[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 26



CHINA----execution

Former Chinese official executed following supreme court's approval


China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) announced Friday that Zhao Liping, a 
former senior political advisor in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous 
Region, had been executed after the SPC approved the death sentence.

Zhao, former vice chairman of the Inner Mongolia regional committee of the 
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was convicted of 
intentional homicide, taking bribes and possession of firearms, according to an 
SPC statement.

Zhao was found guilty of having shot dead a 26-year old woman, identified only 
with her surname of Li, in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, on March 20, 2015.

He also took advantage of his post to secure business contracts and official 
positions for associates, and accepted bribes totaling 23.68 million yuan (3.45 
million U.S. dollars) from 2008 to 2010, as the police chief of Inner Mongolia.

During the investigation police located 2 guns, 49 bullets and 91 detonators 
that led back to Zhao.

The SPC stated that the death penalty was given on the basis of clear facts and 
solid and sufficient evidence. Zhao had committed crimes with serious 
consequences and vile social effects.

The Intermediate People's Court of Taiyuan in north China's Shanxi Province 
executed Zhao Friday.

(source: xinhua.net)






VIETNAM:

State of secrecy on death row in Vietnam


Vietnam has been revealed to be the 3rd-highest global executioner but details 
of who is on death row and why remains as elusive as ever.

Hidden behind the term "state secrets", Vietnam carries out lethal injections 
with an unknown cocktail of homemade drugs, while plans to build 5 new 
execution centres have stoked fears more deaths are to come.

In January 2008 the bloodied bodies of 2 well-liked young female postal workers 
were found in their office in the rural district of Long An in the Mekong Delta 
region of southern Vietnam.

One was knocked out with a cutting board and had her throat slit, the other was 
hit with a chair before suffering the same fate, police said.

68 days later, recent college graduate Ho Duy Hai was brought in for 
questioning.

For 6 months, the family and lawyers were blocked from seeing the 23-year-old.

When they did, Hai had lost 9kg and was too scared to say anything more than 
"I'm in pain", his aunt Nguyen Thi Ruoi says.

Hai was given just 2 15-minute sessions to speak to his legal team before 
trial.

At trial, as Hai proclaimed innocence, his defence pointed out dozens of 
prosecutorial mistakes and instances of police misconduct.

There was no physical evidence placing him at the scene and the so-called 
murder weapon had been bought at a nearby market after the murders had taken 
place, his lawyers said.

Nevertheless, Hai was sentenced to death on December 1, 2008.

Following tireless lobbying from Hai's family, a day before his scheduled 
execution in 2014 President Truong Tan Sang ordered a review.

The following year, then-deputy chair of the National Assembly's Judicial 
Committee, Le Thi Nga, found there were "serious violations" within the 
investigation and the court's ruling was inconsistent with evidence, the 
Vietnamese newspaper Nguoi Lao Dong reported.

Nevertheless, Hai remains on death row.

"He is from a poor family, his parents divorced when his sister was 5 years old 
so it would be easier to target him and make him a scapegoat," Mrs Ruoi said.

Long Trinh, activist and editor-in-chief of the legal affairs website Luat 
Khoa, said the case highlights the "most concerning" aspect of death row in 
Vietnam: courts "can put people on death row without any legal basis".

Vietnam continues to classify figures on the death penalty as state secrets.

What is known is that 18 offences still carry death - including drugs, murder 
and 'threats against national security'.

"On the basis of these vaguely worded national security provisions, Vietnam can 
kill people for expressing alternative political views," Vietnam Committee on 
Human Rights (VCHR) Vice President Penelope Faulkner said.

Organisations like hers have historically relied on monitoring local media to 
piece together what is going on.

A leaked government report from the Ministry of Public Security earlier this 
year revealed it was worse than feared.

According to the January 2017 report, 429 people had been executed between 
August 2013 and June 2016. As of July 2016, 681 people remained on death row.

No explanation was provided as to why people were executed.

In their annual report on the death penalty, Amnesty International last month 
placed Vietnam as the 3rd largest executor in the world, behind China and Iran.

With overcrowded prisons, a government plan to build 5 new execution facilities 
and the creation of locally produced drugs for lethal injections, Ms Faulkner 
fears Vietnam's execution numbers are set to rise.

"There is no real information or control of these local poisons. The 1st time 
they were used on a person he took 2 hours to die," Ms Faulkner said.

Hope is what Hai's family clings to now.

Last year 2 men on death row, 80-year-old Tran Van Them after 43 years for 
murder and 57-year-old Han Duc Long cleared of murder and rape after spending 
11 years on death row.

Numerous attempts to contact the Vietnam government have been made by AAP.

(source: 9news.com.au)






INDIA:

Bihar court sentences 5 Maoists to death


An FIR was lodged with the Kharagpur police station in this connection and 5 
alleged Maoists - Rattu Koda, Vipin Mandal, Adhiklal Pandit, Bano Koda and Manu 
Koda - were arrested.

A court in Bihar's Munger district awarded the death sentence to 5 Maoists in 
connection with the martyrdom of 2 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force 
(CRPF) in April 2014.

According to the prosecution, "On April 10, 2014, during the Lok Sabha 
elections, the CRPF's Battalion 131, led by Gunjan Kumar, was on its way for 
deployment at a polling station when the party was ambushed by Maoists near 
Gangta-Lakshmipur Road under the Kharagapur police station's jurisdiction on 
Jamui-Kharagpur Road."

A senior CRPF officer said, "It was around 4 am when there was an IED blast in 
which some of our soldiers sustained injuries. As our jawans were alert, they 
recovered quickly and were also able to retaliate. But some Maoists soon 
started firing, and 2 of our jawans - Ravindra Rai and Som Gowda - attained 
martyrdom."

An FIR was lodged with the Kharagpur police station in this connection and 5 
alleged Maoists - Rattu Koda, Vipin Mandal, Adhiklal Pandit, Bano Koda and Manu 
Koda - were arrested. Police sources said that all the accused, who hail from 
Bhimbandh and nearby areas, were also wanted in similar cases lodged previously 
against them.

Following the hearing, the fast track court of ADJ-1, Munger, found all five 
guilty under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 302 (murder), 353 (assault or 
criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 147 
(rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 341 (wrongful restraint) 
and 307 (attempt to murder), and sentenced them to the gallows. A penalty of Rs 
50,000 each was also slapped on them under IPC Section 302.

(source: dnaindia.com)



IRAN----execution

At Least 1 Prisoner Hanged at Dizel Abad Prison


At least 1 prisoner was hanged at Kermanshah's Adel Abad Prison on Tuesday May 
23 on murder charges.

According to close sources, the prisoner's name is Mehran Ashrafi and he was in 
prison since his arrest in 2012.

Iranian official sources, including the media and the Judiciary, have not 
announced Mehran Ashrafi's execution.

Another execution was reported at Dizel Abad Prison. According to close 
sources, the execution was carried out on Thursday May 25. The prisoner has 
been identified as Mehrdad Asgari, hanged on drug related charges.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






KENYA:

Man sentenced to death for killing friend


A man has been sentenced to death for killing his friend in Bondo village, 
Siaya County.

Jack Odhiambo had claimed his friend, Keith Owuor, had stolen Sh100,000 from 
him. Mr Odhiambo is said to have traced Mr Owuor to his home where he hacked 
him to death.

Prosecution witnesses said they were convinced Odhiambo committed the offence. 
High Court Judge Justice David Majanja cited Article 2 of the Constitution 
which provides that everyone has the right to life and shall be protected by 
law. "No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution 
of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which the 
penalty is provided by law," Justice Majanja said.

In the same court, John Omondi was freed after 9 years in remand without trial 
and put on 2-year probation.

He had been accused of killing his sister.

The trial had failed to take off several times since 2009 due to frequent 
transfer of judges. His lawyer argued there was no rationale to continue 
detaining him when his parents had forgiven him.

(source: standardmedia.co.ke)






GAZA:

Gazans demand death penalty for a teen rapist----Rape case sparks anger 
throughout the coastal strip

Gazans are demanding the death sentence for a teenager who raped an 8-year-old 
girl from Al Shajaeyah neighbourhood in Gaza City.

The call for capital punishment comes amid a wave of outrage across social 
media about the girl's ordeal.

The victim, a 3rd-grader identified only as T.A., was on her way home from 
school when the 16-year-old boy attacked her in an isolated area as the sobbing 
child pleaded with him to return the school bag he had snatched from her.

According to Gaza Police, the teenage rapist tried to kill the girl after 
repeatedly raping her, but her screams eventually alerted passers-by, who came 
to her aid and took her to hospital. The boy was arrested within 24 hours. The 
victim has been in the intensive care unit of Gaza Hospital for the past week, 
suffering from serious bleeding.

The assault on the little girl has sparked fury on the streets of Gaza and 
shocked the entire community. Gazan activists launched a social media campaign 
calling for rejection of any attempts by the rapist's family to save his life.

One activist, Ohoud Shamali, said execution of the rapist would deter other 
potential offenders, while helping to protect the social structure of Gazan 
society by easing fears among families about sending their daughters to school.

The Higher Commission of the Gazan Families and Clans is demanding the most 
severe sentence possible for the assailant, although he is still legally a 
minor. The commission is also calling for deportation of the rapist's family 
from Al Shajaeyah Refugee Camp.

Gazan psychiatrist Dr Fadl Abu Hain said that although a minor, the young 
rapist could not be pardoned. His crime was not just against the little girl - 
who would suffer psychologically all her life - but against the entire Gazan 
society.

Gaza Legal Researches and Consultations Centre has demanded severe punishments 
for rapists, with no leniency. The centre says the Palestinian relative laws 
should be reviewed immediately to provide women with the highest level of 
protection against rapists. According to the centre, at least 2 vicious rapes 
have been reported every year in the Gaza Strip since 1999.

The Islamist movement of Hamas took over the tiny coastal strip in 2007 
following a brief civil war and ousted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 
his Fatah movement. Hamas has been running the strip in accordance with 
recommendations from its Consultative Council.

(source: gulfnews.com)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi Arabia Confirms Death Sentence of 14 Activists from Qatif


Saudi's Supreme Court in Riyadh confirmed death penalty for 14 activists from 
Qatif over taking part in protests in 2011.

Human rights sources reported that the suspects were not able even to appoint a 
lawyer, noting that all their confessions were under torture and abuse.

To be implemented, the execution warrant must be approved by the Saudi king, 
Salman Bin Abdulaziz.

Families of the suspects say their sons attended confidential trials, stressing 
that the sentences were based on force confessions.

Peaceful demonstrations erupted in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province in February 
2011, with protesters demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of 
political prisoners and an end to widespread discrimination against people of 
the oil-rich region. Several people have been killed and many others have been 
injured or arrested during the demonstrations.

International rights bodies, including Amnesty International, have repeatedly 
criticized Saudi Arabia for its grim human rights record, arguing that the 
number of executions in oil-rich country has dramatically risen in the last 
years.

(source: almanar.com.lb)