[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 22



NIGERIA:

Nigeria court dismisses challenge to 'child bride' murder case.



A Nigerian court on Tuesday rejected a motion to have murder charges against a 
child bride accused of killing her husband dismissed, saying there was enough 
evidence for the case to proceed.

Wasila Tasi'u was 14 when she married Umar Sani, 35, in Nigeria's deeply 
conservative, mainly Muslim north last year, and could face the death penalty 
if convicted of using rat poison to kill him.

"I am of the opinion that there is a case against the accused," High Court 
Judge Mohammed Yahaya said. "As such, I overrule the submission of no-case from 
the defence counsel."

Tasi'u's lawyers had argued that the state failed to establish her intent to 
kill Sani and questioned the reliability of a key prosecution witness.

The witness, a 7-year-old girl named Hamziyya who was identified as the sister 
of Sani's other wife, testified that Tasi'u gave her money to buy the poison on 
April 5 last year, the day Sani died.

The defence said that relying on testimony from a minor contravened Nigeria's 
Evidence Act and that the state's case should therefore be thrown out.

The murder trial has highlighted the range of attitudes towards child marriage 
in Nigeria, especially in the impoverished north.

The families of both the deceased and the accused have rejected claims that she 
was forced to marry a man more than twice her age, noting that 14 was an 
appropriate age to marry and that Tasi'u chose Sani from a range of suitors.

Some locals have called for Tasi'u to face stiff punishment to discourage other 
girls from taking similar action if they become unhappy in their marriage.

But rights activists have demanded that Tasi'u be rehabilitated as a victim of 
a forced marriage, which likely included incidents of rape.

Laws regarding both sexual and marital consent are complex in northern Nigeria, 
given the coexistence of both secular and Islamic law, creating contradictions 
in the justice system.

Tasi'u has remained largely stoic through her appearances in court so far, 
crying when charges were first read against her, but otherwise sitting 
silently, often with her head bowed.

On Tuesday she stood quietly in the dock, with her head fully covered in a 
sky-blue hijab.

Sani died after eating food that Tasi'u allegedly prepared for a meal to 
celebrate their marriage. 3 others who reportedly ate the food also died, but 
prosecutors have combined the 3 deaths into a single murder charge.

The state has concluded its case and following Tuesday's ruling the defence was 
instructed to move forward with its own evidence when the trial resumes on 
April 29.

(source: Agence France-Presse)








BELARUS:

Samoseiko: Belarus interested in acceding to more Council of Europe conventions



Belarus would like to accede to more conventions of the Council of Europe, 
chairman of the permanent commission on international affairs of the House of 
Representatives Nikolai Samoseiko said at the hearing on Belarus in the PACE 
Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy on 21 April, BelTA has learned.

"The Republic of Belarus is interested in further accession to the conventions 
of the Council of Europe, particularly in criminal law. The inter-parliamentary 
dialogue, frank and constructive discussion of the issues of mutual interest is 
important in this respect,??? the MP said.

Nikolai Samoseiko noted that the number of the legal instruments of the Council 
of Europe, to which Belarus has acceded, is gradually increasing. Belarus has 
already joined 13 documents. The MP recalled that Belarus was the first among 
the countries non-members of the Council of Europe to accede to the Convention 
for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons in March 2014. In December of the 
same year, it ratified the additional protocol to the Criminal Law Convention 
on Corruption.

Belarus also welcomes the decision of the Council of Europe to invite the 
country to join the Convention on the Counterfeiting of Medical Products. "At 
the same time I would like to express my regret at the refusal of the Council 
of Europe to allow Belarus to accede to the conventions on cybercrime, on the 
conservation of the architectural heritage, on the convention on the protection 
of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Such decisions of the 
Council of Europe and its countries do not encourage Belarus and pushes it away 
from the process of harmonization of the national legislation with the 
standards of the Council of Europe," Nikolai Samoseiko said.

The Mp added: "We are open for the discussion of such difficult issue as the 
abolition of the death penalty. We are aware of the importance of this topic 
for the Council of Europe."

In response to the questions from other participants of the meeting, Nikolai 
Samoseiko said: "I would like to remind you that both the Constitution and the 
Penal Code of Belarus read that the death penalty in the Republic of Belarus is 
awarded for the gravest crimes connected with the assault on human life. They 
also provide for the cancellation of the death penalty in the future. In other 
words, the death penalty will be abolished in Belarus no doubt, but let's say 
this is a matter of time."

According to Nikolai Samoseiko for this issue to get positive traction in the 
future, Belarus counts on PACE's support.

The MP also said that Minsk is planning to hold a roundtable or a conference 
(format has yet to be determined) on the death penalty. As expected, PACE 
representatives will be invited to attend the event.

(source: Belarusian News)








INDONESIA:

Govt to give donation to executed woman's family



A delegation from the Manpower Ministry and the Association of Labor Export 
Companies (Apjati) will make a visit to the family of Karni binti Medi Tarsim, 
an Indonesian migrant worker who was executed last Thursday in Saudi Arabia for 
murdering her employer.

The director general for overseas labor placement and protection affairs at the 
ministry, Reyna Usman, said she would lead a delegation representing the 
government and labor supplying companies to visit Karni's family in Brebes, 
Central Java, on Saturday. "The government will provide a donation to express 
its solidarity to Karni and simultaneously call on locals not to send 
unqualified workers to work overseas," she told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on 
Wednesday.

Apjati chairman Ayub Basalamah said his side would donate Rp 10 billion to 
Karni's family and provide scholarships for elementary and secondary education 
for her only son.

(source: The Jakarta Post)

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

Indonesian court rejects death row Ghanaian's appeal----Martin Anderson's 
request for a judicial review was rejected on Tuesday, the same day the court 
dismissed an appeal by Serge Atlaoui, a Frenchman on death row.



Indonesia's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a Ghanaian on death row, an 
official said Wednesday (Apr 22), one of several foreign drug convicts expected 
to face the firing squad soon.

Martin Anderson's request for a judicial review was rejected on Tuesday, the 
same day the court dismissed an appeal by Serge Atlaoui, a Frenchman on death 
row, said a spokesman for the attorney-general's office. Death row convicts can 
pursue appeals in other courts - and several in the group facing execution are 
doing so - but they are seen as having little chance of success, and 
authorities say such efforts simply amount to condemned prisoners seeking to 
buy time.

"I give 2 thumbs up to the Supreme Court's decision," said spokesman Tony 
Spontana, referring to the rejection of Atlaoui's and Anderson's appeals. 
Spontana said he hoped they would not try any other "manoeuvres" to avoid their 
impending execution.

There is now only one convict, an Indonesian, in the group of drug offenders 
who still has an appeal outstanding at the Supreme Court, said Spontana, adding 
he hoped the legal bid would be rejected this week. He said authorities would 
wait until a gathering of Asian and African leaders in Jakarta finishes on 
Friday before setting a date for the executions.

Jakarta originally said the group of 10, including 9 foreigners, would be put 
to death by firing squad at the same time in February, but following an 
international outcry it was agreed to let outstanding legal appeals run their 
course. The group includes 2 high-profile Australian inmates and nationals from 
the Philippines, Brazil and Nigeria.

All the convicts recently lost appeals for presidential clemency, typically the 
final chance to avoid the firing squad. If executed, Atlaoui would be the first 
French citizen to be put to death anywhere in the world for almost 40 years.

Foreign countries have been heaping pressure on Jakarta to change course on the 
executions but President Joko Widodo, who took office in October, has been a 
vocal supporter of the death penalty.

(source: Channel News Asia)



MALAYSIA:

Mexican brothers in last-ditch effort to avoid Malaysian death penalty



3 Mexican brothers who were sentenced to death in Malaysia for drug trafficking 
in 2012 will have a final court hearing on Thursday in their bid to avoid the 
hangman's noose. Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that 
the men have "exhausted all their legal options", except for a last appeal 
before Malaysia's highest court, which will hear defence arguments.

Luis Alfonso, Simon and Jose Regino Gonzalez Villarreal were arrested in March 
2008 at a factory in southern Malaysia where police found 30 kilograms of 
methamphetamine and equipment to make drugs.

The siblings - 2 are in their 30s and 1 is in his 40s - insist they were merely 
working as a clean-up crew and were unaware that drugs were being made in the 
factory.

Drug trafficking carries a mandatory sentence of death by hanging upon 
conviction in Malaysia. They were sentenced in May 2012 and the ruling was 
ratified a year later.

The Mexican foreign ministry said it has "repeatedly expressed (to Malaysian 
authorities) Mexico's position against capital punishment".

The brothers are from Culiacan, capital of the northwestern state of Sinaloa, 
which is known as the bastion of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel.



(source: The Malaysian Inisder)








BANGLADESH:

Death for acid-thrower



A man has been sentenced to death at Rangpur for throwing acid at a school 
girl.

Rangpur District and Sessions Judge Manjurul Basid handed maximum penalty to 
Ariful Islam on Wednesday while his 2 associates Alal Miah and Dulal Hossain 
got life sentences.

Masuda Akhter was left blinded after the attack on the night of Aug 13, 2012.

She was a 9th-grader who lived in Dakkshin Babukha.

Each convicts have been fined Tk 100,000. The court has ordered the money to be 
given to the victim.

2 more accused, 'Arefin and Rasel', have been acquitted.

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

'Self-confessed' serial killer Rasu Khan gets death penalty for 2008 Shahida 
Begum murder



The court of Chandpur's Additional District and Sessions Judge Arunav 
Chakravarty delivered the verdict on the 2008 murder on Wednesday.

Khan has been also fined Tk 50,000, said Additional Public Prosecutor Md Saidul 
Islam Babul.

In a separate charge, he has been sentenced to 8 years in prison and fined Tk 
10,000.

On Aug 18, 2008, Khan had raped Shahida Begum, who hailed from Khulna, before 
killing her at Chandpur's Faridganj.

Police had found the body with hands and legs tied.

The then Chandpur Model Police SI Nazrul Islam filed a case accusing 
unidentified assailants. The final report was given later on since police could 
not make any headway.

Nearly a year later, on July 20, 2009, Khan was arrested by Faridganj police 
for theft of a fan from Nirashpur Mosque in Tongi.

Police then started unravelling 1 murder after another and Khan was accused of 
murder of 11 women.

In a confession before Chandpur's Judicial Magistrate Amirul Islam, Khan 
described how he executed the murders. He said he started his killing spree 
after 'failing in love'.

He would charm and lure mostly garment workers and bring them to Chandpur. He 
raped the women he found attractive before killing them. The others would die 
straightaway.

The serial killer said in his confession that he targeted to kill 101 women and 
then spend the rest of his life as an ascetic in a Sylhet shrine.

After Khan admitted to killing Shahida, the case was reopened and proceedings 
started against him.

The hearing in the 8-year-old case ended last Monday and verdict was given 2 
days later.

Additional Public Prosecutor Saidul Islam said, "We are satisfied with the 
verdict. Serial killer Rasu Khan has got what he deserved getting after a long 
time."

Noymul Islam, who was assigned as Khan's defence lawyer, said whether proper 
judgment had been delivered will be decided at the High Court. "This is an 
initial sentencing."

(source for both: bdnews24.com)








PAKISTAN----executions

Pakistan hangs 4 death row convicts in Punjab



4 death row prisoners were executed in Pakistan early Wednesday morning, ARY 
News reported.

Lahore, Sahiwal and Bahawalpur cities of Punjab province of Pakistan saw 4 
hangings as four death row convicts namely Zahid Hussain, Nazeer Ahmed, Rizwan 
and Moazzam Khan were executed.

Zahid Hussain was sent to the gallows in Central Jail Sahiwal. He was convicted 
of killing a police officer Fida Hussain back in the year 2000.

Bahawalpur Jail had convict Nazeer Ahmed hanged to death. Ahmed killed a 
citizen named Mushtaq over a property dispute.

2 convicts were executed in Lahore city's Kot Lakhpat prison on murder charges

Rizwan was executed for murdering 6 people including Seth Abid's son in 2006. 
The other convict Moazzam Khan was convicted of killing a man named Nasir Iqbal 
in 1995.

Pakistan lifted the moratorium on death penalty on Dec. 17, a day after 
Pakistani Taliban gunmen attacked Army Public School in Peshawar and killed 134 
students and 19 adults.

The moratorium, in force since 2008, was initially lifted only in terrorism 
cases. But the government extended the order in March, directing provincial 
governments to proceed with hangings for all death row prisoners who have 
exhausted their appeals and clemency petitions.

(source: arynews.com)

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

Pakistan hangs 21 convicts in 2 days



A day after 17 condemned prisoners were hanged in various jails in Pakistan, 
marking the highest number of executions in the country since the lifting of 
the moratorium on capital punishment in December last, 4 more convicts were 
sent to the gallows on Wednesday.

4 condemned prisoners were hanged to death on Wednesday across Punjab, The News 
International reported.

2 death row prisoners were sent to the gallows for murder at the Kot Lakhpat 
Jail in Lahore.

Besides, a convict each was hanged for murder in New Central jail Bahawalpur 
and Sahiwal Central Jail, respectively.

Pakistan lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in all capital cases on 
March 10. Initially, the moratorium was lifted and executions were resumed for 
terrorism offences only in the wake of a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) 
massacre at an army-run school in Peshawar in which more than 140 people, 
mostly children, were killed.

The latest executions on Wednesday took the toll of hanged convicts to at least 
85.

The UN, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have 
called on Pakistan to reimpose the moratorium on the death penalty.

(source: IANS)

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

UN rights experts welcome Pakistan Supreme Court decision to suspend death 
penalty



A group of United Nations independent experts today welcomed a recent decision 
made by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to suspend death sentences imposed by 
military courts.

In a statement released today by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
Human Rights (OHCHR), the experts said they had previously expressed concern at 
an earlier decision by Pakistan to rescind its unofficial six-year moratorium 
on the death penalty for non-military personnel in terrorism-related cases.

"Terrorism attacks should not prevent States from complying with the stringent 
requirements of international law for the imposition of the death penalty," the 
independent experts noted.

International law requires that the death penalty may be imposed only in the 
context of a stringent functioning of the law and order system, so as to ensure 
the highest respect of due process and fair trial guarantees for the 
defendants.

"Only full respect of these guarantees distinguishes capital punishment as 
possibly permitted under international law from an arbitrary execution," the 
experts stressed. ???The administration of justice through military tribunals 
raises serious questions, particularly in terms of access to justice, 
independence and impartiality of the court, and respect for the fair trial 
rights of the accused."

The experts, known as Special Rapporteurs are part of the 'Special Procedures' 
of the Human Rights Council, which is the general name of the Council's 
independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific 
country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world.

Among the experts, who work on an individual, voluntary, unpaid basis and are 
not UN staff, were the Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of 
human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; on 
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and on the independence of 
judges and lawyers. The Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on arbitrary 
detention and the Chair of the Working Group on enforced or involuntary 
disappearance were also part of the team.

They said that using military tribunals to try civilians in the name of 
national security, a state of emergency or counter-terrorism, runs against all 
relevant international and regional human rights standards and established case 
law.

"Military tribunals should have jurisdiction only over military personnel who 
commit military offences or breaches of military discipline," they said. "And 
then only when those offences or breaches do not amount to serious human rights 
violations, and they should never have the power to impose the death penalty."

They stressed that they had repeatedly called on States to assess whether the 
use of the death penalty is compatible with the right to life, as well as the 
inherent dignity of the human person, and to consider if the severe mental and 
physical pain or suffering it causes could constitute a violation of the 
absolute prohibition of torture.

"We hope that the decision of the Supreme Court will provide an opportunity for 
all relevant actors in Pakistan to pursue a critically important dialogue 
aiming to address the questions relating to the legality of military tribunals, 
and the use of the death penalty, in line with Pakistan's international human 
rights obligations," the experts said, stressing that ensuring a safe 
environment for judges, prosecutors, lawyers and other members of the justice 
system is of fundamental importance.

(source: UN News Centre)








IRAN----executions

4 prisoners hanged in northwestern city



The Iranian regime's henchmen in a prison in the northwestern city of Orumiyeh 
hanged at least 4 inmates on Monday.

The executions were carried out despite protest by the members of families of 
the prisoners who had gathered outside the prison from Sunday. The angry 
protesters clashed with guards as they tried to enter the prison to prevent the 
execution of their loved ones.

The latest reports from Iran reveals that at least 81 prisoner have been hanged 
in Iran from 12 to 18th of April reached 81.

A group of 12 prisoners were hanged collectively in Mashhad on April 16. Other 
4 were executed in Birjand on April 17.

Based on this figures on the average 12 prisoners have been hanged each day in 
a 7 day period.

(source: NCR-Iran)