[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 15



THAILAND:

Myanmar migrants accused of killing Thai


Just weeks after a Thai court sentenced 2 Myanmar migrants to the death penalty 
for the murder of 2 British tourists in Koh Tao, a similar case involving the 
killing of a young Thai woman appears to be headed to trial.

4 Myanmar migrant fishermen arrested in October 2015 stand accused of stabbing 
to death a 19-year-old Thai woman in the southern town of Ranong on September 
28, 2015.

Ko Moe Zin Aung, 19; Ko Zaw Lay, 25; Ko Mang Sein, 20; and Ko Kyaw Soe Win, 18, 
could face the death penalty, but their families claim to have security camera 
video evidence that they were working at the time of the murder.

After admitting to the act in official statements to the police, the men have 
retracted their confessions and now say they were tortured during police 
interrogation.

The suspects' relatives and lawyers have reported that the men were tortured 
between October 20 and October 24 while in custody, alleging that they were 
blindfolded, threatened at gunpoint, suffocated with plastic bags and kicked in 
the genitals. They also have disputed the age of the 2 youngest suspects, 
saying that Ko Moe Zin Aung and Ko Kyaw Soe Win had misrepresented their 
birthdates so as to find jobs in the fishing industry and are in fact, 15 and 
14 years old, respectively.

A medical examination has indicated that 3 of the 4 suspects were physically 
harmed during interrogations, reported the Bangkok Post.

The case bears similarities to the Koh Tao murder trial. 2 Myanmar workers were 
convicted of the murders of the UK backpackers and charged with the death 
penalty, but many believe they were scapegoats. Both men in that case retracted 
their confessions and said they were coerced by police.

After their convictions on December 24, angry Myanmar activists led protests 
around the region. Some border crossings between the neighbouring countries 
were closed due to demonstrations, and the Thai foreign ministry stated that it 
would close its embassy in Yangon for three days due to the uproar.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Cherdpong Chiewpreecha, an investigator who was 
involved with and testified in the Koh Tao case, is heading the Ranong 
investigation.

If details emerge that the 4 men have faced unjust treatment, Ko Win Ko Ko Lat, 
the chair of the Myanmar National Network, said his group might organise 
protests as they did following the Koh Tao trial. "As far as I know, the case 
is just an accusation at this point," he said. "We are trying to confirm the 
exact details of the case, so we have not planned any demonstrations or 
protests yet."

He added that his group has been trying to contact the workers' families and 
their crewmates from the fisheries to find out more information.

(source: Myanmar Times)






MALAYSIA:

Altantuya killer to make plea for clemency from Pardons Board


The Federal Court had on January 13 last year found former chief inspector 
Azilah Hadri and fellow cop Sirul Azhar Umar guilty of murdering Altantuya 
Shaariibuu, by reversing an earlier acquittal by the Court of Appeal.

In a last throw of the dice to save his life, one of the former police 
commandos on death row for the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, 
will apply for clemency from the Selangor Pardons Board.

Former chief inspector Azilah Hadri's petition for clemency will be submitted 
to the board today, his lawyer Datuk Hazman Ahmad said.

"However, I am not at liberty to reveal the contents of the petition due to 
solicitor-client privilege," he told The Malaysian Insider.

Hazman said copies of the petition will also be sent to the Attorney-General 
Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali and Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin 
Ali.

The Sultan of Selangor chairs the board and members include the A-G and the 
menteri besar.

The petition for pardon will be submitted to the board in Selangor as the 
offence was committed in the state.

Former attorney-general Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman said the board's secretariat 
should fix the hearing of the petition as soon as possible as the condemned 
person has been in prison for a year.

"It is inhumane to keep a person found guilty of capital punishment on death 
row for a year without referring the case to the pardons board for a decision," 
he told The Malaysian Insider.

He said the board was the final court of clemency although it could not 
substitute the finding of guilty with that of not guilty.

"Under our Federal Constitution, no death penalty can be executed without going 
to a Pardons Board," he said.

He said the board could consider any relevant matter in coming to a just 
decision.

He said the board could commute the death sentence to life imprisonment or in 
appropriate cases, grant the convict a pardon.

Abu Talib said the lawyer for Azilah would have made a representation in the 
petition why his client should not be executed.

Abu Talib, the A-G between 1980 and 1993, said the Federal Court was also 
obliged to give its legal opinion whether the execution should be carried out.

Similarly, he said the A-G or his representative, the state legal adviser, 
would give his advice but the board was not bound by the opinion.

He said Azilah was sentenced to death because the law had not provided the 
judges with any other option after he was found guilty.

On January 13 last year, a five-man Federal Court bench chaired by Chief 
Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria reversed the Court of Appeal's acquittal of Azilah 
and ex-commando Sirul Azhar Umar.

However, Sirul was not present in the apex court when judgment was delivered. 
It was later revealed that he had left for Australia in October 2014.

He was later arrested in Brisbane, and is currently being held at an 
immigration detention centre in Sydney.

Attempts are being made to extradite Sirul to Malaysia but Australian law 
dictates that a person facing the death penalty in his or her home country 
cannot be extradited.

Evidence in court revealed that Altantuya, a Mongolian translator, was murdered 
before her body was blown up by C4 explosives on October 18, 2006, on the 
outskirts of Shah Alam, near the capital city Kuala Lumpur.

Former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, a confidant of then deputy Prime 
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was charged with abetting Azilah and Sirul but 
was acquitted by the High Court in 2008 without his defence being called.

The government did not appeal.

Despite the conviction of the 2 former police commandos, the motive for the 
murder was never established.

(source: themalaysianinsider.com)






IRAN----executions

11 Prisoners Executed in Central and Northern Iran----Reports of 1 execution in 
central Iran and ten prisoners in the north of the country.


Iran state run media, Ashkezar News, reports on the execution of 1 prisoner on 
the morning of Thursday January 14 at Yazd's central prison (central Iran). 
According to the report, the prisoner, identified as "A.B.", was a Wahhabi.

According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, 6 prisoners were hanged at 
Orumiyeh's central prison (northern Iran) on murder charges. The executions 
were reportedly carried out on Wednesday January 13. On Tuesday the prisoners 
had been transferred from their cells to solitary confinement in preparation 
for their executions. The prisoners have been identified as Aref Shahindeji, 
Hossein Ezzataleb, Rahman Ranjbar, Alireza Akbari, Arsalan Badyaneh, and Abdul 
Wahab Hatami.

According to the human rights group, HRANA, 4 prisoners were hanged at Karaj's 
central prison (northern Iran) on drug charges. The executions were reportedly 
carried out on the morning of Tuesday January 12. The prisoners have been 
identified as Seyed Hamid Hajian, Hossein Toutiannoush, Mostafa Jamshidi, and 
Mohsen Nasiri.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






BAHAMAS:

Chief Justice Calls For Juries To Be Scrapped In Death Penalty Cases


Jury trials should be abolished or restricted to criminal cases where the 
potential for the imposition of the death penalty arises, Chief Justice Sir 
Hartman Longley said yesterday.

During his remarks at the 2016 Legal Year Opening Ceremony held in the Supreme 
Court, the chief justice expressed grave concern with jury candidates and the 
ability to comprehend their role in the justice system.

He said a "more fundamental reform needs to occur" if stakeholders want 
criminal matters heard quickly, "in addition to removing a large number of 
cases through nolle or otherwise."

The present jury system, he noted, lacks accountability and proper vetting of 
jurors on whether they comprehend the directions and instructions of judges 
regarding the law in criminal cases.

"No one who has ever been convicted or acquitted by a jury knows the periphery 
reason why he or she was convicted or acquitted. There's simply no 
accountability."

"Even if the judge gets it right, we have no way of knowing if the jury truly 
understood the instructions and indeed got it right. It is only an assumption," 
the chief justice added.

He also said given the country's "hush-hush level" of the national grade 
average, there is cause for concern for the future of the jury system.

"I recently went to a school where it was frightening to hear teachers 
complaining of having to teach Phonics and basic stuff to assist 10 and 
11-year-olds that are normally taught by preschool teachers."

"These are surely to be our next level of jurors, a most frightening thought," 
the chief justice said.

In December 2011, former Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall, while speaking at a 
lecture series at the Harry C Moore Library hosted by the Eugene Dupuch Law 
School, recommended the Bahamas move away from a jury system, as it is 
"inefficient" and "costly".

Then Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett dissented at the 2012 Legal Year 
Opening, arguing that as long as it remains a constitutional right, serving on 
a jury is a fundamental right in our society.

Court of Appeal president, Justice Dame Anita Allen at the time admitted that 
the jury system was not perfect but noted that bench trials were not without 
flaws notwithstanding they were less costly and more efficient.

(source: tribune242.com)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Palestinians Call for Release of Poet Awaiting Saudi Execution ---- 
Intellectuals and writers gather in Ramallah as part of campaign for works of 
Ashraf Fayadh to be read in 42 countries to press that his life be spared.


Palestinian intellectuals and writers have gathered in the West Bank to read 
poems and call for the release of a Palestinian poet awaiting execution in 
Saudi Arabia.

Thursday's readings in the city of Ramallah were part of a campaign launched by 
the International Literature Festival in Berlin for works of Ashraf Fayadh to 
be read in 42 countries to press that his life be spared.

Human Rights Watch says Fayadh was convicted and sentenced to death on charges 
of blasphemy, spreading atheism and having illicit relationships with women, 
based on photographs found on his mobile phone. He told the court the 
photographs were of women he had met at an art gallery.

Poet Mahmoud Abu Hashhash says no poet "should be punished for his creation" 
but awarded for his art.

(source: Ha'aretz)