[Deathpenalty] death penaty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 20



TURKEY:

Possible return of death penalty in Turkey is condemned


The Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates have signed a 
statement condemning the possible reinstatement of the death penalty in Turkey.

A joint statement presented to the standing committee of the Council of Bars 
and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) by CCBE President Michel Benichou was signed 
by Scotland's 2 legal regulators.

The statement affirms the right to life is "an inalienable attribute of human 
beings" and "a supreme value in the international hierarchy of human rights".

The statement was also signed by other UK legal bodies, including the Bar 
Council of England and Wales, the Law Society of England and Wales, the Bar of 
Northern Ireland and the Law Society of Northern Ireland.

(source: scottishlegal.com)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Netizens' reaction on the death penalty of Saudi Princess


After Saudi Arabia executed Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir in the capital 
Riyadh for shooting dead Adel al-Mahemid, a Saudi, during a brawl, people 
widely shared a video on social media showing Custodian of the Two Holy 
Mosques, King Salman saying that any citizen can sue the royal family.

Royal family member was executed after the family of the victim refused to 
accept millions of dollars to pardon the killer.

According to the news published in Arab News, Imam of Safa Mosque, Mohammed 
Al-Masloukhi described the last minutes of Prince Turki bin Saud bin Turki 
Al-Kabeer, and confirmed that the family of Adel Al-Muhaimeed, the person that 
the prince had killed, declined to accept "blood money".

Meanwhile, Netizens' reacted to this execution and shared a video clip 
highlighting the previous speech by King Salman.

It is to be noted that tens of millions of riyals were offered to Adel 
Al-Muhaimeed's father, but he rejected.

After the execution, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal tweeted that he hoped Allah 
(SWT) will show mercy both to the victim and the killer.

It is to be mentioned that Saudi Arabia has a strict Islamic legal code under 
which murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all 
punishable by death.

The sentence reflected the kingdom's "fair justice system," Arab News quoted 
the victim's uncle Abdul Rahman al-Falaj as saying.

(source: siasat.com)






IRAN----executions

14 Prisoners Executed on Drug Charges at Ghezel Hesar Prison


14 prisoners were reportedly executed today on drug charges at Karaj's Ghezel 
Hesar Prison (Alborz province, northern Iran).

According to close sources, Iranian authorities hanged 14 prisoners at Ghezel 
Hesar Prison on the morning of Wednesday October 18. The prisoners were 
reportedly transferred to solitary confinement on Monday in preparation for 
their executions. According to close sources, some of the prisoners were 
transerred to Ghezel Hesar from Karaj and Fashavieh (Tehran) prisons. The names 
of the prisoners who were executed have been reported as the following: From 
unit 2, hall 2 and 3 of Ghezel Hesar Prison: Abbas Karami (charged with 40 
kilograms of narcotics, was imprisoned for 5 years before he was executed), 
Hamid Saber, Hamid Babaie (was imprisoned for 9 years before he was executed), 
Hamid (Amir) Nazari (charged with 25 kilograms of heroin, was imprisoned for 8 
years before he was executed, Peyman Sabalani (was imprisoned for 9 years 
before he was executed), Ganjali Chekezadeh (charged with 2 kilograms of crack, 
was imprisoned for 10 years before he was executed), Reza Sabzi, and Khodamali 
Pirzadeh. From Fashavieh Prison (Tehran): Khashiar Ahani and Mehdi Geravand. 
Karaj Central Prison: Saeed Zakaria and Morteza Amini, both from hall 2, Shahin 
Akbari, from hall 5, and Ali Akbari Reigi, from hall 4. These executions have 
not been announced or confirmed by Iranian official sources, including the 
Judiciary or the media. The 14 prisoners were executed at a time when the death 
penalty for drug-related charges is under review in the Iranian Judiciary.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






PAKISTAN:

Pakistan Supreme Court rules schizophrenia 'not a mental disorder' allowing 
mentally ill man to be executed----Judges say hanging Imdad Ali is legal 
because condition is 'a recoverable disease'


Pakistan's highest court has ruled that schizophrenia does not qualify as a 
"mental disorder" under the country's legal definition, paving the way for a 
mentally ill man's execution.

The United Nations warned it would be against international law to hang Imdad 
Ali, who was sentenced to death over the murder of a religious scholar in 2002.

In 2012, the 50-year-old was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and 
psychosis that doctors said impaired Mr Ali's 'rational thinking and 
decision-making capabilities", and was declared clinically insane in a medical 
report the following year.

But he lost his final appeal last year and has since had his execution stayed 
by a last-minute appeal lodged by his wife at the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, judges ruled that the execution can go ahead, after finding that 
Mr Ali's schizophrenia is not a permanent condition and varies according to the 
"level of stress".

Reprieve, a UK-based legal charity, said the court claimed that "it is, 
therefore, a recoverable disease, which, in all the cases, does not fall within 
the definition of 'mental disorder' as defined in the Mental Health Ordinance, 
2001".

The decision Mr Ali could be executed as early as 26 October, despite a medical 
assessment in September concluding his illness appeared to be "treatment 
resistant".

Previously, the same court said a large proportion of prisoners in Pakistan 
suffer from mental illness and that authorities "cannot let everyone go".

Maya Foa, a director of Reprieve, said: "It is outrageous for Pakistan's 
Supreme Court to claim that schizophrenia is not a mental illness, and flies in 
the face of accepted medical knowledge, including Pakistan's own mental health 
laws.

"It is terrifying to think that a mentally ill man like Imdad Ali could now 
hang because judges are pretending that schizophrenia is not a serious 
condition.

"Pakistan's President needs to urgently intervene to stop this sickening 
attempt to hang Imdad."

The UN's human rights office has called on the government to halt Mr Ali's 
execution and to launch a re-trial "in compliance with international 
standards". "It is a violation of death penalty safeguards to impose capital 
punishment on individuals with a psychosocial disability," said a panel of 
experts from the Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR).

"The courts have disregarded medical reports asserting that the defendant has a 
psychosocial disability and have not conducted an independent evaluation of his 
mental health status.

"Implementing the death penalty under these conditions is unlawful and 
tantamount to an arbitrary execution, as well as a form of cruel, inhuman or 
degrading punishment."

The body said Mr Ali was referred for mental health treatment a year before the 
alleged murder but that the illness was not mentioned in the court ruling 
sentencing him to death. In September, the 1st secretary of Pakistan's 
permanent mission to the UN said the government was examining the country's 
penal code to determine whether the death penalty could be "narrowed" amid 
criticism over Mr Ali's case.

More than 400 people have been executed since the government lifted a 4-year 
moratorium on the death penalty in 2014, following the Taliban s massacre at a 
school in Peshawar.

Capital punishment was initially only restored for terror offences but later 
reinstated for kidnapping, murder, blasphemy and other capital crimes, leaving 
more than 8,000 prisoners on death row.

(source: The Independent)