[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 13


JAPAN:

Japan bar association to create guidelines for defense counsel in death penalty 
cases


The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA), taking a cue from the American 
Bar Association (ABA), is set to create guidelines for lawyers defending 
capital cases, in a move aimed at improving their performance in the courtroom.

Strict procedures are required in order to apply the death penalty in the 
United States, where capital punishment is legally recognized, insofar as it is 
considered an extraordinary sentence.

The ABA established what are known as Guidelines for the Appointment and 
Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases in 2003. These guidelines 
stipulated in detail the makeup of a defense team and its duties, as well as 
expenditures to be utilized in death penalty-related cases.

In Japan, on the other hand, capital punishment is institutionally treated as 
just another sentence, and a special defense team is not guaranteed. JFBA 
officials are therefore working to establish a national standard, believing 
that local bar associations and lawyers acting as defense counsel in death 
penalty cases around the country need to be informed of the special attention 
that capital punishment cases require.

The guidelines include basic information on defending capital punishment cases, 
expert designation when presenting data, and strategies for communicating with 
victims. They also advise that the defense counsel in death penalty cases 
should consist of at least three lawyers, including experienced ones, as well 
as supporting experts such as psychologists and psychiatrists.

By defining defense standards in death penalty cases, JFBA is seeking 
understanding from the courts regarding the application of public expenditures 
when using a court-appointed defense counsel.

The guidelines will be prepared under the supervision of JFBA's subcommittee 
for death penalty cases by the end of the year.

According to attorney Sadato Goto, who heads the subcommittee, "The level of 
lawyers as a whole needs to be improved based upon the recognition that capital 
punishment is an extraordinary sentence."

(source: Mainichi)






SAUDI ARABIA----executions

Saudi beheads 3 by the sword


A Saudi and an Iraqi convicted of murder and a Saudi convicted of drugs 
trafficking were beheaded in Riyadh on Friday, the interior ministry said.

Fahd al-Said and Iraqi Abderrahman al-Muaissab were found guilty of causing the 
death of Hossa bin Abid by breaking into her home, attacking her and tying her 
up so they could rob her, a ministry statement reported by state news agency 
SPA said.

In the other case, Saudi Saad al-Oteibi, a repeat offender, was executed for 
bringing "a large quantity of amphetamines" and hashish into the kingdom, the 
ministry said.

Friday's decapitations take to 53 the number of people executed by the sword in 
the ultra-conservative Gulf nation this year, according to an AFP count.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable 
by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of Islamic sharia law.

Human Rights Watch expressed alarm last month at a surge in executions, which 
saw 19 people beheaded between August 4 and 20 alone.

HRW said eight of those executed had been convicted of non-violent offences 
such as drug trafficking and "sorcery", and described the use of the death 
penalty in their cases as "particularly egregious".

(source: Ahram Online)






IRAN:

3 Executions Postponed In Bandar Abbas


3 death row prisoners who were taken to solitary confinement to be sent to 
execution chamber were given extra time by the families of the victims. These 3 
prisoners were sent back to their Wards after the families consent to postpone 
their execution.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on 
Tuesday 09 September, 2014 3 death-row prisoners ( 2 from the Youth Ward and 1 
from Ward 4) were transferred to solitary confinement cells to be prepared for 
execution. However, they were sent back to their wards after the families of 
victims agreed to provide them with a time extension. The chance was given to 
them so they could attempt further negotiations with the families of victims to 
ask for mercy.

In case these prisoners failed in receiving a pardon from the families of 
victims, they will be executed after the extended deadline.

(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)






INDIA:

State moves HC to seek death penalty for Pallavi's killer


The state government has moved the Bombay High Court seeking the death penalty 
for lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha's killer, who was 2 months ago sentenced to life 
imprisonment for the crime.

The appeal for enhancement of punishment given to former security guard Sajjad 
Pathan was filed last week.

It challenges the sessions court's conclusion that the crime did not fall in 
the "rarest of rare" category to warrant the death sentence. Terming the 2012 
murder as "extremely cruel and well planned", the state has listed 53 reasons 
for sending Pathan to the gallows.

Pallavi, 25, who worked with Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment, lived on the 
16th floor of Himalayan Heights in Wadala. Pathan, 22, was a guard in the 
complex.

On the night of August 9, 2012, he deliberately tripped the power supply to her 
apartment when her fiance, Avik Sengupta, was away, according to the police. 
Pathan then entered the flat using duplicate keys with the intent to molest 
her. He fatally stabbed her when she tried to fend him off.

On July 7 this year, Additional Sessions judge Vrushali Joshi sentenced Pathan 
to rigorous life imprisonment, rejecting the prosecution's demand for the death 
penalty.

Pallavi's parents, both senior bureaucrats in Delhi, had expressed shock at the 
decision, with her mother, Sumita, saying: "My daughter was stabbed 16 times, 
and if this still doesn't warrant the death penalty, I don't know what does."

Now the state government has challenged the session court's decision, saying 
the latter had shown "undue sympathy" to Pathan.

"The crime was so heinous in proportion that it imperilled and endangered the 
very existence of society," states the appeal. "This daring and diabolical act 
has shattered the conscience of society and shaken the very foundation of trust 
and faith that civilised society lives by" The plea adds that the lenient 
sentence given to Pathan had resulted "in causing incalculable harm to the 
justice system and undermined public confidence in the efficacy of law".

The state has said that the sessions court erroneously concluded that the crime 
committed by Pathan can be categorised as "cruelty", but not as "extreme 
cruelty". Pathan, the appeal says, inflicted 16 injuries on Pallavi, including 
3 on vital parts, while slitting her throat. Not categorising such a crime as 
"extreme cruelty" would embolden criminals, the government has argued.

The government has also questioned the lower court's observation that Pathan 
tried to molest the young lawyer after seeing her scantily dressed. "She was 
wearing a half shirt and a halfpant, which by no means can be called scanty," 
the appeal states.

It cites witnesses' statements that Pathan had an eye on Pallavi and had been 
looking for an opportunity to molest her.

During the trial, the prosecution had pointed out that Pathan had laughed after 
committing the crime. But the sessions court observed that he probably behaved 
that way because he was scared.

The state government has termed this observation erroneous, saying that 
Pathan's behaviour reflected deep-rooted perversion, and not fear.

The security guard had even boasted about his actions in front of 2 people, 
both of whom deposed before the court. "This shows that he had no remorse or 
fear after committing a heinous murder," the appeal says.

The government has cited previous Supreme Court judgments against lower courts' 
decisions to not give the death penalty to an accused on the grounds of hisher 
young age.

The Bombay High Court is likely to hear the plea on September 17.

(source: Mumbai Mirror)


SINGAPORE:

2 face death penalty for drug trafficking


A 49-year-old Singaporean woman and a 29-year-old Nigerian man are facing the 
death penalty as they went on trial yesterday for trafficking in nearly 2kg of 
methamphetamine, commonly known as Ice.

Hamidah Awang, a stall assistant, was stopped for a search at the Woodlands 
Checkpoint on the night of Nov 13, 2011, as she was driving out of Singapore, 
the High Court heard yesterday.

Sniffer dogs "reacted" to a black suitcase in the boot of the car, the 
prosecution said in its opening statement. Central Narcotics Bureau officers 
later found two packets of Ice concealed in the bag, which bore part of a 
luggage tag sticker with the words "chukwu" and some air travel information.

The bag allegedly belonged to Ilechukwu Uchechuku Chukwudi, a second-hand 
computer trader, who was arrested in his room at a Chinatown budget hotel the 
next day.

Tests later showed that the 2 packets contained not less than 1.963kg of Ice.

The prosecution alleged in its opening statement that Ilechukwu had brought the 
bag from Nigeria, after transiting in Qatar, and passed it to Hamidah.

It said it would produce surveillance camera footage to show he collected the 
bag at the airport and had it with him when he checked into the hotel.

The footage will also show that he left the hotel at about 10.15pm that night 
with the bag but returned at about 11.35pm without it. Deputy Public 
Prosecutors Ng Cheng Thiam and Chee Min Ping will also seek to show that the 
pair were communicating on the phone between 9.45pm and 11.35pm that night.

Hamidah, who is represented by Mr Amolat Singh, and Ilechukwu, represented by 
Mr Eugene Thuraisingam, are expected to say in their defence that they were 
unaware the bag contained drugs.

Anyone convicted of trafficking in more than 250g of Ice may face the death 
penalty.

(source: Asia One)






AFGHANISTAN:

Afghan perpetrator of Bastion attack gets death sentence


The last surviving perpetrator of the deadly 2012 insurgent attack on Camp 
Bastion, Afghanistan has been sentenced to death by an Afghan court, though the 
case remains in review.

Marine Corps spokesman Maj. John Caldwell confirmed that Mohammed Nazeer, 24, 
had been found guilty of violating Afghan law and designated for the death 
penalty. The development was first reported by the Washington Post.

Nazeer was 1 of 15 armed attackers dressed in Army uniforms and carrying 
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades who stormed Camp Bastion, a 
British airfield adjoining the Marines' Camp Leatherneck, on the night of Sept. 
14, 2012. The attack was ultimately quelled, but not before the attackers 
destroyed 6 AV-8B Harrier jets and killed 2 Marines: Lt. Col. Chris Raible, 40, 
and Sgt. Bradley Atwell, 27.

Caldwell said the Marine Corps was notified of Nazeer's sentencing Sept. 10. It 
was handed down earlier this year and affirmed July 6 by an Afghan appellate 
court, he said. The case now stands before the Afghan Supreme Court for a final 
review. Caldwell said he didn't have a timeline for a decision by the Afghan 
court.

The Raible and Atwell families were notified of the development by Marine 
casualty assistance call officers Sept. 11, he said.

Officials said Marine Corps Central Command has also requested copies of 
Nazeer's court proceedings in order to make them available to the families.

An investigation into the attack would ultimately result in the relief of 2 
Marine general officers. Investigators found, among other things, that poor 
lighting and half-manned guard towers had left the base vulnerable to attack.

1 Marine officer, Maj. Robb McDonald, received the Silver Star for heroically 
directing a response to the attackers, personally shooting 1 and directing 
helicopter strikes that killed 2 others. Raible was also nominated for a Silver 
Star.

(source: Military Timse)