[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 1




NIGERIA:

Court sentences traditional ruler to death by hanging----The traditional ruler 
was found guilty of the conspiracy to commit murder, the substantial offence of 
murder and conspiracy to commit attempted murder.



One of the highest ranking chiefs of Uvwie Kingdom in Delta State, Chief Newton 
Agbofodo, has been sentenced to death by hanging.

The Delta State High Court in Asaba sentenced Agbofodoh, who is the community 
head of Ekpan, Uvwie Council Area of Delta State, after he was found guilty of 
all four count charges preferred against him, including murder.

The traditional leader was arrested on June 17, 2016, and was later arraigned 
in court.

Charges brought against him were conspiracy to commit murder, the substantial 
offence of murder, conspiracy to commit attempted murder and an attempted 
murder.

In October 2012, Agbofodo was said to have been involved in the killing of one 
Edigbe Ikpesa and several others within Ekpan and its environs.

He was also implicated in the Delta Mall robbery and vicious destruction in 
January 2016.

54 soldiers get death penalty

Capital punishment, with methods of execution ranging from hanging to shooting, 
is a legal penalty in Nigeria.

In 2017, Amnesty International called on the Nigerian government to stop the 
planned execution of some inmates on death row in Lagos State but the 
government rejected the call, pointing that the death penalty is expressly 
authorized by section 33 of the Constitution of Nigeria.

On December 17, 2014, 54 Nigerian soldiers were found guilty of conspiracy to 
commit mutiny and they were sentenced to death by firing squad at a trial held 
secretly by a military tribunal.

(source: pulse.ng)








KUWAIT:

Kuwait sentences Filipina maid's killers to death in absentia



A Lebanese-Syrian couple have been sentenced to capital punishment for the 
murder of a Filipina maid.

The Criminal Court convicted Lebanese Nader Issam Assaf and his Syrian wife 
Mona Hassoun in absentia and sentenced them to death by hanging.

The couple were indicted for killing 29-year-old Joanna Demafelis and dumping 
her body in a freezer for up to a year and a half before being discovered in 
their rented flat on the 6th of February 2018.

The husband, 40, fled Kuwait on the 7th of November 2016 along with his wife to 
Lebanon where they stayed for a short period before escaping to Syria.

Lebanese Attorney General Rahif Ramadhan questioned the husband, who was 
deported from Syria following an Interpol notice, and asked for the death 
penalty for the killer of Demafelis.

His Syrian wife Mona Hassoun, who is convicted of the crime, has since been 
detained in her country Syria.

Demafelis's death sparked outrage in the Philippines and a ban on Filipinos 
traveling to work in Kuwait.

(source: gdnonline.com)








INDIA:

SC seeks reply of 10 states on rights violation of death row convicts

  The DGPs (Prisons) have been also asked to reply on the issue of solitary 
confinement, legal representation, visitation rights of prisoners' families and 
psychiatric consultation of death row convicts.

A bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta asked DGP (prisons) of ten 
states to reply to the letter of Amicus Curiae advocate Gaurav Agarwal, who has 
raised the issue of alleged violation of prison manual and human rights of 
death row prisoners.

"We would require the Director General (Prisons) to respond to the 
communication sent by amicus curiae since it concerns human rights of prisoners 
who are in custody and who have been awarded death sentence," the bench said.

The ten states include Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, 
Punjab, Delhi, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Bihar.

The bench sought the replies of DGP (Prisons) by May 8.

Agarwal has written a letter to officials of ten states after Dr. Anup 
Surendranath, an assistant professor at National Law University at Delhi moved 
the apex court with an interlocutory application seeking intervention on the 
alleged violation of rights of prisoners.

He had raised various concerns about violation of certain provisions of State 
prison manuals and human rights of prisoners especially, those have been 
awarded death penalty.

As a follow up to Dr. Surendranath's application, Agarwal wrote to DGP 
(Prisons) of 10 states on March 13, seeking their responses on issues 
concerned.

The apex court had voiced concern on the issue of overcrowding of prisons 
across the country, saying prisoners have human rights and they can't be kept 
like animals.

It had termed the situation as "extremely unfortunate" and said it is was 
"complete lack of commitment" on part of state government and union territories 
towards human rights of prisoners.

The top court is hearing a matter relating to inhuman conditions prevailing in 
1,382 prisons across the country.

The apex court had on February 21 asked the National Legal Services Authority 
(NALSA) to look into the issue of overcrowding of prisons and furnish figures 
before it regarding the population in jails where occupancy was over 150 per 
cent as on December 31 last year.

It had earlier expressed shock at the large number of people languishing in 
jails in "complete violation" of their rights despite recommendations for their 
release by the legal services authority and had termed the situation as 
unacceptable.

(source: Press Trust of India)

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

Court gives 1 convict death, 3 others life term in Delhi couple murder 
case----According to the police charge sheet, the 4 men overpowered Abhijit, 
tied him with a rope and raped Momita before murdering them.



An Uttarakhand court on Friday gave death penalty to 1 of the 4 men convicted 
for the murder of a New Delhi-based tourist couple in 2014 and awarded life 
sentence to 3 other co-conspirators.

According to the investigation, the couple Abhijit and Momita, rented a jeep on 
October 23 to travel to the Tiger waterfall in the area. The driver, Raju Das, 
who was given the death penalty, reportedly told the couple that 3 more 
passengers - identified as Kundan Das, Bablu Das and Guddu Das - would be 
travelling with them to a village near the spot.

On the way back from the waterfall, it was alleged that the 4 men overpowered 
Abhijit, tied him with a rope and raped Momita before murdering them, the 
police charge sheet says.

However, the additional sessions court of Vikasnagar, acquitted the 4 men of 
rape charges in the absence of evidence but held them guilty of killing and 
looting, said government counsel Guruprasad Raturi. "Judge Md Sultan pronounced 
hanging for Raju Das under section 302 for killing the couple. The other 3 
accused were held guilty for life term under 120B and additionally the accused 
will serve 7 years in jail under section 411 for looting couple" Raturi told 
reporters outside the court.

A joint team of Delhi and Dehradun police had arrested Raju on November 10 in 
2014, and he confessed to the crime, the charge sheet says.

(source: Hindustan Times)