[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 23


IRAQ:

Death sentence for ex-Sunni lawmaker


An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced former Sunni lawmaker and prominent 
politician Ahmed al-Elwani to death on terrorism-related charges, Iraqi media 
reported.

The ruling could anger the Sunni minority in a country roiled by sectarian 
tensions.

The sentence by the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad may be appealed, judicial 
spokesman Abdel-Sattar al-Yarqadar told the independent website Alsumaria News.

The death penalty in Iraq is carried out by hanging.

Al-Elwani was convicted of inciting sectarian tensions by backing Sunni 
protests against the Shi'a-led government.

Al-Elwani was arrested last year in a raid on his home in the predominately 
Sunni western province of Anbar.

5 people, including his brother, were killed in the operation, which triggered 
clashes between security forces and al-Elwani's Sunni backers.

The verdict against al-Elwani comes at a time when Shiite Prime Minister Haider 
al-Abadi, who took office in September, is seeking to drum up the backing of 
the country's Sunni community in the fight to dislodge Islamic State militants 
from Iraq.

The radical Sunni group controls large swathes of territory in Iraqi's Sunni 
heartland in the west and north.

Government troops, backed by tribal fighters, are currently battling the 
Islamic State in Anbar.

The al-Qaeda splinter group also controls areas in neighbouring Syria.

(source: IOL news)






PAKISTAN:

Killings in the name of honour


An anti-terrorism court in Lahore handed death penalty on Wednesday to four men 
for killing a young woman in the name of family honour because she had 
contracted a marriage of her choice. These men - the victim's father, brother, 
a cousin and former husband - bludgeoned her to death last May outside the 
Lahore High Court where she had gone to record her statement in favour of her 
husband who had been accused of abducting her. In his verdict, the ATC judge 
observed that the gruesome murder, reminiscent of dark ages, having taken place 
near the High Court created fear and outrage among people who come to courts to 
seek protection against oppression. It is worthwhile to note that the male 
relatives of the women acted the way they did because of loopholes in the law 
that makes so-called honour killing a compoundable offence. It has become an 
accepted practice for male relatives, like in the present case, to murder a 
woman for deciding on her own to marry somebody, even on suspicion of having a 
liaison. The 'honour' pretext in some instance has also been used to get rid of 
women - even men - to grab the victims' property. According to the Human Rights 
Commission of Pakistan, about 900 women fell victim to honour-related crimes 
during 2013 alone.

In almost all cases these horrific crimes are committed secure in the knowledge 
that under the Qisas and Diyat laws 'honour killing' is a compoundable offense 
that can be forgiven by another blood relative. The Honour Killings Act, 2004, 
has failed clearly to address the issue due to the same reason, providing 
encouragement to people to go on killing in the name of family honour. This 
must change. Creditably for it, the Punjab government's Women Development 
Department has undertaken an initiative to amend the relevant laws with a view 
to make the crime a non-compoundable offense. However, a committee discussing 
the proposed amendment is said to be apprehensive about religious circles' 
reaction. Instead of worrying about reaction from one or the other section of 
society, the government needs to show the way forward. One of the proposals 
under discussion that makes ample sense is to amend Section 311 of the PPC 
under which the courts 'may' punish a murderer if the murder is found to be an 
act of 'Fasad Fil Arz' even if heirs of victims agree to pardon the killer(s). 
As per the law 'Fasad Fil Arz' principle applies to "brutal or shocking manner 
in which the offense has been committed which is outrageous to the public 
conscience, or if the offender is considered a potential danger to the 
community, or if the offense has been committed in the name or on the pretext 
of honour." This section provides adequate rationale for amendment.

First of all there, of course, can be no civilised argument against this crime 
being outrageous to public conscience. Secondly, and more to the point, 
included in the crimes falling within the purview of 'Fasad Fil Arz' is an 
"offense [that] has been committed in the name or on the pretext of honour." It 
is also worthwhile to note that a 2011 amendment to the relevant law provided 
that courts "may" punish killers pardoned under an agreement to life 
imprisonment (25 years), 14 years, or even hand them death sentence. And that 
the sentence "may" not be less than ten years. The Punjab Women's Development 
Department is on the right track in putting forward an amendment proposal that 
seeks to replace the word "may" with "shall" in order to make so-called honour 
killing a non-compoundable offense. No one should be allowed to create mischief 
in society in the fair name of religion.

(source: Business Recorder)






SINGAPORE:

Suspected Malaysian smuggler arrested at Woodlands checkpoint


A suspected smuggler was arrested, and about 1kg of cannabis seized by 
immigration officials at the Woodlands checkpoint on Saturday.

A routine check on a Malaysia-registered car had turned up a block of the 
suspected cannabis in the engine compartment.

The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) was alerted at 1.05pm, Saturday.

The driver of the car, a 37-year-old Malaysian man, was arrested, CNB said in a 
statement on Sunday.

Investigations are ongoing, CNB said.

Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, those convicted of importing more than 500g of 
cannabis may face the death penalty.

The cannabis has an estimated street value of more than S$33,000 (RM85,000).

(source: The Star)






CHINA:

China arrests man for spying on aircraft carrie base - CCTV


A Chinese man has been arrested for taking photos of an aircraft carrier base 
and selling them to a foreigner as more young Chinese Internet users are being 
recruited by foreign spies to gather intelligence on military affairs, state 
media said.

The man, surnamed Cao and from the eastern city of Qingdao, is awaiting trial, 
state broadcaster CCTV said on Saturday.

He had taken photos of an aircraft carrier base in Qingdao for a man who had 
claimed to be the editor of a military magazine and was paid "a large sum of 
cash", CCTV said.

"In recent years, the number of young Internet users like Cao who look for jobs 
and make friends on the Internet, been subverted by foreign espionage and 
intelligence agencies and accepted instructions from them to collect 
intelligence on military targets, has been increasing," CCTV said, citing 
unnamed counterintelligence officials.

CCTV said Cao, a local employee of a large business, had also entered a 
military airport to take photos and transmitted them to the editor.

In August, state media reported that a Chinese graduate student had been 
arrested for selling intelligence material to foreigners.

In May, a court handed a 10-year prison term to an individual who leaked secret 
documents and photographs, including military journals and information about 
bases in the southern province of Guangdong to a foreign spy.

China's state secrets law is notoriously broad, covering everything from 
industry data to the exact birth dates of state leaders. Information can also 
be labelled a state secret retroactively.

In severe cases, the theft of state secrets is punishable with life in prison 
or the death penalty.

(source: Reuters)






BANGLADESH:

Bangladesh Islamist party chief files appeal against death penalty


Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami has challenged the death 
penalty awarded to him by a war crimes tribunal.

The defence lawyer on Sunday filed an appeal against the International Crimes 
Tribunal (ICT-1) verdict against the Jamaat chief.

Advocate Md Shishir Manir, on behalf of Mujaheed, filed the appeal in the 
Supreme Court.

On October 29, the ICT-1 handed down capital punishment to Jamaat chief for war 
crimes which include the killings of intellectuals.

The ICT-1 judge panel explained the 16 charges levelled against the accused 
71-year-old Jamaat President Nizami, who is now behind the bar.

Nizami was indicted in 2012 with 16 charges of crimes against humanity 
including looting, mass killings, arson, rape and forcefully converting people 
into Muslims during the war.

The indictment order, in a brief profile of the accused, said Nizami was a key 
organizer of the Al-Badr, an auxiliary force of then Pakistani army which 
planned and executed the killing of Bangalee intellectuals at the fag end of 
the Liberation War in 1971.

After the verdict, Bangladeshi Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters 
that 8 "charges including murder against Nizami were proved beyond a reasonable 
doubt leading to a death sentence to the leader of Jamaat."

In his petition filed on Sunday with the Supreme Court, Nizami claimed himself 
innocent and sought acquittal on all the eight charges for which was given 
capital punishment.

After filing the appeal, Manir, a counsel for Nizami, said the Supreme Court 
will now fix a date for hearing the appeal.

5 top Jamaat leaders have already been punished for their 1971 crimes and 
Nizami is among three other top leaders now being tried in war crimes tribunals 
which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasian's Bangladesh Awami League-led government 
formed in 2010 to bring the perpetrators of 1971 to book.

Apart from Jamaat high-ups, a few leaders of ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's 
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are also facing trials.

Both BNP and Jamaat have dismissed the court as a government " show trial" and 
said it is a domestic set-up without the oversight or involvement of the United 
Nations.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh was called East Pakistan until 1971. The government 
of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said about 3 million people were killed in the 
war although independent researchers think that between 300,000 and 500,000 
died.

(source: Global Times)






SAUDI ARABIA----executions

2 men beheaded for raping 2 girls----Saudis convicted of raping, stealing cars 
and taking drugs


Saudi authorities beheaded 2 local men convicted of raping 2 girls, stealing 
cars and taking drugs, the Saudi Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

Sami bin Yehya Gazwani and Talal bin Mousa Gazwani were executed in the Saudi 
capital in Riyadh on Friday after they were sentenced to death by the higher 
court.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry said the 2 had confessed to the crimes 
they committed nearly seven months ago.

(source: emirates247.com)