[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 20



GUINEA:

Guinea prosecutor demands death penalty over Ebola murders



A prosecutor called Monday for the death penalty for 15 people accused of the 
murders of a nine-member Ebola education team in southern Guinea, judicial 
sources said.

The victims, including local health officials and journalists, went missing 
after their delegation came under attack from angry locals during an outreach 
visit to the southern town of Womey in September last year.

8 bodies were recovered from the septic tank of a nearby primary school 2 days 
after the attack.

Williams Fernandez, prosecuting at the trial in the southern city of 
N'Zerekore, said 26 defendants had been accused of a raft of offences including 
murder, criminal conspiracy, robbery, assault and theft.

He called for 15 accused to be sentenced to death and for the remaining 11 to 
be acquitted.

Michel Labile Sonomou, who is defending 1 of the accused, told AFP the 5-week 
trial was due to sum up at the end of the week. Closing arguments for the 
defence begin on Tuesday.

The deadliest Ebola epidemic on record has killed nearly 11,000 people in west 
Africa, according to the World Health Organization.

The virus emerged in Guinea in December 2013 and quickly spread, accompanied by 
fear and paranoia among villagers who felt the government and the international 
community could not be trusted.

Many Guineans believed local and foreign healthcare workers were part of a 
conspiracy to deliberately introduce the outbreak, or invented it as a means of 
luring Africans to clinics to harvest their blood and organs.

A police lieutenant told AFP the Womey outreach team was targeted by protesters 
who had come "to kill them because they think Ebola is nothing more than an 
invention of white people to kill black people".

At least 21 people were wounded during violent scenes in which the team was 
pelted with stones, according to local police.

(source: Agence France-Presse)








IRAN:

Executions in a week reaches 81



Coincident with mass executions in the prisons of Ghezel-Hessar, Karaj and 
other cities, the anti-human regime of mullahs sent 16 other prisoners to the 
gallows in Mashhad and Birjand (northeastern Iran). 12 of them were hanged 
collectively in Vakilabad prison of Mashhad on April 16, and the other 4 were 
executed in Birjand prison the following day. Thus, the number of executions 
from 12 to 18 April reached 81, meaning 12 executions per day.

The unprecedented increase in the wave of executions after the Lausanne nuke 
framework is a clear indication of the mullahs' desperate need of creating an 
atmosphere of fear in the society to confront the explosive situation.

Iranian Resistance calls on Iranian brave youths to express their solidarity 
with the families of the executed and prisoners, and to protest against this 
criminal move in the country. It also underscores the need for ousting this 
bloodthirsty and fascist regime from the world community.

(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)








INDONESIA:

Bali nine executions: Iranians on Indonesia's death row have sentences commuted 
to life in prison



2 Iranians found guilty of smuggling 40 kilograms of methamphetamine in 
Indonesia have had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

The Bandung High Court said in its decision that sentencing was not about 
revenge, but a form of education so that in the future the defendant wouldn't 
conduct another criminal act, according to news website Rappler.

This ruling is at odds with Indonesian president Joko Widodo's repeated claims 
that the death penalty for drug felons is a necessary "shock therapy" for a 
country facing a drug emergency.

10 drug offenders, including Bali nine organisers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew 
Chan, are facing imminent death by firing squad in Indonesia.

The date has not yet been fixed but the Attorney-General said it would be 
unseemly to kill them while the Asian African conference was being held this 
week.

The Iranians, Mosavipour bin Sayed Abdollah, 36, and Moradalivand bin Moradali, 
32, were arrested by the National Narcotics Agency on February 26, 2014.

They were caught picking up the methamphetamines in bags which had been buried 
in the Tangkuban Perahu Nature Reserve in West Java.

The Iranians were sentenced to death in January, even though the prosecutors 
only sought sentences of 15-20 years.

However the death penalty was overruled by the Bandung High Court on March 30, 
according to the decision published on the court website on Monday.

The inconsistency of the application of the law in Indonesia is deeply 
distressing for those on death row and one of the reasons advanced for the 
abolition of capital punishment.

Meanwhile, 1 of the 10 felons on death row, Nigerian Raheem Agbaje Salami, had 
his appeal thrown out of the Administrative Court on Monday.

The court said clemency was the prerogative of the president and it did not 
have the jurisdiction to rule on the matter.

This was the same reason given in a similar appeal mounted by lawyers for Chan 
and Sukumaran.

A man purporting to be Raheem Agbaje Salami, from the southern Spanish city of 
Cordova, was arrested in 1998 smuggling 5.3 kilograms of heroin into Surabaya, 
Indonesia's 2nd largest city.

However Raheem's passport was false. His real name is Jamiu Owolabi Abashin, a 
Nigerian national. And although he was arrested 17 years ago, Indonesian 
authorities continue to use the fake name in prison on Nusakambangan.

Raheem's lawyer, Utomo Karim, argued the prosecution of his case was illegal 
because his fake identity was used from his arrest to his conviction in the 
district court right through to the rejection of his clemency plea.

Mr Utomo is considering lodging a request for a judicial review of his client's 
case in another court.

However he said funding it was a problem because the Nigerian Embassy can't 
help pay for it.

(source: Sydney Morning Herald)

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

Indonesia court rejects death penalty for 2 drug smugglers----'Sentencing a 
defendant is not about revenge, but more a form of education and lesson so that 
in the future the defendant won't conduct another criminal act'



Not all drug smugglers in Indonesia are sentenced to death, even under the 
current administration, which has taken a hard-line stance on drug trafficking.

The Bandung High Court, for instance, did not agree with the death sentence 
given by a lower court to two Iranian nationals found guilty of smuggling 40 
kilograms of crystal methampetamine.

"Sentencing a defendant is not about revenge, but more a form of education and 
lesson so that in the future the defendant won't conduct another criminal act," 
the court decision stated, according to a report on Detik.com on Monday, April 
20.

The March 30, 2015 Bandung court decision saved the lives of Seyed Hashem 
Mosavipour bin Sayed Abdollah (36) and Moradalivand bin Moradali (32). The pair 
was reportedly arrested by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) on February 26, 
2014, after they took drug-filled travel bags buried in the Tangkuban Perahu 
Nature Reserve in Sukabumi, West Java.

In January 2015, the Cibadak district court in Sukabumi, West Java, sentenced 
the 2 Iranians to death, even though the prosecutors only sought sentences of 
15-20 years.

Instead, the pair will serve life sentences, which according to the Bandung 
High Court should also serve as a deterrent and discourage others from 
violating the law.

BNN protest

BNN said it regretted the high court decision, which it said did not take into 
consideration the amount of drugs smuggled.

"If you estimate that 1 gram of meth is used by about 7 people, then almost 
280,000 people could have used those drugs," BNN spokesperson Slamet Pribadi 
was quoted as saying.

He added BNN hoped an appeal would reverse the decision again.

The news comes as Indonesia prepares to execute up to 11 people, 8 of whom were 
convicted of drug cases. These include Filipino citizen Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso 
and the Australian "Bali 9" pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has rejected their clemency requests, claiming 
that Indonesia is in a drug emergency, and has ignored calls from foreign 
governments and human rights activists to reconsider.

On Monday, he reiterated his call again for other countries to respect 
Indonesia's laws.

"We will practice our constitution. The law does allow for execution, and I 
think other countries should respect Indonesian laws," he said in an interview 
aired by Philippine broadcast network ABS-CBN.

(source: Rappler.com)

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

Philippines VP to visit Veloso in prison



Vice President Jejomar Binay is planning to visit Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina 
on death row in Indonesia, in prison on the sidelines of his visit to Indonesia 
this week to attend the Asian-African Conference Commemoration (AACC), a senior 
diplomat from the Philippines has said.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Jesus Domingo, the assistant secretary for 
office of UN and international organizations at the Philippines Department of 
Foreign Affairs, said Vice President Binay was hoping to save Veloso from the 
firing squad.

"We've requested the opportunity to visit her," he said on the sidelines of the 
Asia-Africa Ministerial Meeting (AAMM) on Monday. "Our Vice President is 
seeking the chance to visit her and to speak with the proper officials in the 
Indonesian government to see if there are any other legal remedies that can be 
exhausted to secure her release, or at least spare her from the death penalty."

Veloso, who was involved in trafficking 2.6 kilograms of heroin via Adi 
Sutjipto Airport in Yogyakarta in 2010, is one of several foreign nationals set 
to be executed by the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

The 30-year-old woman is currently awaiting transfer from Wirogunan 
Penitentiary in Yogyakarta to the Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap, 
Central Java, where she will face a firing squad in the near future, together 
with 9 other convicts.

Last month, Veloso filed for a 2nd case review with the Sleman District Court 
after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo rejected her clemency request. The Supreme 
Court later rejected her 2nd request.

Binay, a front-runner in the 2016 Philippines presidential race, is set to fly 
to Indonesia on Wednesday to attend the AACC, held in Jakarta and Bandung, West 
Java, from April 19 to April 24.

(source: Jakarta Post)








INDIA:

Death penalty demanded for murderer



Expressing serious concern over the murder of suspended CPM leader's wife 
Kalpana Das, Tripura Pradesh Mahila Congress on Sunday demanded capital 
punishment for the guilty persons.

"It's a horrifying incident that Kalpana Das was brutally killed by her 
husband, who was a leading CPM leader and that's why we want capital punishment 
for all those who have committed the heinous crime", said Kalyani Roy, 
president of Tripura Mahila Congress Committee at a press conference here.

Roy said the killer husband, former Sabhadhipati of Paschim Tripura Zilla 
Parisad, Jiten Das is a very influential leader who can influence the 
investigation into the gruesome murder.

"We want the government to undertake trial of the case in the fast-track court 
for speedy justice. Besides, we also want the trial process should be ended 
keeping all the accused persons in jail keeping in mind of Jiten Das's 
political influence", she said.

Roy said the alleged mastermind - Jiten Das - claimed that Kalpana had 
committed suicide but later it turned into a murder case. "Sensing trouble, the 
CPM had to take action against the party leader for his alleged involvement in 
the murder case", she said.

Around one month back, Kalpana, who was a teacher, met one of the Ministers of 
Left Front Government and revealed misdeeds of her husband Jiten Das but nobody 
knows if the Minister took any step against the leader, she alleged.

Jiten Das was suspended only to save the party image but not for justice to the 
victim. "He (Jiten) was a man of ill-repute since long. Inspite of his dirty 
background, the party had not taken any action against him before the gruesome 
murder", she also alleged.

The 62 year-old woman was found in a pool of blood in her bed-room at 
Bridhinagar, near the capital town on April 16. Later, a murder case was lodged 
against the former CPM leader and 3 of his close relatives for their hand in 
the murder. All the suspected killers are in police remand for investigation.

(source: Assam Tribune)