[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 28



INDIA:

Delhi High Court awards life term to servant, commutes death penalty in double 
murder case


Negating a local court ruling, the High Court on Friday commuted death penalty 
and awarded life term to a domestic help for murdering an elderly woman and her 
12-year-old grandson here in 2007.

In 2010, holding that the offence of Mithilesh Kumar Singh fell in the category 
of "rarest of rare" case, a Delhi Court had awarded death sentence to the 
accused.

The court had on July 1, 2010 convicted him for the offences of murder, attempt 
to murder, robbery and for destroying evidence under the IPC.

Singh, a resident of Samastipur in Bihar, had killed Karamveer (12) and his 
maternal grandmother Surjit Kaur, 60, in their house at Vasant Kunj in south 
Delhi on March 2, 2007.

The convict, who was working as a domestic help, sedated their pet dog and 
killed them before decamping with valuables, and cash.

He was apprehended with the help of Mehar Legha, 15, sister of the deceased 
boy.

The girl, who was also attacked by the domestic help, had raised an alarm which 
led to the accused being apprehended.

The girl was later honoured with the national bravery award in 2008.

Besides Mehar, her mother Manjit Legha, a teacher of Delhi Public School, 
Noida, and her husband, a retired army officer, had also testified in the case.

(source: Zee News)






PAKISTAN----impending juvenile execution

Pakistan faces outcry over plans to execute 2 men - 1 disabled, the other a 
juvenile offender----Last week, Pakistan tried to kill wheelchair user Abdul 
Basit. This Tuesday, it will push ahead with the execution of Ansar Iqbal - who 
says he was 15 at the time of his arrest


Pakistan is facing growing international condemnation over plans to execute 2 
men - 1 thought to be a juvenile offender, the other severely disabled.

Ansar Iqbal and wheelchair user Abdul Basit both face death by hanging, after 
their death sentences were upheld by the country's Supreme Court.

Last week, it was reported that Mr Basit's death was delayed after his severe 
paralysis meant he would be unable to walk to the gallows, as is required by 
the jail's rules on carrying out executions.

Now, the campaign group Reprieve says that Mr Iqbal's case involves a 
fundamental breach of Pakistan's commitments to international law.

According to Reprieve, courts in Pakistan have refused to consider evidence 
from a birth certificate which appears to show that Mr Iqbal was 15 at the time 
of his arrest on murder charges in 1994.

Like many in Pakistan, Mr Iqbal's birth was not registered at the time. He was 
issued a certificate earlier this year by Nadra, the National Database and 
Registration Authority - but court officials say it has come too late to be 
considered.

Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: "It is a 
fundamental principle of Pakistani and international law that children should 
not be sentenced to death.

"In Ansar's case, none of the documentary evidence of his juvenility that was 
presented to court was given proper consideration. Instead, the courts relied 
solely on an estimation of his age in the police record, and now Ansar faces 
death by hanging at dawn on Tuesday.

"Pakistan has already executed at least three people convicted as children 
since December. On Tuesday morning they risk hanging another. The Pakistani 
authorities must stay this execution and allow a full examination of the 
evidence."

(source: The Independent)

***********

Juvenile set to be hanged tonight in Pakistan


Pakistani authorities are preparing to execute a man who was a juvenile at the 
time of his arrest, in the early hours of tomorrow morning (local time).

Ansar Iqbal was arrested in 1994 on murder charges - which he denies - and 
sentenced to death in 1996, despite telling the court he was 15 at the time of 
his arrest. All the documentary evidence provided to the courts during his 
trial or appeal indicates that he was a child at the time of the alleged 
offence; however, the courts have chosen to believe the estimate of police 
officers that he was in his 20s.

His scheduled hanging follows a recent Supreme Court hearing in which judges 
refused to consider a birth certificate issued by the country's official 
National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). The certificate gives his 
date of birth as 25 December 1978 - confirming Iqbal's account that he was a 15 
at the time of the alleged offence in June 1994.

The execution of people who were children at the time of the alleged offence 
has long been banned under both international and Pakistani law. However, since 
resuming executions in December 2014, the country has seen at least 3 people 
executed who were children at the time of the alleged offence, alongside 
hundreds of others. The executions took place despite Pakistan's commitments to 
human rights standards set out in trade agreements with the European Union, 
with which Pakistan enjoys preferential status.

Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood visited Pakistan for talks last week, 
and said in a statement that he "highlight[ed] the steps [Pakistan] still needs 
to take in protecting human rights." Human rights organization Reprieve has 
today written to the minister asking if he raised the issue of executions, 
including that of Iqbal, during his trip.

Commenting, Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said:

"Ansar Iqbal is scheduled to be hanged in Pakistan in less than 12 hours, 
despite the fact that the government's own records show that he was a juvenile 
at the time of his arrest. The execution of juveniles are prohibited under 
Pakistani and international law, yet there have already been 3 juveniles 
executed in Pakistan this year alone. Given that over 70% of births are 
unregistered in Pakistan, the Pakistani authorities should be doing all they 
can to ensure that they are not inadvertently sending children to the gallows. 
All the documentary evidence shows that Ansar was a child when he was arrested 
- his execution tomorrow morning would be a grave travesty of justice and must 
be stopped."

(source: Reprieve.org.uk)






MALAYSIA:

8 Ethnic Indians Charged in Prosecutor's Murder in Malaysia


8 ethnic Indians, including a military doctor, were today charged in connection 
with the murder of a public prosecutor, who handled many high profile cases in 
Malaysia.

6 of the accused have been charged with murder of Deputy Public Prosecutor 
Anthony Kevin Morais while 2 others, including the military doctor, have been 
charged with abetting the murder.

Police had earlier said that Morais was the DPP in a case where military doctor 
Col Dr R Kunaseegaran, 48, working with the pathology lab at the Tuanku Mizan 
Military Hospital, was charged with unlawful trade of medicines in December 
2013.

In September last year, Kunaseegaran, who was on a RM 100,000 bail, had claimed 
trial to 2 bribery charges involving RM 700,000 for allegedly recommending 3 
companies to supply medicines and disposable medical tools to the hospital.

G Gunasegaran, 47, R Dineshwaran, 23, Thinesh Kumar, 22, M Viswanath, 25, S 
Nirmalan, 22, and S Ravi Chandran, 44, allegedly committed the offence on 
September 4, the court said.

The 7 suspects face the death penalty if convicted. A mechanic, A Murugan 
Arujalan, has also been charged with abetting Morais's murder.

Magistrate Siti Radziah Kamardin has fixed November 30 for mention pending the 
postmortem and chemist reports. Morais went missing on September 4 after 
leaving his residence for work in Putrajaya. He was abducted by several men 
during morning rush hour traffic.

A DNA test performed on the body found in a cement filled oil drum on September 
16 matched that of Morais. The oil drum was dumped at a swamp and 1 of the 
suspects arrested led police to the location of the oil drum.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission director of legal and prosecution division 
Umar Saifuddin Jaafar has said that Morais, who was seconded to the Malaysian 
Anti-Corruption Commission for 10 years, handled many high-profile cases.

(source: The New Indian Express)






IRAN----executions

7 prisoners hanged in Iran


Iran's fundamentalist regime has hanged 7 prisoners, including 6 in 1 prison 
alone.

6 of the prisoners, including 3 brothers, were hanged on Wednesday in the 
central province of Yazd. All 6 were from Iran's south-eastern Sistan & 
Baluchestan Province.

Another prisoner, identified as Mohammad-Reza Fiouji, 27, was hanged in a 
prison in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran. He had been transferred to solitary 
confinement on Saturday (September 26) in preparation for his execution.

The mullahs' regime in Iran continues to execute more of its citizens per 
capita than any other U.N. member state. Some 2000 people have been executed 
since Hassan Rouhani became president 2 years ago.

Iranian-Americans plan to hold a major rally later on Monday to condemn the 
presence of the mullahs' President Rouhani at the United Nations in New York.

The rally, which is being organized by the Organization of Iranian-American 
Communities (OIAC), will press the international community to hold the regime 
in Iran accountable for its abhorrent human rights record.

In a statement on Sunday, the Iranian Resistance strongly condemned Rouhani's 
presence in New York and at the United Nations General Assembly. "He is among 
the most senior officials involved in the production of the nuclear bomb, 
120,000 political executions, and warmongering and slaughter in the region. 
This regime does not represent the Iranian people, and its leaders, from 
whatever faction, should face justice for crime against humanity in Iran. 
Iran's seat at the United Nations should be given to its people and their 
legitimate resistance," the NCRI said.

(source: NCR-Iran)