[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 12



INDONESIA:

Court sentences drug dealer to death


The Makassar District Court sentenced on Monday a drug dealer, Amiruddin alias 
Aco, 37, to death for possessing 921 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 4,208 
ecstasy pills.

Presiding judge Ibrahim Palino said the court found no mitigating factors in 
the case of the defendant, who had earlier been sentenced to 20 years by the 
East Kalimantan District Court for another drug case.

"The defendant was proved guilty of drug abuse, selling and distributing drugs. 
So, the defendant was sentenced to death," Ibrahim said. Before getting 
arrested in Makassar, he said, the defendant was apprehended 3 times and 
sentenced by the East Kalimantan District Court, but Aco escaped from the 
Balikpapan penitentiary.

The presiding judge also revealed that the East Kalimantan office of the Law 
and Human Rights Ministry had earlier recommended the court give a heavy 
sentence against the defendant.

After the court session, the defendant's lawyer Muhammad Yunus said he would 
discuss further legal steps with his client.

"Personally, I would suggest he appeal, but I have not discussed the verdict 
with my client," Yunus said.

The verdict was the same as the sentence demanded by the prosecutors on July 
29.

"The aggravating factor is the defendant was sentenced 4 times in drug cases 
and, in the last verdict, he escaped," prosecutor Zulkarnaen A Lopa said as he 
read the sentence demand, adding that the demand for a death sentence was a 
first for the Makassar Prosecutor's Office.

Police arrested Amiruddin on Jan. 17, this year in a hotel in Makassar. The 
police found the meth and pills after searching his rented house and a 
relative's house in the city. Police earlier apprehended Michael Wibisono, 32, 
who was carrying 7 grams of crystal meth, in a raid on Jl. Botolempangan. The 
arrest of Wibisono lead to Aco.

The verdict against Aco adds to the list of people convicted to death for drug 
cases. The Medan District Court sentenced Amrih Prayoga to death in June this 
year for possessing 25 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and 30,000 ecstasy 
pills.

In January, Indonesia executed 6 inmates convicted of drug trafficking charges, 
namely Ang Kin Soei (who was Dutch), Daniel Enemuo (Nigerian), Marco Archer 
Cardoso Moreira (Brazilian), Namaona Denis (Nigerian), Rani Andriani alias 
Melisia Aprilia (Indonesian) and Tran Thi Bich Hanh (Vietnamese).

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized the application of the 
death penalty for inmates convicted of drug trafficking charges, saying that it 
was intolerable as international human rights law has limited the use of the 
death penalty to only "the most serious crimes", typically crimes resulting in 
death or grievous bodily harm.

(source: Jakarta Post)






SAUDI ARABIA:

SR10 million raised to secure pardon for man on death row


An amount of SR10 million in donations has been raised to try and convince the 
family of a murder victim to pardon the death sentence handed down to the 
murderer in 2011, Makkah daily reported.

The money was raised by Islah Charitable Committee, which aims to encourage 
sagacity and forgiveness in society.

"We focus on murder cases and people sentenced to the death sentence for 
violating personal rights," said committee member Badr Al-Harby.

"Thanks to the donations of 2 prominent figures in the Saudi sports industry, 
the committee was able to gather a total of SR10 million which will be used to 
pay blood money if the family agrees to forgive the murderer and save him from 
execution."

The 2 philanthropists each donated SR5 million to the cause, according to 
Al-Harby.

"We need the adult relatives of the victim to give their statement of 
forgiveness," he said.

"The committee has contacted them and they have been very welcoming. Their lack 
of resistance to the idea is a good and hopeful sign for us."

The judge in the case said in order to drop all charges completely the victim's 
underage daughter is required to sign a statement of forgiveness, which will 
happen only after she becomes an adult.

But Al-Harby said the current donations would buy the committee time.

In another case, Islah Charitable Committee continuing contacts with the family 
of an Arab dentist in Makkah who was killed by one of his patients in 2011.

A man in his 50s was convicted of premeditated murder and he was sentenced to 
death.

In Islamic law applied in the Kingdom, anyone convicted of culpable homicide 
will face the death penalty unless the victim's heirs choose to accept blood 
money and forgo retribution. As for a person convicted of manslaughter, only 
blood money is paid.

(source: Saudi Gazette)






EGYPT:

Egypt to try Brotherhood chief for 2013 Cairo clashes


Egypt on Tuesday referred Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to trial for 
staging a protest at a Cairo square where several police and hundreds of 
Islamist protesters were killed in 2013 clashes.

Badie, who has already been sentenced to death in 2 other trials, was charged 
in connection with the killing of policemen when security forces dispersed the 
protest at the capital's Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square on August 14, 2013.

Security forces stormed 2 protest camps of supporters of ousted president 
Mohamed Morsi in Rabaa Al-Adawiya and in Nahda Square, also in Cairo, that day.

At least 817 demonstrators died in Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square alone, Human Rights 
Watch has said, calling it "one of the largest killings of demonstrators in a 
single day in recent history" in Egypt.

The interior ministry said at least 10 policemen were killed after coming under 
fire from protesters during the unrest.

Badie and several others were referred to trial Tuesday for "organising and 
participating in an armed gathering... and for murdering citizens and 
policemen," a prosecution statement said.

It did not specify how many other accused were referred to trial along with 
Badie. They all face the death penalty if convicted.

They are charged with "attempting to carry out terrorist objectives to disrupt 
public peace and security", "resisting the authorities" and "terrorising the 
Egyptian people," the prosecution said.

"The accused carried weapons and explosives, launched armed marches that 
attacked citizens, held citizens in tents and physically tortured them and used 
firearms against police when they arrived to disperse the gathering" at Rabaa 
Al-Adawiya, it said.

Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square was recently renamed Hisham Barakat Square in honour of 
the state prosecutor who was assassinated in a June 29 car bombing in Cairo.

Morsi, Egypt's 1st freely elected president, was ousted by then army chief and 
now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after mass street protests against his year 
of rule.

An ensuing police crackdown targeting his supporters has left hundreds dead and 
thousands jailed.

Hundreds more, including Morsi, have been sentenced to death after speedy 
trials.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which made major political gains following the 2011 
ouster of longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, was designated a "terrorist 
group" in late 2013.

Jihadists, including from the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State group, have 
carried out a wave of attacks on security forces following the crackdown.

(source: Agence France-Presse)






INDIA:

A Hanging in India


On July 30, Yakub Memon, a chartered accountant and the brother of a notorious 
gangster now living in self-imposed exile, was hanged for complicity in the 
planning and execution of serial bomb blasts that killed 257 people in Mumbai 
in 1993. The hanging, India's 1st in 3 years, has prompted reactions ranging 
from dismay to scarcely concealed bloodlust. And it has intensified the 
domestic debate over the death penalty.

To be sure, no one suggests that India's judicial system did not function 
properly in Memon's case. He was convicted according to due process of law, and 
his punishment was in accordance with valid statutes. During his 21 years 
behind bars, Memon exhausted every possible appeal available to him, including 
one for presidential clemency. The Supreme Court even held an emergency hearing 
at 2:30 in the morning, just hours before the execution was set to occur, 
before deciding to allow it to proceed.

But the question remains: Should capital punishment be on the books at all?

As an opposition legislator, I attracted considerable opprobrium for voicing my 
opinion, on the morning of Memon's hanging, that it should not be. I expressed 
my sadness that our government has killed a human being, whatever his crimes 
may have been. State-sponsored killing diminishes us all, I added, by reducing 
us to murderers, just like those we are punishing.

My view is not popular in India, and my own party disclaimed my statement. But 
my position is based on ample evidence that the death penalty does not actually 
deter the crimes it punishes. Data collected by the Death Penalty Project at 
Delhi's National Law University demonstrate conclusively that there is no 
statistical correlation between applying the death penalty and preventing 
murder. This evidence echoes similar findings in other countries.

My statements were also motivated by problems with the way capital punishment 
is imposed in India. The Supreme Court has declared that the death penalty 
should be applied only in the "rarest of the rare" cases. And, indeed, the last 
three executions in the country stemmed from terrorist offenses that threatened 
or took a large number of lives.

But the decision to impose capital punishment remains highly subjective. 
Indeed, whether the death penalty is meted out depends on a number of 
variables, beginning with judicial and social biases. Public outrage - 
potentially fueled by inflammatory media coverage - can push for a harsher 
sentence, especially in cases relating to terrorism or crimes against women. 
Economic status also comes into play, with poor criminals being executed much 
more often than wealthy ones, not least because they cannot afford high-quality 
legal representation. And the president's decision to commute a sentence is 
subjective.

A 1983 case held that one way to determine whether a crime meets the "rarest of 
the rare" requirement is whether the community's "collective conscience" has 
been "so shocked" that it expects those wielding judicial power to inflict the 
death penalty, regardless of their personal opinions. This leaves much room for 
the arbitrary and disproportionate application of capital punishment.

>From 2010 to 2013, 436 death sentences were handed down by lower courts. Of 
those, 280 were commuted to life imprisonment, with many of the other cases 
likely to remain in limbo for decades. As for the death sentences that have 
already been carried out - 2 in that 4-year period - it is impossible to 
ascertain the objective criteria that made the crimes in question more heinous 
or "rarer" than those that did not merit execution.

Ambiguity and subjectivity have no place in matters of life and death. Yet, 
when it comes to the imposition of capital punishment, both are prominent. That 
makes it all the more difficult to justify the practice.

Just a couple of weeks before Memon's execution, India's Law Commission, a 
government body composed of retired judges and legal experts that works for 
legal reform, organized consultations to assess the effectiveness of the 
provisions governing the death penalty in India and the purpose of the penalty 
itself. Unsurprisingly, based on the evidence and the opinions presented at the 
Law Commission???s hearings, there was a general consensus that the courts are 
unable to adopt a fair and non-discriminatory approach to the death penalty, 
and support for its abolition was overwhelming.

That will not happen any time soon. The Indian public overwhelmingly supports 
the death penalty, especially for convicted terrorists. The debate over Memon's 
hanging was often emotional, with media interviewing survivors of the Mumbai 
blasts.

Moreover, it has been suggested that the alternative to the death penalty - 
life imprisonment - would make India vulnerable to hijackings and other 
assaults by terrorist groups attempting to free their jailed comrades. In the 
face of such security concerns, my argument that taking a human life is wrong, 
and that the state should not compound criminal wrongdoing with its own, found 
little resonance.

Globally, India is part of a dwindling minority. More than 130 countries have 
abolished the death penalty. 25 countries have it on the books, but have not 
executed anyone for decades. That leaves roughly 30 countries that still apply 
it.

India's membership in this group has international repercussions; for example, 
European Union countries will not extradite criminals to countries where they 
may face execution. But the real problem is deeper: capital punishment is, at 
its core, about nothing more than retribution.

It may be tempting to declare that anyone who kills (or participates in 
killing) innocent people does not deserve to live. But is revenge a worthy 
motive for a state's actions, especially toward its own citizens?

India's greatest son Mahatma Gandhi observed that " an eye for an eye makes the 
whole world blind." For now, India remains blind to the case for abolishing the 
death penalty. One day, I am sure, it will see the light. Until then, the 
lonely battle for its abolition must continue.

(source: Commentary; Shashi Tharoor, a former UN under-secretary-general and 
former Indian Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of 
State for External Affairs, is currently an MP for the Indian National Congress 
and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External 
Affairs----project-syndicate.org)

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

Death penalty given to 339 during 2011-13, says Centre


A total of 339 convicts were awarded capital punishment during 2011-13 and 5 
cases of mercy petitions, involving 9 convicts, were pending with the 
President, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Minister of state for home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said as reported by 
the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 117, 97 and 125 inmates were 
awarded capital punishment in 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively.

"As per available records, there are 5 cases of mercy petitions, involving9e 
convicts, pending under Article 72 of the Constitution of India," he said 
replying a written question.

According to the NCRB data, no one was executed in 2011 while 1 convict each 
was executed in 2012 and 2013.

(source: The Times of India)

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

DAK demands capital punishment for those dealing in spurious drugs


Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) Tuesday demanded capital punishment for those 
involved in manufacture and sale of spurious drugs which is a crime against 
humanity.

President DAK Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement said that death penalty will 
act as a powerful deterrent and will effectively curb the menace of spurious 
drugs which is a grave crime as precious human lives are lost.

While expressing dismay over recommendations of legislative assembly committee 
wherein those involved in spurious drug trade should be booked under PSA, Dr 
Nisar said that it is a mere eye wash as it is a preventive and not a punitive 
measure.

"In view of serious implications of spurious drugs on public health, Drug and 
Cosmetic Act was amended in 2008 which contains stringent provisions such as 
maximum penalty for life imprisonment," the statement said.

(source: dailykashmirimages.com)

***********

Doctors seek death penalty for spurious drug dealers


A day after an Assembly panel recommended slapping of the Public Safety Act 
(PSA) against persons involved in sale of spurious drugs, the Doctors 
Association of Kashmir has termed the suggestion as "mere eyewash" and demanded 
capital punishment for such offenders.

The doctor's body has said death penalty would act as a powerful deterrent and 
would effectively curb the menace of spurious drugs in the state.

An Assembly panel, headed by senior NC leader and Kangan MLA Mian Altaf Ahmad, 
yesterday recommended booking of persons involved in the sale of fake and 
spurious drugs under the Public Safety Act, which was originally meant to 
punish and book timber smugglers in J&K.

"The Doctors Association Kashmir demands capital punishment for those involved 
in manufacture and sale of spurious drugs which is a crime against humanity", 
the assocaition said in a statement, while "expressing dismay" over the 
recommendations of the Legislative Panel.

"It (booking offenders under PSA) is a mere eyewash as it is a preventive and 
not a punitive measure," the doctors body said, adding that in view of "serious 
implications" of spurious drugs on public health, the Drug and Cosmetic Act was 
amended in 2008 which contains stringent provisions such as maximum penalty for 
life imprisonment.

It said there was a deep-rooted nexus between drug mafia and pharma units that 
pump massive quantities of substandard drugs in the Valley.

In fact, it was the DAK in 2003 which exposed the spurious drug scam in 2013 
and since then hundreds of drugs had been declared spurious/substandard, which 
were responsible for killing children and adults, the DAK added.

Taking a "serious note" of the menace of spurious drugs, the Legislative 
Assembly (LA) panel had on August 10 suggested application of the Public Safety 
Act against those indulging in sale of spurious and sub-standard drugs.

The committee had also recommended cancellation of drug licences of the shops 
indulging in sale of sub-standard medicines.

"Everyday people die of this criminal activity and except for some cosmetic 
measures nothing is being done to eliminate the menace which seems to be an 
organised crime supported by certain powerful vested interests," the doctors 
body said, adding that the Mashlekar committee in its report in 2003 had also 
recommended enhancement of penalty for sale and manufacturing of spurious drugs 
from life imprisonment to death sentence as the menace endangers human safety.

(source: tribuneindia.com)






PAKIStAN:

SC upholds award of death penalty in double murder case


The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld a high court decision to award a death 
sentence on 2 counts to one Ikhlaq Ahmad convicted in double murder case.

Ikhlaq Ahmad had killed 2 persons including Ashim Khan and Nawazish over a land 
dispute.

A 3-member bench of SC presided over by Justice Anwar Zahir Jamali took up the 
case for hearing Tuesday.

The court was told that Ikhlaq Ahmad had murdered 2 persons, which had been 
proved through all the evidence. The subordinate court awarded capital 
punishment to him which was upheld by high court. Therefore, it is requested 
that awarding of death penalty on 2 counts be upheld.

The counsel for the convict prayed the court to set aside the death sentence 
awarded by high court on the 2 counts.

The apex court rejected the plea seeking nullification of orders on awarding 
death penalty on 2 counts.

(source: Pakistan Today)