[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 9



TAIWAN:

Taiwan authorities sentence death penalty to Bekgian in 1.3kg heroin smuggling



A Belgian man convicted of smuggling drugs into Taiwan was sentenced by the 
Taipei District Court to life imprisonment.

Gunther van Eester was found guilty of entering Taiwan in November with 1.3 
kilograms of heroin hidden in a compartment in his suitcase.

The Belgian, who was jobless and homeless in Thailand, had been flagged by 
Taiwanese investigators after he visited Taiwan twice in June as a tourist, the 
district court said in its ruling.

After his 2 short visits, van Eester returned to Bangkok and met with drug 
dealers, who offered him US$700 and a free return ticket to carry a suitcase to 
Taiwan, the court said.

On arrival in Taiwan, he was detained by the Taipei District Prosecutors 
Office, who found NT$10 million (US$327,000) worth of heroin in his suitcase, 
according to the court.

Van Eester claimed that he was helping to deliver a suitcase of clothing, the 
court said in its ruling, which imposed a sentence of life imprisonment on the 
man.

Van Eester has the right to appeal the sentence in Taiwan???s high court.

(source: customstoday.com)








CHINA----execution

China executes tycoon who bid for Australian miner



A Chinese mining billionaire said to have links with disgraced former security 
tsar Zhou Yongkang and who once launched a bid for Australia's Sundance 
Resources was executed for multiple murder on Monday, a court said.

Liu Han, his younger brother Liu Wei and three accomplices were condemned to 
death in May for "organising and leading a mafia-style group", murder and other 
crimes.

Their appeals were unsuccessful and all 5 were put to death on Monday, the 
Xianning Intermediate court in the central province of Hubei said on its 
verified account on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

The 5 met with their "close relatives" before the execution, the court said in 
a separate posting.

"The executed criminals' legal rights were fully protected," it added.

Liu Han led private company Hanlong, which is based in the southwestern 
province of Sichuan and launched a takeover bid of more than $1 billion for 
Sundance, a listed Australian iron ore firm, in 2011.

But the deal collapsed in 2013 after the Chinese firm failed to follow through. 
Chinese media reports said at the time that Liu Han had been detained.

Sichuan is one of the power bases of Zhou, who once enjoyed vast power as 
China's security chief but whose targeting in a corruption investigation was 
announced in July.

The influential business magazine Caixin has reported that Liu Han once had 
dealings with a businessman believed to be Zhou's son. State media have also 
hinted that the gang had connections to central government officials.

Zhou was handed over to prosecutors in December.

The official announcement of the long-rumoured probe into Zhou made him the 
most senior member of the Communist Party to be investigated since the infamous 
Gang of 4 -- a faction that included the widow of founding leader Mao Zedong -- 
were put on trial in 1980.

(source: Agence France-Presse)

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

China court gives out new death penalty after wrongful execution



A court in China sentenced a man to death on Monday for crimes including the 
murder and rape of a woman in 1996 which another person was wrongly executed 
for before being exonerated last year, state media reported.

Zhao Zhihong, 42, was detained in 2005 and confessed to a series of rapes and 
murders, including 1 in a public toilet in Inner Mongolian capital Hohhot in 
1996 that was blamed on Huugjilt, then aged 18.

Huugjilt, who like many Chinese Mongols used just a single name, was later 
executed.

A court in December overturned his conviction and awarded his parents - who 
attended Zhao's verdict hearing - compensation.

The court additionally ordered Zhao to pay 102,768 yuan ($16,445) in 
compensation to his victims.

China has embarked on legal reforms, including reducing the use of the death 
penalty, as public discontent mounts over wrongful punishment.

While wrongful executions have often stirred outrage, capital punishment itself 
has wide support from the public.

Anti-death penalty campaigners say China uses the death penalty far more than 
other countries. The government does not release the number of executions it 
carries out, deeming it a state secret.

(source: Reuters)








INDONESIA:

Indonesia's new appetite for execution



>From the sky, Kerobokan jail looks like a vast, sprawling complex - complete 
with a tennis court, a church and a mosque. Inside this notorious Bali prison 
are convicts found guilty of drug trafficking and facing imminent execution by 
a 12-man firing squad.

Among them are 57-year-old British national Lindsay Sandiford and 2 Australians 
- part of the infamous "Bali 9" drug smuggling ring - Andrew Chan and Myuran 
Sukumaran.

Chan and Sukumaran have had their clemency appeals rejected by Indonesian 
President Joko Widodo. The attorney general's office says they will be in the 
next group of prisoners to be put to death, but it is not clear when.

Last month, after a 4-year hiatus, Indonesia executed convicts from Malawi, 
Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil and the Netherlands, as well as one from Indonesia.

The execution spree appears to be driven by Mr Widodo. He's only been in the 
job for just over 100 days - but he has decided that a war on drugs is a major 
priority for his administration. He has surprised many of his supporters and 
human rights observers with his tough stance.

"Indonesia is on the wrong side of history with this policy," says Andreas 
Harsono, Indonesia researcher with Human Rights Watch in Jakarta.

"A country's attitude to human rights is determined by its attitude to the 
death penalty, and this stance is sending the wrong message to the world about 
Indonesia's priorities - especially since Indonesia has so many of its own 
citizens on death row in countries like Saudi Arabia.

"How can it possibly campaign for their release while it executes people at 
home?"

But Indonesia says there will be no compromises - and that this policy is here 
to stay.

The country's new appetite for executions has raised concerns that convicts 
like Sandiford, who was found guilty in 2013 for trafficking 4.8kg of cocaine 
to Bali, are unlikely to have their appeals granted.

Matius Arif, a priest in Bali, has met regularly with Sandiford and says she's 
struggling to come to terms with her fate.

"It's very hard for her," he said. "I can see it and I can feel it. The 
situation is especially hard when you're in a foreign country, it's not easy 
for her. She needs a lot of support, and a lot of help on the legal, spiritual 
and emotional terms."

But Indonesia says its laws are not ambiguous - anyone caught bringing drugs 
into the country will face the death penalty.

Indonesia is not the only country in South East Asia to use capital punishment 
for drug trafficking. Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam do too - and often with 
alarming regularity.

It is thought there are 673 people on death row in Vietnam, most of them for 
drug trafficking. However, it's very difficult to verify the exact number of 
people executed each year for bringing drugs into the country, as the use of 
the death penalty in Vietnam is classified as a state secret.

In January, 8 Vietnamese citizens were given the death sentence for smuggling 
about 200kg of heroin into the country.

Mass trials for drug traffickers have been held in the yard of a detention 
centre rather than a courtroom, and have often been used as a deterrence and 
even an educational measure by the state, despite protests from foreign-based 
human rights groups.

China takes drug trafficking very seriously and metes out severe punishment for 
such offenses. According to the criminal code, anybody involved with making, 
selling, transporting and smuggling more than 2kg of opium or 50mg of heroin or 
methamphetamine can be given a sentence ranging from 15 years in prison to 
death.

These laws apply to foreign nationals as well as Chinese citizens. In recent 
years, China has executed foreign nationals on drug offences from countries 
including Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and the UK, 
despite calls for clemency from officials or NGOs representing these countries.

Countries like Indonesia often provoke international outrage with their 
decision to execute foreign nationals for drugs. Last month, the Brazilian and 
Dutch ambassadors to Indonesia were recalled to their home countries because of 
the executions of their nationals.

But Indonesia insists that this is the only way to deal with rising addiction 
rates.

The government says every day at least 40 Indonesians die because of drug 
overdoses. While these figures are hard to verify, it is true that the country 
has battled with a rising substance abuse problem, especially amongst its 
youth.

'Life was a mess'

At a rehab centre outside Jakarta, young men in their twenties and thirties 
describe how they have been taking street-level heroin and crack for most of 
their lives.

Pramudya Pramudya says more awareness is needed on the effects of drugs on 
young Indonesians

"My life turned into a mess," 30-year-old Pramudya said. "I had no friends. 
They all stopped talking to me. I just thought about how to steal from them so 
I could buy drugs. I lost everything."

Pramudya does not blame the traffickers for what happened to him but believes 
they should be executed, to send a strong message.

"From my point of view Indonesian law is very weak," he said. "So I think this 
is the time to make it serious for drug traffickers and drug dealers. It will 
never stop drugs, but maybe it will give awareness to the young generation - 
don't play with it. But it will never make Indonesia totally clean from drugs. 
"

Anti-death-penalty campaigners agree.

They say the people that end up being executed for trafficking are invariably 
mules or insignificant players - not the actual kingpins themselves.

Human rights activists say cracking down on the drug trade in South East Asia 
has to involve a consistent and concerted effort to topple those at the top 
rather than those carrying out orders.

But it is an uphill battle. The majority of Indonesians surveyed approve of the 
death penalty - especially for drug traffickers. A change of heart is hard to 
imagine.

(source: BBC News)

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

Bali 9: Lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran launch rare challenge 
against president Joko Widodo



Lawyers for the 2 Australians due to be executed in Indonesia this month are 
launching a rare challenge against the Indonesian president's refusal to grant 
them pardons.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called heroin 
trafficking group Bali 9, were due to face a firing squad before the end of 
February after they were denied presidential pardons.

Their lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said their "last chance" was to challenge 
president Joko Widodo's decision in an administrative court - a move that had 
rarely been attempted.

"We have done almost everything and now we are planning to file another claim 
to the administrative court in Jakarta," Mr Mulya said.

"We will challenge the rejection of the clemency issued by the president, or 
made by the president."

Chan and Sukumaran had argued, as they had to the Indonesian Supreme Court, 
that they were remorseful and rehabilitated.

They had both used their active involvement in rehab programs to help other 
prisoners as reasons why they should be pardoned from the death penalty.

But Mr Widodo had declared Indonesia in a state of "drug emergency" and vowed 
not to grant clemency to any drug offenders.

It was on that basis that Mr Mulya and his team of lawyers were hoping to 
challenge the president's decision, saying that he had to actually consider 
each case.

"It's not the way to do it," Mr Mulya said of the president's outright 
rejection of clemency bids.

"We don't think the president can reject all the clemency petition[s] based 
only on drug emergency situations.

"The president must go into [them] one by one. Now [an] assessment has to be 
done.

We have done almost everything to save their life and this is the last chance. 
I hope there's a miracle, I hope there's a hand of God.

"You cannot just read that on papers and make a rejection, a refusal.

"It's not the way to do it, because we are talking about human life, human 
beings.

"So we should not treat the petitioners as numbers ... treat them as human 
beings."

An administrative appeal of this kind was thought to have been attempted only 
once before, and failed.

In a 2008 court case, Mr Mulya challenged the constitutionality of the death 
sentence but the court upheld the death sentence as valid.

But he said he would not give up on trying.

"Indonesia is a state based on law, and we also ratified a lot of international 
human rights instruments. It means that we respect human rights.

"One of the basic fundamental human rights is the right to life, so when we are 
dealing with clemency... the president should take into account the life of the 
petitioners."

Chan and Sukumaran 'running out of time'

Mr Mulya conceded that there was not a lot of time left to save Chan and 
Sukumaran from the firing squad.

"I can say we are running out of time," he said.

"There's not much time left. Well I know that every legal means has been 
exhausted.

"We have done almost everything to save their life and this is the last chance.

"I hope there's a miracle, I hope there's a hand of God, at this time.

"But what I can do is to keep praying."

Indonesia's attorney-general's office was in charge of scheduling and 
coordinating executions and announcing where and when they would take place.

Attorney-general Muhammad Presetyo has already stated that the legal process is 
over and the government was preparing to execute the Australians in the next 
round of shootings, which were due to happen sometime this month.

"I keep my fingers crossed, I hope they will change their mind," Mr Mulya said.

He said the attorney-general should not go ahead with the executions while 
there was an administrative challenge in progress.

"Because they have to respect the law, they have to respect the due process of 
law," Mr Mulya said.

The families of the 2 men were travelling to Jakarta today to meet with 
Indonesia's National Committee on Human Rights, or KOMNAS HAM, in another push 
to get a stay on the executions.

(source: ABC News)








AUSTRALIA:

Australia Can Adopt Any Diplomatic Measures to Oppose Death Penalty



The Australian government can do anything diplomatically to express opposition 
to the death penalty granted to drug traffickers, but Indonesia will proceed 
with its law enforcement process, stated Indonesian Ambassador to Australia 
Nadjib Rifat Kesuma.

The statement was made by Ambassador Kesuma here on Monday with regard to the 
clemency pleas of 2 Australian drug trafficking convicts, Myuran Sukumaran and 
Andrew Chan, which were rejected by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and the 
Australian government's response to the situation.

"I do not know whether they (the Australian government) will recall their 
ambassador in Indonesia or not. But, diplomatically, they can do anything to 
express if they are unhappy," noted Kesuma.

Ambassador Kesuma, who is visiting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attend 
the Indonesian Representatives' Work Meeting on Feb 2-5, 2015, stated that the 
response of the Australian government is technically acceptable as all 
governments must try their best to defend their nationals.

"The reaction of the government (of Australia), of course, wherever they are, 
they try to make the situation better. They tried to talk to me if there is 
still anything they can do to change the last verdict, so I tell them 
everything has been executed, and this is the situation now," he explained.

Moreover, President Jokowi has stated that no mercy will be shown to drug 
dealers and drug traffickers, considering the impact on the Indonesian people, 
particularly the youth.

Regarding the diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia, Kesuma 
noted that the 2 countries have gone through so many challenges that have 
affected the relations between the 2 neighboring nations, and hence, the death 
penalty would not cause any friction.

Kesuma also spoke about a poll conducted by Roy Morgan that shows 52 % of 
Australians agree that drug traffickers convicted in another country and 
sentenced to death should be executed.

"We can say that 52 % of Australians are supporting Indonesia's position," he 
said.

However, Kesuma added that the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra also received 
more than a hundred letters from the civil society's lawyers to protest and 
express their rejection or disappointment on the death penalty awarded to the 2 
Australian nationals.

According to the Roy Morgan's poll, 52 % people support the death penalty given 
for drug trafficking and 48 % do not agree.

About 62 % of Australians said the Australian Government should not take any 
further steps to stop the execution of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, while 
38 % say that the Australian Government should do more to stop the execution.

The poll was conducted on a cross-section of 2,123 Australians over the last 
few days, on January 23-27, 2015.

(source: The Bali Times)



PAPUA NEW GUINEA:

Indonesia, Thailand ready to help PNG on death penalty



The governments of Indonesia and Thailand are ready to help the PNG 
inter-agency committee set up by Cabinet to implement the death penalty this 
year, Correctional Services Minister Jim Simatab says.

Indonesia will provide advice and technical assistance on the "death by firing 
squad" method and Thailand on "hanging".

The National Executive Council had approved three modes of execution - death by 
firing squad, hanging and administration of anaesthetics followed by lethal 
injection.

The committee comprises Government agencies and co-chaired by the Commissioner 
for Correctional Service and Secretary for the Department of Justice and 
Attorney-General.

The committee will meet this week and report to Cabinet on what they have come 
up with. "After the committee meets, we should be able to carry out this 
Government decision to implement the death penalty," Simatab said.

He said the death penalty would deter the small number of people "who have no 
value for human life".

Serious crimes which attract the mandatory death sentence include treason, 
piracy and attempted piracy with actual violence, wilful murder that are of the 
worst categories as determined by case law precedent, aggravated rape and 
robbery with violence. Department of Justice and Attorney-General Secretary Dr 
Lawrence Kalinoe said serious crimes which had been included were 
sorcery-related killings and rape of children under the age of 10.

(source: PNG Today)

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

PNG seeks outside help on death penalty



Papua New Guinea has sought direction from the governments of Indonesia and 
Thailand on how to implement the death penalty this year.

The newspaper, The National, reports the PNG inter-agency committee set up by 
Cabinet to implement the recently re-activated death penalty has been 
considering methods approved of by the National Executive Council.

The correctional services minister Jim Simatab says Indonesia will provide 
advice and technical assistance on the "death by firing squad" method and 
Thailand on "hanging".

The committee will meet this week and report to Cabinet on what method they 
have settled on.

Serious crimes which attract the mandatory death sentence include treason, 
piracy and wilful murder, aggravated rape and robbery with violence, as well as 
sorcery-related killings and rape of children under the age of 10.

(source: Radio New Zealand)