[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----NIGER., INDON., TURK., GUY.

[Rick Halperin]

July 16



NIGERIA:

Lawyers advocate capital punishment for kidnapping----The lawyers decried the 
increasing cases of kidnapping cases in the country, saying that death sentence 
would serve as a deterrent to those who want to venture into the crime


Some Abuja-based lawyers have called on the Federal Government to enact a law 
making kidnapping a capital offence punishable with death.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that the law 
when enacted should be domesticated by the states and local governments.

The lawyers decried the increasing cases of kidnapping cases in the country, 
saying that death sentence would serve as a deterrent to those who want to 
venture into the crime.

Mr Maxwell Akoh-Onoja, a lawyer, advocated an amendment to the law as it 
relates to kidnapping.

"The current law should be amended, kidnapping is too rampant in the country 
now and there should be stiffer punishment for the crime.

"The judiciary cannot act outside what is in the law book," Akoh-Onoja said.

Akoh-Onoja expressed regrets that many convictions had not been secured in 
kidnap cases, and called on judges to ensure that such cases were heard 
expeditiously in their court.

According to him, kidnapping is one of the signs of a failed state.

Another lawyer, Mr Joe Okete, said that it was the inability of government to 
put some things in place that caused the issue of kidnapping.

Okete outlined unemployment and the breakdown of moral instructions as some of 
the major causes of kidnapping.

"The only way the judiciary can come in to curb kidnapping is by implementing 
the law.

"There should also be stringent legislation against possession of firearms by 
the general public.

"Criminals like kidnappers should be given long term jail against capital 
punishment if possible," he said.

Okete called on the government to enact a legislation that would empower the 
educational system in the area of entrepreneur to give loan to deserving 
graduate.

According to Okete, if the education system is empowered in the area of 
entrepreneurship with loans, it will reduce the rate of crime.

Also, Mr Boniface Udeh, supported death penalty for any person who found guilty 
of kidnapping.

Udeh also advocated for family value, saying that parents should teach their 
wards well with the moral laws of the land.

He called on the government to create employment opportunities for the youths 
to dissuade them from being targets for recruitment by kidnappers.

(source: pulse.ng)






INDONESIA:

AGO waits for Supreme Court ruling to set date for executions


The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is waiting for a Supreme Court ruling to 
set the date of the third round of executions of drug convicts, an AGO official 
said on Friday.

The Supreme Court will soon announce its decision on a case review and 
cassation submitted by a number of death row convicts, Attorney General 
Muhammad Prasetyo said.

"We are still coordinating [the details of the executions] and we hope they 
will be carried out soon," Prasetyo told journalists.

Despite the public outcry from those opposed to the death penalty, the 
government's resolve to execute drug dealers and distributors will not waver, 
as they have brought a huge threat to the country, Prasetyo asserted.

He said he hoped convicted drug lord Freddy Budiman, who ran his narcotics 
business from behind bars, would be included on the list of death row convicts 
that would be executed in the next round.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration has executed 14 death-row 
convicts in two rounds both of which were carried out last year.

(source: Jakarta Post)






TURKEY:

Turkey's PM: Constitution Council to consider death penalty after coup attempt 
---- 161 died, 1,440 got injured in the military coup attempt in Turkey, the 
country's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said


161 died, 1,440 got injured in the military coup attempt in Turkey, let alone 
the killed among the plotters, the country's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim 
said in an interview with the Haberturk television channel on Saturday.

A group of insurgents staged a military attempt coup in Turkey on the night 
from Friday to Saturday. Bombs were dropped on the parliament building and the 
presidential palace in Ankara.

More than 2,800 military were detained after the military coup attempt in 
Turkey, Binali Yildirim said.

"The total of arrested is 2,839," he said. "Among them are high-ranking 
military, officers."

According to Yildirim, Turkey will consider introduction of death penalty after 
the attempt of a military coup in the country.

"Death penalty is banned in Turkey," he said. "Today the Constitution Council 
will have a meeting to discuss jointly with parties whether it is reasonable to 
return to this form of punishment."

A country, sheltering oppositionist Gulen, is not a friend of Turkey, the 
country's Prime Minister said.

"Gulen is a leader of a terrorist organization," he said. "I am not looking now 
at the country, which shelters him. If this country hides a terrorist, this 
country is not a friend of Turkey and it leads a hidden war against Turkey. The 
coup attempt's organizer must be punished."

Earlier, the Turkish government said the coup was inspired by supporters of the 
Hizmet pro-Islamic movement, opposing Erdogan. The movement is connected with 
Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the U.S., and whom Ankara accused of 
destabilizing the situation in the republic in summer of 2013 and of other 
attempts to undermine the authorities.

Gulen's supporters ruled out accusations they are involved in the events in 
Turkey. In a statement they called the accusations "highly irresponsible."

A group of insurgents staged a military attempt coup in Turkey on the night 
from Friday to Saturday. Bombs were dropped on the parliament building and the 
presidential palace in Ankara.

(source: tass.ru)

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

Turkey coup: Erdogan government could restore death penalty, deputy leader 
warns


The Turkish government is considering bringing back the death penalty so it can 
execute those involved in the attempted military coup against President Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan.

Mehmet Muezzinoglu, the ruling Justice and Development Party's Deputy Leader, 
said the government will introduce a bill calling for the execution of rebel 
soldiers.

"We will put forward a motion, which will demand the execution of those who 
have been involved in the coup attempt," Mr Muezzinoglu wrote on Twitter.

Following his comments, #Idamistiyorum ("I want death penalty") has become the 
top trend on Twitter in Turkey. The hashtag has been used more than 23,000 
times.

The call for the death penalty came as the government appeared to be regaining 
control after a coup which left more than 260 dead and 1,000 wounded.

At one point it looked as if the coup would succeed, with Turkey's military 
chief of staff General Hulusi Akar having been taken hostage and a TV news 
anchor forced to keep repeating: "The political administration that has lost 
all legitimacy and has been forced to withdraw."

President Erdogan appeared to have been caught off guard while on holiday. He 
had to resort to giving interviews via mobile phone and FaceTime to insist he 
was still in control.

But citizens took to the streets in support of the president, lying down in 
front of tanks or climbing on top of them in Istanbul.

Mr Erdogan succeeded in returning to Istanbul, and General Akar was reportedly 
rescued after an operation at an air base on the outskirts of the capital 
Ankara.

As pictures emerged of soldiers involved in the coup surrendering, while being 
punched by civilian supporters of President Erdogan, a senior Turkish official 
said 1,563 military personnel were now in custody across the country - awaiting 
an increasingly uncertain fate.

(source: The Independent)






GUYANA:

Guyana hosts judicial colloquium on abolishing death penalty


Guyana will next week host a judicial colloquium on the abolition of the death 
penalty.

The European Union (EU) Delegation to Guyana is facilitating the July 20th 
conference in partnership with the International Commission against the Death 
Penalty, the Chancellor of the Judiciary of the Government of Guyana, the 
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the 
Embassy of the Netherlands in Suriname.

According to a statement issued by the European Union Delegation to Guyana, 
Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and current 
Commissioner of the International Commission against the Death Penalty, Ivan 
Simonovic, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, and Emeritus 
Professor Marc Bossuyt, Emeritus President of the Constitutional Court of 
Belgium, will participate in the colloquium.

The statement added that the colloquium, which will include members of the 
local judiciary, will consider the following subjects: The Role of the United 
Nations in the Abolition of the Death Penalty; The Experience of Other 
Countries in Abolishing the Death Penalty; The Second Optional Protocol to the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and The Role of Judges in 
Abolishing the Death Penalty.

It noted that the European Union, the International Commission against the 
Death Penalty and the United Nations advocate for the universal abolition of 
the death penalty. This is based on the fundamental nature of the right to 
life; the unacceptable risk of executing innocent people; and the absence of 
proof that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to crime. The abolition of 
the death penalty is essential for the protection of human dignity, as well as 
for the progressive development of human rights, the statement added.

The venue for the colloquium is the Marriott Hotel.

(source: Stabroek News)