[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 27




IRAN----mass execution

Mass Execution: 17 Prisoners Hanged at Vakilabad Prison


17 prisoners sentenced to death on drug related charges were reportedly hanged 
at Mashhad's Vakilabad Prison (Razavi Khorasan province, northwestern Iran) on 
Sunday September 11, 2016.

"There are currently about 400 prisoners in Vakilabad Prison who are on death 
row for drug related offenses, and their execution sentences have been 
confirmed," a close source tells Iran Human Rights.

Close sources say these 400 prisoners are all relatively new individuals who 
were arrested by Iranian authorities within the last 2 or 3 years. The hundreds 
of other death row prisoners who were detained in Vakilabad prior to this have 
reportedly been executed. Iran Human Rights (IHR) has previously reported about 
the secret executions of several hundred prisoners in the Vakilabad prison.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been 
silent about these 17 executions. In 2015, 61% of the executions carried out in 
Iran (approximately 596 executions) were not reported by Iranian official 
sources.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






SINGAPORE:

6 Bangladeshi men charged with murder of compatriot near Tuas View Dormitory


6 men from Bangladesh were on Tuesday (Sept 27) charged with the intentional 
murder of a compatriot near Tuas View Dormitory at 70 Tuas South Avenue 1 on 
Saturday night (Sept 24).

The foreign workers - Ripon Hasan Shahidullah Bhuiyan, 34; Ahamed Fahad, 32; 
Ahmed Kayes, 31; Sohel Rana Abdul Kadir, 30; Miah Mohammad Rasal, 28; and Goni 
Osman, 23 - are accused of taking part in an unlawful assembly with several 
other unknown people between 9.30pm and 9.47pm on Saturday.

The group's intention was allegedly to cause hurt to Mr Munshi Abdur Rahim, 32, 
also a Bangladeshi national, who later died.

The 6 men's charges did not state how Mr Munshi was killed.

The men will be remanded for one week at Central Police Division for 
investigators to probe the involvement of other accomplices.

The 6, who were arrested on Sunday (Sept 25), may also be brought out of 
remand.

The case will be mentioned again on Oct 4.

Under the law, an assembly of 5 or more people is considered unlawful under 
certain circumstances, such as if the group's intention is to commit a crime.

If a crime is indeed committed by a member of an unlawful assembly, every 
member of the group is then liable to be punished for that crime.

The punishment for murder with intention is the mandatory death penalty.

(source: straitstimes.com)






PHILIPPINES:

Duterte seeks death penalty in war on crim----Philippine president seeks 
restoration of capital punishment in his fight against drug traffickers and 
users.

President Rodrigo Duterte has made a case for the restoration of the death 
penalty in the Philippines, saying the law had previously lost its 
effectiveness because it was not fully implemented.

Duterte told reporters on Monday that past presidents had succumbed to the 
pressure of the Catholic church and other "bleeding hearts" who argued against 
capital punishment "because only God can kill".

"The problem with that is, I ask you, 'What if there is no God?'" Duterte said 
at the presidential palace in the capital, Manila.

"When a 1-year-old, an 18-month-old baby is taken from the mother's arms, 
brought under a jeep and raped, and killed, where is God," he asked.

"People in the Philippines no longer believe in the laws, because the fear is 
not there," Duterte said in a mix of Filipino and English.

"That is why I said, give me back the death penalty."

While professing that he personally believes in God, the Philippine leader 
said, the existence of a higher being is a "perpetual question" for him, when 
he sees "heartaches, sorrows and agony" around him.

Since he took office in June end, more than 3,500 people have been killed as 
part of Duterte's war on drug traffickers and users.

And he has not taken kindly to the global condemnation of the spiralling death 
toll. Last week the Philippine president lambasted EU after it called for 
"strict monitoring of human rights abuses" in the country.

Earlier this month, Duterte directed profanities at UN Secretary-General Ban 
Ki-moon and US President Barack Obama, after they made similar comments about 
the mounting death toll in the the Asia Pacific nation.

On Friday, in a speech to police officers, Duterte made a similar comment while 
talking about illegal drugs in the country, and the rules of engagement in 
dealing with suspected drug criminals.

"Maybe God doesn't want all these killings. But nevermind, God is not my enemy. 
I'll talk to him when I get there," he said, drawing laughter from the 
officers.

"I'll ask him, 'If you are really God, you didn't do anything, and the 
Filipinos are going crazy'" with illegal drugs "by the millions", he said.

During the campaign, Duterte had promised to re-impose the death penalty as 
part of his policy to deal with illegal drugs in the country.

On Monday, he said he has "always been a hardliner when it comes to the penal 
laws".

(soruce: aljazeera.com)






KUWAIT:

US citizen gets death sentence


The Criminal Court presided by judge Mohammad Al-Mutairi has sentenced a US 
citizen to capital punishment for smuggling cocaine into Kuwait for the purpose 
of trafficking, reports Al- Jarida daily.

The convict is expected to appeal the verdict which may be upheld or commuted 
to life imprisonment. In Kuwait death penalty is carried out by hanging.

(source: arabtimesonline.com)






INDIA:

State ropes in AG, SGI to plead Yug Chandak's case in SC


Maharashtra government has roped in attorney general Mukul Rohatgi and 
solicitor general Ranjit Kumar to plead the prosecution's case in the murder of 
e8-year-old Yug Chandak in the Supreme Court. A communique by the government 
informed that either of them would plead the case, where the accused were 
awarded a rare double death by Nagpur Sessions Court, which was later confirmed 
by Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court.

Yug's father, Dr Mukesh Chandak, has also filed an intervention plea through 
counsel Rajendra Daga in the SC, praying to maintain the death penalty of the 
accused. Rajesh Dhanalal Daware (19) and Arvind Abhilash Singh (23), who had 
brutally killed the 8-year-old for ransom in 2014, had moved the apex court 
praying for leniency and acquittal.

Yug was murdered on September 1, 2014, sparking off outrage and protests across 
the city. It was the 2nd such killing in the city within 3 years, with another 
8-year-old, Kush Katariya, having been killed by Ayush Naresh Pugalia on 
October 11, 2011, for extracting Rs2 crore ransom from his parents.

To take revenge on Yug's father, a noted dentist, and also extract ransom, 
Daware and Singh had hatched the conspiracy to kidnap and kill his son, a 
Standard II student of Centre Point School, Wardhaman Nagar. They killed Yug by 
smothering him on September 1, 2014 and buried his body in sand near a culvert 
on the desolate Gumthi-Gumthala Road near Patansawangi village, 27km from 
Nagpur. In all 26 injuries were found on Yug's body, most of them on or near 
the neck. The duo planned to escape after receiving the money but were arrested 
the very next day, after the Chandak family raised suspicion on Daware. During 
interrogation, both confessed to the crime and took the police to the spot 
where they had buried the body.

(source: The Times of India)






PAKISTAN:

Imminent execution - Pakistan heads for breach of international law


Pakistan's Supreme Court today dismissed an appeal brought by lawyers for a 
severely mentally ill prisoner, who now faces execution in as little as a 
week's time.

Lawyers for Imdad Ali, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, argued that 
he should not be executed as to do so would violate both Pakistani and 
international law. Mr Ali came within hours of execution last week, despite 
prison doctors having assessed him as being "insane", including on the night 
before the execution.

Yet today, Supreme Court justices dismissed the appeal, claiming that a large 
proportion of Pakistani prisoners suffer from mental illness and they "cannot 
let everyone go." The judges conceeded that Imdad was mentally ill but 
concluded that they would dismiss the appeal because the case had already been 
considered by the Court and - in their view - nothing had changed.

Mr Ali's execution received a last-minute stay from the Supreme Court last 
week, but with that stay now expired, he could receive a new 'black warrant' 
and face execution as early as next Tuesday (4 October). Just hours before his 
scheduled hanging last week, Mr Ali's severe mental illness meant he was 
unaware that he was due to be executed.

The Pakistani Government is now the only body with the ability to halt Mr Ali's 
execution. Mr Ali's lawyers have sent a mercy petition to Pakistan's President 
Mamnoon Hussain with testimony from medical experts. The petition provides an 
array of medical evidence for the President to consider, such as a statement 
from psychiatric consultant Dr Feroze Khan, who examined Mr Ali's mental health 
and recommended that he be transferred to a mental health facility for active 
psychiatric treatment.

"It is indisputable that Imdad suffers from serious mental illness. There is 
therefore no doubt that, should Pakistan execute him, it will be committing a 
grave violation of both Pakistani and international law. It is shocking that 
the system has failed Imdad at every turn - right the way up to the Supreme 
Court. The Pakistan Government must immediately halt Imdad's execution, and 
undertake a comprehensive review into how someone who is clearly mentally unfit 
to be executed has been allowed to come so near to the noose."----Harriet 
McCulloch, Deputy Director of Reprieve's Death Penalty Team

A statement issued by 14 of Pakistan's leading psychiatrists also warns that 
executing Mr Ali would run contrary to Pakistani law. The experts, including Dr 
Malik Hussain Mubbasshar, Professor Emeritus at Lahore's University of Health 
Sciences, said that:"[The] Law does not allow such execution of prisoners 
suffering from this nature of mental disorder in which the prisoner is having a 
psychotic illness and is unable to know why he is being executed and what will 
be the consequence of this punishment."

Mr Ali comes from an extremely poor family. His family began to notice signs of 
mental illness as long ago as 1998 - but they could not afford to pay for 
private medical assessments, which could have identified his mental illness, 
and possible treatments, earlier. Following his initial detention, his mental 
illness has been exacerbated by 14 years in overcrowded prison cells and 
lengthy periods of solitary confinement.

(source: reprieve.uk.org)

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

Calls for Asia Bibi's release heightening as her case hearing date approaches


As the case hearing date of Asia Bibi draws nigh, calls for her release and 
acquittal increase nationwide. In this respect Christian organization Release 
International if calling upon Pakistan to ensure the Christian respondent's 
release. At the same time, there are calls to repeal the draconian blasphemy 
laws in the country.

Asia Bibi appeal case hearing

Asia Bibi's case hearing is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court of 
Pakistan in October, when her fate will be decided. Asia Bib has been on the 
death row since she was convicted of blasphemy a crime punishable by death. 
Section 295-C was invoked against the Christian woman which leads to capital 
punishment.

Release International is a Christian charity group which serves Christians 
persecuted for their faith, has called on the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz 
Sahrif to repeal the blasphemy laws, which "are often invoked to take revenge, 
incite violent attacks and eliminate rivals."

In this regard, Chief executive of Release International, Paul Robinson said: 
"We call on the government of Pakistan to abolish the blasphemy laws and seek 
to create a society where every Pakistani citizen is free to exercise their 
faith and live in peace with their neighbors."

Asia Bibi, a Pakistan Christian woman was accused of committing blasphemy in 
2009 and was arrested by the police in June the same year. She was charged 
under 295-C of Pakistan Penal Code, which is non-bailable and carries death 
penalty. In 2010, a local judge Muhammad Naveed Iqbal handed down death penalty 
to her along with a penalty of net amount equivalent of $1100.

Asia Bibi's defense counsel Advocate Saif-ul-Malook filed a petition against 
her death sentence in Supreme Court's Lahore registry. The Apex court 
previously halted her death sentence. "Asia Bibi anxiously awaits release from 
captivity, as she had certainly been guilty of what she has been convicted of."

(source: christiansinpakistan.com)






KENYA:

Murang'a residents want death penalty scrapped


Murang'a town residents have asked the government to come up with alternative 
penalties for capital offences, saying executions violate religious teachings. 
They spoke on Friday at a public forum organised by the Power of Mercy Advisory 
Committee.

They said convicts should be used to implement development projects such as 
road construction. Kikuyu Council of Elders' member Joachim Gitonga said life 
is sacred and the state should use traditional means to punish convicts.

But Murang'a Township chief Charles Muna said the death penalty should not be 
scrapped as it deters many people from engaging in capital crime.

(source: The Star)