[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 1



INDIA:

Death penalty for techie murderer in Mumbai ---- The porter raped Esther Anuhya 
before smashing her head with a stone and strangling her.


A Special women's court on Friday sentenced a 29-year-old porter to death for 
raping and murdering a young woman techie from Andhra Pradesh, who had returned 
to Mumbai by train from Vijaywada in January last year.

"The case falls under the category of the rarest of rare, hence the accused is 
awarded death sentence," declared Vurshali Joshi, the judge of the special 
court. "He must be hanged by his neck till he is dead."

Chandrabhan Sanap, the porter, was convicted earlier in the week for murder, 
rape and other charges. The police managed to nab the accused and bring him to 
trial in a record time of two months and the verdict too was delivered in a 
short time.

The prosecution demanded the death penalty for Sanap, pointing out that 
anything less would send a wrong signal.

Esther Anuhya, the 23-year-old victim, a software engineer, had returned to 
Mumbai after her Christmas vacation to rejoin work at TCS. The train reached 
the Kurla terminus at 5am and Esther was waiting for a taxi to drop her to her 
place in south Mumbai.

Sanap approached her and told her he was a cabbie and offered to drop her home 
for Rs300. However, when they walked out of the station, he took her to his 
motorcycle and told her that his taxi was not working. He convinced her to sit 
on his bike.

A few minutes later, he diverted the bike to a lonely stretch near Kanjur Marg 
on the pretext of going to a petrol station. He then dragged her to nearby 
bushes and tried to rape her. When she resisted, he smashed her head with a 
stone and strangled her. Later, Sanap took petrol from his bike and tried to 
burn her. He then took her baggage and fled.

When Esther's father could not reach her, he lodged a missing person's 
complaint and then came to Mumbai. About 10 days later, the police found her 
charred and decomposed body by the side of the Eastern Express highway.

The police scanned the CCTV cameras at the station and spotted footage of Sanap 
talking to Esther. Sanap was nabbed in Nashik in less than 2 months.

(source: Khaleej Times)

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

Dec 16 juvenile to be released: Does he deserve a fair chance in life?


The lone juvenile convict in the December 16 gangrape case is all set to be 
released soon after being "reformed" even as his 4 adult accomplices await the 
Supreme Court's decision on their appeal against death penalty given to them.

The heinous nature of the gangrape had shocked the nation, and marches and 
rallies were carried out across India demanding swift justice.

The juvenile was sent to the shelter home after being convicted in the rape and 
murder of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012 
- a case that triggered nation-wide protests and led to tougher laws for crime 
against woman. 5 other adults convicted for the crime were sentenced to death. 
Of them, one was found dead in his Tihar Jail cell in a suspected suicide.

This is not an isolated case where a juvenile guilty of a heinous crime such as 
rape and murder has benefited from benevolent provisions of the Juvenile 
Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 that does not permit 
treating minor offenders on a par with adults for trial and punishment.

(source: Hindustan Times)






PAKISTAN:

A much welcome SC verdict


A 3-member Supreme Court bench has issued its detailed judgement in the Salmaan 
Taseer murder case. Spread over 39 pages, the court's opinion is not very 
different from what saner sections of society have been saying for a long time. 
Addressing the issue, whether it constitutes blasphemy to demand change in the 
existing man-made blasphemy law, as Taseer had been advocating, the judgement 
says "any call for reforming the blaspheme law (section 295-C Pakistan Penal 
Code) ought not to be mistaken as a call for doing away with that law, and it 
ought to be understood as a call for introducing adequate safeguards against 
malicious application or use of that law by motivated persons."

Of course, no one said - or could say in their right mind - the law should be 
done away with, only that its misuse should be stopped. In fact, as the court 
noted, if Islam comes down heavily upon commission of blasphemy then Islam is 
also very tough against those who level false allegations about a crime. The 
real issue that needs to be tackled is to ensure no innocent person is booked 
for blasphemy on the basis of a fake allegation (notably, so far the higher 
courts have not upheld a single sentence for blasphemy). It is not unusual for 
unscrupulous individuals to level baseless blasphemy accusations out of 
personal enmity or to make a property grab. The accusation virtually amounts to 
a death sentence. Pointing the finger at somebody on this account is enough to 
get them killed by a furious mob. Those arrested by the police to face the law 
seldom fare any better. Lawyers afraid for their own lives are too afraid to 
defend them, judges too harassed to deliver justice. In one case, a Lahore High 
Court judge was shot dead in his chambers for giving relief to a blasphemy 
accused. After pronouncing death penalty for Salmaan Taseer's assassin, Mumtaz 
Qadri, the judge of the anti-terrorism court hearing the case had to leave 
hastily not only the courthouse but the country as well to save his life. An 
air of fear and intimidation prevails. As the court noted, in the absence of 
adequate safeguards against misapplication or misuse of such law by motivated 
persons the persons falsely accused of that offence suffer beyond proportion or 
repair.

Unfortunately, the religious parties are insistent on retaining the blasphemy 
laws in their existing form even though it is a man-made law introduced by 
General Ziaul Haq's regime. Each time reform is attempted they threaten to 
launch street agitation. After Taseer's assassination, PPP's Sherry Rehman 
introduced an amendment bill in the National Assembly aimed at preventing abuse 
of the laws, only to discover that her life too was under threat from the 
religious right for advocating reform. The apex court constitutes a great 
morale booster. Citing amendments to the Hadood laws, the bench aptly observed 
in its detailed judgement that in all matters, including religious, there is an 
ongoing effort to keep the laws of the land updated through amendments to meet 
the emerging challenges, and also to provide safeguards against mischievous 
implications, misapplications or misuse of the existing laws. The government 
should draw courage from this to do the needful.

(source: Editorial, Business Recorder)






VIETNAM:

NA looks at penalty for crimes


Many National Assembly deputies yesterday suggested removing the death penalty 
for certain crimes, including robbery, illegal drugs stocking, causing war and 
crimes against humanity. The matter was discussed at a session of the NA in Ha 
Noi.

The death penalty was also proposed to be removed for surrender, war crimes and 
destruction of major works or means regarding national security.

Many deputies said the removal of death penalty was in the main spirit of 
modern law due to humanitarian reasons, noting that serious crimes still 
carried life imprisonment.

Deputy To Van Tam from Kon Tum Province suggested that the punishment should 
not be removed for two crimes: crimes against humanity and war crimes. Tam said 
these crimes included acts such as genocide, destruction of lives and killing 
ordinary people. These acts must be granted the highest punishment.

Deputy Nguyen Ba Thuyen from Lam Dong Province said the death sentence should 
not be removed for robbery and illegal drugs trafficking.

"If we remove the punishment with drugs trafficking, all those who got caught 
will claim that they were only transporting the drugs and therefore can get 
away with it," he said.

Deputy Siu Huong from Gia Lai Province said capital punishment should still be 
given to those charged with public property misappropriation and bribery. She 
said these were 2 most serious crimes among corruption-related crimes, and the 
continuance of capital punishment with this crime would act as an effective 
deterrent.

Deputies also discussed the banning of capital punishment to convicts who are: 
pregnant women or fostering children of less than 3 years old; those of more 
than 75 years old and those convicted for manufacturing counterfeit products 
which are medicines.

Deputy Dang Thi Kim Chi from Phu Yen Province said those who are 75 years old 
or above might not live much longer, thus when given life sentence they are no 
longer a menace to society.

Legal entity

Deputies also talked about adding criminal liability of legal entities to the 
amended law, saying that it was important to strictly address individuals who 
violate the law.

Deputy Than Duc Nam from Da Nang City said the criminalization of legal 
entities would be an effective tool to manage and address violations of legal 
entities during their operation.

Deputy To Van Tam from Kon Tum also lauded the amendment, but wondered when a 
legal entity violates laws and is suspended from operation, what would happen 
to labourers who work for the legal entity. Tam said labourers should not have 
to bear the responsibilities for a legal entity's law violations.

(source: Viet Nam News)






KUWAIT:

2 youths escape death in Kuwaiti murder case----Victim's family accepts blood 
money, pardons killers


A member of the Kuwaiti royal family and his fellow student have escaped the 
death penalty in a high-profile murder case after the victim's family pardoned 
them, a ruling by Sharjah Appeals Court said on Sunday.

A judge sentenced them to 3 years in jail followed by deportation.

The 2 Kuwaiti students have already spent around 3 years in jail.

Sunday's verdict is final as the victim's family's have signed papers pardoning 
the suspects, a prosecutor told Gulf News.

The parents of the Kuwaiti victim as well as the Kuwaiti royal family members 
attended the court session on Sunday.

In November 2014, Sharjah Sharia Court had sentenced to death 2 Kuwaiti 
students who tortured a fellow student to death in February 2013.

A 3rd suspect connected to the case was fined Dh1,000 in absentia in relation 
to charges of covering up the crime and failing to report it to authorities.

Mubarak Mesha'al Mubarak, 19, died at University City Hospital in Sharjah on 
February 24, 2013, following several days of physical abuse.?The victim's 
family earlier had asked the judge to give the death sentence to the 2 Kuwaiti 
suspects. Salem Obaid Bin Sahoo, legal counsel representing the victim's 
family, told Gulf News that his clients had told him just after the incident 
that they wanted those responsible for their son's death to be given the death 
sentence but the family accepted the blood money of 1 million Kuwaiti dinars 
(Dh12.12 million) after a series of negotiations.

In January, a higher court in Sharjah started a hearing on the appeal against 
the death penalty.

Rashid Al Omrani, Attorney-General of Sharjah Prosecution, told Gulf News 
earlier, "According to our investigations, we are submitting 3 charges against 
the suspects to the criminal court: deprivation of the victim's freedom, 
torture and premeditated murder."

The 2 suspects sentenced to death, Y.H.S., a member of the Kuwaiti ruling 
family, and H.A., 18, were being held at Sharjah's Central Prison.

Lawyers for the accused had asked the judge to summon witnesses in the case, 
including the man who filmed a video of the torture, and staff at the emergency 
section of University City Hospital in Sharjah, in addition to university 
cafeteria staff where the victim collapsed, Bin Sahoo told Gulf News.

"2 suspects confessed to their crime before the court and said that they 
tortured the victim for 3 days for allegedly harassing 1 of their female 
relatives," official sources conducting the investigation told Gulf News.

It is understood that Mubarak was accused of harassing the sister of 1 of the 3 
suspects and borrowed Dh100,000 from 1 of them. Authorities indicated this 
explained why Mubarak maintained his silence despite 4 days of torture and did 
not report the matter to police.

(source: Gulf News)