[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 24



GUYANA:

EU team to lobby gov't, judiciary on abolishing death penalty


A team from the European Union (EU) Delegation in Guyana will tomorrow be 
meeting with government and the judiciary to discuss Guyana's need to join with 
other countries worldwide in abolishing the death penalty.

Derek Lambe, Head of Political, Press and Infor-mation Section of the EU 
Delegation, told Stabroek News that dialogue will be held with Minister State 
Joseph Harmon at the Ministry of Presidency and also with the acting Chancellor 
of the Judiciary Justice Carl Singh.

According to Lambe, this will present an opportunity to lobby the government 
and get a sense of how it views the issue.

(source: Stabroek News)






KENYA:

Absence of Lawyer Grounds Trial of 7 Suspects Over MP's Killing


The trial of 7 suspects held for the murder of Kabete MP George Muchai hit a 
snag at the High Court on Monday when one of their lawyers failed to turn up in 
court.

The prosecution was ready to proceed, with 5 witnesses who included a newspaper 
vendor, 2 women allegedly carjacked and were on board a getaway vehicle as the 
MP and his aides were gunned down, a taxi driver and an anonymous witness said 
to have been in contact with the suspects, lined up.

However, the court declined to take their evidence in the absence of the 
lawyer, and instead adjourned the matter.

It is mandatory that murder suspects are tried in the presence of their 
lawyers.

The 6th suspect, Ms Margaret Njeri's State -appointed lawyer has never made an 
appearance in the case since his appointment, the trial court heard.

This has raised a new dimension in the case over the legality of the murder 
plea as the suspect answered to the charge in his absence.

On Monday, parties agreed to return to court on December 2 for a mention and to 
find out whether a substitute lawyer has been appointed to represent the 
suspect.

"We have no objection to the request for adjournment," Prosecutor Catherine 
Mwaniki said.

She also asked the trial judge to record that she was ready with witnesses in 
court.

The suspects face 2 different capital offences before 2 courts in Nairobi, 
arising out of the killing of the trade unionist-cum-politician.

Eric Isabwa alias Chairman, Raphael Kimani alias Kim Butcheri, Mustapha Kimani 
alias Musto, Stephen Astiva alias Chokore, Jane Wanjiru alias Shiro, Margaret 
Njeri and Simon Wambugu have denied the 4 charges of murder at the High Court 
implicating them in the February 6 killing of the MP and his aides.

In the magistrate's court, the suspects face 10 counts of robbery with 
violence, in which they were alleged to have robbed different people on the 
same night they allegedly killed the MP.

Isabwa and Njeri faced 2 other charges of being in possession of a firearm and 
ammunition without a certificate, and for handling stolen property.

If found guilty, the suspects could be sentenced to hang "twice" since each of 
the 2 separate capital offences attracts the death penalty.

They have denied they murdered Mr Muchai, his 2 bodyguards Samuel Kimathi 
Kailikia and Samuel Lekakeny Matanta, and his driver Stephen Ituu Wambugu.

(source: Daily Nation)






INDIA:

5 get death penalty for raping minor


A local court in Odisha's Keonjhar district has awarded death penalty to 5 
persons on charges of raping and murdering a minor girl.

Describing the crime as heinous, Additional Sessions Judge, Champua, Jadumani 
Mishra, sentenced 5 persons, identified as Mata Munda, Jiten Munda, Biswanath 
Gopa, Mangal Purty and Harjeet Singh, to death.

On August 1, 2012, the 13-year-old girl was returning from tuition class when 
she was accosted by the accused. They took her to a jungle area near Belkundi 
village near Barbil in Keonjhar district. They sexually assaulted her and later 
killed her apprehending that she might disclose their identity.

The gang-rape had evoked public anger across the State. A bandh was observed in 
the industrial township of Barbil subsequently. Social activists and people 
from different walks of life had submitted a memorandum to the Keonjhar 
District Collector seeking justice for the victim.

(soruce: The Hindu)






PAKISTAN:

Pakistan PM urged to suspend execution of paraplegic convict


Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was urged to suspend the execution of a 
paraplegic death-row convict scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday, the media 
reported on Tuesday.

Abdul Basit, 43, who is paralysed from the waist down, a former administrator 
at a medical college, was convicted in May 2009 of the murder of the uncle of a 
woman with whom he was allegedly in a relationship. He has denied the charges.

In a letter addressed to Sharif, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) 
chairperson Zohra Yusuf said that the prison authorities were still awaiting a 
response after writing to the federal government for guidance on how to proceed 
in the case, Dawn online reported.

"It is shocking that orders for Basit's execution have been issued for a third 
time, despite the fact that concerns about the legality of his hanging remain 
as unsatisfied as ever and because he is simply not fit to be hanged," she 
wrote.

This was the third time that execution warrants have been issued for Basit. He 
was first scheduled to be hanged on July 29, but the execution was stayed by 
the Lahore High Court, when the legality of his execution was challenged.

On September 1, that petition was dismissed. A new warrant scheduling the 
execution for September 22 was issued, but it was again put on hold after the 
Supreme Court issued an order that the execution could not proceed.

Pakistan has executed more than 200 people since reintroducing the death 
penalty in December 2014.

At the time the government said it was a measure to combat terrorism after the 
Taliban massacred more than 150 people, most of them children, in a Peshawar 
school.

Pakistan's jail manual gives no instructions on how to execute disabled 
prisoners.

(source: business-standard.com)

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

Pakistan set to execute paraplegic man as it nears 300 hangings in a year ---- 
Hanging of Abdul Basit, who was convicted of murder, will make Islamabad one of 
the world's worst executioners, says Amnesty


Pakistan plans to execute a disabled man this week, as Amnesty International 
said the country was nearing 300 hangings in less than a year.

The execution of Abdul Basit, a paraplegic man who was convicted of murder in 
2009, has been postponed several times after rights groups raised concerns 
about how a man in a wheelchair would mount the scaffold.

Amnesty said the hanging had been scheduled for Wednesday and accused the 
country of "shamefully sealing its place among the world's worst executioners".

Pakistan's human rights commission said it had written to the prime minister, 
Nawaz Sharif, seeking to delay the execution, and that prison authorities were 
awaiting an answer from the government on how to proceed with the hanging.

The rights group Reprieve said the number of executions in Pakistan had 
exceeded 300, while other local activists said the figure was less than 260. No 
official figures are available.

David Griffiths, Reprieve's south Asia research director, said: "Pakistan's 
ongoing zeal for executions is an affront to human rights and the global trend 
against the death penalty. Even if the authorities stay the execution of Abdul 
Basit, a man with paraplegia, Pakistan is still executing people at a rate of 
almost 1 a day."

There was no evidence that the "relentless" executions had done anything to 
counter extremism in the country, he added.

The rights group also alleged that many of the executions had come after court 
proceedings that "do not meet international fair trial standards".

Pakistan ended a 6-year moratorium on the death penalty last year as part of a 
crackdown after militants gunned down more than 150 people, most of them 
children, at an army-run school in the restive north-west.

Hangings were initially reinstated only for those convicted of terrorism, but 
they were extended in March to all capital offences.

Supporters argue that executions are the only effective way to deal with the 
scourge of militancy in the country. But critics say the legal system is 
unjust, with rampant police torture and poor representation for victims, while 
the majority of those who are hanged are not convicted of terror charges.

The human rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir said: "The state is hanging 
petty criminals while known terrorists are still in prisons."

The Amnesty figures suggest Pakistan is on track to become one of the world's 
top executioners this year. In 2014, 607 people were put to death in 22 
countries, according to Amnesty, though that figure does not include China, 
where the number of executions is believed to be in the hundreds, but is 
considered by authorities to be a state secret.

(source: The Guardian)

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

Double standard over hangings alleged


Rights activist Asma Jahangir has criticised the government for demonstrating 
"disproportionately high passion" against the execution of 2 opposition 
politicians in Bangladesh through unfair trials over those being hanged by 
military courts or Pakistanis executed in Saudi Arabia.

The response sent a message that the government of Pakistan had extraordinary 
love and affection for the opposition members in Bangladesh than its citizens, 
Ms Jahangir told reporters at the Supreme Court on Monday.

She was reacting to the response by the Foreign Office and Interior Minister 
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan expressing anguish and concern over the execution of 
Bangladesh National Party leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhry and Ali Ahsan 
Mujahid of Jamaat-i-Islami.

"Equal passion, we hope, will be shown by the government" for the people on 
death row in Pakistan than being hanged elsewhere in the world by denying due 
process, she said.

She was of the opinion that the hangings in Bangladesh would further deepen the 
divide and haunt its politics in future. She said that all human rights 
activists who monitored these trials agreed that due process had not been given 
to the two accused.

"We have condemned the unfortunate developments and even given out urgent 
appeals to the Amnesty International and other international human rights 
organisations in this regard," she added.

But, Ms Jahangir said, Pakistan should first take up the issue of capital 
punishment through unfair trials here and of those Pakistanis who were being 
consistently executed in Saudi Arabia and then show disproportionately high 
passion for the politicians of Bangladesh.

She said the government was only confirming the fact that two men were 
political agents and working for the cause of Pakistan. Are these 2 Bangladeshi 
more important than the people living in Pakistan, she asked. If the answer is 
in the affirmative, the government should also explain why and what for.

Ms Jahangir admitted that the 2 politicians had been executed without affording 
due process, but regretted that the same right was being denied to the people 
facing trial in military courts on terrorism charges.

"We are against the death penalty and unfair trials whether in Pakistan, 
Bangladesh or elsewhere," she said, adding that everybody knew that the trial 
of the 2 Bangladeshi politicians was flawed, but the role of Pakistan was 
something which was not understandable.

"If they (Pakistan government) are against the death penalty or the undue 
process, they should look into the trials being conducted by the military 
courts," she said.

(source: dawn.com)






BANGLADESH:

UN calls on Dhaka to abolish death penalty


The United Nations has renewed its call on the Bangladesh government to 
immediately institute a moratorium on the death penalty and abolish this 
inhuman practice altogether.

The call was made by Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High 
Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement issued in Geneva today following 
Sunday's execution of 2 war criminals.

"We have long warned that, given the doubts that have been raised about the 
fairness of trials conducted before the Tribunal, the Government of Bangladesh 
should not implement death penalty sentences," she said.

"Similar concerns were expressed by UN human rights experts who, on several 
occasions, called on the government to halt the executions, as the trials did 
not meet international standards of fair trial and due process as stipulated in 
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh 
is a party," Ravina Shamdasani.

She said the UN opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, even 
for the most serious international crimes. "We renew our call on the Government 
of Bangladesh to immediately institute a moratorium on the death penalty and 
abolish this inhuman practice altogether."

The UN statement said the execution in Bangladesh on Sunday of Salauddin Quader 
Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed brings to four the number of people 
hanged following convictions by the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal.

Mojaheed, leader of Jamaat-e-Islami and Chowdhury, of the Bangladesh 
Nationalist Party, were sentenced to death by the Bangladesh International 
Crimes Tribunal on charges of war crimes and genocide. The Supreme Court 
rejected their appeals on 18 November 2015.

Since its inception in 2010, the Tribunal has delivered 17 verdicts, of which 
15 have resulted in the imposition of the death penalty against members of the 
Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh National Party.

All those who were convicted were accused of committing crimes against 
humanity, genocide and other international crimes in 1971.

(source: The Daily Star)

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

Mujib killer Noor Chowdhury extradition effort gets Tk1.6 crore


The government has allocated Tk1.6 crore to have Noor Chowdhury, one of 
Bangabandhu's killers, extradited to Bangladesh to serve his death sentence.

Canadian authorities, citing Canadian legal limitations, have repeatedly 
declined to extradite Noor, official sources said.

In 2009, the Supreme Court upheld a High Court verdict that handed down the 
death sentence to 12 people, including Noor Chowdhury, for the murder of 
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family on August 15, 1975.

Last April the government appointed US-based law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, 
Meagher and Flom LLP - Skadden in short - to help repatriate fugitive murderers 
of Banglabandhu resident in North America.

The extradition of Noor is bound to be a difficult process. Bangladesh and 
Canada do not have an extradition agreement. Moreover, Canadian does not allow 
the deportation of any person who might face the death penalty in their home 
country.

Law Minister Anisul Huq told the Dhaka Tribune: "Negotiations between 
Bangladesh and Canada are now in progress to bring back Bangabandhu killer Noor 
Chowdhury from Canada." But he did not elaborate further.

"We are trying to bring back Bangabandhu's other killers from several 
countries. This is a political pledge of the Awami League government," he 
added.

The Finance Division's Budget Wing 1 advised the Foreign Ministry that the 
allocation could come from a sub-head of the current fiscal year budget titled 
Law Expenses which contains Tk6 crore.

More funds may be allocated if needed in the revised budget, according to a 
Budget Wing letter issued by Finance Division Deputy Secretary Humaira Begum 
yesterday.

5 of Bangabandhu's convicted killers - Syed Farooq Rahman, Sultan Shahriar 
Rashid Khan, Bazlul Huda, AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed and Mohiuddin Ahmed - were 
executed in January 2010.

(source: Dhaka Tribune)






MALAYSIA:

Abolish the mandatory death penalty and restore judicial discretion in 
sentencing - Bar associations of Malaysia


The Malaysian Bar, Advocates' Association of Sarawak and Sabah Law Association 
are heartened by the reported remarks of the Attorney General, Tan Sri Dato' 
Sri Haji Mohamed Apandi, that he will propose to the Cabinet that the mandatory 
death penalty for drug-related offences be abolished.

The 3 Bar associations of Malaysia also welcome Minister in the Prime 
Minister's Department YB Puan Hajah Nancy Shukri's reported statement that she 
hopes to table legislative amendments next year for such abolition.

There is great wisdom in leaving the decision on punishment for such offences 
to the discretion of the Judiciary. With the abolition of the mandatory death 
penalty, the Judiciary will have the discretion to sentence a convicted person 
to either death or imprisonment. However, concrete action on this issue is long 
overdue.

At the recent meeting held in conjunction with the Tripartite Bar Games in Miri 
from November 19 to 21, 2015, the Malaysian Bar, Advocates' Association of 
Sarawak and Sabah Law Association resolved to jointly urge the Government to 
give real meaning to the statements it has made, on at least 4 other occasions 
over the last 5 years, regarding its willingness to review the mandatory death 
penalty. It has been 2 years since the Government and the Attorney General's 
Chambers informed those present at a dialogue, with Members of Parliament, on 
discretionary sentencing for capital punishment on November 14, 2013, that they 
were in the midst of such a review.

Sentencing is part of the cardinal principle of judicial independence, and 
should always be left to our Judges. Judges use their experience in hearing 
cases, take into account the peculiar facts and circumstances of each case, and 
consider the case comprehensively before meting out punishment. Apart from 
serious questions relating to the efficacy and effectiveness of mandatory death 
sentences as a means of deterrence, the resort to mandatory sentences is an 
unnecessary fetter on judicial discretion, and an unwarranted impediment to the 
administration of justice.

The mandatory death penalty, including for drug-related offences, has no place 
in a society that values human life, justice and mercy. The abolition of this 
extreme, degrading and inhumane form of punishment is consonant with the belief 
that every individual has an inherent right to life. This right is absolute, 
universal and inalienable, irrespective of any crimes that may have been 
committed.

Moreover, there appears to be no significant reduction in the crimes for which 
the death penalty is currently mandatory. Further, a major survey on the 
mandatory death penalty in Malaysia in July 2013, found that there is very 
little public support in Malaysia for the mandatory death penalty for 
drug-related offences.

In light of the impending review of the mandatory death penalty for 
drug-related offences, the Government should, in the interest of justice, 
declare and implement an immediate official moratorium on any and all 
executions in such cases. All of these sentences should be stayed pending the 
results of the review. It is unfair and unjust to carry out the death sentence 
when there is currently a possibility of reform which, if effected, should 
apply retrospectively.

The Malaysian Bar, Advocates' Association of Sarawak and Sabah Law Association 
are also extremely concerned over the case of Kho Jabing, a Sarawakian 
currently on death row in Singapore. The Singapore courts had initially imposed 
the mandatory death penalty on him, for murder. However, pursuant to amendments 
to the law in Singapore that abolished the mandatory death penalty for murder 
(with retrospective effect), he was resentenced by the High Court to life 
imprisonment and whipping (24 strokes). The prosecution appealed, and the Court 
of Appeal, by a slim 3-2 majority, reinstated the death penalty.

Kho Jabing was scheduled to be executed on November 6, 2015, after his petition 
to the President of Singapore for clemency failed. However, the execution has 
been temporarily stayed pending the hearing and disposal of his application to 
review and set aside the sentence. In the event the application fails and the 
death sentence on Kho Jabing is maintained, the Malaysian Bar, Advocates' 
Association of Sarawak and Sabah Law Association call on the Malaysian 
Government to support any further application for clemency, and urge it to do 
its utmost to intercede with the Singaporean authorities to commute Kho 
Jabing's death sentence to one of life imprisonment.

The Malaysian Bar, Advocates' Association of Sarawak and Sabah Law Association 
support all efforts by the Malaysian Government towards abolishing the 
mandatory death penalty. In this regard, the immortal words of the late Justice 
Ishmael Mohamed, the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of South 
Africa, should not be forgotten:

Death is different. The dignity of all of us, in a caring civilisation, must 
not be compromised by the act of repeating, albeit for a wholly different 
objective, what we find to be so repugnant in the conduct of the offender in 
the first place.

(source: * Issued on behalf of the respective Bar associations of Malaysia by 
Steven Thiru, President, Malaysian Bar; Leonard Shim, President, Advocates' 
Association of Sarawak; and Brenndon Soh,President, Sabah Law Association. ** 
This is the personal opinion of the writers and/or the organisations in whose 
name they represent and does not necessarily represent the view of Malay Mail 
Online.)

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

Lawyers: Freeze all executions while mandatory death sentence under review


The government should stop all executions of convicted drug offenders ahead of 
the expected review of Malaysia???s mandatory death sentence for drug-related 
crimes, lawyers nationwide said today.

The 3 professional bodies representing the country's lawyers - Malaysian Bar, 
Advocates' Association of Sarawak (AAS) and the Sabah Law Association (SLA) - 
said no one should be executed while the government has yet to decide on the 
death penalty.

"In light of the impending review of the mandatory death penalty for 
drug-related offences, the Government should, in the interest of justice, 
declare and implement an immediate official moratorium on any and all 
executions in such cases," the 3 bodies said in a rare joint statement.

"All of these sentences should be stayed pending the results of the review. It 
is unfair and unjust to carry out the death sentence when there is currently a 
possibility of reform which, if effected, should apply retrospectively," said 
the statement signed by the Bar president Steven Thiru, AAS president Leonard 
Shim, SLA president Brenndon Soh.

The 3 bodies said concrete action on the frequently-discussed abolition of the 
mandatory death penalty is "long overdue", noting that the government had in 
the last 5 years on at least 4 instances made remarks on its willingness to 
review this punishment.

"It has been 2 years since the government and the Attorney General's Chambers 
informed those present at a dialogue, with Members of Parliament on 
discretionary sentencing for capital punishment on 14 November 2013, that they 
were in the midst of such a review," the 3 bodies pointed out.

Backing the government's efforts to scrap the mandatory death penalty, which 
they said was "extreme, degrading and inhumane", the 3 bodies agreed that such 
a move would be consistent with the right to life that should be absolute, 
universal and inalienable regardless of the crime committed.

"Moreover, there appears to be no significant reduction in the crimes for which 
the death penalty is currently mandatory.

"Further, a major survey on the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia in July 
2013, found that there is very little public support in Malaysia for the 
mandatory death penalty for drug-related offences," they said.

They also said the removal of the mandatory death penalty will give judges the 
discretion to sentence a convicted person to either death or imprisonment.

In a recent interview with The Malaysian Insider, Attorney-General Tan Sri 
Mohamed Apandi Ali said that he wished the courts had discretion on sending 
convicts to the gallows or otherwise.

On November 17, de facto law minister Nancy Shukri said she hopes to take her 
proposal to amend the Penal Code and abolish the mandatory death sentence to 
the Dewan Rakyat as early as March next year.

Under Malaysia's current law, the death sentence is a must for firearms, drugs, 
treason and murder related offences.

In a written reply to Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran dated November 3, Nancy 
cited statistics from the Prisons Department and said there are currently 1,022 
convicted inmates awaiting execution, but these sentences could not be carried 
out as the inmates are still appealing the court's decision.

In her reply on behalf of the prime minister, the minister in the Prime 
Minister's Department said 33 prisoners were executed between 1998 to October 6 
this year, while 127 inmates received lighter sentences or clemency in the same 
period after their pleas and petitions were considered.

(source: themalaymailonline.com)






RUSSIA:

Top Russian human rights body opposes attempts to bring back death penalty


Members of Russia's Presidential Human Rights Council have unanimously rejected 
calls to re-introduce the death penalty for terrorist crimes, saying that the 
measure would be both inhumane and ineffective.

The council will soon issue an official statement drawing public attention to 
the unacceptability of restoring the death penalty in Russia, the body's 
chairman Mikhail Fedotov told Izvestia daily. Fedotov reminded reporters that 
in 2009 the Constitutional Court prolonged the moratorium on the death penalty, 
with President Vladimir Putin voicing his strong support of the decision.

In their message, which will be released later in the week, the activists write 
that the death penalty is an inhumane measure which is against the latest 
rulings of the Russian Constitutional Court. They also claim it has proved an 
ineffective measure in the war on global terrorism.

The council members also note that using the death penalty in Russia is 
extremely undesirable because of the imperfections of the current justice 
system, where the conviction of an innocent person is still a possible, if 
unlikely, scenario.

The activists also claim that society's fear of terrorism could be used by 
politicians as an excuse to curb civil freedoms and citizens' rights.

One of the council members, Yelena Topoleva-Soldunova, noted in press comments 
that the "death penalty only leads to the adoption of harsher morals in 
society, despite activists' efforts to introduce some humane values." She also 
said that the cancellation of the moratorium, as well as restrictions on 
general freedoms, could be exactly what terrorists are trying to achieve, and 
therefore must be avoided.

Russia introduced a moratorium on the death penalty in 1999 when it was seeking 
membership of the Council of Europe. The Russian Constitution still allows 
capital punishment for particularly grave crimes, but only after a guilty 
verdict has been handed down by a jury court.

Since the moratorium was introduced, various Russian politicians and law 
enforcement officials have repeatedly raised the issue of reintroducing capital 
punishment, especially after large-scale terrorist attacks or other crimes that 
have made big news in the mass media. This was the case after the deadly crash 
of the Russian A321 passenger jet in Egypt, which has been labeled a terrorist 
bombing.

Earlier this month, members of the nationalist opposition party LDPR, together 
with the head of the center-left party Fair Russia, called for the Russian 
authorities to abolish the moratorium, saying the death penalty should still be 
reserved for convicted terrorists and their accomplices.

President Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov commented on the proposals, 
saying that that the question was complex, but for the moment the moratorium 
remains in place.

(source: rt.com)






MALDIVES:

Minor's death sentence goes for automatic appeal


A death sentence issued to a minor has become the 1st such verdict to be 
automatically appealed under new regulations issued by the country's top court.

An official from the Juvenile Court said on Tuesday that the death sentence 
issued early this month over the murder of Noor Adam Hassanfulhu in March had 
been automatically appealed after the defendant did not file for appeal within 
the 10-day appeal window. The case file was forwarded to the Department of 
Judicial Administration (DJA) as per the new regulations, the official added.

Juvenile Court had on November 2 handed a death sentence to one of the over the 
murder of Noor. The other defendant in the case was acquitted.

Noor, 29 was attacked on March 29 at around 1.35am in Buruzumagu near Indhira 
Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH). He had died while receiving treatment at the 
hospital at around 3.25am.

The resident from capital Male was knifed on his neck and sides.

Noor, who had been accompanied by a group of his friends, was attacked directly 
outside the emergency entrance of IGMH by an individual on the backseat of a 
motorcycle.

The murder came amid a wave of stabbings in the capital Male. A Bangladeshi 
expatriate worker Shaheen Mia was stabbed to death in the place of his work - 
Lhiyanu Cafe just a week before, after which there were more reports of 
stabbings targeting expatriates.

The death sentence issued over Noor's murder was automatically appealed under 
new regulations issued by the Supreme Court early this week.

The court issued new guidelines Sunday allowing death sentences and public 
lashing rulings issued by lower courts to be appealed automatically at the High 
Court.

In a circular, the Supreme Court said if the defendant fails to appeal death 
sentences and public lashing verdicts within 10 days, the court that had 
initially issued the verdict should forward the relevant documents to the High 
Court. The appellate court would have seven days to notify both the defendant 
and the prosecution of the appeal and during that period should take the 
necessary steps to begin appeal proceedings, it added.

The new rules follow similar guidelines issued by the apex court early this 
month.

The Supreme Court issued new guidelines on November 8 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.

The guidelines, included in a circular signed by Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, 
did not specifically mention sentences of death and public lashing. However, it 
says that High Court rulings that need to be reconfirmed by the Supreme Court 
had to be appealed within 30 days, including public holidays.

Under local laws, the only sentences that need to be reconfirmed by the Supreme 
Court are death sentences and public lashing verdicts.

Judicature Act earlier granted a 90-day period, excluding public holidays, to 
appeal rulings by any court.

However, the Supreme Court had in January annulled that clause and issued new 
guidelines under which rulings issued by lower courts had to be appealed at the 
High Court within 10 days and appeal over High Court verdicts needed to be 
filed at the Supreme Court within 60 days.

Meanwhile, 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 state budget for next year, which was approved by the parliament on Monday, 
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.

(source: haveeru.com)