[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 29



SUDAN:

Minnawi in Geneva!


Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM -MM) leader, Mini Minnawi denounced the death 
penalty to 18 of its members and warned Khartoum against carrying it out.

The defendants were arrested following the capture of Baashim area, north-west 
of Mellit in North Darfur last March by the Sudanese army and militiamen of the 
Rapid Security Forces (RSF).

The defendants faced charges of undermining the constitutional system, stir up 
war against the state, using heavy weapons, looting and destroying the 
citizens' properties and threatening local peace security.

Minnawi said that the verdicts do not respect the rules of justice and 
international law for the protection of prisoners of war under the Geneva 
Convention. He called on all political forces, civil society and humanitarian 
organizations, local, regional and international to launch a campaign to save 
their lives. He described this as a political trial intended to humiliate the 
Sudanese people and avenge for the defeats received by the regime at the hands 
of our forces.

It is natural for Minnawi to say what he stated; but he must know that the 
charges against the defendents were by civilians who were attacked and looted 
by SLM-MM armed groups.

The SLM-MM outlaws invaded the areas with their FWD vehicles and looted 
properties, burnt the houses of the inhabitants and transformed them into IDPs 
in an overnight.

If Geneva Convention protects such criminal action of his outlaws, then we say 
it is possible to convict the victims and bring them to book.

The case of the SLM-MM members were raised by the affected citizens and not the 
government and the court got the documents and evidences from the citizens 
besides hearing the testimonies from all parties in the case before issuing its 
decision.

Minnawi and his likes must know that the death penalty was issued in accordance 
to citizens' complaints and not the government so the ruling was in favour of 
private right and not public case.

This means that even the President of the Republic cannot pardon them unless 
the citizens agree to take blood money or any other alternatives.

(source: Editorial, Sudan Vision)






INDONESIA:

'Moratorium' on RI executions


If the reports on the general moratorium on Indonesian executions are 
officially and formally validated, that decision is certainly welcome not only 
for Mary Jane Veloso but for all concerned. The purported rationale for the 
nonpriority of executions as pronounced by Indonesian authorities (i.e., to 
focus on the economy) may be amorphous and not self-evident, but the objective 
net effect is that lives are saved and will be saved.

We hope in time it leads to a permanent abolition as we have serious 
reservations about the death penalty's real value in effectively deterring 
crime.

Furthermore, it precludes rehabilitation and reformation while not giving 
weight to humanitarian considerations. Worse, it may victimize innocent 
individuals who are wrongly convicted for different reasons or factors and 
bring them irretrievably to the afterlife.We pray Veloso's own temporary 
reprieve will be made permanent or that she be granted clemency and brought 
home soon to the waiting arms of her little boys this coming holiday season.

Independent of but complementary to all these, we will pursue in earnest the 
illegal recruitment, human trafficking and other charges against those who 
duped her and victimized similar poor and vulnerable young barrio women despite 
insensitive stunts by the accused to delay the legal proceedings on top of the 
already trademark sluggish legal pace of cases in the Philippines.

Edre U. Olalia

Secretary General,

Josalee Deinla,

Assistant Secretary General for Education,

National Union of Peoples' Lawyers - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN/Manila

(source: Letter to the Editor, Jakarta Post)






MALAYSIA:

Unemployed youth charged with murder of former lover


A 20-year-old unemployed youth may face the death penalty in the alleged 
killing of his former lover in Cheras Utama some 10 days ago.

Lin Kok Heng was charged with causing the death of Chan Li Mei, 19, on Nov 19 
between 8pm and 9pm in Cheras Ria apartment, Cheras Utama.

He was charged under section 302 of the Penal Code that provides for the death 
penalty if convicted.

Lin spotted with a tattoo of a cross on his right arm this afternoon, had the 
charge read to him by a court interpreter in Mandarin.

Magistrate Siti Radziah Kamardin then fixed Feb 2 for re-mention pending 
post-mortem and chemist's reports.

On Nov 21, it was widely reported by the media that the 19-year-old Chan who 
was found dead in the apartment, had endured physical abuse for some time.

The victim who was found sprawled on the apartment floor, had swelling on the 
face and body, as well as wounds on her legs, believed to have been caused by 
hot iron.

The police also revealed that Lin who was then remanded to assist in the 
investigations had a previous drug-related case record.

(source: therakyatpost.com)






SINGAPORE:

Singapore hotel cleaner, 57, escapes hanging after drug trafficking charge 
reduced


A 57-year-old woman escaped the gallows after the High Court here reduced her 
drug distribution charge to possession due to reasonable doubts raised on the 
facts of the case.

The accused, Long Say Lein, who worked as a cleaner at a renowned hotel in 
Singapore, was allegedly caught in possession of some 2,259.7g of 
methamphetamine at the Central Bus Terminal along Jalan Trus here at around 
6.30pm on Jan 5 last year.

She was charged Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for possessing 
the illegal substance, which is punishable under Section 39(A) of the same act.

Judge Datuk Mohd Sofian Abd Razak later sentenced Long to 10 years' jail for 
the offence.

DPP Nor Iffa Zarilla Abd Rahman prosecuted the case while lawyer Norman 
Fernandez represented the accused.

(source: asiaone.com)





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

Swinging between life and death


It must be terribly difficult for anyone to teeter between life and death. For 
Sarawakian Jabing Kho, now sitting in a jail cell, it's been a hellish ride 
since February 2008. He had initially faced the mandatory death penalty for 
killing Chinese national Cao Ruyin, 40, a construction worker, during a robbery 
earlier that month.

Then it looked like there would be reprieve for him when the Penal Code was 
revised in 2012. The death penalty will only be mandatory if the accused was 
convicted of murder and found to have intended to cause death. In other cases 
of murder where the courts did not find an intention to cause death, judges had 
the discretion to sentence the accused to death or to life imprisonment with 
caning.

At that time, 35 offenders, including Jabing, were on death row. Those on death 
row were given the option of being re-sentenced under the new regime and if 
they so opted, had their executions stayed. So Jabing's case went again before 
the High Court in 2014 and he was re-sentenced to life imprisonment and 24 
strokes of the cane.

It seems that he had escaped the hangman's noose.

But the prosecution appealed the next year, on the grounds that the attack was 
extremely vicious. Jabing had beaten Mr Cao with a piece of wood, resulting in 
multiple fractures on his skull which had the same severity as those suffered 
by victims in high-impact traffic collisions. A five-judge court heard the 
arguments and it was the death penalty again for Jabing.

The Court of Appeals laid down the legal principle for judges to apply when the 
death penalty was warranted. The principle was whether the action "outraged the 
feelings of the community". That is, whether the manner with which the act was 
committed sufficiently exhibited viciousness or a blatant disregard for human 
life. In an uncharacteristic fashion for a Singaporean Court, the Court was 
split 3-2 on the decision.

It was back to death row for Jabing.

Jabing appealed to the President for clemency last month but his appeal was 
rejected. Then in a new twist, his lawyer went to court to contest the legal 
principle applied. His lawyer, Mr Chandra Mohan K. Nair, argued that every 
murder outraged the feelings of the community and that the court was therefore 
unable to distinguish murders that warranted the death penalty from those that 
did. So the court is now deliberating their decision and will give it at a 
later date.

Checks showed that of the 35 on death row, at least 8 had their sentences 
commuted to life imprisonment. Some such as Wang Wenfeng who was convicted of 
murdering a taxi driver in 2011 and Kamrul Hasan Abdul Quddus who was convicted 
of murdering his Indonesian girlfriend in 2010, were originally on death row 
for murder charges and re-sentenced to life imprisonment.

The 35 included 28 drug traffickers. They too went up to court for 
re-sentencing and most were able to escape the gallows because they had 
assisted the Central Narcotics Bureau substantially in, for example, giving 
information on syndicates or the kingpin. Malaysians Cheong Chun Yin and Yong 
Vui Kong had death sentences committed to life imprisonment.

But others, such as Muhammad Ridzuan Md Al were not so lucky. He was sentenced 
to hang while his friend, Abdul Haleem Abdul Karim, had received a certificate 
from the prosecution stating that the accused had substantively assisted in 
disrupting drug trafficking activities, and hence spared the death sentence.

There were notable exceptions however. Drug dealers Tang Hai Liang and Foong 
Chee Peng chose not to apply for resentencing after being convicted in separate 
cases for trafficking diamorphine in 2010 and 2011 respectively. That is, they 
preferred to be executed.

So those previously convicted of murder were generally able to escape the 
gallows, so long as the courts were satisfied that the murder was not 
intentional. That is, the mandatory death penalty does not kick in. What makes 
Jabing Kho's case special is that even though he did not intend to kill, the 
courts were willing to sentence him to death.

The question then arises, what principle should courts use when invoking the 
discretionary death penalty?

Jabing will have to wait to find out if the noose will be tightened or taken 
off altogether.

(source: themiddleground.sg)



HONG KONG:

Activists decry death penalty


A group of activists protested outside the Indonesian Consulate and Beijing's 
Liaison Office in Hong Kong to call for the abolition of the death penalty.

An alleged drug dealer from Hong Kong, Wong Chi-ping, was sentenced to death by 
an Indonesian court earlier this month for possessing hundreds of kilograms of 
methamphetamine, while a Beijing court in October handed down a death sentence 
to a Hong Kong businessman who was caught with a large quantity of cocaine.

The Joint-Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty activists called on 
Beijing and Jakarta not to go ahead with the capital punishment.

The spokesperson of the organization, Father Franco Mella, condemned the death 
penalty as a violation of human rights. Mella told RTHK's Michelle Chan that 
"you cannot use the law to kill people. Life is sacred, so killing is not the 
solution to any problem." He added that international experience shows that 
capital punishment is not an effective deterrent against serious crime.

The protest also marked the Cities for Life Day - a worldwide movement that 
supports the abolition of the death penalty. It is celebrated on November 30, 
the day on which the Grand Duchy of Tuscany banned the death penalty in 1786.

(source: thestandard.com.hk)



BANGLADESH:

Bail of Farhat Quader extended


The Cyber Crimes Tribunal on Sunday granted plea for extension of bail period 
of Farhat Quader Chowdhury, wife of executed BNP leader Salauddin Quader 
Chowdhury.

Farhat is on bail in the case filed over leakage of International Crimes 
Tribunal's verdict copy awarding death penalty to the BNP leader.

KM Shamsul Alam's tribunal gave the order in presence of Hummam Quader 
Chowdhury, who appeared in the court on Sunday as another accused in the case.

Cyber Crimes Tribunal public prosecutor Nazrul Islam Shamim said the court 
fixed 14 January 2016 for framing charge against the accused in the case. Other 
accused - Salauddin Quader Chowdhury???s lawyer Fakhrul Islam, International 
Crimes Tribunal premises cleaner Nayon Ali, ICT office assistants Farukh 
Hossain and Mahbubul Ahsan - are in jail in the leakage case.

Another accused, lawyer Mehedi Hasan, is absconding, while Hummam and his 
mother Farhat are freed in bail.

(source: prothom-alo.com

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

HC urged to uphold death penalty of 152 BDR mutiny convicts


Attorney General Mahbubey Alam today prayed to the High Court to uphold the 
lower court verdict that sentenced 152 convicts for killing 74 people including 
57 army officials in the 2009 Pilkhana mutiny.

The lower court has rightly convicted and sentenced 152 accused to death after 
properly examining relevant documents, evidence and statements of witnesses, as 
they are responsible for the heinous killings, he told the HC while finishing 
his arguments on the death reference of the case.

After concluding today's proceedings on the death reference, the HC of Justice 
Md Shawkat Hossain, Justice Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Nazrul Islam 
Talukder set tomorrow for resuming 141th day's hearing on the case.

The defence lawyers will start placing arguments tomorrow on behalf of the 
convicts, Deputy Attorney General AKM Zahid Sarwar Kazal told The Daily Star.

He also said after finishing hearing the arguments on the death reference, the 
HC will hold hearing on the appeals filed individually and collectively by 567 
convicts.

74 people, including 57 army officials, were slain in the Bangladesh Rifles 
(BDR) mutiny on February 25-26, 2009 at the force's Pilkhana headquarters in 
Dhaka.

In November 2013, a Dhaka court sentenced 150 soldiers of BDR, now Border Guard 
Bangladesh, and 2 civilians to death, and jailed 161 for life for their 
involvement.

It also gave rigorous imprisonment, ranging from three to 10 years, to 256, 
mostly BDR soldiers. The remaining 277 were acquitted.

A total of 844 people, 823 of them BDR personnel, stood trial in Bangladesh's 
biggest criminal case in terms of the number of accused and convicts.

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

Cop among 3 to walk gallows for killing 9-yr-old boy


A Sylhet court today awarded death penalty to three persons including a sacked 
police constable for killing nine-year-old Abu Sayeed for ransom.

Judge Abdur Rashid of Sylhet Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 
also fined the condemned convicts Tk 1 lakh each.

The convicts are Abdur Rakib, general secretary of Sylhet district unit Olama 
League, Ebadur Rahman, a sacked constable of Sylhet Airport Police Station, and 
Ataur Rahman Geda, a police informant.

The court also acquitted Mahib Hossain Masum, publicity secretary of the 
district unit of Olama League, of the case as allegation against him was not 
proved.

The convicts abducted Abu Sayeed, son of Andul Matin, on March 11 for a ransom 
of Tk 5 lakh and later killed him for recognizing the policeman.

On March 12, Ebadur confessed to the crime before a magistrate. 2 days later 
police recovered Sayeed's body from the attic of the building where both Ebadur 
and Sayeed resided.

(source for both: The Daily Star)

********

Munshiganj court sentences 2 to death, 2 to life in jail for 2009 murder


A Munshiganj court has sentenced 2 persons to death and 2 others to life 
imprisonment in the Riaz Byapari murder case.

District and Sessions Judge Md Shawkat Ali Chowdhury delivered the verdict on 
Sunday afternoon in a packed courtroom.

Those given the death penalty were Ripon Khan, 28, and Md Shamim, 26. The 2 who 
were awarded life in prison were Shah Jalal, 32, and Monjil Mia, 31.

The victim and the convicts, all labourers, were from the district's Gajaria 
Upazila.

After the verdict, Public Prosecutor Abdul Motin said only Monjil Mia was still 
absconding.

Quoting the case details, Motin said the convicts strangled Riaz to death on 
Mar 14, 2009 following a dispute. Riaz's body was recovered from a paddy field 
the next day.

His father Golboksh Byapari filed the murder case against the 4 on that day.

Byapari on Sunday expressed satisfaction over the verdict and called for speedy 
execution of the convicts.

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

Court sentences 4 to death for 2008 Boalkhali murder


A Chittagong court has sentenced 4 men to death and 2 others to life in prison 
for the 2008 murder of an auto-rickshaw driver in Boalkhali Upazila.

Chittagong Divisional Public Security Tribunal's judge Syeda Hosne Ara 
delivered the verdict on Monday on the 7-year-old case.

Those given the death penalty were Nurul Alam, Abul Kalam, Md Kausar and Md 
Rubel. The 2 who were awarded life imprisonment were Ariful Islam and SM 
Noimuddin.

Only Kausar and Noimuddin are behind bars. The 4 others are still absconding.

According to case details, on May 3, 2008, the accused hired the auto-rickshaw 
from the port city's Bahaddarhat to go to Anwara.

They murdered the driver 'Yusuf' and made off with the 3-wheeler. Yusuf's body 
was dumped on a road in West Gomdondi area at Boalkhali.

The vehicle's owner later found it in Satkania, where police later arrested 5 
of the accused.

Yusuf's cousin 'Hashem' filed the murder case at Boalkhali Police Station.

Police named the 6 convicted on Monday in their chargesheet in the case.

Public Prosecutor Md Jahangir Alam said 17 out of 27 witnesses in the case had 
deposed at court.

(source for both: bdnews24.com)

**********

11 get death penalty for killing Jubo League leader


A Gazipur court has sentenced 11 persons to death for killing Jubo League 
leader Jalal Uddin Sarkar in 2003.

Judge Fazle Elahi Bhuiyan of Gazipur Additional District and Session Judge 
Court 1 pronounced the verdict on Monday afternoon.

The court also fined Tk10,000 each.

Victim's elder brother Milon Sarkar said the convicts hacked his brother to 
death in broad daylight when he was chatting his friends at a field near 
Bolkhela Bazar in Kapasia upazila on August 17, 2003.

Later, Milon Sarkar filed a case against the convicts over the murder of his 
brother.

(sourcer: Dhaka Tribune)






PAKISTAN:

Army Chief signs death warrants of four terrorists involved in APS 
attack----The 4 terrorists were sentenced to death by military courts.


Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif approved on Monday the 
execution of six terrorists sentenced to death by military courts.

"Chief of Army staff today signed black warrants of four hardcore terrorists 
involved in APS Peshawar massacre," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) 
reported.

The four terrorists including Maulvi Abdus Salam S/O Shamsi, Hazrat Ali S/O 
Awal Baz Khan, Mujeeb ur Rehman alias Ali alias Najeeb Ullah S/O Gulab Jan and 
Sabeel alias Yaya S/O Atta Ullah were sentenced to death by military courts in 
August this year after they were convicted of involvement in the Taliban 
massacre of 134 children at an army-run school in Peshawar on December 16, 
2014.

The decision of their execution comes a week after President Mamnoon Hussain 
rejected mercy pleas of convicted terrorists on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's 
advice.

Army says the men belonging to a banned organization played a major role in 
planning and facilitating the school attack and several others.

The December school attack is seen as having hardened Pakistan's resolve to 
fight militants along its lawless border with Afghanistan. Authorities lifted a 
6-year moratorium on executions last December and since that time nearly 300 
convicts have been executed.

Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on 
death row, most of whom have exhausted the appeals process.

Supporters argue that the death penalty is the only effective way to deal with 
the scourge of militancy in the country.

(source: Dunya News)






GUYANA:

Justice Institute urges gov't to pave way for abolition of death penalty by May 
25th


The Justice Institute Guyana (JIG) is calling on the government to begin an 
immediate public education campaign with a view to abolishing the death penalty 
no later than midnight on the 25th May 2016, the eve of the country's 50th 
anniversary of independence.

In a statement to mark today's observance of Cities for Life Day - Abolition of 
the Death Penalty, the JIG also implored the government to begin immediately a 
national inquiry into the causes and factors which contribute to murder in 
Guyana.

(source: Stabroek News)