[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 17



NEW ZEALAND:

60th anniversay of New Zealand's last hanging


Walter Bolton was the last man to be hung in New Zealand before capital 
punishment was repealed.

The trap door opened. His body fell.

On this day 60 years ago, Whanganui farmer Walter James Bolton became the last 
person in New Zealand to be hanged after being found guilty of murdering his 
wife of 43 years, Beatrice Bolton, by poisoning her with arsenic.

Bolton, 68, was hanged at the gallows in Auckland Prison, now known as Mt Eden 
Prison, at 6.30pm for the part he played in the crime.

Stuff reports show the prosecution alleged Bolton killed Beatrice because he 
was in love with another woman - his sister-in-law Florence Doughty - with whom 
he had a sexual affair.

Lawyers for the Crown claimed Bolton had concocted a potion of arsenic from 
sheep dip and laced his wife's tea with it on several occasions, requiring 
hospital treatment, before killing her with a large dose on July 11, 1956.

His execution was made controversial by the suggestion that his wife had not 
been murdered at all.

Bolton and his wife were married for 43 years and had 6 children and a 
relatively close relationship, journalist Bernie Steeds wrote in an article on 
the couple.

In the 15 months before she died, her mystery illness was never diagnosed, but 
an autopsy identified arsenic as the cause.

It was suggested Bolton had put the poison in her cups of tea, though no trace 
of the poison was ever found.

Steeds said sheep dip may have found its way into the house's spring and Bolton 
also had traces of arsenic in his hair and fingernails.

Active people get rid of arsenic more quickly, and Beatrice had been unwell, 
and had rested a lot before the poisoning was alleged to have begun, he said.

But an all-male jury in Bolton's hometown found him guilty, and despite his 
claims of innocence, he lost his Court of Appeal case.

In a book written by Sherwood Young, Guilty On The Gallows, a police officer 
who attended Bolton's execution was interviewed.

Only 20 at the time, the officer described what it was like.

"When the sheriff gave the signal, the hangman moved the lever. There was a 
loud metallic clang as the trap door opened. Bolton disappeared from sight 
behind the tarpaulin.

"A prison warden released the rope while I supported the body. It looked about 
7 feet long, hanging there. The toes were almost touching the ground. The 
tongue was out of his mouth. When the rope was removed it slurped back into his 
mouth.

"I will never forget this experience."

Other stories later claimed Bolton's execution had gone horribly wrong.

Rather than having his neck broken the instant the trapdoor opened, they 
alleged Bolton slowly strangled to death.

53 men and 1 woman were executed in New Zealand between 1842 and 1957. The 
death penalty was abolished in 1941, reinstated in 1950, and then abolished 
again in 1989.

(source: stuff.co.nz)






INDONESIA:

2 charged with Kuantan kidnapping of businessman, face death penalty


2 men were charged at the magistrate's court here today with kidnapping a 
businessman to secure a RM19 million ransom 2 years ago.

Lim Sin Chye, 44, from Kemaman, Terengganu and Ang Boon Leong, 39, from Kepong, 
Kuala Lumpur, were accused of kidnapping Datuk Chin Yoke Choon, 53, to hold him 
for ransom.

The duo is alleged to have kidnapped Chin, who is the managing director of 
Tunas Manja Group, at the parking lot of a hotel at Bandar Indera Mahkota here, 
at 5.55pm on Dec 26, 2015.

The victim was later freed.

Lim and Ang face the death penalty if convicted under Section 3 of the 
Kidnapping Act 1961.

No plea was recorded from the duo today, and magistrate Noor Zaihan Mohamad Ali 
fixed Feb 28 for mention.

Later, at two separate sessions courts, the duo claimed trial to being members 
of underworld group "Geng William", an offence that may see them jailed for up 
to 20 years if convicted under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code.

In the 2 separate courts, Lim and Ang also claimed trial to fraternising 
without good cause with the same underworld group, an offence which carries a 
maximum 20-year jail term on conviction, under Section 130Y of the Code.

In sessions court 1, judge Unaizah Mohd denied bail to Lim because he was 
detained under the provisions of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 
2012.

In sessions court 4, judge Siti Aminah Ghazali also did not grant bail to Ang 
on the same grounds.

Both judges fixed Feb 28 for mention of the cases.

Deputy public prosecutors Muhamad Asyraf Md Kamal and Shahrul Ekhsan Hassim 
prosecuted, while the duo was unrepresented.

Previously, on Dec 30, purported underworld members Low Sing Hwa, 29, and Tham 
Hock Ann, 36, were charged at the magistrate's court here with committing the 
same offence.

(source: nst.com.my)






IRAN:

Iran Regime Sold the Corpse of an Executed Prisoner for $3,000


Selling unclaimed corpses in Iran has been widely noticed in recent weeks after 
it was found that medical colleges are paying up to $3,000 per corpse in the 
black-market, according to new reports.

The state-run Rokna news agency reported on February 15 that the lack of 
deceased bodies has forced medical students to seek help from the black markets 
to buy corpses to use as cadavers for medical research purposes.

The report said around 100 unclaimed corpses were found in Tehran's streets, 
with doctors urging that they should be handed to medical schools so that 
students may benefit from them.

Rokna quoted Niousha Mohammadzadeh, a practicing doctor, as saying that her 
college had purchased three bodies, one of which belonged to a man who was 
executed in prison and who didn't have immediate relatives. His corpse cost 10 
million toman ($3,000), she said. The 2nd body belonged to a homeless person 
and the 3rd body was of an unidentified person.

Trading human organs is currently legal under the Iranian regime's law. The 
poor are often exploited to sell body organs such as kidneys, a practice that 
has spread widely in recent years in Iran.

(source: NCR-Iran)






SUDAN:

Sudanese child rapist sentenced to death


A Sudanese court has sentenced a defendant to death after he was found guilty 
of raping a two-year-old girl to death last year.

It was revealed that the 30-year-old defendant had raped the toddler to death 
before dumping her body in a well in Eastern Khartoum.

The publicly infamous case has sparked protests by Sudanese activists, who 
called for maximum penalty for the defendant.

An earlier death sentence against the defendant was overturned by the Sudanese 
appeals court last June, before a retrial was initiated by the girl's parents.

(source: alarabiya.net)






INDIA:

Rasila's family seeks death penalty for her murderer, wants Nikam to try the 
case----Father, brother of murdered Infosys employee meet police chief Rashmi 
Shukla


Family members of Rasila O P discussed issues such as women's safety at 
workplace and the status of the investigation with the police commissioner.

The family members of Infosys employee Rasila Raju O P, who was allegedly 
murdered by a security guard in the company premises on January 29, met Pune 
Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla on Thursday and demanded the death penalty 
for their daughter's alleged killer. Rasila's father Raju O P, brother Lajin 
Kumar, uncle Suresh and members of the Pune Malyalee Federation spoke to the 
police chief. During their interaction, the family said the arrested accused, 
security guard Bhaven Bharali Saikiya (27), should get the death penalty.

Rasila's family also said senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam should be appointed as the 
special public prosecutor in the case. "We have submitted our demands in 
writing to the police commissioner. She has assured us that she will look into 
the matter," Lajin Kumar told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, the police commissioner and Rasila's family members also discussed 
issues such as women's safety at work place, the Vishakha Committee guidelines 
and the status of the investigation. Shukla told Rasila's family that the 
investigation in the case was on the right track. She also assured them that 
she will look into their demand to appoint Nikam as the special PP in the case.

On Wednesday, Rasila's family had submitted a 'Memorandum of Agreement' for 
compensation at Infosys for seeking legal dues, statuary dues, provident fund, 
gratuity, insurance compensation and 'ex-gratia' payment, amounting to Rs 1.25 
crore approximately.

(source: indianexpress.com)






PHILIPPINES:

Judiciary To Play Vital Role If Death Penalty Is Restored


La Union 1st District Representative Pablo Ortega said here that the judiciary 
would play a very important role once the death penalty is restored because 
they will be deciding heinous crimes cases with reclusion perpetuaor life 
imprisonment to death.

"Judges should study carefully that those who will be charged with heinous 
crimes will be investigated properly. They should study well if the accused 
deserve the death penalty," Ortega said.

Ortega, a member of the majority bloc, said he is in favor of the death penalty 
as long as it will be implemented and amended properly.

"I am for the death penalty but there are some amendments that will be made to 
ensure that only those who deserve to be meted with death sentence will be 
punished," he said.

Ortega said that majority of the congressmen in the ruling coalition are in 
favor of the death penalty although they just want that some of their proposals 
for amendment would be accommodated.

"We conducted a majority caucus to hear the different views of the congressmen 
and what are their proposals for amendments so that the bill will be 
implemented properly. Some of our colleagues are against it but they were 
convinced when the bill was properly explained by Majority Leader Rodolfo 
Farinas and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez."

Ortega discounted the pronouncement of Alvarez that those members of the 
majority who are against the bill would be expelled from the coalition.

"That's not true. The Speaker just wants clarification from opposing members 
for their proposals for amendments," he said.

Ortega said he is not in favor of the inclusion of plunder in the list covered 
by the death penalty because he said it is sometimes being made as reason for 
political revenge.

Alvarez, a staunch ally of President Duterte, is determined to have the bill 
passed on 3rd and final reading before the 17th Congress takes a break on March 
18.

(source: Northbound Philippines News)

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

Crime surge due to Aquino's incompetence, not to death penalty's lifting


It will be so tragic if President Duterte gets Congress to reinstate the death 
penalty. The surge of heinous crimes in the country is not because of the 
lifting of capital punishment in 2006, but because of the incompetence of 
immediate past President Benigno Aquino 3rd, whose forces continue to plot 
against his government.

Senate Bill 42, introduced by former police chief Senator Panfilo Lacson, 
reveals its gross ignorance: "The alarming surge of heinous crimes in recent 
years has shown that reclusion perpetua (which replaced execution in a 2006 
law) is not a deterrent to grave offenders."

But what "recent years" is Lacson talking about? This logically are the past 6 
years, from 2010 to 2015, when the Philippine National Police was under 
Aquino's bosom buddy, Alan Purisima. And it was during these years that there 
was a near total breakdown of peace and order, with Duterte himself repeatedly 
saying that we practically had a narco state during these years.

Crime statistics prove this point, and debunk the very wrong claim that the 
lifting of the death penalty in 2006, the index crime rate even went down from 
47.5 that year to 42 in 2007 and 41 in 2008. This completely debunks Senator 
Lacson's thesis that the absence of capital punishment encouraged criminals to 
murder and rape more.

There was a surge in reports of index crimes in 2009, but this was mainly due 
to a change in the Philippine National Police's reporting system which expanded 
what police precincts should report as crimes in their jurisdiction. The PNP 
also clamped down on many precinct commanders' penchant to under-report crime 
incidences to make it appear that they were excellent law enforcers in their 
territory.

Rocketed up

As a result, the number of index crimes reported rocketed up from just 36,057 
in 2008 to 301,703 in 2009 and 204,979 in 2010, probably as police precinct 
commanders thought it was safer to err on the side of more crimes, not less.

The reporting system, however, seemed to have normalized in the 1st years of 
the Aquino regime, registering 218, 160, and 135 index crimes per 100,000 
people in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively.

However, the index crime rates surged in 2013 and 2014, to 466 and 493, 
respectively. Those huge numbers practically indicate a crime wave: from just 
129,161 index crimes in 2012,the number more than doubled to 458,000 in 2013 
and 492,000 in 2014.

(source: The Manila Times)