[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 8


BANGLADESH:

5 BCL men to die for killing Zubair



A Dhaka court on Sunday awarded 5 activists of Awami League-backed Chhatra 
League with death penalty for killing Jahangirnagar University student Zabair 
Ahmed 2 years ago.

The condemned convicts are Khandker Ashiqul Islam, Rashedul Islam, Zahid Hasan, 
Mahbub Akram amd Khan Mohammad Rais. They all were tried in absentia.

5 others - Ishtiaque Mehbub, Mazharul Islam, Nazmus Sakib, Shafiul Alam, 
Kamruzzaman Shohag and Abhinandan Kundu - were given life-term imprisonment. Of 
them, Ishtiaque is absconding.

Judge ABM Nizamul Haque of the speedy trial tribunal delivered the judgement on 
the much-talked-about case at 12:50pm.

The court also acquitted 2 -- Nazmul Hossain Plabon and Mahmudul Hasan Masud.

Some BCL men beat and hit with lethal weapons Zubair Ahmed, an English 
department student of the university, activists on 8 January 2012. He died of 
his injuries at United Hospital in Dhaka city the next day.

A case was filed with Ashulia thana and the police submitted a charge-sheet 
against 13 students of the university on 8 April 2012.

The court fixed the date for giving the verdict on 4 February but in view of 
security concerns, it was deferred to Sunday.

(source: Prothom Alo)








INDIA:

Rohtak rape-murder: Police get 'vital clues', govt body demands death penalty



Police on Sunday claimed to get 'vital clues' in the brutal rape and murder of 
a mentally challenged Nepalese woman whose body was found dumped in a field 
along the Rohtak-Hisar highway in Haryana, with blades and stones shoved 
inside.

Without disclosing details about the said clues, ADGP (law and order) Muhammad 
Akil said police the "culprits will soon be arrested."

Chairperson of the Haryana women???s commission Kamlesh Panchal, meanwhile, 
visited the victim's family and said she would demand exemplary punishment for 
the perpetrators of the crime.

Panchal told the family members of the deceased that the commission has taken 
note of the issue and will demand that the accused be nabbed at the earliest, 
tried and hanged.

The commission also assured the family that they will look into the allegations 
of the police indifference in probing the matter.

The incident was the latest in a string of savage sex attacks in northern India 
and triggered protests and widespread revulsion.

The crime has triggered dissent among the Nepali community. Members of the Mool 
Pravaha Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj and Pravasi Nepali Sangh Bharat 
organised a candlelight vigil and protest at Mansarovar Park in Rohtak.

The victim's sister led a candlelit vigil in Rohtak on Saturday and accused 
police of not doing enough to trace the attackers. "Police have been slow to 
arrest the perpetrators, they should be arrested immediately and hanged. I want 
justice for my sister, they have been brutal to her, it's just spine chilling," 
the sister told the media.

Autopsy confirms 'brutal rape'

The woman, who was living with her sister at Chinyot Colony in Rohtak while 
undergoing treatment at a hospital, had been reported missing on February 1. 
After her mutilated body was found 3 days later, an autopsy confirmed brutal 
rape.

Doctors of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak 
said the woman's private parts were torn and multiple injuries were inflicted 
on almost every part of her body.

They compared the woman's case to the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in 
New Delhi in 2012. That incident had sparked a massive public outcry and 
tougher laws to deter rapists.

Dr S K Dhattarwal, a senior member of the PGIMS' forensic department who led 
the team that performed the autopsy, said the woman was attacked so brutally 
that her intestines were damaged. Several pointed stones were found inside the 
body, he said.

Ongoing investigation

A police team led by senior officials on Sunday combed the fields near Bahu 
Akbarpur village where the body of the 28-year-old woman was found on February 
4. A Forensic Science Laboratory team also visited the area and reportedly 
collected vital clues, officials said.

Haryana Police have announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to 
the arrest of the persons who attacked the woman. A special investigation team 
(SIT) led by deputy superintendent of police Amit Bhatia is using a cyber cell 
to trace mobile phone users who were active near the scene of the crime in the 
past few days. On Friday, it rounded up several people for questioning.

Several senior officials, including Akil and DIG (state crime branch) Vivek 
Sharma visited the crime scene on Sunday to take stock of the probe.

Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda and local MLA Munish Grover also visited the 
bereaved family and demanded stern punishment for the accused. Hooda condemned 
the incident and blamed the state government for "lawlessness" in Haryana.

(source: Hindustan Times)








EGYPT:

Egypt court sentences 3 to death on Al-Qaeda espionage charges----Egypt Court 
accepts appeal against death sentences in officer's murder



Cairo criminal court has reached a final verdict of the death penalty for 3 and 
punished a 4th defendant with 10 years in jail on charges of spying for 
Al-Qaeda between 2008 and 2013.

The sentences were based on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda and providing them 
with details concerning Egyptian army.

They were also charged with forming a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda that 
aims to threaten the freedom of Egyptian citizens, orchestrating attacks on the 
US and French embassies, and executing terrorist attacks in the Sinai 
Peninsula.

The 4 defendants are between 22 and 33 years old.

The 3 defendants who received capital punishment were tried in absentia.

The court had reached on 12 January an initial verdict of the death penalty for 
all 4 defendants before sending the rulings it to the Grand Mufti for review.

Egyptian courts have meted out in the last few months death penalty verdicts to 
hundreds of Islamists in cases in which defendants were accused of committing 
murder and other violent acts during attacks on security personnel that 
followed the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

In some of these cases, judges ruled with mass death sentences against 
defendants.

(source: Ahram Online)








INDONESIA:

Religious leaders plead for mercy for Bali 9 duo facing firing squad



Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Grand Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohammad on Sunday 
asked Indonesian president Joko Widodo to spare the men and allow them to "make 
reparation to the communities they betrayed by their crimes".

"Our request today is for clemency or a commuted sentence for Andrew and Myuran 
so as to allow them to be further rehabilitated and to execute would 
prematurely end these lives, robbing both of them and our communities of the 
opportunity for ongoing repentance and rehabilitation," the pair said in a 
statement to journalists.

Fisher said neither he nor the Grand Mufti questioned the men's guilt, the 
seriousness of their crime or the legitimacy of the verdicts against them.

Mohammad said the Sydney men have had more than a decade to think about their 
crime, and have shown remorse and repentance for their role in attempting to 
smuggle 8.3kg of heroin into Australia.

"By all accounts Andrew and Myuran have come to appreciate clearly the gravity 
of their crimes," the Grand Mufti said.

"These Sydney-born men have had a long time to think about what they have done 
while in Kerobakan prison - and on death row."

He said he is considering travelling to Indonesia to meet with religious 
leaders in the coming days to discuss the imminent execution.

Fisher said the role of the Australian federal police in the Bali Nine arrest, 
and Sunday's report in Fairfax newspapers that the men's lawyer, Mohamad Rifan, 
wants to introduce new evidence in a bid to spare the men "are extra reasons 
for us to take it seriously".

Jokowi argues Indonesia is in the grips of a drug crisis that needs the "shock 
therapy" of the death penalty.

Prime minister Tony Abbott has urged Jokowi to show mercy to the 2 "well and 
truly reformed" Australians. Bali court officials last month confirmed 
presidential clemency had been denied to Chan, 2 weeks after his fellow Bali 9 
ringleader, Sukumaran, received the same news.

The announcement all but extinguished their last hope of being spared the death 
penalty for the 2005 heroin trafficking plot.

(source: The Guardian)

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

Bali 9: Families of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran feel the pain of their 
death sentences



Raji Sukumaran and Helen Chan are a portrait of emotional turmoil - 2 mothers 
about to lose a son in the most chilling of ways.

For the past 2 weeks they have made the daily walk to the grey steel door of 
Bali's Kerobokan prison, each day more emotionally draining than the one 
before.

And Friday's confirmation that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be shot 
within the month by Indonesian authorities was finally too much to bear.

Chan and Sukumaran were told first, by the Australian Consul, Majel Hind, 
leaving the young men to inform their families when they arrived for their 
daily visit.

Both women collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably, unable to speak. Witnesses 
describe a scene of dreadful pain, suffering and sadness.

But Raji Sukumaran was determined to say something. After 2 hours she emerged 
from the jail, her other 2 children by her side. Myuran's sister Brintha was 
distraught.

"Please don't kill them. They are good children. Give him a second chance ... 
we don't know how long we've got," an emotional Mrs Sukumaran said. "They have 
rehabilitated, they are doing a lot of good things here, they are good 
children."

And Sukumaran's younger sister Brintha cried as she begged for her brother to 
be allowed to live.

"Please don't kill my brother, please, he is a good person," she said.

Mrs Sukumaran, her husband and their 2 children headed straight from their 
Sydney homes a fortnight ago when Myuran's presidential clemency plea was 
rejected and authorities announced he and Chan would be among the next group of 
drug traffickers to be executed. An aunt, uncle and cousins are there too.

Chan's mother Helen, a sister and her husband followed soon after. Chan's 
clemency was denied 2 weeks after his Bali 9 co-accused, Sukumaran.

Big brother Michael Chan was in Bali for the 1st week and will return this 
weekend. But his mother is not well. A medical condition with her eyes has 
flared up. The crying has not helped.

Recently Chan's father Ken underwent surgery in Australia after a fall. He 
hopes to fly to Bali on Monday with another daughter. He has not seen Andrew 
for 3 years but this is desperate.

Michael says the prospect of a February execution is heartbreaking but that his 
brother and mother's strong Christian faith is sustaining them.

"I think that's what kept them as strong as they have been but obviously it is 
going to test Mum," he said.

"But I think there is still hope. What else can you do? There is not much more. 
This is out of our hands. This is out of our control. We can only be there to 
support them both and take it as comes."

Michael has vowed to try all options in the fight to save his brother and 
Sukumaran.

Their lawyers have pledged further legal action next week but the options are 
now very limited.

On Wednesday the Denpasar District Court dashed hopes that they would get a 2nd 
judicial review - based on their remorse and rehabilitation behind bars - by 
rejecting their application.

It was the last legal throw of the dice for the 2 young Sydney men, ringleaders 
of the Bali 9 who 10 years ago in April were caught trying to smuggling 8.2kg 
of heroin from Bali to Sydney.

Chan and Sukumaran are currently in what is known as the "tower block" - 
because it is a circular group of cells beneath a water tower.

At one time it was also referred to as the death tower, when the trio of Bali 
bombers - Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra - were in there.

The 2 condemned Australians, along with 3 other Bali Nine members - Matthew 
Norman, Si Yi Chen and Michael Czugaj - are in the tower block with an 
assortment of other prisoners.

The cells are tiny, cramped and damp. Posters and family photos are on the 
walls, shoes at the entrance.

Sukumaran is in a cell by himself while Chan shares with others.

While they wait, the men are joined each morning by family. They spend several 
hours, leave for lunch and return for a couple of hours each afternoon. They 
bring food, favourite treats and supplies for them and fellow prisoners.

Sukumaran and his family try to remain positive during the visits. They avoid 
talking about the execution. It's too upsetting.

The 33-year-old said at the beginning this was not to be a sad visit. Instead 
he wanted to be together, happy as a family.

Myuran, his brother Chinthu and sister Brintha have talked about their 
childhood, trying to tell funny stories and make their mother laugh. But it's 
hard.

Sister Brintha sums it up: "You don't know what the future holds and (we are) 
so scared we are going to lose him."

"Being so far away (in Australia) we couldn't hold him or really know what he 
was thinking or feeling. We are all so very scared but trying to be positive," 
Brintha told News Corp.

Sukumaran, who started painting a few years ago, mentored by Australian artist 
Ben Quilty, has been pouring his efforts into painting portraits of each member 
of his family - and he too is talking about a future.

"Myu is trying to paint each of us to focus his energy at the moment. So far he 
has done my Mum and I but we all struggle to sit still for him to paint us," 
Brintha says.

He is also busy organising an exhibition of his works, to be held in The 
Netherlands next month and both Quilty and fellow Australian artist Matt Sleeth 
have visited and taken art classes at the jail in the past week.

This visit is Helen Chan's 1st for 3 years and she has taken solace in watching 
her son take a church service in the jail's chapel. Chan is studying to be a 
pastor and runs the jail chapel and bible studies and counselling groups.

"Mum has been able to spend quite some time in the last few days with Andy," 
Michael said this week.

"Mum got to see him hold a church service for the 1st time which was great, as 
she could see first hand what he has been doing over the last few years. Just 
to spend time with him is most important for her at the moment. She is so proud 
of all the things he has done over the last 10 years."

(source: news.com.au)

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

Widodo in Philippines as fate of death row Filipina lingers



New Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrives on his 1st state visit to the 
Philippines Sunday (Feb 8), as the fate of a Filipina facing execution for drug 
smuggling in his country hovers over planned talks.

Widodo, on the last stop of a three-nation trip after visiting Malaysia and 
Brunei, will meet with Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Monday with the 
pair expected to sign several agreements, the presidential palace in Manila 
said. However, his visit comes as the Philippines tries to prevent the 
execution of a female national facing death by firing squad in Indonesia after 
being convicted of smuggling heroin.

A spokesman for Aquino, Edwin Lacierda, said the leaders would discuss drug 
trafficking but did not say if they would address the case of the woman, who 
has not been publicly named. "We are in discussions to further work out 
cooperation in various areas of mutual interest and concerns, such as migrant 
workers, technical-vocational skills upgrading, the combatting of trafficking 
of narcotics, and (for) educational visits," Lacierda said.

China is also likely to be on the agenda, analysts say, with Indonesia regarded 
as having a potentially pivotal role in calming rising tensions between Manila 
and Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. In August, 
then-president-elect Widodo told Japan's Asahi newspaper that Indonesia, which 
has better bilateral ties with China than the Philippines, stood ready to act 
as an intermediary.

"Indonesia has the gravitas to be the champion of peace in the ASEAN 
(Association of South East Asian Nations). Widodo can also be our partner in 
our efforts to improve relations with China," Wilfrido Villacorta, a former 
Philippine ambassador to ASEAN, said. "Even if Indonesia is not a claimant 
country (in the South China Sea dispute), it has always been playing the role 
of a convenor of important discussions on the issue since the 1980s," said 
Villacorta, now an international relations specialist at De la Salle University 
in Manila.

The Philippines signed a maritime border accord with neighbouring Indonesia in 
May 2014 that has been hailed as a model for peacefully settling territorial 
disputes. Last month, Widodo, who has disappointed rights activists by voicing 
support for capital punishment, angered several countries by allowing the 
execution of 6 offenders on drug charges last month, including 5 foreigners.

The Catholic-majority Philippines does not have the death penalty. The fate of 
Filipinos abroad is a political hot potato in a country where 10 % of the 
population is forced to seek work overseas.

(source: channelnewsasia.com)