[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 24



PAKISTAN:

Pakistan captures militant linked to Peshawar school assault



The Pakistani military has arrested a man suspected of taking part in 
December's attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.

The army claim that Taj Muhammad was one of the commanders behind the Taliban 
assault.

The army is still searching for other militants linked to the attack, in which 
at least 150 people were killed, including 133 children.

All of the gunmen who stormed the school are believed to be dead.

Taj Muhammed was captured in a camp for internally displaced people in the 
Pawaka area of Peshawar.

Pakistani authorities believe 27 militants were involved in the attack. Nine 
gunmen were killed during the siege and several others linked to the attack 
have been captured.

The detainees could be brought before military courts and face the death 
penalty if convicted of terrorism.

Following the massacre, security has been stepped up in the region, with 
teachers now allowed to carry guns.

The group of attackers cut through a wire fence at Peshawar's Army School on 16 
December before launching an attack on an auditorium where children were taking 
a lesson in first aid.

The gunmen, who were wearing bomb vests, then went from room to room shooting 
pupils and teachers in a siege that lasted eight hours.

A faction of the Pakistani Taliban loyal to Mullah Fazlullah said they carried 
out the attack in revenge for the army's offensive against them in North 
Waziristan.

(source: BBC news)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi court gives death penalty to man who renounced Muslim faith



Saudi Arabia, the United States' top Arab ally and birthplace of Islam, follows 
the strict Wahhabi Sunni Muslim school and gives the ulama control over its 
justice system.

An Islamic court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a man to death for renouncing 
his Muslim faith, the English-language daily Saudi Gazette reported on Tuesday.

The man, in his 20s, posted an online video ripping up a copy of Islam's holy 
book, the Quran, and hitting it with a shoe, the newspaper reported.

Saudi Arabia, the United States' top Arab ally and birthplace of Islam, follows 
the strict Wahhabi Sunni Muslim school and gives the ulama control over its 
justice system.

Under the Wahhabi interpretation of Syariah Islamic law, apostasy demands the 
death penalty, as do some other religious offences like sorcery, while 
blasphemy and criticism of senior Muslim ulama have incurred jail terms and 
corporal punishment.

Executions in Saudi Arabia are usually carried out by public beheading.

International rights groups say the Saudi justice system suffers from a lack of 
transparency and due process, that defendants are often denied basic rights 
such as legal representation and that sentencing can be arbitrary.

The Saudi government has taken some steps to reform its judicial system but has 
also defended it as fair.

Last year a court in Jeddah sentenced Saudi liberal Raif Badawi to 1,000 lashes 
and 10 years in prison for publishing criticism of the kingdom's ruling 
religious and political elite and calling for reforms in Islam.

The 1st of 50 of those lashes were carried out in January, but subsequent 
rounds of flogging have not occurred.

Officials have not publicly commented on the case, but insiders say the lashing 
appears to have been quietly dropped.

(source: The Rakyat Post)








UGANDA:

Museveni wants death penalty for murderers



President Yoweri Museveni has asked judges to sentence murderers to death.

Opening the 17th Judges' Conference at Imperial Golf View Hotel in Entebbe on 
Monday, Museveni said judges are unnecessarily lenient with murderers and that 
the lighter sentences given to killers are eroding the already suffering public 
confidence in the judiciary.

The President cited key suspects in the recent killings of a Muslim leader 
Sheikh Abdu Kadir Muwaya in Mayuge district and Tito Okware, an NRM leader in 
Namayingo district who were apprehended by the police after completing 
investigations, but were granted bail by courts.

"Those people who willfully kill others should be sentenced to death and hanged 
under the law. In Mayuge and Namayingo, people were fighting after the key 
suspects were hurriedly released," he added.

Museveni noted that releasing murder suspects before spending at least 180 days 
on remand may force the population to turn "extra-judicial actions".

"What's the hurry for? Do you want some of us to turn to extra-judicial 
actions?" the President asked.

He asked the judges to supervise and guide magistrates who handle petty thieves 
with kid gloves. Museveni explained that in many villages petty thieves have 
stolen livestock distributed to the population under the National Agricultural 
Advisory Services, but they have been treated with kid gloves.

"There is a very big problem in the villages. The thieves are stealing people's 
pigs and the police are giving them bond. The police and judiciary are 
empowering these parasites and some farmers have told me they have given up," 
Museveni added.

Commenting on the conference's theme; the role of the judiciary in accelerating 
the transformation of Uganda's economy, Museveni noted that there's ideological 
difference between the executive and the judiciary.

"The judiciary ought to play a role in protecting life and property and without 
doing this we cannot have transformation," he added.

He asked the judiciary to help him to protect life, property, freedom, 
stability, morality and governance of the society in line with the 
constitution.

The President noted that the police and judiciary have not taken the question 
of law and order seriously by punishing criminals leniently yet the 2 issues 
are very critical to development of any country.

According to official prisons records, the last time convicts were killed by 
hanging in Uganda under NRM government was in 1999 when 29 death row inmates 
were executed. 14 convicts had been killed earlier. Originally, it was 
mandatory for anyone convicted of a capital offence to be sentence to death.

However, the 2009 Supreme Court ruling on the Constitutional Court petition by 
Susan Kigula and 417 death row convicts left it to the discretion of the trial 
judge to hand down a death sentence or not after considering circumstances 
surrounding the commission of the offence.

The acting Chief Justice, Steven Kavuma, commended the government's efforts to 
increase the number of judicial officers, but said the number of judges at the 
Supreme court need to be raised from 8 to 88, from 12 to 32 at the Court 
Appeal, from 49 to 82 at the High Court and an extra 40 magistrates and 50 
grade one magistrates.

"We want to make the Court of Appeal more visible upcountry," he added. Kavuma 
said the judiciary wants to play a role to play in the achievement of Vision 
2040 by being efficient, reducing the cost of accessing justice and deepening 
access to justice.

Vision 2040, which is the government's long term plan seeks to transform the 
country from a peasantry state to a prosperous country by 2040, provides that 
the judiciary will be strengthened to make it more independent, proactive and 
responsive to the needs of the consumers of its services.

(source: New Vision)








BANGLADESH:

'We wanted death penalty'



The prosecution has expressed its frustration over the life-term sentence 
handed to fugitive Jatiya Party leader Abdul Jabbar for crimes against humanity 
during the Liberation War.

"We will have to respect the court's decision, but we were expecting a death 
sentence," Prosecutor Jahid Imam said after the verdict on Tuesday.

Bangladesh's 1st war crimes tribunal, headed by Justice Enayetur Rahim, 
delivered the verdict against Pirojpur's Mathbarhia Razakar militia leader 
Abdul Jabbar, who became a member of Parliament in independent Bangladesh.

The prosecution proved all the 5 charges brought against Jabbar beyond doubt, 
the 3-member tribunal said. It added that they were sentencing Jabbar to life 
in prison taking his age into consideration.

The verdict detailed how the former Muslim League leader collaborated with the 
Pakistan occupation army and carried out murders, genocide, loot, arson, forced 
Hindus to convert to Islam and forced many of them to leave the country from 
Mathbarhia during the Liberation War.

Jabbar's verdict is the 4th to be delivered in absentia. He was handed 
life-terms on four charges and 20-year prison-term along with a Tk 10 lakh fine 
on 1 charge.

Prosecutor Turin Afroze said, "We have got 2 types of judgements. The court had 
earlier said age cannot be considered in case of such crimes.

"But the court gave its verdict taking into consideration the age of the 
accused. Earlier, Ghulam Azam was handed a life-term on the same ground."

State-appointed defence lawyer Mohammad Abul Hasan said, "There would have been 
scope if the convict was present or if there was more information."

He added that he repeatedly tried to contact Jabbar but did not get any 
response. "I will ask him to surrender if contact is made."

"I do not have the authority to appeal against the verdict. Only the convict 
can appeal."

Jabbar, believed to be an octogenarian, is currently living in the US, 
according to the tribunal's investigation arm.

He can challenge the verdict within a month but, for that, he will have to 
surrender first.

(source: bdnews24.com)

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

SC seeks concise statements on Nizami verdict



The Supreme Court today asked both the state and defence counsels to submit in 
2 weeks the concise statements on an appeal filed by convicted war criminal 
Motiur Rahman Nizami against his death sentence.

The four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice SK 
Sinha passed the order as the appeal of Nizami came in its hearing list today.

A concise statement contains the legal points on which the lawyers place 
arguments before the Appellate Division during its hearing.

International Crimes Tribunal-1 on October 29 last year handed him the death 
penalty on 4 charges of war crimes, including murdering intellectuals. The 
72-year-old was also awarded life imprisonment on the other 4 charges.

Nizami on November 23, last year filed the appeal with the SC challenging the 
death penalty verdict awarded to him by a war crimes tribunal for his crimes 
against humanity that he committed during the Liberation War in 1971.

In his appeal, Nizami claimed himself innocent and sought acquittal on the 8 
charges he was found guilty.

Nizami in his 121-page appeal mentioned 168 legal reasons to establish his 
innocence.

On the other hand, the government did not file any appeal with the SC against 
the ICT-1 verdict on Nizami, as it was satisfied with the verdict.

(source: The Daily Star)








SUDAN:

Sudan court denies opposition detainees bail as trial starts



A Sudanese judge Monday refused to release on bail 2 opposition figures 
detained since December for signing an alliance of anti-government groups, 
after a prosecutor demanded s6 charges against them.

The anti-terrorism court denied bail to Farouk Abu Issa and Amin Makki Madani 
after hearing the prosecutor's case, setting the next hearing for Monday March 
2, according to an AFP correspondent at the trial.

The judge will decide whether to charge them after hearing from prosecution 
witnesses.

Abu Issa and Madani were detained on December 6 after signing the Sudan Call 
agreement, aimed at uniting opposition to President Omar al-Bashir, along with 
other political parties and rebel groups.

"The document called for the fall of the regime by any means, including 
military action and popular uprisings, and this constitutes a terrorist act," 
prosecutor Yasir Ahmed Mohamed told a judge.

The prosecutor is seeking 6 charges against the 2, including founding and 
running a terrorist organisation as well as inciting war and hatred against the 
state.

5 of the charges carry the death penalty.

The judge said because the 2 were being investigated for capital offences they 
could not be released on bail.

The courtroom was packed with supporters of the 2, many of whom clapped and 
embraced them as they entered.

Representatives from 7 foreign diplomatic missions also attended.

As the hearing took place around 300 people gathered outside, watched over by a 
heavy security presence, chanting and shouting slogans demanding Abu Issa and 
Madani's release.

The Sudan Call opposition accord came amid preparations in Sudan for April 
elections that are widely expected to extend Bashir's 25 years in power.

Abu Issa signed for a grouping of opposition parties he leads and Madani signed 
for civil society groups.

(source: Daiy Mail)



LEBANON:

Samaha family calls for his immediate release



The family of former Information Minister and terror suspect Michel Samaha 
called Tuesday for his immediate release, rejecting claims by the justice 
minister that there was a plan to assassinate him.

"The judiciary must ... release minister Samaha considering the facts of the 
case, without taking into account the intelligence reports reaching the justice 
minister about an alleged threat to his life," the family said in a statement.

"This threat, supposing it's true, requires protecting him [Samaha] and not 
keeping him in jail arbitrarily under the pretext of his protection."

The family had cast doubt last week over claims made by Justice Minister Ashraf 
Rifi that there was a plot to kill Samaha.

Rifi had said the decision to move Samaha from his prison cell to a hospital 
had been cancelled due to the threat to assassinate him over information he had 
over the role of Syria in alleged terror plots.

They described Rifi's comments as "political intervention to pressure the 
military court not to release [Samaha]."

The family argued in Tuesday's statement that Samaha's 2 1/2 years in jail 
exceeded the normal durations of detention, saying his release does not mean he 
was innocent.

Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghayda last year recommended the death 
penalty for Samaha as well as a Syrian general and another individual holding 
the rank of colonel over the alleged terror plot to destabilize Lebanon.

The indictment charged the 3 men with orchestrating a plot to assassinate 
Syrian opposition figures and arms traffickers entering Syria from Lebanon.

(source: The Daily Star)








INDONESIA:

229 Indonesians face death penalty abroad



The Foreign Ministry stated on Tuesday that there were 229 Indonesians abroad 
facing capital punishment for various crimes.

"Most of them are in Malaysia with 168 cases, Saudi Arabia with 38 and China 
with 15," stated the ministry's directorate for Indonesian nationals' 
protection and legal aid as quoted by Antara news agency.

The directorate also revealed that 131 of the cases were related to drugs, 
while 77 of them were related to murder.

"Regarding the drug cases, 112 are in Malaysia, 15 in China, 2 in Laos, 1 in 
Singapore and another one in Vietnam," the directorate stated.The Foreign 
Ministry had handled 9,290 legal cases abroad as of September 2014, with most 
of the cases relating to migrant workers and ship crewmembers.

(source: The Jakarta Post)

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

Joko Widodo: No foreign interference on death penalty



Indonesian President Joko Widodo says foreign nations should not interfere in 
his country's right to use the death penalty.

He is under pressure from the leaders of Australia, Brazil and France, whose 
citizens are among 11 people facing death for drug trafficking.

Mr Widodo restated that the executions by firing squad would go ahead.

Earlier, a Jakarta court threw out an appeal by 2 Australians against their 
presidential clemency rejections.

Indonesia has some of the world's harshest drug trafficking penalties. It 
resumed executions in 2013 after a 4 year moratorium and new leader Mr Widodo 
is taking a much tougher stance on the issue.

In January, 6 traffickers - including 5 foreign nationals - were executed. A 
2nd round of executions involving 11 people is expected in coming days.

'No right to rule'

Mr Widodo told reporters that "there shouldn't be any intervention towards the 
death penalty because it is our sovereign right to exercise our law".

Several nations have spoken out against the move in recent days, however.

1 Brazilian is among the 2nd group and last week, Brazil's President Dilma 
Rousseff delivered a diplomatic snub by rejecting the credentials of the 
Indonesian ambassador to Brazil.

France summoned Indonesia's ambassador last week to voice its "extreme concern" 
over the fate of one of its nationals, Serge Atlaoui.

Australian authorities have also launched a major diplomatic campaign for the 
lives of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, the ringleaders of the Bali 9 group 
of drug smugglers.

Who are the Bali 9?

The 8 men and 1 woman were arrested in April 2005 at an airport and hotel in 
Bali, Indonesia after a tip-off from Australian police. They were trying to 
carry 8.3kg (18lb) of heroin back to Australia.

In 2006 a court ruled that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran had recruited the 
others and paid their costs. They were sentenced to death. The other 7 are 
serving sentences of between 20 years and life, after some had death sentences 
revoked on appeal.

Chan and Sukumaran have repeatedly appealed against their sentences and say 
they are reformed characters - Chan teaches Bible and cookery classes in prison 
while Sukumaran is an artist.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott caused an uproar last week when he said Indonesia 
should remember the A$1bn provided in aid by Australia after the 2004 tsunami.

The comments were seen as a threat by the political rank and some of the 
general public in Indonesia.

Sukumaran and Chan, who are also in the 2nd group, were arrested for trying to 
traffic heroin out of Bali in 2005.

Responding to their latest challenge, Judge Hendro Puspito said the court had 
no jurisdiction to overrule the president's decision to not grant clemency, 
which is considered the final word in such matters.

"Clemency is the prerogative of the president ... the state administrative 
court has no right to rule on the challenge."

He said they had 14 days to lodge an appeal. Their lawyers said they would 
pursue that avenue.

(source: BBC News)

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

Indonesia rejects calls to pardon 11 foreign convicts



Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has rejected calls from foreign countries, 
including Australia and France, to show clemency for 11 foreign convicts on 
death row.

Preident Widodo said no foreign country should intervene in the country's right 
to use the death penalty and added that the scheduled executions of 11 foreign 
convicts will not be delayed.

President Widodo said he took calls from the leaders of France, Brazil and the 
Netherlands about the death penalty.

But he told reporters: "The first thing I need to say firmly is that there 
shouldn't be any intervention towards the death penalty because it is our 
sovereign right to exercise our law".

(source: itv.com)

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

Final challenge to appeal Bali 9 executions fails



A last-ditch effort from lawyers of the Bali 9 pair to save their clients from 
the firing squad has failed.

The transfer of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Kerobokan Prison to an 
island for the executions was delayed last week.

Yesterday, the nation's state administrative court heard arguments from lawyer 
Todung Mulya Lubis that Indonesian President Joko Widodo should reconsider 
their clemency bid, ABC has reported.

The court threw out the challenge on grounds it did not have jurisdiction over 
presidential decrees

Mr Mulya earlier told ABC he believed there was strong legal ground for the 
case.

Despite public vigils across Australia and appeals for mercy from Australian 
leaders, Mr Widodo has refused to grant the pair clemency from the death 
penalty over their roles as ringleaders of a heroin smuggling group.

But Mr Widodo has publicly confirmed he considered the pair's clemency bids as 
part of 64 such bids, rather than separately.

It is unclear whether the case will affect the government's decision.

(source: The Daiy Mail)

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

RP will not intervene on citizen's behalf



The Republic of the Philippines has pledged not to interfere with the death 
penalty leveled against one of its citizens for drug trafficking while Acehnese 
officials urged the Indonesian government to speed up the executions.

Representative of the Philippine Embassy in Indonesia Ramon CH conveyed to the 
Yogyakarta High Prosecutor's Office that the Philippine government would never 
interfere with the death penalty handed down by the Sleman District Court 
against Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso for smuggling drugs.

"Philippine Embassy envoy Ramon CH only said to us that whatever Mary was found 
guilty of that their only wish was that the execution be delayed," Sri 
Anggreani A., the prosecutor head in Veloso's case, said on Monday.

Ramon made his statement while he was accompanying Veloso's family when they 
visited their daughter on death row at the Wirogunan Penitentiary in 
Yogyakarta.Anggreani said the Attorney General's Office had asked her to 
provide assistance to Veloso's family, 2 staff members from the Philippine 
Embassy, a staff member from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry and 2 priests who 
visited Veloso at the Wirogunan Penitentiary from Feb. 19 until Feb. 21.

During the 3-day period, Veloso's father Cesar S. Veloso, mother C. Veloso, 
sister Maritas Laurente and 2 sons Mark Danielle and Mark Darren all came to 
visit her.

"The family also expressed appreciation to the Attorney General's Office for 
giving them the chance to meet Veloso," said Anggreani.

Yogyakarta High Prosecutor's Office General Crimes Affairs assistant Tri 
Subardiman said Veloso was not included on the list of convicts who would be 
executed on Nusakambangan prison island, Cilacap, in the near future, as 
prosecutors were still waiting for a case review decision filed by Veloso at 
the Sleman District Court. Veloso filed for the case review several weeks ago.

The Sleman District Court is still waiting for Veloso's clemency documents from 
the Supreme Court.

Veloso was caught as she was trying to smuggle in 2.6 kilograms of heroin at 
the Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta on April 25, 2010. She 
arrived from Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, on an AirAsia flight.

Meanwhile, angered by comments made by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott 
about his country's donations during the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, students staged 
a rally in Banda Aceh asking the government to speed up the execution of the 
convicts.

"We urge the government and President Joko ["Jokowi"] Widodo to hurry up and 
punish the Australians in order to show that [Indonesia] will not be undermined 
by other countries," said the chairman of the Aceh branch of the Indonesian 
Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI).

Separately, following a 1-week delay, it seems as though the transfer of the 2 
Australian drug smugglers, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, to Nusakambang 
prison island will be conducted this week.

The chief of the Bali Prosecutor's Office, Momock Bambang Samiarso, confirmed 
that the transfer would be done this week if Nusakambangan prison island had 
already prepared their isolation rooms.

Meanwhile, the Ninth Regional Military Command (Kodam IX) Udayana commander 
Maj. Gen. Torry Djohar Banguntoro said on Monday that the Indonesian Military 
had prepared a squadron of Sukhoi fighter jets to guard the transfer of the 2 
Australian drug traffickers on death row from Kerobokan Penitentiary in Bali to 
Nusakambangan prison island.

(source: The Jakarta Post)



PAPUA NEW GUINEA:

PNG government defends death penalty as new guidelines approved



The PNG government defends its decision to reinstate the death penalty as the 
country prepares to execute 13 prisoners before the end of the year.The Papua 
New Guinea government has defended its decision to reinstate the death penalty 
as the country prepares to execute 13 prisoners before the end of the year.

Dr Lawrence Kalinoe, secretary for the Department of Justice and 
attorney-general, said people had had enough of serious crime and perpetrators 
should die for their crimes.

"In this country we have very strong support for the implementation of the 
death penalty," Mr Kalinoe told the ABC's Radio Australia." For example, one of 
the (radio) talkback shows I went to, 33 people called. Of the 33, 3 opposed 
the death penalty, 30 of them fully supported the government's role, to 
actually offer to be the executioner.

"That's how serious the citizens of this country are, serious in trying to make 
this place, a just safe and secure society."

Mr Kalinoe's comments came after the government approved new guidelines for the 
implementation of death penalty.The death penalty has not been used in PNG for 
more than 50 years, but was re-enacted last year when the law was amended to 
include more offences.The National Executive Council then approved 3 modes of 
execution - lethal injection, firing squad and hanging.

Since then, 13 people have been waiting on death row, but lack of 
infrastructure has meant there has been no method to enact the capital 
punishment.Recent reports suggest both Indonesia and Thailand have stepped in 
with offers of financial assistance and expertise.Mr Kalinoe said the 
government wanted to make the country safer in re-enacting the death penalty.

"Papua New Guinea, in particular Port Moresby, is regarded as one of the most 
dangerous cities of the world," he said. "That's a label that us Papua New 
Guineans live with, sometimes we're very embarrassed ... what a beautiful 
country but our reputation, fairly or unfairly, has gotten ahead of us, making 
this place a very unsafe sort of a place to live in.

"One of [the government's aims] was to strengthen police, strengthen the law 
and justice sector and implement whatever laws we need to implement." Last week 
the Archbishop of the PNG Catholic Church, John Ribat, spoke out against the 
death penalty and called for more community discussion on the matter.

The crimes in PNG that could attract the death penalty for those convicted 
included: treason, piracy, wilful murder, aggravated rape, robbery involving 
violence, and sorcery-related killings.

(source: Radio Australia)