[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

Tue Aug 2 09:38:59 CDT 2016

Aug. 2

TURKEY:

A step back from the death penalty----Tentatively, cautiously, we can say that 
Turkey is dropping talk of reinstating capital punishment

There are very few aspects of the 15 July coup attempt in Turkey that did not 
cause alarm abroad, but one that resonated more than most was the talk of 
reinstating the death penalty.

It began the morning after the night before, with a call that rippled among the 
jubilant, flag-waving, "God is great"-shouting crowds. "We want the death 
penalty," they chanted over and again.

"I have received your message. We have received your message. We will do what 
is necessary," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told one group at a rally on 16 
July.

Let them hang

All of a sudden, Turkish commentators and politicians were talking of a "crime 
of treason" that warranted the reinstatement of the death penalty.

The press carried interviews with parents of police officers killed in action, 
demanding the ultimate punishment as justice for their children.

ORC, a polling company close to the government, found 91.5% of respondents 
would support implementing the death penalty "in crimes of treason and 
terrorism".

ORC on death penalty

And President Erdogan told CNN that he would sign a reinstatement of the death 
penalty if parliament voted for it.

The reaction from outside the country was precisely the opposite: the European 
Union, the White House and Amnesty International were among those warning the 
implications of reintroducing capital punishment would be grave.

Take a deep breath

But 2 1/2 weeks after the failed coup, the indications are that the governing 
AK Party is not going to propose reinstating the death penalty.

The 1st real signs came at the weekend when AK Party deputy leader Hayati 
Yazici told Haberturk that stripping the coup plotters of their Turkish 
citizenship could be alternative to the death penalty.

Yazici acknowledged the public demand for capital punishment during the 
interview but pointed to the multitude of international treaties that his 
country was a signatory to.

Bringing back the noose would mean pulling out of international commitments 
like protocol 13 of the European Convention of Human Rights, whereas stripping 
people of their citizenship and rendering them stateless is less tricky - 
according to Watson Institute scholar Selim Sazak.

Earlier today, Monday, Mr Yildirim held separate talks with Kemal 
Kili???daroglu, leader of the main opposition CHP, and nationalist MHP leader 
Devlet Bahceli. The issue of capital punishment was not discussed, the prime 
minister told the press after the meetings.

Any reinstatement, despite vociferous MHP support, cannot pass without the 
governing party's backing. And there is little sign of the other opposition 
parties supporting it: Mr Kilicdaroglu has been carefully non-committal on the 
issue in his public remarks, while Selahattin Demirtas and the pro-Kurdish HDP 
are vehemently opposed.

It may well be that Mr Yazici's comments were a test balloon sent up over the 
weekend before Mr Yildirim's meetings today.

It may well be that the issue will fizzle once again into obscurity.

Indeed, few had discussed the death penalty since it was firmly abolished a 
decade ago - the most prominent exception being a minister in response to the 
brutal murder of a young woman early last year.

The 1st steps

It has been 15 years since Turkey's last coalition government started the 
process of abolishing capital punishment.

The 1st step was a vast 36-article package of amendments to the constitution 
passed on 3 October 2001. Number 15 among these articles was one that amended 
the constitution to restrict the death penalty to instances of "war, the 
imminent threat of war and terror offences".

It did pass (383 in favour; 74 opposed; 8 abstentions, invalid and blank 
votes), but fewer MPs supported it and more MPs opposed it than almost any 
other article in the package.

Even so, a law that appears monumental in retrospect stirred barely any emotion 
at the time. Parliament and the press were more concerned about simultaneous 
efforts to lift the political bans on religious leader Necmettin Erbakan and 
the leader of the newly-formed AK Party, one Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Neither ban 
was lifted then.

The Ocalan case

The 2001 law change meant Turkish courts could no longer sentence defendants to 
death in peace time, but it did not change the status of 86 people waiting on 
death row.

That came the following year, on 3 August 2002, when parliament voted by a far 
narrower majority (253 in favour; 152 opposed; 6 abstentions and others) to 
approve a law that converted all existing death sentences to multiple life 
sentences.

PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and Sirri Sakik, a commander with the group, were 
among those affected.

Devlet Bahceli's nationalist MHP - then a partner in the governing coalition - 
opposed the law, as did a significant part of the fledgling AK Party.

In a general election precisely 3 months later, the electorate would boot the 
MHP out of parliament and replace them with a landslide AK majority.

That AK government went on to sign Protocol 13 of the European Convention of 
Human Rights, which bans the death penalty "in all circumstances, including for 
crimes committed in times of war and imminent threat of war", on 9 January 
2004. Parliament ratified it 2 years later.

(source: jamesinturkey.com)

NIGERIA:

AREPO: FG plans death sentence for vandals

The Federal Government, yesterday, spoke of plans to sponsor death penalty bill 
against vandals and others who attack critical national assets.

This came on a day military and police authorities opened up on the prosecution 
of Operation Awathe in the South Western Coast, promising to terminate 
activities of vandals and militants who have terrorised the people of the area 
and vandalised critical state assets. Assistant Inspector General, AIG, Zone 2, 
comprising Lagos and Ogun states, Abdulmajeed Ali, who disclosed this in Lagos, 
described vandals operating in Arepo and environs as criminals who would be 
treated as such.

This came as Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, ordered the 
destruction of boats, jerry cans and other facilities used and abandoned by 
suspected militants at Arepo area of the state.

Commenting on the military operation against Arepo vandals, Ali said: "Threats 
from pipeline vandals in Arepo area and its environs will soon be a thing of 
the past."

The Police boss, who spoke on resumption of duty in the Zone at Onikan in 
Lagos, said also that those operating at Arepo should not be called militants 
but hoodlums, stressing that plans are in top gear to advise government to 
sponsor a bill that will prescribe death penalty for the criminals.

He said: "I do not consider those groups as militants. They are hoodlums. They 
are robbers, kidnappers in disguise. I have dealt with them before and I will 
continue to deal with them in their hideouts. We are trying to get the 
government prescribe capital punishment for them.

"I want to commend the Lagos State governor for the support given to the 
Nigeria Police. I was impressed with all the equipment supplied by the 
government. We shall continue to work in the 2 commands and ensure security. I 
will start by declaring my vision of things that I will like to address and 
things that I will not tolerate.

"The only thing that is constant in life is change and change is inevitable, we 
should expect changes in all ramifications.

"It is crystal clear that based on the present security challenges in the two 
zones; there will be a need to have an overall policing strategy for effective 
security of lives and properties within the 2 zones.

"On issues of insecurity, I will continue to collaborate with the military and 
other security agencies, with a view to achieving the common goal. I detest 
terrorism, kidnapping, robbery and other vices. I consider them as murderers. I 
will also assure you that anyone caught in these acts will be brought to book."

Operation Awathe: Military, Police open up

Meanwhile, Military and police authorities, yesterday, opened up on the 
prosecution of Operation Wathe in the South Western Coast, promising to 
terminate activities of vandals and militants. This is evident in the continued 
bombardment of the criminal's hideouts by government troops as what started 
like a one-off operation, last Thursday, continued with a mop-up, yesterday.

The ongoing operation involves Nigerian Navy, Air Force, Army, the Department 
of State Services, DSS, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and the 
Police. Deploying aerial and land arsenals, the military has dealt severe blow 
to the criminals that had long engaged in vices such as pipeline vandalism, 
robbery, murder, rape and kidnapping.

Although the troops rained more shelling on Ishawo, Igando and Igbolomu areas 
of Ikorodu in Lagos State, and Arepo, Awawa, Elepete and Ibafo in Ogun State on 
Sunday.

Yesterday's operation was a kind of mop-up exercise since the surviving 
criminals were nowhere in sight.

(source: vanguardngr.com)

IRAN:

A Former Police Officer Executed in Mashhad

Reza Sabzevari, 32, former policeman from Neyshabur was executed in Mashhad 
prison on July 27. His family was informed to attend the last meeting in 
Mashhad prison 1 day before. Mr. Sabzevari was married and had 2 children, 10 
and 2 1/2.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), 
Reza Sabzevari, 32, former policeman from Neyshabur was executed in Mashhad 
prison.

Mr. Sabzevari was an officer of Department of Fighting Drugs and has been 
imprisoned since 1 year and a half ago.

There is no information about his charges.

According to informed sources his family has been told in a phone call to go to 
Mashhad Prison to visit Mr. Sabzevari for the last time.

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

Almost 20 Sunni Death Row Prisoners Taken to an Unknown Location

Some hours ago, the prison guard of Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj handcuffed, 
shackled, blindfolded a number of Sunni death row prisoners of ward 10 and 
transferred them to an unknown location. This has raised concerns about the 
possible execution of these prisoners.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the 
special guard of Rajai Shahr Prison transferred a number of Sunni death row 
prisoners of ward 10 to an unknown location.

A huge number of special guards raided ward 10 to transfer almost 20 death row 
prisoners. The handcuffed, shackled and blindfolded the prisoners and took them 
to an unknown place.

The yard of the ward had been closed since this morning.

This unexampled raid to ward just some days after airing the confessions of 
some of these prisoners increases the probability of some prisoners??? 
execution in coming days.

(source for both: HRANA News Agency)

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

Call off execution of teenage prisoner ---- Alireza Tajiki was 15 years old at 
the time of arrest

The Iranian Resistance calls on international human rights organizations to 
take urgent action and demand the cancellation of the scheduled execution of 
Alireza Tajiki who was only 15 years old at the time of arrest.

Repeated appeals by the family of Alireza Tajiki for revision of his case have 
been rejected by the mullahs' judiciary. The young prisoner has been in jail 
since 2012 and is going to be executed on Wednesday, August 3, 2016, in 
Adelabad Prison of Shiraz.

Despite his age, Alireza Tajiki was denied access to a lawyer throughout the 
investigation process and was tortured under interrogation to make false 
confessions, a routine practice in Iranian jails.

In a statement on the pending execution of Alireza Tajiki, Amnesty 
International wrote: "Imposing the death penalty on someone who was a child at 
the time of the crime flies in the face of international human rights law ... 
It is particularly horrendous that the Iranian authorities are adamant to 
proceed with the execution when this case was marked by serious fair trial 
concerns and primarily relied on torture-tainted evidence ... Iran's 
bloodstained record of sending juvenile offenders to the gallows, routinely 
after grossly unfair trials, makes an absolute mockery of juvenile justice and 
shamelessly betrays the commitments Iran has made to children's rights."

55 executions have been registered between July 11 and 27 in Iran. This is but 
a small part of the wave of executions taking place throughout the country. 
Many executions are carried out secretly and their news do not leak out.

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

52 youths awaiting execution in Tehran Prison

At least 52 youths under the age of 32 are awaiting the implementation of their 
execution sentences in Greater Tehran Prison (Fashafouyeh Prison), according to 
reports from the prison.

Among these death-row inmates, 32 are imprisoned in Section 1 and another 20 
are incarcerated in Section 2 of the prison.

According to informed sources, over 100 death-row prisoners in Unit 2 of 
Ghezel-Hesar Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran, who engaged in a series of 
strikes and rioting have been transferred to Fashafouyeh Prison.

(source for both: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)

BANGLADESH:

Shazneen murder: Top court confirms death sentence for 1, acquits 4 others

The Supreme Court has upheld death sentence for 1 person and acquitted 4 others 
in the murder of Shazneen Tasnim Rahman.

The 15-year-old girl, the youngest daughter of Transcom Chairman Latifur 
Rahman, was raped and murdered at her home in 1998.

The final verdict on Shazneen's brutal killing has given the death penalty to 
domestic help Shahidul Islam alias Shahid.

He was found guilty of raping and murdering Shazneen, who was a 9th grader at 
Scholastica School.

It acquitted contractor Syed Sajjad Moinuddin Hasan, who was in charge of 
renovating Latifur Rahman's house at that time. His assistant 'Badal, and 
maidservants Estema Khatun Minu and 'Parvin' were also let off.

In 2003, the trial court ordered death sentences for 6 persons in the murder 
and the High Court, in its 2006 verdict, upheld death for 5, but acquitted 1 of 
the accused.

Plaintiff's counsel Abdul Mobin said that the 5, who were convicted by the High 
Court, are now in jail.

"The matter of seeking a review of the verdict will be finalised after 
discussing with the plaintiff and the State counsels," he said.

The defence, however, said that justice has been served.

"2 cases were filed over the incident. The Appellate Division resolved one of 
them and the other with the judge's court has been scrapped," said counsel SM 
Shajahan.

According to court documents, Shazneen's body was spotted inside her ground 
floor bedroom by a domestic help on the night of Apr 23, 1998, when her father 
was hosting a party on the 1st floor of their Gulshan home.

She was stabbed at least 20 times. A 3-inch-deep wound was found on the neck.

A case was filed the next day accusing Shahid, whose death sentence has been 
upheld on Tuesday.

6 people were indicted for the murder. They were Shahid, contractor Hasan, his 
assistant Badal, maid servants Minu and Parvin, and carpenter Saniram Mandal.

All of them were found guilty and given death sentences in the September 2003 
verdict by the trial court.

The death references (seeking approval for execution) were forwarded to the 
High Court the same year while the convicts also challenged the trial court 
verdict.

In July 2006, the High Court upheld death for 5 and acquitted Mandal.

The 5 moved the Appellate Division against the sentence.

The State filed an appeal challenging Mandal's acquittal by the High Court, 
which the court scrapped on Tuesday.

The hearings began in March this year and the court kept its verdict pending on 
May 11 after concluding it.

(source: bdnews24.com)