[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 27



MALAYSIA:

Death row inmate spared the noose thanks to royal pardon


A man who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in 2009 has received a 
2nd chance at life after Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah granted 
him a pardon.

Shahrul Izani Suparman, 33, and his family were told of the news a week ago at 
the Sungai Buloh prison.

His mother, Sapenah Nawawi, 59, who had been working together with Amnesty 
International Malaysia to save his life, said she was very happy that her son 
got a second chance.

"I am very grateful to God. I would like to thank His Royal Highness for 
granting him a pardon and thank you to everyone who has been fighting to save 
his life," she told a press conference on Monday.

In September 2003, Shahrul Izani, then 19, was arrested during a routine 
roadblock after being found in possession of 622gm of cannabis.

In December 2009, he was convicted by the Shah Alam High Court for drug 
trafficking, an offence that carries the mandatory death penalty.

Amnesty International Malaysia took up Shahrul's case, making calls to the 
Selangor Pardons Board to commute the death sentence.

More than 10,000 signatures from all over the world were collected in an 
appeals campaign that began in 2015.

Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Shamini Darshni said that 
while this battle was won as a life had been saved, the use of the death 
penalty continues.

"The secrecy surrounding executions in Malaysia (further) tarnishes our eroding 
human rights record at the global level.

"Now that the Sultan of Selangor has granted Shahrul's clemency application, we 
hope that the Federal Government will exercise its political will and abolish 
the mandatory death penalty as a 1st step towards total abolition," she said.

(source: thestar.com.my)






AUSTRALIA:

Why I'm fighting for Breaker Morant to be posthumously pardoned on 115th 
anniversary of his execution


Today marks the 115th anniversary of the execution of 2 Australian Boer War 
volunteers, Lieutenants Harry "The Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock, by a 
British firing squad.

It happened, not on a green veldt at sunrise as director of Breaker Morant, 
Bruce Beresford, would have us believe, but in the cramped confines of a 
courtyard at the Old Pretoria Gaol.

A 3rd Australian, Lieutenant George Witton, had his death sentence commuted to 
life imprisonment.

They were convicted of shooting prisoners during the Boer War that took place 
between 1899- 1902, shattering Australia's "innocence" just a year after 
Federation.

Lord Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief of British forces in South Africa, delayed 
informing Prime Minister Edmund Barton that their trial lasted six weeks and 
Morant had admitted shooting prisoners.

That should have been the end of the matter except that returning Australian 
servicemen and the press challenged Kitchener's belated assurances.

Despite the severity of the crimes Witton was released after just 3 1/2 years 
through the offices of future Governor-General, Issac Issacs KC, and future 
British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.

It is not disputed that Morant ordered the execution of 12 Boer prisoners while 
acting under the orders of senior British regular Army Officers, including Lord 
Kitchener.

Victorian lawyer James Unkles has been fighting for the best part of a decade 
for a posthumous pardon for Breaker Morant.

This may lead some to conclude that "natural justice" has been served, but why 
were they treated differently to other British officers and troopers guilty of 
the same crimes?

Prior to Morant's arrival at Ford Edward, in Northern Transvaal, 6 Boer 
prisoners, a Boer member of the Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC) and a number of 
natives were also shot in similar circumstances.

No charges were laid, even though clear evidence was presented to their 
commanding officers.

It is such discrepancies that convinced me that they were not afforded a fair 
trial according to British Military Law and procedure of 1902 and it is time to 
offer Morant, Handcock and Witton posthumous pardons.

Serious legal breaches of Military Law began at the time of their arrest and 
interrogation in October 1901 and continued right through to their trial and 
execution on 27 February 1902. Of the many points of contention 3 stand out.

They were denied legal representation between their arrest and the day before 
their trial began in January 1902 when the luckless Major John Francis Thomas, 
a country solicitor from Tenterfield with no trial experience, answered a plea 
for assistance.

With no time to construct a defence and with key witness, Colonel Hall, 
Commanding Officer of the BVC, who could confirm the existence of orders to 
take no prisoners, spirited off to India, he mounted a brave but fruitless 
defence.

This failure haunted and ultimately destroyed him.

After having refused to appear when called as a witness by Morant, Kitchener 
denied Morant's controversial claim that he was only following orders when 
shooting Boer prisoners.

It was a valid defence in 1902. However, the unpunished actions of other BVC 
officers and a note in the casebook of British Judge Advocate-General, Colonel 
James St Clair tell a different story.

It reads: "... I agree with the Court of Inquiry. The idea that no prisoners 
were to be taken in the Spelonken appears to have been started by the late 
Capt. Hunt and after his death continued by orders given personally by Capt. 
Taylor."

The Courts Martial members cited aspects of mitigation, for Morant, Handcock 
and Witton.

Recommendation was made that the 3 accused be spared death sentence.

However, only Witton's sentence was commuted. After confirming the death 
sentences on Morant and Hancock, Lord Kitchener left Pretoria and told his 
staff he was "uncontactable," thereby denying the Australians their legal right 
to appeal to King Edward VII and seek assistance of the Australian government.

This case has drawn the attention of senior Australian legal counsel and MPs.

Noted jurist and human rights advocate, Geoffrey Robertson QC stated: "They 
were treated monstrously. Certainly by today's standards they were not given 
any of the human rights that international treaties require men facing the 
death penalty to be given. But even by the standards of 1902 they were treated 
improperly, unlawfully."

Sir Laurence Street, AC, KCMG, QC, former Chief Justice of New South Wales, 
called on the British government to appoint an inquiry on the grounds that: 
"... this is an appalling affront to any general notions of justice, and an 
appalling injustice to the remaining living man. This was an exercise of the 
administration of criminal justice which sadly miscarried."

In 2010, the Australian House of Representatives Petitions Committee declared 
the case: "Strong and compelling and deserving of justice."

The then Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, agreed, but a petition to the 
Queen and submissions to the British Government were rejected.

How then to bridge this gap between Australia's realisation that something is 
badly wrong with this case and British intransigence?

Quite simply appoint an inquiry and bring a bill before the Australian 
Parliament. That is the route followed by successful pardons granted to 
Canadian, Irish and New Zealand soldiers executed by the British military 
during WWI.

The old line that only Britain can grant pardons to Morant, Handcock and Witton 
is patently untrue.

We should do it because Australia is an independent nation in control of its 
own destiny (and history) and because as Robert McClelland put it: "This goes 
to the moral values and fabric of a nation. We know these wrongs were done."

This will also bring relief to the families of Morant, Handcock and Witton, 
many of whom are now elderly.

They have been on an emotional rollercoaster since I began campaigning for a 
pardon in 2009.

A compelling case for compassion has been made and we should use this 
anniversary to right this historical wrong.

The passing of time and the fact that Morant, Handcock and Witton are deceased 
does not diminish the possible errors in the administration of justice.

Injustices in times of war are inexcusable and it takes vigilance to right 
wrongs and address injustices to honour those unfairly treated and to 
demonstrate respect to the rule of law.

The descendants of these men and all Australians call for a fair go to have 
this case resolved.

(source: James Unkles is a Victorian lawyer who has been campaigning for the 
pardon of Breaker Morant and Peter Handcock----Adelaide Now)






NORTH KOREA:

Report: N. Korea executes officials with anti-aircraft guns for 'enraging' Kim 
Jong Un


North Korea executed 5 senior security officials for making false reports that 
"enraged" leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday.

The 5 were killed with anti-aircraft guns, the National Intelligence Service 
said in a private briefing to lawmakers, according to the news agency. It 
wasn't immediately clear what the "false reports" were, but they appeared to be 
unrelated to the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of 
Kim Jong Un, 2 weeks ago.

Lawmaker Lee Cheol Woo said the officials worked in the department of the 
former state security chief Kim Won Hong, who was dismissed in January amid 
allegations of corruption and human rights abuses.

Lee said the firing of Kim Won Hong was linked to the false reports, which 
"enraged" Kim Jong Un when he discovered them.

Kim Jong Un has reportedly executed or purged a large number of high-level 
government officials since taking power in 2011.

The news of the executions came as South Korea's spy agency said Monday that 
Pyongyang was behind the assassination of Kim Jong Nam.

The National Intelligence Service told lawmakers that 4 of the 8 suspects in 
the killing worked for Pyongyang's Ministry of State Security and 2 others were 
employed by the foreign ministry.

(source: USA Today)