[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 30



INDONESIA:

Nigerian gets death penalty for trafficking drugs



A Nigerian man was sentenced to death by the High Court here yesterday after 
being found guilty of trafficking 220 grammes of Syabu.

Judicial Commissioner Dean Wayne Daly made the ruling on Jonas Chihurumnanya 
after finding that the latter's defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt on 
his case.

Jonas, who is believed to be a liaison officer for Nigerian students here, was 
arrested by police at the parking space of a popular fast-food restaurant chain 
at Jalan Canna, here on June 7, 2016.

Clad in a black T-shirt, Jonas, represented by counsels Lim Lian Kee and Wit 
Malang, appeared calm when the sentence was delivered.

A total of 9 prosecution witnesses appeared during the trial, while Jonas made 
a statement under oath when entering his defence.

Jonas was initially jointly charged with another accused, Ifasinachi Dominic 
Oguzie, but the latter failed to turn up in court during the trial and was 
issued with a warrant of arrest.

Prior to sentencing yesterday, Jonas' lawyers made an application for 
adjournment of the delivery of decision under Section 425 of the Criminal 
Procedure Code to recall a witness to give statement.

They said they wanted to recall the female witness, who is a friend of 
Ifasinachi, to testify again.

Wit said the woman had testified to seeing a disposable diaper similar to the 
one used to wrap the drugs found in the car, when both accused were arrested.

However, DPP Musli Abdul Hamid said the Jonas never mentioned the woman';s name 
in his statement and called for the application to be rejected.

In entering his defence, Jonas said Ifasinachi, also known as Bobby, had 
borrowed a car from him to go to a laundromat before returning and placing the 
car key in the living room.

Jonas said he later drove the car to a petrol station and then went to the 
fast-food restaurant where he was arrested by police.

(source: theborneopost.com)








PAKISTAN:

Abduction of a minor: Bill for public hanging sent to CII for review



The government on Monday referred the bill seeking public hanging for a person 
accused of kidnapping a person below the age of 14 to the Council of Islamic 
Ideology (CII).

The bill entitled the 'Criminal Law Amendment Act 2018' seeks an amendment in 
the Pakistan Penal Code Act's Section 364-A on the kidnapping or abduction of a 
person under the age of 14.

CII Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz told The Express Tribune a meeting of the CII 
members is scheduled for February 8 in which the item has been placed on top of 
the agenda.

"After thorough deliberation with all the CII members, belonging to various 
schools of thought, the CII will give its view on public execution," said the 
chairman.

FIA arrests suspected child pornographer

The move to bring public execution under law came after Punjab Chief Minister 
Shehbaz Sharif, during a press conference held soon after the arrest of 
Zainab's murderer, announced public execution as a punishment for the culprit 
who brutally raped and murdered 7-year-old Zainab in Kasur earlier this month.

After the incident, people from all walks of life called for a public 
execution, especially on social media. They demanded that the government 
publicly execute such people who brutally rape and murder children. They were 
of the view that this kind of punishment will discourage such inhumane acts.

Following the calls, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Rehman 
Malik proposed an amendment in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) to 'publicly hang' 
convicts found guilty of kidnapping, murdering or raping children under 14 
years of age on January 22.

It has been proposed to add words 'by hanging publicly' at the end after the 
punishment, instead of death or imprisonment for life.

On the other hand, Chairman National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) Justice 
(retd) Ali Nawaz Chohan said, "NCHR is of the view that this particular private 
bill if passed will violate Article 6 & 7 of the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights, Article 15 of the Convention against Torture and 
Pakistan's commitment to review the law carrying death penalty in accordance 
with ratified international conventions as indicated in the recent Universal 
Periodic Review -2017.":

He further said that the bill will also weaken the national interest of 
Pakistan under GSP+, as the EU commission in its second biannual GSP+ report 
has raised serious concern over the use of the death penalty. It has urged the 
government to review the law to reduce the number of crimes carrying death 
penalty in Pakistan.

The NCHR chairman believes that the proposed method of execution is cruel, 
inhumane, degrading treatment and punishment and is also a violation of General 
Comment No20 of the UN Human Rights Committee.

"The purpose stated in the bill is that 'fear of punishment could prevent 
others from committing similar crime'. But preventing future offenses isn't the 
only concern. Therefore the Commission believes in reformation as the world has 
deterrence to reformation," he said.

He concluded that the tragic events surrounding Zainab's death pushed the 
country to work for a better state of affairs for the country's children.

"It's high time that we prioritise the protection of our children in all legal 
and policy agendas while implementing the already existing child safeguarding 
mechanism," he concluded.

(source: The Express Tribune)








INDIA:

Mahatma Gandhi's conspirators hanged even before murder trial attained legal 
finality: SC told----The petitioner said Nathuram Godse and Narayan Dattatraya 
Apte were hanged after the High Court of East Punjab confirmed their death 
sentences on June



As the nation observed the 70th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Monday, 
a claim has been made in the Supreme Court that the alleged conspirators were 
hanged even before the murder trial had attained legal finality from the top 
court.

The apex court, which is seized of a PIL seeking re-investigation into Gandhi's 
assassination, has been told that the 2 alleged conspirators - Nathuram Godse 
and Narayan Dattatraya Apte - were hanged on November 15, 1949, 71 days before 
the Supreme Court of India came into existence on January 26, 1950.

In an affidavit, Pankaj Phadnis, a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, has countered the 
report of advocate Amarender Sharan, an amicus curiae in the matter, who has 
not supported his plea to reopen probe into Gandhi's death.

Gandhi was shot dead on January 30, 1948 at Birla House in Lutyens' Delhi.

The petitioner said both Godse and Apte were hanged after the High Court of 
East Punjab confirmed their death sentences on June 21, 1949. But the privy 
council did not grant permission to their families to file an appeal on the 
ground that it would not have been decided before January 26, 1950 when the 
Indian Supreme Court was to be born, he claimed.

Phadnis, in his reply to the report of the amicus curiae, referred to lawyer 
Rajan Jayakar, who studied the original records of the trial while curating an 
exhibition to mark the Supreme Court of India's golden jubilee in 2000.

He quoted Jayakar as saying "the privy council was part of the British 
Parliament. While appeals from England were heard by the House of Lords, those 
from British colonies were heard by the judicial commission of the Privy 
Council."

During the British rule, Privy Council was the highest court of appeal in 
India, which was later known as the Federal Court of Appeal. After the 
replacement of the Federal Court with the Supreme Court of India in January 
1950, the Abolition of Privy Council Jurisdiction Act 1949 came into effect.

Phadnis said "on October 26, 1949, the Privy Council did not grant leave 
(permission to file the petition) to the families of the accused, including 
Godse, who had filed the SLP.

"They had refused to grant leave on the ground that even if they did admit the 
petition, it would not have been decided before January 26, 1950 when the 
Indian Supreme Court was to be born. Once the Supreme Court of India came into 
existence, the jurisdiction to hear the SLP would lie with it."

Thus, the Mumbai-based researcher claimed that "Gandhi murder trial has not yet 
attained legal finality."

To support his contention, Phadnis referred to the Supreme Court's 2017 
judgement in the December 22, 2000 Red Fort attack case in which it was held 
that an open court hearing is mandatory even at a review stage in cases where 
death penalty has been awarded.

"Let alone an Open Court hearing, Narayan Dattatraya Apte, accused no. 2, who 
claimed to be innocent, was not even left alive for 71 days to be able to reach 
the doorstep of this Hon'ble (Supreme) Court," he said in the affidavit.

Phadnis, who gave point-wise reply to counter the amicus curiae's report, said 
the State of Dominion of India chose to refuse to allow the Supreme Court of 
India to adjudicate the matter of murder of Mahatma Gandhi.

"It (Dominion of India) ought to have waited for the Supreme Court of India to 
come into existence, which event was scheduled to happen within just 3 months 
of the decision of the Privy Council on October 26, 1949. In an act of indecent 
haste which raises suspicions, the State of Dominion of India hanged Godse and 
Apte on November 15, 1949," it said.

The affidavit said Godse and Apte were 2 very different individuals.

"Godse had confessed to his crime. His hanging may have been irregular but not 
illegal. The hanging of Apte, when he was claiming to be innocent and had a 
legal right to have his claim of innocence adjudicated by the Supreme Court of 
India, was definitely illegal," it said, adding that "this illegal hanging had 
material consequences for minor innocent children of Apte."

The researcher said the mentally-challenged son of Apte is said to have died 
within a year of his hanging and his 1- year old daughter is said to have not 
survived her childhood.

"The blame for untimely death of these two minor innocent defenceless children 
must surely lie on the Respondent, who illegally killed their father. They were 
murdered as surely by the Respondent as was the Mahatma by Godse," it said.

Phadnis stressed that Gandhi's case was a fit case for invocation of the 
extraordinary powers of the apex court under Article 142 of the Constitution to 
bring about a final legal closure by posthumously adjudicating the claim of 
innocence of Apte.

(source: Hindustan Times)

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

27% drop in award of death penalty in 2017: NLU report



The year 2017 saw a significant drop of nearly 27 % in award of death penalty 
by sessions courts across the country, a report published by the National Law 
University (NLU) said.

The report titled Death Penalty in India, Annual Statistics for the year 2017 
said that in 2016, 149 persons were sentenced to death, while only 109 convicts 
were awarded capital punishment in 2017.

Out of the 109 death punishments awarded by sessions courts last year, the high 
courts commuted 53 cases and acquitted 35 persons, it said.

However, the report also showed an increase in number of convicts sent to 
gallows for murders involving sexual violence in the year 2017.

It said 43 convicts were awarded death for murders involving sexual violence in 
2017, which is 19 more than the year before.

Among the states, Maharashtra tops the list with 67 prisoners in death row. The 
state had 47 death row prisoners in 2016, the report said.

However, the death row population in Karnataka has reduced from 27 in 2016 to 
12 in 2017, owing to various commutations and acquittals by the high court.

The report also revealed that as on December 31, 2017, a total of 371 prisoners 
are on death row across the country.

The President of India disposed 9 mercy petitions previous year, as compared to 
6 during 2016, it said, adding 5 out of the 9 disposed petitions were rejected 
and the other 4 were commuted.

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

1993 Mumbai blasts: SC seeks Maha govts reply on Salems plea



The Supreme Court today sought response of the Maharashtra government on a 
petition filed by extradited gangster Abu Salem who was awarded life 
imprisonment in a 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case by a special TADA court.

On March 12, 1993, a series of blasts in quick succession had rocked Mumbai, 
killing 257 people and injuring over 700.

Salem, who was extradited from Portugal in 2005, was awarded life term in the 
case by a designated TADA court in Mumbai in September last year.

2 convicts, Tahir Merchant and Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, were handed down death 
penalty in the case by the trial court.

Salems appeal today came up for hearing before a bench of Jjstices N V Ramana 
and S Abdul Nazeer, which issued notice to the Maharashtra government and 
tagged his plea along with other pending petitions for hearing.

Besides Salem, the TADA court had sentenced Karimullah Khan to life 
imprisonment while 5th convict, Riyaz Siddiqui, was awarded a 10-year sentence 
in connection with the case.

This was the 2nd phase of trial in the 1993 blasts cases.

These accused were facing multiple charges which included criminal conspiracy, 
waging war against the State and murder.

The trial of Salem, Merchant and others was separated from the main case as 
they were arrested subsequently.

In 2015, the apex court had dismissed the plea of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, who 
was awarded death penalty in the 1993 serial blasts case, for stay of his 
execution

Memon was executed after the top court, during a historic midnight hearing, had 
rejected his plea.

(source for both: India Today)








BANGLADESH:

N'ganj man, son get death penalty for killing relative



A Narayanganj court yesterday sentenced a man and his son to death for killing 
1 of their minor relatives after abduction in 2015.

Judge Mohammad Ali Hossain of Narayanganj Additional District and Sessions 
Judge's Court-1 delivered the verdict in the presence of the convicts -- Billal 
Hossain, 61, and his son Mahfuzul Islam, 20.

Additional Public Prosecutor Abdur Rahim said the court also sentenced them to 
three years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) and fined Tk 50,000, in default of 
which, they will have to suffer 6 more months for hiding the body.

Besides, the court sentenced them to seven years' RI and fined Tk 50,000, in 
default of which, they will have to suffer 6 more months for the abduction.

According to the prosecution, Maqsudul Islam Tuhin, 7, was kidnapped from his 
residence on May 9, 2015. The next day, his cousin Mahfuzul demanded Tk 20 lakh 
as ransom from Tuhin's father Nasir Uddin.

On May 12, police arrested Mahfuzul in Narsingdi through mobile tracking. 
Following his confessional statement, police recovered Tuhin's body from a drum 
inside the house of Billal, who was arrested later.

Afterwards, Billal admitted that he strangled Tuhin out of revenge as his 
father Nasir beat him over a trifling matter.

(source: The Daily Star)




IRAN----executions

At Least 2 Prisoners Hanged in North-Western Iran



At least 2 prisoners were hanged at Urmia Central Prison on murder charges.

According to a close source, on the morning of Sunday, January 28, at least 2 
prisoners were executed at Urmia Central Prison (Darya). The prisoners were 
sentenced to death on murder charges.

Moreover, another prisoner named Hamdollah Mohammadpour, who was scheduled to 
be executed on the same day, was able to win the consent of the plaintiff by 
paying 400 million Tomans (nearly 88400 dollars) and returned to his cell.

According to Kurdistan Human Rights Network, the executed prisoners were 
identified as Mehran Behshad from ward 14 and Farhad Alba from ward 3-4.

According to some sources, the number of executions was more than 2 but it has 
not been confirmed yet.

The execution of these prisoners has not been announced by the state-run media 
so far.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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

Iranian-Kurdish Activist Sentenced to Death Says He Was Wrongfully Convicted of 
Drawing a Weapon



Iranian-Kurdish political activist Ramin Hossein Panahi will appeal the death 
sentence he was issued on January 25, 2018, by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary 
Court in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran's Kurdistan Province.

In an interview with the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), his attorney, 
Hossein Ahmadiniaz, said Panahi was wrongfully convicted of being a member of 
the outlawed Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, and for drawing his weapon.

"My client intends to appeal the sentence within the 20-day legal limit. He is 
innocent. He is a dissident; a political activist but he did not participate in 
any armed action nor did he reach for a weapon," said Ahmadiniaz. "Therefore, 
he cannot be charged and convicted of reaching for a weapon and engaging in 
armed combat."

"My client does not deserve this sentence," he added. "I hope that during the 
appeal process we will be able to defend him and he will be shown mercy."

Panahi was arrested in June 2017 after several men accused of being Komala 
members were ambushed in the city of Sanandaj by the Islamic Revolutionary 
Guard Corps (IRGC). Sabah Hossein Panahi, Hamed Seif Panahi and Behzad Nouri 
died in the attack. Ramin Hossein Panahi survived bullet wounds to the stomach, 
back and legs.

According to his lawyer, Panahi has been charged with "corruption on earth" 
under Article 286 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code, which states:

"Any person, who extensively commits felony against the bodily entity of 
people, offenses against the internal or international security of the state, 
spreading lies, disruption of the economic system of the state, arson and 
destruction of properties, distribution of poisonous and bacterial and 
dangerous materials, and establishment of, or aiding and abetting in, places of 
corruption and prostitution, [on a scale] that causes severe disruption in the 
public order of the state and insecurity, or causes harsh damage to the bodily 
entity of people or public or private properties, or causes distribution of 
corruption and prostitution on a large scale, shall be considered as 
mofsed-e-fel-arz [corrupt on earth] and shall be sentenced to death."

Article 287 lists capital punishment as a sentence for drawing a weapon as a 
member of an armed rebel group, "Any group that wages armed rebellion against 
the state of the Islamic Republic of Iran shall be regarded as moharebs, and if 
they use [their] weapon, its members shall be sentenced to the death penalty."

Article 279 defines a "mohareb" as someone who draws "a weapon on the life, 
property or chastity of people or to cause terror as it creates the atmosphere 
of insecurity."

(source: Iran Human Rights)








EGYPT:

With 22 Executions Over Three Successive Tuesdays, Is Egypt's Sisi Sending a 
Warning?



The recent spate of executions appear to be an attempt by the Sisi government 
to portray power to silence all opponents before the March presidential 
election.

For 3 Tuesdays in a row in Egypt, 22 civilians in all were led out of their 
jail cells to the gallows - 15 on December 26, 4 on January 2 and 3 on January 
9 - and hanged.

All 22 had been sentenced to death by a military tribunal for various 
terror-related charges. Such executions, or 'state-sanctioned murder' as some 
call it, have become the norm in Egypt ever since President Abdel Fattah 
el-Sisi came to power in 2014 after he, as defence minister, brutally helped 
stamp out the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ever since, there has been a remarkable rise in the number of death sentences 
and executions being meted out in Egypt. Fear has gripped the populace as to go 
against the powers that be is now akin to a suicide mission.

According to the media in Egypt, courts sentenced 186 people to death in 2017, 
three times more than the previous year. In 2015, it executed 22 people. In 
2016, that number doubled to 44. In 2017, 16 were executed. Now, in the last 
few days of 2017, and the start of 2018, 22 men have already lost their lives.

The United Nations human rights wing has expressed "deep shock" and concern 
over the fact that "due process and fair trial guarantees" were not followed. 
Highlighting how tracking humans rights violations has become more difficult 
than ever in Egypt, Human Rights Watch in September said in a report that 
Egyptian police and national security officers had carried out "widespread and 
systematic torture of prisoners".

According to UN human rights spokeswoman Liz Throssell:

"In cases of capital punishment, trials must meet the highest standards of 
fairness and due process. Reports also indicate that the prisoners who were 
executed may have been subjected to initial enforced disappearance and torture 
before being tried. Despite the security challenges facing Egypt - in 
particular in Sinai - executions should not be used as a means to combat 
terrorism."

"Why hold 22 executions over 3 successive Tuesdays?," asked Mona Eltahawy for 
the New York Times. "They seem a clear message from a government determined to 
show it is in control. There is usually a security clampdown in the run-up to 
January 25, the anniversary of the uprising in 2011 that spread revolutionary 
protests against the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak across Egypt."

"These death sentences and executions are a flagrant breach of international 
law," Maya Foa, director of the international human rights organisation 
Reprieve, said on December 26. "Trials in Egypt routinely fail to meet basic 
fair trial standards, and this is especially so in mass trials and military 
tribunals, as in this case."

While there are no official figures, Cornell Law School reports that there are 
at least 1,700 people who have the death penalty hanging over their heads in 
Egypt.

The game is afoot

With the country fast hurtling towards the presidential election - which Sisi 
has called for in March - the president has all but ensured that every opponent 
had been forced to drop out of the race.

But just hours before the nomination deadline, Mousa Mostafa Mousa, who leads 
the Ghad party, managed to secure the required number of nomination pledges to 
throw his hat into the ring barely a few minutes before the deadline.

The last-minute bid comes days after Hisham Genena, a former anti-corruption 
watchdog chief who had been working to elect former military chief of staff 
Sami Anan, was attacked and badly wounded outside his home on Saturday, 
reported Reuters. Anan???s campaign was abruptly halted after he was arrested 
last week and accused of running for office without military permission.

If not for Mousa, Sisi would have been the sole presidential candidate in the 
3rd election since protests in 2011 unseated long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak. 
Yet, before anyone can celebrate such an event, it would be prudent to remember 
that more than 3/4 of the members of parliament expressed support for Sisi the 
minute the election date was announced.

What makes the whole situation even more riveting is that the Ghad party had 
endorsed a second term for Sisi before this last-minute decision was taken. In 
fact, at the time of Mousa's registration, his personal Facebook page included 
a cover photo with Sisi's face and "we support you as president of Egypt" 
written beneath it.

The result is due on May 1.

An eye for an eye

In the case of the 15 executions on December 26, 2017, "Egyptian human rights 
groups have said, the legal procedures were flawed and at least one of the 15 
appeared to have been tortured," reports the New York Times.

Not just that, none of the families of the prisoners were allowed to come say 
goodbye as is required by Egyptian law. Instead, all they got, after a year of 
beseeching the government for a fair trial, was a gut-wrenching call asking 
them to come pick up the bodies - a process that isn't easy at all thanks to a 
billion bureaucratic hurdles.

In fact, as one family told the New York Times, an appeal had been scheduled 
for February 26, a date which only lands 6 weeks after the hanging. Now, there 
is no hope.

What were the charges against these 15 men? The men had been accused of taking 
part an attack on a 2013 military checkpoint in the Sinai peninsula where 1 
officer and 8 soldiers were killed barely days after government security forces 
killed nearly a thousand people taking part in the Muslim Brotherhood protest 
in Cairo.

This awful moment in history occurred barely a few weeks after the military 
wrested power from Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, a president who had 
actually been democratically elected.

In a judgment that shocked the world in 2014 during a mass trial, an Egyptian 
judge sentenced 683 alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death. Amnesty 
International immediately condemned the judgment and called it "a grotesque 
move". This came a month after another judgment that sentenced 528 people - 
ostensibly Muslim Brotherhood supporters - to death.

No procedures were reportedly followed. Most of those being condemned to die 
were tried in absentia. As Egyptian law has it, defendants are not allowed to 
put up a defense if not present in court.

Eventually, only 37 of the 528 were hanged, and of the 683, 183 people were 
sentenced to death, four received life sentences and 496 were acquitted.

It should be noted that no member of the security forces has been held 
responsible for that mass slaughter when Cairo's walls were painted red. Nor is 
it likely they will ever be, unless chance has it and Egypt gets a leader who 
is willing to right past wrongs.

The 4 executed on January 2 had been convicted earlier for alleged involvement 
in a bombing on a bus which killed 3 military cadets in Egypt's northern Kafr 
al-Sheikh province in 2015.

For the next 2 years, the 4 - Lotfy Khalil, Sameh Abdalla, Ahmed Abdelhadi and 
Ahmed Salama - were forced to sit through a farcical trial in a military court. 
CNN reported that "because the attack happened on a main street, the case came 
under military jurisdiction due to a recent presidential decree granting 
Egypt's military the authority for policing public places and land up to 2 
kilometres from public roads".

"The rise in the number of executions over the last year is scary," said Ezzat 
Ghoneim, a lawyer representing the families in the Kafr el-Sheikh case told 
CNN. "The significant increase in handing down death sentences only indicates 
that the rate of executions will accelerate in the coming days."

"It is as if it's time to finally settle scores," he said.

(source: thewire.in)