[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

October 17




TANZANIA:

Court of Appeal Orders Fresh Hearing of Death Penalty


Procedural irregularities have served a resident of Mtwara Region, Khalifa 
Museven, from being hanged to death for allegedly killing his colleague, 
Mohamed Rashid, alias Wayaga, after suspecting him of stealing a bag of cement.

Instead, the Court of Appeal ordered fresh hearing of the matter after 
nullifying the proceedings, conviction and the death sentence imposed on 
Museven by the High Court on November 30, last year.

Justices Nathalia Kimaro, Semistocles Kaiage and Shaban Lila noted that the 
trial judge had not guided properly court assessors when providing the summing 
up of the murder trial.

They also found another defect relating to the type of questions that were put 
by the assessors to the witnesses, as did not seek clarification on the 
testimony rather amounted to cross examination of witnesses.

"The trial in this case suffers shortfall of undetailed directions in the 
summing up to the assessors on the ingredients of the offence, the evidence 
that was intended to be relied upon by the prosecution and the failure to 
direct the assessors on the type of questions to ask witnesses," they said.

They pointed out that the duty of the trial judge was to supervise and control 
the assessors on the questions they were allowed to put to the witnesses as 
they were neither allowed to examine or crossexamine witnesses. What the law 
allows them to do, they said, was to seek clarifications.

"Exercising powers of revision under section 4 (2) of the Appellate 
Jurisdiction Act, we declare the High Court proceedings a nullity. We order a 
retrial before another judge sitting with different assessors," the justices 
declared.

It alleged that on March 29, 2013, the appellant went to a place known as 
Kijiwe cha Nice within Mtwara Municipality, tracing for the deceased whom he 
had earlier on blamed for having stolen a bag of cement from him.

Although the deceased attempted to run away, he was apprehended because the 
appellant shouted thief, thief. Having been arrested, the appellant left with 
the deceased saying he was taking him to the police station.

(source: Tanzania Daily News)






CHINA:

Chinese official who had 24m pounds cash at home given suspended death sentence 
---- Wei Pengyuan is found guilty of corruption after being accused of taking 
bribes to approve coal projects


A Chinese former senior energy official who had more than 200m yuan (24m pounds 
) in cash at his home has been given a suspended death penalty after being 
found guilty of corruption, state news agency Xinhua said on Monday.

Wei Pengyuan had been deputy director of the coal department at the National 
Energy Administration until he was put under investigation in 2014, with 
officials saying at the time the cash found was the largest amount ever found 
in a corruption case.

The court in the northern city of Baoding handed Wei a death sentence, 
suspended for2 years, which in practice means he will spend life in jail and 
not be eligible for parole or early release, Xinhua said.

Wei abused his position to approve coal projects and took 212m yuan in bribes, 
the report said, citing the court judgment.

"Wei Pengyuan had a vast amount of assets which obviously exceeded his legal 
income, and could not explain its source," Xinhua said.

It was not possible to reach relatives or legal representatives of Wei for 
comment.

Liu Tienan, who had been head of the energy administration, was jailed for life 
in 2014 after being caught up in his own bribery scandal.

President Xi Jinping has vowed to go after powerful "tigers" as well as lowly 
"flies" is his fight against pervasive corruption, warning, like others before 
him, that the problem was so severe it could affect the Communist party's grip 
on power.

(source: The Guardian)






AUSTRALIA:

Call for Aust to reject death penalty


A Liberal MP has called on the new federal parliament to reject the death 
penalty.

Moving a motion in the lower house on Monday, Trent Zimmerman said there was no 
place for capital punishment in the modern world.

"It is appropriate that this new parliament commences with a recognition 
Australia must be steadfast in its opposition to the death penalty for all 
crimes, in all nations and that that cause enjoys bipartisan support," he said.

(source: news.com.au)






SINGAPORE:

A compassionate campaign for a cold hearted nation


A recent survey on Singapore's opinion of the death penalty revealed a crushing 
amount of support for capital punishment. Conducted by government feedback 
agency Reach, the survey found that a staggering 80 % of Singapore residents 
supported the death penalty, while only 10 % voiced a need to abolish it.

While majority of the nation stands firm in its belief in capital punishment, a 
small group with a large voice finds courage to stand up to the dominant 
narrative. The Singapore Anti Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) has fronted 
multiple campaigns against the sentencing of death-row inmates over the last 
few years. This month, it's fronting another campaign.

Led by human rights lawyer, Mr. M Ravi, the SADPC is now taking action to 
appeal the death sentence that has been dealt to Prabagaran a/l Srivijayan on 
the counts of drug trafficking.

Prabagaran is a 29-year-old Malaysian who has been found guilty of bringing 
22.24g of Diamorphine into Singapore. He was arrested at the Woodlands 
Checkpoint on April 12, 2012, after immigration officers discovered 2 black 
bundles containing the drugs in the armrest console of his Malaysian-registered 
Hyundai car.

Prabagaran claimed willful blindness in his situation - the car was borrowed 
from a friend and Prabagaran had no knowledge of the drugs in the car. During 
the trial, prosecution argued that Prabagaran's accounts were irreconcilable 
with evidence.

The law states a 3-months period to file clemency after conviction, followed by 
a 3-months consideration period for a pardon, and 3 weeks immediately 
thereafter, an execution for the death penalty.

According to Ravi, Prabagaran's clemency was filed in March. The team is 
expecting the delivery of judgment from the Court of Appeal on November 15, 
which would set Prabagaran's execution date in the 1st week of December.

Sharing Prabagaran's story on Facebook with a video interview with Prabagaran's 
mother, Madam Eswari, Ravi attempts to rally the nation together to put a stop 
to Prabagaran's death penalty.Sharing Prabagaran's story on Facebook with a 
video interview with Prabagaran's mother, Madam Eswari, Ravi attempts to rally 
the nation together to put a stop to Prabagaran's death penalty.

News of Prabagaran's impending execution in the following month has forged a 
sense of urgency within SADPC. Their campaign to save Prabagaran will be 
launched in Singapore and Malaysia, and will rely heavily on the group's 
international networks, including the United Nations.

Ravi aims to highlight the unequal treatment under international law in an 
International Court of Justice (ICJ) memorandum. 'There is a statute under ICJ 
which talks about customary international law - where you cannot be 
discriminated against. I will address this particular article of ICJ, as to how 
the Malaysian government can file an ICJ stay action in International Court of 
Justice. This is the route.'

This strategy could mark the 1st attempt by an Asian country to dispute a death 
penalty on the grounds of an individual's nationality by going to the 
International Court of Justice. 'Europeans have gone - Germans especially - 
it's rare to go with this route. But this is the only route that Prabaragan has 
in terms of the law', says Ravi.

While Ravi takes it upon himself and the activist group to provide the 
Malaysian government with this route, the group ultimately aims to remind 
through this memorandum that countries have a moral duty to defend their 
citizens.

Ravi recounts a similar situation in 2007, where 18-year-old Nigerian 
footballer, Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, was convicted of drug trafficking in 
Singapore. 'If the government of Nigeria refuses to file an ICJ action, the 
lawyers in Nigeria can file action to compel their government in court, to 
file' says Ravi. Activists, who protested Tochi's innocence, carried out a 
hunger strike that lasted over a day, leading up to Tochi's execution. Tochi 
was executed by hanging on 26 January 2007 in Changi Prison.

The SADPC wants to raise awareness amongst Malaysians of the disproportionate 
application of the death penalty towards the minorities.

Despite the dominant Singapore narrative on the death penalty, the scene in 
Malaysia differs. An online poll conducted by Barisan Nasional (BN) component 
party Gerakan, showed 55 % of 1,523 anonymous Internet users in support of 
abolishing the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia. The online #BetterMalaysia 
poll was designed to help Malaysian policymakers better understand public 
perceptions and to bridge the gap between the Malaysian public and 
policymakers.

With regards to Prabagaran's situation, Ravi says 'at the end of the day, 
Singaporeans are not going to make a difference. The people who are going to 
make a difference are Malaysians.' With slightly more positive results from the 
Malaysian online poll, the SADPC might stand a better chance of overturning 
Prabagaran's situation.

(source: The Independent)


INDIA:

For Murder Accused on Death Row, Reopening Review Petition Only Hope----Vikram 
Walia and Jasvir Singh, charged with abduction and murder, are due to hang on 
October 25 unless their sentences are delayed by review petitions.


Even as the countdown has begun for the hanging of 2 convicts, Vikram Walia and 
Jasvir Singh, at Patiala central jail at 9 am on October 25, their lawyers have 
moved the Supreme Court to reopen the hearing of their review petitions, which 
were dismissed in chambers in 2011.

The court has listed their pleas for hearing by a 3-judge bench on October 18.

The 2 convicts were found guilty of kidnapping Abhi Verma alias Harry, aged 16, 
from outside his school in Hoshiarpur and killing him with an anaesthesia 
overdose. Their death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2010, 
while the court commuted the death sentence of their sole accomplice, Singh???s 
wife Sonia, to life imprisonment.

Walia was about 26-years-old, Singh was 24 and Sonia 29 when the offence was 
committed. When explaining why it had commuted Sonia's death sentence, the 
Supreme Court said:

"Keeping in view the overall picture and the fact that at the time when Abhi 
Verma had been kidnapped from outside the DAV School, Sonia had not been 
present and that she may have got embroiled in the conspiracy with her husband 
and Vikram Singh on account of having come under their pressure, some leniency 
must be shown to her."

In 2015, the court dismissed Singh's challenge to the vires of Section 364A of 
IPC, which prescribed the death sentence for the offence of kidnapping. Their 
contention was that the punishment prescribed under Section 364A was 
disproportionate to the gravity of the crime.

The court held that as Section 364A also gave the sentencing judge the option 
to prescribe the lesser sentence of life imprisonment, it cannot be said to 
have compromised judicial discretion in sentencing a convict under it.

The court also held that the appellants were found guilty not only under 
Section 364A, but even for murder, punishable under Section 302 of the IPC. The 
court refused to revisit the question of their sentence thus:

"A sentence of death in a case of murder may be rare, but, if the courts have, 
upon consideration of the facts and evidence, found that the same is the only 
sentence that can be awarded, it is difficult to revisit that question in 
collateral proceedings like the one at hand."

President Pranab Mukherjee rejected their mercy petitions on August 7 this 
year, having received the necessary recommendation from the home ministry on 
June 23.

Having exhausted almost all the available legal remedies, the plea to reopen 
their review petitions is perhaps the last glimmer of hope for the 2 convicts.

The Supreme Court had granted this relief to death row convicts who could not 
avail the option of their review petitions being heard in open court by a 
3-judge bench in Mohd. Arif case in 2014.

A 5-judge constitution bench in that case, by a majority of 4:1, had held as 
follows:

"We are conscious of the fact that while awarding a death sentence, in most of 
the cases, this court would generally be affirming the decision on this aspect 
already arrived at by two courts below, namely the trial court as well as the 
high court. After such an affirmation, the scope of review of such a judgment 
may be very narrow. At the same time, when it is a question of life and death 
of a person, even a remote chance of deviating from such a decision while 
exercising the review jurisdiction, would justify oral hearing in a review 
petition ...We feel that this oral hearing, in death sentence cases, becomes 
too precious to be parted with .... However, when it comes to death penalty 
cases, we feel that the power of the spoken word has to be given yet another 
opportunity even if the ultimate success rate is minimal."

The bench continued:

"Review petitions are inartistically drafted. And oral submissions by a skilled 
advocate can bring home a point which may otherwise not be succinctly stated, 
given the enlarged scope of review in criminal matters....

Although the bench had provided an outer limit of 30 minutes for the oral 
hearing of such review petitions, post Mohd.Arif, the court has been very 
liberal in granting more time than the limit for review petitioners to make 
their submissions.

In Mohd. Arif, the court reasoned as follows:

"We feel that the fundamental right to life and the irreversibility of a death 
sentence mandate that oral hearing be given at the review stage in death 
sentence cases as a just, fair and reasonable procedure under Article 21 
mandates such hearing, and cannot give way to the severe stress of the workload 
of the Supreme Court."

The Supreme Court held in Mohd. Arif that the right of a limited oral hearing 
in the review petitions where a death sentence is given shall be applicable 
only in pending review petitions and such petitions filed in the future.

The court held as follows:

"It will also apply where a review petition is already dismissed, but the death 
sentence is not executed so far. In such cases, the petitioners can apply for 
the reopening of their review petition within one month from the date of this 
judgment. However, in those cases where even a curative petition is dismissed, 
it would not be proper to reopen such matters."

As Walia and Singh did not apply to reopen their review petition within a month 
from the date of the judgment in Mohd Arif, that is, September 2, 2014, they 
have first filed a petition to condone this delay.

Their review petitions were dismissed on April 20, 2011 by the bench of 
justices Harjit Singh Bedi and J.M.Panchal.

On October 18, a bench of justices Dipak Misra, Amitava Roy and A.M. Khanwilkar 
will decide whether to condone the delay and stay the warrant of execution of 
the death sentence on October 25 at 9 am, as ordered by the Hoshiarpur district 
and sessions judge on September 27. The court, in all probability, will fix a 
date for the oral hearing of the review petitions.

(source: thewire.in)






BANGLADESH----execution

JMB leader Asadul hanged for killing 2 Jhalakathi judges


Asadul Islam alias Arif, a leader of banned militant outfit Jama'atul 
Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) who was convicted of killing 2 Jhalakati judges in 
2005, was hanged tonight at Khulna district jail.

"The sentence was executed at 10:30pm on Sunday," a Khulna stringer reports 
quoting Jail Superintendent Kamrul Islam.

The body will be handed over to Asadul's family tonight, the jail 
superintendent said.

Khulna Deputy Commissioner Nazmul Ahsan, DIG Prisons (Jessore) Tipu Sultan, 
Magistrate Md Nur-e-Alam Siddique, Civil Surgeon Dr Md Abdur Razzak and Jail 
Superintendent Kamrul Islam were present during the execution.

Earlier in the day, family members including his wife, 2 daughters and 6 
sisters met the death row convicted criminal in jail, where Asadul has been 
kept since 2008.

Senior assistant judges -- Jagannath Pandey and Sohel Ahmed -- were killed in a 
suicide bomb attack at Purba Chadkati in Jhalakathi town on November 14, 2005.

The incident followed the series bomb blasts across country in 2005.

The Appellate Division had upheld death penalty of 7 JMB leaders including JMB 
chief Abdur Rahman, his 2nd-in-command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, Asadul 
and 4 other militants in the sensational Jhalakathi judges' killing case.

Death sentence of the militants except Asadul were executed on March 29, 2007.

Asadul, who was absconding and later arrested on July 10 in 2007, filed the 
petition with the SC this year seeking review of its judgement.

On August 28 this year, the Supreme Court cleared the way for executing the JMB 
leader for killing 2 judges of Jhalakati in 2005.

A 5-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by SK Sinha dismissed a 
petition filed by Asadul seeking review of its earlier judgement that upheld 
his death penalty.at Khulna district jail.

(source: The Daily Star)

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

Bangladesh accelerates trials as Islamist leader hanged


Bangladesh said Monday it is fast-tracking trials of Islamist extremists, hours 
after a senior leader of a militant group was hanged for a 2005 blast that 
killed 2 judges.

Asadul Islam, also known as Arif, was a senior leader of the banned group 
Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which the government has blamed for a 
deadly siege on an upmarket Dhaka cafe on July 1.

Bangladeshi security forces launched a crackdown against Islamist extremists 
following the cafe attack, which shook the image of Bangladesh as a moderate 
Muslim nation.

Since July, police have shot dead nearly 40 suspected extremists including 
JMB's new leader Tamim Chowdhury, a Canadian citizen of Bangladeshi descent who 
allegedly masterminded the cafe carnage.

Bangladesh's courts have also accelerated the prosecution of Islamist 
extremists, sparking concern among rights activists who say such actions may be 
politically motivated.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told AFP the government was "trying to 
fast-track all the militant-related cases", including bomb attacks on a court 
complex outside Dhaka, a cultural function in a northern town and a new year's 
festival in the capital.

Police spokesman A.K.M Shahidur Rahman said there were "at least 64" Islamist 
extremists on death row and their appeals were being heard in the higher 
courts.

But Human Rights Watch said there was no conclusive evidence the death penalty 
acted as a deterrent.

"When terror attacks happen, governments often feel under pressure to show that 
they are doing something," South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly told AFP.

"What is needed instead is careful investigation to identify and prosecute 
perpetrators with proper evidence."

JMB was founded in the late 1990s and seeks to impose sharia law on Bangladesh, 
a Muslim majority but officially secular nation of 160 million people.

It shot to prominence when it carried out a coordinated bombing attack in 
August 2005, that involved more than 400 small blasts across the country.

Arif's body was buried amid tight security in his home town shortly after his 
execution, local police chief Pankaj Chandra Roy told AFP.

(source: Hindustan Times)






PHILIPPINES:

Death penalty on prison drug dealers sought


The death penalty should be restored to prevent prison inmates from turning 
into drug dealers, a lawmaker said on Sunday.

Oriental Mindoro Rep. Rey Umali, chairman of the House Committee on Justice 
that probed the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison, made the call a 
day ahead of the release of the committee report on the investigation.

"The revelation in this committee hearings made it more imperative for us to 
re-impose death penalty. Look ... these criminals who are facing life sentence 
... what would they be afraid of except for death? They won't fear anything 
except death," Umali said in a radio interview.

About a dozen inmates testified during the House justice panel hearing, 
accusing former Justice secretary Leila de Lima, now a senator, of allowing the 
drug trade and other illegal activities such as prostitution and gambling in 
the Bilibid in exchange for payoffs.

De Lima, who was Justice secretary from 2010 to 2015, denies the claims and has 
accused the government of pressuring the inmates to testify against her.

Director Benjamin Magalong, head of the Philippine National Police Criminal 
Investigation and Detention Group, also testified that inmate Peter Co has been 
on top of the drug trade in Bilibid since 2002.

Fear factor

Umali said the prison system had not reformed inmates. "You have to raise the 
level of the fear factor among these convicted felons so they won't find 
themselves enjoying in Bilibid with the drug trade. They are not being reformed 
anymore," Umali said.

Capital punishment was abolished in 1987 during the presidency of Corazon 
Aquino but was re-imposed in 1993 under President Fidel Ramos. Crimes that were 
punishable by death included rape, kidnapping, murder and drug trafficking.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo scrapped the death penalty anew on June 24, 
2006 after approving Republic Act 9346.

Umali said the House Justice panel was also likely to recommend amendments to 
the Anti-Wiretapping Law and the relaxation of the Bank Secrecy Law to allow 
authorities to monitor drug-related activities of convicts and the flow of drug 
money.

Umali also proposed putting all the jails in the country under the Bureau of 
Corrections (BuCor) of the Department of Justice (DOJ), for centralized 
supervision and control.

The Bilibid is under BuCor, while the city and provincial jails are under the 
Bureau of Jail Management and Penology under the ambit of the Department of the 
Interior and Local Government.

"We have to standardize our prison facilities and manpower," Umali added.

De Lima to be summoned

The DOJ is set to summon de Lima, after Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd 
formed a panel of prosecutors tasked to investigate the lawmaker over her 
alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison.

Subpoenas are expected to be issued by the panel of prosecutors against de Lima 
and the other accused in separate complaints filed by the Volunteers Against 
Crime and Corruption and 2 former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy 
directors, Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala.

Aside from de Lima, other respondents to the case include her former bodyguard 
Ronnie Dayan, former DOJ undersecretary Francisco Baraan 3rd, former NBI deputy 
director Rafael Ragos, Presidential Security Group member Joenel Sanchez, Jose 
Adrian Dera, Wilfredo Ely and high-profile convict Jaybee Sebastian.

De Lima and the other respondents are accused of violating of Section 5 (sale 
and trading of illegal drugs) in relation to Section 26 (b) (conspiracy) of the 
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Aguirre said the 2 complaints would be consolidated by the panel of 
prosecutors.

The DOJ chief insists he is not abusing his powers to pin down de Lima, a 
leading critic of the President's war on illegal drugs.

"These are not new. It's just that the tide is turning on her," Aguirre 
stressed.

De Lima, he said, was experiencing "karma" as she did the same to several 
politicians, including former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, when she was 
DOJ chief.

De Lima knows the DOJ has the power to conduct a preliminary investigation 
against her and forward its findings to the Office of the Ombudsman, Aguirre 
said.

"In 2014, she said that selective justice was not a valid defense and that the 
DOJ has concurrent power with the Ombudsman. Now that it's happening to her, 
why is she questioning the DOJ's concurrent power?" Aguirre said.

Aguirre urged de Lima to respect the legal processes and come up with evidence 
to dispute the charges, instead of running to the media and accepting speaking 
engagements.

"All she's been saying are general denials and even personal attacks. That's 
not the way you defend yourself. You should be proving you're not protector of 
drug lords, that you did this and that during your term to cleanse Bilibid," he 
added.

The panel will be lead by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong. Named as 
members of the panel were Senior Assistant City Prosecutors Alexander Ramos, 
Leila Llanes, Evangeline Viudez-Canobas and Assistant State Prosecutor Editha 
Fernandez.

(source: The Manila Times)

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

House eyes Con-ass to amend 1987 Constitution, restore death penalty


2 committees of the House of Representatives are eyeing the approval this week 
of the resolution recommending constituent assembly (Con-ass) as the mode of 
amending the 1987 Constitution.

The Con-ass is also seen as a venue for restoring the death penalty for heinous 
crimes.

Liberal Party Rep. Roger Mercado of Southern Leyte, chairman of the House 
Committee on Constitutional Amendments, said his committee will proceed with 
the voting this Wednesday on a motion to constitute Congress into a Con-ass.

"We will proceed with the voting before we adjourn this week, because this is a 
very important proposal," Mercado said.

Last week the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments started hearing at 
least 29 measures seeking to overhaul the 1987 Constitution.

But the hearing was ended after near fisticuffs between Rep. Robert Ace S. 
Barbers of Surigao del Norte and Rep. Prospero L. Pichay of Surigao del Sur 
following their debate whether to vote on a motion to constitute Congress into 
a Con-ass.

PDP-Laban Rep. Alfredo B. Benitez of Negros Occidental, author of a resolution 
calling for the Con-ass, said the advantage of a Con-ass is there is no need 
for another costly elections.

"There has been a clamor for change in the system of government, a shift to a 
federal form of government, provision of more autonomy and empowerment of the 
local government, less restrictive economic policies and other proposals that 
necessitate in the present Constitution," said Benitez, a senior vice chairman 
of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, during his sponsorship 
speech.

Benitez added the resolution proposes convening the Congress into a Con-ass to 
introduce and adopt revisions and/or amendments to the Constitution as it is 
the most expeditious and less costly than the other modes for Charter change.

Benitez, chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, said 
despite the country's economic growth, uneven development and poverty are still 
among the main problems of the Philippines, as development and social services 
have been centralized in the National Capital Region.

He also added that inclusive growth has not been achieved, that's why the 
Philippines needs to change its government structure.

"There is glaring disparity between the share of NCR and other regions in the 
GDP [gross domestic product]; 37 percent of the GDP in 2014 is concentrated in 
the NCR," he said.

There are three modes of amending the constitution - through Con-ass, 
constitutional convention (Con-con) or a people's initiative.

Meantime, after its investigation on the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs 
inside the National Bilibid Prison (NBP), the House Committee on Justice is 
also eyeing the approval of a report recommending the imposition of the death 
penalty for heinous crimes.

In a radio interview, PDP-Laban Rep. Reynaldo V. Umali of Oriental Mindoro, the 
panel chairman, said his panel is set to approve this week a report 
recommending the restoration of the death penalty "to raise the level of fear 
among criminals."

After the committee approval, Umali said he will sponsor and defend the 
committee report for plenary approval before Congress goes on Halloween break 
on Wednesday.

"We're almost ready to submit our report to the committee on Monday for 
deliberation and approval. Hopefully, within the week, before we close and go 
on a break, we would have gotten the approval also of the plenary on this 
committee report," Umali said.

Umali said the leadership of the lower chamber will not recommend the 
prosecution of any individual, including Sen. Leila de Lima, but will craft new 
laws to stop or prevent illegal-drugs trade inside the NBP.

He added that the panel will reopen the House probe once Ronnie Dayan appears 
before the committee. Dayan is allegedly the senator's bag man for drug money 
collected inside the NBP.

(source: Business Mirror)






IRAN:

56 Prisoners Executed During 17 Days


In a concerning statistical jump, in less than 3 weeks, more than 56 prisoners 
with different charges were hanged in 10 different cities of Iran.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), in 17 
days, 56 executions were registered in Shahrood, Gorgan, Uremia, Minab, Tabriz, 
Mashhad, Taybad, Nayriz, and Shiraz.

According to the statistic centre of HRANA, on September 13th, 17 prisoners in 
Vakil Abad prison with drug related charges, 3 prisoners in Adel Abad in 
Shiraz, 2 of whom were charged with robbery and 1 other was charged with rape, 
were hanged.

The new month started with the execution of 1 prisoner in public. A prisoner 
who was charged with rape, murder, abduction and robbery was hanged in Nayriz 
stadium, in Fras province.

On Saturday, September 24, 4 drug offenders were hanged in Tabriz central 
prison.

In Taybad and Uremia on September 25 and 26, 2 prisoners charged with drug 
related charges were executed.

On September 27, HRANA reported that on 2nd quarter of September, 2 prisoners 
in Shahrood and 1 in Gorgan were executed.

On September 28, the execution of 7 prisoners with drug related charges was 
registered.

In continuation of this trend, on September 29, 11 prisoners were executed with 
the charges of drug smuggling, homicide, and armed robbery.

Finally, 8 prisoners, including 1 woman were hanged in Uremia prison for drug 
related charges.

(source: HRANA News Agency)