[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 19



JAMAICA:

Jamaica hanging by a thread



The last person hanged in Jamaica died on the gallows in February 1988. You can 
be assured that it was a very rare occurrence and did not fall in any of the 
excluded offenders. Jamaica has a number of categories of offenders excluded 
from the death penalty: (1) Individuals below age 18 years at the time of the 
crime; (2) pregnant women; (3) mentally retarded; (4) mentally ill; and (5) 
elderly persons.

There are very few persons on death row in Jamaica - not more than 6. There is 
no legislative reason why Jamaica has not resumed hanging. In the main, we are 
not signatories to the Death Penalty Protocol, as advanced by multinational 
forums.

The principal reason why hanging is not carried out in Jamaica is the cowardice 
of the Government. The first conscience vote on hanging was held in 1979. The 
then minister of national security, Dudley Thompson (deceased), opened the 
debate. In making the argument for the retention of capital punishment, he 
reportedly said, "We are in Jamaica where, to many people, life is cheap and 
one must lift that veil of terror and restore the smiling faces that used to be 
on Jamaicans." This was spoken by a man widely acclaimed as a champion of the 
black man. Freedom fighter from the Mau Mau conflict in Kenya and given the 
street name of 'Burning Spear'. Any attempt to portray him and his expressed 
views as anti- any class or race of persons would be ludicrous.

Ferdie Neita, then a government member of parliament, contributed "a new breed 
of man, a new breed of animal in society. The breed of animal is like a cancer 
in the society and must be eradicated." Hansard reports that the debate was 
lively and vigorous. The retention of hanging was passed in Parliament in that 
conscience vote across party lines by the margin of 24 for retention and 18 for 
abolition. Parliament then had 45 members.

On November 26, 2008, there was another conscience vote in the Parliament on 
the same issue. The vote was recorded as being 35 in favour and 15 against. 
There were 10 abstentions. Parliament then had 60 members. It is worthy to note 
that the current prime minister was absent on both occasions. It is to be noted 
that the JLP stated that it would resume hanging if it formed the Government in 
2007.

It is most noteworthy that Delroy Chuck would, in his frequent columns in The 
Gleaner newspaper and on talk shows, set out the procedure that could 
facilitate hanging and violate the ruling by the Privy Council in the 
now-infamous Pratt and Morgan case. He made it seem so easy. Why was it never 
implemented? Neither of the Gangs of Gordon House care about the populace.

no economic growth

Crime stalks the land like a plague. There will be no economic growth of 
significance until this scourge is brought under control. Yes, I am aware of 
all the arguments that target our less-than-perfect justice system. I am also 
aware of the type of passion that results in domestic violence leading to 
murder.

The argument that hanging is cruel and inhumane punishment flies out the window 
when you are sleeping in your bed and then you are frighteningly awakened to 
look down the barrel of a gun or when your loved one's life is snuffed out 
mercilessly. A gun that has no redeeming value except to take a life, but when 
the cowards of Gordon House are not inclined to even build a new prison since 
1962, what can we expect?

Who are we as a people? We bow to every edict from the European Union, the law 
lords of the Privy Council, and Amnesty International without asserting that we 
act in accord with votes, on the matter of hanging. Cowardice.

The result is going to be more jungle justice. Where the State cannot, or will 
not, protect me, I must find a way to protect my family. The murderers kill at 
will. The young babies, as young as 11 months, the aged and infirm, and the 
teenagers. The murderers dictate how we order our lives. We have elaborate 
security systems, pit bulls, illegal firearms, and an intent to extract 
revenge, if we survive the ordeal.

The cowards of Gordon House all have close-security protection. What do the 
people at large have? Where are the names of all those sacrificial lambs to the 
unrestrained murders? We are caged in our homes behind grilles. We must live in 
gated communities with not much neighbourly interaction. We must spend foreign 
exchange to feed dogs that we are afraid of. Enough already. The police may 
have, though only a mere majority, the intent to protect, but their ranks also 
succour murderers.

What economic growth? The United States Department of Agriculture, in a recent 
offering, says Jamaica is expected to be an economically poor performer until 
2030. Would you invest in a business in Jamaica in this climate of unrestrained 
murder? You, the members of the Gangs of Gordon House, were elected to provide 
an environment in which we could not only survive, but thrive. Now we cannot 
even expect protection because some bleeding hearts speak about lack of 
opportunity for murderers. Not lack of opportunity to be killed viciously, 
coldly and wantonly.

Talk and talk and more talk, that is all we do. Enough. We must react now. 
Where is the DNA legislation? The minister of national security is useless.

(source: Commentary; Ronald Mason is an attorney-at-law; The Gleaner)








PAKISTAN:

Rapist gets death penalty



A local court of Islamabad on Friday awarded death sentence to resident of 
Sangjani village, Amir Shah for physically assaulting his cousin. According to 
details Amir Shah some 6 months back took his cousin (H), an orphan girl to a 
house in Roshan Basti, Sangjani village and committed rape. The girl's mother 
approached the police for registration of FIR. Tarnol Police, after medical 
report confirmed that crime was committed against the victim, registered a case 
against Shah and after a brief investigation submitted challan before the 
court.

An additional district & sessions judge of the Islamabad courts on Friday 
awarded death penalty to Amir Shah besides a fine of Rs100,000.

(source: Pakistan Observer)

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

Death penalty for acid attacks



This is with reference to the news item 'Jilted lover throws acid on model', 
(KT, April 16).

Throwing acid on girls for different reasons have become the ultimate weapon of 
scoundrels in the subcontinent and majority of these victims are women. In the 
last few years, thousands of cases have been reported in India and Pakistan (in 
some cases high-profile people were also involved) that proves that this 
behaviour does not limit to a certain section of the society. In most of the 
cases the after effects have been so traumatic that the survivor prays for 
death instead of living a painful and humiliating life.

I appeal to the rulers and the judicial system to declare death penalty for 
acid attacks and condemn it on the highest level. It will go a long way to 
deter such attacks and assures our daughters that you are safe, come what may.

Kamal Asif

(source: Letter to the Editor, Khaleej Times)

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

SC to hear Mumtaz Qadri's appeal on Monday



The Supreme Court has fixed the hearing date for Mumtaz Qadri's appeal against 
the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) death penalty verdict.

A 2-judge bench of the apex court comprising Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and 
Justice Umar Ata Bandial will take up Qadri's appeal on April 20 (Monday).

On March 9, the IHC had dismissed Qadri's appeal against his 2 capital 
punishments awarded by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in October 2011.

(source: Pakistan Today)








INDIA:

Jail authorities search frantically for lever of gallows



The lever of the gallows in Poojappura Central Jail in Thiruvananthapuram, 
which has been rusting away, is missing. The situation came to light when the 
gallows were inspected as part of the procedures to execute the death penalty 
given to Antony, the guilty in the Aluva multiple murder case, whose mercy plea 
has been rejected by the President.

The lever is placed below the platform on which the person to be hanged stands 
with a noose around his neck. When a handle is pulled to execute the death 
penalty, the platform on which the person stands moves away because of the 
action of this lever. The central jail authorities are hurrying to build a new 
lever for the gallows from the British reign.

Antony's death penalty will have to be executed once the court issues the black 
warrant. The execution cannot be put off citing incomplete gallows. Since metal 
craftsmen have said that it is difficult to make the lever, the construction 
division of the jail itself has taken up that responsibility. Three cotton 
ropes for hanging are also being made.

Antony is guilty of hacking to death 6 people in Manjooran House in Aluva, 
including Augustine, his wife and children. Prisons in Kerala house nine people 
sentenced to death.

Kannur model could not be replicated

After the lever vanished in Poojappura, though an official of the construction 
division was sent to study the mechanism in Kannur, there has been no use. The 
gallows in Kannur can be used to hang 2 people at a time. Its lever is 
different from the 1 in Thiruvananthapuram.

Previous execution by hanging 37 years ago

The previous execution of death penalty in Poojappura Central Jail took place 
in 1978, and the person hung to death was Kaliyikkavila resident Azhakesan. 
After Ripper Chandran was hung to death on July 6, 1991, in Kannur Central 
Jail, no one has been executed in Kerala.

Hangman to get 2 lakh rupees

There are no hangmen in Kerala to execute the death penalty. The person who 
hung to death Ripper Chandran was a resident of Pollachi, in Tamil Nadu. A 
hangman's remuneration is 2 lakh rupees.

(source: manoramaonline.com)








INDONESIA:

Plight of Pinay on death row raised to UN



The plight of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina who is on death row in Indonesia 
for drug trafficking, has been raised to the Office of the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Karapatan, an alliance Philippine-based human rights organizations and 
advocates, sent a letter to the Human Rights Council president of the OHCHR to 
seek help for Veloso.

According to Karapatan, Veloso was not provided a lawyer or a translator upon 
her arrest in 2010.

"Mary Jane was not provided a lawyer or translator by the Philippine embassy 
upon her arrest in 2010. During her trial, the court-provided interpreter was 
not a duly-licensed translator by the Association of Indonesian Translators. 
Her lawyer during the course of her trial was a public defender provided by the 
Indonesian police. The Philippine government did not provide a lawyer during 
the crucial period of her 6-month trial. Mary Jane was convicted after a very 
brief trial period - on October 2010, just 6 months after she was arrested," 
the group said in its letter.

The group also lamented the Philippine government's actions to save Veloso, 
adding that the government "had not done anything to arrest, investigate or 
even just invite for questioning Mary Jane's alleged recruiter and trafficker."

"Veloso's case is indeed indicative of several violations of the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the 
Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Families, wherein both Indonesia and 
Philippines are state parties, including the right to appear in court with 
qualified translators in the state of employment, legal representation at all 
stages of the judicial process, consular support of state of origin for foreign 
national defendants throughout the judicial process, inconsistencies in 
sentences for similar cases, and the application of the death penalty in 
drug-related cases," Karapatan said.

Following these alleged violations, Karapatan is asking the Council to "take 
meaningful measures" to hold both Indonesia and the Philippines accountable for 
the injustice on Veloso and her family.

The Philippine government has appealed for clemency for Veloso, but Indonesian 
President Joko Widodo rejected the appeal in January.

Department of Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III said they are already 
preparing for a 2nd appeal for Veloso.

(source: ABS-CBNNews)

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

279 Indonesian migrant workers face death penalty abroad



As many as 279 Indonesia migrant workers overseas face the possibility of 
execution, 36 of whom are in Saudi Arabia, an official has said.

"The government, through the Indonesian embassies in those countries, is 
striving to free them [death row convicts] from the death sentences by, among 
others efforts, conducting informal approaches to families of the victims," 
Manpower Ministry migrant worker placement director Guntur Witjaksono said. He 
was speaking during a coordination meeting concerning Indonesian migrant worker 
placement and protection in Semarang, Central Java, on Friday. Guntur said 
informal lobbying of families of victims was a key means of securing pardon for 
Indonesian migrant workers awaiting execution.

He said some of the migrant workers being facing the death penalty had been 
convicted of murder. According to the ministry's official data, 6 out of 36 
Indonesian migrant workers on death row overseas are from Central Java.

The head of the domestic and foreign worker placement division at the Central 
Java Manpower, Transmigration and Population agency, Ahmad Aziz, said in the 
beginning of 2015, 8 migrant workers from Central Java were facing the 
possibility of execution.

"There are now only 6 workers [on death row], as Karni from Brebes has been 
executed, while Satinah from Semarang escaped execution after the Indonesian 
government paid diyat [blood money] to the victim's family," said Aziz.

The deputy head of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian 
Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), Agustin Subiantoro, said most Indonesian workers 
facing legal problems overseas were working in informal sectors, particularly 
as domestic helpers.

"The problem often starts at the very beginning, namely in worker-recruitment 
processes that do not follow required procedures. These include 
document-completeness examinations, competency tests, health check-ups and 
training before departures," he said.Agustin added that by completing all 
procedures, there should have been a guarantee that Indonesian migrant workers 
dispatched were only those who had the competence or skills needed by their 
employers in the destination countries.

To better protect Indonesian workers from similar legal problems in the future, 
he said the government would establish stricter recruitment protocol, stressing 
worker competence such as housework skills, legal knowledge and language, as 
well as the ability to adapt to the culture of the people in their destination 
countries.

Karni binti Medi Tarsim was executed on Thursday. In 2013, a Saudi Arabian 
court sentenced Karni to death for killing her employer's 4-year-old child in 
2012. Karni's execution came just 2 days after another Indonesian migrant 
worker, Siti Zaenab, was beheaded in Medina on Tuesday. In 2001, a local court 
sentenced Siti to death for murdering her female employer in 1999.

(source: Jakarta Post)

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

Indonesia's Death Penalty Strategy Is Fatally Flawed



Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi's short time in office has already seen 
a lot of controversy surrounding capital punishment: at home involving 
foreigners on death row and their Indonesian counterparts overseas. The 
ministry's latest protest against Saudi Arabia over the recent executions of 2 
Indonesian migrant workers - Siti Zaenab and Karni binti Medi Tarsim - 
illustrates the difficulties for any country to condemn the taking of life 
while still implementing the same punishment.

The latest diplomatic brouhaha with Saudi Arabia has revealed that there is 
something incoherent and illogical in our stance on the death penalty. At the 
moment, Jakarta is trying to implement its self-contradictory policy of 
brooking no contest for our own judicial murder of drug traffickers while 
simultaneously appealing for mercy on behalf of Indonesian nationals sentenced 
to death by foreign courts. And the strategy isn't working at all.

On a rather surreal note, the spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, 
Armanatha Nasir, told the press that the bone of contention lay in the failure 
by the Saudi government to notify Indonesia of the dates and time chosen for 
the executions. The statement suggests that Indonesia didn't dispute the 
justice behind the death sentences, merely the procedural aspect of the 
executions.

So, if the ministry were sufficiently satisfied with the rulings of Saudi 
courts in both cases, the formal pleas for mercy it made on behalf of the 2 
migrant workers, in retrospect, were incoherent, to say the least.

Perhaps our incoherence is inevitable considering that if Indonesia makes a 
habit of questioning the justice system of other nations, it follows that our 
own judiciary may also become susceptible to the same treatment. Hence our 
government has chosen to focus on procedure. But in so doing, it debases the 
humanitarian nature of the issue.

Even more surreal was the initial confusion in the Indonesian press whether the 
government had recalled its ambassador to Riyadh to add weight to its 
diplomatic note of protest to the Saudis. A number of news outlets reported as 
such but the content was duly retracted.

Under president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia did recall its ambassador 
from Saudi Arabia, in 2011. Remarkably, the diplomatic row was also about the 
lack of prior notification for the beaheading of another migrant worker, Ruyati 
binti Satubi. The Yudhoyono administration also followed up the recall with a 
temporary ban on Indonesian migrant workers going to Saudi Arabia, which is 
currently still in place.

It is worth noting that a recall sends out a very strong diplomatic message. It 
is a step away from an ultimatum, which historically may lead to war. Despite 
the strength of our 2011 representation, it obviously didn???t have the desired 
effect on the Saudi government, as the recent incidents suggest.

When it comes to the issue of capital punishment, the current government has 
boxed itself into a corner. It was only a few weeks ago when Jakarta took 
umbrage at what it called Australia's "megaphone" diplomacy to have the death 
sentences for the ???Bali 9" duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran commuted to 
life imprisonment.

Insisting the issue was about Indonesia's "overriding principle of state 
sovereignty," Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, President Joko Widodo's chief of staff, 
wrote in an op-ed for TheStraits Times in Singapore: "The objection is to the 
manner and tone of the intervention, the warnings and the thinly veiled 
threats. These are unacceptable. Indonesia does not employ these tactics in its 
own interventions."

Apart from the insensitive comment linking cooperation with aid by Prime 
Minister Abbott, Australia's "megaphone" tactics obviously grabbed the 
Indonesian government's attention, so much so that a postponement of the second 
round of executions followed soon after. The official reason was that the 
government was still awaiting the court verdict on the Bali 9 duo's appeal but 
it's difficult to believe it was totally unrelated to Australia's persistent 
lobbying.

Australia's efforts on behalf of Chan and Sukumuran saw Canberra working in 
tandem with its public and the media. Petitions, vigils and public appeals by 
eminent Australians were the order of the day, aimed at exposing the folly of 
the death penalty rather than just asking for mercy. No doubt, there was a 
humanitarian principle at work here.

In comparison, for both Zaenab and Karni, Indonesia opted for the formal "no 
fuss" appeals for clemency to the Saudis, in the form of letters to the king. 
When the Saudis proceeded with the executions without so much of a prior 
notification, despite the 2011 recall, we should ask ourselves if mere 
"formal," hence procedural, channels were sufficient at all.

Nevertheless, the rigor of "informal" avenues of pressure to oppose the death 
sentences meted to the Bali 9 duo in Australia was natural, given the fact that 
our southern neighbors no longer carry out capital punishment. As long as 
Indonesia enshrines the death penalty in its penal code, we can never have the 
moral stature to object to other nations executing our nationals.

(source: Commentary; Johannes Nugroho is a writer from Surabaya----Jakarta 
Post)




EGYPT:

Egypt court sentences 11 to death over 2012 football riot----An Egyptian court 
Sunday sentenced 11 football fans to death after a retrial over a 2012 stadium 
riot in the canal city of Port Said that left 74 people dead.



An appeals court had ordered the retrial of 73 defendants in February last year 
after rejecting a lower court verdict sentencing 21 people to death for being 
involved in the incident.

The riot erupted in February 2012 when fans of home team Al-Masry and Cairo's 
Al-Ahly clashed after a premier league match between the 2 clubs.

Sunday's death sentences against 11 football fans have been referred to Egypt's 
grand mufti.

The court will make a final decision on their fates, as well as those of the 
other defendants, on May 30.

The 73 defendants include 9 police officers and 3 officials from Al-Masry club, 
while the rest were fans of Al-Masry club.

2 of those sentenced to death are on the run.

None of the families of the victims or of the defendants attended Sunday's 
court session, which was held in Cairo for security reasons.

Sunday's verdict can be appealed.

The 2012 clashes in the Port Said stadium sparked days of violent protests in 
Cairo, in which another 16 people were killed in fighting with security forces.

A year later, dozens of people also died in the canal city during clashes that 
erupted after the lower court handed down the 21 death sentences.

The Port Said riots were the deadliest sport-related riots in Egypt, where 
football fans regularly clash against rival supporters or with security forces.

The authorities reacted by imposing a ban on fans attending premier league 
matches and held the games behind closed doors.

But on February 8, at least 19 people died in a stampede after police fired 
tear gas at fans trying to force their way into a Cairo stadium for a premier 
league match that was open to the public.

Television footage showed crowds squeezed inside a narrow metal enclosure, 
jostling to enter the stadium when the stampede erupted as police fired tear 
gas.

The police reject the accusations and blame the unrest on Islamists. Sixteen 
suspects accused of clashing with police on that day have been arrested and 
referred to trial.

Since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, his 
supporters have been the target of a brutal government crackdown overseen by 
his successor President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Egypt's hard-core football fans, the "ultras", have often clashed with police, 
including in political unrest that has seen two presidents toppled since 2011.

The "ultras" were at the forefront of protests against long-time autocrat Hosni 
Mubarak, who stepped down in early 2011 after an 18-day uprising against his 
rule.

That uprising was essentially against the police, who were regularly accused of 
torturing detainees and of being involved in extra-judicial executions.

(source: al-monitor)

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

Egypt's Morsi faces possible death penalty----Execution of country's 1st freely 
elected leader would mark 'escalation' by military-backed Sissi government, 
says expert



Egypt's ex-president Mohammed Morsi faces being sentenced to death Tuesday on 
charges of inciting the killing of protesters in the 1st verdict against him 
nearly 2 years after his fall from power.

He also faces the death penalty in 2 other trials, including one in which he is 
accused of spying for foreign powers, and escaping from prison during the 2011 
anti-Mubarak revolt.

Separate verdicts in those 2 cases are due on May 16.

A death sentence on Tuesday against Egypt's 1st freely elected president cannot 
be ruled out, experts say, especially since judges have already passed harsh 
verdicts against leaders of his blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi was toppled by the then army chief - and now president - Abdel Fattah 
al-Sissi on July 3, 2013 after mass street protests against his year-long rule.

The new authorities then launched a sweeping crackdown on his supporters in 
which more than 1,400 people were killed and thousands jailed.

Hundreds have been sentenced to death after speedy mass trials which the United 
Nations called "unprecedented in recent history."

The authorities have also targeted secular and liberal activists who 
spearheaded the 2011 uprising against long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Morsi's 
predecessor.

In November, a court dropped murder charges against Mubarak in his own trial 
over the deaths of hundreds of protesters in 2011.

Sissi's regime is widely popular among Egyptians tired of more than 4 years of 
political turmoil, but rights groups say it is more repressive than under 
Mubarak.

Tuesday's verdict involves a case in which Morsi and 14 other defendants, 7 of 
whom are on the run, are charged with the killing of 3 protesters and torturing 
several more during clashes in front of the presidential palace on December 5, 
2012.

The protesters were demonstrating against a Morsi decree that put him above 
judicial review when they clashed with his supporters.

Defense lawyers say there is no proof Morsi incited the clashes, and that most 
of those killed were Brotherhood members.

'Justice highly politicized'

Even if Morsi escapes the death penalty, he could still face life in jail.

"Justice is highly politicized and verdicts are rarely based on objective 
elements," Karim Bitar from the Paris-based Institute of International and 
Strategic Relations told AFP.

Morsi's supporters were the target of a government "witch-hunt," he added.

If a death sentence is passed, it is unlikely to be carried out, said H. A. 
Hellyer of the Washington-based Brookings Center for Middle East Policy.

"The execution of Morsi would represent an escalation by the Egyptian 
authorities that they do not appear willing to engage in," said Hellyer.

"Internationally, it will be received badly that an elected president 
overthrown via a military incursion into politics, even if that military is 
popular, is then dealt a harsh judicial sentence."

The verdict is also open to appeal.

A harsh sentence will nevertheless be a nail in the coffin of the Brotherhood, 
as Sissi has vowed to "eradicate" the 85-year-old movement that staged major 
electoral gains between Mubarak's fall and Morsi's presidential victory in May 
2012.

Almost all of its leaders face harsh sentences, and in December 2013 the 
movement was designated a "terrorist group," with the authorities blaming it 
for near daily attacks on the security forces.

In a country where the army has been in power for decades, Sissi's May 2014 
presidential victory crushed hopes raised since the popular anti-Mubarak revolt 
of a civilian democracy.

The extent of anti-Brotherhood repression "is unprecedented in the history of 
the Brotherhood and could push its supporters to extremism," said Mustapha 
Kamel al-Sayyid, professor of political science at Cairo University.

Jihadists, mainly the Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State group, have 
claimed attacks on security forces in retaliation for the crackdown on Morsi 
supporters.

The Brotherhood itself denies resorting to violence.

(source: Agence France-Presse)

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

Scant Evidence for Mass Convictions ---- Draconian Sentences for 51 Including 
Journalists and Media Workers



A review of the prosecution's evidence in a mass trial of 51 alleged supporters 
of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood shows that the government presented no evidence 
of criminal behavior besides the testimony of 1 police officer.

On April 11, 2015, an Egyptian judge convicted and sentenced 37 people to life 
in prison and confirmed the death penalties of 14 others for their alleged 
roles in organizing opposition to the military's removal of former President 
Mohamed Morsy in July 2013. The charges ranged from publishing false news to 
conspiring to overthrow the interim government installed by the military 
following the removal of Morsy. But a review of the case file by Human Rights 
Watch shows that the state presented little evidence that the defendants did 
anything but spread news about a mass sit-in opposing the coup or organize and 
publicize peaceful opposition to Morsy's removal.

Security forces violently dispersed the sit-in at Cairo's Rab'a al-Adawiya 
Square on August 14, 2013, killing more than 800 mostly peaceful protesters. 
The killings were a probable crime against humanity for which no government 
official or member of the security forces has faced investigation or 
prosecution.

"The fact that people who covered and publicized the mass killings in 2013 
could go to prison for life or be executed while the killers walk free captures 
the abject politicization of justice in Egypt," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle 
East and North Africa director.

The April 11, 2015 verdict came after United States President Barack Obama 
announced, following a call with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on March 31, 
that he would allow the release to Egypt of F-16 fighter jets, M1A1 Abrams 
tanks, and Harpoon missiles that the US had withheld since Morsy's removal. A 
spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that rather 
than wait until the administration could certify to Congress that Egypt had 
taken steps toward a restoration of full democracy, Secretary of State John 
Kerry would invoke a waiver citing US national security interests to request 
military aid without such a certification.

On April 11, the White House issued a statement saying that the US condemned 
the sentence against Soltan and calling for his immediate release.

Human Rights Watch obtained a copy of 107 pages of the government's file in the 
case of the 51 alleged Brotherhood supporters and verified the contents with a 
lawyer on the coordinated defense team. The file included evidence logs, 
prosecutors' notes, and the full charge sheet and testimony from investigating 
police officers. Judge Nagi Shehata, who presided over the case in his capacity 
as a special circuit judge assigned to hear cases of terrorism and national 
security, did not immediately release the text of his verdict. Human Rights 
Watch did not monitor the trial.

A review of the file showed that prosecutors presented no evidence other than 
testimony from a police major in the National Security Sector of the Interior 
Ministry to support their accusation that the defendants planned to use 
violence to overthrow the government.

The police major alleged that Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and other 
top leaders in the organization planned to cause chaos in Egypt by spreading 
false news of police abuse, confronting police in the streets, staging sit-ins 
at government buildings, and eventually arresting the coup leaders and forming 
their own government. Other evidence meant to support the prosecution's case - 
including seized papers and text messages - suggested only that the defendants 
had helped publicize and organize protests against Morsy's removal.

"Peacefully advocating a political point of view or doing your job as a 
journalist should never be a crime," Stork said. "This trial appears to be 
simply another effort by the Egyptian government to silence its opponents."

The defendants included 10 journalists and seven people who worked as 
Brotherhood spokesmen or for Brotherhood-owned news outlets, as well as Mohamed 
Soltan, a 27-year-old Egyptian-American who volunteered to arrange news 
coverage of the sit-in, and was sentenced to life in prison. Walid Abd al-Raouf 
Shalabi, a writer at the Brotherhood's official Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) 
newspaper, was sentenced to death.

On April 11, the White House issued a statement saying that the United States 
condemned the sentence against Soltan and calling for his immediate release.

Badie and other prominent leaders in the Brotherhood also received death 
sentences. In Egypt, a life sentence is 25 years, and defense lawyers have said 
they will appeal all the sentences.

Soltan has been on hunger strike for more than 400 days and has suffered 
potentially permanent damage to his health, his family has said. Unlike the 
Australian Al Jazeera English journalist Peter Greste, who was convicted by 
Shehata in an earlier case and deported under a decree issued by al-Sisi 
permitting the "extradition" of foreign defendants, or Greste's colleague 
Mohamed Fahmy, an Egyptian-Canadian who remains on trial in Egypt after 
renouncing his Egyptian citizenship in the hope of taking advantage of the 
decree, Soltan has not yet given up his Egyptian citizenship. On April 11, 
however, his family called for the US to demand that al-Sisi release Soltan 
"the same way he released ... Peter Greste."

The authorities should quash the convictions of the journalists and media 
workers who were convicted solely for their reporting or for exercising their 
right to freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said. If there is credible 
evidence that the other defendants planned or promoted violence, prosecutors 
should retry them in proceedings that meet international fair trial standards 
and present such evidence.

The case is the latest of more than a dozen mass trials since 2013 targeting 
Brotherhood members and others who have opposed the new government of al-Sisi, 
the former defense minister who orchestrated Morsy's removal. Shehata, a 
criminal court judge in Giza governorate, was appointed by the country's 
highest appeals court in January 2014 to 1 of 9 special circuits meant to hear 
terrorism cases and those affecting "national unity and peace." He has since 
overseen multiple mass trials. On February 4, 2015, he sentenced 230 protesters 
and activists to life in prison, while on February 2, he confirmed 183 death 
sentences for a deadly attack by alleged Brotherhood supporters on a police 
station.

In June 2014, Egypt's grand mufti, who is legally required to give his opinion 
on death sentences in his role as the country's highest Islamic legal official, 
rejected 14 death sentences handed down by Shehata against Badie and other 
Brotherhood members in a separate case. One of the assisting judges on the 
panel overseeing the case said that the mufti had found that "the 
investigations and evidence were not enough to carry out the death sentence," 
Reuters reported.

The Prosecution's Case

According to the case file obtained by Human Rights Watch, the prosecution 
alleged that 14 of the defendants, among them Badie and other prominent 
Brotherhood officials, had planned to "overturn the constitution" and form a 
new government by force, prevent state institutions from working, and attack 
security forces and places of Christian worship, or had provided the 
Brotherhood with money and weapons to do so.

All of the defendants except Badie and Mahmoud Ghozlan, another top Brotherhood 
leader, were charged with participating in this "criminal agreement" and 
preparing a plan to "spread chaos in the country."

Prosecutors accused 35 defendants - among them Soltan, journalists, and media 
workers - of publishing "rumors" and "false news" that they allegedly knew 
would "weaken the prestige of the state," "spread terror," "disturb the general 
security," and convince the international community that the government could 
not administer the country.

The judge convicted thirteen defendants in absentia. 2 defendants - Ghozlan and 
Amr Farrag, a journalist - remain at large, while 11 were officially listed by 
the prosecution as fugitives but are actually being held by the authorities and 
are defendants in other cases, a defense lawyer told Human Rights Watch.

In his testimony, Maj. Mostafa Khalil, the National Security Sector officer who 
provided the bulk of the prosecution's evidence, alleged that after security 
forces dispersed the sit-in in Cairo on August 14, 2013, Badie ordered Ghozlan 
to set up "operation rooms" under the supervision of Hossam Abu Bakr, a former 
Morsy-appointed governor of the Qalyubiya governorate, who was also sentenced 
to death on April 11, 2015.

Major Khalil said that Abu Bakr and 9 others agreed to "execute a plan" that 
would include publishing falsified accounts of protesters' deaths and injuries 
in order to claim that security forces had "violated international human rights 
standards." This coverage, he theorized, would allow the Brotherhood to rally 
supporters and organize armed marches that would distract security forces and 
provide the Brotherhood with an opportunity to loot weapons from police 
stations.

Major Khalil alleged that Saad al-Hosseini, a former member of parliament who 
was among those sentenced to death, oversaw an agreement to hire "criminal 
elements" to join Brotherhood marches and confront security forces, and that 
other defendants were responsible for recording the confrontations and sharing 
the information with the international media.

Among the properties used as "operation rooms," prosecutors alleged, was the 
headquarters of the independent news website Rassd. Major Khalil said that when 
police arrested Soltan on August 26, 2013, he was meeting in an apartment with 
2 Rassd journalists - Abdullah al-Fakharany, the executive director, and Samhi 
Mustafa, a co-founder - as well as Mohamed al-Adly, a correspondent for the 
Amgad satellite television channel, and that the 4 were planning future 
coverage and how to communicate securely. Farrag, the journalist who remains at 
large, also worked for Rassd and was convicted and sentenced to life 
imprisonment in absentia.

The police who arrested Soltan - then recovering from a bullet wound in his arm 
suffered at the sit-in - had been looking for his father, Salah, a Brotherhood 
member, Soltan's family has said. Soltan's sister told Human Rights Watch that 
when Soltan asked for a warrant during the arrest, an officer laughed and said 
he was told to "round up" whomever he found in the house. Soltan's father was 
sentenced to death in the same case.

10 days before Soltan's arrest, the prosecution said, police had arrested 4 
Brotherhood leaders in another apartment, where they found "stacks of paper" 
with titles such as "Scenario," "Characteristics and Types of Weapons," and 
"Description of Movements in Some Places." The authorities said they had found 
$887 in US dollars and 418,000 Egyptian pounds (US$54,800) in cash, as well as 
an order from a hawala - an informal money-transfer system - for another 
400,000 Egyptian pounds.

Besides Major Khalil's testimony, the prosecution???s case file includes no 
evidence that any of the defendants planned or advocated violence. Among the 
items listed as seized from various alleged "operation rooms" were cameras, 
laptops, CDs, hard drives, mobile phones, and papers related to legislative 
projects of the Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), such as 
"Elections Program" and "Egyptian Constitution Project." Other "evidence" 
included a document called "I Refuse the Coup Against Legitimacy in 2 
Languages: Arabic and English." The prosecution's file did not describe the 
documents in more detail.

The defense lawyer, who asked not to be named, told Human Rights Watch that 
police found no weapons in possession of any of the defendants and that 
prosecutors presented no corroborating evidence, such as emails or text 
messages, to support Major Khalil's testimony.

In a section of the case file labeled "prosecution notes," the authors cite 
"many media publications" found by police in a Cairo apartment used by the 
Brotherhood that included remarks by Badie explaining "how to occupy and 
control government buildings and confront police forces with the use of 
violence." But much of the prosecution???s evidence describes only alleged 
plans by Badie and other high-ranking Brotherhood members to bring down the 
interim government through nonviolent civil disobedience. In another Cairo 
apartment, prosecutors wrote, police found written papers addressed to Deputy 
Supreme Guide Khairat al-Shater and labeled "Scenario" that contained, among 
other sections, one titled "Nonviolent Weapons of War." This section suggested 
plans for a "social and economic boycott of state institutions," occupying 
government offices, and publishing "a parallel government." It suggested 
allying with other revolutionary groups, such as the April 6 Movement and 
Ultras soccer fans. It also allegedly contained plans for a 3-day "rally" that 
would involve occupying public squares, "fatiguing" security forces with 
clashes, surrounding embassies and government buildings, and conclude by 
"storming" the constitutional court, "besieging" the Ittihadeya presidential 
palace, and arresting the interim president and defense minister.

Other purportedly criminal plans discovered by police included a paper that 
suggested organizing a large march of protesters to Cairo Stadium for a day 
called "Sports Against the Coup" that would feature the demonstrators from the 
Rab???a sit-in playing against those from the other main sit-in in the capital, 
at Nahda Square.

Among those sentenced on April 11, 2015, were several people who served as key 
liaisons between foreign journalists and the Brotherhood and FJP, including 
Khaled Hamza, director of Ikhwanweb, the Brotherhood's main English-language 
website; Ahmed Aref, a main Brotherhood spokesman; Murad Ali, chief FJP 
spokesman; and Gehad al-Haddad, the son of Morsy's foreign policy advisor. 
Al-Haddad often gave interviews and background briefings to English-language 
media during the Rab'a sit-in.

In the prosecution's notes, investigators wrote down paraphrased "confessions" 
from some of these defendants. Most of these statements consist only of 
acknowledgments that the individual was a Brotherhood member, participated in 
the Rab'a sit-in, or helped spread news about protests opposing Morsy's 
removal.

The defense lawyer told Human Rights Watch that the confessions were fabricated 
and that all the defendants had declined to speak with prosecutors.

Al-Haddad's "confession" states that he served as a spokesman for the 
Brotherhood, helped arrange official statements, and set up a media center in a 
hall inside the Rab'a al-Adawiya mosque, where the Brotherhood often held news 
conferences during the sit-in. The prosecution said that al-Haddad also 
"confessed" to giving 3 interviews to foreign media - to a Spanish newspaper, 
an American television channel, and the New York Times - after the Rab'a 
dispersal.

Soltan's "confession" states only that he frequented the Rab'a sit-in and was 
responsible for dealing with the foreign journalists who covered it.

Earlier Mass Trials

\ The number of defendants charged in mass trials since 2013 has ranged from 
two dozen to 494, and the charges have spanned from murder to participation in 
anti-government protests. Hundreds of defendants have been sentenced to death 
or life in prison. As of late March 2015, 435 alleged Morsy supporters had 
received death sentences and appealed their case to the Court of Cassation, 
Egypt's highest appeals court, according to a count by the Moheet news website.

In March, Egypt carried out the 1st execution to stem from Morsy's overthrow, 
after an alleged anti-coup protester was convicted of murder in mass trial 
involving 58 defendants. 6 men convicted in a separate, military trial of 
belonging to a terrorist group and attacking security forces currently face 
execution.

The April 11 Sentences of Journalists and Media Workers

The 18 journalists and media workers sentenced on April 11, 2015, are:

Sentenced to death: 1.Walid Abd al-Raouf Shalabi - Writer for Freedom and 
Justice Party newspaper

Sentenced to life in prison:

1.Hani Salahuddin - broadcaster and former journalist at Al-Youm Al-Sabaa 
newspaper

2.Gamal Nasar - journalist and broadcaster

3.Ibrahim al-Taher - journalist

4.Abdou Desouki - journalist

5.Mohamed al-Adly - Amgad television channel correspondent

6.Mosaad al-Barbari - Ahrar 25 television channel director

7.Hussein al-Qabbani - Journalists for Reform group coordinator

8.Amr Farrag - Rassd news website director

9.Samhi Mustafa - Rassd news website executive director

10.Abdullah al-Fakharany - Rassd news website founding member

11.Mohamed Soltan - Rab'a sit-in media volunteer

12.Ahmed Aref - Muslim Brotherhood spokesman

13.Murad Ali - Freedom and Justice Party spokesman

14.Gehad al-Haddad - Muslim Brotherhood English-language spokesman

15.Khaled Hamza - Muslim Brotherhood English website, Ikhwanweb, director

16.Ahmed Subei - Muslim Brotherhood Arabic website, Ikhwan Online, employee

17.Magdi Hammouda - Muslim Brotherhood Arabic website, Ikhwan Online, employee

(source: Human Rights Watch)