[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 23



CHINA:

China Arrests U.S. Woman Nabbed by Spy Agency, Husband Says


An American businesswoman was arrested in China amid accusations of spying 
after months of detention, shortly ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's 
arrival in the U.S. for a state visit.

Sandy Phan-Gillis, 55, was formally arrested over the weekend, her husband, 
Jeff Gillis, said by e-mail Wednesday. She was taken away by the Ministry of 
State Security in March in the southern city of Zhuhai while trying to go to 
Macau and is being investigated on charges of spying and stealing state 
secrets, according to a website set up by Gillis to bring awareness of the case 
and petition for her release.

"I wouldn't say that she was in 'good' health," Gillis said in Wednesday. "She 
has had 2 hospital emergency room visits during her detention, and one of those 
with a 5-day hospital admission."

She has still not been formally charged with a crime, according to Gillis.

Hong Lei, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on 
Tuesday at that the woman was under investigation "on suspicion of activities 
harmful to Chinese national security," the New York Times reported.

"We hope that the outside world will respect China's handling of this case 
according to the law," the newspaper cited Hong as saying at a regularly 
scheduled news conference in Beijing. "She is also cooperating."

Xi arrived Tuesday in the U.S. and will meet in Washington for a summit with 
President Barack Obama on Friday. Human rights may be in the agenda along with 
cyber-attacks and tensions in the South China Sea.

China released in June British investigator Peter Humphrey and his American 
wife, Yu Yingzeng, who were serving prison terms for illegally obtaining 
private information. A Canadian man who ran a coffee shop near the Chinese 
border with North Korea was charged with stealing state secrets this year.

The punishment for stealing state secrets under Chinese law is life in prison 
with some severe cases receiving the death penalty.

The SaveSandy.org website describes Phan-Gillis as a "hard-working 
businesswoman" and "not a spy or a thief." She was born in Vietnam, the 
daughter of a Chinese family whose ancestors come from Guangdong province, 
according to the site.

"To date there has been no detailed explanation for her detention," the site 
says. "Sandy has now been detained for over 6 months, and she has not been 
allowed to see or speak with friends, family, or even her lawyers in that 
time."

(source: Bloomberg News)






SAUDI ARABIA:

UN Human Rights Experts Urge Saudi Arabia to Halt Execution of Minors


UN human rights experts called on the Saudi Arabian government to stop the 
execution of minors, pointing at the case of Ali Mohammed Nimr, who was 
convicted for a crime committed when he was a teenager, a statement issued 
Tuesday said.

"We urge the Saudi authorities to establish a moratorium on the use of the 
death penalty, halt executions of persons convicted who were children at the 
time of the offence, and ensure a prompt and impartial investigation into all 
alleged acts of torture," 3 UN officials were quoted as saying in the 
statement.

According to the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary 
executions, UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or 
degrading treatment or punishment and the current chairperson of the UN 
Committee on the Rights of the Child, Nimr may be executed at any time.

"Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, a high school student, was arrested in 2012 by the Saudi 
authorities when he was 17 for his participation in Arab Spring protests in 
Qatif, Eastern Province. During his arrest and detention, he was reportedly 
subjected to torture and ill treatment by the General Investigation Directorate 
... In May 2015, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced Mr. al-Nimr to 
death ... and confirmed its sentence in September," the statement read.

The UN experts noted that at least 134 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 
2015 that was 44 more than in 2014.

"Such a surge in executions in the country makes Saudi Arabia a sad exception 
in a world where states are increasingly moving away from the death penalty," 
the UN employees emphasized.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world's leading countries by the number of 
executions. According to the Amnesty International rights group data, the 
country was 4th in 2013 and 3rd in 2014, preceded only by China and Iran.

(source: sputniknews.com)

**********

24 Young Saudi Protestors on Trial, 18 Face Death Penalty


The criminal court of the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah has put 24 young 
prisoners on trial on a charge of participating in peaceful demonstrations, a 
Saudi activist announced, saying 18 of the inmates are facing the death 
penalty.

Hamza al-Shakhuri said in his Twitter account that the prisoners on trial are 
aged between 20 and 30.

The Al Saud's prosecutor general has demanded the maximum penalty, namely 
capital punishment, for 18 convicts, he noted.

According to Shakhuri, the young defendants are from al-Qatif, al-Awamiyah, 
Tarout, Safwa and other regions, in east of the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia's regime has a record of suppressing the opposition groups and 
arresting political dissidents.

Since February 2011, protesters have held demonstrations on an almost regular 
basis in Saudi Arabia, mainly in Qatif and Awamiyah in Eastern Province, 
despite a deadly crackdown by the regime.

(source: Tasnim News)






INDIA:

7/11 mumbai train blast: Prosecution seeks death penalty for 8, calls them 
merchants of death


Judge, Y S Shinde will deliver the verdict on the quantum of sentence on 
September 30th.

The court reserved orders on the matter after hearing for almost a week 
arguments advanced by both the defence and the prosecution.

The defence pleaded that the court impose lesser sentence on the convicts while 
quoting various judgments of the Supreme Court which state that life sentence 
is a rule while death an exception.

The prosecution sought life imprisonment for 4 accused while in the case of 8 
others the death penalty was sought.The prosecution argued that the key 
conspirators and also those 5 persons who planted the bombs must be awarded 
death penalty.

The key conspirators play the biggest role and it is on their instructions that 
the entire operation is planned and executed it was also argued.

Even those 5 persons who planted the bombs would have to be awarded death 
penalty, the prosecution argued.

The 5 persons who planted the bombs had done so willfully and it was not as 
though they were remote controlled.

They were fully in the know of the operation and even took part in the training 
apart from surveying the trains that they bombed.

Among those convicted are Tanvir Ahmed Ansari (37), Mohd Sajid Ansari (35), 
Ehtesham Siddiqui (30), Kamal Ahamed Ansari (37), Mohd Faisal Shaikh (36), 
Zamir Ahmad Shaikh (36), Mohammad Majid Shafi (32), Shaikh Alam Shaikh (41), 
Muzzammil Shaikh (27), Soheil Mehmood Shaikh (43), Naveed Hussain Khan (30) 
Asif Khan (38).

(source: oneindia.com)



BANGLADESH:

One to die, 7 get life for murder


The District and Sessions Judge's Court here yesterday sentenced a man to death 
and 7 others to life imprisonment for killing a madrasa student in Monohardi 
upazila of the district in 2011.

Death penalty awardee Farid Mian and lifers Mostafa Hossain, Jakir Hossain 
Babul, Siam Mian, Tauhid Mian, Sanaullah, Dulal Mian, and Joynal Mian are from 
Kayetergaon village.

According to the case statement, Mahfuz Hossain, 16, a Class X student of 
Barachapa Karamali Senior Madrasa, was stabbed to death by the 8.

(source: The Daily Star)