[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

August 16



GLOBAL:

Time to work for global abolition of the death penlty


In 1976, after an impassioned, last-minute speech by Prime Minister Pierre 
Trudeau, the House of Commons narrowly passed Bill C-84, abolishing the death 
penalty in Canada. It was abolished after a decade of fierce debate. Sister 
Helen Prejean writes Dead Man Walking and narrates the movie of the same name 
for which Susan Sarandon received an academy award playing the role of Sister 
Helen. Years later I attended a talk by Sister Helen at UQAM in Montreal. She 
was forceful and dynamic in expressing why she was against capital punishment. 
At the end of the Conference I introduced myself as John Walsh, and she adds, 
Father John Walsh? I had no idea how she knew who I was. The story is that she 
attended Divine Word Centre in London Ontario as a student and completed her 
course the year before I began to teach there. Her words:" I have followed your 
career. " I was with CJAD at the time and asked her for an interview. She was 
rushed but accepted a half hour interview. There are 2 things I remember to 
this day.

She began: " I lived in a suburb of New Orleans where life for me was very 
comfortable. I lived with other sisters and we followed an easy schedule of 
work, prayer, and meals together. Then I was transferred to the other side of 
New Orleans. My first night in my new home there was a knock at the door. I 
opened the door and a woman almost bowled me over. That's when I saw she was 
being chased by a man with a knife in his hand. That night my God changed. "

Helen was also very happy to have lived in Canada and was extremely delighted 
to know that Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had passed legislation abolishing 
capital punishment.

In New Orleans her work with residents of the St. Thomas housing project made 
her realize that in order to live up to her faith and ideals, now with a very 
different idea of who God was, that she must shoulder the struggles of the poor 
as if they were her own.

She began to correspond with Patrick Sonnier who was in death row. She becomes 
aware of the cruelty of capital punishment and the widespread abuse and 
injustice of the American judicial system. Witnessing Patrick's execution 
altered Prejean forever. She becomes a full-time anti-death penalty advocate 
and witnesses a 2nd execution, that of Robert Willie. Helen's work to abolish 
the death penalty remains incomplete until she realizes that in addition to 
ministering to the men on death row, she must also try to heal the families of 
their victims.

I can only imagine the happiness she feels today when she reads what Pope 
Francis recently said about the death penalty. Francis declared that the death 
penalty is wrong in all cases, a definitive change in church teaching that is 
likely to challenge faithful Catholic politicians, judges and officials in the 
United States and other countries who have argued that their church was not 
entirely opposed to capital punishment.

Francis said executions were unacceptable in all cases because they are an 
attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. The Church will now work 
with determination for the abolition of capital punishment worldwide.

It could set off a backlash among American Catholic traditionalists who have 
already cast Francis as being dangerously inclined to change or compromise 
church teaching. It could also complicate the lives of judges who are 
practicing Catholics.

In 2015 he said that from the beginning of his ministry he had been led to 
advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. The 
challenge remains today.

(source: Opinion; Father John Walsh, The Suburban)






AUSTRALIA:

Senate hopeful calls for death penalty for murderers, rapists


A controversial Senate hopeful has mounted an online campaign calling for the 
death penalty to be introduced for murderers and people who rape children.

Steve Mav, who ran as a candidate for the Legislative Council seat of Prosser 
earlier this year, will stand as an independent Senate candidate at the looming 
federal election campaign, expected in 2019.

Fairfax Media understands he has paid to boost his social media posts.

On Facebook on Thursday, Mr Mav called for a popular vote on the death penalty, 
saying change was possible and that one just had to look at the postal survey 
on marriage equality for proof.

Prominent LGBTI rights advocate Rodney Croome took umbrage with Mr Mav's 
comments.

"If this raw, hate-platforming populism gathers pace don't blame marriage 
equality advocates," he said.

(source: theadvocate.com.au)






MALAYSIA:

Women charged over Kim Jong Nam murder faces death penalty


2 women charged with murdering the half-brother of North Korea's Supreme Leader 
Kim Jong Un in Malaysia will be forced to defend themselves after a judge 
refused their acquittal. In 2017 Indonesia's Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnam's 
Doan Thi Huong, 29, allegedly wiped VX nerve agent on the face of Kim Jong Nam 
in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The pair face a possible death sentence 
if they are found guilty.

(source: adelaidenow.com.au)




THAILAND:

Malaysian 'Iceman' sentenced to death in Thailand


A Malaysian drug dealer dubbed the "Iceman" was sentenced to death Thursday 
(Aug 16) by a court in Thailand after he was convicted of running a narcotics 
network that funnelled huge profits into legitimate businesses.

Tun Hung Seong was arrested in April last year after a tip-off that he had 
hired a man to smuggle nearly 300kg of crystal meth - known as ice - through 
the violence-scarred south.

Investigators believe he acted as a gatekeeper to the Malaysian drug market 
just over the border and laundered money through karaoke bars, hotels and 
restaurants.

The Bangkok court convicted Tun, 65, on drug trafficking charges alongside 2 
Thai women and a Taiwanese man.

All 4 were sentenced to death, although the sentences of the Taiwanese man and 
one of the Thai women were reduced to life imprisonment due to their "useful" 
confessions.

Situated along the drug-running routes of the "Golden Triangle," Thailand 
provides overland routes for the smuggling of meth from factories in lawless 
parts of neighbouring Myanmar and Laos, in a trade estimated to be worth US$40 
billion a year.

Drug seizures across the region have shot up to record levels in recent months.

Malaysian authorities in May said they seized a record 1.2 tonnes of crystal 
meth from Myanmar hidden in tea packets, believed to be the largest ever in the 
country in terms of value and weight.

Thailand torched more than 6 tonnes of narcotics in June, most of it meth.

>From October to July this year, some 1,705 drug cases were reported in the 
kingdom, compared to 453 in the same period the year before.

Suspects convicted of serious drug offences face harsh sentences in Thailand in 
one of its many overcrowded prisons.

The country carried out its 1st execution since 2009 in June, after previously 
sending signals it would abolish the practice.

(source: channelnewsasia.com)






LIBYA:

Libyan court sentences 45 to death over protest killings----54 people sentenced 
to 5 years in prison over killings of about 20 people in 2011, as 22 others 
acquitted.


A Libyan court has sentenced 45 people to death by firing squad for killings 
committed in the capital, Tripoli, during the 2011 uprising

The statement published by the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday did not give 
any further details about the case.

However, an official said the sentences were linked to killings perpetrated by 
forces loyal to former ruler Muammar Gaddafi shortly before he was toppled.

A further 54 people were sentenced to 5 years in prison over the deaths of at 
least 20 people, while 22 others were acquitted.

Defence lawyers and relatives of the accused were present for the verdict, but 
the defendants were not in court.

A picture of the proceedings posted by the ministry showed 2 guards with large 
guns standing close to black-robed judges inside the courtroom.

It is not known whether other death sentences handed down in Libya since 2011 
have been carried out.

Rights group Amnesty International, in its latest annual report, described 
Libya's court system as "dysfunctional."

The group said many suspects had been held since 2011 with no judicial 
oversight or means to challenge the legality of their detention.

(source: Reuters)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi Arabia's death penalty


6 men were pushed before the watching eyes of countless men, women, and 
children - they were thieves and murders, and they were set to be executed in 
public. The style of execution? Beheading.

1 might expect such a scene from medieval England or ancient China, but this 
particular anecdote? Early June 2017 in Saudi Arabia.

6 men publicly executed in a single day - it brought the country's death toll 
via capital punishment up to 44.

Saudi Arabia remains one of the most prolific users of capital punishment, and 
it is based on a literal interpretation of Sharia law integrated into the 
government. Sometimes this is followed up with a crucifixion of the headless 
body after the execution, as was seen recently during the controversy between 
the Middle Eastern country and Canada when a man accused of murder was beheaded 
and then hung on a cross.

Just behind China and Iran, Saudi Arabia takes third place in the number of 
death penalties carried out in the world, according to Amnesty International. 
In fact, they said that, "Excluding China, 84% of all reported executions took 
place in just 4 countries - Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Pakistan." Amnesty 
International also says that "the proceedings [which lead to the death penalty] 
did not meet international fair trial standards." In 2017, they executed a 
recorded 146 people.

There are a number of crimes in Saudi Arabia that can get someone the death 
penalty, though they do not always get that far. These crimes include murder, 
atheism, treason, rape, drug smuggling, burglary, witchcraft, and sometimes 
adultery - this is not an all-inclusive list.

Homosexuality is also taught in many places in Saudi Arabia as being punishable 
by death. However, the punishment for this "crime" can range anywhere between 
prison time, lashings, fines - all the way up to death. In early 2017, 2 
Pakistani transgender people were allegedly tortured and killed. This was after 
a police raid which wound up arresting 35 transgender people.

The country's history is punctuated with instances of mass executions as well. 
In 2016, 43 people were beheaded on accounts of terrorism, and 4 were shot by a 
firing squad.

The extensive use of capital punishment has come under international criticism 
time and time again, not only because of the method, frequency, and charges 
under which they execute people (not to mention any international pushes to ban 
the death penalty outright) but also because of many specific cases that have 
come under question. Examples of this include political protesters or their 
notoriously vague definition of terrorism, which still warrants execution.

(source: sofrep.com)






IRAN:

Iranian Lawyers: Kurdish Dissident's Prison Transfer Violated Rights


Iranian lawyers who say they are representing an Iranian Kurdish dissident 
facing a death sentence have criticized authorities for transferring him to a 
prison near Tehran, far from his home.

Exiled Iranian rights group Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil 
Prisoners published a statement from the 3 lawyers about the case of Ramin 
Hossein Panahi on Wednesday. In it, Hossein Ahmadiniaz, Osman Mozayan and 
Maziyar Tataei said they learned from Panahi's family that he had been 
transferred Monday from a prison in the northwestern city of Sanandaj to Rajaei 
Shahr prison in Karaj, on the western outskirts of the Iranian capital.

Transferred without consent

The lawyers said Panahi's transfer to Karaj, a more than 500 kilometer drive 
from his hometown, happened without his consent and prior notice to his family. 
They said judicial authorities who carried out the transfer violated 
regulations that say prisoners should be detained near to home and family 
unless they request a transfer to another location.

The regulations of Iran's Prisons Organization say authorities can initiate a 
process to transfer an inmate between prisons if the inmate's presence in the 
original prison poses a threat to the host city and if necessary approvals are 
obtained from senior judicial officials. But the 3 lawyers said they saw no 
signs of such a transfer process being followed in Panahi's case when they 
reviewed relevant documents and met with a senior official of Kurdistan 
province, whose capital is Sanandaj.

Iranian authorities had no immediate comment in state media about the move of 
Panahi, whose case has drawn global attention and appeals from international 
rights activists to Tehran to annul his death sentence.

Signs of torture

Panahi was arrested in June 2017 for belonging to Iranian Kurdish nationalist 
group Komala and allegedly drawing a weapon against Iranian security forces 
operating in northwestern Iran's predominantly ethnic Kurdish region. He was 
sentenced to death by a Sanandaj Revolutionary court in January.

International rights group Amnesty International has said Panahi was sentenced 
after what it called a "grossly unfair trial" that lasted less than an hour. It 
quoted Panahi's family members as saying he appeared in court with torture 
marks on his body and was denied an investigation into accusations that he had 
been forced into confessing to the crime of taking up arms against the state.

(source: voanews.com)






VIETNAM:

Politically-motivated case against environmental activist must be dropped


Ahead of tomorrow's trial in Nghe An province of environmental rights activist, 
Le Dinh Luong, accused of taking part in activities aimed at "overthrowing the 
state", Clare Algar, Amnesty International's Director of Global Operations, 
said:

"For peacefully campaigning on behalf of fishermen affected by an environmental 
disaster, Le Dinh Luong could face a life sentence or even the death penalty. 
This is a patently unjust and politically-motivated case that should be dropped 
and Le Dinh Luong must be released immediately and unconditionally.

"There are also serious concerns over whether Le Dinh Luong can expect a fair 
trial. Having spent more than a year in police custody, he has only had access 
to a defence lawyer for little more than a month."

Background

Le Dinh Luong, 52, is a veteran and an activist who campaigned for compensation 
for affected fishermen in the wake of the Formosa environmental disaster in 
2016, which saw toxic waste dumped in Viet Nam's waterways by Taiwanese 
company, Formosa. The incident sparked a huge social movement in Viet Nam, 
leading to a crackdown bv authorities that resulted in around 40 arrests and 
forced dozens of people to flee the country.

Le Dinh Luong was arrested for "activities attempting to overthrow the state" 
on 24 July 2017, under Article 79 of the 1999 Criminal Code. Denied any access 
to his family, he was held in incommunicado detention for almost a year, and 
was only granted access to a defence lawyer in early July 2018.

In addition to his environmental activism, Le Dinh Luong has also campaigned on 
behalf of Viet Nam's political prisoners and against laws limiting freedom of 
expression.

(source: Amnesty International)

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

Vietnam arrests trans-national drug smuggler


Police of Vietnam's central highlands Dak Lak province have detained a 
38-year-old woman from northern Bac Kan province for transporting heroin from 
Laos to Vietnam.

Phan Thi Dao was detained on Tuesday when she was transporting 22 cakes of 
heroin hidden in a power generator on an interprovincial coach to Ho Chi Minh 
City, Dak Lak police said Wednesday.

The detainee said she was hired by a Vietnamese woman to go to Laos via a 
border gate in the central region, buy the heroin, carry the drug to Vietnam 
through another border gate in the central highlands region, and transport it 
to Ho Chi Minh City with a wage of 50 million Vietnamese dong (nearly 2,200 
U.S. dollars).

Dao confessed that before her arrest on Tuesday, using the same route and 
trick, she had successfully transported heroin from Laos to Ho Chi Minh City 
twice. A cake of heroin weighs 340 to 350 grams.

According to Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of 
heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making 
or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces 
death penalty.

(source: xinhuanet.com)