[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 26



SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi Arabia says it will support human rights as long as they can still kill 
gay people----Middle Eastern country faced criticism for acts of torture 
against LGBTI people



Saudi Arabia convicts homosexuality with anything from whipping to a death 
sentence.

Saudi Arabia has said it will support human rights as long as they can still 
kill LGBTI people.

Earlier this week, the country was heavily criticized during a meeting of the 
UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

It was pointed out that punishing homosexuality with life imprisonment, 
torture, chemical castrated, whipping and the death penalty does not fit in 
with internationally recognized human rights protecting people on the basis of 
sexual orientation or gender identity.

But government officials have said calls for Saudi Arabia to support LGBTI 
rights were 'unacceptable' and a 'flagrant interference in its internal 
affairs'.

Faisal bin Hasan Trad, Saudi Arabia's representative at the UN, said the 
country will not tolerate criticism of its human rights record.

According to Arab News, Trad said 'some were attempting to portray the country 
in a bad light'.

The country's Interior Ministry confirmed on Twitter: 'Saudi Arabia opposes any 
resolution for gay rights. Saudi Arabia reaffirms its support for human rights, 
and respect towards all international conventions, as long as it is in 
accordance with Islamic law.'

The LGBTI community is forced to go underground in Saudi Arabia, mostly in the 
capital Riyadh. But the religious police are cracking down.

Several men were arrested in a raid on two 'gay parties' earlier this month. 
And last year, a 24-year-old was sentenced to jail and 450 lashings of a whip 
just because he was trying to meet other gay men on Twitter.

(source: Gay Star News)








NIGERIA:

Kano Sharia Court sentences 9 to death for 'blasphemy'



An Upper Sharia Court, Rijiyar Lemo, in Kano, has sentenced 9 persons: 
Abdul-Inyas, Hajiya Mairo and 7 others to death for blasphemy against the 
Prophet of Islam.

The trial was done in secret, and details of its proceedings are yet to be made 
public.

Even the name of the judge who conducted the trial is being kept secret.

The court initially said 2 people were convicted but a court official, who 
simply gave his name as Nasir (he declined to provide his full name) later said 
9 people were sentenced.

He declined to provide the names of the 7 others.

The offence, committed in early June, triggered protest in Kano.

The demonstration was however promptly quelled by law enforcement agents. The 
court where the trial began was burnt down prompting the authorities to assign 
the case to another court.

A statement by the State Sharia Court of Appeal, signed by a man named Nasiru, 
said the 9 persons were found guilty under section 110 and section 382b of the 
Sharia Penal Court law year 2000.

"They are hereby sentenced to death," the statement read.

The statement acknowledged that some Muslim faithful in Kano threatened 
violence if the accused were set free.

The court however freed Alkasim Abubakar, Yahya Abubakar, Isa Abubakar, and 
Abdullahi Abubakar, who were arrested alongside the nine convicted persons.

They were found not guilty by the court.

Already, news of the judgment has sparked jubilation by a section of Kano 
residents.

(source: Premium Times Nigeria)

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

'Nigeria spends N3.50 daily to feed 1 prisoner'



The Nigerian government spends a meagre N3.50k to feed an inmate in Nigerian 
prisons each day, the Legal Defence and Assistance Project has said.

Speaking at a round table for media and civil society organizations in Lagos, 
Thursday, Chino Obiagwu said that the current cost was increased by the new 
Comptroller-General of Prisons from the previous N2.10k per prisoner.

The round table was themed 'Moving Nigeria Towards the Abolition of the Death 
Penalty.'

"The truth is that many prisoners supplement their meals because all kinds of 
businesses and activities go on inside the prisons," said Mr. Obiagwu, National 
Coordinator, LEDAP.M

"If you allow Nigerian prisoners to survive on their ration, they will all 
die."

There are about 56,000 inmates scattered across Nigerian prisons, according to 
Mr. Obiagwu whose organization champions the rights of Nigerian prisoners.

"A lot of philanthropy goes into our prisons, churches like the Catholic 
church, The Redeemed church carry out on regular prison visits to improve the 
welfare of inmates," said Mr. Obiagwu.

(source: premiumtimesng.com)








IRAN:

Iran Attorney General: The province of Fars carries out an execution or 
retribution sentence about once a week



The province of Fars carries out an execution or retribution sentence about 
once a week, but not all are exposed to the public.

On Wednesday Ali Alghasi Mehr, the Attorney General of the province of Fars 
reportedly alleged that it is the Iranian public who demands for executions to 
be carried out in public.

According to IRNA, an official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 
Alghasi Mehr said: "We do not carry out all [execution and retribution 
sentences] in public. Approximately once a week an execution or retribution 
sentence is carried out in the province of Fars, but not always in public. 
Public punishment is reserved for criminals who have wounded the sentiments of 
society or whose offense affects the public safety and security of society."

Since the start of 2015, official sources in Iran have only reported on 9 
executions in Fars.

Iran Human Rights expresses regret for the implementation of countless death 
sentences in Iran and also the ongoing silence of the international community 
and calls on the Iranian authorities to reconsider the implementation of this 
inhumane punishment.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director and spokesperson of Iran Human Rights: 
"In recent years the province of Fars has had the highest numbers of public 
executions. If we assume it is true that the majority of people call for public 
executions, then this would be considered a rare instance when the Judiciary 
has actually listened to the demands of the people."

(source: Iran Human Rights)








THAILAND:

Thailand battles to contain rising drug use



In a rehab centre north of Bangkok, 1 recovering addict remembers the highs as 
well as the lows.

"I felt like I could do anything and the world was mine," said the 25-year-old, 
who gave her name only as Sai. "I was happy and free of all stress."

"Then I became depressed, confused and paranoid. So I needed the drugs again. I 
wanted to end that cycle."

Sai is trying to control her drug addiction at Thamkrabok Monastery, Thailand's 
oldest and largest free drug rehabilitation facility, 140km north of Bangkok.

She started using methamphetamine tablets and crystals at 17 and developed a 
compulsive habit.

Around 1.4% of Thais are addicted to amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), 
including methamphetamine and MDMA, or ecstasy, among the highest percentage in 
the world, according to estimates by the United Nations Office of Drugs and 
Crime (UNODC).

Thai users of these and other drugs are estimated at more than 1.2 million 
people, or around 2% of the population, and that number may be rising fast.

Between 2009 and 2014, the numbers of drug cases more than doubled from about 
151 000 to about 347 000, while the number of registered drug offenders rose at 
a similar rate from nearly 168 000 to almost 366 000, officials figures show.

Strict laws appear to have made little impact.

"The harsh punishment never crossed my mind," said Sai, who has been in jail 
three times for drug abuse. "All I thought about when I needed drugs was that I 
had to get it."

Death penalty

Thailand is one of 32 countries that imposes the death penalty for some drug 
offences.

Producing or trafficking illicit drugs can lead to capital punishment, while 
users face imprisonment, fines or mandatory rehabilitation, depending on the 
type and amount of drugs.

Thailand has executed 30 people for drug crimes since it became a capital 
offence in 1979, and 14 are currently on death row.

Since the lethal injection was adopted in 2003, 5 out of 6 people executed in 
Thailand were killed for drug offences.

Drug offenders account for nearly 77% of all prison inmates.

"Drug problems have become more prevalent and persistent," said Chuenjit 
Iemwimangsa, principal of Chaengarkart Amrung Primary School, whose pupils were 
on a school trip to Thamkrabok on the day that dpa visited.

"There are news reports about drugs everyday, more frequently than before," she 
said.

Thai authorities say they seize about 100 million methamphetamine pills, a ton 
of crystal methamphetamine and 800kg of heroin each year, with official figures 
showing an upward trend.

The key problem, however, is that the authorities only manage to seize an 
estimated 20% of the drugs that are trafficked through the country, according 
to the Thai Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB).

Police corruption may play a role. After a drugs raid earlier in June, 12 
police officers were suspected of participating in the drugs trade and were 
reassigned.

About 3/4 of the drugs are trafficked through northern Thailand near the Golden 
Triangle - an area along the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos - where the 
majority of opium and synthetic drugs in the region are produced, said Sucheep 
Kotcharin of the northern branch of ONCB.

'I can't function each day without it'

"The traffickers take advantage of the country's good road networks," he said, 
adding that they also used routes through forests and mountain ranges.

"There was never a shortage of drugs when I needed them," said Tui, another 
patient at the monastery, who has been using methamphetamine for 19 years, 
since he was 14.

Sai said she could walk to a street corner in her hometown near the 
Thai-Cambodian border to buy drugs, while Tui had dealers' numbers on 
speed-dial and could call for a delivery any time in Bangkok.

They both paid around 200-300 baht (between $6 and $9) for a single 
methamphetamine pill, which they would ingest. The current minimum wage in 
Thailand is 300 baht per day.

"The profit made by traffickers and dealers is the main motivator," said ONCB 
Secretary General Permpong Chaowalit. "For them, the money is worth the risk of 
getting caught."

"I started using because I wanted to have fun," Tui said. "But it's not fun 
anymore. I can't function each day without it."

Sai and Tui felt the effect of drugs on their health: fatigue, pain, premature 
ageing, insomnia and loss of appetite. With several days left at the monastery, 
both vowed not to return to drugs.

"No matter how harsh the law is, the reason not to do it should be that you 
love yourself," Sai said. "I wish someone had told me not to do drugs then."

(source: news24.com)



INDONESIA:

Narcotics Agency Chief: "The death penalty in Indonesia is constitutional, 
don't diminish it"



Indonesia has gotten some scathing criticism from the international community 
over its use of the death penalty as a form of punishment for drug smuggling, 
but don't expect that to change anytime soon.

National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Chief Anang Iskandar reiterated that the death 
penalty is the appropriate punishment for drug smuggling in Indonesia.

"The death penalty in Indonesia is constitutional, don't diminish it," Anang 
said at an International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking event 
in Cawang, East Jakarta yesterday, as quoted by Kompas.

Anang added that he hopes Indonesia will stay true to its principles and remain 
as 1 of 34 countries in the world that allows capital punishment.

"Those who don't agree wish for a world without the death penalty. This can't 
be allowed [in Indonesia], the sovereignty and law of each country can't be 
forced [to be changed]," he said.

(source: Coconuts news)

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

Death row Frenchman has exhausted appeals



Indonesia's Foreign Ministry says a French citizen sentenced to death for drug 
offences has exhausted all options in his legal fight to avoid execution.

Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said on Thursday that Indonesia will 
proceed with its legal process "in accordance with the sentence that has been 
imposed against the convict."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has said his government is "totally 
mobilised" in support of Serge Atlaoui, whose final appeal was denied by an 
Indonesian court last week.

Nasir said Indonesia recognises that governments have an obligation to protect 
their citizens when they get in trouble abroad but they must do so in 
compliance with local laws.

Indonesia has executed 14 people, including 2 Australians, for drug trafficking 
this year.

(source: news.com.au)



PAKISTAN:

Christian Mother of 5 Asia Bibi Marks 6th Year of 'Brutal' Incarceration in 
Pakistan as She Faces Death Penalty for Blasphemy Charge of Drinking Water



As Christian mother of five Asia Bibi marks her 6th year in prison in Pakistan, 
placed on death row for blasphemy charges, a U.K. Christian group reports that 
some attempts are being made to reform sections of the country's controversial 
blasphemy laws that punish religious minorities. The group also believes that 
Britain and the U.S. must rethink the way they provide financial aid to 
Pakistan if they want to see reforms in the country.

"The proposed changes will ostensibly make it more difficult for blasphemy 
charges to be laid, focusing on proving that any blasphemy was intentional 
under a legal concept termed Mens Rea translated as 'guilty mind,'" Wilson 
Chowdhry, president of the British Pakistani Christian Association, told The 
Christian Post on Wednesday.

"However the large number of extra-judicial killings and insouciance from local 
police to get involved in blasphemy charges or a pattern of local police 
authorities cowing under pressure from mobs led by local imams, suggest this 
law change will have little effect."

Bibi was charged in 2009 after she was accused by a group of Muslim women to 
have committed an act of blasphemy when she drank from the same water supply as 
them. She was later sent to prison and sentenced to the death penalty.

The 50-year-old mother has been suffering from a number of health problems 
while in prison, including intestinal bleeding, and is having trouble walking, 
her family has said.

In a separate press release explaining more about her case, Chowdhry called her 
fate a "travesty of justice."

"For some time we have been told that there has been a moratorium on the death 
penalty because of pressure from Western donors. But even before this vanished 
at the end of last year, it has become clear that her treatment was, in effect, 
a slow death sentence by neglect and worse, all for allegedly committing a 
crime that should not exist - blasphemy," he said.

Christians and other minorities in Pakistan are often targeted by the loosely 
written blasphemy laws, and there have been on and off attempts in parliament 
to try and strengthen their definition.

Mission Network News reported earlier this week that international pressure is 
pushing the country's legislators into considering changes to the laws, which 
could potentially prevent other Christians from suffering the same fate as Bibi 
in the future.

Chowdhry told CP that a 2nd proposed change to the blasphemy laws are 
punishments for misuse of the law.

"Outwardly these would seem to be a more positive step; however, Article 153-A 
of the Penal Code prescribes punishments for promoting 'enmity, hatred or 
ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or 
castes or communities.' Ineffective implementation has led to mass mob attacks 
across the country, often targeting Christian communities."

The killing and burning-alive of Christian couple Shama and Shahzad Masih in 
November 2014 by a Muslim mob for allegedly desecrating the Quran stands as a 
prime example of extremists taking the law into their own hands.

Chowdhry also said that it's hard to believe the changes to the law will be 
approved, however, noting that similar changes have been proposed before, but 
were never ratified.

"The whole of the country came to a standstill after Sunni Muslim leaders 
called for a strike and effigies of the pope were burned after he openly 
supported the changes. In a country with so much animosity to change it will be 
hard approve such law changes and even harder to enforce."

Back in May, human rights activist and former minority member of parliament 
Pervez Rafique also told CP in a separate interview that it is hard to see real 
changes coming soon to the blasphemy laws.

"It's hard to change or relax the laws," Rafique explained, "especially the 
Blasphemy law 295-A-B-C of Pakistan's penal code."

He said that while to change or abolish laws the parliament needs only simple 
majority, amending the constitution or any article of the constitution requires 
2/3 majority - and the present government that supports the blasphemy laws 
still has enough support to continue upholding them.

Chowdhry noted that both the U.K. and U.S. governments spend big in aid 
programs to help Pakistan, which is an important strategic partner in the fight 
against terrorism in the region. He suggested, however, that the budgets need 
to be used to "eradicate the existing schism between Muslims and non-Muslims 
through grassroot programmes" and work with schools.

"The hatred and animosity that exists is the culmination of labeling minorities 
as anathema, culturally, and reinforcing this through a curriculum that 
caricatures and demonises minorities. Earlier generations lived in relative 
peace as they would not have suffered the same brainwashing, and it will take 
an equally long term commitment toward peace to reverse the hatred," he added.

The BPCA president concluded that Britain and the U.S. need to move away from 
realpolitik if they want to affect real change.

"Anything less will only serve to continue the existing malaise which 
essentially will culminate in our nations being embroiled in a similar societal 
divide within our own communities."

"BPCA has also started an online petition for Bibi's freedom, and has called on 
Christians to pray for her family, who are in hiding."

(source: christianpost.com)






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

150 executions - Pakistan's race to kill



Pakistan has executed over 150 people since a 7-year moratorium was lifted on 
state executions just 6 months ago.

If we continue at this pace, we will quickly surpass China, North Korea, Iran 
and Saudi Arabia in the number of executions carried out by the state this 
year.

It is not only the pace of executions that is alarming, it is the fact that 
many of these cases are marred by corruption, torture and a flagrant disregard 
for international human rights standards.

A recent case was that of Aftab Bahadur, a Christian man who was accused of 
murder when he was just 15 years old.

His confession was extracted after allegedly enduring prolonged torture, which 
involved being burnt by cigarettes and having his fingernails removed.

Aftab Bahadur was hanged on June 10 despite calls by thousands of concerned 
individuals, human rights organisations, Christian leaders, and even the United 
Nations to grant him a reprieve.

Shafqat Hussain's story is similar. He was also sentenced when he was a 
juvenile, and his confession too was allegedly extracted under torture.

Shafqat Hussain was arrested along with several others for the same crime.

According to reports, while the others were freed after paying a 80,000 rupees 
(US$786) bribe, Shafqat was not because he did not possess the funds.

Doubts about his guilt have led to the postponement of his sentence 4 times, 
but he has yet to be exonerated.

While Pakistan is racing to execute people, most of the rest of the world is 
moving in the opposite direction.

In fact, nearly 2/3 of all countries have abolished the death penalty due to 
the growing belief that it is cruel, inhuman, degrading, discriminatory and 
ineffective in deterring crime.

In the US, where the death penalty exists in 32 out of 50 states but is 
practised in only a few, stories of innocent people being sentenced to death 
periodically surface.

The Innocence Project, an organisation dedicated to reforming the US justice 
system, has successfully exonerated over 300 people, some of whom had been 
sentenced to death, largely through the use of DNA testing - a facility not 
readily accessible here.

In fact, since 1973, 154 people have been freed from death row in the US after 
spending years in prison because their guilt could not be proven beyond 
reasonable doubt.

If the US justice system, which many would cite as being one of the most 
robust, can make so many mistakes, one can only imagine how many wrongful 
convictions there have been in Pakistan where corruption plagues every level of 
the state's structure, particularly the police.

Human rights organisations such as Amnesty International point out that the 
application of death penalty is inherently flawed, with members of marginalised 
groups far more likely to receive death sentences.

In the US, you are 3 times more likely to face execution if you are African 
American than if you are white.

Meanwhile, in Pakistan, among the marginalised are members of minority 
communities some of whom have been sentenced to death for allegedly committing 
blasphemy.

While more Muslims have received the death penalty for allegedly committing 
blasphemy, minority communities feel themselves at far greater risk because of 
their religious, caste and class identity.

Despite this, many in Pakistan blindly support the death penalty because they 
believe it deters crime and is sanctioned by religion. Not only does this 
overlook the countless studies, which prove that states that apply the death 
penalty do not have lower murder rates, it mistakenly assumes the state acts in 
a manner that is fair and just. Interestingly, many of those who support the 
death penalty do not trust the state with their alms or even their tax money 
due to fears of rampant corruption, but yet they trust it with deciding the 
gravest of matters - that of life and death.

There are more than 8,000 people who are counting the days till they will be 
called to the gallows.

Many of these people were likely tortured in order to extract their 
confessions, some when they were children.

Many may have been offered clemency if they could pay the required bribe or 
blood money.

Many were probably the victims of some personal enmity on the part of the 
accusers.

Many are mentally challenged or ill. And many more were just the most 
convenient and vulnerable suspects who could be found at the time.

The state has taken a respite from executions for the holy month of Ramadan.

This represents a small window of opportunity for the Pakistani public to 
reflect on the effectiveness of the death penalty as it is applied today - by a 
severely broken and corrupt justice system.

If we choose not to speak out now, not only will the state have blood on its 
hands, we all will.

(source: Nida Kirmani; The writer is assistant professor of sociology at the 
Lahore University of Management Sciences----The Jakarta Post)








CZECH REPUBLIC:

Poll: Most Czechs still favor death penalty ---- Prague and South Bohemia buck 
the trend, with opponents in the majority

Some 58 % of Czech people polled support the death penalty, with 26 % strongly 
in favor, according to a poll by CVVM. The number is down from 76 % in total 
strongly or moderately supporting it in 1992.

While support has wavered up and down over the years, opposition has steadily 
increased. Currently, 35 % strongly or moderately oppose the death penalty, 
while 7 % are undecided or have no opinion.

In 1992, when the poll question was first asked, only 13 % opposed it and 11 % 
were undecided.

Oponents of the death penalty more often include people with higher education, 
those who professes membership in the Roman Catholic religion, and inhabitants 
of Prague and the South Bohemian Region. In both regions, opponents slightly 
outweigh supporters of the death penalty. In Prague 46 % are for and 51 : 
against, in South Bohemia for 43 are for and 49 % against," statisticians said 
in a press release.

The strongest support of the death penalty was in the Karlovy Vary, Usti nad 
Labem and Olomouc regions, and among people who were not members of any 
religion.

The death penalty was banned in Czechoslovakia in 1990. The last execution in 
what is now the Czech Republic was Feb. 2, 1989, when Vladimir Lulek was hanged 
for killing his wife and 4 children. The last execution in what is now Slovakia 
was Stefan Svitek, who was convicted of killing his pregnant wife and 2 
daughters. He was executed June 8, 1989.

In Europe, only Belarus and Kazakhstan have the death penalty. It is 
indefinitely suspended in Russia. The so-called Donetsk People's Republic, part 
of the Ukraine that is now the focus of a pro-Russian separatist conflict, 
introduced the death penalty in 2014 for cases of treason, espionage, and 
assassination of political leaders.

The poll took place between May 11 and 18 with 1,043 Czech citizens over the 
age of 15.

The Public Opinion Research Center was established Jan. 1, 2001 by transferring 
the Public Opinion Research Institute from the Czech Statistical Office. The 
team members are lecturers at the Philosophical Faculty and the Faculty of 
Social Sciences of the CharlesUniversity and at the Political Sciences 
Department of the University of Economics in Prague.

(source: Prague Post)








GAMBIA:

Regime keen to make capital punishment easier



The opposition in Gambia are fighting government plans to make more crimes 
punishable by death. Under Gambian law, capital punishment can only be meted 
out to murderers who use violence or poison. But the government is set to hold 
a referendum to allow the execution of convicts whenever "the sentence is 
prescribed by law".

A referendum had been expected in Gambia not to broaden capital punishment, but 
to abolish it.

"It's very perplexing," said Amadou Scattred Janneh, an exiled former 
information minister who is now with the opposition Coalition for Change. "We 
don't know why [President Yahya Jammeh] is broadening the death penalty except 
to find the means to punish his political rivals and to sow greater fear in the 
population."

Janneh, who was in 2012 sentenced to life in prison for treason after 
distributing t-shirts with the slogan "End Dictatorship Now", fears that he 
would have been executed had the new law been in place.

"[The judge] cited the fact that his hands were tied, that he could not give me 
a death sentence because there was no violence in my activity," Janneh 
remembered. "So this type of change would give President Jammeh and his judges 
leeway to pass death sentences on people who are involved in purely political 
matters."

Some observers believe President Jammeh is cracking down on civil liberties and 
on the opposition to assert his authority in light of a failed coup that 
exposed weaknesses in the presidential retinue last year.

In Banjul, the Gambian capital, opposition leader Halifa Salla believes a 
victory for the "yes" side - 75 % on a turnout of at least 50 % is required to 
carry the motion - would give the regime immense latitude.

"It means the government would be able to [impose] the death penalty for any 
crime it deems fit, by just passing a bill at the national assembly," Salla 
told AFP.

Sallah said his People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism 
would "leave no stone unturned" in organising people to vote "no" in the 
referendum, for which a date has yet to be set.

Although the government has cast the extension of the death penalty as a 
law-and-order issue, capital punishment is unpopular in The Gambia, according 
to the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP).

The UDP is not only convinced that the "no" side will win but that voters may 
use the referendum as an opportunity to register their discontent with the 
government.

"The death penalty as an instrument of justice is not something that enjoys 
popular support," said an exiled UDP spokesperson Karamba Touray. "It's a 
deeply unpopular regime because of its record of abuse and violence and 
terror."

There are doubts that the referendum will allow citizens - all Gambians aged 
over 18 are entitled to take part - to express themselves freely. "For the last 
20 years no vote conducted in that country has been nor free nor fair," 
remarked Touray.

There are also fears that the constitutional change could also affect business.

Opposition activist Janneh noted: "With this change the Jammeh regime would 
have the final say in terms of who's eligible to be executed - even people 
convicted of economic crimes."

In 2012 the execution of 9 convicts by firing squad triggered international 
outrage, especially in neighbouring Senegal, which had 2 citizens among those 
put to death. Lawyers lamented that the men were shot before they were able to 
appeal against their sentences.

Rights groups estimate that about 30 people are on death row in Gambia but no 
executions have been announced since 2012.

Jammeh, an outspoken military officer and former wrestler, has ruled Gambia 
with an iron fist since seizing power in a coup in 1994.

According to the Gambian State House website, he must now be formally addressed 
as "His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh Babili 
Mansa".

(source: Michael Arseneault, RFI English)








JAPAN:

Man sentenced to death over 2012 random killings in Osaka



The Osaka District Court on Friday sentenced a 40-year-old man to death over 
the fatal stabbings of two pedestrians in random attacks in downtown Osaka in 
2012.

A panel of 3 professional and six citizen judges handed down the death sentence 
to Kyozo Isohi, who was a jobless man, as demanded by prosecutors. The ruling 
said death penalty "cannot be avoided as he had a strong intention to commit 
random murders and cruelly" stabbed the victims.

Isohi killed music producer Shingo Minamino, 42, and restaurant manager Toshi 
Sasaki, 66, on a busy street in downtown Osaka by stabbing them with a kitchen 
knife in broad daylight on June 10, 2012.

Even though the defendant said he stabbed the victims following auditory 
hallucinations telling him to do so, the ruling said he was "mentally fully 
competent" to be held criminally responsible for the killings.

Isohi pleaded guilty in the 1st court hearing of his trial in May and 
apologized to family members of the victims, saying, "I will atone for the rest 
of my life."

His defense counsel said many murder cases in which death penalties were handed 
down were "premeditated," but Isohi's rampage was "not planned" and the 
stabbings occurred "after he failed to commit suicide."

Prosecutors argued his criminal acts were the "most malicious" type of murder 
where anybody could be the victim.

In their closing statements, prosecutors said Isohi, who became distraught over 
not being able to get a job he wanted, exhibited a "strong intent to kill" by 
stabbing the victims repeatedly and without mercy.

They contended even if Isohi experienced hallucinations due to past use of 
stimulant drugs as he claimed, that would only have been a subordinate factor 
that led to the attacks.

Lawyers representing the victims' family members had also demanded the death 
penalty for Isohi, claiming that the accused showed "no signs of regret."

(source: The Mainichi)