[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 23



NIGERIA----impending execution

3 years after, killer of 11 police to die by hanging


The Oporoma Judicial Division of the High Court in Bayelsa State has sentenced 
to death by hanging 1 of the killers of the 11 policemen at Lobia 2 community 
in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on April 5, 2013.

The accused, Mr. Jackson Feutubobai, known along the creeks and waterways as 
Jasper, was found guilty on all the 11-count charge of murder.

Jackson Feutubobai, according to the charge sheet numbered OHC/3c/2014, was 
accused of killing one Police Inspector, Joseph Ofozini.

Police prosecutor told the court that the accused had over 5 cases in various 
courts bothering on alleged kidnapping, sea piracy and involvement in the 
killing of 11 policemen in 2013.

3 years after, killer of 11 police to die by hanging

The presiding Judge of the State High Court, Justice M.A Ayemieye, after taking 
into account the nature of the offence and the passionate plea for mercy made 
by the counsel for the convict, ordered that the sentence of murder was death 
and that it was mandatory.

Justice Ayemieye ruled and sentenced the accused to death by hanging.

The State Prosecuting Counsel, Arthur Andrew Seweniowor, while speaking with 
newsmen, said if the accused failed to appeal in 3 months, the governor would 
sign his death warrant and he would be hanged.

The counsel to the accused Efieseimokumo Bipeledei pleaded with the court to 
temper justice with mercy, saying the accused person was a family man who had 5 
children who were all depending on him.

He said imposing the maximum penalty would truncate the destiny of all the 
children, who were all minors, urging the court to convert the punishment to 
terms of imprisonment.

The court also discharged and acquitted the 2nd accused person identified as 
ThankGod Clinton Ezetu after no evidence was linked to him on the murder of the 
11 policemen.

(source: Daily Times of Nigeria)






BANGLADESH:

SC upholds death penalty for JMB man Asaduzzaman


The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the death penalty of banned Jama'atul 
Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) activist Asaduzzaman Chowdhury alias Panir for 
killing 8 people by carrying out suicide bomb attacks at Udichi and Shata Dal 
Shilpi Goshthi offices in Netrakona in 2005.

A 4-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra 
Kumar Sinha dismissed an appeal filed by Asaduzzaman challenging the High Court 
verdict that had affirmed the trial court judgement sentencing him to death.

Deputy Attorney General Sashanka Shekhar Sarkar told The Daily Star that the 
jail authorities could take steps for executing the convict after receiving the 
apex court verdict, if he did not take any further legal step.

Asaduzzaman, who is now is Dhaka Central Jail, can seek review of the SC 
verdict and presidential mercy after receiving the SC verdict, he added.

According to the prosecution, suicide bomb attacks were carried out at Udichi 
and Shata Dal Shilpi Goshthi offices on December 8, 2005 that left eight people 
dead and 40 others injured.

The deceased were Khawja Haider, Sudipta Paul Shelly, Rani Begum, Joinal, 
Raisuddin, Yadev Das, Jahanara and Shawkat.

On February 17, 2008, a Dhaka court sentenced 3 JMB activists Salahuddin alias 
Saleheen, Asaduzzaman Chowdhury alias Panir and Yunus Ali to death for the 
killings.

Yunus was tried in absentia as he is on the run. The court acquitted Fahima 
alias Farzana, also known as Rokeya, an accused of the case, as her involvement 
in the killings was not proved.

The court did not consider punishing JMB's second-in-command Siddiqul Islam 
Bangla Bhai and JMB's military commander Ataur Rahman Sunny, who were also the 
accused of the case, as their death penalty for killing two Jhalakathi judges 
were earlier executed.

Asaduzzaman the same year filed an appeal with the HC challenging the lower 
court verdict on him.

The HC in 2014 rejected his appeal, DAG Sashanka said.

The DAG, however, could not say the status of Salahuddin.

(source: The Daily Star)






MALAYSIA:

Stop execution of prisoner due to be hanged on Friday


The Malaysian government must halt the execution of a 34-year-old man due to be 
hanged this Friday for murder, said Amnesty International.

Gunasegar Pitchaymuthu's mother was today advised by officials at Taiping 
Prison, northern Malaysia, to visit her son for the "last time" and make 
arrangements for his funeral. Gunasegar Pitchaymuthu was convicted of murder, 
an offence which attracts the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia.

"Executing Gunasegar Pitchaymuthu would be a regressive step for human rights 
in Malaysia," said Josef Benedict, Amnesty International's Deputy Campaign 
Director for South-East Asia and the Pacific.

"The mandatory death penalty is a clear breach of human rights regardless of 
the crime committed. The authorities must step in to prevent this brutal act 
taking place before it is too late, and instead commute Gunasegar's death 
sentence."

Amnesty International has consistently criticized Malaysia's practice of 
"secretive" executions. Information on scheduled hangings is not made public 
before, or even after, they are carried out - contrary to international 
standards on the use of the death penalty.

Instead, Gunasegar Pitchaymuthu's mother Nagarani Sandasamy today received a 
letter from Taiping Prison officials informing her that he will be executed 
"soon" and advising her to visit him tomorrow morning. The family was also 
advised to discuss arrangements to claim the prisoner's body for his funeral.

Nagarani Sandasamy last visited her son a week ago, when neither were aware 
that the 34-year-old was scheduled to be hanged just a week later.

Gunasegar Pitchaymuthu was sentenced to death for the fatal stabbing of a man 
in Sungai Petani, Kedah state, on 16 April 2005.

"As discussions on abolishing the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia continue, 
the Malaysian government must immediately put in place a moratorium on all 
executions as a 1st step towards full abolition of the death penalty," said 
Josef Benedict.

Background

No information is made publicly available on individual death penalty cases in 
Malaysia, while families are often informed at the last minute that their loved 
ones will be executed.

Senior government officials recently said Malaysia was considering abolishing 
the mandatory death penalty, which is currently the punishment for crimes 
including murder and drug-related offenses.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception 
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the guilt, innocence or 
other characteristics of the individual, or the method used by the state to 
carry out the execution.

The death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman 
and degrading punishment.

International law and standards prohibit the mandatory imposition of the death 
penalty as constituting arbitrary deprivation of life, as it denies judges the 
possibility of taking into account the defendant's personal circumstances or 
the circumstances of the particular offense.

(source: Amnesty International)



SOUTH AFRICA:

'SA can't go back to death penalty'


Justice Minister Michael Masutha says today's visit to the correctional centre 
reinforced his belief that South Africa can never go back to the death penalty.

It was an emotional day for many as correctional services officials led a tour 
of the gallows where hundreds of people were hanged and explained the process 
of carrying out a death sentence.

Masutha launched The Gallows Exhumation Project at the Kgosi Mampuru Maximum 
Security Prison this morning.

Between 1960 and 1990, at least 130 black South Africans were hanged for 
politically motivated offences.

All political prisoners who were sentenced to death during apartheid were 
transferred to the prison to await their execution.

But in 1996, all those who were handed the death penalty for political or other 
crimes had their sentences converted to life imprisonment after the 
Constitutional Court ruled executions were cruel, inhumane and degrading.

Minister Masutha says inspecting the gallows confirmed to him that doing away 
with the punishment was justified.

"Being a constitutional state does provide some advantage in situations such as 
this."

He says the exhumations of 83 people will begin on 4 April 2016.

(source: ewn.co.za)






CHINA:

Suspect in Iowa killing stands trial in China


A grieving father has called for the death penalty as his daughter's alleged 
killer goes on trial in China.

Shao Tong, a 20-year-old student from China who had gone to the U.S. to study 
engineering, was strangled to death in Iowa in September 2014, her body stuffed 
in the trunk of her own car.

Her boyfriend, Li Xiangnan, who fled to China shortly after she was killed, was 
charged with her murder in June last year and stands trial at the Intermediate 
People's Court on Wednesday in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou.

Li turned himself in to authorities in May last year. His lawyer Sheng Shaolin 
declined to say whether he had pleaded guilty or not.

Shao Chunsheng and his wife Yang Xue have traveled to Wenzhou to attend the 
trial.

He said he had met with Li's parents Tuesday, who begged for his forgiveness 
and offered to pay an unspecified amount compensation for his only daughter's 
death. Sheng confirmed the details of the meeting and the compensation offer.

No forgiveness

Shao said Li deserved the death penalty.

"I wouldn't forgive him however much money they offered," Shao told CNN by 
phone.

According to Chinese law, the sentence for intentional homicide could range 
from 10 years to capital punishment. The trial is expected to last no longer 
than 1 day, court authorities told CNN.

2 Iowa state detectives and the case prosecutor from Iowa City have traveled to 
Wenzhou for the trial and to support the Shao family.

There is no death penalty in Iowa and the lead prosecutor there had expressed 
their hope to Chinese investigators that the case not be pursued as a capital 
one.

David Gonzalez, the lead Iowa police investigator for the case, said his 
priority was to support the Shao family.

"Whatever happens to Mr. Li is not up to us at this point, that's up for the 
court," said David Gonzalez,

"I can only imagine if it was my child, if I was in the same position, what I 
would want in my own justice."

"I would want them to know that obviously we did the best we could for their 
family as far as the investigation goes," Gonzalez added.

Rare cooperation

Iowa authorities have credited an April 2015 CNN story with drawing attention 
to the investigation, which had stalled because there is no extradition treaty 
between China and the United States.

In that piece, Shao's father urged both U.S. and Chinese authorities to do more 
to seek justice for his daughter.

Investigators in Iowa said they felt hamstrung because there was little 
precedent for such a case -- when a Chinese national flees the United States 
and is wanted in connection with the killing of another Chinese national.

However, the case has since been hailed a rare example of cooperation between 
U.S. and Chinese law enforcement agencies.

Gonzalez told CNN Iowa authorities have worked "very, very well together" with 
Chinese law enforcement at both local and state levels, adding that the 
important thing was for Li to be brought to justice, no matter whether in the 
U.S. or China.

"I have nothing but good things to say about the cooperation that we received 
from the Chinese government."

Shao Tong was first reported missing by her roommate on September 18, 2014. It 
wasn't until September 26 that police in Iowa found her body.

By then Li, a "person of interest" sought for questioning by Iowa authorities, 
had already bought a 1-way ticket and returned to China.

He turned himself in to Chinese police in May 2015 and was charged with 
intentional homicide in June.

The case attracted a huge amount interest in China and particularly among the 
300,000 Chinese students in the United States.

Yang, Shao Tong's mom, said she was too emotional to speak about the case.

"I'm bitter, very bitter. My heart aches," she said via text message.

(source: CNN)