[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 31



IRAN----executions

3 Prisoners Hanged in Mashhad



3 prisoners were hanged in Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), 
on Thursday morning, 26th March, 3 prisoners in Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad 
were executed by hanging.

According to HRANA's sources, the 3 men who had been convicted of drug crimes 
have not been identified yet and judiciary officials also have not given any 
information about them.

These executions are happening while, according to Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special 
Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, the death penalty in Iran over the past 
decade has been rising from 99 cases a year in 2004 to 687 in 2013.

Ahmad Shaheed in his latest report described the increasing rate of executions 
in Iran as "alarming" and urged to stop this process.

(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)








PAKISTAN----executions

4 condemned prisoners hanged in Punjab jails



3 condemned prisoners were hanged in jails of Attock, Mianwali, Sargodha and 
Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

Sargodha Central Jail - established in 1910 - saw its 1st execution in 105 
years when prisoner Mohammad Riaz, a resident of Khushab District, was hanged.

Riaz was convicted of killing a man in 2000 during a robbery. He was charged 
with death penalty by a Rawalpindi's anti-terrorism court.

He had been sentenced under the section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).

Two death row prisoners hanged in Attock, Rawalpindi

Prisoner Akram-ul-Haq, convicted for kidnapping a 3-year-old girl, was hanged 
in Attock Jail, DawnNews reported.

Separate cases of kidnapping for ransom and terrorism were registered against 
Haq in police station of Fateh Jang - tehsil headquarters of Attock District.

Read: Nawaz removes moratorium on death penalty

Meanwhile, prisoner Mohammad Ameen, convicted for killing a person on personal 
enmity, was also hanged in Central Jail Rawalpindi - also known as Adiala Jail.

Another execution in Mialwali

Death row prisoner Hubdar Shah was hanged till death in Mianwali Central Jail 
early on Tuesday. The convict was awarded the death sentence for killing 2 
persons in 2000.

Pakistan lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in all capital cases on 
March 10.

Initially executions were resumed for terrorism offences only in the wake of a 
Taliban massacre at an army-run school in Peshawar which had claimed the lives 
of more than 150 persons, mostly schoolchildren, on December 16, 2014.

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

(source: Dawn)

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

4 death cell inmates executed in Punjab



4 death cell inmates have been executed separately in Attock, Sargodha, 
Mianwali and Rawalpindi in Tuesday's wee hours, SAMAA reported.

A convict, Ikramul Haq was put to gallows for kidnapping a baby girl. He 
kidnapped 3-year, Amina, from Fateh Jang on July 4, 2002 and demanded her 
family a ransom worth 5 million rupees.

Convict Haq threatened to take the life of little Amina if he was not paid the 
ransom money. However, Fateh Jang police apprehended him from Kohat at a time 
when the ransom money was being delivered to him.

It should be mentioned here that a special local court awarded him death 
penalty in 2003. During his 13-year confinement, 19 death warrants were issued 
for him.

Meantime, another death house internee, Muhammed Riaz, has been hanged till 
death in Sargodha for twin murders.

Riaz killed 2 brothers during a robbery attempt in Sargodha area of Choa Sedan 
Shah in 2000.

It is worth noting here that Haji Fazal Hussain - brother of the 2 killed 
brothers, Muhammed Aslam and Muhammed Afzal - said he pardoned the blood of his 
brothers. He, along with the widows of 2 brothers and their daughters, had 
their statement recorded before jail officials and the judge. But, the judge 
said it is beyond his jurisdiction to stay the hanging.

In Miawali also, a convicted prisoner, Habdar Hussain Shah, has been executed 
for double killings. The criminal killed 2 relatives for honor on October 8, 
2000.

A sessions judge decreed him death sentence on October 12, 2000. A settlement 
deed was produced by the aggrieved party; but, son of the deceased did not 
accede to it. On this death warrant was re-issued on March 27.

Meantime, Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail also witnessed another convicted criminal, 
Muhammed Ameen, hang at the gallows. The convict had a murder case against him 
registered at New Town police station.

(source: Samaa News)

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

Saulat Mirza's execution delayed for 30 days



The execution of Saulat Mirza has been delayed for 30 days, said superintendent 
Machh Jail Ishaq Zehri on Monday.

The report quoted superintendent Machh Jail Ishaq Zehri as saying that prison 
authorities had received orders regarding a delay of 30 days in execution of 
Saulat Mirza.

As per fresh orders, Saulat will be hanged on April 30.

Last week, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had sent a summary to President Mamnoon 
Hussain recommending one-month extension in Mirza's execution.

President Mamnoon Hussain had extended Mirza's execution after a video surfaced 
barely hours before his hanging in which Mirza had hurled accusations at the 
top MQM leadership.

An earlier media report however said that Machh Jail administration had not 
received orders to extend the execution date of Saulat Mirza, a former 
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) worker convicted in a triple murder case, jail 
officials said on Monday.

A senior officer of the prison told local media that preparations had been 
finalised for execution of Mirza as per the new black warrants on April 1 at 
5:30 am.

"Saulat will be hanged on April 1 as per the fresh black warrants," the officer 
said.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi had issued fresh black warrants 
following the postponement of the death row convict's execution. Mirza was 
originally scheduled to be hanged on March 19.

Mirza was found guilty of murdering then managing director (MD) of Karachi 
Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), now K-electric, Malik Shahid Hamid, his 
driver Ashraf Brohi and his guard Khan Akbar outside Hamid's residence in 
Karachi's DHA on July 5, 1997.

Separately, the wife of Saulat Mirza on Monday revealed that her husband was in 
contact with MQM chief Altaf Hussain just before he was apprehended by the 
authorities in Karachi.

In an interview with a private TV channel, Mirza's wife said she visited the 
party headquarters Nine-Zero for the last time in the previous month 
(February).

"Since then we were not even allowed to move beyond Mukka Chowk (a roundabout 
located about half-a-kilometre from Nine-Zero)," she added.

She said MQM leader Farooq Sattar told her that party's role in connection with 
Mirza's case was over and "now you are on your own".

She termed MQM's announcement of disowning Mirza as a 'big joke'.

"Had the party not disowned Saulat Mirza, he would not have opened his mouth," 
she said, demanding that her husband's statement be investigated.

She said her husband did not give the statement under duress.

She said there were 4 people involved in this case but they are not being 
apprehended. "Why aren't they brought before the court," she asked.

Meanwhile, 5 death row convicts will be hanged till death in Punjab today.

As per record of the Prisons Department, Zulfiqar will be executed in Kot 
Lakhpat Jail for murdering 2 people while Amin will be hanged till death in 
Adyala Jail Rawalpindi today.

Another death row prisoner will be executed in Mianwali on Tuesday morning 
(today).

A death row convict will be hanged in Sargodha on Tuesday morning.

For the 1st time in the history of District Jail Sargodha, Riaz, a resident of 
Chua Saiden Shah, will be hanged today.

He was handed down death penalty for committing a double murder.

All the arrangements for this execution have been finalised.

The convict has been transferred to death cell.

Security has been beefed up around the prison.

In this connection, relatives of Riaz had a last meeting with him before his 
execution.

Another death row convict Ikrmul Haq, condemned for kidnapping a 3-year-old 
girl for ransom, will be hanged in Attock District Jail today (Tuesday).

As per District Jail Attock sources, Ikramul Haq had kidnapped a 3-year-old 
girl Amna in 2002 for ransom.

He was later arrested and produced in court.

The court found him guilty of the crime and awarded him capital punishment in 
2003.

His mercy plea was also turned down by President of Pakistan.

The jail authorities arranged last meeting between him and his relatives.

Family members of the convict said that the issue was already settled with the 
family of the kidnapped girl and the affected family also pardoned Ikram but 
the President of Pakistan even then turned down his mercy plea.

They demanded that death punishment of Ikramul Haq be converted into life 
imprisonment.

(source: The Nation)








INDONESIA:

Indonesia Prosecutors Not Seeking Death Penalty For Chicago Couple



Indonesian prosecutors on Tuesday sought jail sentences of 18 years for an 
American man and 15 years for his girlfriend if they are found guilty of 
murdering the woman's mother while vacationing on the resort island of Bali 
last year.

The prosecutors told the court that Tommy Schaefer and Heather Mack, who 
appeared in court with their 2-week-old daughter, were guilty of premeditated 
murder. The panel of judges could ignore the sentencing request and decide to 
impose the maximum, death by a firing squad, if it convicts them.

"The defendant has committed sadistic acts to her own mother," chief prosecutor 
Eddy Arta Wijaya told the court at Mack's trial. "However, we've decided to be 
lenient because she repeatedly expressed remorse and has a newborn baby."

The badly beaten body of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, 62, was found in a suitcase in 
the trunk of a taxi outside an upscale hotel in August.

Wijaya asked the judges to declare the defendants guilty with the fact that 
Schaefer deliberately brought a metal fruit bowl when he came to the room at 
the St. Regis where Mack and her mother were staying, on a different floor from 
his own room.

Mack helped stuff her mother's body in the suitcase by sitting on it to enable 
Schaefer to close it, prosecutors said.

Schaefer, 21, and Mack, 19, both from Chicago, are being tried separately at 
the Denpasar District Court on Bali. The judges and prosecutors are the same in 
both trials.

The defendants sat quietly with Schaefer on the verge of tears as the sentence 
request was read. The defendants and their lawyers will respond to the 
prosecution's case next week, and verdicts are expected in late April.

Schaefer has testified that von Wiese-Mack was angry at him when she learned 
about her daughter's pregnancy. He said at previous court hearings that she 
insulted him and Mack, wanted her to get an abortion and strangled him in a 
heated argument before he struck her several times with the fruit bowl.

At Tuesday's hearing, another prosecutor, Ni Luh Oka Ariani Adikarini, said 
testimony and evidence showed that Schaefer deliberately planned to kill the 
victim.

"There is no excuse for the deeds of the defendant,' Adikarini said and 
recommended the court to sentence Schaefer to 18 years in jail.

The prosecutors did not explain why they sought less than the maximum penalty 
for him.

The court had delayed the hearing last week because the couple's baby, Stella, 
became sick in prison, but doctors said the baby has recovered from jaundice.

(source: The Associated Press)

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

Neil Dalton: Man faces death penalty after being found guilty of murdering 
Derbyshire student



A fishmonger faces the death penalty in Borneo after being convicted of 
murdering Derbyshire medical student Neil Dalton.

Fishmonger Zulkipli Abdullah, 24, reportedly showed no reaction when the guilty 
plea was announced this morning, according to the Malaysian Insider.

Zulkipli, from Kampung Gersik, has also been convicted of murdering Neil's 
colleague Aidan Brunger in an attack on August 6 last year.

Neil, of Ambergate, and Aidan, of Kent were both 22 and had been working in a 
local hospital.

(source: Derby Telegraph)








DENMARK:

1/5 of Danes want the death penalty----Opposition party constituents 
particularly keen



Denmark, which is known as a leader when it comes to human rights, abolished 
the death penalty way back in 1930 (although it was briefly brought back from 
1945-50 to punish Nazi collaborators).

But a new Megafon survey conducted on behalf of Politiken newspaper and TV2 
shows that 20 % of Danes would vote in favour of bringing back the death 
penalty in Denmark.

In particular, people who voted for the opposition parties at the 2011 election 
are in favour of the death penalty. Some 36 % of Dansk Folkeparti voters said 
they would vote yes, as did 34 % of Liberal Alliance voters and 32 % of Venstre 
voters.

No chance

But despite their voters' opinions, DF, LA and Venstre have no intention of 
adding the death penalty to their election campaign this year.

"I can understand why many believe that the judicial system needs to toughen up 
after the terror attack in Copenhagen," Peter Skaarup, the DF spokesperson for 
judicial issues, told Politiken.

"But I don't think that it gives society the right to take another human 
being's life, even if that person has committed a really serious crime. Our 
justice system is built on principles that I don't think we should discern. 
That would be in breach of everything we stand for."

Among Konservative voters, 22 % were in favour of the death penalty, as were 
small percentages of the other parties: Socialdemokraterne (9), Socialistisk 
Folkeparti (8), Radikale (4) and Enhedslisten (4).

(source: Copenhagen Post)