[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 26



INDIA:

121 death petitions disposed off by President since 1981: RTI



A total of 121 death petitions involving more than 163 persons were disposed 
off by the President of India in the last 34 years.

In response to an RTI query, Ministry of Home Affairs (Judicial Division) said 
that since 1981, there were 124 cases, whereupon 90 cases were rejected and 31 
were extended relief as their death sentences were condoned as commuted to life 
imprisonment, J P Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Judicial & CPIO said.

3 death petitions are still under examinations, 1 is of Balwant Singh Rajoana 
from Chandigarh and Tote Dewan from Assam; both filed in 2012 and that of 
Antony from Kerala whose petition was filed in 2013, he said.

Among the convicts waiting for the gallows, is Davinder Singh Bhullar of the 
Khalistan Liberation Force convicted for killing nine people and injuring 31 in 
a bomb blast in 1993.

His mercy petition was filed in January 2003 and rejected on 25.5.2011 and is 
yet to be hanged.

The petition of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted for the assassination of 
former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh on August 31, 1995, is still under 
examination, the RTI reply said.

However, no information was provided with regard to number of prisoners who 
were awarded death penalty but set free after mercy from the President of 
India, Aggarwal said.

Whether the prisoners who were pardoned of death penalty; were set free or 
still behind the bars was also not provided by the Division.

Information regarding the number of death row prisoners confirmed by the 
Supreme Court of India, who have never sought mercy from the President was also 
left out from the RTI reply, with the authority stating that the concerned 
states may provide the details of the same.

(soruce: Deccan Herald)








MALAYSIA:

Aussie mum frustrated as Malaysia drug case delayed again



The case of an Australian woman facing a possible death sentence for drug 
trafficking in Malaysia was postponed again Thursday, with a lawyer describing 
the defendant as frustrated with the repeated delays.

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, a 52-year-old mother of 4, was arrested on December 
7 after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport en route from Shanghai 
to Melbourne, with a bag containing what authorities said was crystal 
methamphetamine, or "ice".

A chemist report on the substance was to be submitted to the court Thursday. If 
it confirms the substance was "ice" the case would then be elevated to a higher 
court, launching the death-penalty case.

But the court outside Kuala Lumpur was told that the chemical analysis, which 
has been repeatedly delayed, was still incomplete and that a new date for its 
submission was set for April 30, said defence lawyer Tania Scivetti.

"She is down and she wants the case to move fast so that she can go home," 
Scivetti said of his client, who declined to comment when leaving the court.

The defence team says Pinto Exposto travelled to Shanghai after falling for an 
online romance scam, and was then duped into carrying a bag - which she 
believed contained only clothing - by a stranger who asked her to take it to 
Melbourne.

Customs officers discovered 1.5kg of suspected "ice" hidden in the bag.

The defence is yet to enter a plea until the case reaches a higher court.

Drug-trafficking carries a mandatory sentence of death by hanging upon 
conviction in Malaysia.

2 Australians were hanged in 1986 for heroin trafficking - the 1st Westerners 
executed in Malaysia - in a case that strained bilateral relations. But few 
death-row prisoners have been executed in the country in recent years.

After an 18-month legal battle, Dominic Bird, an Australian truck driver from 
Perth, was acquitted of drug trafficking in 2013. He had been arrested for 
alleged possession of 167 grams of crystal meth.

(source: The Malaysian Insider)








BANGLADESH:

War Crime Trials ---- Govt appeals to SC seeking death for Abdul Jabbar; Probe 
report submitted to prosecution against eight Jamalpur 'Al-Badr men'



The government yesterday filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, seeking death 
penalty for Abdul Jabbar for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 
Liberation War.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on February 24 sentenced the fugitive 
Jatiya Party leader to imprisonment until his death considering his old age.

Assistant Attorney General Bashir Ahmed told The Daily Star that 10 reasons 
have been cited in the appeal for which the Appellate Division of the SC may 
consider for sentencing Jabbar to death.

Meanwhile, the investigation agency yesterday handed over to the prosecution of 
the International Crimes Tribunal a probe report on eight Jamalpur "Al-Badr 
men" who were allegedly involved in crimes against humanity.

Matiur Rahman, the investigation officer of the case, gave the probe report, 
statements of witnesses and other documents to the Chief Prosecutor Ghulam 
Arieff Tipoo in his office.

The suspects are Ashraf Hossain, 64, Prof Sharif Ahmed, 71, Abdul Mannan, 66, 
Abdul Bari, 62, Mohammad Harun, 58, Abdul Hashem, 65, Shamsul Haque aliast Badr 
Bhai, 75, and SM Yousuf Ali, 83.

Scrutinising the documents, the prosecution will file formal charge(s) against 
the suspects if the findings are satisfactory. Of the 8, 2 are now in jail 
while the rest are on the run.

(source: The Daily Star)








INDONESIA:

Bali murder trial: Australian's wife gave signal for ambush, court hears



An Indonesian woman accused of premeditating the murder of her Australian 
husband, Robert Ellis, told his alleged killers to ambush him in their kitchen, 
and gave them the signal when he arrived home, her trial has heard.

Julaikah Noor Aini, also known as Noor Ellis, faces the death penalty for 
ordering the hit on Robert Ellis, whose body was found in a Bali rice field in 
October 2014.

In Denpasar district court on Wednesday, her maid's boyfriend, Andreanus 
Ngongo, alias Aril, was questioned about the arrangement with him and 4 others 
accused of the murder.

Aril said Noor Ellis contacted him because she was "looking for someone to kill 
her husband".

She met him and his 4 co-accused - men known as Martin, Rangga, Urbanus and 
Yohannes - in a hut in Sanur to discuss the matter for 2 hours, Aril said.

"The ones talking were Martin and Mrs Noor," he told the court. "About the 
price. Martin asked for 150m rupiah ($14,220).

"Mrs Noor then said that would give downpayment of 50m rupiah and the rest of 
payment will be given in villa after the execution."

On the day of the killing, the men waited for 2 hours in the couple's Sanur 
villa for Robert Ellis to arrive.

Ellis's wife then gave the men a signal, Aril said.

"She said 'Mr Bob has come' ... so that we were prepared," he said. "We were 
told to move to the kitchen by Mrs Noor. Mrs Noor gave a towel and pillow to 
Rangga and Martin to hold Mr Bob's face."

Through Martin, she had requested the act not be done "sadistically". They used 
2 knives, Aril said, "to stab and to slit Mr Bob's neck".

Ellis later gave the men plastic and blankets to wrap her husband's body before 
driving them to a rice field where they could dispose of it, he said.

The court heard she gave the downpayment to Martin and a 2nd payment in cash to 
Aril the day after.

Asked if she disputed any of the evidence, Ellis told the court there were many 
errors. "I never ordered them to kill, only to take care of things," she said.

The trial continues next week.

Ellis's 7 alleged accomplices ??? the 5 men and 2 maids - all of whom also face 
charges carrying the death penalty, will be tried separately.

(source: Australian Associated Press)

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

Yusman's death sentence may be reviewed



Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Yembise has called for 
a review on a death sentence handed to Yusman Telaumbanua as he was apparently 
only 16 years old when he was declared guilty of murder.

"If this is true then he should not have been given the death penalty. That's 
why his case has to be reviewed to make sure of the truth and to ensure justice 
is done," Yohana told reporters after visiting Yusman at Batu Penitentiary on 
Nusakambangan prison island, Central Java, on Wednesday. Accompanied by 
National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) chairman Arist Merdeka 
Sirait, Yohana said Yusman had confirmed that he was indeed only 16 years old 
when he was sentenced to death.

Meanwhile, Arist said there were inconsistencies in Yusman's legal case and a 
review was needed for the sake of justice.

"During our meeting just now, Yusman said he did not understand the death 
penalty. He also was not accompanied by a lawyer during his questioning. That's 
odd," he said.

He said it was not a matter of bargaining over the death penalty but that 
Yusman should not have been sentenced to death if the information about his age 
was true.

"Neither Indonesian nor international law justifies a death penalty for 
children. The maximum penalty for them is 10 years' imprisonment," he said.

Quoting Article 37 (a) of the Child Rights Convention and Article 6 (5) of the 
Political and Civilian Rights Convention, Arist said the death penalty and life 
imprisonment could not be given to children.

This accounted for why Komnas PA would support a review of Yusman's case to 
save the inmate from execution, he said. Yusman of Nias regency, North Sumatra, 
was sentenced to death by the Gunungsitoli District Court in 2013 for the 
premeditated murder of 3 local gecko sellers in 2012.

Police are reportedly reinvestigating the case involving Yusman and another 
convict, Rihala Hia, especially the report that Yusman had been a minor at the 
time.

North Sumatra Police supervisory and operations head Adj. Sr. Comr. Gunawan Eko 
Susilo said he had been instructed to get details of the case at the Nias 
Police headquarters in Nias Island due to an earlier report by the Commission 
on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) about the case.

"We have been instructed by the North Sumatra Police chief to reinvestigate the 
case," Gunawan was quoted as saying by kompas.com last week.

He said the investigation would include looking into alleged violence during 
the questioning of the suspects at the Nias Police station three years ago.

He said the police had preliminary data, including from Kontras, which had 
provided Yusman's baptism certificate issued by the Bethel Church showing that 
he had been 16 years old at the time.

"We are collecting information on which Bethel church issued the baptism 
certificate," he said.

Gunawan denied that any violence occurred during the questioning of Yusman at 
the Nias Police station.

"The defendants' lawyers have also stated that they had accompanied the 
suspects during their questioning at the time," he said.

Yusman's oldest sister, Yosa'ati Telaumbanua, who was born in 1985, has 
reportedly told the police that Yusman was currently 26 years old.

Yosa'ati, who is the wife of the convict Rihala Hia, said Yusman was only 4 
years younger than her.

(source: Jakarta Post)

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

Indonesian President Unyielding on Death Penalty



When Indonesia's law and human rights minister visited one of the country's 
prisons in December last year, he met a Nigerian convict on death row for drug 
trafficking, who performed songs for him before leaving him with a parting 
gift.

"He sang [...] beautifully," Yasonna Laoly, the human rights minister, tells 
IPS. "He first quoted from the Bible before he gave me a souvenir when I left - 
it was a painting, a beautiful one."

"There are no statistics of a deterrent effect with the death penalty. Jokowi 
is using the death penalty [...] to prove to his critics that he is firm." -- 
Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of 
Violence (Kontras)

A month ago, at one of the weekly Christian services held at his ministry in 
the capital, Jakarta, a pastor came up to the minister to plea for some 
prisoners facing the death penalty.

She brought up the Nigerian man Laoly had met last year, stressing that he had 
reformed, converted to Christianity and become a good person.

"She asked me, 'Why can't you help?'," explains the minister, who has also 
received an album of songs from the Nigerian death row inmate.

"I told her that, psychologically, it bothers me, but I have to face the case," 
Laoly tells IPS, adding that he "does not believe in capital punishment".

"I spoke to the Attorney General [H.M. Prasetyo], who was with me when I 
visited him and he just replied: 'This is the law of the country and we have a 
policy'."

The government of this archipelago nation of 250 million people has a 
no-tolerance policy when it comes to drug trafficking and smuggling, and has no 
qualms about using the death penalty for such offenses.

Just after midnight on Jan. 18, 6 drug convicts were executed by firing squad, 
the 1st imposition of capital punishment since President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo 
took office last October.

Another 10 drug convicts - citizens of Australia, France, Brazil, the 
Philippines, Ghana, Nigeria and Indonesia - are slated to be executed next, 
following their transfer to the island prison of Nusakambangan.

Prior to Widodo's presidential election victory last year, capital punishment 
in the archipelago had declined. 4 people were executed in 2013 after a 5-year 
hiatus and no capital sentences were carried out by the state in 2014.

Still, there are currently 138 people - 1/3 of them foreigners - on death row, 
primarily for drug-related offenses. The government claims its hard-line stance 
has to do with the growing drug menace in Indonesia - at present, 45 % of drugs 
in Southeast Asia flow through this country, making it the largest drug market 
in the region.

Citing statistics from the country's National Narcotics Board (BNN), Troels 
Vester, country manager of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 
put the number of drug users at 5.6 million this year.

Government statistics further indicate that drug abuse kills off some 40 
Indonesians every day, a figure hotly disputed by local rights groups.

Officials say that rampant drug use also fuels a demand for medical and health 
services, putting undue pressure on the government to expend public resources 
on treatment and counseling, HIV testing, and anti-retroviral therapy for those 
people living with HIV/AIDS.

But the United Nations says that the use of the death penalty will not 
necessary reduce Indonesia's drug woes, and has urged the country to stopper 
the practice of capital punishment in line with international law.

Earlier this month some 40 human rights groups from around the world dispatched 
a letter to the Indonesian president, reminding him, "Executions are against 
Article 28(a) of the Indonesian Constitution, which guarantees everyone's right 
to life."

The letter further stated, "They are also in breach of Indonesia's 
international legal obligations under Article 6 of the International Covenant 
on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which recognises every human being's 
inherent right to life."

Such efforts have so far failed to sway the president, or stay the country's 
harsh hand of justice.

Ignoring international pressure

Widodo has also rejected political bids for clemency, including entreaties from 
foreign governments to spare the lives of their citizens; 5 of the 6 drug 
convicts executed in January were foreigners.

In January, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands personally requested 
Widodo to pardon Dutch national Ang Kiem Soe - convicted of being involved in a 
scheme to produce 15,000 ecstasy pills a day - but Widodo was unmoved.

Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors from Jakarta after their 
nationals were executed in January, while Australia has been campaigning 
furiously to save 2 of its own citizens, with the country's foreign minister, 
Julie Bishop, attempting an 11th-hour prisoner swap, which was rejected.

Widodo has met all such efforts with a simple answer: there will be "no 
compromise" on the issue.

Human rights advocates like Amnesty International have slammed the Indonesian 
president's "backwards" stance on capital punishment, accusing him of 
manipulating data to support his decisions.

"He says that 40 to 50 people are dying every day from drugs, but where is that 
figure coming from?" asks Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission for 
Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), adding that the president's 
actions came as a surprise as he never shared his views on capital punishment 
during his campaign.

"The hospitals, doctors and the health ministry aren't giving us data. These 
figures are from the anti-drugs body BNN, but they have never been proven," 
Azhar adds.

Other activists like Hendardi, head of the Setara Institute, believe the 
president is using the death penalty to protect his image and regain public 
support following criticism over his government's weak performance in law 
enforcement.

"There are no statistics of a deterrent effect with the death penalty," the 
human rights defender tells IPS. "Jokowi [a popular nickname for the president] 
is using the death penalty [...] to prove to his critics that he is firm. I 
think he is trying to gain back popularity as the death penalty is still 
favoured among Indonesians."

While there has been no comprehensive nationwide poll to assess public opinion 
on, or popular support for, capital punishment, surveys conducted by the media 
suggest that some 75 % of the population is in favour of death sentences, 
primarily for terrorism, corruption and narcotics charges.

Death sentences are typically carried out by a firing squad comprised of 12 
people, who shoot from a range of 5 to 10 metres. Prisoners are given the 
choice of standing or sitting, as well as whether to have their eyes covered by 
a blindfold, or their face concealed by a hood.

Inmates are generally informed of their fate just 72 hours prior to execution, 
a practice that has been blasted by human rights groups.

While the human rights minister admits that the death penalty may not solve all 
the country's drug problems, he believes that a firm policy is the 1st step to 
preventing millions from falling "into ruin" at the hands of narcotics.

UNODC estimates that there are 110,000 heroin addicts and 1.2 million users of 
crystalline methamphetamine in Indonesia. But experts like Azhar feel the 
problem cannot be 'executed away'. Instead, the Kontras coordinator suggests 
the country adopt a humane approach to law enforcement.

According to Amnesty International, some "140 countries have now abolished the 
death penalty. Indonesia has the opportunity to become the 141st country." 
However, if the president's resolve remains unchanged, this is unlikely to 
happen in the near future.

(source: Inter Press Service News Agency)



THAILAND:

Thailand toughens trafficking law with death penalty, steep fines



Thailand's parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to introduce harsher 
punishments for human traffickers, including life imprisonment and the death 
penalty in cases where their victims had died.

Thailand's move came a day after Britain passed a law that could see 
traffickers face life imprisonment, and marked the latest step to combat a 
multi-billion dollar trade in human misery.

Thailand's National Legislative Assembly (NLA) voted to amend the country's 
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in the 3rd reading.

The changes will allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty and fines of up to 
400,000 baht ($12,281) for those convicted of trafficking offences, Police 
General Chatchawan Suksomjit said.

"If the trafficked person dies in the hands of the trafficker then the sentence 
can now be life in prison or even the death penalty," said Chatchawan, who 
headed the committee responsible for amending the act.

If a victim of human trafficking is severely injured, those responsible can be 
sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and fined up to 400,000 baht, he said.

"The fine has now increased and goes up to 400,000 baht if the trafficker 
causes grievous bodily harm to the trafficked person."

The U.S. State Department last year downgraded Thailand to the lowest category 
in its annual ranking of countries based on their counter-trafficking efforts.

Thailand's military government said in January it was "confident" it had met 
the minimum standards to improve its ranking.

But a government report aimed at lifting Thailand from the list of the world's 
worst offenders showed Thailand identified fewer victims of human trafficking 
last year than in 2013 and convicted fewer perpetrators.

Thailand is a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking.

(source: Reuters)








VIETNAM:

Amended law reduces eligibility for death penalty



The proposal to reduce the number of crimes subject to the death penalty in an 
amended Penal Code sparked heated debates at a conference held yesterday in 
southern Hoa Binh City.

The National Assembly's Judicial Committee had proposed the amendment and its 
deputy head, Duong Ngoc Nguu, said the number of crimes subject to the death 
penalty in the amended Penal Code would be reduced from 44 to 22, with plans to 
lower it even further to 15.

Deputy Minister Dinh Trung Tung from the Ministry of Justice said the death 
penalty will only apply in cases involving crimes of extraordinary brutality 
and illegal drug dealings.

While agreeing with the government's effort to cut back on the use of the death 
penalty, Deputy Chief of the Police Department Lt. General Nguyen Phong Hoa 
argued that further consideration should be given to other crimes, such as drug 
trafficking.

"The situation is dire on the border front. Some nights, we get reports of up 
to 60 drug trafficking operations. Traffickers in these cases were armed and 
ready to open fire on law-enforcement forces," the deputy chief said.

Minors, pregnant women, mothers of children aged under three and elderly people 
aged 70 or above were not to be subjected to capital punishment, he said.

The amended Penal Code aims to remove the death penalty for an additional 7 
types of crime other than corruption.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Tat Vien, a member of the Steering Committee for 
Judicial Reform, said, "In light of rampant corruption across the country, 
maintaining the death penalty for crimes related to corruption and bribery is 
necessary."

The Supreme People's Court Deputy Chief Justice Nguyen Son agreed and noted 
that the move confirmed the Government and the Party's resolute stance in the 
fight against corruption.

The amended Penal Code also proposed the criminalisation of additional 
activities, including manipulation of public opinion polling, violations of 
freedom of speech and freedom of the press and obstruction of the citizens' 
right to access information and carry out peaceful protests.

(source: news.asiaone.com)








PAKISTAN----execution

Prisoner executed in Faisalabad



A convicted murderer has been executed in the Central Jail Faisalabad on 
Thursday morning.

Muhammad Afzal, a resident of Sialkot, had been remained on death row for 
around 2 decades.

He was found guilty of shooting a man, Muhammad Saleem, dead in 1995 over an 
old rivalry. and awarded the death sentence by district and session courts on 
May 25, 1995.

The review petitions of the accused were turned down by the higher and superior 
courts. President of Pakistan had also rejected his mercy appeal.

The last meeting of the condemned prisoner with his family had been arranged on 
Wednesday.

Some 8,000 condemned prisoners are still in a death row in various jails across 
the country.

Earlier the ruling PML-N government had lifted the moratorium on the death 
penalty on Dec 17, 2014, in terrorism related cases only, in the wake of a 
Taliban attack at the Army Public School in Peshawar, which claimed 141 lives, 
most of them children.

Later, the government completely reinstated capital punishment for all offences 
that entail the death penalty.

The United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights 
Watch have urged the government to re-impose the moratorium on the death 
penalty.

(source: Dawn)








UNITED KINGDOM:

Support for death penalty drops below 50% for the first time



Support for the death penalty in Britain has dropped below 50% for the 1st time 
on record, an annual opinion survey says.

The NatCen British Social Attitudes Report found 48% of the 2,878 people it 
surveyed were in favour of capital punishment.

It is the lowest figure since the survey began in 1983, when around 75% of 
people were in favour.

The death penalty was legally abolished under the Human Rights Act in 1998.

Capital punishment has long been an issue over which Parliament and the public 
were at odds.

In 1965, a year after the last executions in the UK, MPs voted 200 to 98 to 
suspend the death penalty for murder, even though opinion polls suggested the 
vast majority of electors wanted it kept on the statute books.

It was last debated in Parliament in 1998 during the passage of the Human 
Rights Act. On that occasion, a provision of the Act outlawing capital 
punishment for murder except "in times of war or imminent threat of war" was 
backed by 294 votes to 136.

In the same year, the Criminal Justice Bill removed the death penalty from the 
sentencing options for high treason and piracy with violence, the last 2 crimes 
remaining on the statute books that were punishable by death.

The British Social Attitudes survey has been carried out every year since 1983, 
with questions repeated periodically to assess how opinions change over time.

For this year's report, NatCen interviewed a representative, random sample of 
2,878 adults in the UK between August and November 2014.

(source: BBC news)