[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 21


GLOBAL: see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhoObH0kFxs&feature=youtu.be

(source: Sant'Egidio)






TAIWAN:

Taiwan man faces death for 'inhumane' murder of ex-lover


A Taiwanese man faces the death penalty after he was indicted Thursday, accused 
of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend and sexually assaulting her corpse in a 
"brutal and inhumane" public attack, prosecutors said.

Chang Yen-wen, 29, who was charged with murder, is alleged to have knifed the 
woman at least 47 times in a frenzied attack in a street in Taipei on September 
22 after she spurned his attempts to rekindle their romance, the district 
prosecutor's office confirmed.

Chang, who worked for a global accounting firm and is a graduate of the 
island's top university, was also indicted on the charge of "desecrating a 
corpse" after allegedly sexually assaulting the 22-year-old kindergarten 
teacher after she collapsed and died on the scene. Horrified passers-by alerted 
the police to the attack.

Prosecutors said they sought capital punishment for Chang as they allege the 
crime was premeditated because he bought a knife a week before the "brutal and 
inhumane" attack.

Violent crimes are relatively rare in Taiwan but in recent months there have 
been a number of attacks that have left the public shocked.

Last week, 60 people were indicted on murder and assault charges for allegedly 
beating a policeman to death outside a nightclub.

In July, prosecutors indicted and sought the death penalty for a 21-year-old 
college student accused of killing 4 people and wounding nearly 2 dozen others 
in a stabbing spree in the subway that shocked the island.

(source: Yahoo News)






PAKISTAN:

Court orders to include co-accused in Musharraf's treason case


A special court trying embattled former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf 
today partially accepted his request to include alleged co-conspirators in a 
high treason case slapped on him and directed the government to resubmit its 
complaint against the co-accused.

The 71-year-old former president had repeatedly asked the 3-member special 
tribunal that he was not alone to decide the implementation of emergency in 
2007 for which he is facing treason charges.

The court announced that Musharraf's request to include alleged co-conspirators 
was partially accepted with a majority vote. It decided to include former prime 
minister Shaukat Aziz, then law minister Zahid Hamid and former chief justice 
Abdul Hameed Dogar in the probe.

However, the court refused to include some senior military officers as demanded 
by Musharraf, former army chief.

"The court gave a majority judgement and 2 judges accepted the request," 
Musharraf's counsel Fasial Chaudhry told media.

The court gave the federal government 15 days to submit a report to launch 
probe against the three co-conspirators. It is an embarrassment for the 
government as Musharraf's law minister, Zahid Hamid, later joined Prime 
Minister Nawaz Sharif Pakistan Muslim League and he is the current Minister for 
Science and Technology.

Geo TV reported that Hamid resigned after court verdict. But none of the 
officials were immediately available to confirm.

Musharraf was charged in March after the trial started in December. He is 
facing treason charges for suspending and abrogating the constitution and 
imposing emergency in 2007.

This is the 1st time in Pakistan's history that a former military ruler has 
been put on trial for treason. If convicted, Musharraf could get life 
imprisonment or death penalty.

Musharraf is facing 4 major cases, including over the 2007 assassination of 
former premier Benazir Bhutto and the 2006 killing of Baloch nationalist leader 
Akbar Bugti.

(source: Business Standard)