[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----UN, NIGER., BAHAM., MOROC., S. ARAB., INDIA, BANG., IRAQ, INDON.

[Rick Halperin]

July 31



UNITED NATIONS:

UN chief bucks capital punishment


The United Nations human rights chief is opposing the imposition of capital 
punishment in all circumstances, saying death penalty is "not an effective 
deterrent" to crime and does not protect people from drug abuse.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein was reacting to the 
execution of four convicted drug traffickers in Indonesia last Friday.

Convicted Filipina drug trafficker Mary Jane Veloso was spared because the 
Philippine government under former president Benigno Aquino III asked that she 
be allowed to testify against Maria Kristina Sergio, who allegedly recruited 
her and tricked her into smuggling 2.6 kg of heroin into Indonesia.

But the new Philippine administration under President Duterte has expressed 
conviction that death penalty can be used to stop illegal drug trade in the 
country.

Al Hussein said the focus of drug-related crime prevention should involve 
strengthening the justice system to make it more effective.

He also called on authorities of "the most prolific executioner" in Southeast 
Asia to immediately reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty.

"The increasing use of the death penalty in Indonesia is terribly worrying, and 
I urge the government to immediately end this practice which is unjust and 
incompatible with human rights," he said.

"I find it deeply disturbing that Indonesia has already executed 19 people 
since 2013, making it the most prolific executioner in Southeast Asia," he 
added.

Al Hussein noted that under international law, particularly the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Indonesia has ratified, countries 
which have not abolished the death penalty may only use capital punishment for 
"the most serious crimes."

He pointed out that drug-related offenses do not fall under this threshold of 
"most serious crimes," which have been interpreted to mean only crimes 
involving intentional killing.

He said that while he acknowledges the challenges faced by Indonesia in 
combating drug-related crimes, the country's response must be rooted in 
international human rights law.

Phl death penalty bill

Meanwhile, the death penalty bill in the House of Representatives faces rough 
sailing as opposition congressmen are determined to block its passage.

"We will fight tooth and nail any and all attempts to renew the death penalty 
and send us back to the medieval ages," Rep. Lito Atienza of party-list group 
Buhay said yesterday.

He said he and his pro-life colleagues would argue doggedly against any measure 
that seeks to re-impose capital punishment.

Another opposition lawmaker, Harry Roque of Kabayan, said he, like Atienza, is 
against the revival of the death penalty.

"What we need to do is to reform the criminal justice system," he said.

The 2 belong to the opposition bloc led by Minority Leader Danilo Suarez.

Ironically, Suarez is supporting President Duterte's proposal for re-imposition 
of the death penalty.

(source: Philippine Star)






NIGERIA:

Court remands 22-year-old man in prison----22-year-old Okoh, stabbed the 
deceased in the stomach and head on May 29, 2016 in Mafoluku, Oshodi.


The Ebute-Metta Chief Magistrates' Court, Lagos, has remanded a 22-year-old 
man, Innocent Okoh, in prison, on a suspicion of murder.

Okoh, who appeared before the court on Friday, July 29, 2016, was accused of 
stabbing Kehinde Kafaru, 18, which lead to his death.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reported that the deceased was stabbed on the 
stomach and head.

2 counts charges of conspiracy and murder, has been levelled against the 
suspect for his crime.

Inspector Jimah Iseghede, a prosecutor in the case, told the court that Okoh 
killed the deceased on May 29, 2016 in Mafoluku, Oshodi.

The offences contravened Sections 221 and 231 of the Criminal Law of Lagos 
State, 2011, with the former carrying a death penalty for anyone convicted.

The court magistrate, Miss B.O. Ope-Agbe, instructed that the accused be 
remanded at the Ikoyi Prisons until further notice.

The case was adjourned till August 30, 2016, for hearing.

(source: pulse.ng)






BAHAMAS:

Sentencing Adjourned For 4 Convicted In Connection With Kidnapping And Double 
Murder


The sentencing of 4 men convicted of having a role in the disappearance and 
murder of an Immigration Department officer and his girlfriend in Andros has 
been adjourned by another 8 weeks.

Zintworn Duncombe, 28, James Johnson, 22, Daniel Coakley, 28, and Cordero 
Saunders, 26, were expected to appear before Justice Indra Charles on Thursday 
to be sentenced for their respective roles in the murder and kidnapping of 
Shane Gardiner and his girlfriend, Tishka Braynen.

Though the probation officers and psychiatrist were present to give an account 
for their reports that had been ordered to be produced by the judge, the 
subjects of the reports were absent from the proceedings.

It was revealed to the court that the men had not been sent for.

As a result, the matter was further adjourned to September 30.

Gardiner and Braynen were allegedly killed after a failed plot to take $8,000 
in gambling winnings from the immigration officer. Braynen, of Cargill Creek, 
and Gardiner, who lived in Love Hill, both in Central Andros, were reported 
missing around 1.45pm on November 24, 2013. Gardiner had recently been assigned 
to the island.

On December 21, 2013, police in Andros discovered the remains of a man with 
"items related to a female".

All 4 men were unanimously convicted of double kidnapping, conspiracy to commit 
armed robbery and attempted armed robbery.

The Crown is seeking the death penalty for Duncombe and Johnson who were 
unanimously convicted of murder. Because of the request for the death penalty, 
the court ordered the production of a psychiatric report and social inquiry 
report with respect to the 2 convicts.

Duncombe, Saunders, Johnson and Coakley, who all denied the allegations, were 
respectively represented by lawyers Ian Cargill, Moses Bain, Donna Major and 
Terrel Butler.

Darnell Dorsett and Patrick Sweeting prosecuted the case.

(source: tribune242.com)






MOROCCO:

King Mohammed VI Pardons 1,272 Convicts on Throne Day


On the the Throne Day, to be celebrated on Saturday in Morocco, King Mohammed 
VI granted pardon to 1,272 persons who were convicted by different courts 
across the Kingdom, the Ministry of Justice said in a statement.

The detained beneficiaries of the pardon are 992:

-- 11 inmates benefited from the pardon over their remaining prison term.

-- 939 inmates had their prison terms reduced.

-- Sentences for 23 convicts were commuted from death penalty to life 
imprisonment.

-- 19 inmates had their prison sentences commuted from life imprisonment to 
fixed prison terms.

The free beneficiaries of the pardon are 280:

-- 53 inmates benefited from pardon over their imprisonment term or remaining 
prison term.

-- 15 inmates had their prison sentences dropped and fines maintained.

-- 12 inmates benefited from pardon over their prison terms and fines

-- 200 inmates had their fines annulled.

Pardon is granted to a number of prisoners by the Sovereign on the occasion of 
religious and major national celebrations.

(source: moroccoworldnews.com)




SAUDI ARABIA/UNITED KINNGDOM:

Boris Johnson told to act over Saudi execution threat


Fears are growing that Saudi Arabia is about to behead a man for crimes 
committed when he was a juvenile - in violation of both international and Saudi 
law - triggering calls for the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, to publicly 
reject Saudi "propaganda" claims that the accused should have been considered 
an adult at the time of the crime.

Human rights groups are concerned that a Twitter account with close links to 
the Saudi government is now raising the profile of Ali al-Nimr, who was 
sentenced to death on charges relating to his role in anti-government protests 
in 2012 when he was 17. In the past, similar activity on the Twitter account 
has been a signal that an individual is about to be executed. 2 other men, 
Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher, convicted of similar offences when 
juveniles, also face beheading.

Under Saudi law juveniles cannot be executed. But, in its latest Human Rights 
Priority Country assessment for Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Office states that 
"all 3 were convicted of crimes committed when they were juveniles, although 
under Saudi law they are considered to have been adult at the time".

The case of al-Nimr was highlighted by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn last year 
and became a cause celebre. Following Corbyn's appeal, the Foreign Office, 
which raised the matter with the Saudis, said it did not expect the three to be 
executed. But the Foreign Office's decision to repeat the Saudi claim has 
alarmed human rights groups, who are concerned about the signals it sends out 
to the kingdom.

"The British government should not be accepting the Saudis' excuses for their 
appalling plans to behead people sentenced to death as children," said Maya 
Foa, director of the death penalty team at international human rights 
organisation Reprieve.

"The government must stop hiding behind the fiction that Abdullah, Ali and 
Dawood are considered adults under Saudi law. The reality is that the Saudis 
are breaking both their own laws and international law in their plans to 
execute these 3 - all of whom were arrested when they were under 18 and accused 
of involvement in protests calling for reform."

Saudi law stipulates that juveniles can be classed as adults if they have hit 
puberty and are close to adulthood. But this has to be made clear at their 
trial. Reprieve insists this was not the case. It points out that all 3 were 
held in juvenile detention on arrest, and has written to the Foreign Office 
urging it not to accept the Saudi line. It has also raised the matter in a 
letter to Johnson.

"The attention the Foreign Office has paid to these cases so far is welcome," 
Foa said. "However, they must ensure they are not giving support to Saudi 
government propaganda, as they have done all too often before. Boris Johnson 
needs to set the record straight and call on the Saudi authorities to 
immediately commute the death sentences handed down to these 3 juveniles."

The issue represents an urgent challenge to Johnson's authority. As foreign 
secretary he must recognise the UK's commitment to human rights - but will also 
understand the need to placate the Saudis, who have bought billions of pounds' 
worth of UK jets, weapons and military hardware.

The 3 young men claim that they were tortured into confessions. Along with 
serious crimes such as making and throwing Molotov cocktails at police, they 
were convicted of an array of offences including "observing the movements of 
vehicles belonging to the security forces", "buying for and distributing water 
to protesters" and "explaining how to give first aid to protesters".

All 3 deny involvement in violent activity. There are widespread concerns that 
their trials did not follow due process, as lawyers for the three were denied 
access to the evidence against them.

There have also been claims that the case against al-Nimr is politically 
motivated because he is the nephew of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a reformist cleric 
who called for an end to corruption and discrimination against minorities. Nimr 
was executed in a mass execution of 47 prisoners last January, including Ali 
Saeed al-Rebh, 18, who was arrested after attending protests when he was 17.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "The government's position is clear and 
understood by Saudi Arabia: we oppose the death penalty in all circumstances 
and in all countries. We regularly raise the case of Ali al-Nimr, and the 2 
others who were juveniles when they committed the crimes of which they have 
been convicted, including during the former foreign secretary's most recent 
visit to Saudi Arabia. We expect that they will not be executed. Nevertheless, 
we continue to raise these cases with the Saudi authorities."

(source: The Guardian)






INDIA:

Death penalty for HuJI operative in Shramjeevi Express blast


A HuJI operative was today awarded death penalty in the 2005 Shramjeevi Express 
train blast case by a local court here.

Alamgeer alias Rony, a Bangladeshi national, was awarded death sentence and a 
fine of Rs 7 lakh by Additional District and Sessions Judge Buddhiram Yadav who 
had held the accused guilty yesterday.

The verdict for another accused in the case, Ubed-ur-Rehman alias Babu, would 
be pronounced on August 2.

12 persons were killed and many others injured when an explosion ripped apart a 
coach of New Delhi-bound Shramjeevi Express from Patna near Jaunpur station in 
Uttar Pradesh on July 28, 2005.

The explosion was later found to have been caused by RDX stored in the toilet 
of the coach.

According to eyewitnesses, 2 men had boarded the train at Jaunpur with a white 
suitcase but shortly afterwards jumped out of the moving train without it and 
ran away. A few minutes later, the explosion shook the carriage.

Along with Rony, Ubed-ur-Rehman, Nafeequl Biswas and Sohag alias Hilal -- all 
Bangladeshi nationals with links to terror outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami 
(HuJI) -- were subsequently arrested by the police.

Nafeequl and Hilal are currently lodged in Hyderabad jail in connection with 
another case, while another accused, Sharif, is on the run. 2 more accused, 
Ghulam Razdani alias Yahya and Sayeed, died during the pendency of the case.

(source: The Economic Times))

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

Why prisoners are executed before sunrise


Executions are rare in India and death sentences are awarded only in cases of 
rarest of rare crimes.

Among the last few executions witnessed in India were of Mohammad Ajmal Amir 
Kasab, a Pakistani terrorist, and Afzal Guru, conspirator in Parliament attack 
case.

While the debate continues over whether capital punishment is justified or not, 
there is an interesting aspect associated with it.

Why are those on death row executed before sunrise?

We all have seen in films that whenever any prisoner is executed, only a 
handful of persons are present to witness the act.

Among them are a judicial executioner, a magistrate or his representative, a 
doctor and some policemen.

And there are several reasons why executions are carried out before sunrise in 
India.

-- Jail authorities have to focus a lot of energies on carrying out an 
execution and they wind up the same before sunrise so that it does not affect 
their daily schedule. Requirements pre and post execution include medical tests 
and noting of procedures in multiple registers.

-- The body also needs to be handed over to the prisoner's family post 
execution in time so that they can conduct the last rites the same day.

-- Executions are carried out early in the morning so as to ensure that the 
person on death row does not have to wait for long on a day he is due to be 
hanged and to prevent him from undergoing further mental trauma.

-- Hangings are carried out early in the morning in order to prevent sudden 
reactions from the society as most people are asleep when the development takes 
place.

(source: zeenews.com)






BANGLADESH:

British reporter, 81, held in Bangladesh for three months as his family fear he 
could face death penalty


An elderly British journalist investigating corruption in Bangladesh has been 
arrested by a police squad that received UK aid funding despite allegations of 
torture.

Shafik Rehman, 81, was seized in April on accusations of plotting to kidnap and 
kill the prime minister's son. He has been held without charge for 3 months, 
and his family fears he faces the death penalty if convicted.

The former BBC contributor, who has dual British and Bangladeshi nationality, 
is a prominent opposition figure. He is also credited with introducing 
Valentine's Day as a holiday to the mainly Muslim country.

Britain is Bangladesh's biggest aid donor. This year it is handing over 154 
million pounds, despite growing repression and a free-speech crackdown that has 
seen three leading opposition journalists arrested since 2013.

'This is the problem with aid all over the world - there is no accountability,' 
said Mr Rehman's son Shumit, who runs a tuition company in North London. 'But 
ultimately Britain is responsible if it is paying these people.'

His father, who trained as an accountant and edits a popular magazine, was 
taken by police posing as a TV crew then interrogated for ten days, his family 
say.

Mr Rehman was forced to sleep on the floor in solitary confinement for a 
further 15 days, despite worsening health problems. He suffers from diabetes 
and has a stent in his artery.

His cell in a notorious prison is next to another prominent journalist who has 
been held without charge for 3 years. Mr Rehman, who has 3 grandchildren in 
Britain, has told his family he fears the same fate.

He was arrested by Bangladesh's detective branch, which is accused by Human 
Rights Watch of being responsible for serious abuses 'including arbitrary 
arrests, torture, enforced disappearances and killings'. Yet in 2009, Britain 
gave 10 million pounds towards a 5-year United Nations scheme to enhance the 
unit's ability to deal 'professionally' with investigations.

The police training continued until 7 months ago. British aid to Bangladesh 
includes 33.63 million pounds for a 'safety and justice programme', despite a 
warning last year that such support 'could be used for political purposes 
and/or human rights violations'.

The watchdog said UK aid may be helping intelligence efforts 'used to monitor 
and suppress political opposition groups'.

Bangladesh has been sliding into authoritarian rule and was hit by a series of 
Islamist murders in recent months. Mr Rehman's family, who called the 
allegations 'farcical', believe his arrest was linked to an advisory role he 
took with the main opposition leader earlier this year.

Maya Foa, of anti-death penalty charity Reprieve, which has taken up the case, 
said: 'Britain must demand answers from Bangladesh on whether UK aid has 
contributed to the arrest of journalists like Shafik Rehman.'

The Department for International Development said aid to Bangladesh police 
stopped last year, adding: 'It is wrong to suggest DFID funding contributes to 
human rights violations. The UK Government is committed to protecting human 
rights and holding to account those responsible for the worst violations and 
abuses.'

(source: dailymail.co.uk)






IRAQ:

Iraq Upholds Death Penalty for 40 Alleged Camp Speicher Massacre Participants


In February, Iraq sentenced 40 out of 47 men to be be executed by hanging over 
the June 2014 massacre, when Daesh killed over 1,600 Shia Iraqi Air Force 
cadets in an attack on Camp Speicher in Tikrit. The Iraqi government blamed the 
massacre on both Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many countries, and members of 
the Iraqi wing of the Arab Socialist Baath Party, which is banned in the 
country.

"The decision [to uphold executions], taken earlier by the Central Criminal 
Court has been approved," a spokesperson for the court system was quoted as 
saying by the Al Sumaria broadcaster.

In February, the sentence was criticized by the Amnesty International watchdog, 
that noted that the vast majority of such trials have been "grossly unfair".

(source: Sputnik News)






INDONESIA:

Indonesia Ignored All Plea to Not Execute The 3 Nigerians


Indonesia executed four convicted drug traffickers, including three Nigerians, 
early on Friday as it pushed ahead with its "war against drugs", although 
another 10 scheduled executions were delayed.

As many as 14 people were originally set to face the firing squad together on 
Friday, but officials decided a "comprehensive review" was needed to "avoid any 
mistake" in the 10 cases, Attorney General H. Muhammad Prasetyo said.

The date for the next round of executions has not been set, Prasetyo told 
reporters in Jakarta.

At least 2 prisoners among that group of 10, a Pakistani national and an 
Indonesian woman have applied for presidential clemency, their representatives 
said.

"They said legal proceedings could take a long time.

Those executed - 3 Nigerians and an Indonesian man - were shot during a 
thunderstorm shortly after midnight on Nusakambangan Island in Central Java.

The government ignored international calls for clemency and pushed ahead with 
its drive against narcotics.

"Our battle against drug crimes is not over and it will continue. We will 
maintain our commitment, our firmness and our consistency," Prasetyo said.

Indonesia has become a "business field" for the production, distribution, 
import and export of drugs, Prasetyo said.

Indonesia executed 14 prisoners, mostly foreign drugs offenders, just over a 
year ago, causing diplomatic outrage.

Rights activists and governments have again called on Indonesia to abolish the 
death penalty.

Those calls have gone unheeded and President Joko Widodo has said drugs pose as 
serious a threat as terrorism in what is one of Southeast Asia's biggest 
markets for narcotics.

The president's office often cites figures that drugs are killing at least 40 
people a day, but several international experts have questioned the methodology 
used to arrive at those statistics.

The death penalty is widely accepted by the Indonesian public, but police had 
to break up a protest outside the prison on Thursday by members of a migrant 
workers group who called for mercy for the Indonesian woman who was scheduled 
to be executed.

Amnesty International called the latest executions "a deplorable act that 
violates international and Indonesian law" and pleaded that the other death 
sentences not be carried out.

Around 152 people remain on death row in Indonesia, including convicted drug 
traffickers from the Philippines, France and Britain, according to the Attorney 
General's Office.

Authorities plan to execute 16 prisoners this year and more than double that 
number in 2017.

(source: nta.ng)

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

Indian national Gurdeep Singh to be executed by firing squad in Indonesia


Jalandhar city in the state of Punjab is currently lodged in an Indonesian 
jail. But his days are numbered since he will soon be executed by a firing 
squad.

An Indonesian court has given him the death penalty for his alleged involvement 
in the drug trade.

On Thursday, the Indonesian government executed 4 people for a similar crime 
even as

Gurdeep along with 13 other people, including a Pakistani, is expected to face 
the firing squad. All of them were sentenced to death by a court.

This is despite the public protesting against the death penalty in the country.

Scores of people on Friday had taken out candle light marches in different 
parts of the island nation to press upon the government to abolish the capital 
punishment.

In Indonesia, people are executed by shooting them dead.

Gurdeep's family members are hoping against hope. They have called on the India 
government for help.

In an emotional appeal, his daughter has urged the Indonesian government to 
overturn the verdict and send her father home.

Fourteen years ago, Gurdeep had left home for New Zealand. But he couldn't 
reach that country as his travel agents had failed to complete the paper work.

However, he could travel only up to Indonesia where he was caught allegedly for 
trafficking 300 grams of heroin.

He was arrested from Jakarta Airport and since then he was lodged in an 
Indonesian prison.

(source: zeenews.com)

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

Pakistani drug trafficker avoids death penalty in Indonesia


The daughter of Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, on Friday credited her 
father with saving the life of a convicted Pakistani drug trafficker in 
Indonesia.

Jakarta executed 4 convicted drug traffickers on Friday while delaying the 
death penalty of 10 from different countries, according to Indonesian 
officials.

Among those spared was Syed Zulfiqar Ali, a Pakistani national, arrested on 
drug trafficking charges from Bogor, Indonesia, in November 2004 and sentenced 
to death in 2005.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif took to social media to proclaim that Ali's life was saved 
due to efforts of her father.

"Despite bleak chance of success, PM NS (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif) decided 
to make 1 more attempt to have Zulfiqar's execution suspended and it happened," 
she said.

Maryam, considered Sharif's future successor, effectively ran the government 
when her father underwent open-heart surgery in London in May.

Pakistan has been asking Indonesia at various levels, through both political 
and diplomatic channels, for review of Ali's case, Pakistan's foreign ministry 
spokesman, Nafees Zakaria, said.

"The matter was taken up at the level of the heads of state in 2007," Zakaria 
said.

He added: "Most recently, the adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs 
raised the matter with the Indonesian ambassador."

Pakistan's efforts to convince Indonesia to show mercy towards Ali stands in 
contrast to its own track record on capital punishment.

It has executed 416 convicts since resumption of the death penalty in December 
2014 after 6-year moratorium, according to independent Human Rights Commission 
of Pakistan.

The Pakistani government hanged 333 people in 2015, performing more than 1/5 of 
worldwide hangings that year, according to Amnesty International.

Pakistan has also rejected appeals from several international and local human 
rights groups to restore the moratorium on executions.

(source: theeagleonline.com.ng)

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

Execution law needs further review


As a country that has championed the upholding of human rights, it needs to 
further review its implementation of the death penalty and whether if it is 
still needed.

Criminal law experts say that the death penalty should be a special punishment, 
not a general punishment, so that judges will still have 2 more options apart 
from capital punishment and life sentences--or 20 years' imprisonment.

Then, the judges' final decision should be based on a lengthy case review and 
in consideration of convicts' legal efforts.

Muzakir, criminal law expert with the Indonesia Islamic University (UII) in 
Yogyakarta, Central Java, said on Friday that the country should not execute 
people without any comprehensive, transparent and legal process, because the 
arbitrary decision to impose the punishment violated the Constitution.

If the death sentence became a special law, Muzakir added, the judges would 
have options to lessen the punishment if convicts could prove their reformed 
character.

"There should be many reasons to support the punishment and the implementation 
should be strict. Moreover, [judges] have to ensure that convicts have the 
opportunity for legal recourse, such as filing an appeal or for clemency, and 
the completion of these processes," Muzakir said.

However, he emphasized that the nation still needed such a punishment, 
otherwise it might open the door for more extraordinary crimes, such as drug 
smuggling.

The House of Representatives is currently deliberating the revision of the 
Criminal Code, where capital punishment has become one of the most debated 
articles. Many rights activists have called on the legislative body to remove 
the death penalty from the law, as it violates human rights and, purportedly, 
has no impact on reducing the drug trade.

Law expert Ganjar Laksamana Bondan from the University of Indonesia (UI) said 
the death penalty was still relevant in Indonesia, but the implementation must 
be restricted. Moreover, law enforcers and judges should be more careful in 
sentencing the penalty.

"The punishment cannot be arbitrarily imposed. But if it's omitted from our 
law, it means we open the door for extraordinary crimes," Ganjar said.

Deliberation of Article 88 of the Criminal Code's revision is still in deadlock 
as lawmakers are split on whether the death penalty should be a general or 
special punishment.

United Development Party (PPP) lawmaker Arsul Sani said the punishment could 
still exist but the government should also build a review team to audit all 
cases before imposing the death sentence.

"The team may consist of officials from the Attorney General's Office (AGO) or 
from the LPSK [Victims and Witnesses Protection Agency]," Arsul said.

However, NasDem Party politician Taufiqulhadi objected and said such a team was 
not needed as it would interfere with the judges' independence. "Technically 
it's not allowed to let any individual or team get involved in the 
decision-making process of judges," Taufiqulhadi said.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party lawmaker Benny Kabur Harman said the death penalty 
should be omitted from the law as it was not an effective deterrent for drug 
rings. Moreover, no data proved that drugs smuggling cases were falling after 
the government's 2 rounds of executions.

"It's not effective. It's better for us to comprehensively debate whether to 
keep the law or not. If we have to have it, we should at least limit it to only 
certain crimes," Benny said.

However, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung seemed to neither support nor oppose 
the idea, but signaled that there might be a time for such deliberation in the 
future.

(source: Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and Ina Parlina, The Jakarta Post)