[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 30



MALAYSIA:

MP: Convicted traffickers must be allowed review of death sentence----Any new 
amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act should be retrospective in nature and 
apply to all, says Ramkarpal Singh.



An opposition MP has urged Putrajaya to also make amendments to the Dangerous 
Drugs Act (DDA) to allow those already convicted for trafficking to apply for a 
review of their death sentence.

Ramkarpal Singh said it would be most unfair and inhumane to exclude convicted 
persons and only apply the amendments to those who were on trial or whose cases 
were on appeal.

The Bukit Gelugor DAP MP said he had proposed two amendments that would enable 
the DDA amendments to be applied retrospectively and enable those already 
convicted or currently on death row to ask for a review of their sentence in 
the High Court.

"After all, both categories of persons are charged for the same offence and the 
new law should apply equally to all affected, which will be consistent with our 
Federal Constitution," he said in a statement.

Last week, Ramkarpal and Batu Kawan DAP MP Kasthuraani Patto had said in a 
joint statement that the government ought to consider the principle that all 
persons are equal before the law and allow the amendments to apply to all, 
regardless of when the offence was committed.

The duo said it was inhumane and blatantly discriminatory on the part of the 
government not to do so.

Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said said 
the government would amend an earlier proposal and give full discretion to the 
judge to mete out life imprisonment instead of the death penalty.

Lawyers, civil society and opposition MPs were up in arms following an initial 
suggestion that the public prosecutor would have a role in the sentencing of 
traffickers.

It was suggested that the public prosecutor would issue a certificate to the 
court to impose a jail term on the convicted trafficker for their cooperation 
with law enforcement agencies during investigations.

Ramkarpal, who is a lawyer and accustomed to handling persons charged with 
trafficking and possession cases, said it was imperative for the public 
prosecutor not to play any part in the sentencing process.

"I am happy the government has recognised this vital principle by amending the 
said section and maintaining the position that sentencing must always remain in 
the domains of the judiciary," he said.

The amendments are expected to be debated in the Dewan Rakyat later today.

(source: freemalaysiatoday.com)








INDIA:

Death to man for rape-murder of 3-year-old



A local court in Bihar has sentenced a man to death for the rape and murder of 
a 3-year-old girl - the 2nd such punishment to the rapists in a fortnight.

The harsh judgement comes amid a spate of rape cases rocking the eastern Indian 
state of Bihar in recent months.

Special Judge of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) at 
Biharsharif town in Nalanda district sent the accused to the gallows on 
Wednesday after charges against him were found true on the basis of evidence 
presented to the court by the police.

As such the court served double punishments to the accused for his "heinous" 
crime. Even as the accused was awarded death for murdering the little girl, at 
the same time he was also handed out life imprisonment for rape. In addition to 
that, the court also imposed a monetary fine on the accused for the dastardly 
double-crime.

The incident took place at Babhanbarui village in Nalanda district in September 
2014. According to the police, the accused had come to his in-laws' home 
located at this village, but as their house was found locked, the victim's 
mother had given him shelter at her home since he was a guest.

It was during the time that the accused lured the 3-year-old girl on the 
pretext of giving her sweets and took her to an isolated field where he raped 
her before killing her. After committing the crime, the accused also tried to 
destroy the evidence by burying the victim in a ditch.

This is the 2nd such punishment handed out in the past one fortnight in Bihar. 
Earlier this month, a local court in East Champaran district had handed out 
death penalty to another accused for murdering a 2 1/2-year-old baby after 
rape.

Reports said the victim's family members were enjoying at home as it was Holi 
time when the accused took the baby to an isolated place and raped her before 
killing. Initially, a case of missing was registered with the police but soon 
it was converted into murder after her body was recovered from the field.

The incidents of rape remain a matter of grave concern in Bihar, and according 
to an official report, a total of 922 cases of rape have been reported till 
September this year. Last year, altogether, 1,008 incidents of rape had been 
reported, followed by 1,041 incidents of rape in 2015, 1,127 in 2014 and 1,128 
in 2013.

(source: Gulf News)








CHINA:

China's 'master' tomb raider gets death penalty



A Chinese court has handed a death sentence to a "master" tomb raider from 
northern China who made a 30-year career out of robbing historical burial 
sites.

A native of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 55-year-old Yao Yuzhong was 
found guilty of "digging ancient cultural sites and ancient graves" and 
"reselling cultural relics", his lawyer, Bi Baosheng, told AFP.

He was given a suspended death penalty with a two-year period in which to 
appeal the sentence or have it decreased through good behaviour.

The Paper, a Chinese news website, noted that Yao was considered the "kingpin" 
of a gang of 225 grave-robbing suspects rounded up by authorities in 2015.

Though Yao had only an elementary school education, he was an avid reader and 
picked up the tradition of trawling tombs from his father, according to local 
media in northeast Liaoning province, where Yao was tried.

The practice is a timeworn one in China, a country whose long history and 
elaborate burial customs have made it ripe territory for coffin-crashers.

Yao reportedly got his start combing graves dating back to the Neolithic 
Hongshan culture. Such graves are shallow and rely more on the raider's ability 
to perceive excavation sites than on his digging skills, The Paper said.

He steadily built a reputation as a "master" tomb-raider - "the best in all of 
China's northeast", the news outlet said.

China has seen an upsurge in grave-robbing incidents coinciding with rising 
demand for Chinese antiquities.

According to the country's State Administration of Cultural Heritage, there 
were 103 cases of tomb-raiding and cultural relic theft in 2016.

(source: The Sun Daily)








ZAMBIA:

Zambian gov't to consult citizens on abolishing death penalty: official



The Zambian government said on Wednesday that it will next year consult 
citizens on whether the death penalty should be left in the country's statute 
books or removed.

Minister of Justice Given Lubinda said his ministry's agenda for next year will 
also include sensitizing citizens on the need to abolish the death penalty as 
well as refinement of the country's constitution.

The Zambian minister was speaking when he held a bilateral meeting with Italian 
Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando on the sidelines of the 10th International 
Congress of Justice Ministers in Rome organized by the Italian government whose 
theme is "A World Without the Death Penalty."

While acknowledging that the death penalty has remained in the country's 
statute books for years, the Zambian minister said no death warrants have been 
signed by successive presidents since 1997, according to a statement released 
by the Zambian embassy in Rome.

According to him, successive presidents have relied on the constitutional 
provisions to grant the prerogative of mercy to convicts on death-row and 
commuting death sentences to life imprisonments.

"Death penalty in Zambia which is enshrined in the constitution is very topical 
and Zambia has been for all intents and purposes a de facto abolitionist 
state," he said.

On his part, the Italian minister commended the Zambian leaders on its efforts 
toward abolishing the death penalty.

He said the Italian government was happy that Zambia was making strides in 
engaging its people in seeing to it that the death penalty was abolished.

Human rights campaigners in Zambia have been calling for the death penalty to 
be removed from the statute books.

In July 2015, Zambian President Edgar Lungu commuted the sentences of 332 
death-row prisoners to life imprisonment.

(source: xinhuanet.com)








BANGLADESH----execution

Shazneen killer executed



Shahidul Islam alias Shahid, 42, the convicted killer of Scholastica student 
Shazneen Tasnim Rahman, was hanged at Kashimpur High Security Central Jail on 
Wednesday night.

The execution was performed around 9:45pm, Jailer of Kashimpur Central Jail 
Bikash Rayhan confirmed.

Shahidul's brother Mohidul Islam received the body from the jail authorities 
after execution.

5 relatives, including Mahidul, met Shahid at the jail earlier in the day, said 
jail sources.

On April 23, 1998, Shazneen Tasnim Rahman, a grade IX student of Scholastica 
School in Dhaka and daughter of Transcom Group chairman Latifur Rahman, was 
raped and murdered at her residence.

Judge of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Kazi Rahmatullah 
handed down death penalty to 6 accused for their involvement in planning and 
executing the murder on September 2, 2003.

The convicts were Syed Sazzad Mainuddin Hasan, a contractor who was appointed 
to repair the house, Shahidul Islam, a domestic help, Sazzad's assistant Badal, 
carpenter Shaniram Mandal, and maids Estema Khatun Minu and Parvin.

On July 10, 2006, the High Court upheld the death penalty of 5 convicts and 
acquitted carpenter Shaniram Mandal of all charges.

Later, 4 of the convicts filed a leave-to-appeal with the Supreme Court against 
the High Court order that was granted by the Appellate Division on April 26, 
2009. Shahidul filed a jail appeal.

A bench of 5 judges of Appellate Division, led by the then Chief Justice 
Surendra Kumar Sinha, on August 2 last year, upheld the death sentence of 
Shahidul and acquitted 4 convicts in the sensational killing case.

(source: Dhaka Tribune)








IRAN----executions

10 Prisoners Hanged on Murder Charges



10 prisoners were hanged at Rajai Shahr Prison on murder charges Wednesday 
November 29.

According to a close source, on the morning of Wednesday November 29, 10 
prisoners were executed at Rajai Shahr Prison. Most of these prisoners, who 
were transferred to solitary confinement in a group of 13, were convicted of 
murder and sentenced to "qisas" (retribution in kind).

5 of these prisoners are identified as Majid Nazifi from ward 3, Farshid Karimi 
from ward 10, Hassan Aminzadeh from ward 6, Hossein Alishir from ward 3, and 
Qasem Mehrabi from ward 6.

Moreover, the state-run news site, Rokna, only reported the execution of 1 of 
the prisoners, identified as Dariush, but remained silent about the other nine.

A close source told Iran Human Rights (IHR) about Majid Nazifi, "He had been 
transferred to solitary confinement once before, but this time the plaintiffs 
didn't give him time and he was hanged. He killed a man during a fight but the 
victim wasn't the one fighting him. It was an unintentional murder. The 
plaintiffs agreed to give their consent for 200 million Tomans (about 48500 
dollars) but Majid's family failed to raise the money."

1 of the prisoners who asked for time was identified as Ali Biabani. He was 
sentenced to death on the charge of murdering his own friend over a prank.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 142 of the 
530 execution sentences in 2016 were implemented due to murder charges. There 
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in 
issuing death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and 
intent.

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

1 Execution in North-Eastern Iran



A prisoner was executed at Mashhad Central Prison on murder charges, reported 
the Iranian state-run media.

According to Jam News, a prisoner was hanged at Mashhad Central Prison on 
murder charges on Tuesday November 28.

2 people had been convicted of murder in this case. Both of the defendants of 
the case were sentenced to death. However, 1 of them committed suicide in 
prison while the other was executed after being in prison for 5 years.

The report doesn't mention the execution date, however, it seems to have been 
carried out on November 28.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 142 of the 
530 execution sentences in 2016 were implemented due to murder charges.

(source for both: Iran Human Rights)