[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 30



PAKISTAN----execution

Death row convict hanged in Lahore


A death row convict has been sent to the gallows at the Kot Lakhpat Jail Lahore 
on early Wednesday morning, Dunya News reported.

Death row prisoner Mushtaq had killed a man named Abdullah in 2000. The body 
Mushtaq was later handed over to the relatives.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the moratorium on the death penalty on 
December 17, 2014, a day after Taliban gunmen attacked a school and killed 134 
students and 19 adults. The killings put pressure the government to do more to 
tackle the insurgency.

(source: Dunya News)






AUSTRALIA:

Julie Bishop: ending death penalty worldwide on Australia's UN agenda


Australia would use a seat on the United Nation's chief human rights body to 
wage a tireless campaign to end the death penalty around the world, Foreign 
Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said during a speech to the UN's General 
Assembly.

As she spoke on Tuesday evening in the US, the state of Georgia was preparing 
to execute a woman despite a direct appeal from the Pope, who left America 
after his visit earlier this week.

Ms Bishop's speech was in effect a ringing endorsement of the UN. Aside from 
the decision to bid for a seat on the UN's Human Rights Council for the 
2018-2020 term, Ms Bishop formally announced Australia's decision to run again 
for a seat on the Security Council in 2029.

"Australia's recent experience as a Security Council member confirmed that the 
council's role is more essential than ever," she told the General Assembly.

She said the UN carries out crucial work in an increasingly hostile world, and 
is often not recognised for its successes.

(source: Sydney Morning Herald)






THAILAND:

Thai drug trafficker spared death penalty


A 30-year-old Thai woman, who agreed to help a Nigerian man transport "illegal 
stuff" from New Delhi to Bangkok via Singapore for $2,300, was spared the death 
penalty despite being convicted of importing 2kg of methamphetamine.

Instead, Samruamchit Wipha was given life imprisonment yesterday, after she was 
certified by the prosecution to have helped the authorities in a substantive 
way. Justice Choo Han Teck found that she "acted solely in the role of a 
courier".

She was detained at Changi Airport on Dec 17, 2012, with about 3kg of a 
crystalline substance, concealed in a false compartment in her backpack which 
contained clothing and shoes.

The substance was found to contain about 2kg of methamphetamine, commonly known 
as Ice. Under the law, anyone convicted of trafficking in more than 250g of Ice 
may face the death penalty.

During her High Court trial, Samruamchit testified that she only knew she would 
be carrying illegal stuff for "Kelvin", a Nigerian man she had met 2 months 
earlier. He approached her at a cafe in Bangkok, after she quarrelled with her 
Italian boyfriend over the phone.

Kelvin was very nice to her and they had sex, although she did not consider him 
her boyfriend.

She testified that she had delivered a bag containing clothes for Kelvin within 
Thailand. This led her to believe that the "illegal stuff" she was tasked to 
deliver were the clothes and shoes in the backpack.

But Justice Choo rejected her defence that she was unaware the backpack 
contained drugs, given that she had made various references to drugs in her 
statements to the Central Narcotics Bureau.

Samruamchit claimed that the Thai interpreter made a mistake in translation, 
but the judge noted that the Thai words for "drugs" and "illegal stuff" do not 
sound alike at all.

Justice Choo was also not satisfied that she really believed she would be paid 
$2,300 just to deliver a pile of inexpensive clothes and shoes, none of which 
were branded items.

"The evidence shows that she had agreed to carry the drugs from New Delhi to 
Bangkok via Singapore, and that she was to be paid for that service," he said.

New laws that took effect in 2013 gave judges the discretion to sentence drug 
couriers to life imprisonment instead of death, if they substantively assisted 
the authorities.

(source: Straits Times)






INDIA:

7/11 Mumbai train blasts: 5 convicts get death, life for 7 others----In the 
7/11 Mumbai train blasts, 7 RDX bombs had exploded in the 1st class coaches in 
many suburban trains, killing 188 people and injuring 829.


9 years after a series of bomb blasts in suburban trains rattled Mumbai killing 
188 people, a special MCOCA court awarded the death sentence to five convicts 
Kamal Ansari, Faisal Atur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Siddiqui, Naveed Khan and 
Asif Khan.

All others have been awarded life sentences under various sections of UAPA, 
MCOCA Acts and IPC.

Of the 12 convicts, the prosecution had demanded capital punishment for Kamal 
Ahmed Mohammad Vakil Ansari, Dr Tanvir Ahmed Mohammed Ibrahim Ansari, Mohammad 
Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Kutubuddin Siddiqui, Shaikh Mohammad Ali 
Alam Shaikh, Mohammad Sajid Mugrub Ansari, Naveed Hussain Khan and Asif Khan.

For the rest of them, the prosecution sought life imprisonment. They are 
Mohammad Majid Mohammad Shafi, Muzammil Ataur Rehman Shaikh, Sohail Mehmood 
Shaikh and Zameer Ahmed Latiur Rehman Shaikh.

The defense and the prosecution in the case, on the point of quantum of 
punishment, argued for almost a week in a special court in Mumbai. From showing 
reformation to the dozen convicts being "merchants of death", the 2 sides 
contradicted each other at every juncture of legal arguments, leaving no stone 
unturned.

Special Judge Yatin D Shinde had concluded hearing arguments on the quantum of 
sentence when prosecution demanded death penalty for 8 of the 12 accused while 
it sought life imprisonment for the remaining 4.

On September 23, the Special MCOCA court had reserved its order on sentencing 
in the case for today, September 30.

Earlier, on September 11, it had convicted 12 of the 13 accused, all allegedly 
having links with banned SIMI, while acquitting 1.

The accused were found guilty of charges under IPC, Explosives Act, Unlawful 
Activities Prevention Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and 
Indian Railway Act and those under MCOCA.

The court also found all the 12 accused guilty under Section 3 (1) (i) of 
MCOCA, which could also attract capital punishment.

Those convicted are Kamal Ahamed Ansari (37), Tanvir Ahmed Ansari (37), Mohd 
Faisal Shaikh (36), Ehtesham Siddiqui (30), Mohammad Majid Shafi (32), Shaikh 
Alam Shaikh (41), Mohd Sajid Ansari (34),Muzzammil Shaikh (27), Soheil Mehmood 
Shaikh (43), Zamir Ahmad Shaikh (36), Naveed Hussain Khan (30) and Asif Khan 
(38).

After 12 accused were found guilty, Judge Shinde, later, allowed the defence 
lawyers to examine witnesses to bring out the mitigating circumstances in the 
case.

Defence lawyers subsequently examined nine witnesses to show the court that the 
accused have undergone reformation and and thus may not be given capital 
punishment.

The list of witnesses included the relatives of accused, doctors, teachers etc 
while one of the convicts examined another accused in Mumbai 2012 serial 
blasts.

After the examination of witnesses, the defence advocates pleaded leniency 
saying that the 12 convicts were merely the pawns of mastermind Azam Cheema, 
member of Pakistan based Lashkar-e-toaiba.

They also pointed out that the convicts faced several hardships in jail and 
that was also one of the mitigating circumstances.

On the other hand, special public prosecutor Raja Thakare called the convicts 
"merchants of death" and pressed for capital punishment to 8 of the 12 
convicts.

Thakare also told the court that (social) thinkers feel that why money of 
honest taxpayers should be spent and government burdened for the upkeep of 
these convicts.

He also argued that the court may, if it feels, take a lenient view of 4 
convicts and grant them life term.

During the investigations, 13 accused, all of them Indians, were arrested and 
brought to trial.

The charge sheet filed by Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) in November 2006 had named 
30 accused, out of which 17 of them are absconding.

The absconding which comprise 13 Pakistan nationals, include Azam Chima, an 
alleged Lashker-e-Taiba member.

The ATS charge sheet had said that Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were 
made in a room in Govandi in suburban Mumbai and some Pakistani nationals were 
also present during the bomb-making.

7 RDX bombs had exploded in the 1st class coaches in many suburban trains on 
July 11, 2006, killing 188 people and injuring 829.

In the trial that ran for 8 long years, the prosecution examined 192 witnesses, 
including eight Indian Police Service (IPS) and 5 Indian Administrative Service 
(IAS) officers as well as 18 doctors. The defence lawyers examined 51 witnesses 
and 1 person was called as a court witness.

The blast occurred within a span of 10 minutes between Khar Road-Santacruz, 
Bandra-Khar Road, Jogeshwari-Mahim Junction, Mira Road- Bhayander, Matunga- 
Mahim Junction and Borivali.

The MCOCA judge had concluded the trial on August 19 last year. The examination 
of witnesses resumed after two years since the Supreme Court had stayed the 
trial in 2008. Before the stay, the prosecution had already examined a police 
officer. The Supreme Court vacated the stay on April 23, 2010.

Of the 13 accused arrested by ATS between July 20, 2006 and October 3, 2006, 11 
had given statements admitting to their involvement in the blasts but later 
retracted.

The case took a twist when the defence lawyer sought to call Indian Mujahideen 
co-founder Sadiq Sheikh as defence witness after he told the police in 2008 
that IM members were responsible for all the blasts that happened since 2005 
including the train blasts.

The court had allowed to examine Sadiq as a defence witness who later claimed 
that he gave his confession under duress.

(source: Indian Express)






MEXICO:

Politician Says Homeless People Should Be Put Down By Lethal Injection


A Mexican councillor has provoked outrage after that homeless people should be 
put down like animals to keep the number of them on the streets down.

Olga Gutierrez Machorro believes that beggars should be culled with lethal 
injection, believing it to be in their best interests.

She said: "Yes they're a little crazy, but they're harmless.

"Which is why I think to myself wouldn't it be kinder to just give them a 
lethal injection?"

Unbelievably, Machorro, who is a member of the local government in 
Tecamachalco, Mexico, is also the councillor responsible for the Vulnerable 
Groups Commission - who try to find ways to help the homeless and 
disadvantaged.

Her outrageous remarks, made in an interview with the local newspaper Cambio, 
came when she alleged the Tecamachalco government, led by Ines Lopez, lacked 
the necessary resources to deal with beggars who are increasing in number on 
the streets.

She alleged that killing beggars was already going on unofficially, and added 
that the local psychiatric hospital, El Batan, often just deposited patients 
deemed "un-aggressive" in the middle of the motorways at night, where they are 
killed by cars but also cause accidents that put others at risk.

Machorro has previously offered her own home as sanctuary for those on the 
streets, but claimed this was not a long term solution.

The councillor's comments were blasted by locals and she has since apologised.

She has now promised a new action plan which is to be put forward to the 
government in a bid to solve the problem.

(source: tumblr.com)