[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 12




INDIA:

No review of Soumya sentence: Supreme Court


The outcry over awarding life sentence to Soumya case convict Govindachamy and 
attempts by the Kerala government, Soumya's mother and ex-judge Markandey 
Katju+ to get the sentence enhanced to death penalty failed to convince the 
Supreme Court to review its September 15 decision.

Govindachamy allegedly pushed Soumya off a moving train after sexually 
assaulting her. But the SC had taken note of oral testimony of witnesses who 
said that she had jumped off the train to escape the rapist. It had acquitted 
Govindachamy of murder charge while convicting him of rape and sentenced him to 
life imprisonment.

The 23-year-old Soumya had boarded the Ernakulam-Shoranur passenger train on 
February 1, 2011, around 5.30pm at Ernakulam Town railway station to go to her 
home in Shoranur for her betrothal ceremony.

Taking suo motu notice of Justice Katju's blog criticising the judgment and the 
judges who delivered it for not taking note of evidence and letting 
Govindachamy off leniently with life sentence, the SC had on October 17 
requested the ex-judge to assist the court while hearing the review petitions 
filed by Kerala government and Soumya's mother.

Justice Katju stressed that the SC should have assumed, in the absence of 
concrete proof about Govindachamy pushing Soumya out of the train, that the 
convict was responsible for the tragedy. "The accused sexually assaulted the 
girl and banged her head repeatedly, causing serious injuries to the head and 
brain. In that condition, even if she jumped out of a moving train, the act of 
the deceased should be taken as a consequence of the threat posed by the 
accused. So he should face death penalty for murder," Justice Katju said.

The bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, P C Pant and U U Lalit repeatedly asked him 
how a court of law could assume a story on behalf of the prosecution by 
creating evidence which was non-existent.

"We cannot think on our own and conjure up a story which is not even stated in 
the case diary by the prosecution," said Justice Lalit. Justice Katju asked, 
"Does it mean you will swallow whatever is told to you? The bench erred gravely 
in not discarding that part of the evidence. Judges of the Supreme Court err. I 
have erred gravely.But I always made an attempt to correct it. You should also 
correct your judgment."

When the court asked him to prove his point in reference to provisions of 
Indian Evidence Act, Justice Katju snapped, "Let us show some common sense. 
Even if Soumya jumped out and died of the injuries, it is common sense that she 
was attempting to escape the threat posed by Govindachamy. This case must be 
decided on the basis of common sense."

. The bench did not agree and dismissed the 3 review petitions.

(source: The Times of India)






MAURIITANIA:

CPJ calls on Mauritania to release blogger who faces death penalty


November 11, 2016 President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz

Islamic Republic of Mauritania

Ministere du Secretariat General a la Presidence

B.P.184 Nouakchott, Mauritanie

Fax: +222 525 85 52

Dear President Abdel Aziz,

The organizations signing below write to express their concern for the life of 
blogger Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed, also known as Mohamed Ould M'Kaitir. We 
also ask that your government do everything it can to secure his release.

Mauritania's Supreme Court is expected to review Mohamed's case on November 15. 
The blogger faces the death penalty following his conviction in 2014 on 
blasphemy charges stemming from an article he published on the news website 
Aqlame on December 31, 2013, titled, "Religion, religiosity, and craftsmen," 
which criticized Mauritania's caste system.

Mohamed has repeatedly repented. On January 11, 2014, he issued a statement 
from prison denying that he intended to insult the Prophet Mohamed. In an 
unsuccessful, April 21, 2016, appeal, he said that he had made a mistake, and 
asked for forgiveness.

Article 306 of the Penal Code gives the Supreme Court power to cancel or reduce 
his sentence to a maximum of 2 years in jail and up to 60,000 ouguiya (US$173) 
if it determines that he has repented. We hope the court will order Mohamed's 
release, given his demonstrated contrition.

Regardless of the court's ruling, we ask you to instruct your government to 
ensure his physical safety inside and outside prison. Since his imprisonment 2 
years ago, preachers have called for his death, according to press reports. 
Those who have spoken out on his behalf have themselves been labeled as 
infidels and received violent threats, according to news accounts.

In April 2014 you told reporters that you did not believe Mohamed was aware of 
the seriousness of what he had written. In this spirit, we ask you to 
acknowledge his repentance and ensure his safe release from prison.

Sincerely,

Joel Simon

Executive Director

Committee to Protect Journalists

Christophe Deloire

Secretary General

Reporters Without Borders

Karin D. Karlekar

Director of Free Expression At Risk Programs

PEN America

Maran Turner

Executive Director

Freedom Now

CC:

Commissioner for Human rights,

Humanitarian action and relations with civil society

Ms Aichetou Mint M'Haiham

Commissariat aux Droits de l'Homme,

a l'Action humanitaire et aux Relations avec la societe civile

B.P. 1258 Nouakchott Mauritanie

Fax: + 222 45 29 21 55

presidente at cndhmauritanie.mr

His Excellency Mohamed Lemine El Haycen,

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

Permanent Representative of Mauritania to the United Nations

116 East 38th Street New York, N.Y. 10016

Fax: (212) 252-0175
Email: mauritaniamission at gmail.com

(source: cpj.org)






EGYPT:

Ibrahim Halawa trial adjourned until his 21st birthday ---- Charlie Flanagan 
says return of Irishman as soon as possible was a priority

The trial of Ibrahim Halawa, the young Irishman who has been detained in Egypt 
for more than 3 years, has been adjourned for the 16th time.

Mr Halawa (20), who is from Firhouse in Dublin, has been in prison since August 
2013, when he was arrested at the Fateh mosque in Cairo during protests against 
the ousting of then-president Mohamed Morsi.

He and 493 others have been put on mass trial, on serious charges which could 
result in life imprisonment or the death penalty. The proceedings have to date 
been adjourned 16 times and no evidence has been heard. About 80 of the 
defendants have been tried in absentia.

Mr Halawa's case has been adjourned until December 13th, 2016, according to a 
tweet by his solicitor Darragh Mackin. The trial date is set for his 21st 
birthday. He was aged 17 when he was arrested.

Mr Mackin said his trial was adjourned due to the non appearance of a number of 
defendants. This was "indicative of the inherent shortcomings of mass trials" 
he wrote.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said Ireland's Ambassador to 
Egypt Damien Cole led an Embassy observer team at the hearing.

He said his understanding was the delay was due to a number of defendants not 
being present in court and was linked to "heightened security concerns in 
Cairo, following planned protests in recent days".

He said Mr Halawa's return as soon as possible was a priority and the 
Government was using "every possible opportunity" to underline concerns with 
Egytian authorities.

Mr Halawa's lawyers had submissed an application for his return, which Ireland 
is supporting and which the Taoiseach had asked the Egyptian president to 
consider, he said.

Mr Flanagan said he discussed the case with Egypt's foreign minister on 
November 1st.

"Our embassy has been monitoring Ibrahim's health and welfare since his 
detentionand Ambassador Cole raised the issue with the prison governor on his 
last visit to the prison. I welcome today's order by the Judges that Ibrahim 
receive a full examination and that this be reported back to the court," he 
said.

Executive director of Amnesty International Ireland, Colm O'Gorman said 
"Today???s adjournment proves once again that Ibrahim has no prospect of fair 
trial in #Egypt It is just obscene #FreeIbrahim".

Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin described the latest delay as an 
intolerable injustice.

"Ibrahim has now had 16 trial dates over 1,181 days, and is no closer to 
justice than when this ordeal started. No evidence ever been presented against 
him and he has had no opportunity to present a defence. He was just 17 when 
arrested, but he may yet turn 21 in an Egyptian prison," she said.

"Ibrahim's trial process has been a litany of lies, obfuscation and abuse. We 
cannot allow this situation to continue. The Government must redouble its 
efforts to bring this young man home to Ireland," she said.

(source: The Irish Times)






UNITED KINGDOM/ETHIOPIA:

Foreign Office Loses Contact with British Dad 'in Fear for His Life' on 
Ethiopian Death Row


Britain's Foreign Office has failed for a fortnight to confirm if a British 
father held on death row in Ethiopia is still alive, after a warning that his 
life may be in danger.

UK diplomats in Ethiopia learned on Friday 27 October that British father-of-3, 
Andargachew 'Andy' Tsege, was 'in fear for his life' following disturbances at 
the prison.

Mr Tsege has been imprisoned unlawfully in Ethiopia since 2014, when he was 
kidnapped at an international airport and rendered to the country. His death 
sentence was illegally imposed in absentia in 2009 for his criticism of 
Ethiopia???s ruling party while he was in London with his family.

Concerns for Mr Tsege's wellbeing have escalated over the last fortnight, in 
which the Foreign Office has failed to secure consular access to the prison or 
speak to Andy directly, leaving his London family fearing for the worst.

For the 1st year of this captivity, Mr Tsege was held incommunicado. British 
diplomats were later allowed to visit him and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson 
claimed that "regular consular access" was "now in place." However, Andy has 
not been allowed a consular visit in over 3 months.

The UK government has refused to call for his release, and cited consular 
access as a sign that his situation had improved.

The 2-week news blackout from the jail has seriously undermined the Foreign 
Office's claim that it has his case under control.

The FCO has focused on requesting legal access for Mr Tsege - a request which 
the Ethiopian Prime Minister promised to honour in June this year, but has 
since reneged upon.

International human rights organisation Reprieve - which is assisting Mr Tsege 
- has argued that requesting legal access is ineffectual, because the Ethiopian 
Government has already stated that there is no legal route by which Mr Tsege 
will be allowed to challenge his death sentence.

Commenting, Maya Foa, a director at Reprieve, said:

"Andy's partner and kids in London are completely in the dark about what has 
happened to him, and they are fearing for the worst. It's shocking that Andy 
could be in mortal danger, and yet British officials seem unable or unwilling 
to check that he is alive and well. Andy has already suffered a catalogue of 
abuses - from an unlawful in absentia death sentence, to kidnap, rendition, 
torture, and over 2 years' illegal detention. Andy is now in fear for his life 
- what more will it take for the British government to stop cowtowing to the 
Ethiopians, stand up for the rights of this innocent British father of 3, and 
secure his return home to his family in London?"

Reprieve is a UK-based human rights organization that uses the law to enforce 
the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay.

(source: commondreams.org)