[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 19



NIGERIA:

Is Death Penalty The Best Way To Fight Corruption?



The current level of corruption in Nigeria is so high that it calls for drastic 
solution. Some people believe that death penalty is a very suitable option for 
combating corruption, which negatively affects the public and private facets of 
life in the country.

Recently, a wave of protests against corruption scandals has reached even the 
National Assembly. A group of dissatisfied people stormed the building, 
demanding the death penalty as punishment for dishonest officials. Protesters 
stressed that Nigeria would not make progress if corruption in public office is 
not brought under control.

Some Nigerians believe that only death penalty can help the government to win a 
war against the cancer of corruption.

"Honestly speaking, death penalty is the answer to corruption in Nigeria," Oni 
Oluwafemi noted.

"The only option in which will stop Government corruptions in Nigeria is DEATH 
PENAITY. And the execution date will be shown live in Chanels Tv, Ait ,Nta i, 
Cnn, BBC, Arise News & other media stations, so that our politicians ... 
governors ... ministers ... ex-leaders ... will see it and know things have 
CHANGE. We support it," David Chukwuka stressed.

"Let the Government try the following options to eliminate corruption in all 
its ramifications. 1. Plea bargaining where the culpit is made to return the 
stolen money intact to Government Treasury & banned from holding public office 
for life 2. Outright death penalty to serve as a deterent," Akhidenor Dominic 
suggested.

Unfortunately, some Nigerians have already lost hope and think that even 
capital panishment won't prevent people from corrupt practices and thieves will 
escape from punishment.

"Even if they implement the death penalty for corruption, it is the ordinary 
Nigerian that will be punished while the big thieves in government will go 
free," Laila Musa Alonge noted.

"Who is going to sign the bill? Is that not the same corrupt members? With the 
level of corruption in this country, democracy is not a solution. That's why I 
said Buhari will not do more than past presidents. He is tied down with 
democracy," Mbaji Benendict Chidozie wrote.

"In China, death penalty is the reward for corruption. But that can not happen 
in Nigeria because those to pass the Bill ARE BLOODY THIEVES. So, fear of 
falling victims won't allow them to make such an anti-corruption bill. Anyway, 
whether they pass such a bill or not, God Himself shall SEVERELY PUNISH ANY 
OFFICER THAT STEALS OUR MONEY BECAUSE HE IS IN POSITION TO DO THAT, AMEN.God 
bless Nigeria," Bayo Oloidi emotionally noted.

However, some Nigerians have spoken out against the introduction of death 
penalty for corrupt officials, suggesting replace it with imprisonment.

"Death penalty is too big, I am not in support of death penalty for corrupt 
officials but at least 20 years imprisonment for whoever was found guilty of 
corruption," Bashir Usman Riyadh suggested.

"Death penalty is not the solution. Death penalty has been on for armed robbers 
since 1970. Has it stop robbery?" Steve Otoadese wondered.

"Nigerians are corrupt but if you think death penalty should be melted out as 
punishment to offenders that means nobody is safe in the system ..." 
Christopher Idegbe Abiodun warned people.

"It can only affect the poor not the rich people, we know our country and the 
rich people can buy the mind of the judge with money. I'm not in support of 
death penalty. Let's look for another way round to takle corruption in 
Nigeria," Pat Kizito Nlem wrote.

"Who will kill who ? Is it the corrupt judges that will sentence the corrupt 
politicians. Dogs don't eat dog," Ogungbo Rasheed noted.

Ochayi Daniel wrote: "People that are supporting this are myopic, when death 
penalty is passed into law it will go beyond government officials to our 
households ,churches, family meetings and even trading and you see that people 
will die everyday,then those protesting today will be regretting and even 
protest again.We should look for other ways to punish offenders."

Meanwhile, there are indications President Muhammadu Buhari is likely employ 5 
proposed laws to fight corruption in Nigeria. According to the sources close to 
presidency, a committee led by Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria's vice president, already 
directed 5 bills to Buhari for consideration.

(source: naij.com)








INDONESIA:

Young father faints after hearing he may receive death sentence for couriering 
drugs



A young man, identified by police as DY, stood besides North Jakarta Police 
Commissioner Susetio Cahyadi as the drug smuggling case he was implicated in 
was explained to reporters at a press conference today.

DY was wearing a bright orange prison uniform and a black ski mask to protect 
his identity from the media. He was also standing next to 16 kg of 
methamphetamines that he allegedly helped deliver to a 40-year-old Nigerian man 
police are identifying as EST.

Commissioner Susetio got to a part of the press conference where, according to 
Kompas, he explained, "For meth dealers caught with over 1 kilogram, the death 
penalty will be charged under the article that applies."

Upon hearing that, DY suddenly fainted and went limp. He needed to be held up 
by police officers. It took him about 5 minutes to regain consciousness.

DY is suspected of acting as an accomplice to EST who was caught in his home 
with 16 kg of methamphetamines, hidden in electronic massager devices sent from 
Guanzhou, China. DY was arrested while delivering a package to EST.

After he recovered from fainting, DY told reporters how he felt when he heard 
he may be executed.

"I was surprised and shocked. But I must be strong if I'm facing the death 
penalty. Later my children will watch," DY said.

DY maintains that he did not know the contents of the package he was delivering 
to EST.

"I did not know what it was. As far as I knew, it was just an electronic 
massage apparatus for massaging feet," he said.

(source: Coconuts.co)








INDIA:

Man's death penalty changed to life term



Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court on Thursday converted death sentence 
of a man, convicted in gruesome rape and murder of 9-year-old, to life 
imprisonment.

Jagdish Mehar, 30, resident of Pallapur village of Rajgargh district of Madhya 
Pradesh, was in January 2015, convicted by session court for kidnapping, rape 
and murder of 9-year-old girl and awarded capital punishment under various 
sections of IPC and Protection of Children From Sexual Offence Act.

Advocates Abhijeet Dube and Rekha Shrivastava said this is the 1st time in 
recent times, when HC has reduced the punishment, in such a sensitive case.

Jagdish had kidnapped the minor from his village and raped her on March 9, 
2014. On March 13, 2014, a decomposed body of victim was recovered by police, 
and after investigation, Jagdish was arrested and booked.

Sessions court held Jagdish guilty of murder, rape and kidnapping. As per rule, 
capital punishment awarded by session court is tabled before high court for 
approval.

In high court, double bench of Justices PK Jaiswal and JK Jain set aside the 
capital punishment for murder, and their order observed that it was not murder 
but culpable homicide, so he could not be awarded capital punishment.

HC upheld charges of rape and kidnapping and approved life sentence.

(source: The Times of India)

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

Rape accused sentenced to death



First Additional Upper Sessions Judge of Ashta Alka Dubey sentenced the 30 year 
man, who had raped a minor girl to be hanged till dealth and a penalty of Rs 
4000.

According the to the information received through the prosecution, on January 
4, 2014 an 8 year old girl was abducted in Ashta Tehsil's Nipania Village. She 
was on the 2nd day found on Badal Pull of Shajapur. She was primarily admitted 
in Ashta and was then referred to Bhopal for treatment.

The girl during her statements said that the rapist was brown eyed man. Police 
then short listed suspects who had brown eyes and started interrogating them.

During its search, the police said that it found that a Ramesh - a brown eyed 
man had stepped down from a bus in Nipaniya. He had raped a girl before and was 
sentenced to five year jail then. When the police reached Polay, they came to 
know that the man had gone to Hoshangabad on a truck.

The police arrested the accused at Tawapul after which the arrest was 
highlighted in front of media in presence of SP Raman Singh Sikarwar. The 
police also conducted medical tests of the accused and then presented him at 
the court. The court after hearing the case for 1 1/2 years sentenced the 
accused to death.

(source: Free Press Journal)



CHINA:

Death demanded for child traffickers



Calls on social media to hand down death sentences to anyone involved in child 
trafficking have created a heated debate on appropriate punishment for such 
offences.

A post with pictures and stories of abducted children on the messaging app 
WeChat that called for the child traffickers to get the death penalty had been 
reposted 540,000 times by Thursday evening. Currently, only the most serious 
trafficking crimes are punishable by death. The minimum penalty is 5 years in 
prison.

Last year, police rescued more than 13,000 abducted children. Some of the 
children had been sold to one of a growing number of childless families.Wu 
Ming'an, a criminal law professor at the University of Political Science and 
Law, said that the Criminal Law already stipulates that people who traffic in 
children may be subject to the death penalty, so it would be unnecessary to 
change the law.

"It is irrational for people to ask for the death penalty on all activities 
involving the abduction and trading of children," Wu said.

"And you can't kill everyone who participates in the crime. A law allowing the 
death penalty for the buyers is unlikely. People who buy a child purely because 
they want to have a child in the family should not be sentenced to death."

The public should be aware that not all criminals deserve death," Wu said.

Wu suggested children should be protected by every possible means, and systems 
that incorporate all government departments in fighting human trafficking 
should be created.

He said the authorities should start collecting DNA samples from all newborns 
and, if possible, from their parents, as this would help identity children and 
prevent crimes.

Ministry of Public Security official Chen Shiqu said he supports the death 
penalty for those guilty of serious human trafficking offences.

The law allows human traffickers who cause the death of abductees to be 
executed.

(source: asiaone.com)

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

Experts argue against death penalty despite public support



While nearly everyone agrees that child trafficking is a heinous crime, there 
is considerable debate about whether the death penalty is a fitting deterrent. 
The public seems to be in favor of giving capital punishment to child 
traffickers. In a poll carried out on web portal Sina, more than 80 % of the 
respondents voted in favor of the death penalty. But opposition voices have 
emerged, too. Many come from legal scholars and sociologists. Some scholars 
argue that the appeal for death is not rational and that crimes should be 
handled more objectively.

They also propose severe punishments for buyers. Others say that extreme 
punishments may actually put the abducted children in danger as they may make 
the criminals more desperate.

(source: CCTV.cn)








EGYPT:

Is the Death Sentence on Egypt's Morsi a Death Sentence on Egypt?



The Egyptian court that sentenced former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi to 
death this week may have done more than commit a human-rights violation. It may 
have condemned Egypt to years of violence and more decades of economic 
stagnation. Support for the Muslim Brotherhood, which Morsi led, probably has 
fallen to about 1/5 of Egyptians, but that is a very large minority to nurse a 
grudge against the system. Bombings and violence have returned to Egypt's Luxor 
tourist destination, which last witnessed a major attack in 1997. The US 
government appears now to have made its peace with Egypt's military junta, 
satisfied that the holding of phony presidential "elections" in 2014, won by a 
general, has removed the stigma of the 2013 coup. Arms and aid shipments are 
back to normal, and the rise of ISIL has made the military regime useful to the 
West.

Morsi squeaked to victory in the June 2012 presidential elections against Ahmed 
Shafik, a former Air Force general and deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak's last 
prime minister. Egyptians, who had demonstrated in the millions against 
dictatorship and lack of jobs or affordable staples in 2011 at Tahrir Square 
and elsewhere in the country, faced an unpalatable choice in their 1st free and 
fair presidential poll. It was conducted on the French model, with some 14 
candidates in a 1st round in May (I was in Egypt then, and the hope was 
palpable) and then a run-off between the 2 top vote-getters. Most Egyptians 
were deeply disappointed at this Hobson's choice between the religious right 
wing and a man of the old regime. In effect, they've never since had any other 
choice.

The Egyptian Revolution of 2011 broke out on January 25. 3 days later, 
Mubarak's secret police arrested Morsi and 23 other Muslim Brotherhood leaders, 
even though the Brotherhood leadership had been cautious about participating in 
the protests and formed a minority of the demonstrators. 2 weeks later, in the 
chaos of the revolution, the Brotherhood figures made a daring jail break. 
Regime officials charged at the time that they were aided in escaping by 
Gaza-based Hamas and by Lebanon-based Shiite Hezbollah guerrillas, which seems 
a little unlikely, to say the least. Further, it was alleged that they passed 
the plans of the maximum-security prison to those groups, which the Egyptian 
government sees as terrorists, and so became guilty of material support of 
terrorism. It is typical of the Egyptian military to attempt to smear the 
Muslim Brotherhood, which foreswore violence in the 1970s, as being no more 
than a terrorist organization closely connected to actual terrorists like Al 
Qaeda. It was for the jailbreak and its circumstances that Morsi was sentenced 
to death this week, even though the current regime says it honors the January 
25 revolution that Morsi's questionable arrest had been intended, in part, to 
forestall.

Morsi's year in power did not reflect well on him. He proposed banning 
unlicensed public demonstrations, a measure implemented by the current junta. 
He prosecuted young dissidents who criticized him for political libel, 
including the leader of the April 6 Youth organization, Ahmad Maher, now jailed 
by the military. He went after comedian Bassem Yousef. He is accused of having 
mobilized plainclothes Brotherhood thugs against demonstrators. He pushed 
through a fundamentalist-tinged constitution in the face of protests by women, 
Coptic Christians, youth activists, and liberals. He tried to pack the courts 
with Brotherhood members, tried to impose fundamentalists (some with a violent 
past) as provincial governors, and tried to create, unconstitutionally and by 
fiat, a national legislature dominated by the Brotherhood. In short, he 
conducted what looked to most Egyptians like a slow-motion coup. His economic 
policies were a disaster. Egypt exploded in anger against him in June of 2013, 
with millions in the streets and the biggest demonstrations, up and down the 
Nile, that the country had ever seen. Some of the youth leaders of this protest 
movement had links with the officer corps, but it is impossible to explain such 
massive demonstrations by factory workers, urban quarters, towns, and villages 
as a mere paid-for conspiracy.

After the military coup of July 3, 2013, junta leader and Morsi's minister of 
defense, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi went to the public and asked permission to 
wage a "war on terror." The big demonstrations in favor of this step encouraged 
him to crack down hard on Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators, killing hundreds in 
August and more that fall. Al-Sisi could have branded the Morsi faction within 
the Brotherhood a rogue, dictatorial one, and attempted to reach out to and 
rehabilitate the moderate and youth factions of the movement. Indeed, there was 
talk of this approach in August of 2013. Instead, al-Sisi decided to brand the 
whole movement a terrorist organization. It would be as though evangelical 
supporters of the religious right in the United States, about 20 % of the 
electorate, were abruptly categorized as terrorists at the insistence of the 
Pentagon. An Egyptian opinion poll done earlier this year found that while 2/3 
of Egyptians believe that religious extremism is a problem for the country, 1/4 
deny that there even is any religious extremism in Egypt. Likely this section 
of the public includes supporters and sympathizers with the Brotherhood, who 
are resisting the government line.

Al-Sisi's policy is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Clearly, for a legitimate 
political party that came to power at free and fair polls to be abruptly 
stigmatized and banned will create a backlash. Most Muslim Brotherhood members 
and supporters have been incredibly patient and disciplined in retaining a 
faith in peaceful change. But, regrettably, some militants on the fringes of 
the movement have been radicalized. In the back pages of Egypt's local 
newspapers, not a day goes by without an article on pipe bombs going off or 
police shot dead in provincial towns. There have been some bigger attacks as 
well, including the bombing of the police HQ in Mansoura in December 2013 and 
the January 2014 bombing of the secret police headquarters in Cairo, which 
damaged the adjacent Museum of Islamic Art and some of its holdings. Last week, 
3 bombers attempted to blow up the ancient pharaonic Temple of Karnak in Luxor, 
with one setting off his suicide vest, causing the renowned Thomas Cook and 
Thomson travel agency to cancel tourist trips to that city. In the 
pre-revolutionary days, tourism provided about 10 % of Egypt's income.

Egypt and the Arab world in general suffers from remarkably low rates of direct 
foreign investment (DFI), which are unlikely to be helped by the social turmoil 
of a generational "war on terror" intended to crush the political party that 
significant numbers of Egyptians think represents them. Al-Sisi is hoping to 
replace tourist income and Western investment with hundreds of billions of 
dollars from the oil monarchies of the Gulf, but this approach seems more like 
a forlorn hope than a concrete plan. Without economic growth, Egypt cannot hope 
to provide jobs to its restless youth, who constitute a huge demographic bulge. 
Secular youth activism is also in the sights of the military, which has had the 
dreaded Ministry of Interior round up and cause to disappear 163 youth leaders 
just since April.

The Brotherhood was founded in 1928, and many Egyptian governments have 
attempted to destroy it without success. A minority constituency exists in 
Egypt for a political religious right wing, and forbidding it from 
participating in parliamentary politics is a recipe for social discontent. 
Morsi himself, with a ruling style that was arrogant and uninterested in 
compromise, bears some blame for creating fears among a wide spectrum of 
Egyptians that he was taking their country in the direction of an Iran-style 
theocracy. He paid a heavy price for his inability to hold on to the loyalty of 
the vast majority of Egyptians (the Brotherhood's favorability ratings were 
down to 19 % in June of 2013, according to Gallup). But that he did anything 
warranting a death sentence is at the least unproven in an unbiased court of 
law. Turning him into a Muslim Brotherhood martyr is guaranteed to roil Egypt 
for decades to come.

The Egyptian press gleefully pointed out that social media seemed completely 
uninterested in the death sentence, except in Turkey, which has a long history 
of civil society and religious right struggle against military dictatorship. 
Despite the 2013 coup, which should have required the United States by law to 
cease military aid to Egypt, Congress has accepted the fiction of a return to 
democracy (even though al-Sisi strong-armed most rivals into not running 
against him and dominated the media, winning by 97 %, a sure sign of fraud). 
The rise of ISIL in Syria and Iraq has made al-Sisi's insistence that Islam be 
private religious practice and not mix into politics appealing not only in the 
West but in regional countries like the United Arab Emirates. In fact, Egypt 
has proffered almost no help in rolling back ISIL except in the Sinai 
peninsula, where marginalized tribespeople have long turned to forms of radical 
Islam as ideological support in their struggle against the authoritarian 
Egyptian state.

Not only Egypt is at stake. Powerful movements of moderate political Islam 
participate in civil politics in Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, 
and elsewhere in the Muslim world. That choice should be reinforced, as long as 
they agree to play by the rules of democracy (continued aboveboard elections, 
respecting minority rights, a rule of law, and the losers go home). Al-Sisi has 
vindicated Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who denounced Morsi in 2012 for 
participating in civil politics, warning that it was a trap for devotees of 
political Islam. Likewise, ISIL castigates elections as un-Islamic and voting 
as a grounds for excommunication and even execution. In demonstrating that the 
wages of moderate parliamentarianism on the part of Muslim religious parties is 
death, al-Sisi is not helping stand against radicalism - he is fomenting it.

(source: The Nation)








IRAN:

32 prisoners executed on the verge of holy month of Ramadan



The Iranian regime's henchmen hanged at least 32 prisoners on the verge of the 
holy month of Ramadan.

On Tuesday, June 16, 25 prisoners were collectively hanged in Gohardasht (Rajai 
Shahr) Prison in Karaj. Prior to that, on Monday, 4 prisoners were collectively 
executed in the Central Prison in the same city.

Additionally, on June 16, 1 prisoner in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad and another 
prisoner in Eqlid (Fars Province) were executed. On June 17, an Afghan prisoner 
was executed in the city of Sari. The executions in Eqlid and Sari were public 
hangings.

Moreover, on June 16, the authorities in Adel-Abad Prison of Shiraz transferred 
22 prisoners to isolation in preparation for their execution. Death verdicts 
for 10 more prisoners in Zahedan prison was also confirmed by the Iranian 
regime Judiciary.

The Iranian Resistance calls on the Iranian people, especially the courageous 
youth, to protest this atrocity and to support the families of the victims and 
urges the international community to adopt a resolute policy toward this 
regime.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, stated in the 
giant rally of supporters of the Iranian Resistance on June 13 in Paris: For 
violation of human rights in Iran, the nuclear impasse, the crisis in the 
region, and to confront ISIS, the solution lies in the overthrow of the regime 
in tehran. She referred to the escalating uprisings and protests of the Iranian 
people and said: The velayat-e faqih has reached the end of the line and the 
Iranian people demand a major change.

(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)