[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 20




SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi youth activist 'will not be beheaded and crucified', says Philip 
Hammond----Foreign Secretary tells Parliament he "expects" Saudi authorities 
will not carry out sentence on Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who was sentenced for 
protests when he was 17


An activist in Saudi Arabia threatened with beheading and execution for taking 
part in protests when he was 17 will not be executed, the Foreign Secretary 
said on Tuesday.

Philip Hammond said he also "expected" that a British grandfather, 74-year-old 
Karl Andree, would not receive the flogging to which he was allegedly sentenced 
for being in possession of homebrew alcohol.

There was no confirmation of the claims from Saudi Arabia, which rarely makes 
public comment on the international outcry often triggered by sentences handed 
down under its judicial system.

However, it has a record of indicating in a roundabout way that it will not 
implement sentences under international pressure, particularly when it comes 
from those countries like Britain it regards as "friends".

While the Saudi authorities made no further comment, Mr Badawi has not received 
any further lashes, and it was made clear to journalists that the king had the 
legal right to intervene in such punishments "behind the scenes".

The youth, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, is the nephew of a prominent cleric from the 
minority Shia community in Saudi Arabia, who has also been sentenced to death 
for organising protests against the ruling family in 2012.

Ali was arrested in February 2012 and accused of organising protests with his 
Blackberry mobile phone. He was convicted last year and his sentence of death, 
even though he was just 17 at the time of the alleged offences, was confirmed 
by an appeal court ruling revealed last month.

The sentence he was handed down - to be beheaded, and then his body publicly 
displayed in a crucified position - is regarded as particularly harsh, even by 
Saudi standards.

An international appeal was launched by human rights groups including Amnesty 
International and Reprieve, which focuses on death penalty cases.

Jeremy Corbyn, the new Labour leader, is among those who have publicly backed 
it.

David Cameron has also written to the Saudi authorities to raise the case of Mr 
Andree, an oil worker who has suffered from cancer and asthma and who was 
sentenced to 350 lashes and a year in prison for having homemade alcohol, which 
is illegal.

Mr Hammond told the House of Commons after being asked about the 2 cases: "As 
I've said on many occasions previously when I've been asked to comment on these 
judicial matters in Saudi Arabia in the House - our judgment is we achieve most 
by speaking privately but regularly to our Saudi interlocutors.

"Let me say to you that I do not expect Mr Andree to receive the lashings that 
he has been sentenced to and I do not expect Mr al-Nimr to be executed."

Mr Andree's family had already been led to understand his flogging would not be 
administered. But Ali al-Nimr's family have expressed concern that the 
authorities were preparing to carry out his execution.

"This is an encouraging sign, but Ali's family will not be able to breathe easy 
until he is released," Kate Higham, a Reprieve spokesman said. "Ali has 
suffered an appalling ordeal: arrested as a child, then subjected to torture, 
an unfair trial, and a death sentence.

"The British Government cannot let their Saudi allies off the hook until they 
have overturned this monstrous injustice."

(source: The Telegraph)






MALAYSIA:

1 to die, 7 get life in Bogra, Nilphamari


A Bogra court here on Monday sentenced a man to death and 4 others to life 
imprisonment for killing a trader in 2006, reports our correspondent.

The death penalty awardee is Belal Hossain alias Bilu, 50, son of late Gafur 
Ali of Phulbari Sarkarpara in the district town.

The lifers are Nasima Begum, 45, wife of Bilu, and her sons Nadim Mia, 30, and 
Azim Mia, 32, and Raihan Ali, 30, son of late Nurul Islam of the area. Of them, 
Nasima and Raihan were sentenced in absentia.

According to the prosecution, Shahidul Islam, owner of a small engineering 
workshop in the town, was kidnapped when he went out of his house on July 27 in 
2006.

On August 1 the same year, his body was recovered from a water body near the 
house of Bilu.

Later, a case was filed agasint the 5 in connection with the incident.

After examining evidence and witnesses, Judge Md Hafizur Rahman of Additional 
District and Sessions Judge's Court found them guilty and pronounced the 
verdict.

Meanwhile, a Nilphamari court yesterday sentenced three people to life 
imprisonment for killing a madrasa boy in 2007, reports our correspondent.

The convicts are Shawkat Ali, 58, superintendent of Bosuniapara Madrasa in 
Jaldhaka upazila of the district, Mofizul Islam, 33, a teacher of the madrasa, 
and Moniruzzaman, 25, a senior student of the institution.

The court also fined them Tk 10,000 each. In default, they are to suffer 
another 6 months in prison.

The victim, Waskuruni, 14, son of Azimuddin of Purbo Kachua village in 
Gangachara upazila, was a students of the same madrasa.

According to the prosecution, the trio killed the boy on July 1 in 2007 as he 
protested against the superintendent's having sex with a boy.

The following day, the victim's father filed a murder case with Jaldhaka Police 
Station against the trio.

After examining evidence and witnesses, Additional District and Sessions Judge 
Md Mahbubul Alam found them guilty and gave the verdict.

(source: The Daily Star)






BANGLADESH:

SC to hear review petition by Salauddin, Mujahid on Nov 2


The Supreme Court has fixed November 2 to hear petitions filed by 2 death-row 
war crimes convicts to review appeal court's verdicts that upheld death 
sentences for Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury 
and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid.

The vacation bench of the Appellate Division Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain set 
the date after the war crimes convicts filed petitions to review the Supreme 
Court judgement, court officials said on Tuesday.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam represented the prosecution while Khadaker 
Mahbub Hossain represented the defendants at the court. The defendants, who 
filed the petitions on October 14, pleaded not guilty and believe the review in 
the verdict would pave their ways to acquittal.

The Supreme Court on September 30 publish the full verdict of the Appellate 
Division that upheld the capital punishment for Salauddin and Mujahid for 
crimes they had committed during Bangladesh???s 1971 war of liberation from 
Pakistan.

A special war crimes tribunal styled International Crimes Tribunal sentenced 
them to death for many counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity during 
the 9-month war that ended on December 16, 1971.

As soon as the full verdict published the trial court issued death warrants for 
them and brought them to Dhaka Central Jail from Kashimpur jail.

The tribunal (ICT-2) on July 17, 2013 handed down the death penalty for Mujahid 
as 4 out of 7 counts of charges against him were proved beyond doubt.

The tribunal sentenced him to death on 3 charges, jailed him for life in 1 and 
sentenced him to 5 years in prison for another charge.

He filed the appeal with the SC on August 12 on the same year seeking acquittal 
of all the charges. The Appellate Division of the SC on June 16, 2015 upheld 
the death penalty for his crimes against humanity.

The ICT-1, passed the judgement against Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on October 
1, 2013. The court sentenced him to death as 9 out of 23 charges against him 
was proved.

Salauddin on October 29, 2013 filed an appeal with the appeal court against the 
tribunal's verdict. The apex court on July 29, 2015 upheld verdict that handed 
down capital punishment to Salauddin.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up the special tribunal in 2010 to prosecute 
collaborators of Pakistani military responsible for killing of an estimated 3 
million people, rape of over 200,000 women and torching of numerous homesteads 
during the war.

An earlier initiative of prosecution of the war crimes was called off after the 
assassination of Bangladesh's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, also 
father of Hasina, in 1975.

2 front-ranking leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed creation 
of Bangladesh in 1971, were executed completing all legal procedure.

Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Abdul Kader Mollah was hanged on 
December 12, 1013 and another Assistant Secretary General Muhammad Qamaruzzaman 
was executed on April 12, 2015.

(source: newsnextbd.com)