[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 22



CHINA:

6 Japanese being held in China over 'illegal activities'


Chinese authorities have put 6 Japanese men into detention since March, Chief 
Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga confirmed Monday amid growing speculation they 
are being held for suspected espionage.

"We were notified by China that three Japanese men each, 6 in total, had been 
detained in March by the Chinese authorities in Shandong Province and Hainan 
Province," Suga said at a regular press briefing in Tokyo.

Both of the provinces have big Chinese military bases.

"We are providing them appropriate support through our diplomatic 
establishments abroad in light of protecting Japanese nationals," Suga added.

China's Foreign Ministry confirmed the matter Monday, saying the 6 were being 
held on suspicion of "illegal activities."

Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing that Japanese 
consular authorities had been informed of the investigation.

"According to what I understand, the relevant Chinese department is, in 
accordance with the law, investigating 6 Japanese citizens on suspicion of 
engaging in illegal activities in China," Hua said. She declined further 
comment.

A source familiar with the matter said the three men detained on the southern 
island province of Hainan are in their 20s to 50s and are suspected of being a 
threat to national security. The trio entered the province in late March for 
work related to hot springs development.

Since 2015, Chinese authorities have detained at least 5 Japanese on suspicion 
of engaging in spying. The courts have already begun hearings into separate 
cases involving 4 of the detainees. Under Chinese law, the maximum penalty for 
spying is death.

China has been stepping up surveillance on foreign organizations and 
individuals in the name of national security since President Xi Jinping came to 
power more than 4 years ago.

A number of other foreign nationals have been held in China, particularly after 
strict counterespionage and national security laws took effect in 2014 and 
2015, respectively.

In line with this trend, the Beijing Municipal Government introduced a new 
regulation last month to provide cash rewards of up to about $70,000 to 
residents who provide helpful information on suspected spies.

Under Xi's presidency, China has also tightened control over lawyers, 
journalists and civil groups while passing laws designed to fend off what the 
Communist Party sees as internal and external threats.

In a related development, The New York Times reported Sunday that Beijing had 
systematically dismantled CIA spying efforts in China beginning in 2010, 
killing or jailing more than a dozen covert sources, in a deep setback to U.S. 
intelligence there.

The Times, quoting 10 current and former American officials who spoke on 
condition of anonymity, described the intelligence breach as one of the worst 
in decades.

(source: The Japan Times)






BANGLADESH:

Hearing on death references, appeals in N'ganj 7-murder case begins


The High Court on Monday started hearing the death reference and appeals of 26 
death-row convicts in connection with Narayanganj 7-murder cases, reports UNB.

An HC bench of justice Bhabani Prasad Singha and justice Mustafa Zaman Islam 
started hearing the death references and appeals.

Deputy attorney General MA Mannan Mohon presented the paper book of the case.

Earlier on 7 May, the paper book and all documents related to the murder cases 
were sent to the High Court.

A court of Narayanganj on 16 January last sentenced 26 people, including 3 
sacked RAB officials and ex-city councillor Nur Hossain, to death and 9 others 
to different jail terms in the 2 cases filed over the sensational 7-murder 
incident.

On 8 February, the High Court accepted appeals of 15 condemned convicts, 
including Nur Hossain and 3 sacked RAB-11 officials, challenging the their 
death penalty in the Narayanganj 7-murder cases.

On 27 April 2014, Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam, his 3 associates and 
driver were abducted from Fatullah area.

At the same time, senior lawyer at the District Judge's Court Chandan Kumar 
Sarkar and his driver were also abducted on their way to the capital.

Three days after their abduction, the bodies of 6 men, including those of 
Nazrul and Chandan, were recovered from the Shitalakhya River. The following 
day, the body of Nazrul's car driver Jahangir was recovered from the river.

Later, Selina Islam Beauty, the widow of Nazrul Islam, filed a case against 6 
people while Advocate Chandan Sarkar's son-in-law filed another case.

(source: prothom-alo.com)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Police arrests 2 women for practising witch craft in the public


2 women were arrested by the Saudi Arabia police on Wednesday, May 17, for 
allegedly practising witchcraft after a video surfaced on social media. The 
women were seen in a video attempting to photocopy photos of talismans in a 
shop.

According to the Saudi police, the regional police followed up on a tip after 
they were notified of a video that surfaced on social media.

Police spokesperson explained that the video showed a woman who was holding 
some papers containing magic talismans. The spokesperson expressed that the 
other woman was arrested because she provided the papers to the suspect.

NAIJ.com gathered that the 2 women have been detained and charged by the Bureau 
of Investigation and Prosecution. It was discovered that the video of the women 
committing the act went viral after the shop owner interrupted the woman while 
she was printing the copies.

The shop owner said: "When I discovered the presence of talismans and magic 
papers, I told her that this magic is forbidden, and I will not allow you to 
photocopy those papers." In the video which served as a proof that the woman 
could be seen begging the shop owner not to report her to the Saudi police. 
According to Saudi Gazzette, 215 people were arrested for practising magic in 
Saudi Arabia in the year 2012. In Saudi Arabia, the penalty of practicing 
witchcraft is a death sentence but it is usually not applied to suspects in 
many cases.

(source: Gossipnaij.com )






PAKISTAN:

Defiant Pakistan says ICJ cannot save Kulbhushan Jadhav from death 
sentence----Pakistan also argued that the ICJ had not given any order regarding 
consular access for Jadhav


The International Court of Justice (ICJ) cannot nullify alleged Indian spy 
Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence, Pakistan's top foreign policy adviser 
Sartaj Aziz on Saturday. A defiant Pakistan has reacted to its recent setback 
at the ICJ, which granted a temporary stay on Jadhav's execution, by arguing 
that its domestic laws come 1st.

"Jadhav had confessed to carrying out terrorist activities inside Pakistan and 
was a naval officer using a fake passport. He was sentenced according to the 
country's law," Aziz said while addressing the media in Islamabad.

No order on consular access for Jadhav

The ICJ has not given any order regarding consular access for Jadhav, who has 
been sentenced to death according to the laws of Pakistan, Aziz added.

"The ICJ has only asked Pakistan to keep a stay on Jadhav's execution until it 
arrives at a decision," Aziz said.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Aziz said that when it comes to 
cases involving the death penalty, the international court has always given a 
stay order.

He said that the ICJ has not decided on consular access either and has only 
intimated that the matter will come under discussion.

Aziz argues ICJ ruling was not a loss for Pak

The adviser said that India's stance that Pakistan was defeated by the recent 
ICJ verdict was inaccurate. "A wrong impression was created by Indian media 
that Pakistan has lost the case," Aziz added.

Responding to a question on why no judge was sent on the day of the ICJ 
hearing, he said that the government could not appoint one within a short 
period of 5 days.

Pak to go in with a 'strong team' for the next hearing

"We will go with a strong team in the next hearing," Aziz said, adding that 
even if Pakistan had chosen an ad hoc judge, the ICJ's verdict would not have 
changed.

Aziz said that not only was Jadhav an Indian citizen, he was, in fact, an 
officer in the Indian Navy who has also admitted to carrying out espionage 
activities in Pakistan.

He defended Islamabad's position, saying that Jadhav was tried and convicted in 
line with the country's constitution and laws, adding that Pakistan's position 
was "very strong" in this respect.

The United Nations' top court recently ordered a stay on the execution of 
Jadhav. Judges at the ICJ ruled that Jadhav must not be put to death by 
Islamabad until they have had time to pass a final judgment in the case.

Jadhav was reportedly arrested in a counter-intelligence raid in Balochistan in 
March 2016.

(source: business-standard.com)



PHILIPPINES:

Thousands in march against death penalty


On Friday, 19 May, the 'March for Life' a caravan of pilgrims who left from 
Midanao on May 6, along a route that crossed the entire archipelago, reached 
Manila, to say "no" to the death penalty

Fr Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of the 'National Secretariat for Social 
Action, of the Philippines Bishops Conference, took part in the march, together 
with many priests and religious faithful, members of civil society 
organizations.

The marchers will present a petition to the Philippine Senate on May 24, 
inviting senators to reject the death penalty, a measure promoted by President 
Rodrigo Duterte and approved 2 months ago.

"The death penalty will only punish the poor, who cannot afford lawyers, and 
many innocents", says the text of the petition. It notes that "capital 
punishment is illegal as it would violate the existing international treaties, 
of which the Philippine Government is a signatory."

The adoption of capital punishment, it says, will also have economic 
repercussions, since "the European Union will impose a tax on 6,000 products 
imported from the Philippines", especially agricultural and fishery products.

"Let us pray for our senators to decide on the basis of conscience and reason 
by rejecting the death penalty."

The marchers will join thousands of people for a Mass presided by Cardinal Luis 
Antonio Tagle at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila today, 21 May.

"The use of the death penalty should be ruled out as an instrument in the fight 
against crime, and should be replaced by alternative measures", the cardinal 
said.

"All crimes violate life, but (we must respond) without resorting to measures 
that also violate life, like capital punishment", said Tagle. "With personal 
and collective study, prayer, discernment and action, we hope to be a people 
that promote a culture of life", he said.

(source: Independent Catholic News)

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

Atienza: Duterte admin has lost chance to reinstate death penalty


President Rodrigo Duterte may have already lost his chance to reinstate and 
implement the death penalty during his term, a lawmaker said on Sunday.

House senior deputy minority leader and Buhay Representative Jose "Lito" 
Atienza said the administration has already lost its chance to execute 
convicted criminals given the lack of time.

"The administration may have already come to terms with the reality that it is 
now impossible for anybody to be executed via a court order throughout 
President (Rodrigo) Duterte's tenure, simply because at best it takes around 5 
years for any potential (death penalty) case to go through due process of law, 
and his term also ends in 5 years," he said in an emailed statement.

"Owing to lack of time, the President won't get to have his show after all, so 
it seems that the administration is no longer keen on producing the show," he 
added.

The House of Representatives last month approved on 3rd and final reading the 
bill to reinstate the death penalty.

Several groups such as the United Nations, the European Union, and the Human 
Rights Watch have expressed concern over the Duterte administration's move to 
reimpose death penalty in the country.

"The Senate is clearly not going to pass the bill before the end of the 1st 
regular session of the 17th Congress on June 2," Atienza said.

"We reckon the Senate, in particular, will also be extra busy deliberating on 
the proposed Comprehensive Tax Reform Package, assuming the bill gets through 
the House before June 2," he added.

7 death penalty proposals are pending at the Senate justice committee chaired 
by Senator Richard Gordon, who is against the proposals.

The House of Representatives and the Senate must agree on all provisions of a 
death penalty proposal before it is sent to Malaca???ang for the President's 
signature.

(source: gmanetwork.com)

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

No more death penalty?


The administration may have already come to terms with the reality that it is 
now impossible for anybody to be executed via a court order throughout 
President (Rodrigo) Duterte's tenure, simply because at best it takes around 5 
years for any potential (death penalty) case to go through due process of law, 
and his term also ends in 5 years. Owing to lack of time, the President won't 
get to have his show after all, so it seems that the administration is no 
longer keen on producing the show.

Duterte has publicly said he intends to send hundreds of convicts to the 
gallows once Congress reintroduces the death penalty that was abolished in 
2006.

"Restore it and I will execute criminals every day--5 or 6. That's for real," 
Duterte said in General Santos City in December. The bill reviving death 
sentences was passed by the House in March. But the measure is already "dead" 
in the Senate, where at least 13 members are committed to vote against it, 
according to Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon.

There is now no chance at all that the return of death verdicts would be 
enacted this year. The Senate is clearly not going to pass the bill before the 
end of the first regular session of the 17th Congress on June 2.

In the 2nd regular session of the 17th Congress, both the House and the Senate 
would be preoccupied with the proposed General Appropriations Act for 2018 from 
August to December. We reckon the Senate in particular will also be extra busy 
deliberating on the proposed Comprehensive Tax Reform Package, assuming the 
bill gets through the House before June 2.

The death penalty was "killed" by a series of dreadful police atrocities, 
starting with the Oct. 18 tokhang-for-ransom and murder of South Korean 
business executive Jee Ick-Joo inside Camp Crame itself. It served as a big 
eye-opener.

Every citizen would be vulnerable to the death penalty as long as we have 
thousands of rotten officers around. Somebody up there truly works in 
mysterious ways, because Jee's killers obviously went to great lengths to 
cover-up their crime by immediately cremating his remains, and yet they were 
still exposed.

(source: Opinion; Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza----Subn Star)






GAZA:

Hamas sentences 3 Israeli agents to death over Gaza assassination


Gaza's ruling Hamas movement delivered death sentences on Sunday to 3 
Palestinians it ruled had taken part in what it said was an Israeli-directed 
assassination of 1 of the group's senior commanders.

A Hamas security court said the three men had confessed to the killing of Mazen 
Fuqaha, a Hamas military wing commander, who was shot in the head and the chest 
in his car on March 24 near his Gaza home.

"The field court has sentenced the 3 convicted of carrying out the crime of the 
assassination of martyr Mazen Fuqaha to death," said Brigadier-General Naser 
Suleiman, chairman of the Hamas-run military judiciary.

Hamas convicted all 3, aged 44, 38 and 38, of collaborating with Israel. It 
said that 1 of the men carried out the actual shooting and the other 2 had 
provided Israeli security agencies with information about Fuqaha's whereabouts.

Israel's Shin Bet security service, which carries out covert operations against 
Palestinian militants, did not respond to a request by Reuters for comment on 
Hamas's allegations.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, in an interview with Israel's 
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper soon after the killing, attributed the death to an 
internal power dispute in Hamas.

Israel jailed Fuqaha in 2003 for planning attacks against Israelis and 
sentenced him to 9 life terms. He was released in 2011, as part of a group of 
more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners whom Israel freed in exchange for a 
captive soldier.

Israeli media said that after Fuqaha's release and exile to Gaza that he 
continued to plan attacks by Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank.

Over the years, Israel has established a network of contacts in the Palestinian 
territories, using a combination of pressure and sweeteners to entice 
Palestinians to divulge intelligence.

Palestinian and International Human Rights groups have repeatedly condemned the 
death penalty, and urged Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to suspend it. 
Palestinian law says President Mahmoud Abbas, who has no actual control over 
Gaza, has the final word on whether executions can be carried out.

Hamas has sentenced 109 people to death and executed more than 20 of them under 
its judicial system since 2007, when the group seized power from Abbas in a 
brief civil war.

(source: Middle East Monitor)