[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 4



INDONESIA:

How Indonesia carries out the death penalty: rules of execution ----- As 
Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran await execution along with 
nationals from Brazil, France, Ghana, the Philippines and Nigeria, Indonesia 
sets out the rules governing their deaths



The convicted prisoner must be notified 72 hours before execution. While 
waiting, they must be held in a special prison.

If the convicted prisoner wants to say something, the statement or the message 
must be received by the prosecutor.

If the convicted prisoner is pregnant, the execution will take place 40 days 
after the child is born.

Their lawyer can attend the execution. The execution is not performed in public 
and conducted in the most modest possible way unless determined otherwise by 
the president.

The head of local police forms the shooting team, consisting of one 
non-commissioned officer and 12 privates, under the command of an officer.

The convicted prisoner can be accompanied by a spiritual counsellor.

They must dress modestly.

The commander will blindfold them with a piece of fabric, unless asked not to.

They can stand, sit or kneel.

If necessary their hands or feet will be tied to a pole.

There will be between 5 and 10 metres between the convicted prisoners and the 
shooting team.

In previous executions, the shooting team has comprised 12 men with rifles - 3 
of them with live rounds - who aim at targets over the convicted prisoner's 
heart.

Using a sword for the signal, the commander will order "ready" by swinging his 
sword up, ordering the team to aim at the convict's heart. By swinging his 
sword down quickly, he orders "shoot".

If the convicted isn't killed, the non-commissioned officer is ordered to shoot 
his pistol into the prisoner's head, above the ear.

A doctor will confirm the death and a report will be prepared on the execution.

The body is handed to family or friends for burial, or to the state, with 
attention paid to religious beliefs.

(source: The Guardian)

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

Indonesia regresses with the use of the death penalty ---- The prospect of 
execution of two Australians in Indonesia has caught international media 
attention, amid Australian protest. But these are part of a wider official 
spasm, in a country dominated by a 'tough on crime' narrative.



It had seemed Indonesia was moving away from resort to the death penalty: it 
ended a 5-year pause in the use of death penalty in 2013. Yet after little over 
4 months in office, the president, Joko Widodo, has overseen the executions of 
6 prisoners, with a further 11 planned in the coming month.

The executions, all for drug-related offences, involve foreign nationals, 
including from Australia, Brazil, Nigeria, Spain, the Netherlands and Vietnam. 
And there has been strong external condemnation: Brazil and the Netherlands 
have recalled their ambassadors, while Australia is imploring Widodo to stay 
the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, due in the days ahead.

As Diane Zhang has pointed out, just two months into 2015 more executions are 
set to take place in the country than in any previous year???indeed if the 11 
go ahead as planned, as many on a single day as any prior annual toll in 
democratic Indonesia.

Shocking

The resumed use of the death penalty is shocking. The practice is increasingly 
deemed unacceptable internationally, with a record 114 countries now supporting 
a moratorium. There is, more than ever, a shared sense that this is an unjust 
penalty incompatible with the human-rights standards the international 
community expects states to uphold.

It is also surprising: Widodo was mostly seen as a progressive reformer, with 
his trademark peace sign and promise to address government corruption following 
his election. The justice system is one area where corruption remains a 
prominent issue. Police powers and brutality have been common complaints among 
Indonesians and the decision by Parliament in January to appoint as national 
police chief an officer being investigated by the Corruption Eradication 
Committee led to public protests - the president has overruled the appointment.

Tied humanitarian assistance is, of course, a very outdated approach to aid.

Widodo however endorses Indonesia's established 'tough on crime' stance, citing 
the devastating effects of drugs in particular. Yet this can facilitate the 
very corruption, lack of professionalism and inefficiencies the president seeks 
to curb.

'Tough on crime' approaches empower the police and others within the criminal 
justice system, while weakening the position of suspects. In Indonesia they 
have been demonstrated to provide cover for harsh policing tactics, high levels 
of arrest, excessive pre-trial detention, weak presumption of innocence and 
heavy sentencing. They thus do little to curb corruption and abuse of power and 
support justice. And while it might seem logical to assume that being 'tough on 
crime' makes for a safer society, evidence suggests the opposite.

Not helpful

Yet the way the issue of the death penalty in Indonesia has been dealt with 
internationally has not always been helpful. The mounting pressure from 
Australia has highlighted important points - the capacity of offenders to 
reform and make valuable contributions to society, as well as the Indonesian 
government's own efforts to secure clemency for its citizens facing the death 
penalty overseas. But there have also been bungled efforts.

The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, said he felt "let down" that 
Indonesia could execute 2 Australian nationals, given the AUD 1 billion of 
assistance his country had provided following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. The 
veiled threat has understandably not gone down well in Indonesia - prompting a 
'coins for Abbott' campaign, with Indonesians donating money to give back to 
the Australian government. The very small role that Australian aid plays in the 
Indonesian economy also suggests that Australia is not likely to influence 
policies by using aid as a threat.

Tied humanitarian assistance is, of course, a very outdated approach to aid. 
Such assistance benefits those most affected by disasters - usually the poorest 
and most vulnerable. It makes no sense to make them suffer further, by 
attaching political strings.

More fundamentally, Abbott's comment misses the point. Indonesia should not end 
the use of the death penalty as a quid pro quo for development aid. The country 
should do so because it is an abhorrent practice which has no place in any 
justice system and is no longer accepted among the international community of 
states. It represents a sad, backward step for Indonesia's justice system and 
its human-rights record.

(source: Lisa Denney, opendemocracy.net)

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

Indonesia nearly ready to execute 9 foreign drug smugglers



Indonesia is nearly ready to execute by firing squad 9 foreigners and an 
Indonesian condemned for drug smuggling as diplomatic squabbles persist over 
the executions.

The preparations at the execution site have been completed and 4 foreign 
convicts will be transferred to Nusakambangan Island's maximum-security prison 
facilities this week, said Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo.

The 4 are Australians Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33, who are 
currently in a Bali jail, Raheem Agbaje Salami, 45, a Nigerian national who was 
born in Cordova, Spain, and 30-year-old Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso.

"We are just awaiting a report of their transfer preparation," Prasetyo told 
reporters in the capital, Jakarta, but gave no date for the executions. Bali 
Chief Prosecutor Momock Bambang Sumiarso said Chan and Sukumaran would be moved 
Wednesday.

The 4 convicts being transferred, 2 Nigerians and 4 men from Brazil, France, 
Ghana and Indonesia will be executed simultaneously by a firing squad on the 
prison island off Indonesia's main island of Java.

The Nigerians face execution after their clemency requests were rejected by 
Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo last month, said Attorney General's 
office spokesman Tony Spontana.

They are Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, 39, and Okwudili Oyatanze, 40, whose 
clemency was rejected after he was caught running drug transactions from behind 
bars.

Jokowi has received phone calls from some foreign leaders asking that the 
executions be canceled, but rejected their requests. He vowed not to grant 
mercy to drug offenders because Indonesia is suffering a "drug emergency."

The Indonesian government last week recalled its newly designated ambassador 
for Brazil, Toto Riyanto, to protest the abrupt postponement of the approval of 
his credentials by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff amid tensions over the 
imminent execution of its citizen, Rodrigo Gularte, 42.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called on Indonesia to "reciprocate" 
for Australia's $1 billion aid package after the 2004 tsunami by sparing his 2 
countrymen.

Indonesia executed 6 drug convicts including foreigners in January. More than 
130 people are on death row, including 57 drug convicts

(source: Yahoo News)

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

Lawyers for Filipina on death row: Her translator was just a student----Mary 
Jane Fiesta Veloso's lawyers argue that she deserves a case review because of 
this



When Philippine citizen Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso was tried, convicted and 
sentenced to death in 2010 for smuggling heroin into Indonesia, the translator 
provided her was only a student.

Lawyers for Veloso, a 30-year-old single mother of 2, told the Sleman District 
Court in Yogyakarta on Tuesday, March 3, that this should be grounds to grant 
the request for her case to be reviewed by the Supreme Court.

If the court's 3 judges don't agree, Veloso will be sent to face the firing 
squad on Nusakambangan prison island along with 9 other convicts, including the 
Bali 9 pair from Australia. A case review request is the final legal option 
open to her.

'Only Tagalog' "The defendant does not speak English and Indonesian. She can 
only use Tagalog, but she was not provided a competent interpreter," lawyer 
Agus Salim told the court, according to Okezone.com.

The interpreter provided was a student and did not have a license from the 
Association of Indonesian Translators, he added.

Veloso, who comes from a poor family in Bulacan, north of Manila, only finished 
high school. She was in Malaysia supposedly to work as a domestic helper, but 
her would-be employer failed to meet her, the court heard on Tuesday. With 2 
children back home, she agreed to an offer by foreigners to bring two suitcases 
to Indonesia.

She was only supposed to bring the two suitcases with her on board the April 
25, 2010, AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Yogyakarta, and someone was 
supposed to pick her up at the airport and get the package from her.

But that last part never happened, because she was arrested before exiting the 
airport. Concealed inside the suitcases were packs of heroin wrapped in 
aluminum foil estimated to have a street value of IDR6.5 billion at the time 
(about $500,000 today).

Veloso maintains she did not know the suitcases contained heroin, according to 
local news outlet Radar Jogja. But subsequent appeals have failed and, in 
January, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo rejected her clemency request along 
with all others from drug convicts as part of his new administration's harsh 
stance on the death penalty.

'No correlation'

Prosecutors did not agree with Veloso's lawyer, however. Any objection to the 
translator should have been filed at the beginning of the 1st trial, prosecutor 
S Anggraeni said.

"The translator was also sworn in," he added, according to Okezone. "There are 
no rules about the interpreter having to meet certain qualifications."

There was also no correlation between the status of the translator and the 
substance of the trial, he said, arguing that this meant Veloso's lawyers 
failed to present new evidence - the requirement for a case review to be 
granted.

The trial will resume on Wednesday, with Veloso's camp expected to present 
witnesses to bolster her case.

Indonesia's Attorney General has previously stated that Veloso was included in 
the next batch of 10 drug convicts to face the firing squad - the only woman 
and the convict who has spent the shortest time on death row in the list.

However, Philippines Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said the execution 
had been "deferred because of the judicial review we requested."

During a state visit to the Philippines on February 9, Jokowi and Philippines 
President Benigno Aquino III signed 4 agreements, including one to combat 
illegal drug-trafficking. Contrary to previous reports, Charge d'Affairs 
Roberto G. Manalo of the Philippine Embassy said Aquino brought up Veloso's 
case with Jokowi during the visit.

Jokowi has issued a blanket rejection of all clemency requests from drug 
convicts on death row, citing Indonesia's drug emergency, despite mounting 
international pressure and calls for him to consider each case on its own 
merit.

(source: rappler.com)

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

Indonesia may delay execution of 'mentally-ill' Brazilian convict



Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla says the execution of a convicted 
Brazilian drug smuggler could be postponed, if he is proved to be mentally ill.

"If he has a certain illness, he has to be treated first, let alone mental 
illness," the Media Indonesia daily quoted the vice president as saying on 
Tuesday.

Brazilian national Rodrigo Gularte, 42, was convicted and sentenced to death in 
2005 for smuggling cocaine into Indonesia and is among 11 death-row prisoners 
who are expected to be executed this month.

Inmates who are set to be executed include 2 Australians and 1 each from the 
Philippines, France, Nigeria, Indonesia and Ghana.

Last year, Gularte's family managed to file a request for a thorough 
examination of his mental health with the help of the Brazilian embassy in 
Jakarta.

Eventually, the offender's family appealed for a pardon on the grounds that he 
had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, who is delusional with 
psychotic tendencies.

However, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has warned that nothing can derail 
the planned execution of the 11 convicts, calling on foreign countries not to 
intervene in the Asian country???s internal affairs.

6 of them were executed in January.

Indonesia's Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo said on February 27 that Jakarta 
may go ahead with plans to execute the Brazilian drug smuggler despite claims 
by the convict???s family that he is suffering from schizophrenia.

"We are seeking a 2nd opinion from an independent doctor because the one who 
certified him as mentally ill was a doctor appointed by his lawyers," Prasetyo 
said.

He added that Gularte could still face execution under the country's law 
regardless of his current health condition.

Attorney General spokesman Tony Spontana said on Monday the inmates would be 
transferred to the Nusakambangan island prison complex off Java this week, 
where they are due to be shot. He, however, did not give a precise date for the 
executions.

Indonesia is also currently engaged in a standoff with Australia over the 
execution plan of Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33, who were arrested 
in 2005 on charges of smuggling 8.3 kilograms of heroin out of the Indonesian 
resort island of Bali into Australia.

Australia says the 2 convicts should be spared on the grounds that they have 
been fully rehabilitated.

More than 138 people are on death row in Indonesia mostly for drug crimes. Drug 
offenders face harsh punishments including the death penalty in the country. 
About 1/3 of the convicted are foreigners.

(source: Press TV)

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

Bali 9 duo to be moved to execution site----Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, 
pictured in 2006 Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are aware they are about to 
be moved



2 Australian drug-smugglers facing the death penalty in Indonesia will be 
transferred on Wednesday to the island where they will be executed, authorities 
in Bali have confirmed.

The execution by firing squad of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, is expected 
soon after the transfer.

Australia's foreign minister said she would continue to press the Indonesian 
government for a stay of execution.

Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world.

"It [the transfer] is planned for tomorrow [Wednesday] afternoon. Everything is 
ready. We will use 2 planes for the convicts and security personnel," the head 
of the Bali High Court, Momock Bambang Samiarso, told journalists.

Chan and Sukumaran will be transferred from Kerobokan jail in Bali to maximum 
security prison facilities on Nusakambangan Island, off Java, where the 
execution will take place.

They will be accompanied by 2 other prisoners from the Bali jail, the 
Associated Press reported.

The pair - a 45-year-old Nigerian man and a 30-year-old woman from Spain - are 
also facing execution.

Indonesia's Nusa Kambangan prison, pictured in 2015 Indonesia's Nusa Kambangan 
prison, where the executions are due to take place The 4 will be simultaneously 
executed along with six others from Nigeria, Brazil, France, Ghana and 
Indonesia, AP said.

Australia has mounted a sustained diplomatic campaign to try and stop the 
shootings going ahead.

"I will continue to contact counterpart ministers to press for a stay of 
execution," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was quoted as saying by 
the Sydney Morning Herald.

Chan and Sukumaran were convicted of trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia 
in 2005, but relatives and supporters have argued that they have been 
rehabilitated while in jail.

Lawyers for the 2 men said they were still attempting to mount a legal 
challenge but Mr Prasetyo said on Monday that any legal appeals were no longer 
valid following the earlier rejection of clemency by Indonesian President Joko 
Widodo.

Who are the Bali 9? The 8 men and 1 woman were arrested in April 2005 at an 
airport and hotel in Bali, Indonesia after a tip-off from Australian police.

They were trying to carry 8.3kg (18lb) of heroin back to Australia

In 2006 a court ruled that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran had recruited the 
others and paid their costs. They were sentenced to death

The other 7 are serving sentences of between 20 years and life, after some had 
death sentences revoked on appeal

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

Earlier in the month, all of Australia's living former prime ministers made a 
united plea for Indonesia to spare the lives of Chan and Sukumaran.

Indonesia ended a 4-year moratorium on executions in 2013.

(source: BBC News)








IRAN----executions

6 Sunni Kurdish Prisoners Were Executed This Morning----6 death row Kurdish 
Sunni prisoners who had been transferred to an unknown location yesterday, have 
been executed. Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemns this inhumane act and 
holds the Iranian authorities' leader Ali Khamenei responsible for this 
barbaric act.



According to reliable reports from Iran, the 6 Sunni Muslim prisoners,Jamshid 
and Jahangir Dehgani (brothers), Hamed Ahmadi and Kamal Molayee, Sedigh 
Mohammadi and Hadi Hosseini belonging to the Kurdish ethnic minority in Iran 
were executed early Wednesday morning in Rajaishahr prison of Karaj.

Their families and several well known human rights defenders and other people 
had gathered outside the prison several hours before the execution.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemns executions of the 6 prisoners and 
urges the international community to condemn this barbaric act. Mahmood 
Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: "We hold Ali Khamenei, the 
Supreme leader of the Iranian authorities responsible for this inhumane act. 
The international community, and especially the countries involved in the 
dialogue with Iran must condemn these executions. Anything else will send the 
wrong signal to the Iranian people and the authorities. The world must show 
that their dialogue with the Iranian authorities also benefits the human 
rights".

Hamed Ahmadi, Jamshid Dehghani and his younger brother Jahangir Dehghani, Kamal 
Molayee, Hadi Hosseini and Sedigh Mohammadi were sentenced to death after being 
convicted of vaguely-worded offences including Moharebeh (enmity against God) 
and "corruption on earth". They had been subjected to torture, ill-treatment 
and unfair trial.

Background: Jamshid and Jahangir Dehgani (brothers), Hamed Ahmadi and Kamal 
Molayee were arrested in 2009. They were accused along with 6 others of 
involvement in the assassination of a senior Sunni cleric with ties to the 
Iranian authorities.

They have denied any involvement, saying that their arrest and detention 
preceded the assassination by several months. They were sentenced to death by 
the branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, convicted of "Moharebeh" 
(enmity against God) and "acts against the nation's security". Their trial 
lasted about 10 minutes and they haven't seen their lawyer, according to 
sources who have been in contact with Iran Human Rights (IHR).

The 6 other prisoners were executed in December 2012, but the death sentences 
of the 4 prisoners were postponed.

Their execution was scheduled to be carried out in on September 25, 2013, and 
June 15, 2014, but it was postponed possibly due to the international 
attention.

In 2014 more than 19 human rights group called on the Iranian authorities to 
stop the execution of 33 Sunni prisoners.

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

11 Prisoners Executed in Iran



1 prisoner was hanged publicly in Darab (Southern Iran) early Tuesday morning 
reported the Iranian media, and 10 prisoners were executed in the Adelabad 
prison of Shiraz according to the rights groups.

Quoting Mousavi,the Prosecutor of Darab, the local news website Darab online 
reported that the prisoner who was hanged outside the city,s silo was convicted 
of rape. The prisoner was not identified by name.

According to the "Human rights activists news agency" (HRANA) 10 prisoners were 
hanged in the Adelabad prison of Shiraz (Southern Iran) early this morning. 7 
of the prisoners were convicted of drug related charges while the 3 others were 
charged with murder said the report.

The official Iranian sources have not announced the 10 executions in Shiraz 
yet.

(source for both: Iran Human Rights)

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

21 Prisoners to Be Executed in Alborz Province by Tomorrow Morning



15 death row prisoners of Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj have been taken to 
solitary confinements. Considering 6 Sunni prisoners who are scheduled to be 
executed tomorrow, 21 prisoners are going to be executed in Alborz Province by 
the next dawn.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 15 
prisoners of Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj who have been sentenced to death on 
charges of drug dealing have been transferred to solitary confinements to be 
executed by tomorrow morning.

"The prisoners have been taken out of different halls of section 2 today at 
9:30 am." A prisoner of Ghezel Hesar Prison told HRANA's reporter

"This was all these prisoners' 1st detention record." The source said

The authorities have called their families and told them to go to Ghezel Hesar 
Prison for the last visit.

4 of these prisoners were from hall 3 of section 2 of the prison.

The trend in Ghezel Hesar Prison has always been to execute 10 prisoners 
together.

6 Sunni death row prisoners of Rajai Shahr Prison have also been transferred to 
solitary confinements today to be executed by tomorrow morning.

These prisoners are: Hamed Ahmadi, Kamal Molai, Jamshid Dehghani, Jahangir 
Dehghani, Sedigh Mohammadi and Seyed Hadi Hosseini.

(source: HRA News Agency)

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

Man hanged in public



see: 
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/18035-iran-graphic-photos-man-hanged-in-public-in-darab

(source: NCR-Iran)








UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Death penalty upheld for tourist who killed ex-employer during 
robbery----Worker who stabbed wealthy man to death gets death sentence at Dubai 
court



The death penalty for a man who stabbed a wealthy father of 3 to death was 
upheld by Dubai Court of Appeal on Wednesday morning.

Afghan tourist B?S, 21, was handed the death sentence, while his countrymen TR, 
21, and 22-year-old AA were given life sentences for plotting to rob their 
Iraqi victim, HK Their life terms were also upheld.

BS had worked for the Iraqi for a short time and realised that he carried large 
sums of money.

Records state that, on the night of November 6, 2012, the victim was attacked 
by the 3 men, who stabbed him with 2 knives, mainly in the back.

In the scuffle, the Iraqi managed to take one of the knives and stab BS in the 
chest but he was soon overpowered and the trio continued to stab their victim 
until the blades of the knifes broke under the skin of his back.

Shortly after midnight, a police patrol found a car driving around the Russian 
area of International City and stopped the vehicle.

Speaking in court in June last year, YQ, a 45-year-old policeman, said: "We 
stopped the driver, BS, and noticed bloodstains on his shirt but he said he had 
bled from his nose while playing tennis."

The officer then asked BS to hand over his driver's licence and vehicle 
registration but he replied that he did not have either to hand. BS was taken 
to a police station, where the stab wound in his chest was found.

"He then confessed that he killed the car's owner because he tried to rape 
him," said the policeman. BS went on to say that he had worked for the victim 
for more than 20 days and had complied with the man's demands for massages.

"On the day of the incident he asked me to have sex with him, so I punched him 
in the face and then he stabbed me in the chest and I grabbed another knife and 
stabbed him until he died," BS said in records. He said that he then called his 
2 friends to help him escape.

AK, a supervisor who had known the victim since 1998, said BS was given a job 
but, 5 days after he was hired, the Iraqi sacked him.

"He told me that BS had often sought financial help from him and he repeatedly 
helped him and that, when he returned to the UAE from Afghanistan, he kept 
calling HK asking for his job back," said AK.

"The defendant's claims that HK tried to rape him are baseless because HK was 
in my house until 5pm and, during his stay, BS called him to ask for a job but 
HK did not take his call and told me and another friend how BS was repeatedly 
calling, asking for a job."

Other witnesses testified that the victim was a decent man and a good husband.

The 3 Afghans were convicted of premeditated murder associated with robbery.

TR and AA will be deported after completing their jail terms.

(source: The National)








SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Saudi beheads rapist, murderers



Saudi Arabia beheaded Tuesday a rapist and 2 murderers, bringing to 38 the 
number of death sentences carried out in the kingdom this year.

Saudi Mohammed bin Ali bin Mohammed al-Bishi was convicted of raping his victim 
at gunpoint, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official 
Saudi Press Agency.

"He also committed a number of armed robberies causing panic amongst the 
society. He had entered a number of homes by force and tried to kidnap and rape 
women and children," the statement said.

Bishi was sentenced to death "as punishment and to serve as a deterrent to 
others".

Authorities carried out the sentence in the southwestern region of Asir.

In a separate case, Hamoud bin Salih bin Falih al-Zubi was executed in Riyadh 
for gunning down a fellow Saudi during a brawl.

And another native of the kingdom, Falih bin Misnad bin Rabea al-Inzi, was 
beheaded in Qassim region for a fatal stabbing.

Drug trafficking, rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are all punishable 
by death under the Gulf kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law.

Amnesty International said in its annual report last week that death sentences 
are often imposed "after unfair trials".

The London-based watchdog said some defendants claimed to have been tortured or 
"otherwise coerced or misled into making false confessions" before trial.

The kingdom executed 87 people last year, up from 78 in 2013, according to an 
AFP count.

(source: Agence France-Presse)

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

Saudi Appeal Court Upholds Sheikh Nimr's Death Sentence



A Saudi Arabian appeal court on Wednesday approved the death penalty of the 
prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Saudi criminal court had earlier referred Sheikh Nimr's case to an appeal 
court, where the sentence was upheld on Wednesday, according to a Sky News 
report.

Sheikh Nimr was detained in July 2012 following demonstrations that erupted in 
Qatif region, Saudi Arabia. He is accused of delivering anti-regime speeches 
and defending political prisoners.

His arrest has sparked widespread protests in the Arab country, leaving several 
people dead.

On October 15, Sheikh Nimr's family reported that a Saudi judge has found him 
guilty of "sedition" and sentenced him to death.

Activists say there are over 30,000 political prisoners in Saudi Arabia.

International human rights organizations have criticized Saudi Arabia for 
failing to address the rights situation in the kingdom. They say Saudi Arabia 
has persistently implemented repressive policies that stifle freedom of 
expression, association and assembly.

(source: Tasnim News Agency)

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

Saudi Arabia execution rate 'truly unprecedented' - Amnesty Intl



Amnesty International says there is no evidence the latest "alarming spike" in 
executions in Saudi Arabia is in any way related to the battle against 
terrorism in general or the Islamic State militant group in particular.

3 beheadings in a single day on Tuesday (1 for rape and 2 for murder) raised 
the total so far this year to 38, about 3 times the number over the same period 
in 2014, according to an AFP tally.

"It would ... be a stretch to say that this is an attempt to deter violence," 
because almost 1/2 of this year's executions were for drug-related non-violent 
crimes, Amnesty's Saudi Arabia researcher Sevag Kechichian told the agency.

Just last week Saudi Arabia beheaded an Indian ax murderer (convicted of 
killing a Yemeni by striking him in the head with the ax) and a Pakistani 
heroin trafficker on the grounds that it is "committed to fighting drugs of all 
kinds due to the physical and social harm they cause."

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable 
by death under Saudi Arabia's version of Islamic sharia law. The kingdom 
practices a strict version of Sunni Islam.

London-based Amnesty recorded 11 executions from January 1-26 last year, 17 for 
that period in 2013, and nine in 2012. After 27 executions in 2010, the number 
skyrocketed to around 80 annually, with a record 87 last year, according to 
AFP. The figures are among the world's highest.

Kechichian says that while one can hardly affirm what has been driving these 
staggering numbers, the current rate "has been truly unprecedented."

"The Saudi authorities want to show everyone they are strong, people can rely 
on them to keep the security and the safety in the kingdom," the source, who 
did not want to be identified, told AFP. The source added that while the 
primary objective is to clamp down on violence, the state's policy has been 
associated with the kingdom's fight against the Islamic State (IS, formerly 
ISIS).

In September, Saudi Arabia began airstrikes against the IS in Syria as part of 
the US-led coalition.

3 supporters of the IS in Saudi Arabia have been arrested for shooting and 
wounding a Danish citizen in November. They allegedly "perpetrated their crime 
in support of the terrorist group Daesh," ministry spokesman General Mansour 
al-Turki said in a statement.

In November, Saudi Arabia reportedly blamed IS-linked suspects for the killing 
of seven Shiites, children among them, in Eastern Province.

In January, 3 Saudi border guards died in a clash with Saudis, alleged to be 
"terrorists" trying to sneak in from Iraq.

While Amnesty is accusing the West of "double standards" towards the wealthy 
Gulf state, a diplomatic source has said "we need to work together" when asked 
whether countries which disagree with Saudi Arabia use of the death penalty 
should just stop dialogue with Riyadh about "terrorism" or economic issues on 
which they cooperate.

Amnesty has been working to end executions since 1977, when only 9 countries 
had abolished the death penalty. Today, that number has gone up to 140 - nearly 
2/3 of all countries.

Executions around the world rose sharply in 2013, Amnesty wrote in its report, 
saying they know of at least 778 people executed in 22 countries around the 
world in that year alone.

5 states continued to be ahead of all others in executing their prisoners, such 
as China thousands, exact numbers unknown); Iran (369 minimum); Iraq (169 
minimum); Saudi Arabia (79 minimum) and the USA (39).

According to Amnesty, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia accounted for nearly 80 % of 
all reported executions around the world. Meanwhile governments like China and 
North Korea "hide how and when they use the death penalty; some states simply 
don't record information around executions and death sentences; others like 
Syria are in a state of conflict, so figures are unknown."

(source: rt.com)