[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 14



BANGLADESH:

Shudhangshu Murder ---- Coffin procession demands death penalty for killers


With the coffin of slain Shudhangshu Boshak, agitating locals brought out a 
procession in Pabna town yesterday demanding death penalty for his killers.

The demonstrators started marching from Pabna Medical College Hospital and 
paraded the main streets.

A protest rally was also held before Pabna Press Club.

The speakers sought bringing all the murderers to book for security of the 
minority communities.

People from all the communities irrespective of religions joined the programme, 
they said Badol Voumik, president of Puja Udjapan Parishad in Pabna.

Abdullah Al Hasan, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station, told The Daily 
Star that they were trying to arrest the accused as the family gave them their 
names.

Shudhangshu, 55, a trader of brass-made goods and part-timer of a restaurant, 
was hacked to death in front of his family Thursday for protesting against 
drinking near his house.

His widow Taposhi Boshak said some 7 men of Monzil, an alleged drinker, entered 
their house in the town's Radhanagar Rathghar and hacked Shudhangshu.

(source: The Daily Star)






TAIWAN:

Prosecutors seeking death penalty in double murder


Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Chen Fu-hsiang, who stands 
accused of a double murder at a Taipei car park in January, allegedly in a 
dispute over drug money.

The hearing wrapped up at the Taipei District Court on Thursday, with 
prosecutors arguing that Chen had committed the murder with extreme cruelty by 
firing his handgun at close range, and that there is little possibility of 
reforming him.

Prosecutors said evidence from surveillance footage showed that Chen shot Tsai 
Kai-yang and Tsai Tsung-yu late on the night of Jan. 13 before putting their 
bodies in a car in a parking lot in the Ximending area of Wanhua District.

In separate civil lawsuits filed by victims' families, Chen is being sued for a 
total of NT$38.7 million (US$1.18 million) in compensation.

The judge at the Taipei District Court has set Dec. 24 for rulings on both the 
public prosecution case and the civil lawsuit.

After allegedly killing the men and taking money from their car, Chen fled and 
hid for 14 days before he was arrested on Jan. 24.

Prosecutors said the investigation found the slaying was due to disputes over 
money owed from drug deals that went sour.

The slain men, reportedly gang members, had allegedly set up a purchase of 
narcotics said to be worth NT$4.4 million.

Police said that Chen Fu-hsiang was found to be deep in debt - about NT$20 
million - because Chinese authorities intercepted a shipment of ketamine that 
Taiwanese officials linked to Chen Fu-hsiang and his gang.

(source: Taipei Times)






BAHAMAS:

Death Penalty Sought For Brothers Convicted Of Killing Off-Duty Policeman


A Supreme Court jury on Friday afternoon convicted 2 brothers standing trial 
for the murder and armed robbery of an off-duty policeman.

After the jury concluded its 2-hour deliberations on 5 weeks' worth of evidence 
into the December 4, 2014, fatal shooting and accosting of Sgt Wayne Rolle for 
a $700 Samsung smartphone, prosecutor Uel Johnson informed Justice Ian Winder 
of the Crown's intent to seek the death penalty for the crimes committed by 
26-year-old Dion Bethel and 30-year-old Kevin McKenzie.

The 2011 amendment to the Penal Code provides that any murder committed in the 
course of/or in furtherance of a robbery, rape, kidnapping, terrorist act, or 
any other felony is punishable by death, with no explicit requirement of an 
intent to cause death. A felony is defined as any offence which is punishable 
by at least 3 years' imprisonment.

Sgt Rolle was in a vehicle with a female friend on Durham Street off Montrose 
Avenue when he was shot in the head by 2 armed men.

Police were able to recover the stolen smartphone from 19-year-old Kendira 
Farrington, who testified in court that she had purchased the item for $150 
from McKenzie 2 days after the incident.

The cellular phone's identification number, found on the battery of most 
cellphones, matched that of the one purchased by the deceased member of the 
police's Mobile Unit.

Crown prosecutors produced a videotaped interview of McKenzie in police custody 
acknowledging that he sold the cellphone to Farrington, but at a much later 
date than alleged by police.

Police also produced an alleged confession in which Bethel owned up to his 
involvement in the robbery and subsequent killing.

Both Bethel and McKenzie alleged that the confessions were obtained as a result 
of severe beatings while in custody and were not given voluntarily. Both denied 
any involvement in Sgt Rolle???s murder and armed robbery.

Monique Gomez and Donna Dorsett-Major represented the brothers, who were 
remanded to the Department of Correctional Services to await sentencing on 
January 25.

Cordell Frazier prosecuted the case with Mr Johnson.

(source: Bahamas Tribune)


INDIA:

Nitish Katara murder case: Govt wants death for accused?


The AAP government is reportedly in the process of moving the Supreme Court to 
seek death penalty for Vikas, his cousin Vishal Yadav and accomplice Sukhdev 
Yadav in connection with the Nitish Katara murder case.

The legal wing of the Delhi administration is reportedly set to move the apex 
court to seek death penalties for the 3 convicts.

Nitish, son of an Indian Administrative Service officer, was killed by Vikas 
Yadav, his cousin Vishal Yadav and Sukhdev Pehlwan on the intervening night of 
February 16 and 17, 2002, after they abducted him from a marriage party in 
Uttar Pradesh???s Ghaziabad. Both Vikas and Vishal objected to Nitish's alleged 
relationship with their sister, Bharti Yadav.

Recently, the Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking death penalty for Vikas 
and Vishal Yadav in the Katara murder case. Refusing to call it a case of 
honour killing, the apex court said that the case does not fall in the rarest 
of rare category under which death penalty is awarded.

An apex court bench of Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice R. Banumati had 
said that while it was a murder and could even be pre-meditated, it certainly 
was not heinous or a matter of honour killing.

Nitish's mother Neelam Katara had moved the Supreme Court questioning the Delhi 
high court order sentencing the duo to 25 and 5 years sentences which are to be 
run one after the other. She had sought an enhancement of the sentence to death 
or alternatively imprisonment for whole life.

Soon after the ruling, Ms Katara had said: "I respect the court's decision. I 
will come prepared with more facts next time."

Vikas Yadav was given an enhanced 30-year jail term without remission by the 
Delhi high court, including 25 years for murder and another 5 years for 
destruction of evidence. Sukhdev Yadav too was awarded an enhanced life 
sentence by the high court and is undergoing 20 years in jail without 
remission.

In August, the Supreme Court had upheld the conviction of Vikas Yadav and 
Sukhdev Yadav alias Pehlwan, but issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh 
government on the quantum of sentence.

(source: The Asian Age)






MALDIVES:

Maldives budgets for execution chamber to enforce capital punishment


Government has included funds in the proposed state budget for next year to 
establish an execution chamber at the country's main prison to carry out the 
death penalty.

The proposed budget for next year, which is currently being reviewed by the 
parliament, includes MVR4 million to build an execution chamber. However, the 
correctional service was not immediately available for comment.

Maldives adopted a new regulation last year under which lethal injection would 
be used to implement the death penalty.

However, over mounting pressure from human rights bodies, companies have been 
refusing to supply the fatal dose to countries still carrying out capital 
punishment.

Home minister Umar Naseer had earlier said the correctional service would be 
ready to implement the death penalty by the time a death sentence is upheld by 
the Supreme Court.

There are around 10 people on death row at present, but none of whom has 
exhausted the appeal process thus far.

However, the Supreme Court had issued new guidelines last week giving a 
month-long window for the last chance to appeal death sentences and public 
lashings backed by High Court.

According to the guidelines, if a defendant fails to appeal a High Court 
verdict in favour of death sentences and public lashing rulings within a 30-day 
period, the appeal can then only be filed at the Supreme Court by the 
prosecution.

(source: haveeru.com)






EGYPT:

Egypt executions: Figures show dramatic rise in death sentences and mass trials 
under presidency of Abdel Fatah al-Sisi----Europe accused of 'turning a blind 
eye' to repression by the former military chief, as 600 are sentenced to death 
this year


Almost 600 people have been sentenced to death in Egypt since the beginning of 
last year, according to new figures which also indicate a disturbing rise in 
the number of executions and use of mass trials under the presidency of Abdel 
Fatah al-Sisi.

The research, published in the wake of the President's 1st official visit to 
the UK, shows Egypt has passed the death sentence 588 times, with 72 % of cases 
involving people who attended pro-democracy protests.

The figures, produced by the human rights group Reprieve, suggest Egypt's 
justice system has become considerably more brutal since Mr Sisi's rise to 
power following the army's overthrow in 2013 of President Mohammed Morsi.

The current regime has also executed at least 27 people since the start of 
2014, compared with just one execution carried out between 2011 and 2013. At 
least 15 mass trials have also taken place since March last year, where tens or 
sometimes hundreds of co-defendants are tried on almost identical charges.

Accusing the Egyptian government of employing a policy of "mass incarceration, 
mass trials and mass death sentences as a tool of political repression', the 
report cites figures suggesting that around 41,000 people are currently 
imprisoned for supporting pro-democracy movements.

1 of these is the Irish teenager Ibrahim Halawa, who has been in prison for 
more than 2 years after being charged with taking part in a banned protest in 
Cairo in July 2013. His lawyers say he has endured beatings and other 
mistreatment as he awaits a mass trial scheduled for December involving almost 
500 defendants. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Egypt's widespread crackdown on dissent has resulted in an explosion in the 
number of people awaiting trial, forcing authorities to adapt Wadi El-Natrun 
prison near Cairo so "vast swathes of defendants" can be tried and sentenced 
simultaneously, the report says. During the mass trials, "little or no 
evidence" is produced against those accused, it adds.

"President Sisi has overseen an unprecedented surge in death sentences as part 
of a wave of repression that should attract condemnation from Egypt's allies," 
said Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve.

"Since 2013, many thousands - including journalists, activists and juveniles 
like Ibrahim Halawa - have been locked up for attending protests.

"Police torture is reported all too often, and Kafkaesque 'mass trials' have 
seen hundreds of death sentences handed down at a time. More than ever, the UK 
must use its increasingly close relationship with Egypt to urge an end to these 
terrible abuses - including the release of juveniles like Ibrahim."

The Reprieve report also says that during the initial hearings for Mr Halawa's 
mass trial, the co-defendants were held in 3 soundproof glass cages, meaning 
they were unable to be heard unless the judge activated a microphone inside.

"The defendants never had the chance to speak at their own death penalty 
trial," it adds. At least 9 of the accused were children at the time of the 
protest they are charged with attending.

Despite the apparent rise in repression, governments such as the UK are 
increasingly "turning a blind eye" to abuses in Egypt, the report adds, 
accusing European administrations of adopting a "business as usual" approach to 
their dealings with Mr Sisi's regime.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The Government opposes any use of the death 
penalty as a matter of principle and the human rights minister Baroness Anelay 
set out this position most recently on 10 October in a statement to mark World 
Day for Abolition of the Death Penalty."

(source: The Independent)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi protesters slam Sheikh Nimr's death sentence


Protesters have taken to the streets in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province to 
express their anger at the Saudi top court's death verdict against the 
prominent Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr.

The demonstrators called for Nimr's release in a protest rally in the town of 
Awamiyah on Thursday, vowing to continue their protests until the verdict is 
overturned.

On October 25, the Saudi court upheld the death sentence issued against the 
cleric last year. The execution warrant will be sent to Saudi King Salman bin 
Abdulaziz Al Saud to be approved and then carried out.

The Interior Ministry can carry out the execution without any prior warning if 
the Saudi king signs the order.

Nimr was attacked and arrested in the Qatif region of Eastern Province in July 
2012, and has been charged with undermining the kingdom's security, making 
anti-government speeches, and defending political prisoners. He has denied the 
accusations.

In October 2014, a Saudi court sentenced Sheikh Nimr to death, provoking 
widespread global condemnations.

In a recent letter to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid 
Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, the Islamic Human Rights Commission called for exerting 
pressure on Riyadh to revoke the death sentence and release the cleric 
immediately.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also called on Saudi Arabia to halt Nimr's 
execution.

Peaceful demonstrations erupted in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province in February 
2011, with protesters demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of 
political prisoners and an end to widespread discrimination against the people 
of the oil-rich region. Several people have been killed and many others have 
been injured or arrested during the demonstrations.

International rights bodies, including Amnesty International, have criticized 
Saudi Arabia for its grim human rights record, arguing that widespread 
violations continue unabated in the country.

(source: PressTV)






IRAN:

Iranian President claims drugs executions help Europe


In a rare public comment on the death penalty since he took office in June 
2013, President Hassan Rouhani claimed Iran has hanged hundreds of drug 
offenders to prevent drug trafficking into Europe.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera on the eve of 
his European visit, Mr Rouhani noted that "most executions refer to illicit 
drugs trafficking", and warned that "if we abolished the death penalty we would 
enhance their drug trafficking up to the European countries and that would be 
dangerous for you".

At least 1,000 drug offenders have been hanged since President Rouhani took 
office, and the rate of drug-related executions has more than doubled this 
year, with at least than 694 taking place between January and September 2015. 
Those executed include teenagers like 15 year old Jannat Mir, a schoolboy who 
was reportedly denied a lawyer before being sentenced to death.

Rouhani's visits to Italy and France present an opportunity for Iran to build 
support for its drug enforcement efforts. The United Nations Office on Drugs 
and Crime (UNODC) is negotiating a 5-year funding deal for Iranian 
counter-narcotics operations, and European governments are expected to 
contribute significant sums.

Italy is seen as a likely funder of the UNODC's new programme in Iran having 
long indicated it favours closer counter-narcotics cooperation, while France 
remains Europe's most committed funder of Iranian drug police. In August, UK 
Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond also commented that counter-narcotics was an 
area that Britain and Iran should now be "ready to discuss".

According to the latest report by the UN's Special Rapporteur on Iran, Iranian 
officials have "pointed to statements about its efforts issued by the United 
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to demonstrate international support for its 
approach."

Last month an overwhelming majority of MEPs voted for a resolution in the 
European Parliament advising EU member states that "the abolition of the death 
penalty for drug-related offences should be made a precondition for financial 
assistance, technical assistance, capacity-building and other support for drug 
enforcement policy".

Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at the legal and human rights 
organisation Reprieve, said: "The suggestion that mass executions are the only 
way to prevent drug trafficking is as absurd as it is dangerous. It is 
perfectly possible to address drug trafficking without resorting to a brutal 
execution campaign that has seen over 700 people - many of them juveniles - 
hanged this year alone. Executions for non-violent drug offences have doubled 
in Iran this year - if European governments' statements on human rights are to 
stand for anything, they must make clear that funding for Iran's next drug 
enforcement programme is conditional on an immediate end to executions for drug 
offences."

(source: ekklesia.co.uk)