[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

December 14



INDONESIA:

FACING FIRING SQUAD British designer faces DEATH PENALTY in Bali after being 
found with cannabis oil----The 45-year-old man, named only as PMH, was 
reportedly arrested after receiving a package containing CBD oil from an 
address in Thailand



A Brit is facing the death penalty in Bali after being accused of smuggling 
drugs into the country, Indonesian officials say.

The 45-year-old man, who has not been named, was collared after he received a 
package containing bottles of cannabis oil from Thailand, it is claimed.

The man appeared at a Bali police station on Thursday alongside 4 other foreign 
men accused of trafficking drugs.

His initials were given as PMH and he is reportedly a designer from England.

The other men paraded for the cameras were from China, Germany, Malaysia and 
Peru.

The man, who has only been identified as PMH, is reportedly a designer from 
England

All 5 were arrested separately over the past fortnight and were made to wear 
orange jumpsuits and black masks during the press conference.

Indonesia has strict drug laws, and it routinely executes people convicted of 
smuggling or dealing.

Local media said the Brit was arrested after a package from Thailand was 
intercepted at a post office in Renon, Bali, on November 30.

Police claim the package was addressed to the British man, and an X-ray 
revealed that it contained two bottles with a yellowish, thick liquid, Merdeka 
reports.

The liquid, weighing over 30kg, was tested and it was confirmed to be cannabis, 
according to Balinese cops.

CBD cannabis oil is a substance extracted from the cannabis plant by steam 
distillation.

Cannabis oil is usually consumed orally, and has a very distinct taste.

This low-concentrate version of the oil is available to buy in the UK and is 
not illegal.

Products in the UK are required to contain less than 0.05% THC.

THC (or Tetrahydrocannabinol) is the psychoactive component in cannabis that 
makes users feel "high".

There have been high profile calls for higher concentration oil to be made 
legal.

Cannabis oil can be beneficial in a variety of ways, from helping promote sleep 
to boosting appetite and reducing stress, anxiety and depression.

It is also said to have skincare benefits, such as preventing signs of ageing 
and protecting against eczema and psoriasis, so can also be applied to the 
surface of the skin.

Doctors in England, Wales and Scotland have been able to prescribe 
cannabis-derived medicine from November 1, 2018.

Earlier this year Holland and Barrett recently started stocking Dutch brand 
Jacob Hooy's CBD (cannabidiol) oil.

They advise on their packaging: "CBD+ Oil has a 'distinctive' taste - have a 
small drink of water after taking the oil and the taste will be gone within 30 
seconds."

Officers said the package was sent by someone with the initials HP.

The 44-year-old Peruvian national, named as Jorge Rafael Albornoz Gammara, was 
arrested after he arrived at Ngurah Rai international airport from Dubai last 
week.

He was hiding 4.08 kilograms of cocaine inside the interior of his luggage, AFP 
reported.

Frank Zeidler, 56, of Germany, is accused of smuggling 2.1 kilograms of hashish 
inside his luggage on a flight from Bangkok.

Cui Bao Lin, 29, from China was arrested at the airport on Saturday with more 
than 200 ecstasy pills and more than 160 grams of ketamine found in his bag, 
police said.

Hamdi Izham Hakimi, from Malaysia, was arrested the same day with a bag 
containing nearly 15 grams of marijuana and 11 ecstasy pills, according to 
authorities.

(source: themirror.co.uk)








SOUTH SUDAN:

Execution spree targets even children and threatens nursing mothers



Between 7 and 10 December 2018 in various media articles, South Sudan’s 
government denied Amnesty International’s findings on the use of the death 
penalty. In one article, government spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny said that no 
one had been executed in South Sudan since 2011 and that the government had put 
a moratorium on the death penalty since 2013. In the same article, he however 
said “If you kill a person, you will be executed.”

In another article, Ateny said “the South Sudan government cannot carry out 
executions because it has signed the international charter.” In response to 
Amnesty’s finding that a person who had been a child at the time of the crime 
was among the seven people executed in 2018, Ateny said that "the culture of 
South Sudan cannot accept it."

Amnesty International received credible information from multiple independent 
sources that these executions took place. Our findings are based on interviews 
with legal professionals and government officials working in the justice sector 
in South Sudan as well as desk-based research. Our research also uncovered 
violations of national and international law by the South Sudanese government.

Amnesty now urges the South Sudanese authorities to use these findings as a 
prompt to investigate the use of the death penalty more closely instead of 
resorting to denying the truth. We urge the government to use the findings as 
an opportunity to take positive steps to abolish the death penalty and 
establish an actual official moratorium on executions. The government must also 
immediately put in place measures that will ensure the death penalty is not 
used against persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the 
crime.

Original text

South Sudan has carried out more executions this year than it has done in any 
year since gaining independence in 2011, with a child among 7 people known to 
have been executed so far in 2018, Amnesty International revealed in a briefing 
published today.

Amnesty International fears for the lives of another 135 people on death row, 
who have this year been rounded up from other prisons across the country to 2 
prisons notorious for executions.

“It is extremely disturbing that the world’s youngest nation has embraced this 
outdated, inhuman practice and is executing people, even children, at a time 
when the rest of the world is abandoning this abhorrent punishment,” said Joan 
Nyanyuki, Amnesty International’s Director for East Africa, the Horn and the 
Great Lakes.

“The President of South Sudan must stop signing execution orders and end this 
obvious violation of the right to life.”

Amnesty International has established that at least 342 people are currently 
under the sentence of death in South Sudan, more than double the number 
recorded in 2011.

Last year, South Sudanese authorities executed four people, two of whom were 
children at the time of the crimes for which they were convicted. The 
executions were a blatant violation of national and international laws, which 
strictly forbid the execution of anyone who was below the age of 18 at the time 
of their alleged crime.

This year Amnesty International interviewed a 16-year-old boy, who is 
languishing on death row at Juba Central Prison, after being convicted of 
murder. Waiting for his appeal to be considered by the court, he described the 
crime as an accident.

“Before the accident, I was in secondary school. I was a runner, a very good 
one and I was also a singer of gospel and earthly songs. […] My own aim was to 
study and do things that can help others. My hope is to be out and to continue 
with my school,” he said. He said he had told the judge that he was 15 during 
his trial.

The use of the death penalty against people who were children at the time of 
the crime is strictly prohibited under international human rights law and South 
Sudan’s 2011 Transitional Constitution. Article 37(a) of the Convention on the 
Rights of a Child, to which South Sudan is a party, stipulates that ‘neither 
capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall 
be imposed for offences committed by persons below 18 years of age’.

State-sanctioned killings

Since independence in 2011, South Sudanese courts have sentenced at least 140 
people to death, and the authorities have executed at least 32 people.

This year’s spate of state-sanctioned killings seems to have been sparked by a 
directive by the Director-General of the National Prison Service of South Sudan 
on 26 April 2018. In it, he ordered all death row prisoners held at county and 
state prisons to be moved to two of the country’s most notorious death chambers 
- Wau Central Prison and Juba Central Prison.

In May, 98 death row prisoners were transferred from Kuajok, Tonj, Rumbek and 
Aweil state prisons in Bahr el Ghazal region, in the north-western part of the 
country, to Wau Central Prison.

Another 37 death row prisoners, including at least one child and a 
breastfeeding mother, were also transferred from prisons in the Equatoria 
region in the south of the country to Juba Central Prison. Thirty-four people 
were moved from Torit State Prison in September 2018 and three from Kapoeta 
State Prison in November 2018 to Juba.

“The transfer of 135 death row prisoners to prisons in Juba and Wau where all 
executions have taken place so far is deeply alarming. The South Sudanese 
government must immediately establish an official moratorium on executions, 
commute all death sentences to prison terms and abolish the death penalty 
altogether,” said Joan Nyanyuki.

Any attempt to execute a breastfeeding woman would also contravene South 
Sudanese law and international human rights law and standards.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception 
regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or 
the method used by the state to execute the prisoner. The death penalty - the 
premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name 
of justice - is the most fundamental denial of human rights. It violates the 
right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is 
the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

Background

In South Sudan, the Penal Code provides for the use of the death penalty for 
murder; bearing false witness resulting in an innocent person’s execution or 
for fabricating such evidence or using as true evidence known to be false; 
terrorism (or banditry, insurgency or sabotage) resulting in death; aggravated 
drug trafficking; and treason.

Hanging is the method of execution provided for in the Code of Criminal 
Procedure. Before a person sentenced to death can be executed, the Supreme 
Court and the President must confirm the death sentence.

(source: Amnesty International)








NIGERIA:

Court Sentences 24yr-Old Man To Death By Hanging For Killing Stepmother



A Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos on Thursday sentenced a 24-year-old 
man, Binfa Lamde, to death by hanging for killing his stepmother.

Justice A. I. Ashoms, who handed down the judgment, declared that the 
prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Lamde killed the woman.

“Going by the facts before this court, you, Binfa Lamde, mercilessly took the 
life of your stepmother, Mrs. Kum Zwade, in cold blood.

“This sentence is mandatory; the law states that any person convicted of murder 
shall be punished with death by hanging.

“The sentence of this court upon you is that you will be hanged until you are 
dead,’’ Ashoms declared.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convict was first arraigned 
on July 14, 2014, charged with culpable homicide, contrary to section 221 of 
the Penal Code, and punishable with death upon conviction.

Lamde was said to have committed the crime on April 10, 2014, when he used a 
machete to hack his stepmother to death.

Lamde, a resident of Ngwak village, Langtang North, in his confessional 
statement to the Police, said that he was at home on the said date when he 
heard his step sister, one Chakwai Zamde, screaming in her room.

“I ran to her and she told me she was not feeling fine. We took her to the 
hospital, but after several checks, we were told that nothing was medically 
wrong with her.

“We later took her to a native doctor, but her health condition kept 
deteriorating. My stepmother later confessed that she had `tied’ the sick girl 
through witchcraft.

“We asked her to 'untie' the girl, but she refused. My son was equally sick at 
that time and I felt she was also responsible. So, when my step sister died, I 
got very angry.

“I went into her (late stepmother)’s room, while she was sleeping, and used a 
machete to stab her all over her head and she died instantly,’’ the Police 
quoted Lamde as saying in the statement.

Counsel to the convict, Mr David Adudu, while speaking with newsmen after the 
judgment, said that the capital punishment handed down on the convict was right 
as he was found guilty of the crime.

Adudu, however, said that he would study the judgement and appeal the death 
penalty.

(source: independent.ng)




SINGAPORE:

Myanmar national hacked to death



A Myanmar national was hacked to death at a house in Taman Sintar, here, early 
this morning, following a fight with his fellow countryman.

The victim, a UNHCR cardholder, was identified as Varajami, 24.

Police believed revenge was the motive of the attack as 2 machetes were found 
next to the deceased.

Seberang Prai Selatan district police chief Superintendent Shafee Abdul Samad 
said police received a call at about 2.25am today, informing them of a fight at 
a double-storey terrace house in Lorong 8 of the residential area located next 
to an oil palm plantation.

The caller claimed the incident happened at about 2.20am.

He said the deceased was staying with his younger brother, who was asleep in a 
room on the top floor during the incident and was unaware of the attack.

"When we arrived at the scene, we found the deceased lying in a pool of blood 
and there were slash wounds all over his body.

"We also found 2 parang (machetes) on the left side of his body, next to a 
chair in the living room.

"We believed the attack was an act of revenge," he told newsmen today.

Shafee said the deceased’s remains were sent to the Seberang Jaya Hospital for 
post-mortem.

Meanwhile, in a follow up operation, Shafee said police arrested 2 Myanmar 
nationals, believed to be involved in the attack, some 2 hours after the 
incident in the Nibong Tebal town.

"Another Myanmar national, who is also a suspect, was detained at the Penang 
Hospital," he added, noting that all 3 were between 20 and 24 years old.

The case is investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, which 
carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

(source: New Straits Times)








MALAYSIA:

Malaysian’s abolition of death penalty and the argument against it being a 
deterrence to crime



Back in mid October 2018, Malaysia's de-facto Law Minister Liew Vui Keong had 
announced that the newly elected Malaysian government planned to abolish the 
death penalty which was currently employed by its legal system as punishment 
for severe crimes such as murder, illegal firearms possessions, drug 
trafficking etc. With that one rather controversial statement, the issue of 
death penalty was once again back under intense spotlight , especially in south 
east Asia.

Prior to 2018, neighbours Malaysia along with Indonesia shared Singapore's firm 
stance on the use of the death penalty as a necessity tool in deterring heinous 
crimes. President Joko Widodo of Indonesia would not budge when pressed for a 
stay of execution by the Australian government for the famous Bali nine drug 
smugglers back in 2015. Against worldwide objections Indonesia went ahead with 
the execution of the Australian drug smugglers.

Worldwide condemnation descended on Indonesia as Australia cried foul over the 
execution of nine of its citizens by a firing squad. Application of the death 
penalty on foreign nationals has always been controversial and Singapore knows 
this very well indeed. Since 1991, more than 400 prisoners have been executed 
in Singapore and a significant number of those prisoners were foreigners. 
International attention on the number of executed prisoners is great due to 
Singapore's small population of only 5.6 million. Thus Singapore would always 
be on the radar whenever the issue of death penalty is brought up.

Amnesty International has always opposed the use of the death penalty worldwide 
without exception. It believes that the death penalty is an act of revenge 
rather than a means of achieving justice for victims of crimes. Scientific 
studies have not been able to prove that the death penalty is effective in 
curbing heavy crimes such as murder, drug trafficking, robbery etc. In fact 
criminologists have long argued that the best way to deter crimes is to 
increase the certainty of detection, arrest and conviction.

Hong Kong would be a very good and clear example as to how the abolishment of 
the death penalty has not resulted in an increased crime rate.

In a finding by a study in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies dated March 
2010, Hong Kong and Singapore were used as sample cases due to the 2 city 
states' similarities.

The death penalty was legally abolished by the Hong Kong government in 1993 but 
it must be noted that the last time Hong Kong had carried out an execution was 
all the way back in 1966.

The study had found that the homicide levels and trend in Hong Kong and 
Singapore were "remarkably" similar with the former having ceased meting out 
the death penalty in the mid 60s.

While Hong Kong may attribute its low murder rate due to efficient and 
professional police work, Singapore stands firm on the belief that issue of the 
death penalty is not about human rights but rather its prerogative to use in 
curbing crime, especially drug trafficking in its island republic.

Despite the government's insistence on maintaining the death penalty, 
drug-related crimes remain high. The European Institute For Crime Prevention 
And Control puts Singapore's drug-related crimes as being worse than countries 
such as Costa Rica and Turkey in 2010. This was in line with the Central 
Narcotics Bureau's (CNB) report of record-high drug seizures in 2012. The total 
drug haul was a 14% increase than 2011 and just last year in 2017, CNB had 
managed to cripple a staggering 23 drug syndicates. The statistics somewhat 
proved that stricter law enforcement, even in the form of the death penalty did 
not seem to have any bearing on curbing a heinous crime such as drug 
trafficking.

Human rights proponents have long argued that in drug-related offences, it is 
almost always the drug mules who are caught and sent to the courts to await 
conviction. The true masterminds of the drug trade are harder to track and 
arrest. And so it appears that the death penalty unfairly punishes those who 
were forced into the drug trade due to a harsh socio-economic background.

According to the Central Narcotics Bureau back in February 2018, close to two 
thirds of new drug abusers were aged under 30. This signals a very worrying 
trend despite the harsh laws that are in place and strongly calls for active 
discussions, studies and efforts into understanding the reasons youngsters 
resort to drug abuse. Factors such as lack or absence of education, poor 
economic background, weak family units and unconducive living environment may 
all contribute to this national drug problem.

As Malaysia joins 106 other countries in permanently doing away with this form 
of punishment most of the world deem as barbaric and ineffective in preventing 
crimes, Singapore will continue to practice it as part of its justice system. 
It is an Asean policy to respect and not interfere in the governing of its 
member states so Singapore would not be facing any objections from its 
South-east Asian allies at least. It will, however, be subjected to the same 
arguments and undue attention so long as the world moves towards the total 
abolishment of the death penalty.

"Singapore recognizes that the death penalty is a severe penalty and cannot be 
remedied in the event of any mistake in its application. That is why we have 
used it sparingly and only for the most heinous crimes."

Letter dated 27 October 1999 from the Permanent Representative of Singapore to 
the United Nations, addressed to the President of the General Assembly, UN 
reference: A/C.3/54/5

"...the right to life is not the only right, and [...] it is the duty of 
societies and governments to decide how to balance competing rights against 
each other." (12)"

Letter addressed to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or 
arbitrary executions and circulated in 2001 at the 57th session of the 
Commission on Human Rights by the Permanent Representative of the Republic of 
Singapore to the UN.

(source: Opinion; Sim Soo See, theonlinecitizen.com)








INDIA:

IT’S COMPLICATED----The SC will have to answer whether absence of political 
will is sufficient to override the right to life

The moral foundation of judicial killing has been questioned and it has been 
judged untenable in many countries. In 2007, the UN General Assembly passed a 
resolution calling for a moratorium on the administration of the death penalty 
by the 59 countries that still retained it. India is one of them, even if it 
does not employ it as frequently as countries such as Iran, China, Pakistan, 
Saudi Arabia, and the U.S.

Only a few political parties have demanded the abolition of the death penalty 
in India, including the Communist parties and the DMK. B.R. Ambedkar, in the 
Constituent Assembly debates, opposed it on the principle of non-violence. The 
Congress opposed it in 1931, after Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were 
executed, but has not moved for its abolition during its multiple terms as a 
ruling party.

Constitutional scepticism

An eye for an eye has ancient appeal. Following the gang rape of a young woman 
in Delhi in December 2012, amendments were made to the Indian Penal Code adding 
the death penalty for certain categories of rapes and repeat offenders. This 
year India introduced the death penalty for those who rape minors. The 
polarised debate that surrounded Yakub Menon’s execution in 2015 was yet 
another reminder of the pervasive popularity of the idea.

In 1962, the Law Commission supported the death penalty stating that India’s 
particular circumstances were such that it could not “experiment” with its 
abolition. In 1991, the Supreme Court cited its use in defending law and order 
as the reason for its continuance. Its alleged usefulness extends from being a 
potential deterrent to serving as a primordial need for retribution.

That said, India has looked to the judicial administration of death with 
greater constitutional scepticism. In 1980, in Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, 
a Constitution Bench articulated the “rarest of rare” threshold stating that 
“judges should never be bloodthirsty”. Death must only be imposed where the 
alternative option is unquestionably foreclosed. The question is, under what 
circumstances are the retributive and deterrent effects of a life in prison so 
certainly insufficient that death is the only answer? And can such an answer be 
delivered without human error?

Problems in implementation

Implementation of the death penalty has also been deeply problematic. As the 
recent Death Penalty India Report by the National Law University, Delhi, 
indicates, the structural flaws in our criminal procedure and criminal justice 
system are most pronounced in death penalty cases. Due to biases in criminal 
investigations, the marginalised — whether by religious and caste 
denominations, or class — are disproportionately subject to the death penalty. 
And delays in the criminal justice system disproportionately affect those who 
suffer the tyranny of the uncertainty of their life. India also retains the 
death penalty as an option for non-homicide offences where the instrumentality 
argument is the most attenuated. Even so, the Supreme Court upheld it, as 
recently as 2015, for kidnapping with ransom.

In 2015, the Law Commission called for abolition of the death penalty for 
ordinary crimes, and activists continue to argue for abolishing it altogether. 
Political will in India is still bound by populism. However, the 
constitutionality of the death penalty will continue to be challenged and, 
sooner or later, the Supreme Court will have to answer whether absence of 
political will is sufficient ground to override the right to life.

(source: Opinion; Avi Singh is an advocate who is the Additional Standing 
Counsel for criminal cases for the Government of the NCT of Delhi----The Hindu)








CHINA:

Shanghai man who murdered wife, hid her body in freezer for 3 months appeals 
death sentence----Following the murder, the man assumed his wife's identity on 
social media and used her money to date other women

A Shanghai man is now appealing his death sentence after being convicted of 
murdering his wife and hiding her body in a freezer in their home for the 
following three months while he assumed her identity on social media and in 
text messages with her family.

On October 18th, 2016, 30-year-old Zhu Xiaodong strangled his wife, Yang 
Liping, 30, to death over what was described in court as “trivial” domestic 
arguments less than a year into their marriage. Afterward, he wrapped Yang’s 
body up in a quilt and hid it inside of their freezer. There her body stayed 
for the next 105 days.

During this time, Zhu assumed his wife’s identity on WeChat, replying to text 
messages from her friends and parents who all apparently didn’t suspect a 
thing. Meanwhile, he used money from Yang’s bank accounts to take vacations and 
date other women.

Finally, on February 1st, 2017, Zhu was forced to turn himself in to police, 
knowing that he could no longer keep the charade going after Yang’s father had 
asked the couple over for a birthday dinner that night.

Back in August, Zhu was given the death penalty by the Shanghai No. 2 
Intermediate People’s Court, however, his defense team argues that his sentence 
should be reduced as he has shown regret and Yang’s murder was one of 
“impulse,” not premeditation.

However, prosecutors have said that the death sentence should be maintained, 
noting the extremely heinous nature of Zhu’s crime and the relaxed attitude he 
took afterward. After stuffing his wife’s body in a freezer, Zhu had gone out 
for drinks with a friend. Additionally, on the day that he turned himself in, 
he first “recklessly squandered” money on “personal pleasure,” Shine reports.

Zhu’s appeals trial began on Thursday. The decision will be announced at a 
later date.

Meanwhile, the family of a Tianjin woman who was allegedly killed by her 
husband for 30 million yuan in life insurance money while on vacation in 
Thailand is currently attempting to get the man extradited back to China so it 
is more likely that he will be given the death penalty.

(source: shanghai.ist)