[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 30



SINGAPORE:

Killer's final appeal turned down


Convicted killer Kho Jabing has failed in his final bid to be spared the 
gallows, after his appeal for clemency was turned down by President Tony Tan 
Keng Yam on the Cabinet's advice.

Kho, 31, was informed of the rejection last week, said his lawyer Anand 
Nalachandran, who visited him in prison on Wednesday with co-counsel Josephus 
Tan and Keith Lim.

Kho has gone through an emotional roller coaster, as he was initially sentenced 
to death in 2010, then re-sentenced to life and then ordered to face death on 
appeal to the apex court.

The rag-and-bone man from Sarawak had beaten a Chinese construction worker to 
death with a tree branch in 2008.

Mr Cao Ruyin, 40, was robbed of his mobile phone and died from brain injuries 6 
days later.

In 2010, Kho and his accomplice Galing Kujat, 32, were convicted of murder and 
sentenced to the then mandatory death penalty. Kho's appeal against conviction 
was rejected the following year, while Kujat's was allowed.

Instead of murder, Kujat - also from Malaysia - was convicted of robbery with 
hurt and later sentenced to 18-1/2 years' jail and 19 strokes of the cane.

But after revised laws came into effect in 2013, making the death penalty 
mandatory only for the most serious form of murder, Kho's lawyers applied for 
him to be re-sentenced.

In August 2013, the High Court gave Kho a life term instead, but the 
prosecution challenged this decision before a rare five-man Court of Appeal 
last year.

The court arrived at a split 3-2 decision in January with the majority finding 
that given the "sheer savagery and brutality" of the attack, they were 
"completely satisfied" that Kho "exhibited a blatant disregard for human life 
in the way he attacked the deceased".

In essence, the act "outraged the feelings of the community", which justified 
the death penalty.

The minority held that it was unsafe to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that 
he acted in a way which showed a blatant disregard for human life, despite the 
gravity of the blows.

Lawyers who submitted the clemency petition to President Tan in April said the 
death penalty was inappropriate, given that the apex court was split in its 
decision.

"Essentially, we proposed that the death penalty should require a unanimous 
decision. We highlighted that certain jurisdictions require a unanimous 
decision for capital punishment - failing which, life imprisonment is imposed," 
said Mr Anand.

"Our legislation does not have a similar threshold but clemency could have the 
same effect."

The lawyers also highlighted that the death penalty was imposed on appeal in a 
2-tier system and there was no further tier of appeal.

Said Mr Anand: "We are in contact with the Malaysian High Commission and 
arrangements were made for his mother and sister to come to Singapore to see 
him.

"We have requested the Singapore Prison Service to notify us of the execution 
date when fixed. We met with Jabing on Wednesday and we'll help to fulfil his 
last wishes."

The Court of Appeal's landmark decision on Kho sparked keen discussion earlier 
this year on how brutal should a murder be to warrant the death penalty.

(source: Straits Times)

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

1.2kg of heroin seized, 4 arrested in CNB operations----The Central Narcotics 
Bureau seized drugs worth more than S$118,000 in 2 separate stings.


4 suspected drug offenders have been arrested in 2 separate operations, said 
the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) on Friday (Oct 30). Drugs worth more than 
S$118,000 were also seized, including 1.2kg of heroin, 445g of cannabis, 69g of 
"Ice" and 183 "Ecstasy" tablets.

According to CNB, its officers raided a suspected drug store in a private 
apartment at Orange Grove Road on Thursday morning. The suspected drug 
trafficker had just replenished his stock of drugs, CNB added.

After entering the unit, officers noticed that the master bedroom window of the 
unit was broken and saw 2 male suspects at the ground floor. They subsequently 
entered a vacant unit on the ground floor and arrested the suspects aged 
between 30 and 32.

CNB officers conducted a search of the 2nd floor unit and recovered drugs from 
the master bedroom. Officers also found drugs in a pouch found on the ledge 
outside the unit. About 704g of heroin, 445g of cannabis, 59g of "Ice" and 183 
"Ecstasy" tablets were recovered in total.

CNB also said knives, parangs and a replica gun as well as cash amounting to 
S$6,024 were found in the unit.

Weapons, including a replica gun, were recovered in a CNB operation at Orange 
Grove on Friday.

Separately, in another operation that took place on the same day, CNB said 
officers were deployed to Boon Lay Drive to nab a suspected drug supplier who 
was delivering a consignment of drugs to his client.

The suspected supplier, a 38-year-old man, had entered a carpark to meet up 
with the suspected trafficker at the 2nd floor of the block. The suspected 
trafficker is a 41-year-old woman.

They parted ways shortly after and CNB officers arrested the suspected supplier 
before he got back into his car. A search of the car found 228g of heroin in a 
bag at the front passenger seat. Another 40g of heroin was found concealed in a 
compartment behind the rear seat.

Simultaneously, another party of CNB officers raided the unit of the suspected 
trafficker. About 91g of heroin, a small amount of "Ice" and a digital weighing 
scale were discovered.

CNB said the suspected drug supplier was brought back to his hideout in Jalan 
Bukit Merah and a search of the hideout recovered about 157g of heroin that was 
wrapped in newspaper and hidden inside a soft toy.

Investigations into the drug activities of the 4 suspects are ongoing. If 
convicted, the four may face the death penalty. The Misuse of Drugs Act 
provides for the death penalty if the amount of diamorphine (or pure heroin) 
trafficked exceeds 15g.

(source: Channel News Asia)






THAILAND:

Trio gets death penalty for mayor's murder


The Appeals Court yesterday sentenced 3 people to death - including Uthit 
Chuchuay, former chairman of the Songkhla Provincial Administration 
Organisation - for their roles in the 2012 murder of Nakhon Songkhla 
Municipality mayor Peera Tantiseranee.

Also sentenced to death are Paisal Nuphan and Chuan Muadmee.

Uthit's younger brother, Kitti Chuchuay, the owner of the Simila Radio Station, 
and Sudkheed Chankhiao were given life imprisonment, an informed source said.

All the defendants submitted bail applications in order to continue to fight in 
the Supreme Court, the source added.

The Appeals Court verdict overturned the Songkhla Provincial Court ruling that 
acquitted Uthit and four others. The case received much public attention in 
Songkhla because Peera and Uthit were well-known politicians and had previously 
been political friends until they reportedly feuded over a cable-car project 
initiated by Uthit.

Peera, 54, was gunned down on the night of November 7, 2012 after meeting with 
representatives of southern non-governmental organisations to discuss the 
safety of radioactive material stored in the area.

Police initially filed charges against 10 people but the public prosecutor 
decided not to indict 3 people.

2 defendants - Athip Doungmak and Niwat Ratkaew - were killed while the case 
was at the primary court.

Peera's brother Jareuk Tantiseranee, Peera's wife Pitchaya Phakthongsuk, and 
other relatives of the victim were present when the verdict was read yesterday.

Pitchaya said she was satisfied with the ruling and felt more appreciation for 
forensic science as it helped lead to the ruling.

(source: The Nation)






INDIA:

Sanap, Andhra Techie Anuhya's Murderer-Rapist, Awarded Death Penalty----Anuhya 
was murdered by Sanap on January 5, 2014. The victim's burnt and decomposed 
body was found on January 17 at Kanjurmarg.


A special court on Friday has sentenced Chandrabhan Sanap, who was convicted 
for rape and murder of 23-year-old Andhra techie Esther Anuhya, in January last 
year, to death. Sanap was pronounced guilty on Tuesday.

Pronouncing the verdict, judge Vrushali Joshi said, "The case falls under the 
category of the rarest of rare, hence the accused is awarded death sentence ... 
he must be hanged by his neck till he is dead."

Sanap was convicted under IPC Section 302 (murder), Section 376 (rape) and 
Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence).

Special public prosecutor Raja Thakare, on Wednesday, had sought the death 
sentence, during the arguments on the quantum of sentence, while defence 
advocate Prakash Salsingekar sought life, saying that, "The fact that he had 
visited the astrologer on January 5, last year (hours after the incident) has 
been accepted by the court. This proves that he had immediately become 
remorseful."

Thakare, however, told the court that the truth is that some crimes are so 
outrageous that society insists on adequate punishment because the wrongdoer 
deserves it, irrespective of whether it is a deterrent or not.

On January 5, 2014, Anuhya was murdered by Sanap. Anuhya, who had arrived in 
Mumbai from Visakhapatnam, was offered a lift by Sanap, on his 2-wheeler at, 
Lokmanya Tilak railway terminus, and then murdered her at Kanjurmarg. He also 
stole her luggage and a laptop.

After 12 days, the victim's burnt and decomposed body was found on January 17 
at Kanjurmarg, by tracing the location of her mobile phone, which was also 
found near the site.

(source: tehelka.com)

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

Court pronounces death penalty for Mumbai techie Esther Anuhya's 
rapist-murderer


A special women's court on Friday sentenced 28-year-old petty thief Chandrabhan 
Sanap to death for brutally raping and murdering 23-year-old Andhra techie 
Esther Anuhya in January last year. On Tuesday, special judge Vrushali Joshi 
had pronounced Sanap guilty.

"The case falls under the category of the rarest of rare, hence the accused is 
awarded death sentence...he must be hanged by his neck till he is dead," said 
special women's court judge Vrushali Joshi while pronouncing the verdict.

On Wednesday, during the arguments on the quantum of sentence even as the 
special public prosecutor Raja Thakare sought the death sentence, defence 
advocate Prakash Salsingekar sought life and contended that the fact that since 
Sanap had visited an astrologer soon after the incident and sought atonement 
for his sins against a woman, showed that he was remorseful and was on the path 
for reformation. "The fact that he had visited the astrologer on January 5, 
last year (hours after the incident) has been accepted by the court. This 
proves that he had immediately become remorseful," defence advocate argued.

However, Thakare told the court, "The truth is that some crimes are so 
outrageous that society insists on adequate punishment because the wrongdoer 
deserves it, irrespective of whether it is a deterrent or not." He further 
submitted that in the present case besides the murder charge, the Indian Penal 
Code section, 376 (A) (while committing rape, inflicting an injury that causes 
the woman's death) under which Sanap was additionally found guilty, also 
attracted the maximum sentence of death.

Thakare said that this charge was the distinguishing factor between this case 
and two other murder cases in which the same court had awarded the life 
sentences. "Also the accused attempted to even burn the body after the murder 
to destroy the evidence and decamped with her valuables. He has committed the 
heinous act on an innocent, helpless woman who had trusted him like a brother 
to drop her home from the station," he said.

Anuhya was working as a techie in the city and lived at the YWCA hostel. A 
native of Andhra Pradesh, she had boarded a train from Vijaywada to LTT on 
January 4 last year and was expected to arrive in the city the following 
morning. However, her father's attempts to contact her on her mobile phone did 
not yield results, forcing him to file a missing complaint with the Vijaywada 
Railway Police.

The father then arrived in the city to look for his daughter and another 
missing complaint was lodged at Kurla police station. The last signal of 
Anuhya's phone was traced to Bhandup. In his statement to the court, Prasad 
said that he began to look for his child along the Eastern Express Highway with 
the help of relatives. On January 16, last year a badly burnt body was found. 
With the help of the finger ring present on it, Prasad identified the body as 
that of his daughter.

The matter was handed over to the Crime Branch on March 2, 2014. CCTV allegedly 
revealed that Anuhya had arrived at LTT but had left with a man who was later 
identified as Sanap. A resident of Karve Nagar, Kanjurmarg, Sanap was arrested. 
The investigators claimed that Anuhya had accompanied him after he had agreed 
to drop her home on his bike.

(source: Times of India)

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

Ghaziabad: 4 get death penalty for beheading 3


A Ghaziabad court has awarded death penalty to 4 accused of murdering 3 
persons, including a woman. The victims, who hailed from Jharkhand, were 
beheaded and their bodies dumped.

Additional sessions judge Arun Chandra Srivastava held out the death penalty to 
the accused Pawan, Dwarika, Vinod and Chandradev for committing murder with 
common intention and destroying evidence. The court termed the murders as the 
'rarest of rare' because of the brutality in which the victims were killed and 
their heads dismembered.

"This heinous crime comes under 'rarest of rare' cases because the heads of the 
victims were dismembered from the bodies and thrown away to hide the identity 
of the victims. It is the duty of the legal system to protect the right of the 
citizens and granting sympathy to such heinous murderers will only lead to 
distrust among the public towards the judicial system," the order said.

The murders came to light on February 11, 2004, when three bodies were found 
packed inside gunny bags and dumped at a ground in Shalimar Garden Extension I 
area of Ghaziabad.

Following an FIR, the accused were arrested and the 3 decomposed heads of the 
victims Hari Yadav, Keshav and his mother Kaliya were recovered from a nearby 
drain.

During investigation, it was found that the 3 victims were living in the flat 
of accused Pawan and refused to move out. This is what led to an altercation 
between the victims and the accused.

The prosecution produced 12 witnesses to prove their case. None of the 
witnesses were direct witnesses to the crime and the case rested on 
circumstantial evidence.

Anees, a building construction supplier, told the court that prime accused 
Pawan had told him on the night of the murder that the flat occupied by the 
victims belonged to him and he would finish them to get possession of his flat. 
Anees also told the court that the accused had threatened him against deposing 
before the court.

Even though 4 major witnesses were declared hostile in the case, parts of their 
statements were relied upon. The court said the recovery of the heads on the 
instance of the accused, the witness statements about the accused entering and 
leaving the victims' flat, telling 1 of the witnesses that the victims will be 
rid of was sufficient enough to complete the chain of circumstantial evidence.

(source: Hindustan Times)

***********

Death penalty rejected in 1 case, life term in another


In an interesting sequence, a division bench comprising Justice H Billappa and 
Justice K N Phaneendra of the Karnataka high court on Thursday rejected the 
death penalty imposed by a district and sessions court at Chitradurga in July 
2010 against one Govindappa alias Govinda, a resident of Pavagada, in 
connection with a murder case and also acquitted him citing that there is 
conclusive evidence against him. However, the bench held Govindappa guilty in 
relation to another murder case and imposed life sentence by upholding the July 
30,2010 verdict of the sessions in that case. Govindappa,a coolie, was charged 
for rape and murder of 2 women in 2 separate cases in Parashurampura police 
station, Challakere taluk in Chitradurga district. However, the charge of rape 
could not be proved as both the dead bodies were in a decomposed state when 
they were recovered. The trial court imposed death penalty in the 1st case, 
opining that Govindappa cannot be reformed even by keeping him in prison and he 
is a danger to society as he had already been convicted in an attempt to murder 
case earlier. In the second case, the sessions court imposed life sentence on 
him. As there was death penalty imposed in one case, the case was referred to 
high court for confirmation. Since Govindappa had no advocate to argue his 
case, free legal aid was given to him in these cases.. .

(source: nyooo.com)