[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 20




SOMALIA:

Somalia military court executes Al-Shabaab militant


Somalia's military court on Thursday executed Al-Shabaab militant who was found 
guilty for carrying out a terror attack in Waberi district in November last 
year.

The car bomb attack, which was carried out on November 26, 2016, left at least 
30 civilians dead and 43 others injured.

Deputy Prosecutor of the military court, Mumin Hussein Abdullahi, said the 
intention of the suspect was to carry out suicide attack but security forces 
arrested him before the explosion.

"The court sentenced Abdukadir Abdi Hassan to death penalty," Abdullahi said, 
noting that the suspect was executed him by firing squad.

(sources: Xinhua/NewsGhana.com.gh)






SINGAPORE----execution

Singaporean drug trafficker executed at Changi Prison for heroin offence


Singaporean drug trafficker Muhammad Ridzuan Md Ali, 31, was executed at Changi 
Prison on Friday (May 19), having exhausted all avenues of appeal following his 
conviction in 2013.

Ridzuan had been found guilty in the High Court of trafficking in 72.50 grams 
of pure heroin and sentenced to death by the High Court on April 10, 2013.

The Misuse of Drugs Act provides for the death penalty if the amount of 
diamorphine trafficked is more than 15 grams.

The Central Narcotics Bureau said yesterday that 72.50 grams of diamorphine is 
equivalent to about 6,004 straws, which is sufficient to feed the addiction of 
about 864 abusers for a week.

"This is estimated using a typical purity level of four per cent, based on drug 
seizures in recent years. The number of straws made may vary according to the 
purity level of the heroin," added CNB.

His appeal against conviction and sentence was dismissed by the Court of Appeal 
on Feb 27, 2014 but in April that year, Ridzuan sought leave from the High 
Court to start judicial review proceedings against the Public Prosecutor's 
decision not to grant him a certificate of substantive assistance.

The High Court dismissed the application on July 17, 2014 and in Oct 2015, the 
Court of Appeal rejected his appeal.

On Jan 8, 2016, Ridzuan took his case to the Court of Appeal for the third time 
by way of a criminal motion for the Court of Appeal to review its decisions on 
his appeals, on grounds that the Misuse of Drugs Act provisions under which he 
was sentenced to death were unconstitutional.

The apex court dismissed the criminal motion on Dec 2, 2016. He submitted a 
petition for clemency to the President which was unsuccessful.

"Muhammad Ridzuan was accorded full due process under the law, and he was 
represented by legal counsel throughout the process," said the CNB.

(source: New Straits Times)

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

EU statement contradicts S'pore Govt's claim that death penalty is "deterrent" 
to crime


There is no evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime, said the 
European Union Delegation to Singapore on Thursday.

The statement, issued together with the EU Heads of Mission and the Head of 
Mission of Norway, was in response to the plea by anti-death penalty advocates 
on the then impending execution of Muhammad Ridzuan on Friday morning.

It was a last-minute attempt by the activists, who had also written to the 
Singapore President, to save Ridzuan's life after he had been sentenced to 
death for trafficking in heroin into Singapore.

The appeal was denied and Ridzuan was hanged on Friday morning.

The Singapore Government's defence of the death penalty for drugs (and other 
crimes such as murder) has always been based on the claim that it deters 
criminals and crime, even though there has not been conclusive proof of such 
effect.

This, however, has not dissuade Government ministers from making such claims 
each time the issue is debated.

For example, in 2012, when Parliament was debating changes to the Misuse of 
Drugs Act (MDA), Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean told the House that:

"Singaporeans understand that the death penalty has been an effective deterrent 
and an appropriate punishment for very serious offences, and largely support 
it."

A recent research by the National University of Singapore (NUS), however, found 
that support for the death penalty was more "nuanced".

For example, the research found:

"Although 70 % of those surveyed said they were in general favour of the death 
penalty, very few expressed strong views either way, researchers said. Of those 
in favour, just 8 % said they were strongly in favour; of those that were 
against it, just 3 % said they strongly opposed." (CNA)

The survey also found that there was "weak support for the mandatory death 
penalty for drug trafficking and firearms offences in particular, where no 
death or injury had occurred."

Yet, the Singapore Government continues to make 2 claims - 1st, that the death 
penalty is a "strong deterrent", and 2nd, that Singaporeans support it.

EU statement

The EU, on its part, "holds a principled position against the death penalty and 
is opposed to the use of capital punishment under any circumstances."

"No compelling evidence exists to show that the death penalty serves as a 
deterrent to crime," it said in its statement.

"Furthermore, any errors - inevitable in any legal system - are irreversible. 
The EU will continue in its pursuit of the abolition of the death penalty 
worldwide."

Ridzuan

Muhammad Ridzuan's case is particularly troubling because he was arrested and 
charged for the same crime as his accomplice, Abdul Haleem, who was spared the 
death penalty because - in the eyes of the Public Prosecutor - Abdul Haleem had 
"substantively assisted" the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in "disrupting" 
drugs syndicates within Singapore or outside Singapore.

Ridzuan, for unknown reasons because the Prosecutor is not required to explain 
his decision, was deemed not to have "substantively assisted" the CNB, and thus 
had no recourse to have his death sentence commuted.

The Prosecutor's decision is made behind closed doors and the law explicitly 
states that his decision is not opened to review, even by the Court of Appeal.

Family, friends and supporters had gathered outside Changi Prison on Friday 
morning as the execution of Ridzuan was carried out.

(source: theindependent.sg)






BELIZE:

A Debate For the Ages


The last time someone was taken to the gallows in Belize was in 1985 at Her 
Majesty's Prison. Fast-forward to the 21st century…capital punishment has 
pretty much been written off as archaic and has been abolished in many 
countries all over the world. But the Museum of Belize pulled out all the moldy 
and cobwebbed books on those death sentences in Belize and brought them to life 
in a panel discussion. It was done to celebrate International Museum Day. The 
panelists featured Dianne Finnegan from the Apprenticeship Program, she spoke 
on the social implications of the death sentence while the legal mind of Senior 
Counsel Simeon Sampson weighed in on the prospect of reinstating capital 
punishment. We start off with The Director of the Museum Alexis Salazar on 
today's activities.

Alexis Salazar, Director, Museum of Belize, House of Culture

"Today is International Museum Day and we are celebrating it today with a panel 
discussion based on the theme that ICOM gave to us, ICOM is the International 
Council of Museums and they every year…we are a member of ICOM, they send out 
the themes and to be in line with that theme which this year is "Saying the 
Unspeakable in Museums and then bringing contested History to the Forefront. We 
deiced to do a panel discussion on Capital Punishment, the contested history is 
that building served as a prison and people were executed here there is 
clamoring in Belizean society to bring back the capital punishment so we wanted 
to do that contested history and spark that debate in society."

Dianne Finnegan, Mediator

"Because of the nature of my work and working with young people, at risk youths 
and now the gangs, I felt that it was an opportunity for me to get my message 
across on how far we have come in building these individuals in understanding 
their own purpose actually realizing their own self-worth and most of all the 
importance of life."

"Even if I wasn't in this line of work, I think just as a human being thinking 
about what is the effect and the purpose of doing that, or for killing another 
human being uhm it is as if though we are killing someone who killed someone to 
let them understand that killing another human being is wrong."

Courtney Weatherburne, 7News

"So In your view it's all about healing its, there is no way it's about capital 
punishment or hanging anybody, it's all about healing and the interventions you 
have been doing?"

Dianne Finnegan, Mediator

"It's alternative, it's about alternative and we have got to put in place all 
different kinds of alternatives to fit what these individuals are 
experiencing."

Courtney Weatherbunre

"Are we actually able at this point to actually reinstate capital punishment 
where are we in terms of the legal aspect?"

Simeon Sampson, SC - Human Rights Activist

"By the force of international opinion reinstating the death penalty is dead 
against us , the global opinion is now going fast forward to abolish the death 
penalty or to reduce its application so rein station is definitely off the 
books."

So as you heard, it was simply a thought provoking discussion, there are not 
any plans to reinstate capital punishment. Saturday the Museum will hold other 
fun activities for kids to celebrate International Museum Day.

(source: 7newsbelize.com)