[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 24




SOLOMON ISLANDS:

Mayor calls for reintroduction of death penalty


Honiara City Mayor Andrew Mua has called on legislators to reintroduce the 
death penalty into the Solomon Islands.

In light of the barbaric killing of Chinese couple Jimmy and Joy Kwan over the 
Easter, Mr Mua said tougher laws could help prevent murders.

"I call on the government through its judicial arm to review its laws to bring 
tougher penalties to these kinds of people," he said at the rally to condemn 
the murders on Sunday.

"Policy makers must re-look at bringing tougher laws to deter such barbaric 
killings in the near future."

The Solomon Islands formally abolished the death penalty in 1978.

(source: sibconline.com.sb)






AUSTRALIA:

Long Bay Jail reformed women before men swung from gallows


The execution of murderer and thief James Wilson, the 1st of 9 men to hang from 
gallows at Long Bay Gaol almost a century ago, attracted little public 
sympathy, and no agitation to spare his life.

Weeks later pleas for clemency delayed the execution of child murderer 
Christian William Benzing, the 2nd to drop from a rope suspended from a steel 
girder over an iron trapdoor outside cells 47 and 48.

Days before Benzing's scheduled execution, Labor politicians Simon Hickey and 
Percy Brookfield appealed to acting Labor premier George Fuller, arguing that 
Benzing, wounded while serving in Gallipoli, suffered epileptic fits and 
sometimes could not recall or be responsible for his actions.

Fuller called 2 cabinet meetings, but after two doctors working at Sydney 
asylums reported they could find no evidence to support the arguments of Hickey 
and Brookfield, who in March 1921 was himself murdered by "deranged Russian 
emigree" Koorman Tomayoff at Riverton railway station in South Australia, 
Fuller advised "the Cabinet had decided that the law should take its course".

Benzing, 22, convicted of "violation" causing the death of Dorothy Myra Small, 
aged 10, near her home at Rocky Point Rd, Rockdale, on January 12, 1917, hanged 
on the morning of June 16, 1917.

Long Bay Gaol at Malabar, built to replace Darlinghurst Gaol, opened as a State 
Reformatory for Women in 1909. When a State Penitentiary for Men opened 
alongside in 1914, Darlinghurst was refashioned as a World War I interment 
camp.

Opened in 1840, Darlinghurst had 76 criminals hanged by 1914, many witnessed by 
crowds outside the jail's Forbes St entrance, where the condemned were paraded 
on a platform above the gate.

The 1st hanging at Long Bay was on May 31, 1917, when Wilson walked three 
metres from his cell to the new scaffold in the northeastern section of the 
penitentiary. Wilson, a member of the controversial "revolutionary industrial 
union" International Workers of the World, or Wobblies, was convicted for the 
murder and robbery of Greek cafe owner George Pappageorgi in George St, 
Haymarket, on April 5, 1916, probably by strangling him with a rope before 
breaking open the cash register.

Wilson was arrested months later for another offence. While at Tamworth Gaol, 
Wilson was among a group who attacked and killed a warder, then climbed a wall 
to escape. Recaptured, while in jail he was charged with Pappageorgi's murder 
when one of his finger prints was found on the cafe cash register. Wilson 
pleaded guilty in Sydney Central Criminal Court on March 1917, after a justice 
told him evidence might reduce the charge to manslaughter.

Apparently "resigned to his fate", at 9am on Thursday, May 31, Wilson was taken 
to the gallows where prison warders pinioned his arms and placed a white cap 
over his head as the rope was adjusted. Seconds later "the lever was released, 
the trapdoor flew open, and the condemned man dropped. After being allowed to 
hang for the regulation 20 minutes", a doctor examined his body.

William Moxley was hanged at Long Bay Jail in 1932 for the murder of Dorothy 
Denzel and Frank Wilkinson.

The most recent executions in NSW had been at Bathurst Gaol on December 20, 
1916, when fellow IWW members Frank Franz and Roland Nicholas Kennedy hanged 
for the murder of Tottenham police Constable George Duncan in September 1916.

The next execution at Long Bay was in April 1924, when Edward Williams hanged 
for the murder of his daughter Rosalie, 5, in February 1924. In December 1924 
William Simpson hanged for the murder in June 1924 of Guy Chalmers Clift. 
William Moxley hanged in August 1932 for the murders of Dorothy Denzel and 
Frank Wilkinson in April 1932, and Edwin Hickey, 18, died in May 1936, after 
pushing Montague Henwood from a train during a robbery near Linden in 1935.

James Massey hanged in June 1936 for fatally shooting Norman Stead during a 
service station holdup at Darlinghurst in February 1936. Alfred Spicer died in 
May 1938 for the murder of Marcia Hayes, 6, at Windsor on Christmas Eve, 1937.

Edwin Hickey was the youngest person to hang at Long Bay Jail, aged 18 when he 
died in 1935.

The last to drop from Long Bay gallows was John "Jack" Kelly, whose sentence 
for a bloody murder that shocked a sleepy New England town in February 1939 
sparked fierce debate about capital punishment.

A drunken Kelly hit Marjorie Constance 'Connie' Sommerlad, 35, on the head with 
an axe at her family's property at Tenterfield, where Kelly worked as a 
farmhand. Kelly, 24, who had served time for abducting a young girl, fled to 
Brisbane where he was arrested a day later. He admitted killing Connie after 
she rebuked his advances.

Kelly, executed on August 24, 1939, was the last person to hang in NSW, where 
the death penalty for murder was abolished in 1955, although it remained for 
treason and piracy until 1985. The state handed down 3171 capital convictions 
from 1788-1954, with almost 1/3 resulting in execution.

(source: The Daily Telegraph)






CHINA----execution

Double murderer executed in southwest China after change of plea fails----Chen 
Quansong confessed to killing 2 young girls in 2014, but later claimed he said 
this under duress


A man in southwest China who was convicted of killing 2 girls was executed on 
Saturday after the execution was called to a halt earlier this year.

Chen Quansong, 30, was found guilty of killing 2 high school girls on a 
mountain in Shiqian county, Guizhou province in January 2014. Chen defiled the 
corpse of one girl and left their bodies in the woods and bushes, the Supreme 
People's Court said.

The Intermediate People's Court in Tongren conducted the execution, the Supreme 
People's Court said. The execution had been halted for about 3 months.

Chen confessed to the killings after his arrest in March 2014. But he later 
retracted his confession, saying during the 1st trial that he had not killed 
anyone. He said he was threatened and abused under interrogation and forced to 
sign a confession. Despite withdrawing his confession, Chen was convicted of 
intentional homicide and the high court of Guizhou upheld the death sentence in 
February 2016.

The execution was halted in January upon a petition from Chen's lawyer, 
mainland news portal Thepaper.cn reported.

(source: South China Morning Post)

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

China's top court cautiously imposes death penalty: expert


SPC cautiously imposes death penalty: expert

The man convicted in a high profile murder and rape case in Southwest China's 
Guizhou Province was executed on Saturday after the country's top court 
completed a three-month review of the death sentence verdict.

Law experts said the top court's probe and review prove that China is becoming 
more discreet when enforcing the death penalty.

Chen Quansong was scheduled to be executed on January 23 after China's Supreme 
People's Court (SPC) reviewed the death penalty, Chen's attorney told news site 
thepaper.cn.

But the execution was cancelled on the day without elaborating why, and the SPC 
launched a new investigation over the case.

After 3 months of further investigation and proof, the SPC resumed its decision 
of the death sentence on Chen, and Chen was executed for homicide on Saturday.

Chen, 30, was convicted of murder after he killed 2 young women surnamed Wang 
and Xian in January 2014 in Shiqian county, Southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Chen then raped Wang's corpse and covered the 2 bodies with tree branches.

"The case shows that SPC tries to clear any doubts over imposing the death 
penalty and ensuring it is cautiously used," said Mo Shaoping, a law professor 
at the Central University of Finance and Economics.

"China has been increasingly cautious toward the use of the death penalty after 
the SPC gained review rights on death penalty cases in 2007, and in 2011 the 
court reduced the types of crimes covered by the death penalty from 68 to 55," 
Mo added.

(source: Global Times)






IRAN----executions

Mass Execution of Eight Inmates in Prison; Another Prisoner Executed in Public


On April 22, the mullahs' antihuman regime hanged a young 21 year old man in 
public. It also sent eight prisoners to the gallows collectively in Gohardasht 
prison of Karaj. One of the executed was Mohsen Babai, 29 and a B.A. in 
accounting. He was married and was popular among other prisoners for his 
personality and humane behavior. A number of those executed had been previously 
taken to solitary cells and taken to the gallows several times. A number of 
political prisoners have gone on hunger strike to protest such brutal 
executions.

On April 20, another prisoner was hanged in Boroujerd prison after 8 years in 
prison. Execution of 3 prisoners in Shiraz and Tabriz prisons on April 18, and 
execution of another inmate on April 16 in central prison of Bandar-Abbas are 
among other crimes of the regeime during recent days.

Recourse to the death penalty, especially mass executions, is taking place on 
the eve of elections in order to intensify the atmosphere of intimidation.

Iranian Resistance calls on the Iranian people, particularly the brave youth to 
protest against this medieval punishment and to express their solidarity with 
the families of the executed.

Any engagement of the international community with the mullahs' regime has to 
be conditioned upon improvement of human rights situation, especially stoppage 
of executions.

(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)

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

1 Public Execution in Northern Iran


1 man was hanged publicly in the city of Babol Saturday morning April 22, 
reported the state run Iranian news agencies.

The state controlled YJC news agency reported that the 21 year old man was 
identified as H.R. sentenced to qisas death penalty (retribution).

H.R. was covicted of murdering another man identified as R. F. 1,5 years ago.

The family of the murder victim and some officials were also present during the 
public execution.

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

Drug-Related Executions and Possibility of Change in Legislation in Iran----In 
addition, even if the bill is passed and approved there is no guarantee that it 
will lead to a significant reduction in the number of drug-related executions. 
The bill doesn't address the issue of due process at all


According to Iran Human Rights' (IHR) annual report on the death penalty in 
Iran at least 530 people were executed in 2016. With 296 executions Drug 
offences accounted for the majority of executions in 2016. In 2016, the Iranian 
Judiciary's High Council of Human Rights stated in a report that 93% of all 
executions are based on drug-related charges. This is not true. Drug offences 
counted for 48% of executions in 2013, 49% in 2014, 66% in 2015 and 56% in 
2016. of those executed were charged for drug offences.

Drug-related executions, and the new legislation proposed by the Iranian 
Parliament, Majles, will be briefly reviewed in the following sections.

Drug offences count for more than 50% of executions in Iran and the majority of 
the death sentences issued by the Revolutionary Courts. Reports collected by 
IHR show that those arrested for drug offences are systematically subjected to 
torture during the weeks after their arrest. Often, they have no access to a 
lawyer while in detention and by the time the lawyer enters the case they have 
already "confessed" to the crime. Trials at the Revolutionary Courts are often 
very short and there is little the lawyer can do. In addition, most of those 
executed for drug offences belong to marginalized groups in the Iranian 
society.

This last point has been emphasized by several Iranian officials, including 
Mohammad Bagher Olfat, one of the deputies of the Head of the Judiciary, who 
told an Iranian news agency: "It is important to note that the individuals who 
are being executed are not the main drug traffickers, because the main drug 
traffickers are not involved in the shipment of drugs. Normally, the drugs are 
sold cheaply to individuals who do not have sufficient financial income".

The Current Anti-Narcotics Law and the new bill proposed by Parliament

The current Anti-Narcotics Law requires the death penalty for the 4th 
conviction for drug-related offences in several instances including: planting 
opium poppies, coca plants or cannabis seeds with the intent to produce drugs; 
smuggling more than 5 kilograms of opium or cannabis into Iran; buying, 
possessing, carrying or hiding more than 5 kilograms of opium and the other 
aforementioned drugs (punishable on third conviction); smuggling into Iran, 
dealing, producing, distributing and exporting more than 30 grams of heroin, 
morphine, cocaine or their derivatives.

In December 2015, the official Iranian media announced that 70 members of 
Iran's Parliament signed a proposal for a change in legislation in order to end 
the death penalty for drug offences. After the Parliamentary elections in early 
2016, the call for a change was followed up and in October 2016 the Iranian 
media announced that 150 of the 290 members of Parliament (Majlis) has signed 
the bill. At that time, Deputy Jalil Rahimi-Jahanabadi, a member of the Majlis 
Legal and Judicial Committee, told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA): "In 
essence, we are proposing to add an amendment to the current law for fighting 
drugs to say the death penalty would apply only if certain conditions were met, 
such as carrying and using a gun, or being an international drug kingpin, or 
having a commuted death sentence and repeating the crime".

Although the details of the new proposal have not been published, based on the 
information in the Iranian media if the new bill is approved the death penalty 
will be removed for some drug offences unless offenders were armed while 
carrying drugs or if they had been imprisoned for more than 10 years if the 
case is related to organized crime, or in cases where larger amount of drugs 
are involved.

However, it is not clear whether the new bill will be approved by the powerful 
Guardian Council which has to approve all new laws. It is not clear either 
where the Expediency Council stands in this matter. Iran's Expediency Council 
has amended the country's anti-drug-trafficking law several times: in 1988, 
1994 and 2001. The last amendment decreed that being in the possession of more 
than 30 grams of crystal meth was the same as the possession of heroin, and was 
punishable by the death penalty. The Judiciary has also sent mixed signals 
regarding the new bill. In October 2016, Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli-Larijani told 
the Iranian media that: "Executions are not necessarily desirable, but 
narcotics are a great detriment to society and also shatter families. We have 
no choice but to confront the issue quickly, swiftly, firmly, and decisively. 
We want prosecutors in the country not to hesitate in implementing the (death) 
sentences," said Amoli Larijani. "We should not wait 3 years (before carrying 
out the execution sentences), until the prisoner learns how to pray in order to 
get amnesty...It is offensive to say that the death penalty is ineffective. If 
it wasn't for the strictness of the Judiciary, the situation would be much 
worse."

In addition, even if the bill is passed and approved there is no guarantee that 
it will lead to a significant reduction in the number of drug-related 
executions. The bill doesn't address the issue of due process at all. As 
mentioned earlier in this section, lack of due process is probably the biggest 
reason for the high number of drug-related executions in Iran as large number 
of the death sentences for drug charges are solely based on confessions 
extracted under torture.

Another factor determining the fate of Iran's drug-related death penalty policy 
is the international pressure. So, international pressure from Iran's dialogue 
partners, EU in particular, must be even more focused on the issue of the death 
penalty and specific demands must be raised with regards to the issue of due 
process and the dissolving of the Revolutionary Courts.

Drug-related Executions

At least 296 people were executed for drug-related charges in 2016. This counts 
for more 56% of all executions carried out in that year. The number is lower 
than the annual executions for drug offences in the last six years. But as 
mentioned in previous sections, there is no indication that the relative 
reduction is due to a change in Iran's death penalty policy. In the following 
sections we will set out the execution trends and geographic distribution of 
drug-related executions. Finally, we will provide an update on the cooperation 
between the United Nations' Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Iranian 
authorities in fighting drug trafficking.

More than 2,990 people were executed for drug offences between 2010 and 2016. 
The numbers for 2016 are lower than the average of the last 6 years. However, 
Iran remains the country with the highest number of drug-related execution per 
capita. *The number for 2015 is updated due to confirmation of 3 new execution 
cases in that year.

Geographic Distribution of Drug-related Executions in 2016 The prisons of 
Karaj, in particular Ghezelhesar, where prisoners from Tehran/Karaj area are 
held, had the highest number of drug-related executions. The most significant 
decrease compared to 2015, was also observed in the prisons of Karaj. In 2015 
at least 231 people were executed in the prisons of Karaj. As in the previous 
year, the Central Prison of Urmia (northwestern border) also had a high number 
of drug-related executions. Most of the executions were not announced by the 
official media.

(source for both: iranhr.net)