[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwode

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 28



BANGLADESH:

Kamaruzzaman physically fit: Defence



Condemned war criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, senior assistant secretary 
general of Jamaat-e-Islami, is mentally and physically well, 1 of his counsels 
said today.

Mohammad Shishir Manir made the remarks after 8 members of Kamaruzzaman's 
family led by his wife Nurunnahar met with him inside the Dhaka Central Jail in 
the morning.

Kamaruzzaman's daughter, daughter-in-law, 3 nieces and a nephew and a 
brother-in-law accompanied her during the 40-minute meeting, which started 
around 10:40am, Manir told The Daily Star.

They discussed various family issues with Kamaruzzaman, the lawyer said quoting 
family members.

Manir said his client will take decision on the next course of action after the 
Supreme Court disposes of his review petition which is yet to be filed.

Quoting the family members, the counsel further said Kamaruzzaman expressed 
concern over the arrest of his brother-in-law, Monowar Hossen Babul, and 
nephew, Abdul Alim, over an arson case filed with Tejgaon Police Station in the 
capital.

They were picked up by plainclothes police from Kamaruzzaman's Mirpur residence 
on February 24, Manir added.

The prison authorities read out Kamaruzzaman's death warrant to him on February 
19, the day International Crimes Tribunal-2 issued it. The SC released the 
verdict's full text on the previous day.

On November 3, 2014, the Supreme Court had upheld the May 9, 2013 death penalty 
handed down by the Tribunal-2 for crimes Kamaruzzaman committed against 
humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

(source: The Daily Star)








IRAN----executions

3 Prisoners Hanged in Northwestern Iran



3 prisoners were hanged in the prison of Ardebil (Northwestern Iran).

According to the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in Ardebil Province, 
the prisoners were convicted of drug trafficking and were arrested while 
transferring 27 kilograms of heroin out of the country.

Due to lack of transparency in Iran's Judiciary, the charges have not been 
confirmed by independent sources.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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

A man hanged in Tabas



A Man hanged in a prison in city of Tabas in Iran. The prisoner had been 
arrested 3 years ago.

Mehdi Fatahi was hanged early morning on Wednesday in the main prison in the 
city.

Fatahi was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug related offences 
but he was sentenced to death by an appeal court.

On the same day two other prisoners were hanged in public in the western city 
of Kermanshah.

The 2 men were hanged in 2 locations in the city at 10 in the morning local 
time.

According to the reports received from various sources dozens of prisoners have 
been hanged during the past weekend alone in prisons across Iran.

(source: NCR-Iran)








EGYPT:

Egypt Sentences 4 Brotherhood Members to Death, 14 to Life in Prison



An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced 4 Muslim Brotherhood members to death 
and 14 leading members to life in prison, over charges of inciting violence 
that led to the killing of protesters demonstrating outside the group's 
headquarters in 2013.

Muslim Brotherhood top leader Mohammed Badie and his 2 deputies Khairat 
al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi were among those sentenced to life in prison.

2 of those sentenced to death and three sentenced to life were tried in 
absentia. Saturday's verdicts were subject to appeal.

The charges relate to violence that erupted on June 30, 2013 outside the 
Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo's Moqattam district, during which 9 people 
were killed and 91 injured, days before then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi 
ousted President Mohammed Mursi.

Badie and the other defendants present in court for the verdict denounced the 
sentence and shouted: "Down with military rule."

Once the top leader of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Badie has already 
been sentenced to multiple life terms.

He was also 1 of 182 given the death sentence in a mass trial in connection 
with violence that erupted in the southern town of Minya following the Mursi's 
ouster. The trial drew international criticism of Egypt's judicial system.

Meanwhile, on Friday Egyptian prosecutors referred 271 people to a military 
court on charges of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group and 
attacking court buildings in central Egypt 2 years ago.

Since Sisi's rise to the presidency, more than 15,000 Mursi supporters have 
been imprisoned, while scores have been sentenced to death after speedy trials 
which the United Nations has denounced as "unprecedented in recent history."

Mursi and many top leaders of his now-banned Muslim Brotherhood are themselves 
in jail and on trial in cases in which they face the death penalty if 
convicted.

Besides Islamists, many of the leading secular activists behind the 2011 
uprising have also found themselves on the wrong side of the new political 
leadership, getting locked up for taking part in peaceful demonstrations 
following a ban on unlicensed protests.

(source: al-akhbar.com)








BAHRAIN:

Urgent Action----see: 
http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/uaa04715.pdf



(source: Amnesty International)

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

Bahrain's al-Wefaq slams death verdicts



Bahrain's main opposition bloc has slammed the recent death sentences handed 
down to three people on allegations of killing policemen, stating that the 
rulings are part of heavy-handed measures that jeopardize opportunities for 
political stability in the kingdom.

The al-Wefaq National Islamic Society said in a statement that the latest 
verdicts have raised the number of people given the death penalty over the past 
4 years to 7.

Al-Wefaq also termed the rulings void as they were issued based on the 
defendants' confessions under torture, and through hearings lacking the 
principles of a fair trial.

On Thursday, dozens of anti-regime demonstrators took to the streets in the 
villages of Daih and Musalla, both located west of the capital, Manama, to 
denounce the recent death rulings and demand the release of all prisoners of 
conscience, including al-Wefaq's secretary general, Sheikh Ali Salman.

Earlier in the day, the supreme criminal court of Bahrain sentenced 3 people to 
death and 7 others to life in prison after convicting them of killing 3 
policemen in Daih last year.

The court also revoked the citizenship of 8 defendants, thus increasing the 
number of those stripped of citizenship to 123.

On March 3, 2014, 3 police officers, 1 from the United Arab Emirates, were 
killed in a bomb attack in the village.

However, no group claimed responsibility for the explosion, which occurred as 
Bahraini troops attacked the mourners of an anti-regime activist, who had died 
in prison a few days ago.

The popular uprising in Bahrain began in February 2011. Since then, thousands 
of protesters have been waging regular mass rallies in the Persian Gulf 
country.

The protesters are demanding the downfall of the Al Khalifa family and the 
establishment of a democratically-elected government.

(source: Presstv.ir)



SINGAPORE:

Landmark decision on death penalty sparks legal debate



When it comes to a murderer, how brutal must he be to warrant the death 
penalty?

In a landmark decision last month, judges were divided on this point - deciding 
in the end by 3 to 2 that convicted killer Kho Jabing, 31, will hang.

The decision sparked keen discussion among the legal fraternity, who noted that 
while it did provide some guidelines on when the death penalty should be 
upheld, these may not be enough.

Kho's was the 1st murder case to reach the Court of Appeal since new laws 
kicked in 2 years ago, giving judges more sentencing discretion for murder and 
drug-trafficking offences, as an alternative to mandatory hanging.

In 2008, Kho, a Sarawakian rag-and-bone man, bludgeoned a construction worker 
repeatedly with a branch while trying to rob him.

The decision of the nation's highest court last month hinged on what three of 
the judges said was the "sheer savagery and brutality" Kho had displayed. In 
essence, the act "outraged the feelings of the community", which justified the 
death penalty.

The 2 dissenting judges, however, were not convinced there was enough evidence 
to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Kho had struck the victim 3 or more 
times, or with such force as to cause the man's fatal skull fractures.

Said Singapore Management University don Chandra Mohan, a former district 
judge, writing in a law blog: "As the dissenting judgments have demonstrated, 
differences in the findings of facts as to whether the accused had shown a 
blatant disregard for life, the manner in which he had done so, and 
considerations of the relevance of the 'other circumstances' could well lead to 
inconsistencies in sentencing.

"Hopefully, future judgments of the Appeals Court will help to curb such 
inconsistencies."

Law graduate Grace Morgan argued in daily legal news service Singapore Law 
Watch that the court's assertion that the killer's brutal acts "outraged the 
feelings of the community" raised the question of what kind of outrage was 
needed to warrant the death penalty. Ms Morgan, who is a pupil at law firm 
Rodyk and Davidson, said it would be difficult to decide whether, for instance, 
3 blows by the accused would cause enough outrage, rather than 2.

A more precise alternative could be whether the offender acted in such a way 
that it "shocks the conscience", she suggested. A killer who cuts up his 
victim's body could be one such example.

She argued this would pitch the standard slightly higher than the current test, 
and would lessen some of the difficulties involved in trying to find the 
"precise level of moral culpability in borderline cases such as this (Kho 
Jabing) case".

Criminal lawyer James Masih pointed out that the court's decision was based on 
the facts of one particular case, and that each case was different. The law 
would become clearer as more rulings were made, he said.

Ultimately, though, there would be no hard and fast rules as each decision 
would depend on the facts of a particular case.

Said Associate Professor Mohan: "Unfortunately, the devil may still lie in the 
details."

Kho's lawyer Anand Nalachandran is currently preparing his appeal for clemency 
to the President.

(source: Asia One)








INDONESIA:

Bali 9 executions: Gospel singer who jams with prison guards on death row with 
Bali 9 duo



Okwudili Ayotanze is a charismatic gospel singer who has released albums with 
titles such as Never be afraid.

He is also on death row with Bali 9 ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran 
Sukumaran.

The 40-year-old Nigerian's studio is the supermax Pasir Putih prison on the 
notorious Nusakambangan island, known as Indonesia's Alcatraz.

And his band mates are fellow inmates on guitars and a prison guard on the 
keyboard, who rocks songs such as God Bless Indonesia in full uniformed 
regalia.

Ayotanze is a product of the same Indonesian prison system that has reformed 
Chan and Sukumaran and with whom he will be killed.

At the release of his 2008 CD God You Know (All My Ways) (Death Penalty), Dili, 
as he is known, had been seven years behind bars calling the Lord in repentance 
with over 70 written songs, according to the World Ministry blog.

"Dili uses his musical talent to composed and written (sic) songs to call upon 
God and to give warning to others, giving an example of his life that they 
should be strong, of good courage and be aware of the devil's traps," the blog 
reads.

Ayotanze and fellow Nigerian Silvester Obikwe have recently been named among 
the eight drug felons who will be executed simultaneously with Chan and 
Sukumaran.

The date of the executions is not yet known although paramilitary officers on 
Friday conducted a terrifying re-enactment of the highly militarised transfer 
of Chan and Sukumaran from Bali's Kerobokan prison to Nusakambangan.

Ayotanze was arrested in 2001 trying to smuggle 1.15 kilograms of heroin from 
Pakistan into Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta.

Cilacap priest Father Charles Burrows, who has previously been asked to attend 
the executions of Catholic prisoners on Nusakambangan, says Dili's reformation 
is similar to that undergone by Chan and Sukumaran.

He said Dili had produced albums of spiritual songs from the prison and 
performed whenever there were visitors to Pasir Putih.

"He was elected by his friends as head of the Christians at Pasir Putih prison 
and it is him who always prepares the altar, calls up the Christian friends and 
organises the music and readings so the service can go well," Father Burrows 
said.

Ayotanze said the song "God Bless Indonesia" came to him while praying at 3am. 
"I had head a voice urging: 'Write a song for Indonesia'," he wrote on the 
cover notes of the album. "I thought to myself: 'What kind of song is that? 
What is its title?' The voice said: 'Just name it: God bless Indonesia'. I was 
sure it was his voice so I started to write it down."

In a testimony, Father Burrows begged for mercy for Dili.

He wrote that Ayotanze had very good relationship with prison guards and 
inmates and was regarded as a co-operative prisoner who "always avoids negative 
things".

In a refrain of the arguments used by supporters of Chan and Sukumaran, Father 
Burrows said the Indonesian prison system had succeeded in reforming Dili in 
accordance with the principle that prisons should be places of rehabilitation.

"The guards don't agree with the death penalty," Father Burrows, who is known 
as Romo Carolus in Indonesia, told Fairfax Media.

Father Burrows is also seeking a second medical assessment for another of the 
Catholic drug felons on death row, Brazilian man Rodrigo Gularte, who has been 
diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Gularte's lawyer is hopeful he will get a reprieve because he is mentally ill.

However the Attorney-General, H.M. Prasetyo said there is no regulation 
preventing the execution of a mentally ill person. "There is only a regulation 
forbidding the execution of pregnant women and children under 18 years," he 
said.

Father Burrows disputed this. "The Constitutional Court said in 2007 or 2008 
that a mentally ill person should be hospitalised, cured and then shot. That's 
the highest court in the land so it should have some standing."

Mr Prasetyo has resolved to proceed with the executions even though a number of 
condemned prisoners have legal proceedings underway.

Chan and Sukumaran are appealing against a decision by the Administrative Court 
that it did not have the power to rule on whether Indonesian president Joko 
Widodo should have assessed their clemency pleas on a case-by-case basis.

Nigerian Raheem Agbaje Salami, who was caught smuggling 5.3 kilograms of heroin 
into Indonesia in 1998, is also trying to get Mr Joko's rejection of his 
clemency plea nullified on the grounds it was not rejected within the time 
limit.

And lawyers for Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, who was arrested at at ecstasy 
laboratory near Jakarta in 2005, have filed a request for a judicial review 
into his case.

The 10 drug felons who will be executed

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso (Philippines) 30-year-old Filipino migrant worker who 
was sentenced to death for smuggling 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Jogjakarta 
from Malaysia in 2010.

Serge Areski Atlaoui (France) Father of 4 who was arrested near Jakarta in 2005 
at a laboratory producing ecstasy. He has always denied the charges, saying he 
was installing machinery in what he thought was an acrylics factory. His 
lawyers have filed a request for a judicial review.

Martin Anderson alias Belo (Ghana) Sentenced to death after being convicted of 
possessing 50 grams of heroin in 2003.

Raheem Agbaje Salami (Nigeria) Caught smuggling 5.3 kilograms of heroin into 
Indonesia in 1998. His lawyer is trying to get President Joko Widodo's 
rejection of his clemency plea nullified on the grounds it was not rejected 
within the time limit.

Rodrigo Gularte (Brazil) Convicted of smuggling 19 kilograms of cocaine in his 
surfboard in 2004. His lawyer is arguing he should be spared because he has 
recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The Attorney-General is seeking a 
2nd medical assessment.

Myuran Sukumaran (Australia) Arrested for his role as the so-called "enforcer" 
in a foiled attempt by the Bali 9 to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from 
Indonesia to Australia in 2005. His lawyers are appealing a decision in the 
Administrative Court not to rule on whether President Joko Widodo properly 
considered his clemency plea before it was rejected.

Andrew Chan (Australia) Arrested for his role as the so-called "godfather" in a 
foiled attempt by the Bali 9 to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia 
to Australia in 2005. His lawyers are appealing a decision in the 
Administrative Court not to rule on whether President Joko Widodo properly 
considered his clemency plea before it was rejected.

Zainal Abidin (Indonesia) Sentenced to death in 2001 for smuggling 58.7 
kilograms of marijuana.

Silvester Obiekwe (Nigeria) Sentenced to death for smuggling 1.2 kilograms of 
heroin into the country from Pakistan in 2004. He was named as a priority for 
this round of executions after angering authorities by continuing to run a drug 
syndicate while on death row.

Okwudili Ayotanze (Nigeria) Arrested in 2001 trying to smuggle 1.15 kilograms 
of heroin from Pakistan into Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta.

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

Bali 9 executions: Myuran Sukumaran awarded fine art degree



Bali 9 ringleader Myuran Sukumaran has been awarded an Associate Degree in Fine 
Art from Curtin University in Perth just days before he is expected to die.

He deserves this in so many ways and for so many reasons

Sukumaran was due to finish his Bachelor of Fine Arts, which he was completing 
via correspondence from Kerobokan prison in Bali, by the end of this year.

"It's just so unreal," Ben Quilty said of the degree awarded to Sukumaran.

His friend and mentor, Archibald prize winning artist Ben Quilty wrote last 
month that Sukumaran's mother, Raji, was worried that the pressure of an 
imminent firing squad would prevent "Myu" finishing his degree this year.

"She has worried more in the past 10 years than most mothers worry in a 
lifetime," Mr Quilty wrote in Fairfax Media.

"I told her that as long as he is allowed to live, nothing will stop Myuran 
Sukumaran."

Now Curtin University has confirmed that Sukumaran has already accrued enough 
points to be awarded an Associate Degree in Fine Art.

Mr Quilty said Curtin University was couriering the associate degree to him on 
Friday.

"It's just unreal, it's so unreal," Mr Quilty said.

"I really do think he'll be the 1st of quite a few people who will get 
qualifications like this through that art room [at Kerobokan jail]."

The Associate Degree comes as Sukumaran and Andrew Chan await their transferral 
to Nusakambangan island in Java, where they could be shot within days.

Mr Quilty, who along with Melbourne artist Matthew Sleeth conducts regular 
workshops at the jail, said he was initially sceptical when Sukumaran proposed 
commencing a Fine Art degree.

"To be quite honest, I thought that was a highly difficult thing to be taking 
on under the circumstances."

He said Sukumaran's achievement would inspire others who attended the classes 
at Kerobokan jail, who already look up to the Australian.

"Hopefully they'll continue with what he has started no matter what happens. I 
know that's what he wants."

Mr Quilty said that every time he taught in the prison 4 to 5 ex-inmates 
attended the classes. He used to think it weird that people would willingly 
return to prison but now understands the transformative power of what Sukumaran 
had instigated in the prison.

"Now I think" 'Myuran, you are so f-----g extraordinary'. He deserves this in 
so many ways and for so many reasons."

On Friday paramilitary authorities in Bali carried out a frightening 
re-enactment of their highly militarised transfer, involving handcuffed 
prisoners and armoured tanks.

(source for both: Sydney Morning Hehrald)

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

Widodo's mate begs him to show mercy



Indonesian President Joko Widodo's close friend and current Jakarta Governor 
has delivered a strong anti death penalty argument to the President saying he 
disagrees with the death penalty for drug traffickers because they can change 
and be rehabilitated.

Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, conveyed his views to 
the President, whom he says is careful and considerate when it comes to taking 
advice and making decisions.

Ahok was the President's deputy governor for 2 years when Jokowi, as he is 
known, was the Governor of Jakarta.

The pair are known to be close and Ahok's advice adds significant weight to 
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's bid to be spared the firing squad because of 
their remarkable rehabilitation in jail.

Ahok, a powerful figure in Jakarta, reportedly made the comments on Saturday 
during a visit to the Pondok Bambu Prison in East Jakarta.

Chan and Sukumaran, who have reformed and set up a series of rehabilitation 
programs inside Kerobokan jail in Bali, face imminent execution after the 
President rejected their clemency pleas and ordered the execution of all drug 
traffickers.

The central point of their clemency and an appeal in a Jakarta court is that 
their rehabilitation should be taken into account when considering their bid 
for a pardon

"I do not agree with the death sentence. They have an opportunity to be a 
better person," Ahok said of convicted drug criminals, quoted by Indonesian 
newspaper Kompas.

He told reporters that the sentence for drug criminals should be a life 
sentence without remission and they should be tightly supervised.

Ahok said that the death sentence only deserved to be given to criminals nabbed 
for consuming drugs in jail.

"If they still control drugs inside (the prison), they should be executed 
directly on that day. But if they want to change, give (them) the opportunity 
to live. Maybe he or she can help other people's awareness of their faults 
rather than executing them," Ahok said.

Ahok said he did not agree with the death penalty for drugs but agreed if it 
was a sadistic murderer.

"This is my opinion about human rights. I delivered it to Mr President. I know 
that he is careful and correct in listening to all suggestions. This is my 
experience with him," Ahok said.

He did not elaborate on the President's response to his suggestion.

The strong anti death penalty comments come as President Widodo reportedly said 
the executions of Chan and Sukumaran would go ahead despite his conversation 
last week with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

"Our position is clear. Our laws cannot be interfered with," the President told 
Jakarta business newspaper Kontan in answer to a question about the Abbott 
phone call.

Mr Abbott had earlier said that his Indonesian counterpart was "carefully 
considering" his position.

Chan and Sukumaran were on Saturday visited in jail by their families as their 
fate hangs in the balance. They are among 10 drug traffickers, 9 of them 
foreigners, who face imminent execution on Nusa Kambangan prison island, off 
the coast of Central Java.

While paramilitary police held a dress rehearsal of their transfer from Bali to 
Java on Friday, the Attorney General has yet to set a date for their move and 
execution.

(source: news.com.au)

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

The Death Penalty for Non-Lethal Crimes Is Wrong



Indonesia has endured a great deal of criticism for continuing to execute men 
and women at an alarming rate. Things have come to a head thanks to the case of 
the Bali 9, a group of people convicted of drug smuggling that includes various 
foreign nationals.

Interventions from Australia, Brazil and France, all of whom have citizens 
lined up for execution, have fallen on unsympathetic ears. On February 25, 
Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo, responded to international criticism by 
saying foreign nations should not interfere with Indonesia's right to use 
capital punishment, and that the executions were therefore justified in going 
ahead as planned.

But in terms of international law, Widodo is wrong on various counts.

Widodo's claim that "there shouldn't be any intervention towards the death 
penalty because it is our sovereign right to exercise our law" would not have 
been correct 50 years ago, and is certainly not acceptable today.

The way a country uses capital punishment is of global concern. When 
international human rights law was laid down in the wake of World War II, the 
world initially disagreed on whether the death penalty is a matter for the 
international legal system - but in 1966, it was ultimately agreed that death 
penalty laws and practices should be regulated by international law.

Indonesia's recent wave of executions has involved numerous foreign nationals. 
The right of states to exercise diplomatic protection over citizens abroad goes 
back centuries, so there is nothing untoward about the likes of Australia, 
Brazil and France making representations to help their nationals facing 
execution. In fact, in a feat of sheer hypocrisy, Indonesia is helping its own 
nationals escape death sentences abroad.

Indonesia is imposing the death penalty for drug-trafficking offenses. Even if 
we accept that states are permitted to use the death penalty, there is an 
unequivocal ban on the death penalty for non-fatal offenses. The U.N. has made 
it abundantly clear that only those who directly cause a person's death are 
eligible for the death penalty, and has explicitly prohibited the death penalty 
for drug trafficking. To suggest that other countries should not speak out when 
a state is flagrantly breaching international law makes a mockery of the 
international legal system.

Widido has also said he will not consider clemency for drug offenders - yet 
international law makes it clear that each case for clemency must be considered 
on its individual merits. Yet again, when other countries are threatening to 
violate rules of international law, states are bound to intervene.

There are a host of other concerns with Indonesia's use of the death penalty 
against drug offenders. Widodo has said that the punishment is required in 
order to deter others from bringing drugs into the country, but there is simply 
no evidence to suggest that the death penalty has deterred people from 
trafficking drugs before. The evidence also suggests that the drug crisis in 
Indonesia is not as severe as state authorities have made out when attempting 
to justify their use of capital punishment.

In other words, the death penalty is neither necessary nor effective. Not only 
is it morally questionable to impose death sentences in such circumstances, it 
is also legally dubious.

Only 1 element of this situation is short of a worst-case scenario. Indonesia 
is arguably meeting one standard of international law: the requirement that 
executions are carried out humanely and with respect for the dignity of the 
offender. This standard is by no means met in all the countries that still 
execute criminals.

In several states in the U.S., for example, the use of lethal injection has 
come under increasing scrutiny as evidence comes to light that people executed 
that way still feel pain, and that the method can go disastrously wrong. Even 
many states and countries that still embrace execution have rejected hanging, 
the electric chair and the gas chamber because it was recognised that these 
methods of execution cause excessive suffering - yet many other governments 
still deploy these and other means.

By contrast, Indonesia's use of firing squads is more humane. Research has 
suggested firing squads, while by no means perfect, are the most reliable means 
of executing a person quickly and with minimal suffering.

But it says a lot about the death penalty that arguably the most effective and 
humane way of carrying it out involves pointing a gun at someone and shooting 
them. The boundary between officially sanctioned state killing and illegitimate 
homicide is easily blurred to say the least???and it seems that the only 
remotely laudable aspect of Indonesia's institutionalised death penalty is also 
one of the most disturbing.

(source: Bharat Malkani is lecturer, Birmingham Law School at University of 
Birmingham, U.K.----Newsweek Magazine)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi court gives death penalty to man who renounced his Muslim faith



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

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

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

Under the Wahhabi interpretation of Sharia Islamic law, apostasy demands the 
death penalty, as do some other religious offences like sorcery, while 
blasphemy and criticism of senior Muslim clerics 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.

(source: Reuters)