[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 27


IRAN:

At least 110 Executions will be Carried Out before 20 March 2017


According to the families of death-row prisoners who are detained in the 
central prison of Karaj, the prison authorities told them that the sentences of 
all those sentenced to death, about 110 to 120 people, will be implemented 
before the start of Iranian New Year on 20 March 2017 in the Central Prison of 
Karaj. The announcement caused panic and concerns among the prisoners and their 
families.

In addition, reports indicate that the guards in central prison of Karaj have 
transferred the death-row prisoners, particularly the prisoners incarcerated in 
Ward 5, to different wards of the prison.

The families say that prison official moved the death-row prisoners to 
different wards in order to prevent protests and rioting during their transfer 
for implementation of the sentences.

It should be pointed out that prison officials strongly fear protests inside 
the prisons, in particular prisons where there are high number of death-row 
prisoners. Because of this fear and in order to prevent protests, they often 
enter the prison cells unannounced and forcefully transfer the prisoners to 
solitary confinement first while handcuffing and shackling and blindfolding 
them before taking them for implementation of the death sentence.

(source: NCR-Iran)






PAKISTAN:

Pakistan president urged to halt Imdad Ali execution----Lawmakers and activists 
say man facing the gallows is a paranoid schizophrenic who does not deserve the 
death penalty.

A human rights committee in Pakistan's upper house of parliament has urged the 
government to halt the execution of a man diagnosed with schizophrenia that is 
planned for next week.

Lawmaker Farhatullah Babar said the committee will seek a pardon from President 
Mamnoon Hussain for 50-year-old Imdad Ali, a convicted killer who was diagnosed 
with the disease in 2008.

Thursday's development comes days after Pakistan's highest court rejected Ali's 
final appeal, claiming his illness does not qualify as a mental disorder.

Ali has been on death row since he was convicted in 2001 of murdering a 
religious scholar. He is to be executed on Wednesday.

Babar said the committee was taking action because 2 Pakistani brothers were 
"wrongfully hanged" last year while their appeals were still pending.

Ali's lawyers argue he should not be executed because he is unable to 
understand his crime, and doing so would violate the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights, a UN treaty to which Pakistan is a signatory.

"Imdad's death will serve no retributive purpose as he remains completely 
unaware of this reality," said defence lawyer Sarah Belal in an emailed 
statement.

A government psychiatrist told Reuters news agency he had no doubt about Ali's 
mental condition.

"I have been treating this man for the last 8 years, and there is absolutely no 
room for doubt in this that he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia," said Tahir 
Feroze.

On October 20, hearing Ali's final appeal, Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled that 
schizophrenia is "not a permanent mental disorder" and, therefore, could not be 
defined as a mental illness.

With his execution date set, Ali's only hope of a reprieve is a pardon from 
President Hussain, who rejected an earlier mercy petition in May. Ali's legal 
team filed a new petition last month.

As a last resort, Ali's wife said she is seeking forgiveness for her husband 
from the family of the murder victim, which could avert his execution under a 
feature of Islamic law used in Pakistan.

"We are trying to contact them, but they are never available to us. We are 
trying to set a meeting," Safia Bano said.

Pakistan has hanged more than 400 convicts since a moratorium on executions was 
lifted in 2014.

Pakistan halted executions between 2008 and 2014 due to pressure from 
international human rights groups. But it lifted the moratorium following a 
Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar in December 2014 that killed 150 people, 
nearly all of them children.

Reprieve, a UK-based rights group that campaigns against the death-penalty, 
said 94 % of prisoners recently hanged in Pakistan "had nothing to do with 
terrorism".

Maya Foa, a director at the group, said: "These latest numbers show that the 
Pakistani government is using 'terrorism' as a smokescreen to execute vast 
numbers of prisoners - including innocent scapegoats, juveniles, and mentally 
ill prisoners like Imdad Ali."

(source: aljazeera.com)






SINGAPORE:

Woman charged with murder of 5-year-old son


A woman was charged in court on Thursday (Oct 27) with murdering her 5-year-old 
son together with her husband.

Azlin Arujunah, 24, is alleged to have caused the death of her son together 
with Ridzuan Mega Abdul Rahman, 24, at a flat in Lorong 1 Toa Payoh between Oct 
17 and 22.

The prosecution applied for her to be remanded at Central police division for 
investigation.

She will be back in court on Nov 3.

On Monday (Oct 24), Ridzuan was charged with causing grievous hurt to the child 
by splashing hot water repeatedly on him between 12pm and 8.48pm last Saturday 
(Oct 22).

The boy died in KK Women's and Children's Hospital the next day.

Ridzuan has also been remanded and will appear in court on Monday (Oct 31).

The New Paper reported that the boy has three siblings, and his family moved 
into their rental flat about 2 years ago.

According to the Ministry of Social and Family Development, the 3 siblings have 
been placed in foster care temporarily by the Child Protective Service.

If convicted of murder, Azlin faces the death penalty.

(source: straitstimes.com)