[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 5



PAKISTAN:

2 brothers get death penalty for killing student



A local court on Thursday convicted 2 brothers in a 9th grader murder case and 
awarded them death sentence with Rs1 million fine to be paid to the deceased's 
family.

Additional district and sessions judge Ijaz Ahmad ruled that the prosecution 
had proved its case against the 2 accused, Ismail Khan and Afzal Khan, 
residents of Utla area in Swabi district, and that the evidence available on 
record also connected them with the commission of the offence.

He, however, acquitted the 3rd accused, Hussain Ahmad, due to a lack of 
evidence.

The boy, Aqib Hussain, was murdered in a brutal manner in July 2014 as the 
convicts first tried in vain to strangulate him and later slew him using a 
dagger. They later threw the body down a hill in a bid to conceal murder. The 2 
arrested by the police had made the murder confession before a judicial 
magistrate. The FIR of the murder was registered on July 25, 2014, at the Nara 
Amazai police station in Haripur.

Complainant in the case was the deceased's father, Muhammad Bakhsheed, who had 
accused the 2 brothers, the sons of his cousin, of committing the murder over a 
land dispute.

Mohammad Bakhsheed had told the police that his son had stepped out to bathe in 
a nearby watercourse but didn't return. He said he had reported the matter to 
the local police station but later found the son's body in a ditch near 
Haripur's Ghazi area bordering Swabi district.

(source: dawn.com)

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

Shahzeb Khan murder case: Court seeks details of 'settlement'



A sessions court hearing the Shahzeb Khan murder case has summoned details of 
the out-of-court 'settlement' reached between the families of convict Shahrukh 
Jatoi and the victim.

The court on Friday also summoned a log of the arguments made before the Sindh 
High Court (SHC) in the past.

On December 23, 2017 Shahrukh Jatoi, the son of an influential feudal lord, and 
other defendants in the Shahzeb Khan murder case were released from custody on 
bail after Shahzeb's father submitted an affidavit in support of the 
defendant's bail application.

Shahzeb Khan's father, Aurangzeb Khan, had earlier asked the sessions court to 
not only release the 4 men earlier convicted of his son's murder on bail, but 
also drop the case against them completely, arguing that his family had earlier 
pardoned his son's killers.

Civil activists approach Supreme Court against SHC ruling in Shahzeb murder 
case

Shahzeb was gunned down by Shahrukh Jatoi in a posh locality of Karachi on 
December 25, 2012.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in 2013 had awarded death sentences to Shahrukh 
Jatoi and Siraj Talpur for the murder of Shahzeb, while life sentences were 
awarded to Sajjad Ali Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari.

However, on November 28, 2017 the murder case took a dramatic turn when the SHC 
ordered a retrial, striking down the death penalty awarded to the convicts by 
the ATC.

In its order, the SHC stated that an act of revenge over personal enmity did 
not equate to an act of terrorism.

(source: geo.tv)







MALDIVES:

Maldives ready to carry out executions: minister



The Maldives is ready to carry out executions, local media has reported a 
government minister as saying, ending a 6-decade moratorium on capital 
punishment.

Home Minister Azleen Ahmed told Raajje TV that work has been completed on 
building a place to carry out the death penalty and that executions will resume 
as soon as legal procedures are settled.

3 young men are presently on death row after the Supreme Court upheld their 
sentences in 2016.

Death penalty regulations specify methods of execution as lethal injection and 
hanging.

The government initially decided to implement the death penalty through lethal 
injection, but is now ready to carry out executions by hanging. A special unit 
for the purpose has been built in the high-security Maafushi prison.

President Abdulla Yameen reiterated his vow to reinstate capital punishment 
last August amid growing international concern.

"By God's will...when the Supreme Court concludes [cases] to the point where 
the death penalty can be enforced, our mechanisms and arrangements will be 
complete enough to do it with the advice of the Islamic council and the word of 
the heirs."

The death penalty can only be carried out should all of the murder victim's 
immediate relatives (heirs) choose to take the life of a convicted killer under 
the Islamic principle of Qisas (retaliation in kind).

The rules on carrying out executions state the president is required to order 
the execution within 3 days of a committee signing a document endorsing the 
death sentence. The committee is comprised of the chief prosecutor, the 
commissioner of prisons and the chief justice.

The execution must take place within 7 days of the order. The heirs of the 
victim are given a last opportunity to make their wishes known on the day of 
the execution.

(source: maldivesindependent.com)








SAUDI ARABIA----execution

The Ministry of Interior today executed Saudi national Saad bin Salem bin Saad 
Al-Azizi Al-Matiri for murdering his wife and baby daughter in the Governorate 
of Al-Taif.

The Criminal Court convicted the husband of strangling Saudi Salma bint Saleh 
Al-Thubaiti and her 4-month-old Adal to death and sentenced him to capital 
punishment reported Al Riyadh.

The Court of Appeal and High Court upheld the death penalty which was also 
endorsed by a royal order.

(source: Gulf News)








IRAN----execution

One Prisoner Hanged in Rajai Shahr Prison



On the morning of Thursday, 2 prisoners from Varamin were executed at Rajai 
Shahr Prison. The official media had earlier reported the execution of a 
juvenile offender at the same prison.

According to a close source, on the morning of Thursday January 4, a prisoner 
named Abolfazl Ghorbani was executed at Rajai Shahr Prison. He was sentenced to 
death on the charge of murder and had been in prison for 4 years.

Abolfazl Ghorbani was transferred to solitary confinement along with 2 other 
prisoners named Amir hossein Pourjafar and Mohammad Karimi from ward 10 of 
Rajai Shahr Prison on Monday January 1.

Official media had reported the execution of Amir hossein Pourjafar, who was 
only 16 at the time of the murder. This child offender was sentenced to death 
on the charge of raping and murdering an Afghan child.

Mohammad Karimi who was sentenced to death, delayed his execution by asking for 
time from the plaintiffs. This was the 2nd time he was scheduled to be 
executed. He will be executed if he can't pay 180000$ to the plaintiffs.

"Amir hossein Pourjafar begged Setayesh's father for mercy until the very last 
moment, but her father Said nothing and pulled the stool himself," said a close 
source to Iran Human Right (IHR).

It should be noted that all of these prisoners were from Varamin Prison. The 
execution of Abolfazl Ghorbani has not been announced by the state-run media so 
far.

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

300 Protesters Transferred to Prison in Northwestern Iran



About 300 of the people who were arrested during the recent protests in Tabriz 
and nearby areas were transferred to Tabriz Central Prison yesterday.

According to a close source, about 300 of the people who were arrested during 
the recent protests were transferred to the quarantine ward of Tabriz Central 
Prison. they were all arrested in Tabriz and nearby areas.

"Many of the detainees were wounded and beaten. The condition of at least 5 of 
them was very severe," said an informed source to Iran Human Rights (IHR).

The quarantine ward of Tabriz Prison consists of 3 rooms which can accommodate 
50 people at most. There are only 1 bathroom and 2 toilets in the ward.

On December 28, wave of protests about government corruption, poverty, and cost 
of living began in Mashhad and developed into widespread protests against the 
country's leadership . The protests turned into violence by the security forces 
in several cities. According to the official sources, at least 24 of the 
protesters are dead and hundreds are arrested.

(source for both: Iran Human Rights)








ISRAEL:

Israel's new death penalty bill 'targets Palestinians'



The Israeli government's proposal to make it easier for judges to hand out the 
death penalty for "terrorist activity" has been condemned as "fascist" by 
Palestinian politicians and rights groups, who fear it will give Israel legal 
cover to target Palestinians.

A bill to amend existing legislation regulating the use of the death sentence 
passed its preliminary reading in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, on 
Wednesday with backing from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling 
coalition.

Aida Touma-Suleiman, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and member of the Knesset, 
told Al Jazeera on Friday that while the bill does not specify any group, it is 
"intended mainly for the Palestinian people".

"It's not going to be implemented against Jews who are committing terrorist 
attacks against Palestinians for sure," she said, describing the bill's authors 
as "extreme right".

"This is a fascist bill, contributing to an atmosphere of fascism inside 
Israeli society, which is directed towards Palestinians."

Under existing laws, Israel's civilian courts reserve the use of the death 
penalty for Nazis and Nazi collaborators convicted of committing murder during 
the Holocaust, while military courts can hand out the sentence if a panel of 
three judges unanimously agrees to issue the punishment.

The proposed changes will add an additional clause to Israel's penal law, 
allowing the death penalty to be used against those convicted of "terrorist 
activity", which is defined by the bill as "a deliberate attempt to murder 
civilians in order to achieve political, national, religious or ideological 
objectives."

It will remove the requirement for military court panels to unanimously agree 
on issuing the punishment, instead requiring a simple majority of 2 of the 3 
judges.

When asked by Palestinian Knesset member Ahmad Tibi on Wednesday about whether 
the law would apply to Jews who carry out attacks, such as "those who burned 
the children in Duma", Netanyahu replied: "In principle, yes."

Tibi's reference was to a 2015 arson attack carried out by a Jewish settler in 
the occupied West Bank village of Duma, which left 3 Palestinians, including a 
1-year-old baby, dead and another child seriously wounded.

David Joseph Deutch of the Palestinian rights group Addameer, which advocates 
for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, cast doubt on Netanyahu's assertion 
that the move would also apply to Jews.

"What we've seen in the past is that Avigdor Lieberman has been pushing for 
this as part of his agreement to join Netanyahu's coalition," Deutch said, 
referencing Netanyahu's defence minister and hard-right coalition partner.

"He's come out and said that this will only apply to Arabs. When he says Arabs, 
we assume he means Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the West 
Bank and Gaza."

'Biased judicial system'

Lieberman, whose party Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) put forward the bill, 
has in the past advocated the use of the death penalty against "Arab terror", 
and in a Facebook post about the bill on Wednesday, the minister declared: 
"Jewish blood is not cheap."

Deutch said if the bill ends up passing, it would represent a "slippery slope".

"We really see this as a pandering to the extreme elements in the Israeli 
government and we're not sure in the current climate, where that's going to 
end."

Maha Abdullah, a lawyer with the Palestinian human rights organisation Al Haq, 
told Al Jazeera it would further compound Israel's hold over the occupied 
territories.

"It should be noted that most Palestinian political detainees are tried by 
Israeli military courts," she said.

"Given Israel's position as occupying power, its biased judicial system against 
Palestinians, and precedence over the years, such a bill can only be read to 
target Palestinians who Israel characterises as terrorists, a term whose 
definition in Israel is so broad and encompassing."

While Israel has a long history of carrying out targeted assassinations of its 
opponents, judicial executions are very rare.

In 1948, the Israeli army court-martialed and executed Meir Tobianski after 
accusations that he had passed on intelligence to the Jordanian army, but the 
officer was later posthumously exonerated of the charges.

In 1962, the state executed the former SS commander Adolf Eichmann for his part 
in the Holocaust.

(source: aljazeera.com)

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

'We don't need death penalty, we need to eliminate terrorists'----Middle East 
expert Dr. David Bukay opines that bringing terrorists to trial in Israel is a 
waste of money.



Middle East expert Dr. David Bukay told Arutz Sheva on Thursday that the death 
penalty for terrorists is unnecessary - because Israel should eliminate 
terrorists in the field.

"I want to eliminate them on the battlefield and not even get to a trial. Every 
terrorist scum is paid 180,000 shekels a year in Israel, which include being 
flown in a helicopter in order to receive medical treatment, financing the 
trial and receiving the best conditions in prison. Therefore, in my opinion, 
there is no need for the death penalty and no trial is required. A terrorist 
must be wiped out in the field," he said, noting that this is the practice in 
many countries.

"Do not roll your eyes. We did it here during the years of the knife attacks, 
and the same is done in many democratic countries. Whoever raises a hand must 
be wiped out," added Bukay.

"Unfortunately, ever since the Elor Azariya incident, the IDF has gone from bad 
to worse. The soldier who did not kill the terrorist who murdered the Salomon 
family should have been sent to jail instead of being awarded a medal. 
Terrorists should be eliminated in the field," he opined.

The law imposing death penalty on terrorists, proposed by the Yisrael Beytenu 
party, was approved in a preliminary reading on Wednesday by a majority of 52 
to 49.

If it passes its 2nd and 3rd readings, the law will allow army courts to 
sentence terrorists found guilty of murder to death with only a simple 
majority. Under current law, the death penalty may only be imposed by unanimous 
decision.

However, there has been much opposition to the law, including by members of the 
coalition, and it is doubtful at this time whether it will be brought up for a 
vote in its 2nd and 3rd readings.

(source: Israel National News)

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



Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked



Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is in favor of imposing the death penalty on 
terrorists in extreme cases, but said Thursday she does not think there is need 
for new legislation, the likes of which Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman is 
currently promoting.

"There is no need for legislation since there's capital punishment even now, 
it's just not being used," she told Ynet in an interview. "The military 
prosecution doesn't ask for the death penalty, and if it doesn't ask for it - 
judges don't give it."

"The last time a death sentence was handed down to a terrorist was in 1994. 
That terrorist appealed, his punishment was commuted to a life sentence, and he 
was released in the Shalit deal," Shaked went on to explain. "That deal was 
reckless and such deals should not be made - terrorists and killers should not 
be released."

Since then, she said, the death sentence has not been given. "The problem is 
not with the law, but with the military prosecution. The defense minister can 
demand a discussion on the matter, a change in policy, so in extreme cases 
there will be capital punishment," she asserted.

Shaked gave the murder of the Fogel family in Itamar as an example of such an 
extreme case. "When there's a terrorist who slaughters children, then we should 
use the death penalty... when there are very extreme cases of the murder of 
several children, of families, then there's definitely room to consider it," 
she said.

When asked if she thinks the law should apply to Jews as well, the justice 
minister evaded the question, saying only that "I think there's no need to 
change the law, this is what I'm explaining."

The bill that passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset on Wednesday would 
change the existing legislation so instead of requiring a unanimous decision by 
the judges to sentence a terrorist to death, only a regular majority would be 
required.

Shaked insisted the bill would not change the existing situation insofar as 
military court would still be able to sentence terrorists to death.

'No sense for early elections'

Another controversial piece of legislation Shaked says doesn't change the 
existing situation is Aryeh Deri's supermarkets bill, which would give the 
interior minister the authority to strike down municipal bylaws, including ones 
that permit some businesses to operate on Shabbat.

"Contrary to all of the spins and the media hype, it doesn't really change the 
existing situation. There are convenience stores, and there are supermarkets 
opened on Shabbat, and it will stay that way. Wander around the different 
cities, and you'll see nothing has changed," she claimed.

Despite the many disagreements, the justice minister believes the coalition is 
functioning well. "In general, it's a stable and good coalition. There are a 
few bumps and hurdles to get past, and these are the things that get a lot of 
media coverage. A lot of good things being done in government ministries don't 
get coverage simply because they're less interesting," she said.

"There's a record number of tourists, the education minister is significantly 
improving achievements in math and sciences. We're doing a lot of good things," 
Shaked elaborated.

She insisted it "makes no sense to go to elections. This government works 
well."

Shaked criticized the fact members of Knesset in Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu party 
and in Lieberman's Yisrael Beytenu party do not support some bills being 
promoted by the coalition. "This is how a coalition falls apart. Even when 
there are laws I really don't like, I get over it and vote. It's part of the 
coalition. Those who want to be in politics need to know how to compromise too, 
there's nothing to be done about it." She said her party, Bayit Yehudi, "is 
definitely the responsible partner in the coalition, which adheres to coalition 
discipline. I think all parties should do the same, if we want to keep having 
this government."

The justice minister praised the Likud Central Committee after its members 
voted last week in favor of a resolution calling on the government to apply 
Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank. "We definitely think this should be the 
solution eventually, and I'm very glad the Likud party has also adopted this 
view of annexing Area C. I'm glad at least the Likud Central Committee adopted 
the Bayit Yehudi platform."

Shaked said the move could start in Ma'ale Adumim and Gush Etzion. "Slowly but 
surely, more people are realizing this is the right thing to do, and I believe 
in the future it would be possible," she said.

Shaked noted Bayit Yehudi has a bill proposal to that end, and the party was 
waiting for the right time to table it.

(source: ynetnews.com)