[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 7



IRAN----executions

Mass Execution of 11 Prisoners in 2 Days in Mashhad, Rasht and Khorramabad


The inhuman clerical regime in an inhuman crime hanged 6 prisoners at Vakil 
Abad Prison in Mashhad on November 6, 2016. On the same day, Ali Mozaffari, 
head of the 'Judiciary' in Khorasan Razavi province, described execution, 
massacre and suppression in line with "enhancing public safety" and threatened 
more strict actions, saying: "With any disorder, oppositional disorder, 
breaking public comfort ... he will deal decisively ". (State run Young 
Reporters Club - November 6)

On November 5, 3 prisoners in Rasht Central Prison and 2 prisoners in 
Khorramabad Parsilon Prison were hanged. Father of Aref Ali Nasab, 27, who was 
executed in Rasht prison, had pleaded for his stay of execution before his 
execution in a tape. Aref's friends in Rasht Malavan football team also made a 
large banner calling for his execution to be canceled.

Iranian Resistance calls on all human rights organizations to take urgent 
action to deal with the trend of mass and arbitrary executions in Iran. The 
dossier of human rights in Iran should be referred to the UN Security Council, 
and deals with this regime must be made contingent upon a halt to executions.

(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)

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

5 Prisoners Executed


On Saturday November 5, Iranian authorities reportedly executed at least 5 
prisoners.

A prisoner with murder charges and 2 prisoners with drug-related charges were 
executed at Lakan Prison in Rasht (Gilan province, northern Iran), and 2 
prisoners with drug-related charges were executed at Parsilon Prison in 
Khorramabad (Lorestan province, western Iran).

A report by the state-run news agency Diyarmirza identifies the prisoners who 
were executed at Lakan Prison as: A.Y., 54 years old, charged with trafficking 
and possessing 5 kilograms of heroin and 350 grams of crystal meth; K.Y., 30 
years old, charged with organizing and managing the purchase activties of the 
other defendants and also trafficking 5 kilograms of heroin; and A.A., 27 years 
old, charged with murder. A report by the human rights news agency HRANA 
identifies the prisoner "A.A." as Aref Alinasb.

Close sources to Iran Human Rights have identified the prisoners who were 
executed at Parsilon Prison as: Alireza Dervishi and Hojat (surname unknown at 
this time), both charged with traffickig and possessing 10 kilograms of 
narcotics. Both of these prisoners were reportedly detained for 8 years before 
they were executed.

A source close to Alireza and Hojat tells Iran Human Rights that they were 
denied their right to an attorney. The source also says that Alireza and Hojat 
had no previous criminal record related to narcotics.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






KENYA:

Wiper MP in court for treason charges over Uhuru remark, faces death penalty


A magistrate court in Machakos has ordered the police not to arrest Machakos 
County Women Representative Dr Susan Musyoka for alleged utterances that 
bordered on treason.

Senior Resident Magistrate Irene Kahuya on Monday gave reprieve to Dr Susan 
Musyoka who had presented herself in court to seek anticipatory bail 
accompanied by a group of supporters.

The magistrate set the determination of the bail terms for Tuesday and 
restrained the police from arresting Dr Musyoka.

According to her lawyer Mr Haroun Ndubi, Dr Musyoka had received a call from 
the County Commander Jacinta Wesonga requiring her to record a statement on 
utterances that she had made last week.

MP UNWELL

Mr Ndubi told the magistrate that his client was unwell and could not record a 
statement at the time and which prompted the police to look for her.

He prayed to the court to grant Dr Musyoka anticipatory bail as the police were 
likely to arrest her before they could complete their investigations.

Mr Ndubi cited the case of Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama who had been 
arrested and locked at Pangani Police Station for days only to be later 
acquitted by the courts for lack of evidence.

"The Women Representative is being sought by the Police. She surrendered 
herself to the courts today as a law-abiding citizen. The court has directed 
that it will deliver its comprehensive ruling tomorrow," Mr Ndubi told 
journalists at the end of the court session.

Anxious Wiper Party supporters, among them Makueni County Women Rep Rose Museo, 
Kibwezi East MP Jessica Mbalu and Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo had jammed the 
courtroom during the session.

On Friday, Mr Maanzo who is among Dr Musyoka's team of lawyers said they had 
learned that the Women Rep is likely to be charged with treason following 
remarks that she had made calling on the Head of State to resign if he could 
not tackle corruption in the country.

(source: The Nation)






SIERRA LEONE:

Sierra Leone reconsiders death penalty----"People who kill should be killed. It 
will deter others," argues Milton Coker.


For almost 20 years, Sierra Leone has avoided using the death penalty. But 
spurred by public outrage over ritual murders and gang violence, the government 
is moving once again to hang offenders.

The legal community believes one sensational case in particular has driven the 
government to consider resorting again to capital punishment, a case they say 
was marred by police incompetence and a poorly handled trial.

On the last night of his life in May 2015, a slight young musician known as DJ 
Clef played a raucous set at the home of a faith healer known for his 
high-society connections and the tattooed faces of demons covering his body.

Clef -- born Sydney David Buckle -- was later found, with his organs and 
genitals missing, by the road leading to a military cemetery on the outskirts 
of the capital, Freetown.

His death sickened a country where a civil war and more recently Ebola have 
ravaged society and the economy, firing up a huge Freetown fan base who adored 
his laid-back demeanour and Afrobeat mixes.

A drive for swift justice was led by Milton Coker, the president of the All 
Stars music collective to which Clef belonged.

"People who kill should be killed," Coker said flatly in a recent interview 
with AFP. "It will deter others."

Baimba Moi Foray, an influential "ju-ju man", or witch doctor, and an 
accomplice were duly convicted of his murder and sentenced to hang for their 
crimes in September.

If an appeal is unsuccessful, they could become the 1st since 1998 to face the 
gallows.

Bungled case?

Death row lawyer Simitie Lavaly told AFP that because of the media buzz around 
the celebrities involved, police felt pressure to find a perpetrator fast, and 
bungled the case.

"The police did not do a thorough job and the only reason why they are 
convicted is the media around the case," she told AFP.

Lurid local stories speculated over Foray's methods and the fate of Buckle's 
body parts, heightened by the witch doctor's alleged connections to influential 
figures in Sierra Leone and even an African president.

"It was a prejudiced judge and jury," Lavaly said, who were presented with 
"hardly any" substantial evidence.

Despite such claims, senior officials say a new bill is already being drafted 
to harden up the current legislation on violent crime, spurred by a wave of 
popular support.

Interior Minister Palo Conteh did not pull his punches in a recent interview 
with AFP.

"I've instructed the Director General of the Male Correctional Facility to 
ensure that the gallows are oiled, cleaned and ready to be used," Conteh said.

"We have not been executing convicts due to a presidential moratorium but 
considering the increased lawlessness and violence in society we have to kill 
as prescribed by law," Conteh added.

Root causes

Rights groups say the government's populist turn avoids tackling the root 
problems that fuel violence in Sierra Leone: poverty, unemployment and 
corruption.

A 2004 truth and reconciliation commission said the central cause of Sierra 
Leone's horrific 1991-2002 civil war was "endemic greed, corruption and 
nepotism that deprived the nation of its dignity and reduced most people into a 
state of poverty."

The commission recommended abolishing the death penalty as an "important and 
symbolic departure from the past", as successive governments abused capital 
punishment to target their enemies.

More recently, Ebola ravaged the fragile nation's health system but also 
wrecked its economy, leaving many young people jobless, homeless and fending 
for themselves.

The US State Department has monitored a "steady increase in the number of gangs 
and cliques in Freetown over the past 5 years" by unemployed young people who 
form entourages around local hip-hop artists.

The gangs "increased criminality and anti-social behaviour", including murders, 
make the pages of Sierra Leone's newspapers every day.

A government decision to ban motorbike taxis in downtown Freetown in May 
removed a rare source of casual work to the the city's youth.

"Governments are often relying on the death penalty rather than doing the very 
hard work of working out the causes of crime," said Amnesty International's 
West Africa Researcher Sabrina Mahtani.

"A lot of public opinion is based on very erroneous beliefs around the death 
penalty," she added. "People believe the death penalty is a deterrent -- it's 
not," Mahtani added.

For now, there are only a handful of people on death row in Sierra Leone. 
Presidential pardons have seen the vast majority of death sentences commuted to 
life in prison.

But the public no longer seemed to be behind moves to repeal the death penalty, 
said Attorney General and Minister of Justice Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, adding 
it was "high time" to reconfigure the way Sierra Leone dealt with violent 
crime.

"One thing that strikes deep in my heart is the escalation of the murder rate," 
he said. "Every other day a murder file will come across my desk and that is a 
real serious concern."

(source: New Vision)






ZIMBABWE:

Mnangagwa sets record straight on death penalty


Government is set to consult Zimbabweans on whether the country should retain 
the death penalty or completely abolish it in fulfilment of recommendations 
from other United Nations Member-States, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has 
said.Zimbabwe has 90 inmates on death row. Several countries attending the 
Universal Periodic Review meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council 
Working Group here implored Zimbabwe to scrap capital punishment from its 
statutes.

They urged Government to immediately suspend the death penalty while it 
considers completely abolishing it. Vice President Mnangagwa, who is also in 
charge of the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, said the 
country has not executed anyone on death row in more than a decade. In an 
interview with The Sunday Mail, VP Mnangagwa said Government could not 
unilaterally abolish the death penalty without consulting Zimbabweans who 
retained it in the new Constitution.

"We have decided that I should make a paper on the issue of the death penalty, 
which will be made public for the purposes of debate, whether we still need to 
continue to have the death penalty as part of our statutes or do we need to 
remove it," said VP Mnangagwa.

"That is, we are showing that we are not very comfortable with the death 
penalty. But the issue of the death penalty cannot be an issue of Cabinet 
alone, we believe that it is an issue where the general public must express 
itself since it was brought into our statute through the Constitution as a 
result of national consultation during the outreach programme."

VP Mnangagwa said while the new Constitution retained the capital punishment, 
there were major improvements that deserve credit.

"In the past, anybody above the age of 21 could be sentenced to death if they 
committed certain crimes like aggravated murder, mutiny or treason. All those 
things were there.

"But under the current Constitution, that has now been reduced. First, no woman 
of whatever age can be sentenced to death now. Secondly, no one who is below 
the age of 18 can be sentenced to death.

"Then with regard to men, those between the age of 21 and 70 can be sentenced 
to death for aggravated murder. Those above 70 are immune to be sentenced to 
death," said VP Mnangagwa.

VP Mnangagwa told the plenary here that Cabinet approved Presidential clemency 
on 10 inmates who requested for their death sentences to be commuted to life 
imprisonment.

(source: bulawayo24.com)




SINGAPORE:

Lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam defends people who might face the death 
penalty----Lawyer has for 12 years defended pro bono poor accused who might 
face death penalty


Criminal cases may form just a fraction of work that lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam 
handles, but they hold a special place in his heart.

"When I was young... I used to enjoy reading about criminal cases (in the 
newspapers). That's when my interest in law started," said the 41-year-old. He 
counts his former boss, the late Senior Counsel R. Palakrishnan who ran a law 
firm focusing on criminal cases, among his sources of inspiration.

For the past 12 years, Mr Thuraisingam has been defending accused people who 
might face the death penalty, on a pro bono basis under the Legal Assistance 
Scheme for Capital Offences (Lasco).

"Most of them are nice, young, naive and unfortunately, because they are the 
poorest of the poor, they don't have the skills set or opportunity to earn 
money," he said of his clients, some of whom were drug couriers or traffickers.

"And so, they fall prey to these quick ways to make a few dollars.

"You can't help but sympathise with the predicament they're in," he added. 
"There is nobody else to help them; if you don't help, who else can they turn 
to?"

One of them was Dinesh Pillai, then 26, the 1st drug convict to be saved from 
the gallows due to his mental condition.

The Malaysian had been tasked to bring a "packet of food" across the Causeway 
for RM200 7 years ago. The pack, wrapped in brown paper and bagged with packets 
of chilli and gravy, was later found to contain 19.35g of heroin.

Dinesh was given the mandatory death penalty and Mr Thuraisingam was assigned 
to the man's appeal. It was among the lawyer's first few criminal cases in the 
Court of Appeal and is one of his most memorable to date.

Their first 2 appeals were unsuccessful, said Mr Thuraisingam, who added: "It 
was depressing ."

The turning point came when the Misuse of Drugs Act was amended during that 
period. In gist, the change gave the judges presiding over drug cases more 
leeway in sentencing. If the offender showed he was a mere courier and either 
cooperated with the authorities or suffered from a mental disorder, a High 
Court judge could sentence him to life in prison and not the mandatory death 
penalty.

Dinesh was sent for psychiatric assessment and it was found that he was likely 
suffering from depression and his mental state was adjudged significant in his 
agreement to transport the drugs. The lawyer successfully applied for a 
re-sentencing and Dinesh was given life imprisonment instead.

"While he does have to serve a very long period of time in jail, at least a 
life was saved," said Mr Thuraisingam, who is against the death penalty.

"It is stressful, but I think if you want to do a good job for your client, 
you've got to put stress aside, you've got to put emotions aside," he said 
about representing those charged with capital offences.

There are some 200 lawyers on Lasco, which ensures that people facing capital 
charges in the High Court have legal representation.

While he has saved many from the gallows, the consequences are devastating when 
he is unsuccessful, he said - he has lost 1 appeal.

Drug syndicate leader Quek Hock Lye, whose attempts to swop his death sentence 
for a prison term were unsuccessful, was hanged earlier this year. The 
50-year-old was sentenced in 2010 for trafficking in more than 60g of heroin.

"You feel sad because a life was lost, but I know I did everything possible," 
said Mr Thuraisingam.

"You don't get too emotional after a while and you learn that all you can do is 
to do your best."

(source: Straits Times)






BANGLADESH:

Man gets death penalty for killing wife in Barisal


A Barisal court yesterday sentenced a man to death for beating his wife to 
death for dowry on June 21, 2015.

The convict, Sumon Munshi, 25, son of Abul Munshi of Dignamanik village in 
Mehediganj upazila, was also fined Tk 1 lakh.

Sumon and his family started torturing Sathi, daughter of Anis Howlader, for 
dowry soon after they got married 2 years ago.

(source: The Daily Star)






INDONESIA:

President Jokowi says the government wants to move away from using the death 
penalty


President Joko Widodo was scheduled to begin a 3-day visit to Australia on 
Saturday, but, as we are all well aware, certain domestic issues forced him to 
cancel the trip.

But somewhat lost in all of the news about the violent end to Friday's protest, 
Jokowi's response to it and his cancellation of his trip to Australia was an 
important statement from the president that should give those fighting to see 
the death penalty repealed in Indonesia some hope.

On the eve of his trip to Australia, Jokowi sat down for an interview with the 
Australian Broadcast Corporation's Indonesia Bureau Chief Samantha Hawley to 
discuss several topics related to relations between the 2 countries.

Obviously one of the biggest matters of contention between Australia and 
Indonesia during Jokowi's time in office was the execution of Australian 
citizens Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan in April 2015 for drug-related 
crimes. As Hawley noted in her question to the president, "Australia virtually 
begged" Indonesia not to execute the 2 men and so she asks Jokowi if he ever 
had doubts over whether the executions were wrong.

The president repeated his now standard reply to this sort of question, saying 
he was simply following the laws of Indonesia. Hawley then followed up with a 
question about the perceived barbarity of executing people by firing squad and 
asking Jokowi if he would ever consider changing the method of execution.

The president said that is up to the will of the people and also the 
legislators. But then Jokowi went much further by saying: "I think in Europe 
and in other countries in the past, there was the death penalty. But because 
the citizens demanded it, they changed it. We are very open about the options."

Hawley then asked Jokowi if he thinks Indonesians will change their mind, to 
which he replied. "Yes, I don't know when. But we want to move in that 
direction."

It is not exactly a solid endorsement for abolishing of the death penalty, but 
it does show quite a different tone than times in the past when the president 
sternly defended the use of executions to fight the 'drug emergency" that he 
says is killing the nation's youth.

There is also reason to believe that President Joko Widodo has reconsidered his 
stance on the death penalty. The last round of executions in July ended with 4 
convicts killed by firing squad while another ten who were scheduled to die 
were given last minute reprieves, although whether they will still be executed 
in the future remains unclear. Former president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, a 
strong opponent of the death penalty, personally appealed to Jokowi to spare 
the life of Pakistani citizen Zulfiqar Ali, who Habibie said is likely innocent 
of the crimes he was charged with. Many belief Habibie's appeal to have been 
effective in getting Jokowi to call off the executions that day.

Perhaps Habibie's words stuck with Jokowi and he really has had a change of 
heart . At the very least, it should encourage people who are against the death 
penalty in Indonesia to keep fighting to change public support for the practice 
because even the president believes in a future where Indonesia does not 
execute people.

(source: coconuts.co)






INDIA:

German Bakery case: Maharashtra govt moves Supreme Court against Baig 
acquittal----Challenging the Bombay High Court order, government lawyer Nishant 
R Katneshwarkar has now moved the Supreme Court citing 20 grounds.


The state government has moved the Supreme Court against the acquittal of Mirza 
Himayat Baig on 5 counts of death and 4 counts of life imprisonment that was 
handed out to him by a trial court in Pune for his alleged involvement in the 
German Bakery bombing in February 2010. Baig, the lone accused in the case who 
was awarded death penalty by a Sessions Court in April 2013, was in March this 
year sentenced for life instead by the Bombay High Court which convicted him 
for "possession of explosives."

Challenging the HC order, government lawyer Nishant R Katneshwarkar has now 
moved the SC, citing 20 grounds. The petition has challenged the March 17, 
2016, judgement which had also acquitted Baig from charges under various 
Sections of the Unlawful Prevention (Activities) Act and the IPC, including 
Sections 302 (murder) read with 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

"The HC overlooked the evidence which showed that Baig had travelled from Latur 
to Mumbai and stayed at a lodge for the purpose of entering into a conspiracy 
or for giving final shape to terrorist act or in furtherance of his terrorist 
activities," says the petition. Meanwhile, Baig had submitted a Special Leave 
Application seeking "complete acquittal" by challenging the conviction on the 2 
charges levied by the HC.

"The evidence produced to support Baig's involvement is flimsy. The Maharashtra 
Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) says that the autorickshaw driver who had dropped 
Baig and (Yasin) Bhatkal to Koregaon Park identified Baig several months after 
the incident. This is not reliable evidence and looks concocted to frame my 
client. The explosive sample from the blast site doesn't match with the RDX 
that the ATS alleges was seized from Baig's residence. We are confident of the 
acquittal on the 2 charges," Baig's lawyer Farrukh Rasheed said in the 
application. The SC is likely to hear the case later this month.

(source: indianexpress.com)






TURKEY:

Erdogan Calls For Execution Of Alleged 'Coup Plotters'


While inaugurating a new high speed train station in Ankara recently, Turkish 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced to raucous supporters, chanting "we 
want the death penalty," that his government is bent on reinstating capital 
punishment retroactively to execute those behind the abortive coup attempt in 
July. "Soon, our government will bring (the bill) to Parliament ... It's what 
the people say that matters, not what the West thinks," Erdogan said to the 
crowd.

Reestablishing the death penalty would eliminate the possibility of becoming a 
European Union member state, something Turkey has been seeking for decades. 
"Thumbing his nose" at the EU, Erdogan's statements prove that vengeance is 
more important to him than admission to the union, something he had pursued 
since he was first elected Prime Minister in 2003.

"It would immediately trigger a huge problem with the Council of Europe, which 
Turkey is a part of, and the EU," Marc Pierini, a visiting scholar at the 
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank headquartered in 
Washington, told The Media Line. "This would shut off the accession 
negotiations with the EU."

The Republic of Turkey, which just celebrated its 93rd anniversary, is a 
country straddling both Asia and Europe with 95 % of its population practicing 
Islam. The country has been an associate member of the EU since 1963 and 
officially applied for accession in 1987.

According to Esra Ozyuek, an associate professor in contemporary Turkish 
studies at the London School of Economics, Turkey has wanted to join the EU 
since it was first established as a trade organization in the 1960s because, 
after World War II, the country wanted to ally itself with the capitalist 
world. "Turkey has always wanted to join the West and to be part of the family 
of Western nations," David Kushner, a professor at Haifa University told The 
Media Line.

Membership to the EU would bring both political and economic benefits to 
Turkey.

"Economically, they would be able to trade freely and Turks would be able to 
freely circulate in the EU because it is a great labor market," Ozyurek said. 
"For many people, it would (also) guarantee political rights and freedoms."

First created in 1950 as a means of uniting war-torn Europe, the EU, officially 
established in 1993, is a group of European countries that are politically and 
economically tied to one another. Currently there are 28 member countries. To 
be considered for membership, a country must adhere to certain conditions, 
which include having a free-market economy, a stable democracy and accepting EU 
legislation. As part of this, a country may not practice capital punishment.

"Imposing the death penalty is incompatible with membership of the Council of 
Europe," the Council of Europe tweeted after Erdogan's announcement.

The Turkish government officially abolished the death penalty in July 2004, 
just as negotiations for membership to the European Union were ramping up. In 
2004, when the EU accepted 10 new member countries, the European Commission 
agreed to hold negotiations to consider Turkey's accession bid; however, those 
negotiations have been stalled since then as some member countries, like 
France, Germany and Cyprus, have blocked the possibility of Turkey's accession 
- all member countries have veto power.

Over the years, Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have become 
less keen on EU membership as joining the union would lessen Erdogan's power in 
his own country.

"It wouldn't make any sense for the AKP to reform more in line with EU policies 
because that would mean having to share power and the AKP has signaled that it 
would not share political power at all," Roy Karadag, the managing director of 
the Institute for International Studies at the University of Bremen, told The 
Media Line.

The motivation to join the EU, as well as the belief that it will happen, has 
decreased since 2004. This trend escalated following the coup attempt which saw 
members of the Turkish military, allegedly supporters of the self-exiled cleric 
Fetullah Gulen, attempt to oust Erdogan in last July.

Since then, the president and his government have cracked down - arresting and 
detaining at least 100,000 of its citizens accused of having ties with Gulen. 
Most recently, the government fired some 10,000 government officials and 
arrested the editor-in- chief of an opposition newspaper.

The president originally announced his support of reestablishing the death 
penalty less than a month after the coup attempt; however, this is the 1st time 
he has announced that he is going through the legislation necessary to change 
the law. Retroactively reinstating the death penalty would, most likely, end EU 
accession negotiations.

"There is a massive shift to authoritarianism going on here and I think that 
speaks for itself," Emma Sinclair-Webb, the Turkey Director for Human Rights 
Watch, told The Media Line.

With Erdogan becoming increasingly authoritarian over the past few years, 
European politicians as well as the political elite in Turkey know that there 
is almost no possibility of Turkey entering the EU.

"I would say that Erdogan does not need, or want, to enter the EU," Karadag 
asserted. "He has become authoritarian and everything he and the party have 
done over the past 8 years goes against any accepted notion of being 
democratic."

Karadag added that Erdogan wants the ability to say that Turkey has done 
everything it could to be a democracy and to become an EU member state, 
including defending the country against the coup plotters. Erdogan believes 
that reinstating the death penalty does not mean that the country is betraying 
democracy or Western values.

The EU had planned to introduce visa-free travel for Turkish citizens by 2017; 
however, with the recent arrest of the editor-in-chief of a major newspaper and 
Erdogan's statements about the death penalty, the Vice President of the 
European Parliament, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, was quoted saying "like this, 
nothing will proceed with visa-free travel."

According to Sinclair-Webb, the possibility of the EU now accepting Turkey's 
accession bid does not look too good. "We know that the bid is completely 
stalled and has been for a long time," Sinclair-Webb said. "The complete 
crackdown (in Turkey) does nothing to revive the chances of the accession 
negotiations proceeding in a positive direction."

(source: eurasiareview.com)