[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 24




NEW ZEALAND:

Execute Chinese drug dealers - Harawira


Mana leader Hone Harawira has called for capital punishment for Chinese people 
who import methamphetamine into New Zealand.

Appearing on The Nation on Saturday, the former MP said it's time to take the 
fight against meth seriously by targeting what he says is its source - China.

"We can pass a law to say any Chinese who bring meth or its precursors into 
this country is either going to jail forever, is going to get sent back and 
never be allowed here again, or is going to get executed," he told host Lisa 
Owen.

"We need to send a message this is unacceptable."

Asked if his execution policy extended to gangs, Mr Harawira said "even the 
police will admit the gangs don't actually do all the meth here".

He said the policy could eventually cover other nationalities, but "you've got 
to start somewhere".

He denied the policy was racist.

"You want to know what's racist? Maori are in the bottom of New Zealand society 
in terms of housing, employment, education, health and justice. Now that's what 
I call racist, in this country."

Labour MP Chris Hipkins wasted no time, slamming Mr Harawira on Twitter as the 
interview was still on air.

"Even Donald Trump at the height of his anti-China narrative didn't suggest an 
ethnically targeted death penalty," Mr Hipkins said.

(source: newshub.co.nz)






IRAN:

Iranian Metal Band Confess No Longer Facing Execution for Blasphemy, Attempting 
to Appeal Current Sentence


You may remember the story of Iranian metal band Confess from 2016. The 
musicians were arrested the previous year for blasphemy and other reasons, and 
were potentially facing execution. Thankfully, Confess have confirmed they're 
safe from the death penalty in a new interview with Metal Injection.

The formal charges against Confess included "blasphemy; advertising against the 
system; forming and running an illegal and underground label in the satanic 
metal and rock style; writing anti-religious, atheistic, political and 
anarchistic lyrics; and interviewing with forbidden radio stations." The 2 
members of Confess, Nikan 'Siyanor' Khosravi and Arash 'Chemical' Ilkhani, paid 
approximately $30,000 each to make bail and laid low since.

When Khosravi was asked by Metal Injection if he was safe, the Confess member 
replied, "If by being safe you mean not worried about losing your life, yes we 
are safe. We are with our families and our loved ones living day by day. But if 
being safe is having peace of mind, then no, we are not. We don't know what is 
going to happen to us, as human beings and as artists."

After going to district court on 2 occasions, Khosravi and Ilkhani were 
sentenced for the apparent crimes and the result sounds disturbing. "The 
sentence is not good at all," Khosravi says. "We objected and are waiting for 
an appeals court date. We still have hope that everything will be resolved with 
our new lawyers."

Once again, Confess are not facing execution, but Khosravi declined to 
elaborate on the sentence, fearful it would affect the appeals process.

Adding some levity to the conversation, Khosravi spoke of the various metal 
musicians who've reached out during this difficult time. They include Corey 
Taylor, Marty Friedman, Alissa White-Gluz, Randy Blythe, Stone Sour drummer Roy 
Mayorga, All That Remains' Phil Labonte and Gojira's Mario Duplantier. Khosravi 
says he's even talked with Eminem since Confess' story was made public.

If you'd like to keep up with Confess, you can follow the Instagram accounts of 
the band, Khosravi and Arash.

(source: louodwire.com)






INDIA:

Orissa HC commutes death penalty to 35 years of imprisonment


Orissa high court on Friday provided relief to 5 persons, who were convicted in 
rape and murder of a minor girl in Keonjhar, by commuting death penalty of 2 of 
the convicts to 35 years of imprisonment and acquitting the remaining 3.

As per the case details, a minor girl in Beklundi village in Keonjhar district 
was allegedly raped and murdered in 2012. The deceased, a class VIII student, 
had gone for her tuitions and did not return home following which her family 
members launched a frantic search and found her body with injury marks about 
one kilometer from the village.

A case was registered against Mata Munda Mangul Purti and Harjit Singh and 
investigation was made. Subsequently, the trial court additional district and 
sessions court at Champua had awarded death sentence to the 5 accused in 2015.

As all the 5 accused were poor they had filed criminal appeal against the death 
sentence from jail and accordingly high court had engaged 2 lawyers to deal 
their cases.

While Mata and Jiten have been awarded 35 years of rigorous imprisonment in 
jail for the crime, the remaining 3 Biswanath, Mangul and Harjit have been 
acquitted on ground that there was no concrete evidence against them.

"There was absolutely no evidence against my 3 clients in the case.

"Police had no material against them to prove them guilty. Even in the trial 
court, the lawyers had not cross examined the witnesses properly. Taking all 
this into consideration, the high court acquitted them," said lawyer Debi 
Prasad Dhal, who was representing Biswanath, Mangul and Harjit in the case.

(source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com)






EGYPT:

UN EXPERTS URGE EGYPT TO HALT EXECUTIONS AFTER 'FLAWED TRIALS'


A group of U.N. human rights experts demanded that Egypt halt the planned 
executions of 6 men sentenced to death on the basis of forced confessions.

The 6 men, who were convicted in 2015 of terrorism-related charges linked to 
the killing of a police officer a year earlier, saw their death sentences 
upheld by Egypt's highest criminal court on June 7.

The men -- Basem Mohsen Elkhorieby, Khaled Askar, Mahmoud Mamhouh Wahba, 
Ibrahim Yahia Azab, Abd Elrahman Attia and Ahmed al-Waleed al-Shal -- have all 
reported being tortured and forced to confess, the U.N. rights office said in a 
statement.

3 of the men were forced to confess on national television, it added.

"To proceed with the executions of the 6 men on the basis of these flawed 
trials would violate international human rights law and constitute arbitrary 
executions," the experts said.

"It is extremely worrying that while all 6 men recanted their forced 
confessions in court and indicated that they had been obtained under torture, 
these were still used as the basis for their convictions."

The experts also stressed that evidence used against the men, including 
testimonies from members of the state security forces showed "major 
inconsistencies".

Some witness statements for instance did not match video footage of the alleged 
crime scene, they said.

The experts pointed out that capital punishment is only permitted under 
international law if there is "full respect for stringent due process 
guarantees."

"The government must halt these executions and ensure a retrial in compliance 
with international law and standards," they insisted.

(source: Agence France-Presse)