[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 28



IRAN----executions

9 Prisoners Were Executed in Shiraz



9 death row prisoners were hanged in Adel Abad prison in Shiraz on Wednesday 
April 22.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), among 
these 9 prisoners, three were charged with murder and 6 others were charged 
with drug related crimes, three of whom were the citizens of Afghanistan.

There is no information regarding the identity of these prisoners by the time 
this report is being edited and official authorities have not publicized 
anything regarding their identity, charges and execution of the sentences.

(source: Human Rights Activists New Agency)








INDONESIA----executions

'Bali 9' pair among 8 executed for drug offences in Indonesia----Australians 
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumuran among 8 executed as high-level campaign for 
clemency failed to sway Indonesian president



The Indonesian government has executed 8 people for drug offences, including 2 
Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumuran, who were the subject of a 
years-long campaign for clemency.

The development marks the end of years of campaigning to spare the men, who 
were sentenced to death in 2006 for their part in the "Bali 9" heroin-smuggling 
ring.

Also executed were 4 Nigerians, a Brazilian and an Indonesian. All had been 
convicted of drug crimes.

A 9th prisoner scheduled to face the firing squad, Philippines woman Mary Jane 
Veloso, received a last-minute temporary reprieve.

Hundreds had gathered at the port of Cilacap on Tuesday to watch lawyers and 
families make their final visits to the prisoners.

Police were forced to use dogs to clear the heavy media pack when Chan's and 
Sukumaran's visibly distressed relatives arrived. Sukumaran's sister, Brintha, 
collapsed in the melee and had to be carried into the port office by her 
father, Sam.

Speaking after their visit, Sukumaran's brother, Chinthu, again urged Indonesia 
to show mercy. "Please don't let my mum and my sister have to bury my brother," 
he said. Through tears, his mother, Raji, said: "I won't see my son again and 
they are going to take him tonight and shoot him and he is healthy and he is 
beautiful and he has a lot of compassion for other people.

"Please president, please don't kill him today. Please don't. Call off the 
execution. Please don't kill my son. Please don't."

Chan's brother, Andrew, said the family had gone through "torture". "I saw 
today something that no other family should ever have to go to. 9 families 
inside a prison saying goodbye to their loved ones," he said. "There has to be 
a moratorium on the death penalty, no family should endure it. Because now the 
family is going to have a grieving process for the rest of their life."

Angela Muxfeldt, cousin of the Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, said in the hours 
before his execution the 42-year-old was the calmest she had seen him in 3 
months. "He is calm. He doesn't want I cry and doesn't believe execution will 
happen," she said, visibly emotional.

Lawyers for Gularte were still lodging an appeal on Tuesday, claiming he 
suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and had been unfit to stand 
trial when sentenced to death for cocaine smuggling in 2005.

Chan and Sukumaran, too, have outstanding legal challenges, including a 12 May 
constitutional appeal on 12 May to a presidential decision in January to deny 
the men clemency, reportedly made without having even reviewed their files.

The others to be executed who were executed were Raheem Agbaje Salami (also 
known as Jamiu Owolabi Abashin), Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Martin Anderson and 
Okwuduli Oyatanze.

Veloso, who was arrested in Yogyakarta in 2010 with 2.6kg of heroin in her 
suitcase, was granted a stay of execution, after the woman she claims set her 
up "voluntarily surrendered" to police on Tuesday.

Maria Kristina Sergio, who was wanted for human trafficking and illegal 
recruitment in relation to the Veloso case, handed herself into police in the 
Philippines province of Nueva Ecija on Tuesday morning.

Veloso claims that Sergio enticed her to Malaysia with a job offer, where an 
associate known as "Ike" bought her a new suitcase and instructed her to run an 
"errand" to Indonesia, where police found the heroin stitched into the lining 
of her bag.

Sergio has consistently denied Veloso's account. A police inspector quoted by 
Indonesian media said Sergio had surrendered to "seek assistance for reason 
that she has been receiving death threats".

The other 8 were tied to wooden stakes and shot by 12 marksmen, 3 of whom 
carried live rounds. They aimed at crosses marked over the prisoners' hearts.

Months of high-level diplomatic representations and high-profile campaigns 
failed to sway the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, who has described 
narcotics as a "national emergency" and pledged to clear the country's death 
row of drug offenders.

6 people, 5 of them foreigners, were shot in a 1st round of executions in 
January. Official figures are unreliable, but following these most recent 
killings, it is estimated around 33 foreigners remain on death row in Indonesia 
for drug crimes.

Speaking hours before the executions, Australia's foreign minister, Julie 
Bishop, said she was "deeply disturbed" by Indonesia's handling of the matter 
and warned there "will have to be consequences".

Australia has never withdrawn diplomatic staff over an execution of a citizen 
abroad, but is reportedly considering all options. The human rights lawyer, 
Geoffrey Robertson, QC, called on Tuesday for some of the $600m Australia 
directs to Indonesia each year in foreign aid to be redirected to Nepal.

Brazil and the Netherlands withdrew their ambassadors following the January 
round of executions, which included their citizens, and Brazil has refused to 
accept the credentials of the new Indonesian ambassador.

Plans for Wednesday's executions attracted international condemnation, 
including from the UN secretary- general, Ban Ki-Moon, who called on Widodo to 
"urgently consider declaring a moratorium on capital punishment in Indonesia, 
with a view toward abolition".

The Council of Europe secretary- general, Thorbj???rn Jagland, had also asked 
Indonesia to refrain, calling the death penalty "a terrible injustice which can 
never be put right".

On Tuesday, Australia, the European Union and France issued a joint statement 
asking Indonesia to "reflect on the impact [of the executions] on Indonesia's 
position in a globalised world and an international reputation".

"We support Indonesia's efforts to obtain forgiveness for its citizens abroad. 
Stopping this execution will help those efforts," the statement said.

Vigils were held across Australia for Chan, 31, and Sukumuran, 34, whose cause 
had been embraced by the country in their final months. Tarred as thugs for 
years after their capture, on death row the pair underwent sincere 
transformations, Chan converting to Christianity and Sukumaran emerging as an 
accomplished artist.

After earlier denying the pair their choice of spiritual counsellors, 
Indonesian authorities relented late on Tuesday, allowing pastors Christie 
Buckingham and David Soper to attend to the men in the final hours.

Sukumaran continued to paint up until his last day, producing a rendering of 
human heart signed by each nine of the prisoners who were scheduled to be shot 
in the early hours of Wednesday. It was titled, "1 heart, 1 feeling in love".

(source: The Guardian)

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

'Miracles are real': Veloso spared from execution



Convicted Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso was not among those executed by 
firing squad in Indonesia early Wednesday (Manila time).

The Jakarta Globe reported that Veloso was given a last-minute reprieve even as 
she was scheduled to face death penalty along with eight other inmates after 
midnight.

Among those executed were Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, three 
Nigerians, a Brazilianm a Ghanaian and an Indonesian.

Veloso's loved ones were elated upon news of what they deemed a "miracle."

"Totoo pong may himala na dumating sa buhay ng anak ko," Celia, Veloso's 
mother, said in an interview with dzMM.

"Hindi ako makapaniwala. Ang alam nga po namin kanina wala na talaga," Celia 
added.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose faced members of media 
around 2:30 a.m. to confirm the news.

Veloso, 30, was sentenced to death by an Indonesian court in 2010 for drug 
trafficking.

The Filipino worker was consistent in claiming that she was innocent and that 
her recruiter framed her.

Alleged recruiter Maria Cristina Sergio voluntarily surrendered at the Nueva 
Ecija Provincial Police Office on Tuesday morning, hours before the expiration 
of Indonesia's 72-hour execution notice.

The National Bureau of Investigation earlier filed charges against Sergio and 
two other for drug trafficking and illegal recruitment.

(source: Philippine Star)