[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 20



CHINA:

Retrial begins in China of 'convict' executed in 1996


A court in north China Thursday officially began reconsideration of a 1996 rape 
and murder case, which may have resulted in the conviction and execution of the 
wrong man.

The presiding judge with Inner Mongolia Higher People's Court, Bobatu, issued a 
retrial notice to the parents of Huugjilt, found guilty of the rape and murder 
of a woman in a public toilet in the regional capital Hohhot April 9, 1996, 
Xinhua reported.

Huugjilt, 18 at the time, was sentenced to death by Hohhot Intermediate 
People's Court in May 1996. His appeal was rejected, the death penalty was 
approved by the region's higher court and Huugjilt was executed June 10,1996.

After his execution, another alleged serial rapist and killer, Zhao Zhihong, 
confessed to the murder when he was arrested in 2005. Zhao allegedly raped and 
killed 10 women and girls between 1996 and 2005. He stood trial in late 2006 
and no verdict has yet been issued.

President of the higher court, Hu Yifeng, said earlier this month that should 
there be any errors in the previous ruling, they must be addressed.

"It has been so difficult to wait for the retrial decision," sobbed Shang 
Aiyun, 62, mother of the dead Huugjilt, in her home. She said she hoped the 
court would proceed carefully with the retrial and that the verdict would prove 
her son's innocence.

Huugjilt's parents, unwavering in their belief in their son's innocence, have 
been petitioning the country's supreme court and the region's higher court 
since 2006.

Yan Feng, a friend and colleague of Huugjilt, tells how they heard someone cry 
out in a women's toilet as they passed by. Huugjilt asked Yan to go with him 
into the toilet to see what had happened. There they saw a woman's body and 
immediately ran out. Huugjilt then reported it to police despite Yan's attempts 
to persuade him to keep quiet.

China's Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that if the evidence on which a 
verdict is based is found to be questionable or inadequate, a retrial should be 
held. The retrial will be a purely documentary one and will be completed as 
soon as possible, said Li Shengchen, spokesman for the Inner Mongolia Higher 
People's Court, at a press briefing in Hohhot Thursday.

In a similar case, Nie Shubin in north China's Hebei Province was executed in 
1995 at the age of 21 for the 1994 rape and murder of a woman in the provincial 
capital of Shijiazhuang. Later Wang Shujin was apprehended by police in 2005 
for 3 unconnected rape and murder cases, and confessed to the rape and murder 
of the woman in Shijiazhuang. In that instance the provincial higher court did 
not believe Wang's claim in a retrial last year and Nie's verdict still stands.

Also last year, a man in the eastern province of Anhui was declared innocent 
after serving 17 years of a life sentence for the killing of his wife.

The Anhui provincial higher people's court set Yu Yingsheng free when it ruled 
that in the previous trial, facts about the alleged homicide were unclear and 
the evidence inadequate.

China's Supreme People's Court started to review all death penalty rulings on 
Jan 1, 2007, ending 24 years during which lower courts could issue death 
sentences and execute criminals without any other approval.

The Communist Party of China made a decision on major issues concerning the 
rule of law last month and the Huugjilt retrial is an indication of how things 
are changing, said Miao Li, a lawyer in Inner Mongolia.

"I hope a fair trial can reveal the truth of the case and give every citizen a 
sense of justice and fairness," said Miao.

(source: Business Standard)






THAILAND:

Burmese murder accused ask British backpackers' families for help


2 Burmese men detained in Thailand for allegedly killing the British 
backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller have told the Guardian they are 
innocent and have appealed to the victims' families and the UK government to 
help them clear their names.

In their 1st media interview since being arrested almost 8 weeks ago, Zaw Lin 
and Wai Phyo, both 21, stressed their sorrow over the deaths of the Britons, 
whose battered bodies were found on a beach on the holiday island of Koh Tao on 
15 September. But they said they were not involved and asked UK authorities to 
share with their lawyers the results of a Metropolitan police review of the 
Thai investigation.

The pair described their shock at being accused, and their concerns for their 
parents in Burma, who were reliant on the men's earnings from bar work on Koh 
Tao.

The pair, who were arrested a fortnight after the double murder and face a 
possible death penalty, passed the Guardian an open letter addressed to the 
victims' parents.

Handwritten in Burmese, and with their names signed in English, it reads: "We 
are really distraught about the loss of your children, and we share your grief. 
But we want to stress to you that we didn't do anything wrong, and this crime 
was nothing to do with us.

"In order that the truth can be revealed, we want to ask for help from all of 
you to ensure that we get access to information that the British government 
has. We would like this information to be shared with our lawyers so the truth 
can come out. We really want to express our thanks for your help."

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo - the latter of whom was previously and incorrectly named 
by authorities as Win Zaw Htun - initially admitted to the murder of Miller, 
24, who suffered head injuries and drowned in shallow water, and the rape and 
murder of Witheridge, 23, who died from severe head injuries. Police said they 
were motivated by sexual jealousy after seeing the Britons together on the 
beach.

However, the men then retracted their confessions, saying they had been 
tortured and threatened with death by their interrogators.

Thai police say they have DNA evidence linking the men to the crime. However, 
there have been doubts about the way this evidence was collected, especially 
given that a number of people walked across the murder scene before it was 
sealed off.

Human rights groups including Amnesty International have become involved, 
noting that Burmese migrant workers have previously been wrongly accused of 
crimes by Thai police.

The authorities had been under pressure to solve this particular murder case 
quickly as it threatened the country's vital tourism industry.

A month after the murders the Foreign Office in London took the rare step of 
summoning a senior Thai diplomat to express its concern about the way the 
investigation had been handled. A Metropolitan police team flew to Thailand to 
review the case. The Foreign Office says the report has yet to be completed.

The suspects handed the letter to the Guardian on Wednesday at a court hearing 
in Koh Samui, the larger island near Koh Tao which acts as the local 
administrative centre, during which they were remanded in custody for a further 
12 days.

The pair are not permitted to have documents in jail, so they wrote the letter 
in court.

During breaks in the hearing the men, dressed in baggy, numbered prison tunics, 
with their legs manacled by heavy chains, were able to answer questions via a 
translator.

Wai Phyo said the pair were placing much of their hope on British interest in 
the case. He said: "We want the parents of the victims and the British 
government to come together and help us fight for justice. We're very sad at 
what happened and we want the people of Britain to know that we didn't do it.

"I felt very scared when we were arrested, and also very shy that all these 
people were looking at me. I didn't know what was happening. I am not a bad 
person. I'm a good person."

Zaw Lin said he was worried about his family in Burma: "My father has died and 
I was providing for my mother. I'm just really worried about her now. Now we 
just want to go back to Burma. We don't want to work here any more. I don't 
care about being poor, I just want to be at home with my family."

The pair said that on the night of the murder they had been drinking heavily 
and playing guitar on the beach, and by late evening were "so drunk we couldn't 
walk properly". They both said they had no idea who carried out the crime.

A number of reports have linked the killings to powerful Thai families in the 
region, where there has long been allegations of heavy involvement of organised 
crime in the tourism industry. Foreign Office advice to Britons travelling to 
Koh Tao and its neighbouring islands warns of regular sexual assaults and 
robberies.

The Burmese men remain in prison while police continue to compile a report for 
prosecutors, a document which has already been rejected by the lawyers several 
times. The men can be detained for a maximum of 84 days, meaning they must be 
tried or released by Christmas.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said she could not comment on the case until the 
Metropolitan police report was completed, after which the victims' families 
would meet police officers.

"Detectives from the United Kingdom, who were in Thailand reviewing the 
investigation into the murders of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, have 
returned to the UK to compile their report and to update the families of Hannah 
and David on their findings," she said. "The police team wish to thank the Thai 
authorities for facilitating the visit. It is not possible to make any further 
comment about the review at this time."

(source: The Guardian)