty, saying it could not do its job without it. And the Indonesian 
law regards drug trafficking as an "extraordinary crime", along with terrorism, 
corruption, and, strangely enough, illegal logging.

The last public polls on the subject showed in 2006 that 76 % of people 
supported executing drug traffickers - significantly higher than those calling 
for murderers to be shot - and that figure may since have risen alongside the 
rise in drug use.

Talk to Indonesians about drugs and they use words such as "rampant" and 
"scourge" and "killing our youth".

The head of outreach at polling company Indikator, Kennedy Muslim, says an 
irrationally strong anti-drug rhetoric is related to "Islamic religiosity".

But he said a powerful political aversion to granting clemency to drug dealers 
- particularly foreign ones - could also be traced partly to Schapelle Corby's 
release earlier this year.

As Corby was released on parole, followed by her family's reckless 
paid-interview debacle, the public outcry grew intense against the "marijuana 
queen" and also against Dr Yudhoyono. It was as though Corby exercising her 
legal right to parole was a question of Indonesian national pride, and proved 
the President had kowtowed to Australia.

Popular morning TV presenter Najwa Shihab editorialised that returning Corby to 
Kerobokan prison was "the only way to shake the impression that Indonesia is 
under ... the armpit of Australia and unable to uphold the sovereignty of our 
own laws".

9 months later, there is no bright note for Corby's 1-time prison-mates, 
Sukumaran and Chan. As drug traffickers and foreigners they ??? as well as 
their families, their legal team and their supporters - are guaranteed a sombre 
Christmas and an anxious New Year.

Timeline

2013----October 14

Joko Widodo: Corruption is the "biggest enemy". "It is up to the people - shot, 
hanged, it's up to law enforcers. I think we should be firm".

2014----October 31

Jakarta metropolitan police narcotics investigation unit director Eko 
Daniyanto: "Recently, 2 inmates had their appeals rejected, so around December 
27 they will be executed on Karya Island."

Police announce a review of death-row drug inmates. The head of the national 
anti-narcotics agency (BNN), Commissioner-General Anang Iskandar, says about 66 
cases are finalised but the convicts have not yet been shot.

"I have urged them to promptly carry out the executions," he says.

November 13

Attorney-General's office: 2 death-row inmates will be executed "soon".

November 19

Indonesia's delegate to the United Nations abstains from a vote calling for a 
moratorium on the death penalty. This is considered hopeful: in many previous 
years, Indonesia has voted against such a moratorium. The delegate is quoted 
saying "public debate is ongoing" on the issue, "including concerning a 
possible moratorium".

November 20

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi meets 2 Indonesian brothers released from death 
row in Malaysia.

November 25

The Attorney-General says Indonesia will not carry out executions in a hurry, 
and will ensure all appeals are exhausted. "But once the appeals are exhausted, 
we will execute."

November 28

The Attorney-General's office says 5 people will be executed by the end of the 
year, 2 of them Nigerians.

"Their rights have all been exhausted, so it now comes to the technical aspect 
[of when and where]," Deputy Attorney-General Basuni Masyarif says.

Attorney-General H. M. Prasetyo says President Joko Widodo does not plan to 
abolish capital punishment and would provide no clemency drug traffickers.

December 2

The Attorney-General's office confirms that, under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, 3 
death-row inmates were given clemency.

December 9

In a speech at a university, Mr Joko says: "I will reject the clemency 
applications submitted by 64 convicts who are sentenced to death in drugs 
cases."

(source: WA Today)






MALAYSIA:

Australian woman could face death penalty after being accused of drug 
trafficking in Malaysia


A 51-year-old Australian woman could face the death penalty in Malaysia after 
she was detained for drug trafficking.

The Australian woman has been remanded in custody in the Malaysian capital 
after she was allegedly found to be carrying 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, 
or ice, while in transit at Kuala Lumpur airport.

She was travelling from Shanghai to Australia.

The woman will appear in court on Sunday.

(source: ABC news)






JAPAN:

5 Supreme Court justices to undergo review by voters Sunday


The Yomiuri Shimbun Held along with Sunday's House of Representatives election 
is a constitutionally prescribed review of five Supreme Court justices, a 
system by which voters pass judgment on the suitability of each justice.

Voters are supposed to cross out the name of any justice printed on a paper 
ballot if they believe he or she is not suitable as a justice of the nation's 
top court, based on the justice's opinions issued in decisions on cases handled 
by the court.

Starting last Sunday, voters were permitted to cast their ballots on the 5 
justices under an early voting system.

The Supreme Court has 15 justices, 5 of whom are subject to review at the time 
of the lower house election. The remaining 10 had been reviewed in the 2012 or 
previous lower house elections. The 5 justices were appointed to sit on the 
highest court after the last general election.

They are Kaoru Onimaru, Michiyoshi Kiuchi, Masayuki Ikegami, Tsuneyuki Yamamoto 
and Toshimitsu Yamasaki.

All 5 justices were involved in reaching a decision on a lawsuit regarding the 
geographical disparity in the relative weight of 1 vote cast in last year's 
House of Councillors election. The vote value disparity stood at 4.77-to-1 in 
the upper house election.

The ruling was handed down at the court's Grand Bench in November.

During the trial of the case, 11 of the 15 justices, including Ikegami and 
Yamasaki, concluded the gap was in "a state of unconstitutionality," meaning 
that the period in which corrective measures must be taken had not yet passed.

Meanwhile, Onimaru, Kiuchi and Yamamoto argued that the disparity was 
"unconstitutional." Onimaru insisted that the relative weight of a single vote 
must be as equal as possible among constituencies under the Constitution. 
Yamamoto went so far as to argue that the results of some races in the 2013 
upper house election should be nullified. He was the 1st top court justice to 
argue in favor of invalidating the outcome of an upper house race.

Prior to the upcoming national review, various news organizations conducted 
questionnaires on the opinions of the 5 justices regarding some fundamental 
issues, including the pros and cons of abolishing or maintaining the death 
penalty. In many cases, death sentences are finalized at the Supreme Court.

In reply to a question about the capital punishment system, Kiuchi said, "I try 
to think about the issue with solemnity and caution, given my position as a 
person responsible for making a decision about the death penalty." He urged the 
public to promote a national debate on the issue.

"I would like every member of the public to consider the issue to be a matter 
subject to his or her own decision," Kiuchi said.

Meanwhile, Yamamoto said, "Questions should always be raised about whether it 
is right or wrong for the state to take someone's life, and abolishing the 
death penalty is a global trend." However, he added that many family members of 
crime victims want severe punishments for those responsible for the suffering 
of the victims. The prevailing opinion tends to support the death penalty, 
Yamamoto said.

He concluded there is no other way but to apply rules set in the Penal Code, 
precisely as prescribed. "But I tell myself to exercise restraint in handing 
down death sentences," Yamamoto said.

The other 3 justices declined to answer the question.

(source: The Japan News)



INDIA:

Yakub Memon Death Sentence - Why the delay ?----Supreme Court to decide on 1993 
Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon's review plea on January 28, 2015.


In a temporary relief to 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon, the Supreme 
Court has stayed the execution of his death penalty. This decision comes on the 
review plea filed by the death row convict in the Apex Court. Memon is sibling 
of the absconding mastermind of the blasts Tiger Memon and has been in custody 
for almost 2 decades.

While staying his hanging, a 3 judges bench headed by Justice AR Dave and 
comprising Justices J Chelameswar and Kurian Joseph posted the matter for next 
hearing on January 28, 2015. "It is directed that death penalty shall not be 
executed till the pendency of the review petition," the judges said.

Whatever be the decision of the court on January 28, but 1993 blast and all 
subsequent incidents of this kind were an attack on the pride of the nation and 
those evolved in perpetrating such a heinous crime must get severest punishment 
according to the law of the land.

Yakub's brother Ibrahim Mushtaq Abdul Razak Nadim Memon, better known as Tiger 
Memon was a close associate of world's one of the dreadest terrorist Dawood 
Ibrahim, both of them are living in Pakistan with changed identity and have 
been involved not only in anti-India activities but also in illegal trafficking 
of drugs, contract killings and terror activities.

Tiger's men including Yakub connived with Dawood Ibrahim to execute 1993 Mumbai 
blast, the biggest terror strike on Indian soil that time. Reports suggest that 
257 people lost their life in the blast.

Yakub, a chartered accountant, may claim his innocence and his ignorance about 
his brother Tiger's activities but the fact could not be overlooked that after 
hearing the case for more than a decade and going through many evidences, a 
TADA court in 2007 convicted him to death after finding him guilty of being 
involved in criminal conspiracy and managing financial transactions meant for 
the blasts.

Later in March 2013, according to an Indian Express report, the SC had 
confirmed the death sentence awarded to Memon, holding him guilty of being the 
"driving spirit" behind the blasts that killed 257 people. The court had said 
that Memon's "commanding position and the crime of utmost gravity" warranted 
capital punishment. Memon then moved a clemency petition before the President 
but the plea was turned down, given the seriousness of his crime.

Yakub's crime is of very serious kind. Despite being the most educated member 
of his family, he agreed to assist Tiger to wage war against his mother land. 
Dawood and Tiger used his acumen in accounting to get funds for the blasts to 
kill innocent residents of Mumbai.

The larger issue though here has to do with inordinate delays in carrying out 
death sentences in India and the message it sends. Especially in terror cases, 
for the death penalty to be an effective instrument at the disposal of the 
State to deter potential terrorists, it needs to be executed swiftly and 
purporsefully with integrity and credibility to the process.

The inordinate delay in carrying out Yakub Memon's sentence sends the wrong 
message.

(source: NitiCentral.com)






SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Pakistani national beheaded in Saudi Arabia for heroin smuggling


Saudi Arabian authorities on Thursday beheaded Pakistani national Mohammad 
Fayad Mohammad Azam on charge of smuggling heroin into the country.

A statement issued by the interior ministry of Saudi Arabia said, the kingdom 
was battling narcotics because "drugs cause great harm to individuals and 
society".

This year, 79 foreign nationals and Saudis have been executed in the kingdom, 
with more than 2/3 of the executions taking place in the last 4 months.

According to Adam Coogle, a Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch, Saudi 
Arabia executes, on an average, about 100 people a year, mostly through 
beheading. Death sentence is given to people for drug crimes, adultery and 
practising of witchcraft in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has one of the world's highest execution rates, says Death Penalty 
Worldwide, an organisation that collection data on executions across the world.

On October 15, this year, another Pakistani national Mohammad Yunus Mohammed 
Shoaib was executed in the eastern province community of Qatif, after he was 
caught with a large amount of heroin inside his gut.

A day before, a Saudi national Hamad bin Awadh bin Hawi Al-Anzi was executed in 
northern Jawf region on charge of smuggling a large number of amphetamine pills 
into the kingdom.

(source: india TV news)






RUSSIA:

Russian Official Calls for Harsh Punishment of Currency Speculators


Russia's top legal enforcer on Thursday called for harsh punishment of 
"currency speculators", whom the authorities are blaming for the sharp 
weakening of the ruble, as the flagging currency falls to all-time lows.

Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee, became the latest 
top official to blame "speculators" for the ruble's decline.

"The main issue for the stabilization of the economic situation in the country 
is to stop currency speculation on the market," he said, calling for more 
criminal cases to be brought against speculators.

The Russian ruble is freely convertible, and unlike in the Soviet Union where 
unauthorized purchases of dollars could incur the death penalty, foreign 
currency is traded without restrictions.

But the ruble, whose exchange rate is traditionally seen as a bellwether of 
financial stability in Russia's highly dollarized economy, is under downward 
pressure. The combination of Westerns sanctions, which have deprived Russian 
companies of foreign capital, and the falling price of oil, Russia's main 
export commodity, resulted in a more than 40% drop in the ruble's value against 
the dollar. The falling currency fuels inflation and puts a lot of businesses 
and households under stress.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was the 1st high-ranking official to blame the 
"speculators". In his address to the parliament a week ago, Mr. Putin called on 
the central bank "to take measures to make sure that speculators can no longer 
take advantage."

"We know who those people are, and we have the means to rein them in. It's time 
to use these instruments," the president said.

But Mr. Putin and the head of the Investigative Committee are being challenged 
by central bank officials.

Asked about the Investigative Committee's proposal, central bank Chairwoman 
Elvira Nabiullina played down the possibility of legal cases against 
"speculators".

"I proceed on the basis that criminal responsibility derives from a break of 
the law," Ms. Nabiullina said, adding that the current legislation is 
sufficient to deal with possible market manipulation or collusion.

Ms. Nabiullina said the central bank has initiated one such investigation, 
without elaborating.

Earlier this week, Sergei Shvetsov, the Bank of Russia's first deputy chairman, 
also moved to calm market concerns, saying that "speculators are good for 
currency markets" as they help to smooth out market liquidity.

(source: nasdaq.com)



KENYA:

2 Kenyans charged for violently stripping woman


2 Kenyans accused of stripping a woman have been charged with sexual assault, 
reports said on Thursday, a case that sparked angry protests after a video of 
the attack was made public.

The 2 men, a minibus driver and his conductor, are accused of stripping a woman 
and then sexually assaulting her at a petrol station in the capital Nairobi on 
19 September, because they believed her clothing was too revealing.

The case, as well as other attacks, prompted hundreds to march through the 
capital last month calling for an end to violence against women.

The men, Nicholas Chege and Meshack Mburu, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to 2 
counts of robbery with violence and sexual assault, the Daily Nation newspaper 
reported.

Great public apprehension

They face a possible death penalty if found guilty.

They are also accused of stealing the woman's belongings including a telephone 
and cash.

A film, shot on a mobile telephone on September 19 showed a violent mob 
stripping a woman in the Githurai district on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Since then there have been at least 3 other similar recorded attacks on women 
in Nairobi.

In one case, a police officer has been charged with trying to tear the clothes 
off a woman onboard a bus.

Prosecuting lawyer Duncan Ondimu said that "there has been an increase in cases 
of assault and stripping of women, which has caused great public apprehension," 
the Nation reported.

Lawmakers are currently debating in parliament boosting security laws, 
including an amendment to make such stripping attacks punishable by up to 20 
years in prison.

(source: news24.com)






IRAN----executions

3 Prisoners, Among Them An Afghan Citizen Hanged in Iran


3 prisoners were hanged in the Rajaishahr Prison of Karaj (west of Tehran) 
yesterday, reported the Iranian media.

According to the Iranian daily newspaper Shargh, 2 of the prisoners, identified 
as "Morteza" and "Mansour", were convicted of sexual abuse and rape of 2 young 
boys. They were scheduled to be hanged publicly yesterday but for some reasons 
the executions were carried out inside the prison.

Several Iranian news sites such as Tabnak reported about the execution of an 
Afghan citizen in the Rajaishahr Prison yesterday. The man who was not 
identified by name was convicted of murdering another man. The victim's wife 
was sentenced to imprisonment for complicity. (source: Iran Human Rights)

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

International Campaign to Prevent the Execution of Mr. Soheil Arabi


His Excellency Ban-Ki Moon

Secretary General of United Nations

The United Nations

New York, NY 10017

Re: International Campaign to Prevent the Execution of Mr. Soheil Arabi and 
Other Prisoners of Conscience with Demands for their Immediate Release from 
Iranian Prisons

Your Excellency,

It is with a great sense of urgency that I appeal to the international 
community to prevent the execution of Mr. Soheil Arabi and other prisoners of 
conscience in Iran, and to facilitate their immediate release. My compatriots 
and I are extremely concerned about the continuous wave of executions and the 
declining health conditions of several prisoners of conscience. We are worried 
that these innocent men and women will not escape execution without an outcry 
from the Free World.

Mr. Soheil Arabi, a prominent Iranian blogger, was initially arrested by the 
Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in November 2013, and subsequently placed in 
solitary confinement for posting messages on social media. Mr. Arabi has 
already been sentenced to death under the pretense of 'insults to the prophet', 
and has most recently been charged with 'corruption on earth' by the Supreme 
Court in Iran. According to some media reports, he has also been wrongfully 
accused of rape. These new charges, which under the laws of the Islamic 
Republic of Iran are severe enough to prevent a pardon, follow efforts by his 
family and human rights activists to seek a stay of execution, his retrial, and 
eventual release from prison.

Iranians at large hold the theocratic regime responsible for the disregard and 
contempt of human rights, as the Islamic Republic of Iran is ranked first in 
the world for the number of executions per capita. We are highly concerned 
about the disregard of freedom of speech, expression and belief that are often 
accompanied by excessive punishments. Whereas Iranians recognize the dignity 
and inalienable rights of individuals, the Iran National Council seeks, with 
the ultimate goal of restoring self-determination and a secular parliamentary 
democracy, the freedom of all prisoners of conscience, and the abolishment of 
capital punishment and torture.

We ask the international community for its support towards the realization of 
our noble objectives along with our ultimate vision of free, fair and 
transparent elections in Iran. We particularly expect the United Nations to 
weigh in on these crucial matters, and we urge Your Excellency to remind all 
concerned about their duty in upholding the most cherished values of the Free 
World as articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Yours sincerely,

Reza Pahlavi

President of the Iran National Council for Free Elections

(source: Iranian.com)

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

Iran's jailed Sunnis condemn hangings and rights abuses


Sunni Muslims jailed in Iran have issued an International Human Rights Day 
message condemning the death sentences on 30 fellow prisoners and widespread 
violations of their rights.

The 81 Sunnis in Gohardasht prison in city of Karaj said they had been tried 
without lawyers in the Tehran's Revolutionary Court and that the public had 
been banned from the hearing.

They wrote: "With great sacrifice we are sending a message from prison where we 
have been subjected to repeated pressure and harassment by the prison 
authorities.

"We want our voice heard by international human rights bodies, but 
unfortunately this has not happened, and even in the report by Dr Ahmed Shaheed 
(the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights situation in Iran) 
there is very little reference to our case."

The message said Iran's Sunni religious minority comprises 20 per cent of the 
population, but less attention had been paid to plight than to other religious 
minorities.

The message added: ""In the southern provinces where Sunnis live, their lives 
have no value. Not only are political and religious activists being arrested, 
imprisoned, tortured and sentenced to death, but those poor people who labour 
for a living are being shot and killed by border guards.

"Protests and hunger strikes by Sunni political prisoners have gained little 
attention by international news outlets and international human rights bodies."

(source: NCR-Iran)