[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 30



BAHRAIN:

Death urged in Daih blast case



Prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for 8 men standing trial in 
connection with a bomb blast that killed 3 policemen.

The Bahrainis have been charged with premeditated murder, attempted murder, 
making explosives and joining and running a terrorist group.

The explosion in Daih killed Emirati officer First Lieutenant Tariq Al Shehhi, 
41, Yemeni Ammar Abdu Ali Al Dhalei, 35, and Pakistani Muhammad Arslan Ramzan, 
22, in March last year.

A public prosecutor yesterday demanded that the High Criminal Court hand out 
the maximum punishment the death penalty.

'Those who betray their country and subvert public security and the development 
process by targeting people's lives and killing people in cold blood deserve 
the death penalty as retribution to the martyrs,' he said.

However, defence lawyers argued that prosecutors did not provide a shred of 
solid evidence linking their clients to the blast.

They requested the court to acquit the defendants, of whom only 3 are in police 
custody.

Judges adjourned the trial to February 26 to issue a verdict.

The suspects, allegedly members of the so-called Saraya Al Ashtar (Ashtar 
Brigade) made 10 homemade explosives, while 2 of them, aged 40 and 24, 
allegedly planted 3 of the bombs near a mall in Daih to 'kill as many policemen 
as possible'.

One of the devices was triggered on March 3, killing the 3 policemen and 
injuring 13 other people, including a GDN photographer.

According to prosecutors, the 40-year-old defendant was paid BD1,400 and 
instructed to buy bomb-making materials, make the explosives, observe policemen 
and co-ordinate the operation using a walkie-talkie.

The 24-year-old, described as the mastermind of the operation, was said to have 
been lying in wait on top of a building in Daih to remotely detonate the device 
that killed the policemen.

A medical examiner earlier told the court that injuries sustained by the three 
victims were caused by projectiles packed inside the explosive device.

The explosion was the deadliest attack on security forces in Bahrain since 
anti-government radicals began a campaign of violence against police following 
the unrest in 2011.

(source: Gulf Daily News)








INDONESIA:

Indonesia ready for execution of 7



Indonesia is ready to execute 7 foreign drug convicts on death row after their 
appeals for presidential clemency were rejected, an official said, in a move 
certain to set Jakarta on a collision course with international allies.

The 7 include 2 Australian leaders of the "Bali 9" drug-smuggling gang, who 
have been on death row for almost a decade.

The pair lost their appeals in December and earlier this month.

A spokesman for the attorney-general's office revealed on Wednesday that a 
further 5 foreigners have also lost their appeals.

He said 4 were from France, Brazil, Nigeria and Ghana.

Local media reported that the 5th was a Philippine woman, and the foreign 
ministry in Manila said it was working to prevent the execution.

4 Indonesians - only 1 of them convicted of drugs offences - had also lost 
their bid for clemency.

"The attorney-general's office now has 11 convicts on death row ready to be 
executed," spokesman Tony Spontana said.

Indonesia earlier this month executed 6 drug offenders, including 5 foreigners, 
prompting a furious Brazil and the Netherlands - whose citizens were among 
those put to death - to recall their ambassadors.

Drug offenders from Vietnam, Malawi and Nigeria were also among those killed by 
firing squad.

Despite his image as a reformist, Indonesia's new President Joko Widodo has 
been a vocal supporter of capital punishment for drug offenders, disappointing 
rights activists who had hoped that he would take a softer line on the death 
penalty.

He has repeatedly vowed to show no clemency to drug traffickers.

In a CNN interview broadcast earlier this week, Joko vowed: "We are not going 
to compromise for drug dealers. No compromise. No compromise."

Tony said a decision had not yet been made on when or where the convicts would 
be executed, only that more than 1 would face the firing squad in the next 
round.

The Frenchman is Serge Atlaoui, who has been on death row since 2007, Tony 
confirmed.

In Sydney yesterday, more than 2,000 Australians, led by local musicians, 
gathered in a plea for mercy for their compatriots facing imminent execution, 
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

Holding candles and signs reading "I stand for mercy", the crowd listened to 
speeches and live music.

"Don't kill him, please don't kill him ... please, president, please forgive 
him," Sukumaran's grandmother Edith Visvanathan told the crowd between sobs.

The Australian pair were arrested in Bali in 2005 and sentenced to death the 
following year for attempting to smuggle 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of heroin out 
of the Indonesian holiday island.

The rejection of their clemency appeals removed the final hurdle to put the 
pair to death, as Indonesian authorities said they must be executed together as 
they had committed their crime together.

Lawyers for the pair are planning a last-ditch appeal to their convictions but 
the attorney-general's office has said that further legal challenges are not 
possible once a clemency bid has been rejected.

Atlaoui was arrested in 2005 in a secret laboratory producing ecstasy close to 
Jakarta.

(source: The Star)






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

Police ready for execution of Bali 9 duo



The police are making assurances that the prison island of Nusakambangan in 
Cilacap, Central Java, is ready for the executions of death row convicts, 
including the Bali 9 duo.

Cilacap Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ulung Sampurna Jaya said that they were 
only waiting for the order to commence the executions.

"We are very ready. It's now just a matter of pressing the button," Ulung said 
as an analogy during an interview with The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

According to him, additional special personnel had been assigned to the areas 
around the Wijaya Pura Pier, the official entrance gate to the prison island, 
since all officials and visitors to the prisons land on the island after a 
7-minute ride from Cilacap on the mainland on board a ship provided by the 
Nusakambangan correctional facility office.

Ulung said that he had received messages indicating that the executions of 2 
members of the Bali 9 would be conducted in February, but the exact date had 
yet to be revealed.

"That's why we prepare the squad to remain ready so that any time there is a 
command there will be no problem," Ulung said.

The Attorney General's Office has revealed a plan to execute another 11 death 
row convicts, including drug convicts, who are on the prison island.

Attorney General HM Prasetyo said on Thursday that as an isolated island 
Nusakambangan was considered an ideal place for executions in terms of 
security. On Jan. 18, the government executed an Indonesian and 5 foreign 
nationals for their involvement in drug trafficking. Some of the executions 
took place on Nusakambangan Island. The list of the 11 convicts to be executed 
include drug convicts Rodrigo Gularte of Brazil, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso of the 
Philippines, Serge Areski Atlaoui of France, Martin Anderson alias Belo of 
Ghana, Raheem Agbaje Salami of Spain and Zainal Abidin of Indonesia. 3 
Indonesian murder convicts, Syofial, Sargawi and Harun, are also on the list.

2 Australians - Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran - are also said to be among 
those to soon be executed. Sukumaran, 33, and Chan, 31, are being detained at 
Kerobokan Penitentiary. They are 2 of 9 Australians, the so-called Bali 9 
group, who were convicted for attempting to smuggle about 8 kilograms of heroin 
from Bali to Australia in 2005. Their clemency pleas were officially rejected 
by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo this month.

Despite the denial of their requests for clemency, lawyers for the 2 Australian 
drug smugglers are pushing forward with efforts to save their clients from 
execution.The pair's legal team said they were planning to file for a 2nd case 
review (PK) with the Denpasar District Court, arguing that the convicts had 
reformed themselves after serving more than 10 years in prison.

According to an existing regulation issued by the Supreme Court, a convict can 
request only 1 additional case review in order to establish legal certainty. 
The team submitted a PK in 2010 that was rejected.

Nusakambangan is home to around 1,500 high-profile inmates and has often been 
the venue for executions. It is considered secure as it is located about 2 km 
off the Teluk Penyu beach, Cilacap.

There are 2 execution sites on the island: the Nirbaya and Li- musbuntu 
shooting fields.

(source: Jakarta Post)

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

Clemency sign of presidential power



In recent speeches, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has stated that he will 
reject the clemency petitions for all drug traffickers on death row. So far, 
Jokowi has done so in around 25 cases, with additional petitions already having 
been rejected by previous Indonesian presidents. Unless they are able to file 
for a 'judicial review' at the Supreme Court for a 1st or 2nd time, these 
prisoners now face execution.

However, irrespective of whether you agree with the death penalty in principle 
or not, the President's approach to the clemency appeals of death row convicts 
is at best misguided and at worst contrary to international legal principles. 
Clemency should be considered on a case-by-case basis for every single prisoner 
on death row, whether convicted for drug trafficking or for any other crime.

The reason that President Jokowi has stated that he will reject clemency for 
all 57 prisoners sentenced to death for drug trafficking (excluding the 6 
prisoners already put to death on 18 January), is the belief that minimizing 
clemency grants maximizes the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

However, there is little to no evidence that the use of the death penalty 
deters drug crime any more effectively than the threat of long-term 
imprisonment does. Supporters of the death penalty for drug trafficking may 
point to falling rates of drug addiction in a retentionist country like 
Singapore, yet in social science studies, finding a control sample is 
impossible: we cannot be sure of what Singapore would have looked like if it 
had not applied the death penalty for drug trafficking so liberally in the 
1990s.

Is it the death penalty, or is it demographic factors that have reduced rates 
of drug addiction?

Moreover, seizures of illegal drugs have actually increased in Singapore in 
recent years, despite the mandatory death penalty there. Even if the logic of 
strong deterrence remains intuitively attractive to legislators and law 
enforcement authorities, decisions by drug "mules" to import or export 
narcotics are not made by rationally weighing the costs and benefits of 
breaking the law - especially when the costs of trial and punishment are a 
temporally distant proposition for persons drawn to smuggling drugs for 
immediate financial reward.

Criminologists believe that deterrence is best achieved by increasing the 
detection rates of crimes rather than increasing the harshness of punishments 
(from life imprisonment to death, for example). So if there is no evidence that 
a blanket denial of clemency requests will lead to a future reduction of drug 
trafficking in Indonesia, what then are the uses of clemency in death penalty 
cases?

First, President Jokowi may believe that using his prerogative to grant 
clemency will cast him as a weak leader in the eyes of his political opponents 
and the Indonesian public. However, the historical role of the clemency power 
suggests otherwise.

By granting clemency in appropriate cases, a nation's leader may actually 
enhance his power vis-a-vis the other institutions of government. In a 
liberal-democratic state it is the legislature's responsibility to enact laws, 
the judiciary's responsibility to interpret those laws and the executive's 
responsibility to enforce the law, and to exercise the lenient discretion not 
to enforce it in appropriate cases. Each branch of government wields its own 
power but also checks the powers of the other 2 branches.

Clemency operates as one of the executive's checks against the legislature and 
judiciary, and the use of the power in appropriate cases can be a sign of 
strength: a sign that a strong leader is setting his own agenda rather than 
being dictated to by rival sources of political and state power.

Second, the power to grant clemency is particularly important in death penalty 
cases as an additional safeguard against wrongful conviction and therefore 
wrongful execution. All systems of criminal justice, including Indonesia's, are 
imperfect institutions. If there exist even the smallest doubts over the 
fairness of the prisoner's trial and the correctness of the conviction, 
together with the proportionality of the punishment administered in relation to 
similar cases, clemency is the appropriate solution.

Third and finally, the incentive to receive clemency gives prisoners reasons to 
rehabilitate and reform themselves while on death row. Not only would granting 
clemency in appropriate death penalty cases be the humane thing to do, but it 
would also assist the state in controlling the prison population, as the hope 
for clemency gives inmates sentenced to death a purpose to live and to spend 
their time productively.

Clemency may also be granted on compassionate grounds, to take into account the 
deterioration of a prisoner's mental or physical health on death row, in cases 
where the person who was sentenced to death is not the same person who faces 
execution many years later. These are among the reasons why the power to grant 
clemency is found in nearly every written constitution in the world, as well as 
in international treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights, which Indonesia became a party to in 1996. Article 6(2) of 
the ICCPR states that: "Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek 
pardon or commutation of the sentence. Amnesty, pardon or commutation of the 
sentence of death may be granted in all cases."

By seemingly rejecting all pending and future petitions in drug trafficking 
cases without consideration of the individual circumstances, President Jokowi 
is contravening Indonesia's binding obligations under international law.

Jokowi's predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, granted clemency to 19 drug 
convicts from 128 petitions over the period 2004 to 2011. Some of the convicts 
in this group displayed mitigating circumstances, such as youth or disability 
or mental deterioration in prison, whereas others (including 4 prisoners 
sentenced to death whose sentences were commuted to life in prison) may have 
been granted clemency in order to promote leniency to the many Indonesians 
sentenced to death abroad, in countries like Saudi Arabia, China and Malaysia.

Regardless of what you think about the merits of the death penalty, it is 
commendable that Yudhoyono and his advisers clearly took each clemency 
application seriously and considered the prisoner's individual characteristics, 
together with the interests of Indonesian nationals facing execution abroad, in 
making their rulings. With those petitions that he has not yet ruled upon, 
President Jokowi should do the same.

(source: Opinion, Daniel Pascoe; The writer is assistant professor at the 
School of Law, City University of Hong Kong. He conducts comparative research 
on the death penalty in Southeast Asia, among other topics----The Jakarta Post)

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

Antony de Malmanche to face death penalty



Indonesian prosecutors have confirmed they will press charges carrying the 
death penalty against a New Zealand man caught with crystal meth at Bali's 
airport.

Antony de Malmanche, 52, says he thought he was going on his 1st overseas trip 
to meet a woman he met online.

Instead he says he found himself diverted to China at the direction of a man 
claiming to be the woman's personal assistant.

The man gave him a bag and instructions to fly to Bali, where he would finally 
meet "Jessie".

Lawyers for de Malmanche say he didn't know there was 1.7kg of the drug known 
as ice inside the backpack when he was intercepted by customs in Bali.

On Thursday (local time), the invalid pensioner tripped and fell as he was 
taken to the prosecutor's office and needed medical attention.

Asked what he expected to happen at trial he said: "To be found not guilty."

Prosecutor Siti Sawiyah says she has received the police brief of evidence 
including a green backpack and 1709 grams of "shabu", or crystal meth.

She confirmed the Kiwi would be charged with offences carrying a maximum 
penalty of death.

"We will keep the suspect in detention in Kerobokan prison," she told 
reporters, adding she hoped a trial could begin as soon as possible.

Indonesian lawyer for de Malmanche, Chris Harno, says his client - who spent 3 
years in institutional care as a child - is in poor physical and mental health.

"He suffers pain in his spine and the back of his neck ... suffered long ago, 
but he still feels it now," he told reporters.

"My focus in court will be to try to get him off the death penalty."

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said there will be "no compromise" in 
executing drug offenders sentenced to death, as part of his determination to 
stop drug crime.

Barrister Craig Tuck, representing de Malmanche, is set to use a groundbreaking 
defence at trial.

A specialist team of human rights and legal experts from Indonesia and 
elsewhere will demonstrate that de Malmanche is a victim of human trafficking.

(source: 3news.co.nz)

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

Legal lifeline thrown to Australians on Indonesian death row



Lawyers for 2 Australian men on death row in Indonesia attempted to throw them 
a legal lifeline on Friday, despite the government's recent insistence that 
there is no way out.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, aged 31 and 33 respectively, were sentenced 
to death in 2006 for leading the so-called "Bali 9" trafficking ring that 
attempted to smuggle 8 kilograms of heroin to Australia.

Successive appeals have failed to have their sentences commuted, and both are 
on a list of inmates scheduled to die by firing squad.

Application accepted

On Friday, their Indonesian lawyer filed what's known as a PK to apply for a 
2nd judicial review.

"It has been accepted, it will go to the courts, then it depends on the 
district court heads," Todung Mulya Lubis told media in Bali. "There should not 
be an execution because the legal process should be respected as well."

The court will be asked to consider the men's rehabilitation during 10 years' 
of detention in Bali's Kerobokan prison. Chan now leads church prayers and is 
said to be a source of spiritual strength for other prisoners, while Sukumaran 
mentors other inmates in daily art classes.

However, a spokesman for Indonesian Attorney-General H.M. Prasetyo, Tony 
Spontana, told CNN that at a meeting held on January 9 it was decided that only 
one judicial review would be allowed.

He said the meeting included representatives from the attorney general's 
office, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the investigative department of 
the national police, the national anti-drug agency, and officials from the 
Supreme Court and Constitutional Court and "other related institutions."

Lawyers for the men have pointed to a Constitutional Court ruling in 2013 which 
cleared the way for a 2nd judicial review. However, Spontana said that ruling 
wasn't effective because the relevant regulations hadn't been implemented. 
Until they were, he said "we have to stick to the old rule that says judicial 
review is only possible for 1 time."

Foreign nationals on list

The Australians are not the only foreigners awaiting execution by an Indonesia 
firing squad. Of 11 presidential decrees, 8 relate to drug offenses. Of those 
8, 7 are foreign nationals, including the 2 Australians, Spontana said. The 
others are from Ghana, France, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Brazil. No date 
had been decided for their executions, he said.

Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte could be the 2nd of his countrymen killed in 
Indonesia in a matter of weeks.

On January 18, Indonesia executed Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira who was arrested 
at Jakarta airport in 2003 with 13 kilograms of cocaine.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff reacted with outrage at the killing and 
recalled the country's ambassador from Indonesia for consultations. The 
Netherlands did the same after the shooting of its citizen, Ang Kiem Soei, who 
was convicted of running a factory that made ecstasy pills.

The Philippines is reported to be seeking a judicial review in the case of its 
citizen, a woman who was arrested at Yogyakarta airport in April 2010 carrying 
2.6 kilograms of heroin on a flight from Malaysia. The French citizen has been 
named as Serge Atlaoui, who was sentenced to death in 2007, according to French 
press.

'No compromise'

After the most recent executions - which were the 1st since 2013 - Indonesia's 
president Joko Widodo told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that too many Indonesian 
lives were being lost to drugs.

"Every day we have 50 people die because of narcotics, of drugs. In one year, 
it's 18,000 people who die because of narcotics. We are not going to compromise 
for drug dealers. No compromise. No compromise," he said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern 
about the use of the death penalty for drug offenses.

"According to international human rights jurisprudence, capital punishment 
could only be applied to the crime of murder or intentional killing," OHCHR 
spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.

She said the U.N. was particularly concerned about "respect for due process" 
after Widodo stated he would categorically reject all appeals for clemency.

(source: Gant Daily)

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

Napalm Death, Joko Widodo and the Death Penalty----Could an underground metal 
band possibly influence Indonesian politics?



Last week's news of the rejection of the pleas for clemency for two 
Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, facing execution by firing squad 
is a sobering reminder that reform in Indonesia is still very much a work in 
progress. While President Joko Widodo's efforts to cut through the red tape and 
create a system with greater accountability are rightly lauded, it is proving 
difficult to fix every aspect the country's checkered past.

Chan and Sukumaran's case has caught the attention of everyone from Australian 
Prime Minister Tony Abbott to Amnesty International, which has started an 
online petition calling on the Indonesian president to stop the executions. 
Whether or not Widodo will pay any attention to foreign politicians or an 
Internet petition in this case remains to be seen, though it is unlikely given 
that 5 foreigners were executed for smuggling drugs just this month.

Now, a new voice has been added to the calls for clemency for the Australian 
pair: British grindcore band Napalm Death released an appeal addressed to the 
Indonesian president himself.

That a foreign grindcore band is throwing their opinion into the ring in and of 
itself is not particularly remarkable ??? the heavy metal subgenre has its fair 
share of politically minded bands with lyrics frequently addressing social 
issues. And when it comes to socially aware grindcore bands, Napalm Death, 
considered the progenitors of the abrasive genre, are almost certainly the best 
known. The group has lent their support to everything from LGBT rights to 
veganism.

Naturally, they are not terribly big fans of politicians either, although 
vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway told Billboard in an interview last year that 
he might find himself warming to Widodo if the president can "push aside some 
of the more dictatorial elements of politics over there."

But why was Billboard discussing Indonesian politics with a British grindcore 
band? And what makes Napalm Death think anyone in Indonesia even cares about 
their opinion?

The answer lies in an interesting bit of trivia about Widodo. It turns out that 
the Indonesian president is a major fan of heavy metal - and Napalm Death ranks 
among one of his most loved bands, alongside the likes of Lamb of God and 
Metallica, from whom he received a bass guitar last August. (Though it seems 
that Widodo eventually had to turn the gift over to the country's Corruption 
Eradication Commission.)

Widodo's renown as a reformer has drawn significant support for him both 
domestically and internationally, although his staunch support for the death 
penalty is certainly attracting critics. While numerous metal fans the world 
over were ecstatic about Widodo's win in the presidential election, it's hard 
to imagine many are pleased with his continued support for such draconian 
punishment.

As for Napalm Death's message, the band's appeal attempts to leverage Widodo 
well-known love for their music to their advantage. The short message, which 
can be read in full here, includes the statement, "As a follower of our band 
Napalm Death, you [President Widodo] would appreciate that our lyrics and ethos 
challenge the unbroken cycle of violence in the world, whether it comes from a 
state or as an individual." Greenway, who apparently authored the message, also 
adds, "I understand that you are standing as a leader determined to change 
things for the better, and so I believe granting clemency would be a major step 
forward in this pursuit of betterment."

Obviously, it is extremely unlikely that the president of Southeast Asia's 
largest economy - the 10th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power, 
according to the World Bank - will pay any heed to even a beloved band. But 
supporters of the 2 prisoners, who argue that they have reformed during their 
10 years in prison, will be hoping that Widodo's passion for music will 
influence his passion for reform.

(source: The Diplomat)








RUSSIA:

Russia won't overturn death penalty ban - Chairman of Human Rights Council



Chairman of the Human Rights Council Mikhail Fedotov says that no one has the 
right to demand to overturn ban on death penalty, following a proposal of a 
group of Russian lawmakers to lift the ban, RIA Novosti reported on Friday.

MPs from the Liberal Democratic Party said that Russia's possible decision to 
withdraw from the Council of Europe would automatically lead to the termination 
of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in Russia and hence to the 
reintroduction of the death penalty. They believe that the moratorium's 
cancellation would allow the execution of many death row criminals.

"The issue of the death penalty in Russia has not been decided by the Council 
of Europe but by Russia's Constitutional Court," Fedotov stressed. "I'd like to 
remind everyone that no one, including MPs, can request a review."

"Advocating the reintroduction of the death penalty, or worse still, connecting 
this call to Russia's possible withdrawal from the Council of Europe, is 
illogical, to say the least. I'm sure that Russia can withdraw from the Council 
of Europe no easier than it can withdraw from Europe. Russia is a European 
country, as Catherine the Great said long ago," Fedotov added.

(source: RAPSI)








PAKISTAN:

ATC orders shifting of 2 death row convicts to Karachi



An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday ordered the authorities to shift two 
death row convicts from Sukkur to Karachi for execution scheduled for Februrary 
3.

The court issued the order on an application filed by Attaullah's father who 
had stated that his son and Muhammad Azam were to be hanged at the Karachi 
Central Jail but were still being detained in Sukkur. He requested the court to 
suspend the remaining sentence of the 2 convicts from Sukkur to Karachi.

On January 24, the court had issued the death warrants for both men associated 
with the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), who were convicted for the murder of 
Dr Ali Razi Peerani in Soldier Bazaar in June 2001.

The men had appealed the sentence in the Sindh High Court and then the Supreme 
Court which were both rejected. Their mercy appeals to the president were also 
refused.

The orders for their execution had initially been issued by the ATC in 2013 but 
the sentence could not be carried out due to a moratorium on capital 
punishment. The order was reissued on December 19, 2014, but the heirs of 
convicts moved a petition in the Sindh High Court against the sentence. The 
last execution in Karachi was carried out on January 15 was also an LeJ 
activist, Mohammad Saeed alias Maulvi. He had been found guilty for the murder 
of DSP (retd) Syed Sabir Hussain Shah and his young son Syed Abid Hussain Shah 
on sectarian grounds.

An anti-terrorism court had issued black warrants for his execution on January 
3, 2014, after the years-long moratorium on death penalty was lifted in the 
wake of the Peshawar school attack. Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar 
Ali Khan had announced that more than 500 convicted terrorists held in jails 
across the country would be hanged.

So far, 19 death row prisoners have been executed in the country since Prime 
Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the moratorium on death penalty on December 17, 
2014, a day after the carnage in Peshawar.

(source: The News)

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

Pakistani court gives 23 times death penalty to 3 Taliban militants



An anti-terrorism court today handed down '23 times' death sentence to 3 
militants of outlawed Pakistani Taliban for the 2009 attack on the country's 
spy agency ISI's headquarters here that killed 35 people.

The ATC Lahore convicted Bashir Ahmed, Sarfraz and Abid of attack, giving them 
'23 times' death sentence and imposing a Rs 500,000 fine to be paid to the 
family of each victim.

The ATC judge announced the verdict after the prosecution showed evidence and 
witnesses against the accused who were active members of the banned 
Tahreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and had undergone militant training in tribal areas.

At least 35 people, including a Colonel and 6 other personnel of the Inter 
Services Intelligence, were killed and over 250 wounded in the attack in May 
2009 in Lahore.

The interrogation of the suspects, behind the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team 
in Lahore in March 2009, at the ISI building was said to be the possible reason 
behind the attack.

(source: News Nation)