[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 12



NORTH KOREA:

Korea refuses to abolish National Security Law, death penalty----Liberals decry 
'archaic' law on punishing anti-state activities



The government refused to follow U.N. recommendations on the abolishment of one 
of the most politically divisive legislations which liberals long called an 
"archaic tool used by right-wing administrations to suppress opposition."

The Ministry of Justice said Wednesday it will not abolish the National 
Security Law, saying further in-depth review followed by public consensus 
should precede any abrupt revision to the status quo. The death penalty will 
not be abolished either, it added.

Under the National Security Law, individuals who praise, incite or propagate 
the activities of "anti-state bodies" are subject to seven years in prison. 
Such broad and vaguely worded clauses have long been used to suppress dissent 
and prosecute individuals who peacefully exercise their freedom of expression 
and association, by labeling them as "North Korean sympathizers."

"The National Security Law should remain for the country to achieve peaceful 
reunification as well as to improve human rights of North Korean people," the 
ministry official was quoted as saying during a press briefing. "Abolishing the 
death penalty should be determined with great caution after fully reviewing 
both the positive and negative impact it would have on the criminal justice 
system."

The announcement came about two months after the United Nations Human Rights 
Council in its Universal Periodic Review last November asked Korea to submit 
its policy plans in response to its 218 recommendations. The ministry has until 
the end of February to respond.

Other than the 2 the ministry said it would follow 85 other recommendations, 
adding the remaining 130 are under review with plans to establish an 
institutional framework for their implementation.

The ministry did not give any opinions on the abolishment of the law that 
punishes conscientious objectors who refuse to serve in the military on 
religious grounds.

Liberal civic groups protested the ministry's decision, calling it "out of 
touch" with reality. "The National Security Law was used to persecute many 
liberals under the former Park Geun-hye administration as well as her 
conservative predecessors," said an official from the Lawyers for a Democratic 
Society, a group of liberal lawyers. "Freedom of expression and assembly is a 
constitutional right which cannot be infringed upon by the government, or any 
other entities for that matter. It is the bedrock principle in a democratic 
society. The ministry should change its stance to follow the international 
body's recommendation."

(source: The Korea Times)








PAKISTAN:

Prisoners' request for painless execution denied



A court has turned down attempts by 2 death row prisoners who wanted the way 
death sentences are carried out to be changed.

A 2-judge bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) comprising Justice Roohul Amin 
and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan on Thursday dismissed petitions filed by 2 death 
row prisoners who have challenged the penalty of "hanging till death" and 
instead asked for a 'less painful' mode of execution in accordance with modern 
scientific developments.

PHC dismisses petition against Jhagra

The petitioners, Jan Bahadur and Gul Wali, on death row at the Haripur prison 
for the past 20 years, had challenged hangings.

"Hanging to death is unIslamic and unconstitutional," Khurshid Khan, the lawyer 
for the petitioners, told the court. He insisted that it was painful and 
against human values.

"If you are punishing them according to the English law, why do you not execute 
them through a modern mode?" he asked, noting that the prisoners preferred to 
have their sentence carried out through a lethal injection instead of being 
hanged by their necks.

Bahadur had been sentenced to death by an additional district and sessions 
judge in Takht Bhai on April 7, 2000, for a 1993 murder. After he challenged 
the mode of execution in July 2017, a stay was grated on the execution of his 
sentence.

Wali has been on the death row at the Haripur jail for past 22 years and 
recently submitted a similar application.

"We are not against the executions, but against the mode of execution in 
Pakistan, which is a cruel one," Khurshid argued. He added that before the 
arrival of the British in united India, there was no concept of hanging to 
death.

He further argued that Article 2 of the constitution provides that no law in 
the country will be made against Islam.

"As hanging by neck till death is not in accordance with Islamic teachings, 
therefore it is requested to amend section 368," the petitioners contended. 
Section 368 of the Pakistan Criminal Procedure Code provides that when "any 
person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he be hanged by 
the neck till he is dead."

Khurshid further argued that the court should seek the viewed of the Council of 
Islamic Ideology.

LHC CJ inaugurates special court to deal with harassment of women cases

The 2-judge bench, though, dismissed the petitions, on the basis that the 
matter did not fall within the high court's jurisdiction, rather, it should be 
taken up with the Federal Shariat Court instead to decide whether or not any 
law is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.

"There is no subordination in judicial matters," justice Qalander said.

"If a judgment is upheld by the Supreme Court, then there is no jurisdiction of 
the High Court. Hanging to death is maintained by the Supreme Court," he 
maintained.

(source: The Express Tribune)








MALAYSIA:

Ex-Security Guard To Hang For Murdering Dr Rohani, Copulating With Corpse



The convicted murderer of Perak Veterinary Department deputy director Dr Rohani 
Kassim lost his final bid to escape the gallows after the Federal Court 
dismissed his appeal against his conviction and death sentence.

In handing down the verdict on Syahmie Hassan, a 5-man bench led by Tun Md Raus 
Sharif unanimously ruled that after reading the evidence adduced during the 
trial, they found that there was no reason to interfere with the Court of 
Appeal's decision which upheld the appellant's conviction and sentence.

Syahmie, 27, a former security guard who had murdered the victim and copulated 
with the body, was found guilty of the offence by the Ipoh High Court in Perak 
on July 31, 2015, and was sentenced to death.

He had killed Dr Rohani, 38, inside an apartment unit in Persiaran Lembah 
Perpaduan, Permai Lake View in Ulu Kinta, Perak, between 6pm and 7.30pm, on Aug 
3, 2011.

Evidence showed that he did not only murder Dr Rohani by choking her to death 
but he then had sex with her corpse after breaking into her apartment.

The other judges who presided were Tan Sri Hasan Lah, Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim, 
Tan Sri Jeffery Tan Kok Wha and Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin.

Earlier, Syahmie's counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik argued that failure on the 
prosecution's part to call a psychiatrist as witness was perjudicial to his 
client.

Deputy public prosecutor Faizah Mohd Salleh said the burden of proof in a 
defence of insanity lies on the appellant, not the prosecution.

On May 18, 2016, the Court of Appeal upheld Syahmie's conviction and death 
penalty ruling that there was no grounds for insanity.

It was previously reported that the body of a woman wrapped in a thick blanket 
was found on a staircase.

The suspect at that time was carrying the body to dispose it when he was caught 
by security guards.

(source: malaysiandigest.com)



INDONESIA:

Mary Jane's fate up to Indonesia



Malacanang has said that the fate of convicted Filipino drug mule Mary Jane 
Veloso is in the hands of the Indonesian government following her request to 
President Duterte to let her testify against her recruiters on her 33rd birth 
anniversary last Jan. 10.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, in a Palace press briefing, said the 
President's hands are tied since she is detained in a foreign country.

"I don't understand what exactly the President can do in this regard. She is 
detained in foreign soil because of breach Indonesian penal laws," Roque said.

"She continues to be alive despite being meted the death penalty. But there is 
such a thing as 'sovereignty,' and the matter is completely in the hands of the 
Indonesian government," he added.

Roque said that the Indonesian government has been showing clemency since her 
death was put off.

"I think the Indonesia government, by not carrying out the punishment of death 
penalty, has shown clemency on a daily basis," he said.

Veloso is on death row and was supposed to be executed by firing squad after 
smuggling 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia in 2010. She denied having 
knowledge about the contraband.

(source: tempo.com.ph)

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

Married couple arrested for possession of various drugs



A married couple in their 40s were arrested by the police after various types 
of drugs worth RM194,976 were found in their apartment at Muara Tabuan 
yesterday evening.

District police chief ACP Abang Ahmad Abang Julai revealed that Syabu weighing 
at 613.89 grammes, Erimin 5 (750 tablets / 208.29g) and Ecstacy (140 tablets / 
50.18 g) were seized from the couple.

"Both suspects in this case will be investigated under Section 39B of the 
Dangerous Drug Act 1952 for drug trafficking which carries the death penalty if 
found guilty," said Abang Ahmad to a press conference held at the Kuching 
district police headquarters this morning.

He said that the male suspect, a 45-year-old Sarawakian showed positive result 
for methamphetamine in his drug test while the female suspect, a 40-year-old 
Indonesian produced negative result in her drug test.

"The male suspect have also admitted to be selling drugs starting last year. 
Both suspects have no past criminal records," he said.

The arrests yesterday, said Abang Ahmad, were conducted by the district's 
Narcotics Criminal Investigations Department (NCID) led by Inspector Khairul 
Faiz Zaini based on a public tip-off.

He added that the NCID team first approached the male suspect at the 
apartment's car park where he willingly handed the police a black satchel 
containing Syabu weighing at 2.1g and 100 tablets of Erimin 5.

Upon further inquiry, the male suspect then led the police to his apartment 
unit where the remaining drug stash was kept in a room.

At the apartment, police also found the female suspect who was later arrested 
for the same offence.

Besides the drugs, the police also seized a sedan car and cash money totalling 
to RM2,000 from the suspects who are currently under a 7-day remand.

Also present at the press conference were Abang Ahmad's deputies Supt Abang 
Junaidi Abang Anuar (operations) and Supt Ismail Mahmood (adminstration).

(source: Borneo Post)

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

Indonesia requests death penalty for 8 Taiwanese----The Indonesian government 
is getting tougher on drug cases, with 16 Taiwanese sentenced to death or 
killed in raids in recent years



Indonesian prosecutors have requested the death penalty for 8 Taiwanese 
allegedly involved in a drug smuggling operation last year.

Tipped off by Taiwanese police, Indonesian police intercepted a record 1 tonne 
haul of crystal methamphetamine imported from China during a raid in Anyer 
Beach, west of Jakarta, on July 13 last year.

During the operation, Indonesian police killed a Taiwanese man alleged to be 
the kingpin of the drug ring, after he refused to surrender, and arrested 3 
others, identified as Chen Wei-cyuan, Liao Guan-yu and Hsu Yung-li.


5 more Taiwanese were on July 15 arrested by Indonesian police in connection 
with the case.

While Chen, Liao and Hsu were responsible for taking delivery of the drugs in 
Indonesia, the other 5 were responsible for shipping the drugs to Indonesia on 
a Taiwanese cruise ship, Indonesian prosecutor Abun Hasbullah said.

Hsu was hired to pick up the drugs in Indonesia in exchange for 120 million 
rupiah (US$8,400), while Liao and Chen each got 80 million rupiah for unloading 
and packaging the drugs, Abun told a court hearing on Wednesday, during which 
he asked that the 8 be sentenced to death.

In similar cases in the past, people convicted of trafficking more than 1kg of 
methamphetamine have usually been given death sentences. As part of its war on 
drugs, the Indonesian government is increasing the severity of punishments, 
especially for foreigners.

According to information from the Indonesian government, 11 Taiwanese suspects 
have been sentenced to death in drug trafficking cases over the past few years, 
while 5 others have been killed during police operations.

(source: Taipei Times)








PHILIPPINES:

Congress has authority to re-impose death penalty: Panelo



Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Thursday said Congress had 
the authority to re-impose the death penalty if there were compelling reasons 
involving heinous crimes.

Panelo made this comment as the Senate announced its resumption of hearings on 
the revival of the death penalty within this month.

He said that while Section 19 of Article III of the 1987 Constitution 
prohibited the imposition of the death penalty, the same provision authorized 
the Congress to pass a law which re-imposed death penalty "for compelling 
reason involving heinous crimes."

"In other words, the Congress has the authority to re-impose the death penalty, 
provided that, it finds compelling reasons involving heinous crimes therefor," 
Panelo said in a press statement.

Contrary to critics' claims, Panelo explained that re-imposition of the penalty 
was not inconsistent with the Philippines' treaty obligations including under 
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

"The said instrument allows the imposition of the death penalty and only limits 
its application to the most serious crimes," he said.

He also explained that treaties could not be in conflict with the country's 
Constitution which "has higher authority over any legal instrument whether it 
be passed or ratified by the Congress."

Panelo said while the 2nd optional protocol of the ICCPR mandated the abolition 
of death penalty, the ICCPR still could not, however, prevail over Congress' 
authority to re-impose capital punishment.

"Treaties ratified and incorporated and made part of the law of the land are 
only given equal standing with, and are not superior to our laws," Panelo said.

"Hence, like any other law, a treaty may be repealed by a later act of Congress 
if it deems that such is warranted under the present circumstances or is 
violative of our Constitution," he added.

(source: Philippine News Agency)

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

Filipino senators give death penalty proposal thumbs down----Bill to bring back 
executions will likely be killed and not even pass committee stage, they say



A proposal to restore capital punishment in the Philippines is as good as dead, 
according to legislators in the country's Senate.

The majority of senators, who are supposed to look at a bill to reinstate the 
death penalty, have expressed doubt over whether the bill would pass.

"Based on our informal consultations, we don't have the required numbers to 
pass the death penalty bill in the Senate," admitted Senator Panfilo Lacson, 
one of the authors of the proposed law.

The legislator said it would be a waste of time to tackle a bill that will only 
be defeated when the time to vote comes.

He advised Senator Manny Pacquiao, chairman of a Senate subcommittee tasked 
with scrutinize the measure, not to rush a vote on the death penalty, saying 
the proposal will likely be defeated.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the proposed law is not even on the 
legislative agenda of the administration party.

The Senate body under Pacquiao is set to discuss the issue this month, but 
Drilon expressed doubt whether the bill could go to a vote even at the 
committee level.

The re-imposition of capital punishment was a campaign promise of Philippine 
President Rodrigo Duterte, who vowed to fight the proliferation of illegal 
drugs and heinous crimes.

In March last year, the House of Representatives passed a measure allowing 
capital punishment for drug-related offenses.

Allies of Duterte in the Lower Chamber of Congress railroaded the passage of 
the proposal amid a howl of protests from opposition congressmen, nuns, and 
activists.

Under the Philippine system, a proposed bill has to pass both the House of 
Representatives and the Senate before it can be signed into law by the 
president.

The proposed law passed by the House lists 7 drug-related crimes as punishable 
by death, excluding possession for personal use.

Rape and murder are not included among capital crimes.

Catholic Church leaders have been vocal in their opposition to the proposed 
measure, saying that capital punishment is "an additional burdensome law" that 
will not deter crime.

In an interview on Jan. 12, Rodolfo Diamante, executive secretary of the 
Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care, said church leaders "will not 
give up in engaging our lawmakers in working for justice that heals and respect 
the dignity of the human person."

"We hope and pray that the members of the Senate will vote in accordance with 
their conscience," he said.

The Philippines abolished capital punishment in 1986. It was restored in 1993 
and was suspended again in 2006.

(source: ucanews.com)

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

Most senators oppose death penalty-Lacson



Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday admitted that holding public hearings on the 
reimposition of the death penalty would be a "waste of time" since majority of 
his colleagues are against the revival of capital punishment.

Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao, who has been assigned to head a panel under the 
Committee on Justice, will conduct next week a public hearing on 8 pending 
measures reviving the death penalty since its chairman, Sen. Richard Gordon, is 
opposed to the reimposition of capital punishment.

"Based on our informal discussion at the session hall and at the lounge, it is 
really difficult to get the required number to pass the death penalty bill at 
the Senate," Lacson said in a media forum.

"It will be a waste of time," he added.

Lacson suggested that the Senate should tackle bills that have the chance to be 
approved instead.

"If I were Sen. Pacquiao, I will first assess how many votes I will get. Do I 
have 12 votes to pass the Senate's death penalty version?" he said.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel 3rd instructed Pacquiao to conduct the 
hearing after Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez criticized the upper house for its 
failure to approve the death penalty bill which the lower house already passed.

But Lacson said the Senate should instead focus on the passage of the proposed 
national identification (ID) system and the amendments to the Dangerours Drugs 
Act.

The 8 pending measures on death penalty revival are Senate Bills 4, 42, 185, 
186, 187, 889, 985, and 1294 filed separately by Senators Vicente Sotto 3rd, 
Joseph Victor Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Pacquiao, and Lacson.

Legal

Restoring the death penalty law is within the bounds of the Constitution, Chief 
Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo maintained on Thursday.

Panelo cited Article 3, Section 19, of the Constitution which states that 
"excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel, degrading or inhuman 
punishment inflicted" and "neither shall death penalty be imposed, unless, for 
compelling reasons involving heinous crimes, the Congress hereafter provides 
for it."

"The Constitution says it can be done. Besides, a treaty can never be superior 
to the Constitution," Panelo said.

Panelo was referring to the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights which was signed by the Philippines.

"The same treaty cannot prevail over the authority of Congress under the 
[Philippine] Constitution to reimpose the death penalty if it determines that 
there are compelling reasons to penalize or prevent the commission of grievous, 
odious and hateful offenses that equate to heinous crimes," he said.

Article 6 of the said covenant reads provides: "in countries which have not 
abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most 
serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the 
commission of the crime and not contrary to the provisions of the present 
Covenant and to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
Genocide. This penalty can only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement 
rendered by a competent court."

The Philippines abolished capital punishment in 2006.

(source: Manila Times)








SOUTH AFRICA:

Carol Paton: My grandfather saved Nelson Mandela from death penalty



She regards 'Too late the Phalarope' as her grandfather's greatest literary 
work.

Reacting to Google's decision to dedicate Thursday January 11, 2018 celebrating 
her grandfather's 115th birthday through a Doodle, financial journalist Carol 
Paton said the family was extremely honoured by the gesture.

Carol Paton told The Citizen even though the family was not officially informed 
of the honour by Google, "the family though is deeply appreciative of the 
gesture and very proud that Alan Paton's contribution to literature and to 
South Africa has been recognised in this way".

"There isn't a better way in which so many people all around the world could be 
made aware of or reminded of the legacy of Alan Paton and the role he played in 
bringing to light the inhumanity of apartheid.

"It is gratifying that today the users of Google have been reminded of the 
values and ideas that Alan stood for an championed, particularly that we all 
share a common humanity," she said.

She regards "Too late the Phalarope", which she described as "a wonderful, 
probing of the relationship between a father and son in an age where men were 
not expected to show their emotions", as her grandfather's greatest work.

Besides writing, his granddaughter is proud of one other act of humanity, 
rarely talked about, that she regards as a turning point in this country's 
history.

"But apart from literature, among Alan's most notable achievements was the 
evidence in mitigation that he gave at the treason trial of Nelson Mandela, 
which George Bizos says he believed, resulted in Mandela being spared the death 
sentence," she explained.

(source: The Citizen)








IRAN----executions

Prisoner Executed In Public



A prisoner who was charged with murdering 7 members of his wife's family was 
hanged in public in front of a crowd in Salmas.

According to a report by ISNA, on the morning of Thursday January 11, a 
prisoners was executed in public in Salmas. The prisoner was sentenced to 
public execution 5 times, 148 lashes, and 14 years in prison on the charge of 
murdering 7 members of his wife's family on May17, 2017.

"The prisoner was called Hossein Eskandarzadeh and he had been suffering from 
mental illness for years," Told a close source to Iran Human Rights (IHR). This 
is the 1st public execution in 2018.

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

Execution in Central Iran



A prisoner was hanged at Qazvin Central Prison on murder charges yesterday.

According to a report by Rokna, on Wednesday, January 10, a prisoner was 
executed at Qazvin Central Prison. The prisoner, identified as Sae'ed, was 
sentenced to death on the charge of murdering a man in Zaqeh Village in Abyek.

"I was in my shop when Ahmad came by. We drove toward a piece of land that I 
had sold him -but annulled the contract later. He was mad at me for selling the 
lot to someone else for a higher price. So we got into a fight in the car, and 
he tried to hit me with something he took out of the dashboard. I took it from 
him and hit him twice in the neck, but then I realised that he was bleeding and 
I got scared and escaped," said the defendant in his defence.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 142 of the 
530 execution sentences in 2016 were implemented due to murder charges. There 
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in 
issuing a death sentence for any degree of murder regardless of intensity and 
intent.

(source for both: Iran Human Rights)

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

Iranian cleric leaves Germany under threat of prosecution over death sentences



A senior Iranian cleric under investigation in Germany for alleged crimes 
against humanity left the country on a homeward-bound flight on Thursday, 
cutting short his stay at a Hanover clinic, a German official said.

Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, a former chief justice, was in Germany for 
treatment at the clinic of Iranian-German neurosurgeon Majid Samii when 
activists referred him to prosecutors, citing what they called his record of 
passing death sentences.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled opposition group, 
said his issuing of "thousands' of death sentences amounted to a crime against 
humanity and urged German prosecutors to investigate.

Prosecutors said they were investigating the referrals, including one from 
senior Green politician Volker Beck. Later, the NCRI reported that Iran had 
reserved tickets for Shahroudi and his entourage to leave the country.

A German government official told Reuters on Thursday afternoon that Shahroudi 
was aboard an Iran-bound plane.

While Germany, like all European Union countries, opposes the death penalty, 
German prosecutors do not automatically act on cases referred to them involving 
executions in foreign countries.

For the issuing of death sentences to amount to a crime against humanity, they 
would have to be part of a systematic attack on a civilian population.

An NCRI activist condemned Shahroudi's departure. "He should have been 
prosecuted for thousands of executions in Iran," said Shahin Gobadi, a member 
of the NCRI's foreign affairs committee.

NCRI spokesman Javad Dabiran said the group had seen Shahroudi leave the 
Hanover hospital in a convoy before departing from Hamburg airport on an Iran 
Air flight at 1325 local time (1225 GMT).

It said it had filed a formal complaint with prosecutors, accusing Shahroudi of 
committing crimes against humanity and urging Berlin to prevent the cleric from 
leaving Germany.

An arrest warrant would have to be issued by Germany's constitutional court.

Shahroudi was head of Iran's judiciary for a decade and is currently the head 
of the Expediency Council, a body intended to resolve disputes between 
parliament and a hard-line watchdog body, the Guardian Council.

Reuters could not immediately reach Shahroudi for comment.

Shahroudi's visit to a hospital in Germany prompted anger among some Iranians 
who believe officials in the Islamic Republic should use the same health system 
as ordinary Iranians.

Parviz Davoudi, an official in his office, said on Monday that "Shahroudi was 
against traveling to Germany, and only did so after doctors insisted there is a 
medical emergency."

(source: Arab News)