[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 17



IRAN:

Iran defends its capital punishment in Europe


Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, his country's Iran's capital 
punishment law at the European parliament on Tuesday, saying Iran mostly 
executes drug smugglers.

The remarks came in Brussels when lawmakers criticized the increasing number of 
death sentences in Iran.

Zarif also blamed Europe for their "lack of support" to help Iran control the 
flow of drugs to European countries.

"The European Union has accused Iran of human rights violations and banned the 
export of technical tools that would be used to combat the drug trade," Zarif 
told European lawmakers, according to BBC Persian.

The number of executions in Iran has sharply increased in recent years. At 
least 687 people were put to death in 2013, compared to 99 people in 2004.

Human rights activists worry that the nuclear deal with Iran and the country's 
increasing economic and trade relations with Europe may take the spotlight off 
its human rights record.

In a report in late 2015 the UN General Assembly condemned the human rights 
situation in Iran.

The report indicated that execution rates in Iran have rapidly increased and 
that 694 people were executed in Iran in 2015.

This is the highest number of executions in the country since the Iran-Iraq 
War, Ahmed Shaheed, the special UN rapporteur for human rights in Iran, told 
Rudaw at that time.

(source: rudaw.net)






SAUDI ARABIA----executions

Saudi executes 3 drug traffickers


Saudi Arabia on Wednesday executed one of its citizens and 2 Yemenis convicted 
of drug trafficking, bringing to 63 the number of people it has put to death 
this year.

Saudi national Daifallah al-Omrani was executed in the northern region of Tabuk 
after his conviction for smuggling amphetamines, the interior ministry said.

In a separate case, Yemeni citizens Ahmed Mubarak and Abdul Salam al-Jamali 
were executed in the southwestern city of Jazan near their homeland, the 
ministry said.

They were convicted of trying to smuggle hashish.

Most people sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded by a sword.

The kingdom executed 47 people in a single day on January 2 for "terrorism".

In 2015 Saudi Arabia executed 153 people, mostly for drug trafficking or 
murder, according to an AFP count.

Amnesty International says the number of executions in Saudi Arabia last year 
was the highest for 2 decades.

The kingdom practises a strict Islamic legal code under which murder, drug 
trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death.

Rights experts have raised concerns about the fairness of trials in Saudi 
Arabia, which says the death penalty is a deterrent to crime.

(source: Agence France-Presse)






BANGLADESH:

Quasem's counsel ends arguments


Counsel for war criminal Mir Quasem Ali today concluded arguments on an appeal 
filed with the Supreme Court by Quasem challenging his death penalty for 
wartime offences.

During today's hearing, SM Shahjahan, a lawyer for Mir Quasem, told the 
Appellate Division that statements of the prosecution witnesses are not 
credible as their statements do not corroborate each other.

When Quasem was on trial, the prosecution witnesses had given their statements 
to International Crimes Tribunal-2 on the charges brought against him. But most 
of them did not give the same statements to the investigation officer of the 
case, Shahjahan told the court.

He also prayed to the court to acquit his client.

After concluding today's hearing, the 5-member bench of the Appellate Division 
headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha fixed February 23 to hear legal 
aspects from the attorney general.

After attorney general's argument conclusion, the defence counsel can give 
reply to the prosecution arguments, the court said.

The SC started hearing the appeal on February 9.

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on November 2, 2014 sentenced Quasem to 
death after finding him guilty on 10 charges for abducting, confining and 
torturing people during the Liberation War.

Around 4 weeks later, he filed an appeal with the SC, challenging the 
tribunal's verdict.

Quasem, a member of Jamaat's central executive council, in his appeal cited 181 
reasons for his acquittal on all the charges.

(source: The Daily Star)

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

Bangladesh mulls death penalty for dowry-provoked suicide


The government is amending the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980 keeping provision 
for death sentence for provoking suicide.

Currently, the law stipulates only jail terms for any dowry dealing, according 
to a local news agency.

The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has prepared a draft to amend the 
Dowry Prohibition Act prescribing more stringent punishment for the crime.

The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980 only provides for punishment for taking dowry 
and is silent on the issue of harassment.

The draft law has a provision for sentence to death or life imprisonment if 
husband, in-laws or any other person leads a woman to commit suicide over 
dowry.

The draft law also provides for life imprisonment for attempt to murder over 
dowry and sentence to life or a minimum of 12 years of imprisonment or both for 
causing any grievous injury.

Life term or a minimum of 12 years of imprisonment has been fixed as punishment 
for dismemberment over dowry in the proposed amendment.

The husband will require paying alimony as per the nature of the wounds 
inflicted on the wife, according to the draft law.

Taking or demanding dowry will invite a minimum jail term of 1 year and maximum 
of 5 years and a minimum fine of Tk 50,000.

For lodging any false complaint or case, the punishment will be 6-month 
imprisonment or a fine of Tk 50,000 or both.

The draft law has also defined various kinds of harassment and crimes.

The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs' Additional Secretary 
(Administration) Bikash Kishore Das told the news agency that the law was being 
amended considering all aspects.

"The amendment proposes to increase punishment for dowry in the present 
context. The draft has been prepared by taking views of the stakeholders," he 
said.

The draft law has also kept provision for formulating rules in accordance with 
the new Dowry Prohibition Act.

(source: financialexpress-bd.com)






PHILIPPINES:

Bongbong Marcos backs death penalty for drug trafficking


While Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. believes that there is no quick fix 
to the country's drug problems, he is supporting the death penalty for those 
involved in the illegal drug trade.

Marcos pointed out on Tuesday that solving the country's drug problem has 
become complex, adding that it should be seen, not only as a police problem but 
as a societal problem as well.

The vice presidential hopeful, who led the oath-taking of at least 1,000 
members of the We Parents organization in Pasig City, said the different 
sectors of society, organized in groups like the "We Parents," should come 
together to help solve one of the country's biggest problems.

The We Parents organization was formed in 2012 in Pasig City to help address 
some of the city's problems, such as livelihood. The organization is composed 
of members of parent-teachers associations, homeowners associations and even 
public utility drivers and operators associations that conduct various programs 
like skills training in partnership with the local government.

"We need all sectors of society to come together, starting from the parents. 
[We should focus our efforts in] the values formation of the children and 
strengthening the Filipino family. I think the solution lies in a strong family 
that the child can depend on," Marcos said.

During his speech at Barangay Maybunga's covered court, Marcos said that "92 % 
of barangays in Metro Manila have been affected by the illegal drug problem."

"This is alarming not only because of the crime related to it but also because 
[drug dealers] want to prey on our children, who are our country's future... If 
they will prey on our children, it's like they're destroying our future," 
Marcos told residents of the city that was once in the limelight because of its 
"shabu tiangge."

Marcos said the negative effects illegal drugs have brought to society have 
convinced him to support the death penalty for the traffickers.

"Because of the scale of damage they inflict [to society], I think they deserve 
the death penalty," he said.

(source: inquirer.net)