[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 28



IRAN----executions

2 Prisoners Hanged on Murder Charges


2 prisoners were reportedly hanged in western Iran on murder charges.

According to close sources, one of the prisoners was executed at Qorveh Prison 
(Kurdistan province northwestern Iran) on Tuesday February 21. The prisoner has 
been identified as Hossein Darvishi Kouchaki, 32 years of age. Mr. Darvishi 
Kouchaki was reportedly sentenced to death on murder charges and was held in 
prison for more than 5 years before he was executed.

"In the past few years, Hossein's family have made many attempts to convince 
the murder victim's family to spare Hossein's life, but they have not agreed," 
a source close to Mr. Darvishi Kouchaki's family tells Iran Human Rights.

According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, a prisoner was hanged at Dizel 
Abad Prison (Kermanshah province, western Iran) on Wednesday February 22. This 
report, which has been confirmed by Iran Human Rights, identifies the prisoner 
as Farshid Sajjadi Asl.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have not 
announced these 2 executions.

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

Rise in Executions and Crackdown Against Iran's Youth


Executions and crackdown against Iran's youth is increasingly on the rise. Many 
inmates in their 20's and 30's have been executed or killed during the past 
months, while hundreds have also been arrested or mistreated. Wrote Donya Jam 
in 'News Blaze' on February 26, 2017.

Dozens of prisoners have been hanged during the 1st 2 weeks of February, 
including a mass execution of 12 prisoners in Gohardasht Prison, west of 
Tehran, on Feb. 15. 13 inmates, including prisoners aged 29 and 30, were 
executed between Feb. 11-13 in the prisons of Qom, Zabol, Jiroft and Mashhad.

On Jan. 29, regime authorities publicly executed 4 prisoners in the cities of 
Bandar Abbas and Mashhad. These prisoners were all in their early to mid 20's. 
Reports indicate 87 inmates were sent to the gallows in the month of January 
alone. Many of those executed never received due process and some were hanged 
while their cases were still open.

Hamid Ahmadi, a juvenile offender, has also been reported to be at imminent 
risk of hanging. The United Nations and prominent human rights organizations 
such as Amnesty International have been campaigning to halt his execution. 160 
juveniles are on death row in Iran, according to the United Nations. The 
number, however, could be higher.

On Feb. 9 in Shadegan (Khuzestan Province in southwest Iran), state security 
forces shot and killed a young Iranian-Arab man named Hassan Ablu Ghabish.

Alongside hangings and killings, regime authorities are also continuously 
arresting and attacking youths for absurd reasons.

In Shiraz, a teenage girl celebrating her birthday along with friends was 
brutally beaten and arrested for wearing ripped jeans. 2 young women were 
arrested in Dezful for riding a motorcycle. And hundreds have been arrested 
between 2016 and January 2017 for attending mixed-gender parties. In some 
instances, the regime has also brutally punished the arrestees.

Back in May 2016, Iranian authorities arrested and flogged 30 students for 
attending a mixed-gender graduation party. Their flogging sentence was 
implemented within 24 hours of their arrest. Each student received 99 lashes.

Imprisonment for attending mixed-gender parties continues. It was reported on 
Jan. 28 that another 13 boys and girls were arrested in Gilan Province, 
northern Iran.

One may ask why is the regime increasingly targeting youths? If we recall the 
2009 nationwide anti-government uprising in Iran, the youth took the forefront 
of the demonstrations. They played one of the most significant roles throughout 
the protests. Therefore, the regime is using suppression as a method to spread 
fear in society in order to prevent the youths from uprising.

And part of the reason why the regime is heavily cracking down on parties and 
get-togethers is because they fear people's gatherings could turn into 
anti-government uprisings. The regime is doing everything in its power to 
prevent a reoccurrence of the 2009 demonstrations.

Now that reform in Iran has been proven to be nothing but a myth, another 
question that may be asked is what is the true solution to bring an end to the 
suffering of Iran's youth? This is where Iranian youth activists want their 
voices heard by the international community. They want to see an end to deals 
and negotiations with the regime, and instead yearn for the international 
community to recognize the Iranian people's aspirations for freedom and 
democracy.

Sourosh Abouthalebi, an Iranian student in Belgium majoring in political 
science, expressed his deep concern about the executions. He called on the 
international community to end economic deals with Iran because the 
continuation of such agreements signals to the regime's leaders to carry on 
with their human rights violations.

"Trading with this regime without raising any human rights concerns is 
perceived as a green light by this regime for even more executions," he said.

Abouthalebi added that countries should instead support the Iranian people.

"Each country has a unique opportunity to place itself alongside the Iranian 
people. Iranians will never forget those that have stood up for the rights of 
the Iranian people during the darkest period of Iran???s history," he 
concluded.

Afshin Motevalli, an Iranian student studying pedagogy at the University of 
Oslo said the international community should end relations with Iran.

"I ask the international community to stop the appeasement vis-a-vis the 
Iranian regime. The regime in Iran gives nothing back to its people nor the 
international community other than terrorism, suppression, executions, and 
destruction," he said.

Motevalli also mentioned that the world community should support regime change 
in Iran by the people and their resistance movement, the People's Mojahedin 
Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

"The international community should support the Iranian opposition National 
Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), as well as the millions of men and women 
in Iran longing for freedom and democracy," Motevalli added.

"Regime change is the only method to end suppression, torture and executions, 
and regime change is the only path to democracy, equality, freedom and 
harmony," he finalized.

Iran's youth are oppressed. They yearn for freedom and justice. The only way to 
bring an end to the executions and suppression of youth is through democratic 
regime change. Therefore, the international community should end all deals with 
Iran and instead support the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK and people in their 
plight to establish freedom. This is the only way to put an end to the 
injustice and the only way the youth of Iran can be guaranteed a brighter, 
safer and hopeful future.

[Ms. Donya Jam is an Iranian-American Christian and human rights activist. She 
holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Shenandoah University] 
(source for both: Iran Human Rights)






VIETNAM:

Meth smuggling ring busted in central Vietnam


2 Laotian nationals and a Vietnamese woman have been arrested for smuggling 15 
kilograms of methamphetamine in central Vietnam, VietnamPlus reported Monday.

Cheo Thi Phoi, 37, and Cheo Van Man, 41, from Laos, and Phan Thi Pham, 39, from 
Vietnam's central province of Thanh Hoa were caught in the province's Muong Lat 
District Sunday, with the drug in their possession.

The ring often smuggles drugs from Laos, the report cited Thanh Hoa police as 
saying.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Those convicted of 
possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin, or more than 2.5 
kilograms of methamphetamine, face the death penalty.

The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin, or 300 grams of other illegal 
narcotics is also punishable by death.

Although the laws are strictly enforced with capital punishment handed down 
regularly, drug running continues in border areas.

(source: Vnexpress.com)






PORTUGAL:

Portugal calls for "total abolition" of death penalty around the globe


Portugal on Monday at the United Nations called on countries that still have 
the death penalty to call a "de facto" moratorium as a 1st step towards "total 
abolition" of the death penalty.

According to the Portuguese Foreign Minister, Augusto Santos Silva, speaking at 
the opening session of the 34th meeting of the Human Rights Council, in Geneva, 
Portugal rejects all the reasons and arguments that attempt to justify the 
application of the death penalty and that the country calls on all countries 
that still have the penalty to establish a 'de facto' moratorium as a 1st step 
towards the total abolition of the death penalty.

He noted the importance that Portugal gives to the "evolution of the death 
penalty" noting that Portugal was a pioneer in abolishing it "precisely 150 
years ago."

Portugal has called for the death penalty to be abolished in Equatorial Guinea, 
a country which joined the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), 
in 2014, based on a commitment to abolish it.

(source: theportugalnews.com)






PHILIPPINES:

Lagman vows to oppose 'watered down' death penalty bill


Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman on Monday said he and other congressmen will continue 
to oppose the death penalty bill despite the proposed reduction in the number 
of crimes covered by capital punishment.

Lagman accused the House majority of pandering to President Rodrigo Duterte as 
it again watered down the bill reimposing the death penalty.

"I don't think they are really interested in the death penalty," Lagman said.

"What they want to do is just to support the president's deadly war against the 
drug menace otherwise they won't emasculate the bill," he continued.

The supermajority at the House of Representatives has agreed to reduce the 
number of crimes punishable by death from 21 to just 1--illegal drugs.

Lagman said the majority is really doing all it could to guarantee enough votes 
for the bill.

"They continue amending the bill so that from railroading it is now going to 
emasculation just to convince members of the house to vote for the measure," 
said Lagman, who is a staunch opponent of reviving capital punishment.

Lagman said that despite the reduction of the number of crimes punishable by 
death, he and other congressmen will still oppose it.

"As far as the oppositors are concerned, as long as there is a crime punishable 
by death, we're going to oppose it," he added.

"It's not the number of crimes but it is the concept of the death penalty which 
is abhorrent," he said.

(source: abs-cbn.com)






BANGLADESH:

5 JMB men given death penalty for killing Kunio Hoshi


A Rangpur court on Tuesday awarded death sentence to 5 members of banned 
militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Japanese citizen Kunio 
Hoshi murder case.

Judge Naresh Chandra Sarkar of the Rangpur Special Judges Court handed down the 
verdict.

Among the convicted, Masud Rana alias Mamun alias Montri, Ishak Ali, Liton Mia 
alias Rafiq, Sakhwat Hossain are now in jail while Ahsanulla is on the run.

The court also exempted JMB member Abu Sayeed from the case.

Earlier, on 15 November 2016, a court framed charges against 7 members of 
banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Hoshi Kunio murder case.

On 3 October 2015, Hoshi Kunio, 65, was gunned down by unknown assailants near 
his farmhouse at Kachu Alutary in Kaunia upazila of Rangpur district.

(source: prothm-alo.com)






MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE:

Malaysia won't interfere in Singapore death row case, envoy says


Malaysia will not interfere in other country's internal affairs, which includes 
a court case involving a Malaysian death row inmate in Singapore.

"We are aware that there is an effort to put pressure to bring a particular 
court case here to a higher profile," Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore 
Datuk Ilango Karuppannan told Bernama here.

It was reported that a Malaysian death row inmate S. Prabagaran, aged 30, was 
making a judicial review application to direct the government to start 
proceedings against Singapore in the International Court of Justice over his 
conviction for drug trafficking.

The Foreign Ministry and the Malaysian government were named as respondents in 
the application which was filed at the Malaysian High Court registry in January 
this year.

The inmate was sentenced to death in September 2014 and had reportedly 
exhausted all appeals in the republic.

Asked on how many Malaysians are on death row in Singapore, Ilango declined to 
reveal the numbers.

In another case on death row related to Malaysians, the Singapore apex court 
yesterday (Monday) had dismissed an appeal for the 2010 Kallang slashing case 
involving Michael Garing.

Following a trial, Michael, who was part of a gang of 4 from Sarawak that 
carried out 4 violent robberies 7 years ago, was sentenced to death.

A 4th suspect who was arrested in Malaysia last month, Donny Meluda, has been 
charged with murder with his case still before the court, and if convicted, he 
will also face the death penalty.

(source: themalaymailonline.com)

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

2 women to be charged with Kim Jong Nam murder


2 women will be charged with the murder of the estranged half-brother of North 
Korea's leader, Malaysian officials said Tuesday. If convicted, Indonesian Siti 
Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam, 28, could face the death penalty.

Malaysian Attorney General Mohamed Apandi said the pair will be charged 
Wednesday over Kim Jong Nam's Feb. 13. death at Kuala Lumpur International 
Airport. No decision has been made over whether to charge 2 other suspects, a 
Malaysian out on bail and a North Korean in custody. Authorities are seeking 7 
other North Korean suspects in the incident that resembles the plot of a spy 
thriller. Several may have already returned to North Korea.

Malaysian police said Siti and Doan placed the deadly nerve agent VX on Kim's 
face amid crowds of travelers at Kuala Lumpur's airport. Kim died on the way to 
a hospital, in pain, within about 20 minutes of the attack. The women claim 
they thought they were taking part in a televised prank. South Korea has 
accused North Korea of orchestrating Kim's death on behalf of the North's 
leader Kim Jong Un.

But North Korea has resisted that characterization and refused to accept 
Malaysia's identification of the victim, acknowledging only that a North Korean 
national with a diplomatic passport was killed. News that Siti and Doan will be 
charged under a section of the penal code that carries a mandatory death 
sentence, came as a high-level delegation including North Korea's former deputy 
ambassador to the United Nations arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday to discuss the 
escalating diplomatic row.

Ri Tong-il, the former U.N. deputy ambassador, will request that Malaysia hand 
over Kim's body to North Korea, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap. 
Ri will also ask Malaysia to release the North Korean suspect who remains in 
custody. The North has accused Malaysia of colluding with South Korea in the 
investigation.

Kim, who died aged 45, was the eldest son and onetime apparent heir to North 
Korea's late leader Kim Jong Il. But he fell out of favor with his father, 
which led to exile, and his younger paternal half-brother - Kim Jong Un, 33 - 
assumed the role on Kim the elder's death in 2011. He was on his way home to 
Macau when he was killed and he didn't appear to have any political ambitions, 
although he had been critical of his half-brother's regime and may have been 
viewed as a threat.

Police have released few details about the women charged with Kim's murder, but 
believe they were aware of what they were doing. Local media reports said Doan 
is the daughter of a rice farmer from Vietnam. She was caught on security 
cameras at the airport wearing a shirt with the acronym "LOL" across it. Siti 
said she was paid $90 to smear what she thought was a harmless liquid similar 
to baby oil on Kim's face. Police said both women washed their hands shortly 
after the encounter.

(source: USA Today)