[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 26




TURKEY:

Erdogan: Turkey can hold referendum on death penalty


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey could hold a referendum on 
reinstating the death penalty, if parliament fails to pass such a measure.

Erdogan made the comment on Friday while campaigning for a "yes" vote in a 
referendum on whether to expand his powers.

Since a failed coup in July, Erdogan has frequently told supporters who call 
for the death penalty at his rallies that he would sign off on any 
parliamentary vote to restore capital punishment.

On Friday, he went a step further, saying a referendum could be held if 
parliament fails to reinstate it.

Turkey abolished the death penalty more than a decade ago. European leaders say 
talks on Turkey's bid to join the EU would end if Ankara restores the death 
penalty.

(source: Associated Press)






BANGLADESH:

8 years on, gruesome BDR mutiny still in memory


The killing of 57 army officers is the biggest massacre of defence commanders 
in Bangladesh's history

Bangladesh is remembering the victims of a bloody mutiny by paramilitary 
troopers of then BDR at the now Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) headquarters on 
this day in 2009.

Altogether 74 people were killed in the 33-hour coup that ended with the 
rebels' surrender.

The cold-blooded execution of 57 army officers, including the then border guard 
chief, is the biggest massacre of defence commanders in the country's history.

Officers drawn from regular army units traditionally command the border guards, 
then known as the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).

The mutiny took place at a time when the officers were taking part in a meeting 
at Pilkhana.

At 9:27am on February 25, Moin, one of mutineers, entered the Darbar Hall and 
pointed a gun at the then border guard chief Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed.

What followed was mass killing in broad daylight. The mutilation of many of the 
dead officers and the way their bodies were dumped shocked the nation.

Mutineers fanned out across the Pilkhana, ransacking the army officers' houses 
and torturing their families.

Investigators failed to find out the real reason behind the mutiny.

The trials

Police had filed 2 cases, 1 for carnage and another under the Explosives Act, 
with Lalbagh police station. Charges in both cases were pressed in July, 2010.

On November 5, 2013, a Dhaka court handed the death penalty to 150 soldiers and 
two civilians; and sentenced 161 others to life imprisonment in the carnage 
case.

A total of 278 people were acquitted while the rest received rigorous 
imprisonment, ranging from three to 10 years.

Death references and appeals, mostly by the convicts, were filed with the High 
Court.

A special High Court bench started hearing the appeals on January 18, 2015, 
which is in the final stage now.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said that the legal procedures relating to the 
verdict would be finished in the High Court by this year, paving the way to 
execute the verdict.

The High Court on Thursday deferred the hearing of appeals and death references 
of the 152 convicts until April 2 following a time prayer filed by the State.

Meanwhile, trial of 834 people, including a civilian, in the case filed under 
the Explosive Substances Act is pending with a lower court in Dhaka. A total of 
38 out of 12,000 prosecution witnesses have so far testified in this case.

Programmes for today

BGB Public Relations Officer Muhammad Mohsin Reza said they would organise 
programmes to remember the victims.

A special prayer will be held at Pilkhana at 5pm.

Representatives of the president and the prime minister will place floral 
wreaths at the Banani graveyard.

The home minister, chiefs of the 3 services, and the BGB director general will 
pay their respects to the victims.

(source: Dhaka Tribune)






JORDAN:

Defendants on trial for immolation of 2 lawyers plead not guilty


3defendants, standing trial on charges of setting fire that led to the death of 
2 lawyers at their office in Amman last June, pleaded not guilty on Thursday.

The charred bodies of the 2 lawyers, Mohammad Zawawi, 42, and Moayad Rafaiah, 
29, were discovered on June 27, 2016 by Civil Defence Department rescue teams 
who were called to extinguish the fire at their office located in a commercial 
building in the capital's Qweismeh suburb. Investigators concluded that it was 
arson.

2 of the 3 defendants were arrested shortly after the incident occurred, while 
the 3rd, who was first considered a witness by the authorities, was detained at 
a later stage after investigations indicated that he was reportedly involved in 
the incident.

The main defendant in the case, who was a client of the two victims, was 
charged with setting a fire that lead to the death of a human being. The 2 
other defendants are standing trial for complicity in setting a fire that led 
to the death of a human being.

The incident occurred over an alleged dispute related to around JD1,500 that 
the main defendant claimed he won in a case the victims had represented him in 
and failed to notify him of the amount, the charge sheet said.

The suspect claimed that he called the victim to inquire about the money on 
several occasions, but the lawyer ignored his calls, according to the charge 
sheet.

On the day of the incident, the charge sheet added, the defendant asked his 
friend, the second defendant, to accompany him, bought paint thinner and headed 
to the lawyers' office to discuss the matter.

"The defendant claimed that he had no intention of killing anyone and that he 
only intended to threaten the victim, pouring the flammable substance on the 
office's door," the charge sheet maintained.

The sheet added that the defendant "used a lighter, and fire spread in the 
room, trapping both lawyers, so he fled in his car and left his friend behind".

When the defendant heard in the news that the 2 men died, the charge sheet 
maintained, "he turned himself into police".

Ibrahim Hayek, from the public freedoms committee at the Jordan Bar 
Association, said the association and some of its members are following up on 
the case in court.

"The victims were our colleagues and they were killed while performing their 
duties. The 2 victims are part of the association and we are all one family," 
Hayek told The Jordan Times.

A government autopsy indicated that the victims were alive when they were set 
ablaze.

If convicted of the charges, the main defendant in the case could face the 
death penalty.

The court set March 2 as the new date to start hearing the prosecution 
witnesses in the case.

(source: The Jordan Times)






PHILIPPINES:

Thousands say no to death penalty


Thousands of faithful led by the Pampanga clergy yesterday took to the streets 
to express their opposition to the death penalty and extra judicial killings 
(EJKs).

The estimated crowd of 5,000, predominantly Catholics from various parishes, 
schools, pastoral groups and missionaries converged at around 7:00 am at this 
city's old train station compound after the "walk for life" that took off from 
4 points of the province early morning.

Lay leader Banjo Serrano of the local Council of the Laity said that the 
gathering was meant to echo the stand of the church against the re-imposition 
of the death penalty and EJKs resulting from the Duterte administration's war 
against illegal drugs and heinous crimes.

It is also, he said, a re-echoing of the message of the Catholic Bishops' 
Conference of the Philippines to Filipinos Catholics to "never live in terror, 
even in the face of violence and looming attempts to reinstate the capital 
punishment."

The Walk for Life, which is led by the Council of the Laity, was organized 
after the Catholic Church expressed alarm over the killings of more than 7,000 
people so far since Duterte assumed office June 30 of last year.

But the rallyists told Sun.Star Pampanga that Walk for Life is not a protest 
but "a commitment to the sacredness of life given by God."

After the brief program at the old train station compound, the marchers 
proceeded to the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando where an "offering for 
life and peace" and Eucharistic celebration was held and led by Archbishop 
Florentino Lavarias.

Earlier before Saturday's Walk for Life, different parishes and Roman Catholic 
Church-run schools all over Pampanga were asked by the Roman Catholic 
Archdiocese of San Fernando to hold masses and Eucharistic adoration over the 
weekend "to ask enlightenment" over attempts to bring back the death penalty.

Archbishop Lavarias, in a February 15 letter, had asked the Pampanga clergy, 
directors of Archdiocesan schools and the laity to join in the masses and 
observance of Eucharistic adoration over the weekend in opposition to the death 
penalty.

The country is a signatory of the International Covenant for Civil and 
Political Rights (ICCPR) which has signified not to impose death penalty as 
punishment. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo suspended the death 
penalty before the country signed with ICCPR.

(source: sunstar.com.ph)






UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Son demands death sentence for dad's murderer ---- Court had convicted him 
based on the evidence presented by prosecutors


The son of a businessman demanded qisas (retributive justice according to 
Islamic law) against a lorry driver who allegedly murdered his father. The 
driver reportedly killed the businessman in revenge for ordering the killing of 
his brother more than 6 years ago. At the appellate court, the victim's son 
rejected blood money and insisted on death penalty for the accused.

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance had sentenced the 38-year-old 
Pakistani man in November 2016, after he was found guilty of premeditated 
murder of the businessman. The incident occurred in September 2015.

Official court documents stated that the man tracked down his 67-year-old 
compatriot victim and rammed his truck into the victim's car in the Bani Yas 
area.

"The lorry driver also confessed to the police that he reversed and then 
repeatedly ran over the victim before setting him and his car on fire," said 
prosecutors. He then fled the scene.

Prosecutors added that the man told them that he murdered the victim to avenge 
his brother's death, who he said was killed by the victim in Pakistan more than 
6 years ago.

But in the court, the lorry driver retracted his previous statement denying he 
murdered the businessman. However, the lower court sentenced him to death.

The defendant challenged the ruling in the Court of Appeals, telling the judge 
that the fire erupted accidentally as the victim opened a bottle containing a 
flammable liquid to cool his car engine while he lit a cigarette.

During the trial in the Court of First Instance, the victim's son said: "The 
killer should be given death sentence for what he did to my father.

"We shall not accept blood money from him."

The trial was adjourned to a future date.

(source: Khaleej Times)






MALAYSIA:

Lorry attendant sent to gallows for drug trafficking


A lorry attendant was sentenced to death by the High Court here today after he 
was found guilty of drug trafficking at Taman Puteri, Kluang near here last 
year.

Judicial commissioner Muhammad Jamil Hussin meted down the sentence on R. 
Karuppu Samy, 36, after the defence failed to raise any reasonable doubts on 
the prosecution's case.

Muhammad Jamil, in his ruling, said the accused's statement that he was not 
aware of the existence of a black box containing the drugs was clearly a 
denial.

The accused was charged with trafficking in cannabis weighing 657 grams in a 
house at No 46, Jalan Sutera 2/6, Taman Puteri, Kluang near here at 12.10am on 
March 20 last year.

He was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act which carries 
a death sentence upon conviction.

A total of 12 prosecution witnesses and 2 defence witnesses testified during 
the trial.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Rasyidah Murni Adzmi 
while the accused was represented by counsel Salmi Hamdan Sabran.

(source: themalaymailonline.com)

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

2 brothers to be executed as planned after short-lived stay


The execution of 2 brothers convicted for murder is now set to proceed as 
planned at the Kajang Prison.

The 2 - 44-year-old Rames and 39-year-old Suthar Batumalai - were originally 
due to be executed on Friday morning, but had received a stay at the 11th hour.

Speaking in a statement in response to this development, Malaysian Bar 
president Steven Thiru said on Friday that the lawyers for the brothers were 
now exploring further avenues to support their petition for clemency.

Attempts to contact lawyers acting for the brothers have been unsuccessful.

"Sufficient time and opportunity must be given for them to exhaust this fresh 
ground before any sentence is meted out," said Thiru.

He added that the brothers must not be denied due process, and the execution of 
the death penalty must never be rushed or expedited.

"The Malaysian Bar urges the Government to allow the clemency proceedings to be 
completed, and to commute the sentences of death by hanging, to life 
imprisonment," he said.

Rames and Suthar had on Thursday submitted a clemency application through their 
lawyers to the Negri Sembilan Pardons Board.

The brothers were sentenced to the mandatory death penalty under Section 302 of 
the Penal Code in 2010 after being found guilty of a murder they committed in 
2006.

Thiru added that a moratorium should be placed on all executions pending the 
outcome of the Government's ongoing review of the death penalty.

He also issued a fresh condemnation of Malaysia's mandatory death penalty, 
saying that it was "not acceptable for the state to take a life for a life".

(source: thestar.com.my)