[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 15



SAUDI ARABIA----execution/female

Saudi Arabia executes Indonesian woman with suspected mental illness



Tuesday's execution of an Indonesian woman with a suspected mental illness is 
just the latest in the recent macabre spike in Saudi Arabia's state-sponsored 
killings, Amnesty International said.

Saudi Arabian state media reported that Siti Zainab Binti Duhri Rupa was 
executed this morning in Medina. She was sentenced to death in 1999 after she 
"confessed" in police custody to killing a woman who had allegedly mistreated 
her since hiring her as a domestic worker the year before.

The authorities waited for more than 15 years for the youngest of the victim's 
children to reach adulthood to decide whether or not the family would want to 
pardon Siti Zainab or demand her execution under qisas (retribution).

"Imposing the death penalty and executing someone with a suspected mental 
illness smacks of a basic lack of humanity. This practice has been widely 
condemned on the world stage and Saudi Arabia should take this opportunity to 
reconsider its stance on the death penalty," said Philip Luther, Middle East 
and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International.

A UN resolution has called on states not to execute or impose the death penalty 
"on a person suffering from any form of mental disorder".

According to sources in Indonesia, in November 1999 Siti Zainab admitted to 
stabbing her female employer 18 times, because of alleged "mistreatment". 
Before her arrest, she had sent 2 letters in which she said that her employer 
and her employer's son had been cruel to her.

Siti Zainab reportedly made this "confession" during police interrogation, and 
was subsequently sentenced to death.

She had no legal representation at any stage and did not have access to a 
consular representative during the police interrogation when she had made her 
"confession". According to reports, the police suspected that she suffered from 
mental illness at the time of the interrogation.

The Indonesian government has issued a statement protesting against the Saudi 
Arabian authorities' failure to notify them or Siti Zainab's family before 
carrying out her execution.

In Amnesty International's 2014 global report on the death penalty, released 
earlier this month, Saudi Arabia once again ranks among the top 5 executioners 
in the world. So far in 2015, Saudi Arabia has executed at least 60 people, 
most of them by beheading. This compares with 90 executions in all of 2014.

"Whatever the misguided purpose behind Saudi Arabia's shocking spike in 
executions so far this year, it should draw international condemnation. The 
Kingdom's authorities must halt this execution spree and establish an official 
moratorium on the use of the death penalty," said Philip Luther.

(source: Amnesty International)








IRAN:

More Prisoners Scheduled to Be Executed in Karaj



A number of families of prisoners who have been sentenced to death in Rajai 
Shahr prison and Qezelhesar, in Karaj, were called for their last visit with 
prisoners on Monday.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), 
these prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement since last Monday, in 
Karaj central prison, Rajai Shahr prison and Qezalhesar, and 8 of them were 
executed in Karaj central prison and the others are still waiting for 
execution.

Central broadcaster Unit, IRIB News, associated with National TV and Radio has 
confirmed the execution of 8 prisoners in Karaj central prison, however, the 
exact number of those who are supposed to be executed next is unclear.

However, HRANA has got the name and identity of 5 prisoners who have been 
sentenced to death in Rajai Shahr prison, although they are more than 5. These 
5 prisoners are; Mansoor Gholamzadeh, Reza Ghorbani, Mahmood Maleki, Ahmad 
Malekizadeh and Hamid Farajloo, who are now in solitary confinements in ward 5 
of Rajai Shahr waiting for execution.

The Brother of one of these prisoners, in a conversation, told HRANA???s 
reporter, he believes that they are 14 prisoners: "My family has been asked to 
go to prison for the last visit and about along with my family 14 other 
families had gone to Karaj Court and prison and are now wandering in front of 
the prison."

Some of these families are likely to be families of prisoners who have been 
sentenced to death in Qezelhesar Prison. According to HRANA???s received 
reports, some of them have been transferred to solitary confinement, but the 
exact number and their identity remains unclear.

(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)








PAKISTAN:

Convict in Wali Khan Babar murder case appeals against death sentence



Convicted murderer Faisal Mehmood, alias Faisal Mota, who was sentenced to 
death for the murder of journalist Wali Khan Babar, submitted an appeal to 
challenge his death sentence on Tuesday at the Sindh High Court (SHC).

Faisal Mota was sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in absentia on 
March 1 2014.

The convict's counsel Advocate Aamir Masoob Qureshi Tuesday presented the 
stance in the application that since the death sentence was awarded in 
absentia, the court must declare it illegal. Qureshi added that according to 
Articles 21-L and 31-A of the Anti Terrorism Act 1997, a death sentence cannot 
be awarded in absentia.

The advocate also added that when a punishment is awarded in absentia, the 
convict must refer to the trial court according to Article 19(12). However, his 
client was unable to refer to the Anti-Terrorism Court in Kandhkot - where the 
sentence was announced - because the records of the case were at the SHC.

Therefore, the court must dismiss Mota's death penalty and send the case for a 
re-trial, Qureshi further added in the application. The application was 
submitted at a SHC registry, which will scrutinise the appeal before presenting 
it before a bench.

Mota, said to be a worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), was arrested 
and detained last month in Karachi after a raid by Rangers at the MQM's 
headquarters.

On January 13, 2011, GeoNews journalist Wali Khan Babar was going home from his 
office when he was shot dead in Liaquatabad, Karachi.

(source: Pakistan Observer)