[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 5



IRAN----execution

A prisoner hanged in Zabol



The Iranian regime's henchman in the city of Zabol (southeastern Iran) secretly 
hanged a man on Saturday in the city's main prison.

The victim identified as Amir Qaemi, was transferred to isolation last 
Wednesday to await his execution. He had been sentenced to death on drug 
related offences.

The execution in Zabol takes place after secret hanging of at least 12 inmates 
on Thursday (26 March 2015) in prisons in cities of Shiraz and Mashhad, 
according to a statement by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

A group of 5 prisoners were hanged in a prison in the city of Mashhad in 
northeast Iran while another 6 were collectively hanged in Pirnia Prison in the 
city of Shiraz in southern Iran. On the same day, another prisoner was also 
hanged in Adelabad Prison in the same city.

The growing number of executions, including many carried out in secret, are 
just trivial examples of the nationwide repression that continues to take place 
in Iran since Hassan Rouhani became president of the clerical regime.

The latest report on the death penalty by Amnesty International published on 
April 1 indicates that 607 recorded executions have been carried out in 22 
countries around the world in 2014, a reduction of almost 22 % compared to the 
previous year.

The reported executions were carried out in Iran more than any country in the 
world.

In Iran the authorities officially announced 289 executions, but hundreds more 
were carried out which were not officially acknowledged, Amnesty report said.

Iran is among the countries highlighted by Amnesty International as having used 
the death penalty "as a tool to suppress political dissent".

Mr. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights 
in Iran, reported on March 25 that some 1000 executions had been carried out 
during the past 15 months in Iran. Prior to that, on March 16, he told a news 
briefing in Geneva: "There is a lot of concern amongst the Iranian society that 
the nuclear file may be casting a shadow over the human rights discussion."

The U.N.'s special investigator added that the human rights situation and 
repression in Iran has worsened since Hassan Rouhani became president.

(source: NCR-Iran)








INDONESIA:

Jakarta archbishop slams Indonesia's death penalty



Jakarta's Catholic Archbishop has expressed his concern over Indonesia's use of 
the death penalty, adding the treatment of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran was 
a show of force over humanity.

Following Easter Sunday mass in Jakarta, Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo told 
reporters the church was strictly against the use of the death penalty.

He said he was saddened by the heavy-handed relocation of Australians Chan and 
Sukumaran from Kerobokan prison to the island where their execution is being 
planned.

The operation involved hundreds of balaclava-clad police and Sukhoi fighter 
jets.

"These men were handcuffed, was it necessary to be guarded by Sukhoi?" the 
archbishop said.

"For me that's not strictness, for me that's very saddening because it's 
obvious that power wants to show itself and human dignity is not cherished." 
The archbishop said using the death penalty was "a failure of humanity".

He raised concerns also for Filipina Mary Jane Veloso, 30, who is set to face 
the firing squad with Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33.

Veloso has been denied a judicial review of her heroin smuggling trial, even 
though she didn't have a qualified translator, and despite concerns the 
domestic worker was set up.

"I'm not sure at all that she's guilty," Archbishop Ignatius said.

"I don???t know about the evidence in the trial, but what I know that she 
doesn't understand English ... she knows only Tagalog and when she was on 
trial, no one translated in that language.

"How could the trial have been fair?" The Philippines government says it plans 
to file a 2nd application for a judicial review for the single mother of 2.

Meanwhile a court will on Monday decide whether Chan and Sukumaran can 
challenge the president's decision to deny them clemency.

Jakarta plans to send 10 drug offenders to the firing squad at once - its 
biggest ever execution - but is waiting for all to run out of legal options.

(source: news.com.au)

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

Decision due in Bali Nine death row appeal



A Jakarta court is due to decide whether it will allow Australians Myuran 
Sukumaran and Andrew Chan to challenge the decision to deny them clemency.

The unusual appeal in the state administrative court is likely the pair's last 
legal avenue to save them from the firing squad for the 2005 Bali 9 heroin 
smuggling bid.

The court in February rejected their challenge, determining the decrees by 
President Joko Widodo were not within its jurisdiction.

If it overturns this decision on Monday, lawyers will then argue Mr Joko did 
not fulfil his obligations when he issued a blanket rejection of clemency to 
Chan and Sukumaran, as he plans to do to more than 50 other death row drug 
offenders.

If the court upholds its earlier decision, it's not known what move the lawyers 
will take next in their efforts to spare the men.

Lawyer for Chan and Sukumaran, Leonard Arpan, last week said they had done 
their best for their Australian clients, who await execution on Nusakambangan 
island with 7 other prisoners.

On Sunday, Jakarta's Catholic Archbishop, Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, told 
reporters he was saddened by Indonesia's use of the death penalty, which he 
described as a 'failure of humanity'.

Also distressing for the archbishop was the severe treatment of Chan and 
Sukumaran when they were moved last month from their Bali jail cells to 
Nusakambangan, which involved a fighter jet escort.

'These men were handcuffed, was it necessary to be guarded by Sukhoi?' he told 
reporters after his Easter Sunday service.

'For me that's not strictness, for me that's very saddening because it's 
obvious that power wants to show itself and human dignity is not cherished.'

Jakarta is awaiting all of the 10 prisoners in line for the firing squad to run 
out of options for court appeals before setting a date for their executions.

(source: Sky News)

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

How Pinay on death row in Indonesia was fooled into bringing luggage full of 
heroin



The family of the 30-year-old Filipina who faces death penalty for allegedly 
smuggling over 2 kilos of illegal drugs in Indonesia thanked the government for 
its continued effort to save her life but appealed for more efforts.

"We are thankful that the government is continuously doing ways to save our 
sister from death penalty," said Maritess Veloso-Laurente, sister of Mary Jane 
Veloso, who was found guilty by the Indonesian court of allegedly smuggling 
2.611 kilos of heroin in its airport on April 26, 2010.

"We are hoping that our sister would not suffer the fate of Flor Contemplacion 
because she is indeed innocent. She is a victim here," Laurente said.

"While our sister is alive, we are not losing hope for a miracle," Laurente 
said.

Her sister also has strong faith owing to her innocence, she said.

"Mary Jane also said that while she is alive, she is not losing hope. She is 
innocent that's why we believe that God will perform a miracle to save her," 
Laurente said.

Veloso, who did not finish 1st year high school, was married to a man from 
Esguerra District, Talavera, Nueva Ecija but that marriage turned to be void 
from the very beginning because she was a minor, only 16 years old, at the time 
it was solemnized. The guy is now living with another woman.

Veloso, who has 2 sons - now aged 12 and 7, was reportedly recruited by a 
certain Tintin, who is known for frequenting Hong Kong, Malaysia, and 
Indonesia.

Tintin offered Veloso a housekeeping job for P25,000 a month in Malaysia, 
according to Laurente.

Tintin is Veloso's neighbor in her former residence in Esguerra District, 
Talavera town.

The 2 left for Malaysia on April 22, 2010 with Veloso bringing only 2 pants and 
2 shirts inside her son's small backpack on the advice of Tintin, Laurente 
said.

Upon landing in Malaysia, Tintin allegedly told Veloso that her supposed 
employer has already got a helper thus, they had to check in a hotel instead.

For the next 3 days when they stayed at Lagoon Hotel somewhere in Malaysia, 
Tintin bought clothes and a mobile phone for Veloso until the former advised 
the latter that she found a new employer for her in Indonesia on April 26.

When Veloso told Tintin her bag is not enough for her new things, Tintin 
reportedly advised her that a certain Prince will deliver a traveling bag. A 
car-riding Prince, indeed, came to deliver the traveling bag.

Veloso, Laurente said, noticed that the bag appeared to be unusually heavy.

Laurente said her sister prudently checked the bag and found nothing.

"The bag is new and still has a tag," she said.

She entered the Indonesian airport aboard Air Asia flight 594 from Kuala 
Lumpur, where the X-ray machine detected and authorities subsequently found the 
drugs in her traveling bag.

Last February, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) brought them to 
Indonesia to visit Veloso.

It reunited her with her 2 sons and parents, Laurente said.

(source: Philippines News Agency)








BANGLADESH:

Decision on war criminal Kamarizzaman's review petition on Monday



The top appeals court will give its verdict on death-row convict Mohammad 
Kamaruzzaman's plea to review his death penalty on Monday.

A 4-member appeals bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha heard the 
matter on Sunday.

The hearing started around 9:45am and ended at 12:30pm with a 30 minutes break.

Khandaker Mahbub Hossain represented the Jamaat-e-Islami leader while Attorney 
General Mahbubey Alam stood for the state.

Others in the 4-member bench were Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Hasan Foez 
Siddique and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury.

On Nov 3 last year, the same bench had upheld the war crimes tribunal's verdict 
of death sentence for Kamaruzzaman.

The war crimes convict's lawyers had met him at the Dhaka Central Jail on 
Saturday ahead of the hearing.

Former Al-Badr leader Mohammad Kamaruzzaman was sentenced to death in 2013 for 
committing atrocities on Bengalis during the 1971 Liberation War as did many 
other Jamaat-e-Islami activists at that time.

The war crimes tribunal issued a death warrant for him after the Appellate 
Division published the full verdict upholding the death penalty.

However, the execution was not carried out after the convict appealed on Mar 5 
for a review.

Hearing on the plea had been deferred twice as the defence sought time before 
it was heard on Sunday.

If his review petition fails, Kamaruzzaman, now the Jamaat-e-Islami's assistant 
secretary general, can file a mercy petition with President Md Abdul Hamid.

Kamaruzzaman is the 2nd war crimes convict to file a review petition with the 
top appeals court before the verdict is being implemented.

(source: bdnews24.com)








VIETNAM:

Brothers get death penalties for trafficking over 210 kg drugs



A court in the southern province of Binh Duong on Friday gave 2 brothers death 
penalties for trafficking over 210 kilograms of heroin in one of the province's 
biggest drug cases.

Le Dinh Kiem, 33, and his brother Le Van Hanh, 41, were both convicted of 
trafficking drugs - a charge that is punishable by death in Vietnam, even when 
just 100 grams of heroin is involved.

The board of judges also sentenced Kiem's wife, Dang Thi Thanh, 29, to 23 years 
in prison for assisting the business.

Ngo Thi My Van, 51, who bought drugs from the brothers, got a life sentence.

Meanwhile, Le Van Nhat, 20, a helper of Kiem's family, was jailed for 2 years 
for harboring criminals.

According to the indictment, in 2012 end, the brothers started buying drugs in 
the central province of Nghe An, where they came from, and distributed them in 
Binh Duong.

For every package of 350 grams of heroin they sold, they would earn VND7-8 
million (US$320-340) in profits, prosecutors said, adding that each package was 
priced $9,000.

As of the time they were busted in August 2013, they had bought 600 packages 
and sold 570 of them.

The ring was taken down when police caught Van with 2 packages of heroin bought 
from the brothers on August 5.

Further investigation led police to arrest the others.

Prosecutors said when police raided the store, Nhat was about to flush the 
other 30 packages of heroin down a toilet as ordered by Kiem.

Vietnam is among countries with the toughest drug laws in the world. But last 
month the Ministry of Justice presented a draft amendment of the Penal Code, 
proposing abolishing death penalty for a number of crimes, including drug 
crimes, by reducing it to life sentence at most.

(source: Thanh Nien News)