[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 5



INDONESIA:

3 Arrested on Charges of Carrying 150 Kg of Hashish


Police have detained 3 people on charges of transporting 150 kilograms of 
hashish from Aceh province to North Sumatra province.

Hashish is an extract of cannabis/marijuana plant, containing concentrations of 
the psychoactive resins.

"We have detained the suspects, along with the hashish, at the Langkat district 
police station for further investigation," chief of the Langkat district 
polices narcotic unit Adjunct Commissioner Supriyadi Yantoto said on Saturday.

The suspects were arrested when police conducted a raid on Trans Sumatra 
highway.

The police stopped a minivan in front of the Besitang police precinct on the 
highway and asked the driver to show his driving license and vehicle license.

While the police were checking the driving license and vehicle license, the 
suspects drove away. But they were later arrested from an area that fell within 
the jurisdiction of Tanjungpura police precinct.

"While police personnel were checking the minivan, they found 150 kilograms of 
hashish contained in s6 sacks," he said.

The 3 suspects were identified by their initials as D (27), a resident of Gayo 
Luas in Aceh, and his 2 girl friends, identified by their initials as SS (21) 
and AS (15), both residents of Medan, capital of North Sumatra province.

If found guilty, the suspects may be sentenced to 20 years in jail, life term 
or even death penalty.

(source: tempo.co)






PHILIPPINES:

Former Sen. Pimentel: Death penalty better than extrajudicial killings


Although he is against bringing back the death penalty, former Sen. Aquilino 
Pimentel Jr. said Sunday that it will likely pass and will be better than 
extrajudicial killings.

In an interview on radio dzBB, Pimentel said he believes convicted criminals 
should be made to pay for their crimes but should not be killed.

He said that because of Duterte's popularity and the perceived popularity of 
the call to reimpose the death penalty for heinous crimes, it is likely that 
Congress will pass a law to bring it back.

Pimentel stressed, though, that until a law is passed to bring back the death 
penalty, criminals should not be killed.

The Commission on Human Rights has said that it opposes the reimposition of the 
death penalty because it is cruel punishment that the 1987 Constitution 
prohibits, because doing so is counter to international conventions that the 
Philippines is party to, and is not an effective deterrent of crime.

Recent weeks have seen a rise in extrajudicial killings of people suspected, 
but not convicted, of being involved in crimes like drug trafficking.

'Charter change ASAP'

In the same interview, Pimentel, who has been an advocate of federalism even 
while he was a senator, said it would be best that moves to amend the 1987 
Constitution are done in the early days of the Duterte administration.

He said that doing so would remove the perception that charter change is being 
done to remove term limits for elected officials, a charge that has accompanied 
proposals to amend the constitution in the past.

He said the amendents to the constitution should focus on giving proposed local 
state governments more autonomy from the central government in Manila.

(source: philstar.com)