[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 9



ICELAND:

Iceland gripped as infamous 1828 murders head for 'retrial'----Deaths of 2 men 
to be re-examined under modern court rules.



It was on 14 March, 1828 when residents on Iceland's remote farm of Stapakot 
were awoken by a maid from a neighbouring property, who burst in to tell them 2 
men were trapped in a fire.

But the men were already dead - clubbed with a hammer and stabbed 12 times 
before the house was set ablaze with shark oil.

Despite taking place almost 190 years ago, it's a crime that Icelanders have 
never forgotten, since the convicted killers were the last people ever executed 
in the country.

On Saturday (9 September), the case is set to grip Iceland once more as it is 
re-analysed by a mock court, Associated Press reports.

The retrial, conducted under modern rules before a 3-judge panel, may shed 
light on the motivation for the slayings, the fairness of the original 
proceeding, and whether the 2 maids - Agnes Magnusdottir and Sigridur 
Gudmundsdottir - had been abused by the men they eventually killed.

The case has sparked endless speculation, a feature film and a pop song. The 
tenth book in Icelandic about the murders is set to be published and a 
documentary is in production. Seats for the retrial have long been sold out.

It will be held at the community center in Hvammstangi, a northwestern village 
near the murder scene, and will use handwritten court records from the 1828 
case, which have been preserved in the National Library.

One of the judges - David Thor, a former judge at the European Court of Human 
Rights - told Associated Press that the original trial nearly 200 years ago did 
not address the motivation for the killings. It's not clear why Natan 
Ketilsson, a self-taught doctor, and his guest were killed.

"No one cared about the motivation behind the murders - that wouldn't happen in 
a modern court," he said.

"Today we would try to understand the motivation behind the murders and 
particularly how the 2 women, who had no other place to live, were treated by 
their master."

The 2 maids said the act was masterminded by Fridrik Sigurdsson, a 17-year-old 
who held a grudge against Ketilsson. He and Magnusdottir, 32, were put to death 
for their role in the killings. The other maid, a 16-year-old, was sentenced to 
life in prison in Denmark.

The case highlights differing attitudes toward capital punishment. In modern 
Iceland, the usual prison sentence for murder is 16 years or less. But in 1828, 
officials successfully argued for the death penalty, which had not been imposed 
in decades.

An axe was imported from Denmark to carry out the penalty and the brother of 1 
of the victims was chosen as executioner.

Every farm was instructed to send a male representative to witness the event 
and afterward the decapitated heads were jammed onto a stick for public 
viewing.

Author Hannah Kent achieved international success with her novel "Burial 
Rites," which depicts the crime through the eyes of Magnusdottir, who was 
convicted of killing the 2 men and burning their bodies.

Kent, who said the case is still constantly in her thoughts, hopes the retrial 
may provide some insight.

"If the murders really were premeditated, I would want to know if something 
went wrong or if maybe this all happened more in the moment," she said. 
"Because to me, it has always seemed like a particularly clumsy murder."

She said readers have often asked her what the outcome of the case would be if 
it were tried under today's rules.

"I have never really been able to give them an answer until now," she said.

(source: Associated Press)








INDIA:

Around 50 face death sentence in Maharashtra



With 2 former aides of Karachi-based underworld don Dawood Ibrahim getting 
death sentences in the 12 March 1993 serial blasts case, the list of the 
convicted criminals facing death sentences in Maharashtra is around 50.

Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Kasab and Mumbai resident Yakub Memon are the 
two persons from Maharashtra who had been hanged to death in the last 2 
decades.

Kasab was among the group of 10 Pakistanis and the only one to the caught alive 
during the 26-29 November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. His clemency plea was 
rejected by the President. He was hanged to death at the Yerawada jail in Pune 
on 21 November 2012.

Yakub Memon, who played a key role inthe March 12, 1993, serial blasts in 
Mumbai, was hanged to death in the Nagpur prison, on 30 July 2015.

According to Prison Statistics 2014 brought out by the National Crime Records 
Bureau (NCRB), there are a total of 318 persons including 8 women on death row 
across the country of which 36 including 3 women are from Maharashtra.

However, between 2015-17, capital punishments have been given to convicts - 
which include the accused of the Shakti Mill rape incidents and the 7/11 serial 
train bombing.

In April 2014, 3 youth Vijay Jadhav, Mohammad Qasim Shaikh and Salim Ansari - 
were sentenced to death for repeating the crime. They were involved in the rape 
of a photojournalist and telephone operator at the Shakti Mill.

In September 2015, a trial court in Mumbai sentenced 5 persons to death in the 
7/11 train blasts case. They are Kamal Ansari, Faisal Shaikh, Estesham 
Siddiqui, Naveed Khan and Asif Bashir Khan.

Among others on death row in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra are 3 
Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives including a 43-year-old mother of 2, who were 
awarded capital punishment for their involvement in the August 25, 2003, 
explosions at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar. These convicts are Ashrat 
Ansari, his aide Hanif Sayed Anees and Hanif's wife Fehmida Sayed. They too 
have appealed to the Supreme Court.

2 sisters, Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit too are facing capital punishment, in 
what is known as the Anjanabai Gavit case. The case involves a series of 
kidnappings and murders. They have been accused of kidnapping and killing a 
dozen children in the nineties in Kolhapur, Pune and Nashik.

4 years ago, the Bombay High Court confirmed the death penalty of Purushottam 
Borate and Pradeep Kokade, who were convicted kidnapping, raping and murdering 
a 22-year-old BPO employee Jyotikumari Chaudhary in Pune in 2007.

(source: Deccan Herald)








IRAQ:

Iraq sentences Islamic State's "chemical emir" to death



Iraq's Central Criminal Court sentenced Sunday a prominent Islamic State 
chemical warfare developer to death, convicting him of developing some of the 
group's deadliest weapons.

In a statement on Sunday, Abdul-Sattar Beraqdar, a spokesman of the Supreme 
Judicial Council, said Zeyad Tarek, who hd joined militant activity in 2003, 
was sentenced to death based on the Iraqi counter-terrorism law.

He said the convict had confessed to developing toxic weapons for the Islamic 
State, and had admitted using a chicken coop he owned for the purpose of 
manufacturing the weapons.

Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council had previously published an interview with 
Tarek, in which it revealed that the convict was arrested in Lebanon after an 
intelligence operation that succeeded in retaking him back to Iraq. He was 
ambushed outside an embassy in Lebanon where he was applying for asylum.

Tarek, who the militants had nicknamed the "chemicals emir", said that one of 
the rockets he had developed could fire for a 20-kilometer range. The council's 
paper said several militants arrested for manufacturing chemical weapons and 
booby-traps had pointed during interrogations to Tarek's facility.

Iraqi and international agencies had occasionally reported suspected chemical 
attacks by IS militants during the government's U.S.-backed military campaign 
against the group in Mosul, its former capital which Iraqi forces recaptured 
early July.

(source: iraqinews.com)








PAKISTAN:

COAS confirms death sentence of 4 hardcore terrorists



Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa has confirmed death sentences of 
another 4 hardcore terrorists.

According to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement the deaths 
sentences were given by the military courts.

The convicts were involved in offences of terrorism, including killing of 
innocent civilians, attacking law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and armed forces 
of Pakistan. On the whole, they were involved in the killing of 16 persons and 
injuring 8 others. Arms were also recovered from their possession.

Around 23 convicts were also given imprisonment of various duration by the 
military courts. The details of terrorists given death penalty are as under:

Raiz Ahmed son of (s/o) Ghularam Khan: The convict was a member of proscribed 
organization. He was involved in attacking law enforcement agencies and armed 
forces of Pakistan, which resulted in death of eight officials of police and 
Frontier Constabulary and injuries to 5 police officials.

He was also involved in destruction of Government Middle School, Aligrama. He 
was found in possession of fire-arm. The convict admitted his offences before 
the magistrate and the trial court.

Hafeez ur Rehman s/o Habib ur Rehman: The convict was a member of proscribed 
organization. He was involved in killing of 3 innocent civilians.

The convict admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court.

Muhammad Saleem s/o Muslim Khan: The convict was a member of proscribed 
organization. He was involved in attacking LEAs and armed forces of Pakistan, 
which resulted in death of 4 soldiers and injuries to another soldier. He was 
found in possession of fire-arm.

The convict admitted his offences before the magistrate and trial court. He was 
given death sentence.

Kifayat Ullah s/o Dilresh: The convict was a member of proscribed organization. 
He was involved in attacking armed forces of Pakistan, which resulted in death 
of a soldier and injuries to 2 other soldiers.

He was found in possession of fire-arm. The convict had admitted his offences 
before the magistrate and trial court.

(source: brecorder.com)








EGYPT:

Court set to sentence Giza Terrorist Cell members to death penalty



Giza Criminal Court referred the papers of 11 defendants in the case known as 
Giza Terrorist Cell on Saturday to Grand Mufti Shawky Allam, before sentencing 
them to the death penalty.

The court set October 22 as the final verdict date for the 26 defendants.

A referral to the mufti is a step that must be taken within Egypt's court 
system ahead of death sentencing, even though the mufti's opinion is advisory 
and not binding.

The defendants face charges of establishing an illegal group, intended to 
disrupt the provisions of the Constitution and the law, preventing state 
institutions from carrying out their actions, and attacks on personal and 
public freedom.

They are also being charged with participating in gatherings intended to commit 
a murder, destroying public property, the attempted killing of 2 police 
officers, destroying a police vehicle, stealing police weapons, and making high 
explosive devices.

(source: Egypt Independent)

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

Egypt court sentences 11 to death over violence



An Egyptian court on Saturday has sentenced 11 people to death over charges of 
attempted murder and violence, official news agency MENA reported.

The defendants were convicted of militant gathering for terrorist purposes, 
making explosives, assaulting a government institution and setting it ablaze, 
Jeopardizing personal freedoms, harming national unity and social peace, and 
providing funds and weapons to militants.

The court referred the sentence to Grand Mufti, the country's highest Islamic 
official who will give the religious judgment of all preliminary death 
sentences.

The Mufti's opinion is non-binding as it is usually considered a formality, but 
his final opinion could reduce the penalty.

The court will give its final sentence against other 26 accused with the same 
charges in October 22.

The case dated back to August 2013 when the Brotherhood members took into 
streets, broke into some police stations, killing security men in retaliation 
for the police's harsh crackdown on the supporters of the Islamist president 
Mohamed Morsi who was ousted by the army in response to mass protest against 
him.

Morsi along with prominent figures of his Brotherhood group were sentenced to 
death over killing protesters, spying for foreign countries amid other charges.

However, all the charges are still appealable.

(source: xinhuanet.com)