[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 22




BELARUS:

EU Criticizes Belarusian Death Sentences, Says Should Be Abolished



The European Union on July 21 criticized the two latest death sentences handed 
down in Belarus, saying that they "violate the right to life."

Belarus's Mahilyow Regional Court sentenced Ihar Hershankow and Syamyon 
Berazhny to death on July 21 after they were convicted of 6 murders linked to a 
real estate scam.

The defendants allegedly posed as estate agents and persuaded elderly 
homeowners to sell them their apartments at discounted prices, before killing 
them.

"The European Union is strongly opposed to capital punishment and expects that 
the legal right to appeal for both convicts will be fully guaranteed," EU 
spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said.

"The continued application of the death penalty goes counter to Belarus's 
stated willingness to engage with the international community," she said. "The 
death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, 
and degrading punishment."

The Council of Europe also spoke out against the planned executions.

Kocijancic said the EU raised its opposition to Belarusian death sentences at 
the Human Rights Dialogue in Brussels on July 20. She said all remaining death 
sentences should be commuted and a moratorium imposed on death penalties, which 
she said should eventually be abolished.

Belarus is the only country in Europe still applying capital punishment.

(source: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)








KENYA:

3 Kenyan Men Get Death Sentence for Sexually Assaulting Woman



A Kenyan court sentenced 3 men to death Wednesday for stripping and sexually 
assaulting a woman they believed was dressed too provocatively.

The incident 3 years ago sparked nationwide outrage. On Nov. 17, 2014, hundreds 
of Kenyan women - and some men - took to the streets in Nairobi to protest the 
assault after a video of the attack surfaced online. The hashtag 
#MydressMychoice trended on social media in Kenya.

On Wednesday, Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi issued death sentences 
against attackers Edward Gitau, Nicholas Mwangi and Meshak Mwangi.

The judge described the "senseless" offense as "most heinous" and "uncouth," 
and said the sentence was a "notice to uncivilized men."

Catherine Muthoni says she is a victim of such a crime.

"Violations are always painful," she said, "like there is no English word in 
the dictionary to describe the amount of psychological pain, trying to heal 
from such a process."

Linda Oloo, a researcher and activist based in Nairobi, took part in the march 
3 years ago. She says the ruling is a victory for women all over Kenya, and is 
much more than a warning.

"[It's] not really a warning to men, but just sending a statement on the 
freedom and emancipation of women, in the sense men generally do not define how 
women dress," Oloo said. "Women themselves define what fits them, so they dress 
according to what fits them - their personalities, their lifestyles, their 
career, their occupation. It really is not defined by a segment of men."

Oloo says she took part in the 2014 protest to highlight some men's lack of 
respect for women and to support women's rights in Kenya.

"The march had an impact," Oloo said, "because it got massive attention from 
the media - that's mainstream media and social media. It kind of created an 
awareness and these incidences have since reduced."

The court on Wednesday also ordered each of the men to serve 25-year prison 
terms, in addition to their death sentences. Kenya does not carry out the death 
penalty, and such sentences are usually commuted to life in prison.

(source: Voice of America News)








IRAQ:

4 German women could face death penalty for joining ISIS



4 German women, including a 16-year-old girl, who joined Islamic State in 
recent years are being held in an Iraqi prison and receiving consular 
assistance, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday.

It said diplomats had visited the 4 in a prison at the airport in Baghdad on 
Thursday and they were doing well given the circumstances. They could face the 
death penalty in Iraq for belonging to the militant group, the magazine added.

It said Iraqi authorities had given Germany a list with the women's names at 
the beginning of the week, identifying the teenager only as Linda W. from the 
small town of Pulsnitz near the eastern city of Dresden.

Germany's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report.

German prosecutors said on Tuesday they were checking reports that a 
16-year-old under investigation for supporting Islamic State was among 5 women 
arrested in the Iraqi city of Mosul, where Iraqi forces declared victory over 
Islamic State earlier this month.

Der Spiegel said 1 of the Germans had Moroccan roots and another seemed to come 
from Chechnya but had a German passport.

The BfV domestic intelligence agency estimates that 930 people have left 
Germany in recent years to join Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. About 20 % of 
them are women. Minors account for about 5 % of the total number, of which half 
are female, it reckons.

(source: nypost.com)








GAZA:

Hamas court condemns 2 to death for Israel spying



A Palestinian court in Hamas-run Gaza on Thursday sentenced 2 men to death for 
allegedly spying for Israel, the latest in a series of such rulings that have 
drawn international condemnation.

The interior ministry said 3 men were convicted, including 2 to death, for 
"spying for the occupation" and the other handed a life sentence with hard 
labour. The men were not named, but the ministry in a statement said the 2 
sentenced to death were born in 1985 and 1964.

Islamist movement Hamas has run the Gaza Strip since 2007 and it has since 
fought 3 wars against Israel. In May, three men accused of collaborating with 
Israel in the assassination of a senior Hamas leader in Gaza were executed. The 
executions were carried out after a brief trial only weeks after the arrests of 
the 3, leading to international condemnation.

In April, the group hanged another 3 men accused of spying for Israel. The Gaza 
Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade, while Egypt's crossing 
with the enclave has also remained largely closed in recent years.

(source: thenews.com.pk)



SAUDI ARABIA:

MPs concerned over British role in Saudi executions



A group of senior British MPs has expressed concern that their country's police 
might have directly contributed to the arrest of 14 Saudi Arabian people facing 
imminent execution in the kingdom.

In a cross-party letter published on Friday, the MPs said they were "gravely 
concerned" that UK police training of Saudi agents in cyber forensics may have 
enabled the arrests and called on British Prime Minister Theresa May to 
"personally urge Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Bin Salman to halt 
the 14 upcoming executions."

The prime minister must "take urgent steps to confirm that UK assistance played 
no role in these individuals' conviction under Saudi Arabia's anti-cyber crime 
law," the lawmakers noted.

"If the UK has trained Saudi agents in gathering the kind of evidence which is 
being used to hand down death sentences, it would call into question the 
viability of UK training for Saudi Arabian criminal justice bodies," the letter 
wrote.

The letter, signed by Conservative Andrew Mitchell and Liberal Democrat Tom 
Brake, also demands a "full account to Parliament of any and all UK training 
for Saudi police and criminal justice institutions".

The 2 MPs had raised concerns about the situation of the 14 men in an urgent 
question to Parliament earlier this week and called for the UK to condemn the 
use of the death penalty.

In response, Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said the British government 
only had "sketchy" reports but was seeking further clarity in Riyadh and 
London.

"The UK government opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances 
and in every country including Saudi Arabia, especially for crimes other than 
the most serious and for juveniles," said Burt.

Additionally, Maya Foa, director of the leading London-based rights group 
Reprieve warned of the consequences if the UK government kept silence in the 
face of the upcoming atrocity.

"There are serious concerns that the UK government was complicit in their 
arrest and convictions based on false confessions obtained through torture," 
she said.

"By not speaking out against these abuses, the prime minister is condoning the 
beheadings and putting the UK's reputation as a defender of human rights at 
serious risk. Instead of giving British assistance to the Saudi executioners, 
the prime minister should offer her unequivocal support to those young men 
facing beheading," Foa noted.

"When 14 young men face imminent beheading for protest-related offenses, simply 
raising the cases in private doesn't cut it," she concluded.

Among those facing imminent execution are Munir al-Adam, who is half-deaf and 
partially-blind, and Mujtaba'a al-Sweikat, who was only 17 when he was 
sentenced to death, according to Reprieve.

Saudi Arabia has been facing protests since 2011, when a wave of uprisings and 
revolutions hit dictatorial Arab monarchies in the Middle East and North 
Africa.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized Britain and the United 
States for giving the Saudi regime an easy pass on perpetrating human rights 
abuses on its own people.

Saudi Arabia executed a record 158 people in 2015 and another 153 people last 
year, according to Amnesty International.

A June report by Reprieve found that 41 percent of those executed in the 
oil-rich kingdom in 2017 were killed for non-violent acts such as attending 
political protests. UN experts have called for an end to executions for 
non-violent offenses.

(source: presstv.ir)

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

Urgent Action: 14 Saudi Arabian Men Could Face Execution (Saudi Arabia: UA 
180.17)



Urgent Action



14 SAUDI ARABIAN MEN COULD FACE EXECUTION



The families of 14 Saudi Arabian men sentenced to death fear that they are at 
risk of execution after they were transferred to Riyadh on 15 July. The men 
were sentenced to death on 1 June 2016 after a grossly unfair trial based on 
"confessions" they said were obtained under torture.

Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

* Urging the Saudi Arabian authorities to quash the conviction of the 14 men, 
given grave concerns about the fairness of the trial, to retry them in line 
with international fair trial standards without recourse to the death penalty;

* Calling on them to order a prompt, impartial, independent and effective 
investigation into the allegations of torture and other ill-treatment;

* Urging them to immediately establish an official moratorium on executions 
with a view to abolishing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.

Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of 
forwarding this one!

Contact these 2 officials by 1 September, 2017:

King and Prime Minister

His Majesty King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques

Office of His Majesty the King

Royal Court, Riyadh

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: (via Ministry of Interior)

+966 11 403 3125 (please keep trying)

Twitter: @KingSalman

Salutation: Your Majesty





Ambassador Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia

Washington DC 20037

Fax: 1 202 944 5983

Phone: 1 202 342 3800

Email: info at saudiembassy.net Salutation: Dear Ambassador

(source: Amnesty International USA)








MALAYSIA:

Brother of death-row inmate harbours hope to save him----Sum Ah Yoon says his 
younger brother deserves a 2nd chance at life and family members need to see an 
end to their pain.



There was a time when Sum Ah Yoon never had an opinion about the death penalty, 
but that changed when his younger brother was sentenced to the gallows in 
January 2009.

"I am against it. My brother deserves a second chance at life," the 60-year old 
retired banker said.

"Maybe one day your family member will become a victim. You never know," he 
said on the sidelines of a conference and training workshop titled "Abolition 
of the Death Penalty in Malaysia and Asia Pacific" here yesterday.

Ah Yoon, who has been the main person involved in the legal processes for the 
case and who visits his younger brother Yat Loy in prison, says he still 
harbours hope that the 58-year old will be spared or even released.

He is also keen to highlight the little-known ordeal that a convict's loved 
ones go through in facing his or her death sentence.

His worry is that his nieces aged 18 and 22 might lose their father, making it 
a double-blow after the death of their mother.

"They need their father's love. They have already lost their mother. Now their 
father is behind bars," he said.

"My brother should be given a 2nd chance to provide his family with love."

Yat Loy, a welder from Bentong, was sentenced to death by the High Court for 
murdering his wife Khee Ah Chai, then 34, in their house at Taman Cheras 
Perdana in Hulu Langat, Selangor, on Feb 16, 2002.

Ah Yoon said Yat Loy had gotten into an argument with his wife, something that 
happened frequently in the family.

"That day, the quarrel at their rented home was very heated. They threw things 
at each other," he said.

"In the heat of the moment, Yat Loy murdered his wife, who was suffering from 
depression.

"But, it was not intentional," he said, adding that the relationship with Yat 
Loy's in-laws was good, now as they had forgiven his brother.

Appeals to the Court of Appeal and subsequently the Federal Court were filed, 
but they failed.

Now Yat Loy is in the Bentong prison on death row.

Ah Yoon said he himself slipped into depression, exhausted from all the work he 
had to do, including the filing of the various appeals and petitions.

He said he would submit a fresh letter for pardon, after having sent the last 
one 5 years ago with a public petition and relevant supporting letters to the 
Sultan of Selangor.

In the meantime, he would keep praying that things get better, as worrying did 
not help the situation, he said.

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

State pardons boards should meet periodically, says lawyer



The pardons board of every state should hold meetings periodically to pore over 
cases under their respective jurisdictions, the Malaysian Bar???s migrants, 
refugees and immigration affairs committee said today.

Its chairman M Ramachelvam said that at present, each board's activities were 
opaque and one did not hear of anything much happening at these meetings.

He also said neither the frequency nor the results of the meetings were made 
known to others, with the exception of the Johor Pardons Board where there were 
some commutations of sentences in conjunction with the Sultan of Johor's 
coronation.

"We do not know about their meetings. So our recommendation is that they should 
hold periodic meetings," he said.

"They can do so quarterly or have half-yearly meetings to look at cases which 
have come to the pardons boards in the various states," he said when met on the 
sidelines of the 2-day conference and training workshop titled "Abolition of 
the Death Penalty in Malaysia and Asia Pacific" today.

Ramachelvam said the board should not only look at death penalty cases as there 
were other cases too worthy of attention.

"Of course all death penalty cases have to be considered by the board. But 
there are a whole host of other cases, such as prisoners facing life in prison 
and people who have got grounds to seek pardons or commutations (of 
sentences)," he said.

"If there is no hearing of the state pardons boards, how can they consider all 
those applications for commutation of sentences?" he added.

Earlier in his presentation titled "Death Penalty - Migrants and Foreign 
Nationals", Ramachelvam said some state boards did not hold meetings for long 
periods.

The Federal Constitution provides for a Pardons Board, presided over by the 
Yang di-Pertuan Agong, for each state, as well as one for all the Federal 
Territories (FT) in the country.

It comprises the attorney-general, or his representative, the FT minister and 
three other members to be appointed by the King.

Before giving its decision, the board must consider the written opinion of the 
attorney-general.

(source for both: Free Malaysia Today)








EGYPT:

Egypt court sentences 28 to death over 2015 prosecutor killing



A Cairo criminal court on Saturday sentenced to death 28 people over the 2015 
killing of Egypt's top prosecutor after the death penalty was approved by the 
country's top religious authority, and it also jailed 15 others for 25 years 
each.

Public prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed in a car bomb attack on his convoy 
in the capital, an operation for which Egypt blamed the Muslim Brotherhood and 
Gaza-based Hamas militants. Both groups have denied having a role.

The court had in June recommended passing the death penalty to Egypt's top 
religious leader, the Grand Mufti, who can approve or reject the 
recommendation. The mufti's guidance is required when a court seeks the death 
penalty but his decision is not binding.

The sentences, confirmed by the court in Saturday's hearing, can be appealed.

"The verdicts were shocking today," said one of the defense lawyers, Ahmed 
Saad. "Others who had nothing to do with the assassination of martyr Hisham 
Barakat received life sentences. They had nothing to do with the incident."

Egypt's Interior Ministry released a video last year showing several young men 
confessing and admitting going to Gaza for training from Hamas, but some later 
denied the charges in court.

The defendants said they were forced to confess under torture and their lawyers 
asked that they be medically examined.

Egypt faces an Islamist insurgency led by Islamic State in North Sinai, where 
hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed. But the group has 
increasingly targeted Egypt's Christians with church bombings and shooting.

(source: Reuters)








IRAN:

2 Prisoners in Imminent Danger of Execution for Drug Charges



On the morning of Thursday July 20, two prisoners on death row in Khorramabad's 
central prison (Parsilon Prison) were reportedly transferred to solitary 
confinement in preparation for execution. According to close sources, the 
prisoners were sentenced to death on drug related charges. Iran Human Rights 
has obtained the names of the prisoners: Iraj Ghobadi and Kavous Maleki.

"Iraj Ghobadi had no previous criminal record. Both [Iraj and Kavous] were both 
farmers who were unemployed for several years as a result of drought. Both of 
them were convicted in the same case file and were sentenced to death on the 
charge of possessing and trafficking 19 kilograms of heroin," an informed 
source tells Iran Human Rights.

The execution of prisoners with drug charges continues in Iran while the 
Iranian Parliament has approved a general plan to amend the law for combating 
drugs. The Parliament is scheduled to vote on the bill again following a 
two-week holiday. In the event of the final approval of the plan, the death 
sentences for many prisoners will be commuted to a prison sentence.

(source: Iran Human Rights)