[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 6



INDONESIA:

Govt should use human trafficking angle in Rita's defense


The government should use the human-trafficking angle in its defense strategy 
against the death penalty handed down by a Malaysian court to Rita Krisdianti, 
an Indonesian migrant worker, even though it would contradict Indonesia's 
relentless commitment to the fight against illegal drugs, experts have said.

The Penang High Court recently sentenced Rita, 27, to death for her alleged 
involvement in drug smuggling. "There is a strong indication that Rita has been 
a victim of human trafficking, because there must be some people in Indonesia 
who put her in that situation and also arranged her trips and documents," NGO 
Migrant Care director Anis Hidayah said on Monday.

"Victims of human trafficking should be assisted and protected as they could 
give some leads to reveal the mastermind behind the syndication."

Hence, Anis called on the government to form a joint team to further 
investigate Rita's entrapment in the drug-smuggling syndicate. She said the 
team could consist of people from the National Police, Manpower Ministry, 
Foreign Ministry and the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian 
Migrant Workers ( BNP2TKI ).

Meanwhile, Wahyudi Jafar, a researcher at the Institute for Policy Research and 
Advocacy ( ELSAM ), said that Indonesia's firm stance against drug abuse would 
complicate the efforts to protect its citizens who had become implicated in 
drug cases overseas.

"It is going to be difficult [for Indonesia]. How can you ask other countries 
not to execute drug suspects if the same execution policy is still being 
implicated in your home country?" Wahyudi said.

Hence, there should be consolidation between Indonesia and Malaysia, including 
lawyers and advocacy groups in both countries, to revoke the death penalty 
against Rita, he said.

"The Foreign Ministry should actively work on it," Wahyudi said. "Otherwise, 
Indonesia's recent executions of drug suspects could be a boomerang that 
sacrifices migrant workers overseas."

Rita was sentenced to death following her arrest on July 10, 2013, when 
Malaysian authorities at Penang's Bayan Lepas Airport found over 4 kilograms of 
crystal methamphetamine in her bag.

She claimed she did not know about the meth, saying the bag belonged to a 
fellow Indonesian who had managed her travel arrangements from Hong Kong to 
Penang, via Bangkok and New Delhi.

(source: The Jakarta Post)






SOUTH KOREA:

MPK to propose bill to fight defense corruption


The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) plans to propose a bill by next 
week aimed at treating corruption in the defense industry as a criminal act 
benefiting the enemy, a lawmaker said Monday.

Should it pass as planned, people in the defense industry involved in 
corruption scandals may face the death penalty as a maximum punishment.

"We should take it seriously that defective military supplies such as 
bulletproof jackets could inflict fatal damage in a wartime situation," said 
Rep. Byun Jae-ill, referring to a recent corruption scandal in which military 
officials signed a deal with a defense contractor that produced flak jackets 
that were not bulletproof in exchange for cash.

"It is possible to apply the crime of benefiting the enemy to those involved in 
corrupt military deals as we can view their consequences in the context of a 
wartime situation."

The legislative move seeks to revise the Military Criminal Act to be applied to 
military officials, civilians or private firms involved in crooked defense 
procurement deals.

Military officials can only be convicted under the Military Criminal Act 
Article 80, which mandates punishment of a person who, by negligence in the 
performance of duties or gross negligence, commits the crime of divulging 
military secrets. The penalties are either imprisonment for up to 3 years or a 
7 million won fine.

Byun said the party's legislative move would seek to add the phrase, "a person 
or a defense contractor that undermines the nation's defense" in the article to 
include "acts benefiting the enemy," so that they will face tougher punishment.

Article 14 of the Military Criminal Act states that a person who commits any 
act benefiting the enemy shall be sentenced to death, or imprisonment with hard 
labor from 5 years to an indefinite term.

The move illustrates the party's will to uproot rampant corruption and 
irregularities in the defense industry by strengthening punishment, according 
to the MPK.

Enabling a death sentence even goes against the party's platform - which 
stipulates the abolition of capital punishment. Byun's office said the 
contradiction however has yet to be looked into.

The party pledged to devise policies to root out defense corruption during the 
campaign for the April 13 general election.

It came after shady dealings between the military and the defense industry came 
to light over the past year.

A special investigation team made up of government and military officials, and 
prosecutors found irregular deals related to the supply of parts for military 
vehicles and body armor which amounted to about 980 billion won. 41 high-level 
military officials and 74 civilians were prosecuted.

(source: Korea Times)






BANGLADESH:

Gazipur man gets death for killing woman


A Gazipur court has awarded the death penalty to a man for murdering a woman.

On Mar 31, 2015, Minara Khatun died after she was hit on the head at the 
district's Kaliganj Upazila.

In its verdict on Monday, the court of Gazipur's District and Sessions Judge 
found 23-year-old Md Nurul Amin alias Nura guilty of the murder.

It also slapped a Tk 10,000 fine on the convict.

Court police's Inspector Rabiul Islam said that the victim's family initiated a 
case a day after the murder on Apr 2.

Police pressed charges on Nura in July last year after which the trial started.

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

Supreme Court releases full verdict on Mir Quasem Ali???s death sentence for 
1971 war crimes


The Appellate Division has released its full verdict that upheld death sentence 
for Jamaat-e-Islami leader and former al-Badr commander Mir Quasem Ali for war 
crimes.

Personal Secretary to the Chief Justice Md Anisur Rahman told bdnews24.com that 
the 244-page verdict has been published after the judges signed it on Monday.

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in November 2014 had sentenced him to 
death for atrocities against Bengalis committed during the War of Independence 
from Pakistan in 1971.

Mir Quasem had challenged the verdict the same year and in March 2016, the apex 
court upheld the death penalty awarded to him.

The Supreme Court will now send the copy of the full verdict to the ICT, which 
will then issue the death warrant.

After the warrant reaches him, Mir Quasem will have 15 days, starting from the 
day of the verdict's publication, to file a petition for review of the 
judgment.

Once the review petition is resolved and if the death sentence is upheld, the 
war crimes convict will have the opportunity to seek mercy from the president .

If the Jamaat leader declines to seek a review or if he is denied pardon, the 
government then will order the jail authorities to hang him.

Mir Quasem was the al-Badr's 3rd most important functionary after 
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and Secretary General Ali Ahsan 
Mohammad Mujahid.

Bangladesh has executed both Nizami and Mujahid for 1971 war crimes.

Mir Quasem,a terror during 1971 in Chittagong has proved to be shrewd 
businessman and politician.

The 63-year old media tycoon pumped billions into the Jamaat since the 
mid-1980s to put it on a firm financial footing in Bangladesh.

On Mar 8 this year, the 5-member appeals bench led by Chief Justice Surendra 
Kumar Sinha delivered the verdict confirming death for Mir Quasem.

The 4 other members of the bench were Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, Justice 
Hasan Foez Siddique, Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Mohammad Bazlur 
Rahman.

The tribunal had sentenced Mir Quasem to death for the killing of young freedom 
fighter Jashim Uddin Ahmed and 8 others and to 72 years in prison for acts of 
abduction and torture.

The apex court upheld the punishment on 8 counts, acquitted him on 1, and 
changed the penalty in another.

Mir Quasem, founding president of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, has been member of 
the Jammat's Central Executive Council and the organisation's 5th most 
important leader.

The tribunal in the verdict had described Dalim Hotel in Chittagong, where 
pro-liberation people were tortured and killed under his leadership, as the 
'death factory'.

It had observed that Al-Badr members and Pakistani troops would take freedom 
fighters to Dalim Hotel to torture them until they were dead.

Apart from Dalim Hotel, the Al-Badr, under his leadership, had set up camps for 
torture and killings at Dowsta Mohammad Panjabee Building - a leather depot at 
Asadganj, Dewan Hotel in Dewanhat area and Salma Manjil at Panchlaish.

Police arrested Mir Quasem on Jun 17, 2013, from the offices of newspaper Naya 
Diganta less than 2 hours after the tribunal issued a warrant for his arrest.

He was indicted on Sep 5, 2014 and found guilty in November the same year.

(source for both: bdnews24.com)

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

Human chain demands death penalty for Konika's killer


Different women's and non-governmental organisations formed a human chain in 
front of Shaheed Setu Hall in Chapainawabganj town yesterday, demanding capital 
punishment of the killer of schoolgirl Konika Rani.

Activists of Jago Nari Banhishikha, Bangladesh Mohila Awami League, Jubo Mohila 
League, Bangladesh Girls Guide and several other non-governmental organisations 
joined the hour long programme from 10:00am.

Addressing a rally at the venue, the speakers demanded speedy trial and capital 
punishment of killer Abdul Malek, who murdered Konika Rani and injured her 3 
classmates.

They later submitted a memorandum to the home minister through the deputy 
commissioner in Chapainawabganj.

Among others, local women leaders Gouri Chand Barman, Nurunnahar, Shahanaz 
Begum, Halima Khatun and advocate Yesmin Sultana addressed the rally.

On May 27, Konika Rani, 14, a Class X student of Mohipur SM Dwimukhi High 
School in Sadar upazila, was hacked to death by drug addict Abdul Malek around 
9:15am.

Konika's 3 classmates Tarin Afroz, 15, Tanzima Khatun, 14, and Moriom Akhtar, 
14, also sustained serious injuries in the attack. The injured girls are still 
undergoing treatment at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

Villagers caught Malek and handed him over to the police, Officer-in-Charge 
Mazharul Islam of Sadar Model Police Station said.

Konika's mother Anjali Rani filed a murder case against Abdul Malek with the 
police station the same night, the OC added.

(source: The Daily Star)

***********

Bangladesh SC judgement confirms death for Jamaat media baron


Bangladesh's Supreme Court today released its judgement confirming capital 
punishment for a top Islamist leader for war crimes committed during the 
country's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan, 3 months after it delivered the 
verdict upholding his death penalty.

The court verdict had paved the way for execution of Jamaat-e-Islami stalwart 
and media tycoon Mir Quasem Ali, dealing a major blow to the fundamentalist 
Islamist party.

] "He (Ali) does not deserve any leniency on the question of sentence on 
consideration of the nature and gravity of the offence," read the apex court's 
244-page judgement.

64-year old Ali, who owns several business houses and media outlets, is a 
central executive council member of Jamaat-e-Islami and regarded as a top 
financier of the party which was opposed to Bangladesh's 1971 independence.

Attorney general Mahbubey Alam said that the verdict would reach prison 
authorities in due process through the country's International Crimes Tribunal 
(ICT) which had originally handed down the death penalty.

"The jail authorities will convey to him the judgement immediately, thereafter 
the convict will get 15 days time to decide if he would file a review petition 
(before the apex court)," Alam said.

Ali's chief counsel said his client was likely to file a petition seeking a 
review of the apex court's verdict.

The decision of the 5-member bench of the top court came 16 months after the 
ICT sentenced Ali to death for atrocities committed during the liberation war.

In November, 2014, Ali who had challenged the verdict, was sentenced to death 
on a number of charges including mass killing and tortures at southeastern port 
city of Chittagong.

He was convicted of running a militia torture cell, Al Badr, that carried out 
killings of several people.

3 million people were said to have been massacred in the war by the Pakistani 
army and their local collaborators.

Ali went into hiding after Pakistan occupation forces and their local 
collaborators surrendered on December 16, 1971, and reemerged later as a 
Jamaat-e-Islami leader.

The apex court's latest verdict comes after the May 10 hanging of Jamaat chief 
Motiur Rahman Nizami as the last major war criminal.

4 people, including 3 Jamaat leaders and 1 BNP stalwart, have been hanged so 
far since the war crimes trial process began 6 years ago while 2 others died in 
prison of old age.

(source: business-standard.com)






BOTSWANA:

Families want access to executed relatives


Families of at least 20 convicts executed under the death penalty by the 
Botswana government have written to President Lieutenant-General Seretse Khama 
Ian Khama requesting access to their graves.

The letter written on behalf of the families by the Botswana Institute for the 
Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Offenders (BIRRO) on May 31, is the 1st 
test case for the Botswana Prisons Act.

The Act prohibits all persons except the minister of Justice, Defence and 
Security and those authorised by him from accessing the graves. The Act says 
the execution of the convicts is a high security process.

The Act prohibits visits until the convicts are executed and buried in special 
graves within the main prison complex in Gaborone.

This inadvertently keeps the family in the dark about the fate of death row 
inmates.

In the letter, copied to the Attorney-General and the Commissioner of Prisons, 
BIRRO appealed to President Khama to use his powers to allow the families to 
visit the graves of their executed relatives.

"As BIRRO, we will feel more blessed if His Excellency the President can use 
his powers to arrange for those who lost their loved ones through the death 
penalty to be allowed to see the graves of their sons, daughters, fathers, 
mothers among others," read part of the BIRRO letter.

"We believe that this will be an important initiative as we look forward to 
Botswana's golden jubilee (50th Independence Anniversary).

"It will be a greater move forward for both the government and the victims and 
it will also assure them that their beloved ones are indeed in their rightful 
place of rest. In this way they will give up and help in building and taking 
Botswana a step forward."

BIRRO said accessing the graves would help the families to come to terms and 
make peace with the heartbreaks associated with the secretive execution and 
burial process of condemned prisoners.

The secretive administration of the execution, the burial and denial of access 
to the graves by family members has in the past been condemned as "inhuman and 
degrading" by the International Federation for Human Rights.

In Botswana, the families, lawyers and friends of death row prisoners are not 
officially informed of the dates of execution and burials.

They have to rely on public announcements which routinely come through print 
and electronic media outlets.

Even after the execution, the Prisons Act does not allow family members to 
visit the graves to pay their last respects.

(source: African News Agency)