[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 14




INDONESIA:

Stall attendant faces death penalty for rape, murder


The trial of a general goods kiosk attendant accused of raping and killing a 
9-year-old girl in October last year began at the West Jakarta District Court 
on Monday.

The defendant, Agus Dermawan, alias Agus Pea, 39, is being charged under 
articles 340 and 338 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder and murder, 
respectively, both of which carry a maximum penalty of death.

"The defendant is also being charged under Article 76D of the Child Protection 
Law on forcing a child to have sexual intercourse," Agus' lawyer Restu Sri 
Utomo said after the closed-door preliminary hearing at the court.

Article 76D carries a maximum penalty of 15 years behind bars and Rp 15 billion 
(US$1.1 million) in fines.

Monday's hearing was closed to the public because the case dossier contains 
subject matter that has been deemed inappropriate for the public.

Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment regarding what evidence 
they will submit to support their case.

However, the Jakarta Police have previously said that DNA tests had confirmed 
that several droplets of blood found on a mattress at Agus' house were from the 
victim.

Investigators also found Agus' DNA on a sock that was allegedly used to cover 
the victim's mouth so she could not scream while he was committing the rape.

The alleged rape and murder hit the headlines and became the talk of the city's 
residents around 8 months ago after the body of the victim, Putri Nur Fauziah, 
was found inside a cardboard box in Kalideres on Oct. 2 last year.

It took around 8 days for police investigators to arrest Agus because, as the 
police said, he had destroyed most of the evidence.

Agus, who the police said was close to the victim's parents, allegedly disposed 
of the cardboard box near a road located around 7 kilometers from his home. He 
then returned home and burned pieces of evidence such as a school bag, uniform 
and a pair of underpants.

During the course of their investigation, the police also found that the 
9-year-old girl was allegedly not Agus' 1st victim. On Oct. 2, Agus was 
arrested for allegedly raping another 15-year-old girl, who studied at the same 
school as the victim. The 2nd case is still being investigated. The police have 
said there might be other students at the school who had fallen victim to Agus 
that they did not yet know of.

A number of serious rape and murder cases have emerged in several locations 
throughout Greater Jakarta, as well as several other cities in the country 
recently.

The brutal nature of the crimes, that were often rape-murders, has stirred up 
public anger and spurred President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to issue a government 
regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) legalizing chemical castration for convicted 
rapists.

(sourcec: The Jakarta Post)

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

Indonesia to execute 16 inmates after Ramadan


16 people are set to face a firing squad in Indonesia this year, with the 
Attorney General saying they have the budget to execute another 30 in 2017.

Attorney General Office Spokesman Muhammad Rum has told AAP the exact timing of 
the executions will be decided after Indonesia's Eid al-Fitr July national 
holiday, Lebaran (Ramadan).Mr Rum says drug offenders will be a 'priority' but 
this still needs to be confirmed.

He says the most likely site for the executions is Nusakambangan - the 
notorious island prison where Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were 
shot by firing squads in April last year. Under the state budget a further 30 
people are scheduled to face the death penalty next year, Mr Rum said.

He said the most likely site for the executions to take place is Nusakambangan 
- the notorious island prison where Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran 
Sukumaran were shot by firing squads in April last year.

But, Mr Rum said, the location also still needs to be confirmed.

'One thing for sure, it's after Lebaran, 16 people. That's all,' he 
added.Speaking after a hearing into the budget in parliament on Monday, 
Attorney General HM Prasetyo told Metro TV: 'We will not stop the execution ... 
The budget is ready'.

'We still have 58 death convicts of drugs cases and 152 for all kinds of crimes 
- murder and there's also terrorism. All we will (execute).'

Security Minister Luhut Panjaitan has previously said he did not want to see a 
repeat of the 'drama' or 'soap opera' such as that which occurred in the lead 
up to the Australians' executions, where Indonesia faced intense diplomatic 
pressure, as well as strident international appeals and pleas from family 
members.

Indonesian law stipulates authorities only need to give 3 days' notice of an 
execution taking place.

Speaking during the anniversary of Chan and Sukumaran's death this year, their 
Indonesian lawyer and long time anti-death penalty campaigner Dr Todung Mulya 
Lubis said while he could not see the abolition of the death penalty in the 
country happening 'any time soon', he hopes a bill tabled before parliament 
might provide a middle way.

Under the proposed changes, if people show they have rehabilitated themselves, 
they could see their execution commuted to a life sentence.

(source: Sky News)

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

resident promises 'to respect' accused cyanide-coffee killer death penalty deal


Indonesia's President Joko Widodo will intervene if an Australian resident 
charged with murder is sentenced to death. Indonesia's Justice Minister Yasonna 
Laoly says Indonesia will honour a guarantee to Australia that Jessica Wongso 
will not be executed.

"As a state we have to respect the international agreement," Mr Laoly said.

He has also revealed that Wongso may never have gone to trial but for 
Australian Federal Police (AFP) assistance with the case.

Wongso will face a Jakarta court on Wednesday charged with the murder by 
cyanide poisoning of her friend Mirna Salihin.

Ms Salihin, who had also lived in Australia and studied in Sydney with Wongso, 
died shortly after drinking a Vietnamese iced coffee ordered by her friend in 
an upmarket Jakarta cafe.

Police say Wongso poured cyanide into the coffee.

Wongso lived in Sydney until shortly before Ms Salihin's death, and the AFP 
helped Jakarta detectives work on the case.

Jakarta police travelled to Australia as part of their investigations and 
worked with AFP officers.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said he approved AFP assistance after Indonesia 
promised Wongso would not face the death penalty if convicted.

Australian evidence crucial in case against Wongso

District Court spokesman and judge Jamaluddin Samosir, who will try the case, 
told the ABC earlier this month that a deal to strike-out the death penalty 
"was not possible".

Judge Jamaluddin said: "The judges can decide any penalty they want. We are 
independent, there can be no intervention."

That statement caused a stir in Indonesia.

"Of course the judges have independence. But in a state system, the 
institutions will respect an agreement made with another country," Mr Laoly 
responded yesterday.

"If the judicial process ignores the guarantee, the president has power (to 
give clemency)."

Mr Laoly said the AFP assistance was crucial in helping the case become 
"clearer".

"She almost got away for the sake of regulations," he said.

"If we did not get the evidence provided by Australia, how could we proceed?"

Prosecutors repeatedly refused to accept a police file on the case because of a 
lack of evidence in the brief of evidence.

Under Indonesian law, suspects must be released after 90 days in custody if the 
case has not been passed on to prosecutors.

(source: abc.net.au)

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

British pair may face firing squad during new 'wave' of executions in 
Indonesia----A grandmother and a father may be among 16 executed after Ramadan 
ends

Indonesia is to perform a wave of executions after the end of Ramadan, meaning 
2 British people on death row may face the firing squad sooner than expected.

The country's government announced it plans to put 16 convicted prisoners to 
death after Eid holiday in early July, the 1st executions since the start of a 
hiatus in April last year.

Lindsay Sandiford, a grandmother from Teeside convicted of trafficking cocaine 
with a street value of 1.6 million pounds, was given the death penalty in 
August 2013 and remains on death row.

Gareth Cashmore from Yorkshire was convicted for smuggling crystal meth in the 
country and has been in custody since September 2012.

It is not yet clear whether Ms Sandiford or Mr Cashmore will be among the group 
of prisoners executed next month.

Mohammad Rum, spokesman for the Indonesian attorney-general, told AFP the 
executions would take place soon but refused to specify who would face the 
firing squad or on what date.

"We could not do it earlier because the government was trying to improve our 
economy, but now we will take some action after Eid," he said.

Executions were temporarily halted in the spring last year after the 'Bali 9' 
drug-traffickers including 2 Australians were killed by firing squad in April, 
a case which caused international outrage and criticism of the Indonesian 
government.

Indonesia claimed at the time the country's economic troubles had forced the 
suspension of executions, although many argued the true motivation was 
political.

12 foreigners were executed in 2015 in total, all on drugs charges.

Ms Sandiford, 59, has repeatedly insisted she was manipulated and used as a 
mule to transport the cocaine as a means to protect her sons, aged 22 and 24.

She launched an appeal to have her sentence reduced but it was rejected, as the 
majority of appeals for drug offences are.

Despite the attempted intervention of prime minister David Cameron during a 
visit to Jakarta in 2014, Ms Sandiford's position remains unchanged.

Prosecutors said Mr Cashmore was attempting to transport crystal meth worth up 
to 800,000 pounds when he was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta Airport.

Rum confirmed the executions would take place on the island of Nusakambangan 
near Java, where they are typically carried out.

Indonesian president Joko Widodo says the policy of executing drug smugglers is 
"necessary" because of the mounting problem with substance abuse in the 
country.

The Independent has contacted the Foreign & Commonwealth Office for comment.

(source: The Independent)

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

21 Nigerians Among 121 Death Row Inmates In Indonesia


21 Nigerians are among the 121 prisoners on death row in Indonesia.

30 of the prisoners will be executed before the end of 2017. 18 of them will be 
executed after July 6, the Eid el-Fitr Muslim holiday, which ends the holy 
month of Ramadan.

Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and 
Diaspora to President Muhammadu Buhari, disclosed this to Independent on 
Monday.Bambang Waluyo, Indonesian Deputy Attorney General, announced the 
execution schedule during a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta. The Justice 
Ministry said those on death row in Indonesia are mostly convicted of 
drug-related crimes and that at least 35 of them are foreigners.

In 2015, Indonesia had equally executed 14 convicts, all but 2 of them 
foreigners, in a move that drew international condemnation. Dabiri-Erewa noted 
that one Nigerian was executed in the last batch of execution. Under Indonesian 
law, each convict would face a squad of 10 gunmen.

Dabiri-Erewa, who was chairman, House of Representatives' Committee on Diaspora 
before her present appointment, noted that when a Nigerian delegation visited 
Indonesia in 2010 to plead for Nigerians on death row, that the Indonesian 
government made it clear that the death penalty is the law.

"As the world keeps appealing to Indonesia not to kill them, we must also 
admonish our citizens to avoid crime and be good ambassadors wherever they find 
themselves", she said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who took office in 2014, has taken a tough 
stance against drug trafficking, saying that the country is facing a drug 
emergency.

(source: nigeriatoday.ng)






SINGAPORE:

SADPC: Gather passions and determination to reform the criminal justice system


The recent hanging of Kho Jabing despite exhausting all legal avenues was a 
dampener. There are insurmountable obstacles staring down at those amongst us 
who take up the dogged fight of standing up for the repeal of the death penalty 
in Singapore.

The amendments to the Penal Code in 2013 following the celebrated judgement of 
Yong Vui Kong which spared him from the gallows, allowing judges greater 
discretion in meting out alternative punishments rather than being compelled to 
sentence the accused to death by hanging according to the mandatory death 
penalty. This is a start and an inch closer towards eventual repeal of the 
death penalty. But it is also equally pertinent to note that the move towards 
greater discretionary sentencing did not come about by chance nor handed to us 
on a silver platter. It was won and fought for by activists, lawyers, idealists 
and most importantly, us Singaporeans. The collective action of civil society 
groups have helped raise awareness amongst the public about the injustices of 
the death penalty and compelled the administration to take heed of the 
compelling arguments against the mandatory death penalty.

The work put in by civil society too, has led to the release of annual 
statistics of execution after it was stated in civil society groups' 
submissions to United Nation's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Singapore in 
2010 that there was a lack of transparency in the number of executions carried 
out. However, there is still much more work to be done. Other information 
surrounding the death penalty in Singapore, such as demographics of the inmates 
on death row and identities of inmates who face imminent executions, continues 
to be shrouded in secrecy.

It goes without saying that more should and can be done to pressure the 
authorities into greater transparency of such information. It cannot be that 
our government continues to justify the death penalty by regurgitating 
often-mentioned arguments that it 'deters crime'. We are all aware of the 
mendacity of the arguments that continue to be cited by the government in 
favour of retaining the death penalty, but what should stir our consciences 
more is the incomprehensible lack of public debate and deliberation on the 
death penalty. It says a lot when our citizenry are not active stakeholders in 
an issue as complex as the death penalty compared to foreign NGOs like Human 
Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Such issues have far reaching 
implications on the kind of values we want to promote, justice and security. It 
is high time that we the people begin to become that spark- to illuminate and 
create a backdrop of enlightened, passionate deliberation and consultation on 
our views of the death penalty. Such ground-up efforts will not only serve as a 
clear, unequivocal message to the authorities on the general public's stance on 
such issues, but also help strengthen our sense of ownership, rights and 
understanding of natural justice.

Where we have met with adversity and vilification, let us instead show 
fortitude and magnanimity. Let us come together to ensure that we can build a a 
system that we can all be proud of, where natural justice prevails. There goes 
a proverbial saying that if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go 
far, travel together. The road ahead may be paved with obstacles, but if we 
rally together and gather our fierce passions and determination to reform the 
criminal justice system, we will overcome.

Singapore Anti Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) was formed in 2005 by a group of 
us. We are going to witness a spate of executions in the coming months. It's 
going to be a very trying period.We intend to organize training and advocacy 
workshop and other activities to equip new anti death penalty advocates with 
local and international advocacy.

(source: theonlinecitizen.com)






INDIA:

Baig could be back on death row soon


As deadline to appeal HC order that gave him lifer looms, accused in 2010 GB 
blast case faces state filing for a stay; his kin don't seem to be in a hurry 
to file their plea

In a major development, the lone arrested accused in the 2010 German Bakery 
blast that rocked Pune, Mirza Himayat Baig, is likely to be placed on 'death 
row' once again. The 35-year-old had in March this year been acquitted of 
terror charges by the Bombay High Court (HC), with his death penalty reduced to 
life imprisonment.

As the 90-day time limit to file an appeal in the case approaches, Baig or his 
family members do not seem to have shown much interest in filing a plea in the 
Supreme Court (SC) to acquit the convict of all charges, as they had earlier 
declared. However, the state home department is all set to file its own SC 
appeal against the HC's order, with just 4 days left for the deadline to end. 
Due to ongoing summer vacations, the appeal will be filed on the very 1st day 
of the apex court's reopening - June 28.

Special government pleader Raja Thakare, who has been appointed for this task, 
confirmed the development, saying, "Since the deadline is nearly over, we 
decided to file an appeal in the SC and drafted a plea. We are going to 
challenge and request a stay on the HC order, which found Baig guilty only 
under certain sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Indian 
Penal Code (IPC) and Explosive Substances Act, but not for terror charges."

He added, "The appeal period is going to end on June 17, but due to the 
holidays, the SC will resume function on June 28. The appeal will be filed on 
the very 1st day and we will demand death penalty. We will also request that 
the Pune trial court's order be upheld, as there is no doubt in our mind that 
Baig is the mastermind behind the 2010 GB blast conspiracy."

Baig had been sentenced to death by a special Pune court soon after he was 
nabbed for his involvement in alleged terror activities. However, the HC had 
later found him guilty only of the charge of possession of explosives and 
affirmed only life imprisonment for him on March 17 this year.

An officer from the state home department said on condition of anonymity, "The 
draft plea is ready to be filed and its main focus is on how the HC ignored 
major testimonies of witnesses against Baig and reduced the capital punishment. 
The evidences with the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) clearly indicate his direct 
role in the blast conspiracy."

Advocate Mehmood Pracha, who defended Baig in the HC, was surprised by this 
news. "Baig and his family members were supposed to file an appeal in the SC to 
get complete acquittal in this case. However, nobody has approached me, nor 
have they filed an appeal. Now, Baig is likely to go to death row again if the 
state manages to get a stay on the HC order," he said.

Quizzed about this development, Baig's elder brother Tariq was quite relaxed as 
he said, "The case is being handled by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and the SC 
lawyer is yet to be finalised. Since death penalty is no longer a problem for 
my brother, we are hopeful that SC will uphold the HC order or acquit him of 
all charges."

A session's court had in 2013 sentenced Baig to triple death for his role in 
the bomb blast inside Koregaon Park's German Bakery on February 13, 2010, which 
left 17 dead, including five foreign nationals, and injured 58 others. Baig is 
currently lodged in the Faansi Yard of Nagpur Central Jail.

The case is being handled by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and the SC lawyer is yet 
to be finalised.

(source: punemirror.in)






PHILIPPINES:

Senators won't reimpose death penalty just to accommodate next president


Some senators frowned yesterday on the idea of putting a sunset provision on 
the proposed restoration of the death penalty, saying lawmakers should vote on 
the measure based on their convictions.

Incoming Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said the 17th Congress should not pass 
the measure reimposing the death penalty for just the 6-year duration of the 
incoming administration only to satisfy President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte as 
he goes all out in his campaign against illegal drugs and syndicated crime.

Lacson said he does not believe reimposing the death penalty only during the 
6-year term of Duterte would be feasible.

"I don't agree. The Senate is a self-respecting institution and should not 
legislate to please the incumbent president of the Philippines, which obviously 
is what will be projected to our people if we include a sunset provision 
limiting the effectivity of the proposed legislation on the restoration of the 
death penalty," Lacson said in a text message.

"My take is, either we vote for or against the measure once it reaches the 
Senate floor depending on our own conviction but definitely not to accommodate 
the President of the Republic," he said.

It was Sen. Ralph Recto who earlier proposed that death penalty be restored but 
only during the 6 years of the Duterte administration.

For his part, Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said he sees no need for a 
sunset provision on the measure since laws can be repealed.

"That's a novel approach, but we might open new debates about that on the 
constitutionality of the provisions," Pimentel said in an interview over DWIZ.

(source: Manila Bulletin)