[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 16



PAKISTAN:

PHC admits appeals in Mashal lynching case


The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday admitted for hearing appeals 
challenging the verdict of an anti-terrorism court in Mashal Khan lynching 
case.

A 2-judge bench of the high court issued notices to all parties involved in the 
case on appeals filed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Mashal’s father and 
the convicts who were awarded jail terms by the trial court.

The bench, comprising Justice Qalandar Ali Khan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, 
directed the appellants whose conviction have temporarily been suspended to be 
in attendance at the next hearing.

Mashal, 23, a student at Abdul Wali Khan University (AWKU) in Mardan, was 
beaten and shot to death on April 13 last year by an unruly mob instigated by 
rumours that he had committed blasphemy by posting sacrilegious content online.

The high court circuit bench in Abbottabad earlier had suspended the conviction 
of 25 suspects in the  case

On February 07,  the ATC sentenced the prime suspect to death while five others 
to 25 years’ imprisonment in the case.

ATC Judge Fazal-i-Subhan Khan acquitted 26 suspects and awarded three years of 
jail term to 25 other accused in the case.

Convict Imran, who has been awarded capital punishment, was found guilty of 
firing shots at the victim student from his pistol, which led to his death.

He had also confessed to the crime before the court.

Nearly 50 prosecution witnesses testified against the suspects during the 
course of the hearing conducted inside Haripur Central Jail.

The prosecution charged 61 people in the case, while 57 of them were arrested 
and produced before the court for trial.

(source: arynews.tv)





INDIA:

Federal law for death to rapists unlikely despite Kathua gangrape case


The gangrape and murder of 8-year-old Kathua girl has shook the nation's 
conscience once again. Drawing parallels with the Nirbhaya gangrape case of 
December 2012, chorus for awarding death penalty for the rapists has grown in 
the recent days in the country.

Cutting across party lines, politicians have demanded that the rapists, 
particularly of minors below 12 years, should be handed out capital punishment.

Both leaders at the national level and in the states have joined chorus to 
press for their demand.

NATIONAL LEADERS

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi has asked her 
department to work on a proposal to amend the Protection of Children Against 
Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The move is aimed at including the provision of 
death penalty for the rape of a minor below 12 years of age.

The present POCSO Act does not have any provision for capital punishment. The 
maximum sentence at present is life imprisonment for penetrative sexual 
assault.

Actor-turned-politician Hema Malini reiterated the views expressed by Maneka 
Gandhi. The BJP MP from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh demanded that rapists of 
children below 12 years must be "hanged to death".

STATE GOVERNMENTS

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti last week said her government 
would soon introduce a new law to make death penalty mandatory for those who 
rape minors.

Mehbooba Mufti's decision holds significance because Kathua falls in the Jammu 
region.

Not just Mehbooba Mufti but her PDP's arch rival National Conference president 
Farooq Abdullah has also demanded convening of a special session of the state 
Assembly to bring in a bill to award capital punishment to the rapists of 
minors.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also said his government would amend the 
law for awarding death to the rapists of minor girls.

Kejriwal assured bringing law in the next Assembly session. He also said the 
AAP government in Delhi would also set up fast-track courts to complete trial 
of the cases of crime against women in 6 months.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal is sitting on an 
indefinite hunger strike for the past 4 days to protest the Kathua gangrape 
case and alleged rape by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maliwal demanded that child 
rapists should be given capital punishment within 6 months of committing the 
crime.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

At least 3 states have passed bills seeking death penalty for those convicted 
of raping girls under 12 years of age.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh was the 1st state to legislate a bill 
in December 2017 which would send convicts of such rapes to the gallows.

Last month, ML Khattar government in Haryana and Vasundhara Raje government in 
Rajasthan too passed similar bills.

Coincidentally, all the three states are ruled by the BJP. Moreover, the bills 
in all these 3 states were passed unanimously.

The 3 states have made amendments to the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1998

The demand for securing capital punishment to rape convicts is almost 19 years 
old.

The then home minister LK Advani was perhaps the first leader to broach the 
idea of sending rape convicts to the gallows. As early as in October 1998, he 
said in consultation with the state governments, the Centre would amend the 
country's criminal laws to punish rapists with death.

He explained that the consent of the state governments was required because the 
subject was on the concurrent list in the Constitution.

Advani was speaking in the wake of rape of 3 nuns in the tribal Jhabua district 
of Madhya Pradesh. He rued that that the present laws were inadequate to deal 
with rapists.

His suggestion found support from the BJP Mahila Morcha which argued that it 
would discourage criminals and inculcate a sense of security among women.

Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, who was Social Welfare Board chairperson then, said 
only capital punishment to rape convicts could instil fear in men.

Advani reiterated the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government's stand even in November 
2002. He was replying to the demand raised by Lok Sabha members. He said a 
final decision could be taken only after evolving a political consensus on the 
issue.

He recalled that his suggestion for capital punishment for rapists was opposed 
by several state governments and women's organisations on the ground that it 
could put to danger the lives of the rape survivors.

The senior BJP leader was replying to demand made by Renuka Chowdhury of the 
Congress for death penalty for rapists.

Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale, who was then an 
independent Lok Sabha MP, suggested that Prevention of Terrorists Act (POTA), 
2002, should be used against rapists.

The issue found resonance once again after Nirbhaya's gangrape on December 16, 
2012 in the capital and her subsequent death.

The then Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said the Manmohan Singh-led 
UPA government would take steps to amend law for awarding death penalty in 
particular cases of rape.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who was the leader of opposition in 
the Lok Sabha then, also advocated death penalty for the rapists.

In fact, Sushma Swaraj had posted a tweet about 2 years before the Nirbhaya 
case advocating death sentence for rapists. She said, "I want death sentence in 
all cases of rape and murder and all cases of kidnapping or abduction and 
murder," appealing to twitterati to retweet and support her call.

NO MOVEMENT

Statistics prove that violence against women is on the increase in India. A 
woman is raped every 53 minutes and an act of sexual violence is committed 
every 7th minute.

The Manmohan Singh government constituted the JS Verma committee to review the 
laws. However, the committee did not favour death sentence to rapists as a 
deterrent.

It held that certainty of punishment rather than its severity was the most 
important factor which can act as a deterrent.

The dismally low conviction rate has been held the culprit in rape cases. It is 
as low as about 4 %.

Though the demand for capital punishment has gained momentum in the wake of 
Kathua case, the Centre is yet to take a call.

(source: India Today)


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

Farooq Abdullah wants bill to award death penalty for raping minors


Opposition National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah on Sunday 
demanded a special session of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to bring 
in a bill to award capital punishment to those who rape minors.

Abdullah’s comment comes in the backdrop of a nationwide condemnation of the 
rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua.

“Capital punishment must be brought in for such cases,” Abdullah told reporters 
here.

“She (Kathua rape victim) is just like my daughter. Thank God, today the nation 
has woken up and they have taken it very seriously. I hope justice will be done 
and we will bring a bill in the Assembly session wherein (if) any such incident 
takes place, the hanging must be brought in,” he said.

Abdullah was speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting of NC’s provincial 
committee for Kashmir province at the party headquarters in Nawa-e-Subha.

The NC president said the PDP-BJP government should call a special session of 
the state legislature to pass the bill which would act as a deterrent against 
such crimes.

"Let the government call a special session of the Assembly just for this thing. 
When the special session of the Assembly is called and this bill is passed, it 
will be a great thing for the future such crimes will not take place,” Abdullah 
said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has also said her government 
would bring a new law to make death penalty mandatory for those who rape 
minors.

“We will never ever let another child suffer in this way. We will bring a new 
law that will make the death penalty mandatory for those who rape minors,” 
Mehbooba said in a tweet on April 12.

Meanwhile, a statement by the party said that Abdullah, while addressing the 
party meeting, expressed anguish, grief and pain at the gruesome tragedy in 
Kathua and demanded “exemplary punishment” for the culprits.

Abdullah said the incident was a result of politics involving “the harassment, 
intimidation and disempowerment of the nomadic Gujjar-Bakerwal communities”.

“Ministers of this government openly threatened the Gujjar-Bakerwal community 
of dire repercussions and one such minister went to the extent of reminding 
them of the horrors of the 1947 massacre,” said Abdullah.

“The Gujjar-Bakerwal communities have been hounded, targeted and intimidated 
for nearly three years now while the PDP has remained a mute spectator. Had the 
PDP objected to this harassment and intimidation, perhaps things would not have 
come to this tragic pass,” he said.

The NC president said the chief minister’s “silence over repeated attempts to 
harass and threaten” the Gujjar-Bakerwal communities had emboldened anti-social 
elements…and the consequences are here for all of us to see,” he said.

Abdullah said the PDP-BJP alliance had left no stone unturned to divide the 
people of the state along regional and religious lines for their personal 
political benefits.

“While the BJP continues to pit the people of Jammu against their brothers and 
sisters in Kashmir as a deeply divisive and dangerous political strategy, the 
PDP in Kashmir sought votes against the BJP before aligning with it post 
elections – eroding the sanctity of its mandate and pushing our youth towards 
turmoil and disenchantment,” he said.

“The ramifications of this opportunism of this brazen sellout — have been 
disastrous,” Abdullah said, adding that the fault lines between various regions 
of the state had become deeper.

“Polarising rhetoric has changed the narrative into an ‘us-versus-them’ debate 
in respective regions of the state. This is a very dangerous trend and the 
slide needs to be checked immediately before its too late and the situation 
becomes irretrievable,” he said.

The NC president also expressed serious concern over the law and order 
conditions in the state.

“The unabated spate of civilian killings is pushing the youth towards a path of 
unimaginable anger and hostility,” Abdullah said.

He asked the party leaders to reach out to youth and give them all possible 
opportunities to come forward with fresh ideas to take the state out of the 
“morass of hopelessness, instability and chaos”.

(source: voiceonline.com)





ZAMBIA:

'Hanging judge' dies


The man who refused the appeal of Solomon Mahlangu’s death sentence has died.

Former Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said that his father, retired judge 
Ramon Leon, had died over the weekend.

Judge Leon was dubbed a “hanging judge”  and was involved in the legal 
proceedings that saw both Mahlangu and Andrew Zondo to their deaths.  The death 
penalty was suspended in 1990, as talks between the then National Party 
government and the ANC gathered pace. It was formally scrapped in 1994.

Leon sentenced Zondo to death in 1986.  Zondo, who was 19-years old at the 
time, was sentenced to death 5 times for his involvement in the Amanzimtoti 
limpet mine attack. Leon allowed his accomplice - who ratted in return for 
anonymity - go free.

Two years later, Leon became a supporter of the Society for the Abolition of 
the Death Penalty. Mahlangu, meanwhile was sentenced to death in 1979 and his 
appeal was turned down by Leon.

Police accosted Mahlangu, along with Mondy Johannes Motloung and George “Lucky” 
Mahlangu in Goch Street, Johannesburg, which resulted in a gun fight on June 13 
1977. Two civilians were killed and another 2 were wounded.

Although Motloung was the one who was involved in the deaths of the two 
civilians, Mahlangu was tried using the court rule of common purpose which saw 
him charged with two accounts of murder and several charges under the Terrorism 
Act. Motloung was deemed unfit to try because of brain damage that he sustained 
during the fight.

The Citizen has reported that they came upon the news incidentally. The 
publication said it had reached out to the family for comments over Sydney 
Mufamadi’s allegations that Leon junior made former Police Commissioner George 
Fivaz reopen the investigation into Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s alleged 
involvement in the murder of Stompie Seipei.

Correction: A previous version of this article claimed that Ramon Leon had 
sentenced Solomon Mahlangu to death. Leon turned down Mahlangu’s appeal of his 
death sentence. The Mail & Guardian regrets the error.

(source: The Mail & Guardian)




IRAQ----executions

Iraq executes 13 people, 11 on terror charges


Iraq executed 13 individuals, 11 of whom on terror convictions, the Ministry of 
Justice announced on Monday.

“The Ministry of Justice, today Monday, announced the execution of 13 convicts 
following the completion of legal measures. There were 11 convicts of terrorist 
crimes, including car bombing, assassination of security members or 
kidnappings,” the ministry announced.

This is the latest execution announcement in Iraq where many convicted members 
of ISIS have been handed death sentences in recent months.

In February, a criminal court sentenced 15 Turkish women to death after finding 
them guilty of membership in ISIS.

In the southern city of Nasiriyah 38 prisoners convicted of affiliation with 
ISIS were executed in December and 42 in September.

Human rights monitors have criticized the use of the death penalty and voiced 
concerns that due process has been followed in the cases.

“Under international law, the death penalty may only be imposed after a strict 
set of substantive and procedural requirements have been met,” Zeid Ra’ad al 
Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said responding to the 
execution of 42 prisoners in 1 day in September.

Saying it was “extremely doubtful” that all the trials had been fair and 
followed due process, Hussein added, “In such circumstances, there is a clear 
risk of a gross miscarriage of justice.”

Baghdad has dismissed the international criticism. The Iraqi Ministry of 
Justice vowed that it is “moving forward with implementing the sentences,” 
regardless of external pressure.

Iraq is among the countries that carried out the most executions in 2017, 
coming 4th after China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, according to Amnesty 
International.

(source: rudaw.net)

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

A 10-Minute Trial, a Death Sentence: Iraqi Justice for ISIS Suspects


The 42-year-old housewife had two minutes to defend herself against charges of 
supporting the Islamic State.

Amina Hassan, a Turkish woman in a flowing black abaya, told the Iraqi judge 
that she and her family had entered Syria and Iraq illegally and lived in the 
Islamic State’s so-called caliphate for more than two years. But, she added: “I 
never took money from Islamic State. I brought my own money from Turkey.”

The whole trial lasted 10 minutes before the judge sentenced her to death by 
hanging.

Another accused Turkish woman entered the courtroom. Then another, and another.

Within 2 hours, 14 women had been tried, convicted and sentenced to die.

Iraq’s judicial assembly line has relentlessly churned out terrorism 
convictions since the battlefield victories over the Islamic State last year 
led to the capture of thousands of fighters, functionaries and family members. 
Authorities accuse them of helping to prop up the group’s vicious 3-year rule 
over nearly a third of the country.

As millions of Iraqis struggle to recover from the bloodshed and destruction of 
the period, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has found widespread public support 
for his push to step up the pace of prosecutions — and for punishments to the 
full extent of the law, which in Iraq means execution.

“These Islamic State criminals committed crimes against humanity and against 
our people in Iraq, in Mosul and Salahuddin and Anbar, everywhere,” said Gen. 
Yahya Rasool, the spokesman for the Iraqi joint operations command. “To be 
loyal to the blood of the victims and to be loyal to the Iraqi people, 
criminals must receive the death penalty, a punishment that would deter them 
and those who sympathize with them.”

But critics say the perfunctory trials in special counterterrorism courts are 
sweeping up bystanders and relatives as well as fighters, and executing most of 
them in a process more concerned with retribution than justice.

The office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned 
that flaws in the judicial process would most likely lead to “irreversible 
miscarriages” of justice.

Human Rights Watch has criticized Iraq for relying on an overly broad law to 
quickly achieve the maximum punishment of the most people.

The nation’s counterterrorism law allows the death penalty for anyone “who 
commits, incites, plans, finances or assists in acts of terrorism.” So Iraqi 
courts are meting out one-size-fits-all punishment for the perpetrator of 
crimes against humanity as well for as the wife of an Islamic State fighter who 
may have had little say in her husband’s career.

“Individual circumstances don’t matter,” said Belkis Wille, the senior 
researcher for Iraq for Human Rights Watch. “Cooks, medical workers, everyone 
is given the death penalty.”

The low bar for conviction under the law, she said, also means that the courts 
are not bothering to investigate some of the worst crimes believed to have been 
committed by Islamic State members, such as slavery, rape or extrajudicial 
killings.

Iraq’s Justice Ministry rejects such criticism and touts the integrity of its 
judges and its standards of due process. “If there is evidence then suspects 
are prosecuted, and if there is no evidence then they are released,” said 
Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, a judge and Justice Ministry spokesman.

The government has not released statistics about its terrorism detainees, but 
two people familiar with the court who were not authorized to speak to 
journalists said that approximately 13,000 people had been detained on 
suspicion of ties to the Islamic State since 2017, when the vast majority of 
arrests were made.

Human Rights Watch estimated in December that at least 20,000 people accused of 
ties to the Islamic State were being held by the Iraqi authorities. Last month, 
The Associated Press reported that Iraq had detained or imprisoned at least 
19,000 people since 2014 on accusations of connections to the Islamic State or 
other terrorism-related offenses.

Many of these detainees were arrested on the battlefield. Some were detained 
far from combat, based on information gleaned from informers and prison 
interrogations.

Iraqi intelligence officials say that high-value detainees, people accused of 
involvement in specific terrorist attacks, are held separately from the 
majority of prisoners, who are suspected of having been low-level cogs in the 
Islamic State bureaucracy.

Since the summer of 2017, more than 10,000 cases have been referred to the 
courts, the people familiar with the court said. To date, they said, 
approximately 2,900 trials have been completed, with a conviction rate of about 
98 %.

They did not say how many had received the death penalty, nor how many 
executions had been carried out.

The government said 11 people were executed on Monday for “terrorism crimes,” 
fulfilling “the government’s promise to kill those responsible for shedding 
Iraqi blood,” the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

Among those held apart from the general prison population are approximately 
1,350 foreign women and 580 children, the majority of whom surrendered to Iraqi 
security forces last August during military operations to liberate the town of 
Tal Afar. The vast majority of these detainees are Turkish, Russian and Central 
Asian.

Iraq says it is determined to try them if evidence links them to the Islamic 
State, but some of their home countries, including Saudi Arabia, have requested 
extradition for some of their citizens. Other countries, like Britain and 
France, have been reluctant to take their citizens back, officials from both 
countries said.

In rare cases, individuals have been returned to their home countries, such as 
a group of four Russian women and 27 children in February, after Iraqi 
authorities concluded they had been tricked into coming to Islamic State 
territory. Turkey has been working to repatriate minors whose parents took them 
to the caliphate, as well as those found innocent of wrongdoing.

For a nation that for more than 15 years has been an incubator for Islamist 
extremists and has been torn apart by terrorist bombings, Iraqis have little 
appetite for leniency or concern about mitigating circumstances that in other 
nations could be grounds for clemency. Foreigners in particular are widely 
assumed to have been the Islamic State’s most fervent adherents since they 
moved here to join the caliphate.

“What concerns me the most in these trials is that the system is fundamentally 
prejudiced against foreign individuals,” said Ms. Wille, who has observed 
dozens of terrorism trials. “The presumption is because you are foreign, and 
you were in ISIS territory, there is no need to provide more evidence.”

The 14 women convicted in one afternoon this month, 12 Turks and two 
Azerbaijanis ranging from 20 to 44 years old, had lived in Raqqa, the former 
capital of the group’s territory in Syria. When international airstrikes 
escalated there and several of their husbands were killed, they moved to Iraq 
and were among those who surrendered outside Tal Afar.

Gaunt, withdrawn and surrounded by plainclothes security guards, they waited in 
the florescent-lit hallways of Baghdad’s counterterrorism court for their 
trials to start. Eleven toddlers who had spent the last eight months in 
detention with their mothers accompanied them to the court.

When Ms. Hassan was called, she handed her child to another detainee to look 
after. The other women cooed and hummed to try to placate her curly-haired 
toddler. Some appeared to whisper prayers.

Their state-appointed lawyer, Ali Sultan, said he had not prepared for the 
trials. He said he had no access to the evidence against his clients because 
information related to terrorism investigations is classified.

He added that his pay — $25 regardless of whether the case goes to appeal — 
hardly encourages much effort. The fee is paid only after the final appeal is 
exhausted or the client is executed which, despite the push to expedite trials, 
can take months if not years.

After Ms. Hassan was sentenced by Judge Ahmed al-Ameri, he swiftly dispensed 
with the rest of the docket.

Negar Mohammed told him that she was innocent of all Islamic State crimes; he 
ruled otherwise.

Nazli Ismail told the judge that her husband pushed her family to go to Syria. 
Three of her children were killed in an airstrike, she said. The only one to 
survive was her youngest, a 2-year-old boy named Yahya, who was waiting outside 
in the hallway.

Judge Ameri asked, “Are you innocent or guilty?”

“I’m innocent,” Ms. Ismail replied.

The judge sentenced her to death.

Ms. Ismail accepted her fate with a smile. “This means I will finally go to 
heaven,” she said.

Mother and child left the courthouse under armed guard. It was unclear what 
would happen to the child.

(source: New York Times)





IRAN:

Another Political Prisoner in Iran Is Unfairly Handed a Death Sentence


A 24-year-old Kurdish citizen who is currently in prison has had the death 
sentence he was handed upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court. The
political prisoner, Ramin Hossein Panahi from Iran’s Kurdish minority, has been 
on hunger strike since the end of January when he first learned of his charge.

Panahi was imprisoned and subsequently given a death sentence for being a 
member of Komala, an armed Kurdish opposition group. He has been given a hugely 
unfair trial that did not even last an hour. He was tortured in prison, as 
evident through marks of violence on his body, and the court failed to 
investigate.

He was arrested in June last year after being injured in an ambush carried out 
by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) against the Iranian Kurdistan 
Komala Party. The party, an armed separatist organisation, has been outlawed by 
Iran.

Panahi who was allegedly unarmed was the only survivor of the attack. Three 
others - Behzad Nouri, Hamed Seif Panahi and Sabbah Hossein Panahi – died after 
sustaining insurmountable injuries in the ambush.

Panahi’s lawyer said that his client’s charge was “taking up arms against the 
state” and he was targeted because he was a member of Komala. Hossein Ahmadi 
Niaz said that there was no evidence to indicate that his client was involved 
in any acts that involved intentional killing – the threshold for imposing the 
death sentence according to international law. The lawyer emphasises that 
Panahi has not taken up arms against the regime.

With regards to the torture that his client has been subjected to during 
detainment, Ahmadi Niaz said that the court should have investigated such 
claims, especially before upholding Panahi’s death sentence.

The lawyer is adamant that his client was victim to a trap set up by the 
notorious IRGC. When the vehicle Panahi was travelling in entered Iran from 
Iraq, it was put under surveillance and then ambushed with gunfire when it 
entered Sanandaj.

Furthermore, Panahi was only permitted to meet with his lawyer once, very 
briefly. There were intelligence agents present during the meeting. This in 
itself is a violation of the law where the detainee should be allowed to speak 
to their lawyer in private.

It is unacceptable that anyone in Iran is subjected to such an abuse of the 
law. Courts are in place so that everyone can receive a fair trial with 
independent and impartial officials. However, this is not the case in Iran 
where the ruling authority has the courts under its power. It cannot be 
accepted by the international community that people are sentenced for death 
when there is not a single shred of evidence to say that a detainee is guilty 
of the charges against them.

There are political prisoners put on death row routinely and systematically in 
the Islamic Republic. Panahi is just one more victim of the ruling system that 
is desperate to quash all opposition at any cost. The Kurdish community has 
been particularly targeted as has many other minorities.

(source: NCR-Iran)

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


2 Prisoners in Imminent Danger of Execution


2 prisoners who were sentenced to death on the charge of armed robbery, are 
transferred to the solitary confinement. They are in imminent danger of 
execution.

According to a close source, on the morning of Friday April 13, two prisoners 
named Bahman Varmezyar and Mehdi Cheraghi were transferred to the solitary 
confinement in order to be executed. The prisoners were sentenced to death on 
the charge of Moharebeh through armed robbery.

Farhad Varmezyar, the brother of one of the prisoners whom his execution is 
scheduled for Tuesday, April 17, told IHR, “Bahman had never been arrested for 
anything before. He was an athlete. During the armed robbery, people captured 
one of the thieves and turned him into the police. My brother escaped with the 
jewels but he regretted his action and called the police to tell them that he 
did this and that he wanted to surrender. 18 days later he turned himself in 
and returned the jewels, and the plaintiff gave his consent after finding out 
that Bahman wasn’t a common thief. They never shot anybody at the time of the 
robbery; they just shot in the air.”

He concluded, “After the sentence was issued, we asked Naser Ayatollahs Makarem 
Shirazi, Jafar Sobhani, and Safi Golpayegani for a Fatwa that if a defendant 
repents and he has no criminal records, he shall not be executed and his 
sentence shall be reduced. However, the authorities ignored it. Today, they 
called us to visit my brother for the last time. They have also called Mehdi 
Cheraghi’s family.”

It should be noted that the robbery took place on March 31, 2015, and Bahman 
Varmezyar turned himself in on April 7. During the robbery, 4 people were 
arrested; 2 of them were sentenced to 3 years imprisonment but were released 
after 1 year in prison, and the 2 others were sentenced to death.

(source: Iran Human Rights)




UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Death sentence upheld for Abu Dhabi boy rapist


The court also ordered the killer to pay Dh200,000 in blood money to the 
child's family.

The Pakistani man, who was convicted of strangling a 11-year-old boy to death 
after raping him at the rooftop of their Abu Dhabi building, will be executed, 
according to the latest court ruling.

The Abu Dhabi Appeal Court on Tuesday upheld an earlier verdict by the Criminal 
Court of First Instance which handed the death sentence to the 33-year-old man 
after he was found guilty of murder, rape and a number of other charges. The 
court also ordered the killer to pay Dh200,000 in blood money to the child's 
family.

"The defendant has been found guilty of all the charges against him and the 
court has upheld the ruling and sentences by the Criminal Court of First 
Instance," said the Abu Dhabi Appeal Court judge while issuing the ruling.

The Pakistani boy - identified as Azan Majid - was found missing on June 1, 
2017, after he went to a nearby mosque to pray. His body was found the next day 
on the rooftop of the building on the Muroor Road where he was staying with his 
father and stepmother.

The court records stated that the boy was sexually abused and strangled to 
death with a rope by the Pakistani national, who is also related to the child.

Police revealed that the man cross-dressed to carry out the attacks on the 
child, after luring the boy into going with him to the rooftop of the building.

The Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution had charged the Pakistani with premeditated 
murder, raping the child, cross-dressing and driving a car without a number 
plate.

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance in November last year found the 
Pakistani man guilty on all counts and he was sentenced the death penalty.

The man, however, challenged the ruling denying the charges and stressing that 
he was wrongly convicted.

During a recent appeal court hearing, he pleaded not guilty.

The lawyer representing him also told court that the man was innocent and that 
prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence to convict his client.

The appeal court judge, however, rejected the claims and maintained the first 
ruling based on evidence presented by the prosecutors.

The boy's parents, including his Pakistani father and Russian mother, refused 
to take blood money from the defendant when the appeal court consulted them and 
insisted on the death penalty for the killer.

The Pakistani man can still go on to challenge the execution sentence in the 
Court of Cassation.

(source: Khaleej Times)