[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 21




PHILIPPINES:

Don't misuse Bible to push death penalty, Philippines bishops say


Remember what Jesus' cross stands for, and don't misuse the Bible to justify 
the death penalty, the Philippines' Catholic bishops have said.

"To the people who use the Bible to defend the death penalty, need we point out 
how many other crimes against humanity have been justified, using the same 
Bible?" the country's bishops asked.

"We humbly enjoin them to interpret the Scriptures properly, to read them as a 
progressive revelation of God's will to humankind, with its ultimate 
fulfillment in Jesus Christ, God's definitive Word to the world."

Their words came in a March 19 pastoral statement on the death penalty signed 
by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas of Lingayen Dagupan, president of the 
Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines. The statement was read at all 
Masses in the country on Sunday.

Jesus came not to abolish the law, but fulfill it, the bishops explained: 
"Jesus was never an advocate of any form of 'legal killing'. He defended the 
adulterous woman against those who demanded her blood and challenged those who 
were without sin among them to be the first to cast a stone on her."

The letter opened with a quotation from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans: "God 
proved his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

The death penalty was abolished in the Philippines in 2006. At present 
President Rodrigo Duterte, who is also leading a brutal crackdown on drugs, has 
advocated its restoration.

In their letter, the Catholic bishops recounted the passage of a House of 
Representatives bill that would restore the death penalty.

"It was Ash Wednesday when members of the lower House, on the 2nd reading of 
the death penalty bill, outvoted by voice-voting the nays with their ayes. 
Ironically, they were captured on television shouting in favor of death with 
their foreheads marked with crosses made of ashes," the bishops said.

"Could they have forgotten what that cross meant?"

They questioned whether the legislators had missed that the crosses on their 
foreheads "were supposed to serve as a loud statement of faith in the God who, 
for love of us, chose to give up his life for our salvation, rather than see us 
perish."

According to the bishops, the saying of the Bible, "an eye for an eye, a tooth 
for a tooth" was challenged by Jesus, who advocated non-retaliation of evil for 
evil and justice founded on mercy.

"Even with the best of intentions, capital punishment has never been proven 
effective as a deterrent to crime," they continued. "Obviously it is easier to 
eliminate criminals than to get rid of the root causes of criminality in 
society. Capital punishment and a flawed legal system are always a lethal mix."

The statement also spoke about the victims.

"We are not deaf to the cries of the victims of heinous crimes. The victims and 
their victimizers are both our brothers and sisters. The victim and the 
opressor are both children of God," they said.

They said the guilty should repent and make reparation for their sins. The 
bishops offered love, compassion and hope to crime victims.

The death penalty will be applied more to the poor, who cannot afford adequate 
legal defenses, the bishops said.

"As a law, death penalty directly contradicts the principle of inalienability 
of the basic human right to life, which is enshrined in most constitutions of 
countries that signed the universal declaration of human rights," they said.

The Philippines bishops called for prayers for the country's legislators.

"Let us offer all our Masses for them, asking our Crucified Lord who offered 
his whole life, body and blood, for the salvation of sinners, to touch their 
consciences and lead them to abolish capital punishment once and for all," they 
said.

(source: patheos.com)






TRINIDAD:

Trinidad PM vows to bring back hangings after missing policewoman becomes 
latest murder victim


Following the discovery of the decomposing body of a 22-year-old policewoman 
who went missing last week, law enforcement officials have vowed to bring the 
killer to swift justice and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has made it clear 
his government will be taking whatever steps are necessary to resume hangings.

Joseph's body was found by a fisherman in the Gulf of Paria near Port of Spain 
on Wednesday, 6 days after she disappeared.

It had been disposed of in a crocus bag, but it became snagged in the 
fisherman's net and he brought it to the surface. He will receive a $25,000 
reward that had been offered by Crime Stoppers for information about Joseph's 
whereabouts.

At least 3 people, including a woman who is said to have had an argument with 
Police Constable Joseph days before she disappeared, have been detained by 
police in connection with the murder.

1 of the men is the 36-year-old father of the female suspect's child. He was 
reportedly romantically linked to the woman, Joseph, and 3 other women. The 2nd 
man, 24, surrendered to police hours after Joseph's body was found. He is being 
questioned in connection with transporting the body out to sea.

The cause of Joseph's death has not been ascertained. An autopsy was 
inconclusive due to the state of decomposition, police said.

But Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams described the murder as 
"barbaric and vicious."

He stressed that those responsible would be brought to justice in the shortest 
possible time.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said he was pained by the tragedy and, noting 
that the country was traumatized by the spate of murders, said his government 
would seek to revive the death penalty.

"I am a firm believer in capital punishment and it is not as a result of any 
deterrent, it is the punishment for the crime," he said.

The last execution in Trinidad and Tobago was on July 28, 1999 when Anthony 
Briggs was hanged for murdering taxi driver Siewdath Ramkissoon during a 
robbery 7 years earlier.

Joseph's mother Paula Guy has a broken heart, but she has decided to surrender 
the pain of losing her daughter to God. That is the only way she will cope with 
unanswered questions about the killing.

She admitted that she first thought of committing murder herself, as she wanted 
to take the life of the person(s) who left an irreplaceable void in her family.

"I wanted to kill him, break he neck, shoot him, all kinda thing I wanted to 
do. But as the days go by and I find my child body, I kinda let it go," she 
told the Trinidad Guardian newspaper.

"I had a lot of hate....You can't be blessed if you have people in your heart. 
I forgive him because I know what coming for him. God will deal with him or 
whoever."

(source: Curacao Chronicle)






PAKISTAN:

Court hands death penalty to man


A court awarded death sentence to an accused for his involvement in a murder 
case in Faisalabad on Monday.

The judgment was announced by Additional District and Sessions Judge Rana 
Shaukat Ali.

The prosecution told the court that accused Sajid and his accomplices Manzoor, 
Abid and Mubashir had gunned down a man Arshad over an old enmity a few years 
ago.

The local police registered a case against the accused and presented the 
challan before the court. After hearing the arguments, the judge handed down 
death sentence to Sajid along with a fine of Rs0.4 million as compensation 
money. However, the court acquitted Manzoor, Abid and Mubashir over lack of 
evidence. The accused was sent to District Jail Faisalabad.

Earlier on February 25, 2017, a court awarded death sentence to an accused for 
his involvement in a murder case in Sargodha. The judgment was announced by 
Additional District and Sessions Judge Chaudhary Muhammad Tariq.

Accused Hassan Sher, resident of Jabbi village, Tehsil Johrabad, had gunned 
down a man Munawwar Shahzad over a petty dispute in July 2015.

The local police registered a case against the accused and presented the 
challan before the court.

(source: tribune.com.pk)






INDIA:

Kerala court gives death penalty to UP labourer in Parampuzha triple murder 
case


A Kerala Principal District and Sessions Court on Tuesday sentenced to death 
Narendra Kumar, the migrant labourer from Uttar Pradesh prime accused in the 
Parampuzha triple murder case, where 3 members of a family were murdered on May 
16, 2015 at Parampuzha, Kottayam . This is the 2nd death sentence announced in 
Kerala after Nino, the prime accused in the Attingal double murder on April 19, 
2016.

District judge S Santhakumari termed Narendra Kumar's sentence as a warning to 
the migrant labour community involved in crimes.

According to prosecution,Firozabad native Narendra Kumar (26) murdered Lalson, 
71 of Moolaparambil house, his wife Presanna Kumari, 62 and their elder son 
Praveen Lal, 28. Narendra Kumar killed the victims, by hacking and hitting 
their heads with a blunt object, before electrocuting them and pouring acid on 
their faces.

Narendra Kumar, who was in a debt of Rs 2 lakh and was employed at the victims' 
laundry shop committed the crime for money. The accused, who escaped to UP with 
money and gold ornaments, was later arrested by a police team led by Pampady 
Circle Inspector Saju Varghese.

The investigation team produced strong material evidence, including clothes 
worn by Narendra Kumar while committing the crime, his mobile phone, forensic 
reports of Kumar's samples recovered from murder spot in court. Police also 
recovered Presanna Kumari's ear at Narendra Kumar's house.

The prosecution had tried 72 witnesses, produced 60 documents and 42 items of 
material evidence in the case.

The Attingal double murder in April 2016 was the 1st case in Kerala where the 
accused, Nino, was awarded the death penalty. Nino and co-accused Anushanthi, 
both colleagues at an IT company in Attingal, Thiruvananthapuram were convicted 
of murdering Anushanthi's daughter Swasthika (4), and her mother-in-law Omana 
(60). The duo, who were having an illicit affair had also planned to murder 
Anushanthi's husband Lijeesh, who escaped and helped in Nino's arrest.

While both pled innocence, they were convicted and found guilty of plotting and 
executing the murders. While Nino was awarded capital punishment, Anushanthi 
was sentenced to life imprisonment in April 2016.

(source: newindianexpress.com)






CHINA:

Policeman Who Killed Fellow Officer Sentenced to Death----After dispute over 
illegal gambling operation turned deadly, court in Inner Mongolia rules capital 
punishment for man who shot his brother-in-arms.


A police officer in northern China will have to pay for murdering a deputy 
station chief with his life, a court in northern China has ruled.

The officer, Du Wenjie, killed Bao Zhanquan on July 10, 2016, in front of the 
station where Bao worked. On March 16, 2017, the intermediate people's court of 
Tongliao, a city in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, gave Du the death 
sentence, a local media outlet reported Friday.

The motive for the murder appears to be gambling-related. Along with a few 
flagitious friends, Du opened an illegal gambling den in Tongliao on June 18, 
2016. The game room did well, with its 29 gambling machines generating over 
400,000 yuan ($58,000) in profits in just the first 3 weeks. However, its 
success was short-lived: Local police raided and shut down the operation on 
July 10. That same evening, Du went to a police station in Horqin District to 
persuade the deputy director, Bao, to reconsider the gambling crackdown. When 
Bao refused, Du shot him twice in the head in front of the station. Within 10 
minutes, Bao was dead.

Despite fleeing the scene in a police car and changing cabs several times to 
throw off the scent, Du was apprehended in a residential district at 7 a.m. the 
next morning.

According to the report, regulars at the gaming room confirmed that the place 
was owned by 5 people, including Du. The crooked cop, however, had not put up 
his stake, apparently believing his connections to local law enforcement were a 
sufficient contribution to the operation. When Du failed in his one 
responsibility of keeping the police at bay, he took drastic and immediate 
action.

How Du obtained bullets for his gun remains unclear. According to his police 
station, also in Horqin District, Du was issued an unloaded firearm on Jan. 8, 
2016 - and police officer or not, it is illegal to buy or sell ammunition in 
China except under highly controlled circumstances.

In another odd turn, while fleeing the scene Du reportedly confessed to a taxi 
driver that he was responsible for what had happened in front of the police 
station and asked the driver to turn the murder weapon in to authorities, 
assuring his unwitting ally: "There aren't any bullets in here. Relax, I won't 
bother you."

The court did not accept the defense's argument that in giving the taxi driver 
his gun, Du was effectively turning himself in. In addition to receiving the 
death penalty for "intentional murder," Du was served both a 4-year prison term 
and a 30,000-yuan fine for his role in the gambling operation.

In 2016, a total of 362 police officers died in the line of duty in China, down 
from 438 the previous year.

(source: sixthtone.com)