[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 21



BANGLADESH:

N'ganj murders: prosecution seeks death for all charged


The 2 cases filed over the sensational murders from 2014 reached final stage of 
hearing at the court of District and Sessions Judge Syed Enayet Hossain.

Public prosecutor Wazed Ali Khokon presented arguments from 9am to 1pm on 
Monday.

Defence lawyers for 15 of the accused, after presenting counter arguments, 
sought acquittal for their clients.

Arguments for 20 more charged in the cases will be heard on Tuesday.

The court will schedule the verdict after both sides finish their statements.

The prosecution has successfully proven all charges including planning, 
abduction, murder and attempts made to hide the bodies, said prosecutor Wazed.

"The prosecution has sought maximum penalty for the accused. We pleaded for 
their execution by hanging," he said.

But defence lawyer Md Sultanuzzaman said: "The prosecution can seek the death 
penalty because the law allows it. But we will present our arguments and plead 
for acquittal."

Narayanganj City Corporation Councillor Nazrul Islam, advocate Chandan Kumar 
Sarkar and 5 others were abducted on Apr 27, 2014 from Lamaparha on the 
Dhaka-Narayanganj link road.

3 days later, their bodies were found in the Shitalakkhya River.

After investigation, police submitted chargesheets in 2 cases filed over the 
murders, accusing former city councillor Nur Hossain and 34 others, including 
former RAB personnel.

(source: bdnews24.com)






THAILAND:

Only 3 5 of people support death penalty for buying and selling of official 
positions


Over 90 % of respondents in a poll agree with life imprisonment for people who 
buy or sell positions in government services and more than 1/2 of them support 
police reforms, according to results of the Super Poll research office.

The poll was conducted during October 15-19 among 440 samples who are police 
officers attached to police stations. They were asked about, among others, how 
they feel about police reforms and about a recent proposal that people who buy 
or sell official positions should face the maximum penalty of death instead of 
life imprisonment.

The poll shows only 3.3 % of the respondents agree with death penalty for those 
who buy or sell official positions and 96.7 % prefer life imprisonment as the 
maximum penalty.

30.9 % say it is not yet time for police reforms while 69.1 % want the police 
organization to be reformed.

Regarding police reforms, 36.1 % of the respondents want to see reform in 
public safety aspect, 30.6 % want police reshuffle to be reformed, 18.2 % want 
legal reforms and 8.2 % want the laws governing police performance to be 
reformed.

(source: pattayamail.com)






MAURITANIA:

Muslim clerics urge for blogger's death penalty to be applied


The blogger's post on Islam and racial discrimination was said to have provoked 
many in a country where the caste system remains a sensitive subject.

He was sentenced to death in 2014 for apostasy.

According to a protester, his post was act of indignity.

"We are here in the front of the court supreme, all the people of Mauritania. 
Our demand, our first demand to execute this criminal. The prophet Mohammed is 
our honour, nobody has right to talk about him. He is our prophet from our 
religion Islam. We are demanding his execution", she stressed.

Mauritania has not applied a death penalty since 1987 but on Sunday, the 
influential Forum of Imams and Ulemas issued an Islamic decree, calling for 
Mkhaitir's death sentence.

"The government has to stop people like this and those who do similar things. 
They need to be punished according to sharia law without reservations. This 
apostasy case has been one of the biggest we have seen in the last few years" 
says the president of National Union of Imams of Mauritania, Mohamed Lemine.

Amnesty International and Reporters without Borders have campaigned for 
Mkhaitir's pardon and release.

(source: allafricanews.com)



UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Dubai security chief reveals anti-drug officer plan for schools


All Dubai schools are to have an anti-drug officer by the end of the year as 
part of efforts to prevent the spread of narcotics, the emirate's security 
chief has said.

Lt General Dahi Khalfan bin Tamim, Head of General Security in Dubai, revealed 
the plans to a narcotics conference yesterday. He also called for the death 
penalty to be pursued against all drug suppliers and dealers.

At present, Dubai prosecutors do not usually request the death penalty, 
although the request to the judge is common in Abu Dhabi courts.

He said: "Police and the anti-narcotics department are cooperating to arrest 
all suspects wanted for drug-related crimes. Until now police have arrested 78 
% of suspects wanted for drug trafficking crimes."

Dubai Police chief Tamim said that the department of anti-narcotics in Dubai 
targets arresting all drug traffickers and dealers by the end of this year. He 
added: "Drug traffickers and dealers sneak into people's houses, including 
Emiratis and affect their lives greatly.

"Drugs contribute to the break-up of families and make the user more vulnerable 
to commit other criminal acts.

"In order to tackle this problem, harsher punishments are essential to bring 
drug traffickers and dealers down. I call for death penalty to be pursued 
against all drug dealers."

He also said young Emiratis in particular are targeted by drug dealers. Tamim 
said: "I call parents to be extra cautious and make sure their teen children do 
not fall prey to drug use."

He revealed a new strategy that aims to bring drug dealers down and monitor all 
school students. "Currently, Police and the Ministry of Education are working 
together to hire a security officer at every government school," he said. "And 
a few months later, government and private schools will have a security 
official that will arrest drug traffickers that target schools and prevent such 
category from entering school communities.

"This strategy aims to protect pupils, aged between 11 and 17. This age 
category requires much attention.

"Let us all put our hands together to combat drugs-related problems. Lately, we 
have listed around 500 pharmaceutical substances under the control medicines in 
the UAE."

(source: 7days.ae)






PHILIPPINES:

Aguirre 'fooling' public on death penalty: Atienza


House senior deputy minority leader and Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza has accused 
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II of "misleading" the public in order to 
drum up support for restoring the death penalty, which administration lawmakers 
want to fast-track.

"Secretary Aguirre's claim that death sentences are needed to implant fear in 
the hearts of hardened criminals has long been discredited by extensive social 
science research," Atienza said at the weekend.

"Ample studies have demonstrated that people commit crimes largely in the heat 
of passion, such as in cases of road rage, or because they are under the 
influence of alcohol or drugs, or because they are mentally ill. These would-be 
criminals give little or no forethought to their actions, and won't be 
discouraged by any fear of death," Atienza said.

Atienza said the people who actually contemplate their crimes beforehand, such 
as professional killers, as well as syndicated drug traffickers, robbers, 
kidnappers and carjackers, intend and expect to avoid capture and punishment.

Thus, the lawmaker said the best way to quash crime would be to guarantee the 
swift apprehension and imprisonment of felons.

Aguirre earlier said the death penalty has to be restored to send a chilling 
effect to criminals, but at an earlier appearance at the House, was chastised 
by some congressmen for providing mainly anecdotal arguments and not empirical 
data bolstering the case for capital punishment.

"If the death penalty will be strictly enforced, there is no iota of doubt that 
this will instill the fear of death in the minds of would-be criminals. In this 
way, people with criminal minds would think twice before they commit offenses, 
especially heinous ones," Aguirre said.

Atienza also said the death penalty runs counter to the faith of most 
Filipinos.

"More than 86 % of Filipinos are Catholics, and our faith teaches us that every 
human being has the right to life, which is absolutely sacred," he said.

Atienza also warned that the country would be openly violating international 
treaties once Congress returns the death penalty.

"We must stress that we are party to international agreements that expressly 
forbid executions and any form of cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment," he 
said.

The lawmaker said government would achieve far more in suppressing crime if it 
purged the justice system of crooked police officers, prosecutors, judges and 
prison officials.

"Right now, police officers for instance are fighting crime with one hand 
practically tied behind their back, because many of their colleagues are either 
engaged in all sorts of criminal activities, or giving protection to felons, 
from drug traffickers to street snatchers," Atienza said.

He cited the latest case of five police officers involved in a brazen 
kidnapping and carnapping incident in Cagayan de Oro City. The officers were 
caught on closed-circuit TV abducting a man who remains missing up to now.

"Every day, we have reports of corrupt officers getting caught up in 
criminality. Thus, if we simply apprehended and put behind bars all the rotten 
officers, we would have fewer heinous crimes everywhere," he pointed out.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier said he expects the House to pass the bill 
reviving the death penalty for heinous crimes before the Christmas recess.

Alvarez himself authored the bill that seeks to mete out death sentences to 
offenders convicted of drug felonies, murder, rape, robbery, carjacking, 
kidnapping, bribery, plunder, parricide, infanticide, destructive arson, 
piracy, and treason.

Atienza, however, prefers that the same offenses be punished with imprisonment 
for 40 years, or until the convict reaches 70 years old, without the benefit of 
possible early release.

Congress abolished the death penalty in 2006.

(source: interaksyon.com)






NIGERIA/SINGAPORE:

Dabiri-Erewa laments execution of Nigerian in Singapore


The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, 
Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has described the execution of a Nigerian in Singapore 
on Friday for drug related offences as heartbreaking.

She also urged Nigerians to avoid drug trafficking which can result in similar 
executions.

In a statement issued in Abuja by her Special Assistant on Media, Abdur-Rahman 
Balogun, 'titled Execution of a Nigerian in Singapore, Heartbreaking - 
Dabiri-Erewa' the SSA said the planned execution was heartbreaking despite 
repeated warnings to Nigerians to obey the laws of the land of their host 
countries.

Dabiri-Erewa said since Singapore determined to enforce its laws as a deterrent 
to drug trafficking, which has reduced as a result of its stringent capital 
punishment, nothing much can be done

"While we regret the death of the Nigerian, we once again appeal to Nigerians 
to avoid crimes like drug trafficking with most countries especially in Asia 
declaring zero tolerance for drug trafficking", she stated.

She reiterated her appeal to Nigerians to avoid drug peddling in their host 
countries, as the laws of such countries, whether acceptable or not, will be 
difficult to influence.

A Nigerian, Chijoke Obioha was caught in Singapore trafficking in hard drugs on 
December 30, 2008 with his execution slated for and carried out on Friday, 
November 18. Obioha was arrested with more than 2.6 kilogrammes of cannabis, 
surpassing the statutory amount of 500 grammes presumed as drug trafficking in 
Singapore on April 9, 2007.

The international watchdog, Amnesty International had called on Singapore to 
halt Friday's planned execution of Obioha, a Nigerian national on death row for 
possession of drugs, a demand which was ignored. Obioha's family was informed 
that his appeal for clemency was rejected.

Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International's Director for South-East Asia and the 
Pacific, said: "The death penalty is never the solution. It will not rid 
Singapore of drugs. By executing people for drug-related offences, which do not 
meet the threshold of most serious crimes, Singapore is violating international 
law.

Under Singaporean law, when there is a presumption of drug possession and 
trafficking, the burden of proof shifts from the prosecutor to the defendant.

This violates the right to a fair trial by turning the presumption of innocence 
on its head. Drug-related offences do not meet the threshold of the "most 
serious crimes" to which the use of the death penalty must be restricted under 
international law.

International law also prohibits the imposition of the death penalty as a 
mandatory punishment and Amnesty International opposes the use of the death 
penalty outright, regardless of the crime.

(source: today.ng)

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

Chijioke Obioha: Lesson Not Learnt


A Nigerian, 38 year old Chijioke Obioha, was executed recently in Singapore 
after he was found guilty of possessing 2.6 kilograms of cannabis (Indian 
hemp). He was caught with the substance in April of 2007 and sentenced to death 
in 2008. Under Singaporean laws, possession of drugs beyond 500 grams attracts 
the death penalty. The Nigerian High Commission in that country made futile 
effort to save his life by appealing for clemency.

The Singapore embarkation card contains a warning to visitors about the death 
penalty for drug trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Warning signs can 
also be found at the Johor-Singapore Causeway and other border entries. 
Singapore has had capital punishment since it was a British colony and became 
independent before the United Kingdom abolished capital punishment. In 2012, 
however, Singapore amended its laws to exempt some cases from the mandatory 
death sentence while boosting enforcement. Although the penalty will stay, 
discretionary measures are now given to judges.

Possession of and trade in hard drugs is becoming increasingly dangerous all 
over the world. To demonstrate the seriousness attached to the campaign against 
the substances, in certain countries, illegal importing, exporting, sale, or 
possession of drugs constitute capital offences that may result in the death 
penalty. According to a 2011 article by the Lawyers Collective, an NGO in 
India, 32 countries impose capital punishment for offences involving narcotic 
drugs and psychotropic substances. A 2012 report by Harm Reduction 
International documents the 33 countries and territories that retain death 
penalty for drug offences, including 13 in which the sentence is mandatory.

Historically, capital punishment has been used in almost every part of the 
world. Currently, the large majority of countries have either abolished or 
discontinued the practice. As of 31 August 2016, of the 195 independent states 
that are UN members or have UN observer status, 56 retain it in both law and 
practice. 31 have abolished it de facto, namely, according to Amnesty 
International standards, that they have not executed anyone during the last 10 
years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying 
out executions. 6 have abolished it, but retain it for exceptional or special 
circumstances (such as crimes committed in wartime). 102 have abolished it for 
all crimes.

Most human rights organisations have argued that sentencing someone to death 
and actually carrying out the sentence denies them the right to life as 
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is tempting to see 
the issue from that perspective. But most countries that take drastic measures 
against the trade have their reasons which are equally persuasive. For these 
countries and governments, the yield of the drug trade, when ploughed back into 
their systems, distorts the economic and social realities, fuels crime and 
criminal activities not to mention other health implications which result from 
direct consumption of the substances particularly by the more vulnerable 
segment of the society.

Curiously, in our view, this severe punishment has not affected the business in 
any significant way. On the contrary, those engaged in the trade see it just as 
a high risk lucrative business. In other words, if they are not caught, the 
reward is high and worth the trouble.

It may seem attractive to sermonise against the death sentence. This must be 
resisted when the anti-social dimensions to drug trade, possession and 
consumption are considered. Furthermore, it is a punishment the victims decide 
to suffer. They have the other options which include obeying the extant laws 
and staying away from the substances either as barons, couriers or consumers.

Obioha who has just lost his life in Singapore knew about the laws against the 
trade before he set out for the trip. That is why we find it difficult to share 
the position of the human rights activists. He was not the 1st. Even with the 
fate that befell him, there is no guarantee that someone will still not try to 
go to the same Singapore to trade in drugs. Proof that lessons the laws set out 
to teach are not learnt and the victims have only themselves to blame.

(source: Editorial, leadership.ng)

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

Questions over Execution and Mishandled Cremation in Singapore ---- Reeling 
from what they believe was the mishandled execution and cremation of a 
convicted drug trafficker last week, Singaporean lawyers are now preparing 
themselves to fight the next round of executions.


The family of a man executed in Singapore last week is dismayed at the handling 
of his funeral service and says he has been cremated against their wishes.

Chijioke Stephen Obioha, 35, convicted of drug trafficking in 2007, was hanged 
on Friday morning after nearly a decade behind bars.

His legal team, having only heard about the planned execution date a week prior 
from Amnesty International, made one final bid to save his life but it was 
dismissed by the court last Thursday evening.

M. Ravi, a non-practicing lawyer in Singapore and part of Obioha's legal team, 
says when lawyers contacted Singapore's Roman Catholic Prison Ministry (RCPM) 
after the execution, they were initially told the body would be released by the 
prison service on Saturday morning and a funeral service for Obioha was 
scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Obioha's family wanted his body to be buried, in adherence to their religious 
practice and they had asked Ravi to attend the service, he says. But the RCPM, 
despite the initial assurances, did not inform the legal team of the details in 
advance. He later discovered via a website that Obioha's cremation had been 
scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Obioha's family, grieving his death, is "very upset" that his body was not 
treated in-line with their burial rites.

"The family is shocked, heartbroken and distressed," Ravi told The News Lens 
International.

"Under the Nigerian Christian funeral rights, they don't do cremations, they 
only do burials," he says. The family is now concerned about others in their 
local community finding out about Obioha's internment.

Cruel and unusual punishment

Obioha was imprisoned in Singapore after his arrest in 2007. He was charged 
with trafficking 2.6 kilograms of cannabis. In Singapore, 500 grams triggers 
the automatic presumption of drug trafficking. He was also reported to have 
been found with keys to a room containing other prohibited substances. In 
November 2008, he was sentenced to death under Singapore's mandatory death 
penalty law. An appeal was rejected by the courts in 2010. Amendments to the 
mandatory death penalty regime, which came into force in 2013, meant Obioha was 
eligible to apply for re-sentencing. However, his supporters say he refused to 
apply because he insisted he was innocent and saw applying for re-sentencing as 
an admission of guilt.

A petition for clemency was rejected in 2015 and his execution set for May that 
year. One day prior to the execution date, Obioha applied for re-sentencing and 
was granted a stay of execution. After receiving legal advice that he would be 
unlikely to qualify as a drug courier - this could potentially have led to the 
death penalty decision being changed - he later withdrew the application.

In the days prior to his execution, the Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign 
and other human rights groups frantically lobbied the Singapore government to 
halt the execution. Amnesty International, the United Nations and Human Rights 
Watch were among those to release statements calling for the execution to be 
stayed.

In court on Thursday, his legal team argued that Obioha's case - possibly the 
longest delay of an execution in Singapore's history - amounted to cruel and 
unusual punishment. As such, the organization said the execution would be 
"clearly unlawful under international law and arguably under Singapore law."

The court countered that the delay in execution had mostly been brought upon by 
Obioha's own appeals, Ravi says. And despite the fact that lawyers had only 
been notified of the looming execution days before, in dismissing the appeal, 
the court "repeatedly" asked Obioha's legal team why the appeal had been made 
so late and suggested the 11th-hour proceedings were an "abuse of due process."

He adds that even if the court had found Obioha had been subject to "cruel and 
unusual punishment," it is not prohibited by Singapore's constitution.

"So, even if we succeed [in arguing this defense], we would still fail," Ravi 
says. "I think it is outrageous."

According to local media reports, a spokesperson for Nigerian President 
Muhammadu Buhari described the execution as "heartbreaking" but said there was 
little the country could do other than lobby Singaporean officials for 
clemency. The spokesperson appealed to Nigerians to avoid drug trafficking.

Next challenge

Human rights lawyers in Singapore are now waiting on the outcome of a 
constitutional challenge to the death sentences of 4 men for drug charges - 
whom Ravi says may be next scheduled for execution.

The 4 men are: Prabagaran Srivijayan, Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, Muhammad 
Ridzuan Bin Mohd Ali and Jeefrey Bin Jamil.

While Ravi believes the appeal has a chance to be "highly significant" - as it 
challenges core constitutional issues with capital punishment - he is cognizant 
that given Singapore's rigid approach to drug crimes, the case is "an uphill 
task."

As 2 of the 4 men are Malaysian, the defense will also involve lobbying in 
Malaysia, and lawyers are currently drafting a memo to the Malaysian 
parliament.

Campaigners criticized

A Malaysian man, also convicted of drug trafficking, was executed on the same 
day as Obioha. Ravi says lawyers had little knowledge of his case - a situation 
endemic of the opaqueness shrouding the use of capital punishment in Singapore.

According to Amnesty International, more than 100 countries have abolished the 
death penalty for all crimes and 141 are abolitionist in law or practice. As of 
the end of 2015, at least 26 people remained on death row in Singapore. The use 
of capital punishment in Singapore for drug related offenses is in breach of 
international law, which states the death penalty can only be used for a 
country's "most serious crime."

Still, the work by groups like Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign does not 
receive widespread support in Singapore.

Singapore-based journalist and human rights campaigner Kirsten Han wrote last 
week that a claim is "consistently" made against abolitionists around that, "we 
campaign against the death penalty because we victimize the executed while 
caring not a jot for their victims."

In response to the criticism, Han writes, "What we are saying is that the death 
penalty is not helping society address crime in a more holistic ways, and that 
instead of alleviating the problems of victims and their families, capital 
punishment adds additional groups of victims (the inmate and their families) 
rather than actually addressing problems like violent crime and the drug 
trade."

Han also notes that those on death row for drug offenses tend to be from ethnic 
minority groups, families with low incomes, broken families or have less 
education.

"I've been doing this for 6 years and I've never seen a single drug lord/mafia 
boss, just bewildered, scared families representing bewildered, scared 
inmates," she says.

(source: thenewslens.com)





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

ICJ: Singapore must be transparent in implementation of executions----The 
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) condemned Singapore's execution of 2 
people on last Friday (18 November)


Nigerian national Chijoke Stephen Obioha and Malaysian national Devendran A/L 
Supramaniam were convicted of drugs-related charges: Chijoke Stephen Obioha was 
convicted of possession and trafficking of drugs on 30 December 2008, while 
Devandran was convicted of importing 83.36 grams of diamorphine into Singapore 
on 29 July 2014.

The ICJ noted with concern that the Singapore government's lack of transparency 
with regards to its implementation of executions. It does not update the list 
of names and number of death row inmates and often does not give death row 
inmates and their families adequate notice prior to executions.

"The very short notice does not allow the death row inmates and their families 
enough time to file last minute appeals," said Sam Zarifi, ICJ's Asia director. 
"Singapore authorities, by hastening executions, hinder measures that could 
save the lives of those on death row, and also try to minimize public outcry 
over the executions."

The ICJ opposes capital punishment in all cases without exception and considers 
the death penalty a violation of the right to life and the right not to be 
subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The ICJ calls on the Singapore government to publicly release the number of 
death row inmates awaiting execution, and the number and names of individuals 
who have been executed in 2016.

ICJ also calls on the Singapore government to immediately establish a 
moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view towards its abolition.

Earlier in 2011, Singapore established a moratorium on the carrying out of 
death penalty as part of its review process of the mandatory death penalty. 
However, it came to an end after 3 years, after it executed 2 death row 
prisoners, Tang Hai Liang, 36, and Foong Chee Peng, 48 on 18 July 2014.

(source: theonlinecitizen.com)


IRAQ:

ISIS executioner beheaded 6 hostages as part of his training


An ISIS militant taken captive by Kurdish Peshmerga forces on the Nawaran front 
north of Mosul last month has confessed that he was 1 of the extremist group's 
executioners and that he had beheaded 6 Shiite hostages on his 1st day of 
training.

"I joined ISIS through someone from our area named Abu Mahmood," Hassan Hamza, 
21, from a village near Nawaran told Rudaw of the time he first joined the 
radical group. "He asked me to become a militant of the Islamic State and said 
'I will get you a salary. If you are martyred you will go to paradise' and I 
said 'alright'."

>From his village Hamza was taken to a military base where he was put through 
weeks of basic training until appointed a guard at an ISIS shelter near Tal 
Afar, west of Mosul.

"One day when I was in Tal Afar, a special ISIS force came and their emir 
[leader] chose me alongside a few more saying 'we are taking you to Raqqa'. As 
soon as we arrived, they put us in a base outside the city which was surrounded 
by lots of gardens." Hamza recalled.

During his first 6 months with ISIS, he said, he "received strong and regular 
trainings. Then, they chose 6 of us to train on how to carry out beheadings."

The training began by watching beheadings of hostages and prisoners carried out 
by more experienced ISIS militants "then I was called to repeat the same 
thing."

"After we watched the beheading scenes, they would tell us about the importance 
of such punishments." Hamza now said. "After that, the trainers would behead 
some people in front of us."

When the day came for him to put his learning into practice Hamza was brought a 
number of Shiite hostages and told to "behead some of them as training, so I 
beheaded 6 of them."

The former ISIS executioner revealed that he and his fellow militants had been 
indoctrinated by the group that the Kurdish Peshmerga were "infidels and we 
have to do jihad against them."

Now in captivity, Hamza feels that his ISIS superiors had deceived him and he 
regrets his actions.

"What ISIS said about the Peshmerga was not true as they treated me in a good 
way," he said of his time since his capture. "They are Muslims and they do 
pray."

Not sure whether or not it will reach them or not, Hamza sent out a message to 
his fellow militants urging them to put down their weapons and stop fighting or 
their only fate is death.

(source: rudaw.net)






VIETNAM:

Australian national escapes death for heroin smuggling in Vietnam


The appeal court reduced the 73-year-old's sentence to life in jail, saying she 
cooperated during the investigation.

A Vietnamese-Australian woman convicted of attempting to smuggle 1.6 kilograms 
of heroin from Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney had her death sentence commuted to 
life at an appeal trial on Monday.

The appeal court in Ho Chi Minh City said Nguyen Thi Huong, 73, earned the 
commutation for being honest and showing remorse during the investigation. The 
fact that she is old may have also been taken into consideration.

Huong was arrested at Tan Son Nhat Airport with the heroin hidden in soap bars 
in December 2014. She was checking in for a flight to Sydney.

She said she had visited Vietnam a month earlier and a Thai woman from HCMC's 
neighboring province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau gave her the soap to carry to 
Australia.

She said she did not know anything about the drugs, which were worth around 
VND10 billion ($443,200).

In June, the HCMC People's Court decided to hold her fully responsible.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Those convicted of 
possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 
kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty.

The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal 
narcotics is also punishable by death.

(source: vnexpress.com)






ISRAEL:

Jerusalem's top rabbi says 'homosexuality punishable by death,' faces backlash


Israeli politicians and LGBT activists have called for the resignation of 
Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar after the high-ranked cleric said that 
homosexuality was punishable by death.

"This is a cult of abomination, this is clear," Amar said when asked of his 
attitude toward homosexuality in an interview with Yisrael Hayom newspaper, 
cited by Times of Israel.

"This is an abomination. The Torah says it is punishable by death. It is in the 
1st rank of severe offenses," he said.

Amar added that he didn't believe in some people having a homosexual 
orientation, calling such claims "nonsense."

"There are desires and a person can overcome it if he wants, like all other 
desire," Jerusalem's top rabbi said.

After the release of extracts from Amar interview on Thursday, an LGBT 
activist, Shirley Kleinman, filed a complaint to the police, blaming the cleric 
for incitement to murder.

"Let's try and ensure that this man will not remain in his key public 
position," Kleinman wrote on her Facebook page, as cited by The Jerusalem Post.

"This is not an anti-religious issue, I have nothing against religion, every 
person shall live in accordance with their faith. I do have an interest to 
protect my rights and your rights to live, and [to live with] dignity," she 
said.

The call for Amar's resignation was backed by Knesset members Yael German and 
Meirav Michaeli, who wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Religious 
Services Minister David Azoulay on the issue.

The parliamentarians from Yesh Atid and the Zionist Union stated that the chief 
rabbi was "exploiting his position" as religious authority "for a campaign of 
dangerous incitement against a large public group in Israel."

"A public figure who endangers the safety of Israeli citizens by discrimination 
and incitement should be fired from their position immediately," German and 
Michaeli said in a letter.

Jerusalem City Council member Laura Wharton addressed Amar directly, calling on 
him to retract on his anti-LGBT statements.

"Your comments are gross incitement, and just 1 year after the murder of Shira 
Banki [at the 2015 Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade], I would have expected that you 
would know they are destructive of our society," The Jerusalem Post cited 
Wharton as saying.

It's not the 1st time Jerusalem's top rabbi has found himself in hot water 
after his controversial remarks on the LGBT community.

Last year, Amar was criticized for suggesting that most people were "disgusted" 
by homosexuality and labeling Jerusalem's gay pride parade "an embarrassing 
phenomenon."

However, he condemned the murder of a teenager at the 2015 parade, saying that 
the act couldn't be justified.

(source: rt.com)