[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 5




TURKEY:

Erdogan talks death penalty for pedophiles in Turkey



The introduction of the death penalty in Turkey is not such an easy issue, 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, when commenting on the issue of the 
possibility of instituting death penalty on pedophiles, Turkish media reported 
July 4.

Erdogan noted that, first it is necessary to have a constitutional ruling for 
this purpose.

The head of state noted that the government, as well as the defense and law 
enforcement agencies of Turkey are doing everything possible to protect their 
citizens.

Earlier, the Spokesman and Deputy Chairman of the ruling Justice and 
Development Party of Turkey Mahir Unal said that Turkey is considering the 
issue of introduction of the death penalty against pedophiles, as well as their 
castration.

Unal noted that, the protection of children will be provided at the highest 
level in Turkey.

The deputy chairman of the ruling party also noted that the issue of execution 
and castration of pedophiles will be discussed by the Turkish Parliament once 
again.

The Vice-Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag had said that the castration of pedophiles 
will be introduced in Turkey.

"Unfortunately, the discussion of this issue was postponed due to the early 
election in Turkey," Bozdag said.

The issue of castration of pedophiles was discussed in the Turkish Parliament 
on April 9, and it was expected that this bill will be adopted.

In case of adoption of the law on castration of pedophiles in Turkey, they will 
also face penitentiary imprisonment for the period from 20 to 40 years.

The Turkish oppositional Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) advocated for the 
castration of pedophiles in Turkey, explaining that there is already such a 
practice in a number of other countries.

The death penalty in Turkey had been abolished in 2001, while it had not been 
applied in the country since 1986.

(source: trend.az)








MYANMAR:

Government 'hasn't relaxed death penalty'



The ruling government is not changing the way it deals with the death sentence 
in the country, Deputy Director of the Prisons Department U Min Tun Soe has 
told The Myanmar Times.

Since the National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power in 2016, of the 66 
criminals who have received death sentences, 33 are appealing their sentences, 
he said.

Although death penalties are still handed out by courts in Myanmar, no 
prisoners have been executed since 1988.

Criminals who receive the death penalty from district courts can appeal their 
sentences in higher courts, such as regional courts, the Union Supreme Court, 
and Special Bench. As a final measure, they can plead for clemency from the 
president.

During the government of former president U Thein Sein from 2011 to 2016, death 
sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.

No death sentences were commuted to life in prison under ex-President U Htin 
Kyaw (2016-2018) or current President U Win Myint.

The president's office could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

According to a 2017 report by the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, 709 
prisoners in 26 prisons across the country have had death sentences commuted to 
life imprisonment.

Most of the prisoners on death row were convicted of crimes such as murder, 
rape and obstruction of justice by destroying evidence, the report stated.

Death-row prisoners in Myanmar are detained in "A-level" prisons across the 
country. The prisons house criminals who have received the death penalty or 
have been sentenced to prison terms of 7 years or more.

Managing death-row prisoners who are segregated from the general prisoner 
population does not pose a problem, but those whose death penalties have been 
commuted to life imprisonment have been known to cause trouble when they come 
in contact with other prisoners, said a member of the commission.

"There can be issues when prisoners serving life sentences are put together 
with normal prisoners. Some of the prisoners who have had their death sentences 
commuted know that they will not die and are no longer fearful, so they don't 
care if they live or die, and start acting like hoodlums," said U Yu Lwin Aung 
of the commission.

He said death-row prisoners are hoping that they will have their sentences 
commuted, which has given rise to a new class of prisoners who are difficult to 
manage.

The commission has advised the government that this new class of prisoner 
should be kept in separate prisons under special rules.

The A-level prisons in Myanmar are Insein, Pathein, Myaungmya, Mandalay, 
Myingyan, Tharawaddy, Thayet, and Sittwe. Prisoners with death sentences are 
detained in separate sections of the prisons.

(source: Myanmar Times)








NIGERIA:

Reasons for 'Bloody' Fridays At Supreme Court



By way of brief recap, the Supreme Court hears contentious civil appeals on 
Mondays and Tuesdays, sits in the chamber to determine non-contentious appeals 
on Wednesdays; while it hears contentious criminal appeals on Thursdays. But 
the apex court delivers judgements in both contentious criminal and civil 
appeals on Fridays.From January 12 to June 1 this year, Supreme Court delivered 
judgements in 116 criminal appeals, and curiously death sentences by hanging 
was the dominant conclusion. The underlisted are some of such judgements

SC.505/2012 FELIX OKPAKO Vs THE STATE

In this instance, Justice Kumai Bayang Aka'ahs who delivered the lead judgement 
on this appeal on January 12, 2018 dismissed appellant's appeal and upheld the 
judgement of the Court of Appeal in Benin that affirmed the judgement of the 
High Court of Delta state which convicted and sentenced the appellant to death 
by hanging.

Felix Okpako had murdered his sister, Eloho Okpako on the front of their 
father's house on October 11, 2002 at Oviore following a quarrel between them. 
In his 2 confessional statements, it became evident he killed her before taking 
to his heels to run to hide in his other sister's house in Warri. The 
underlisted are some of such judgements

SC.448/2014 SOLOMON ADEKUNLE Vs ATTORNEY GENERAL OF OGUN STATE

On January 12, 2018, while Justice Olukayode Ariwoola who read lead judgement 
unanimously agreed to by Justices Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, Kumai Bayang Aka'ahs, 
Amina Adamu Augie and Pau Adamu Galinje dismissed appellant's appeal and upheld 
concurrent judgements of the Court of Appeal , Ibadan and Ogun state High 
Court.

Adekunle (appellant) had earlier been charged with offence of murder, tried, 
convicted and sentenced to death by the high court (on 13/10/2000); while his 
appeals to the Appeal Court and Supreme Court (on 10/6/2006) were dismissed.

After the apex court's conviction and sentencing him to death, appellant filed 
another case at the high court insisting that he has been on death row for 6 
years after (after high court's decision on him 13/10/2000).

He asked the court to hold that "the punishment for murder is death and does 
not include prolonged period in detention before the execution of the death 
sentence. And that his prolonged detention under death row awaiting the 
execution of the death sentence with its associated trauma and anguish 
constitutes torture, cruelty, inhuman and degrading treatment, and as such he 
should be freed".

The trial court on 15/6/2007 dismissed his suit; just as the appeal court on 
27/2/2014 dismissed his appeal. The apex court affirmed the concurrent findings 
by the 2 lower courts and held that the delay in his execution was due to the 
appeals he entered to the two appellate courts against his conviction and 
sentencing to death.

"This appeal has therefore become academic and hypothetical. In the 
circumstance, the preliminary objection to the hearing of this appeal succeeds 
and is sustained. This court will not embark on the hearing of this appeal. 
Accordingly, the appeal is liable to being struck out. Appeal struck out", 
Justice Ariwoola held.

SC.489/2016 IBRAHIM KAMILA Vs THE STATE

SC.488/2016 LEKAN OLAOYE Vs THE STATE

Justice Amiru Sanusi who delivered lead judgements in the above 2 separate 
appeals on January 19, 2018 upheld the judgements of the Court of Appeal Lagos 
that affirmed the convictions and sentencing of Ibrahim Kamila and Lekan Olaoye 
to death by hanging. He consequently dismissed their appeals as unmeritorious.

Lekan Olaoye and Ibrahim Kamila were the 1st and 2nd accused along with two 
other co-accused persons charged for robbery and murder of Chief Layi Balogun 
in his Akoka-Lagos residence on December 9, 2000. Late Balogun and his security 
detail were shot at by the 5-gang armed robbers after they have robbed him and 
his households. Balogun died while the other victim survived. The robbers were 
later caught and tried.

According to Justice Sanusi, the prosecution had proved its cases against the 
two appellants beyond reasonable doubt and that the concurrent findings of the 
2 lower courts stand.

SC.235/2014 TERLUMEN GIKI Vs THE STATE

Here again, Justice Amiru Sanusi who delivered the lead judgement on January 
19, 2018 adjudged the appeal unmeritorious and dismissed same, just as he 
affirmed the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Calabar that upheld the 
conviction and sentencing of the appellant to death on the offences of armed 
robbery.

The appellant and 3 other armed robbers who mounted road block on 15/12/2005 at 
the boundary of Benue and Cross River states robbed a cyclist, Victor Ogbaji 
Ogar of N31,000, tied his hand at his back and ordered him to lead them to 
Osina Wafe village. The victim shouted for help on getting to that village with 
his abductors/robbers. The appellant and 2 others were apprehended by the 
villagers. They were tried, convicted and sentenced by high court, decision 
which was affirmed by the appeal court too. Justice Sanusi held that appellant 
was rightly convicted and sentenced by the 2 lower courts.

SC.211/2013 BASSEY DAVID UDO EYOP Vs THE STATE

Justice Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili on January 19, 2018 delivered the lead 
judgement in this appeal and upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal in 
Calabar that affirmed the conviction and sentencing of the appellant to death 
for killing his wife on 17/4/2003 at Mangor, Oban in Akampa LGA of Cross River 
state.

Bassey who first confessed to why and how he murdered his wife on the farm 
later retracted. His argument was that his statement in Efik language which was 
interpreted in English failed to give account of the meaning of his confessed 
statement. The trial court insisted that the statement corroborated vividly 
with other evidence adduced by the prosecution, hence convicted and sentenced 
to death. The Court of Appeal upheld it just as the apex court said there was 
nothing to add or subtract from the concurrent judgements.

SC.491/2011 THE STATE Vs ABDULLAHI SANI

Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour who delivered the lead judgement in this appeal 
dismissed the appellant's appeal, thereby affirming the judgement of the Court 
of Appeal in Kaduna; and consequently acquitted and discharged appellant from 
court.

Appellant as 2nd accused was arraigned before a Katsina state High Court for 
breaking into the houses of one Salisu Lawal and another Hadiza Salisu with 
dangerous weapon at Tsame quarters in Daura, Daura LGA in Katsina state on 
22/7/2004.The accused were tried, convicted and sentenced to death by the high 
court on 7/5/2007 which the appellant appealed against. But the Court of Appeal 
upturned that judgement on 22/12/2010 and quashed the conviction and sentencing 
of the accused persons to death; and consequently acquitted and discharged the 
appellants. The appeal court said the trial court failed to support its 
judgement with evidence. Besides, the process and procedure adopted by the 
trial judge compromised the accused persons' right of fair hearing.

Justice Rhodes-Vivour also faulted the trial court's judgement, saying, 
"lumping the trial within trial with the main trial clearly compromised the 
respondent's right to a fair hearing as he was denied the opportunity after the 
ruling to decide how to go about his defence before judgement was delivered".

SC.321/2013 ENDURANCE MATTEW Vs THE STATE

On January 24, 2007, the appellant was arraigned before the High Court of Delta 
state sitting in Ughelli for the offence of murder punishable under Section 319 
(1) of the Criminal Code Law. Endurance had allegedly on January 26, 2006 at 
Ekrenhawe village thrown her 1-month old baby into a well where she drowned. 
She confessed to her act when apprehended by some villagers by the well, scene 
of her act. Appellant said then that she decided to throw her one-month old 
daughter into the well because the father of the child rejected child. She then 
pleaded for forgiveness. At the trial, she challenged the voluntariness of the 
confession. The trial judge nevertheless convicted and sentenced her to death 
by hanging, Dissatisfied, she appealed the judgement at the appeal court which 
it dismissed.

In like manner, Justice Chima Centus Nweze who delivered the lead judgement of 
the Supreme Court on January 26, 2018 entered an order dismissing her appeal 
and upheld the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Benin which affirmed the 
conviction and sentencing her to death by hanging.

SC.505/2014 HAYATU UMAR Vs THE STATE

Appellant who appealed against the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Sokoto 
was tried for the offence of culpable homicide punishable with death, and on 
25/2012 the high court convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. The 
appellant had on 22/11/2009 been Sunday and Illela market day gone four times 
to deceased's house before he met him and they went out together on the 
deceased's camel. The deceased never returned home until his corpse was found 
by search team the following day.

After due investigations, the appellant and other accused were convicted and 
sentenced to death based on their confessional statements for which 
corroboration was found in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses.

On January 26, 2018, Justice Kumai Bayang Aka'ahs who delivered the Supreme 
Court's lead judgement in the appellant's appeal did not just dismissed it and 
upheld judgement of the Court of Appeal that affirmed the conviction and 
sentencing appellant to death.

Justice Aka'ahs revered the decisions of the Court of Appeal in respect of two 
other accused, saying they are also culpable, but did not make an order. "The 
premise under which the lower court allowed the appeals in Bello Ibrahim Vs 
State in Appeal No. CA/S/21c/2013 and Ibrahim Dan Auta Vs State, Appeal No. 
CA/S/22c/2013 which were decided on June [30, 2014 was that the corroboration 
needed to find Bello Ibrahim and Ibrahim Dan Auta guilty on their retracted 
confessions was lacking.

"If the evidence of PW5 and PW6 is properly analyzed it provides the required 
corroboration. The injury which PW5 saw on the deceased neck makes retracted 
confessional statement of Bello Ibrahim true; so also does the disappearance of 
the deceased's camel corroborate the statement of Ibrahim Dan Auta. It is 
therefore not correct as the court below made the finding that evidence was 
lacking which would corroborate the retracted Exhibits A, A1 and Exhibits B, B1 
thereby leading to the acquittal and discharge of the two people", Justice 
Aka'ahs held.

SC.773/2014 ISA BELLO Vs FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

On May 11, 2018, the Supreme Court sentenced the appellant and by extension 14 
other herdsmen to various terms of imprisonment ranging from ten years to life 
imprisonment for their roles in the communal crisis which erupted in January 
2010 culminating in attack and counter attacks around Kadunu village in Mangu 
Local Government Area of Plateau state.

The herdsmen are Mohammed Auwal, Ibrhim Yusuf, Salihu Jibrin, Abdulkarim 
Mohammed, Suliman Jibrin, Muhammed Jibri, Suleiman Jibrin, Musa Abdulmumuni, 
Isah Bello, Abdulhamid Bello, Isa Dauda and Ibrahim Jibrin.

The herdsmen escaped death sentence because the Terrorism (Prevention) 
(Amendment) Act, 2013 which prescribes death penalty for anyone on conviction 
for commission of acts of terrorism has not been enacted then, hence they were 
arraigned under Section 518 (5) of the Criminal Code Act, Sections 5(1) and 
27(1) of the Firearms Act and Section 15 (2) of the EFCC Act, 2004.

Justice A.L. Allagoa on December 16, 2010 first found them guilty under these 
laws, convicted and sentenced them to various term of imprisonment allowed by 
the law under which they were charged to court. Dissatisfied with the decision, 
each of the herdsmen appealed to the Court of Appeal which consequently upheld 
the judgement of the high court.

However, Justice Ibrahim Shata Bidlya-led panel of the Court of Appeal in Jos 
on March 27, 2013 held that the prosecution had proved the allegation of 
illegal possession of firearms against the appellants who were so convicted. 
Just as Justices Peter Olabisi Ige and Raphael Chikwe Agbo concurred with his 
lead judgement

Justice Sidi Dauda Bage of the Supreme Court who delivered the lead judgement 
on May 11, 2018 held that the two lower courts are concurrent in their 
decisions and that the apex court does not have reasons to interfere in their 
findings of facts arrived at. "The appeal lacks merit and it is dismissed, and 
I affirm the judgement of the Court below upholding the trial court's 
decision."

(source: allafrica.com)








JAPAN:

Murder of Vietnamese girl draws attention of homeland media ahead of verdict



The death of 9-year-old Vietnamese girl Le Thi Nhat Linh in Matsudo, Chiba 
Prefecture, east of Tokyo and the trial of the former head of a parents' 
association at her school charged with her murder has gained attention in her 
homeland.

Vu Duc Cuong, 35, the Tokyo representative office of national public 
broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) has been covering the case since it 
occurred in spring 2017, and has closely followed Linh's 35-year-old father Le 
Anh Hao and others related to the case.

"Their sadness is beyond imagination," Cuong said. "I hope the court comes to a 
decision that will bring them some comfort." The ruling is set for July 6, and 
Cuong plans to cover the Chiba District Court's ruling on that day as well.

"Part of his heart has died. It's like it disappeared along with his daughter 
somewhere," Cuong said he feels each time he meets Hao. In Vietnam, family ties 
are considered extremely important, and children in particular are culturally 
held dear, he says.

Linh went missing on the morning of March 24, 2017, shortly after leaving her 
house to attend a Matsudo municipal elementary school, where she was in the 
third grade. Early in the morning two days later, her body was found in a 
drainage canal in Abiko, Chiba Prefecture, roughly 12 kilometers northeast from 
her home. When Cuong met Hao then, he was already crying desperately and 
repeating that his heart was in pain.

When in front of the Japanese media, Hao appeared to speak calmly in Japanese, 
but when he expressed his feelings in his native language to Cuong, he was so 
filled with anger and sadness that sometimes his entire body would shake.

Cuong has also interviewed officials at the Vietnamese embassy in Japan and 
others, and has continued to report on the progress of the case to those in 
Vietnam. A special program explaining the Japanese legal system was even aired 
in April. This was because in Vietnam, such a high profile case would usually 
go to trial soon after indictment. Linh's case, however, took over a year to 
reach the trial's first hearing, and viewers in Vietnam wondered what was 
causing the delay.

In the first hearing held on June 4, 47-year-old Yasumasa Shibuya, the former 
head of a parents' association at Linh's elementary school, pleaded not guilty 
to the charges listed against him -- abducting Linh using his van for the 
purpose of sexually assaulting her, suffocating her and then dumping her corpse 
along the drainage ditch. Cuong and reporters from two other media companies in 
Vietnam attended Hao's press conference following the hearing, and it became 
the top story in Vietnam.

Cuong says that many Vietnamese aspire to a life in Japan, and, "Even though 
Hao was full of hope, this incident occurred. I think it will take time, but I 
hope the family can get back even a little bit of their previous life."

The prosecution has asked for the death penalty for Shibuya, while the man's 
lawyers question the DNA samples that link Shibuya to the crime.

In their closing arguments, the prosecution said that DNA in blood stains 
discovered in Shibuya's vehicle were a match to Linh's, and additional DNA that 
was a mix of Linh's and the suspect was also recovered from the girl's body, 
"leaving no room for doubt of the defendant's involvement." However, the 
defense argued that "there is a possibility that the blood from the girl was 
from another occasion where she rode in the vehicle" and "there is a 
possibility that the investigative unit intentionally mixed the defendant's DNA 
into the sample to create false evidence." As such, they said that there is not 
enough evidence to convict Shibuya.

The Supreme Court's 1983 guidelines for the death penalty weigh the number of 
victims heavily, and there is a trend for it not to be handed down in the case 
of only a single victim. However, in Linh's case, as Shibuya was in a position 
as the head of a school organization that was supposed to protect the children 
and that his abduction of the girl appears to have been premeditated, the 
prosecution is calling for the death penalty on the grounds that "even among 
incidents with single victims of the same type, the level of outrage is quite 
high, and these are not the circumstances to evade the death penalty."

(source: The Mainichi)








INDIA:

Not long ago,Capt Amarinder had termed capital punishment 'against basic human 
rights'



In its report, the Law Commission had said it was time for India to move 
towards abolishing the death penalty immediately for all crimes other than 
terrorism-related offences and waging war.

The decision of Punjab cabinet to recommend death penalty for drug smugglers in 
first instance of conviction has raised questions over Punjab chief minister 
Captain Amarinder Singh's earlier stance on capital punishment.

As Punjab Congress chief when the party lost 2012 state polls and later as the 
CM, Amarinder had taken a firm stand against the death sentence. When the state 
was on the boil following orders to execute Babbar Khalsa terrorist Balwant 
Singh Rajoana, an accused in the assassination of former Punjab CM Beant Singh, 
on March 31, 2012, Amarinder had stridently opposed his hanging and hailed the 
then UPA-led central government for staying it.

In September last year, when the Law Commission of India sought views from 
states and Union Territories on its recommendation to abolish capital 
punishment except for terrorists, Amarinder had said in his opinion that 
capital punishment is "against basic human rights" and he supports its 
abolition.

In its report, the Law Commission had said it was time for India to move 
towards abolishing the death penalty immediately for all crimes other than 
terrorism-related offences and waging war, adding that capital punishment does 
not fulfil the goal of deterring crimes.

However, Punjab need not knock at the Centre's door as states like Bihar have 
passed own Acts. The Bihar assembly had passed the Bihar Excise (Amendment) 
Act, 2016, which made mixing poisonous substances with liquor punishable by 
death in cases where it leads to loss of life.

The Punjab cabinet decision has also raised doubts over its legal tenability as 
Punjab advocate general Atul Nanda was "informed" of it after the cabinet 
meeting.

"The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting by consensus following detailed 
discussions. No officers/AG were present in the cabinet meeting. The AG was 
however informed about the decision thereafter and he's on board with it," CM's 
media adviser Raveen Thukral said. Nanda refused to comment on whether his 
opinion was sought.

The proposal was mooted by the CM and seconded by local government minister 
Navjot Singh Sidhu. "The law has to be feared. If there can be death penalty 
for raping girls under 12 years, why not against those wiping out an entire 
generation of Punjab," Sidhu said.

Finance minister Manpreet Badal said there was complete consensus in the 
cabinet on death penalty. "If somebody gives poison to our children in front of 
our eyes, do they deserve a lighter punishment," he said.

But as Captain government's own commission would vouch for, drug cases are also 
harvested by political parties for vendetta. A large number of cases of 
political vendetta being probed by the Mehtab Singh Gill Commission are drug 
related. And the panel has recommended cancelling FIRs in many of them.

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

Death penalty to peddlers is no solution, says doctor behind Punjab 
de-addiction model----Dr Basu says the state cannot be made drug-free as 
promised by political leaders and there is the need to de-criminalise small 
drug-peddlers.



Capital punishment for peddlers will not solve the drug problem but will rather 
worsen it, said Dr Debasish Basu, who designed the 'Punjab Model', a structural 
model of de-addiction service in the state.

Dr Basu, who is heading the drug de-addiction and treatment centre at the 
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, 
says the state cannot be made drug-free as promised by political leaders and 
there is the need to de-criminalise small drug-peddlers.

'Adulterated drugs may be behind deaths'

"The drug business is not going to disappear overnight. Daily youth are dying. 
There is a possibility that it is the youths died due to drug overdose but it 
is also likely that it is other drugs are being mixed with heroin. Then there 
are much more powerful drugs, which are cheaper than heroin," he said.

"It is difficult to eradicate the drug menace from society. This becomes a 
political slugfest as they start claiming to make Punjab drug-free in a month 
after coming to power. No society can be completely drug-free," Dr Basu said.

"The point is to keep drugs under control. The problem starts when governments 
make knee-jerk decisions. This is when people opt for harder drugs which are 
even more dangerous," he said.

He said the supply chain has to be dealt with at the top and for that the 
government must crack down on big mafia and not the small-time peddlers.

"To reduce demand, one should strengthen the health infrastructure so that 
people get quality and accessible government-run de-addiction facilities," he 
said.

Drug addicts need medication and societal support and they should not be 
treated as criminals, he said.

(source for both: Hindustan Times)








ISRAEL:

Trial of ex-minister accused of spying for Iran starts behind closed doors



The trial of a former Israeli minister accused of spying for Iran began behind 
closed doors in Jerusalem Thursday morning, with the remote possibility of a 
death penalty sentence hanging over the most high-profile espionage case in 
Israeli history.

Gonen Segev, a former energy and infrastructure minister who left Israel after 
serving time for drug smuggling over a decade ago, appeared at the Jerusalem 
District Court, a day after the state prosecution released the full, although 
heavily redacted, indictment against him.

The trial is being held behind closed doors for security reasons. The 
indictment, part of which has not been made public, reportedly includes 50 
clauses relating to espionage on behalf of Iran and assisting Iran in its war 
against Israel.

Although unlikely, Segev could potentially face the death penalty for a series 
of charges amounting to treason against the state. Courts can sentence those 
convicted of treason to death, but capital punishment has only ever been meted 
out to Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann.

Segev was indicted in a Jerusalem court last month and accused of "aggravated 
espionage" - a more severe form of the crime of espionage - as well as 
assisting the enemy in wartime, attempted aggravated espionage and dozens of 
counts of attempting to provide information to the enemy, according to the 
charge sheet released Wednesday.

Segev, through his attorneys, has denied that he worked against the interests 
of Israel, saying that he was trying to act as a double agent against Iran in 
the hope of returning to the Jewish state as a hero.

Following requests from the media, the state prosecutor's office released the 
charge sheet against Segev Wednesday, but with much of the information about 
his alleged crimes removed from the document as many details of the case 
remained under a gag order.

Segev, who was living in Nigeria, allegedly met with Iranian intelligence 
officials repeatedly over the past 6 years, including twice in Tehran, having 
traveled to the Islamic Republic on a non-Israeli passport, according to the 
Shin Bet security service.

He was arrested in Equatorial Guinea in May and swiftly extradited to Israel. 
News of Segev's arrest and indictment was announced by the Shin Bet on June 18.

In addition to allegedly supplying the Iranians with information, the 
prosecution also said Segev "carried out various missions when he was asked."

The details of those "missions" were redacted.

In the indictment, the prosecution also said the former minister acted "with 
the intention of damaging the security of the state."

In its original statement upon his arrest, the Shin Bet said Segev "gave his 
operators information about [Israel's] energy sector, about security locations 
in Israel, and about buildings and officials in diplomatic and security bodies, 
and more."

The newly released indictment makes similar claims, saying he provided details 
about military bases and other security installations, along with the names of 
defense officials and information he gleaned as minister of energy and 
infrastructure.

"Segev even visited Iran twice to meet with his handlers in full knowledge that 
they were Iranian intelligence operatives," the security service said.

The Shin Bet said Segev met with his Iranian handlers in hotels and safe houses 
around the world and used a special encrypted device to send them messages in 
secret.

He was accused of making contact with Israeli figures in security, defense and 
diplomacy in order to mine them for information to send to Iran.

According to the Shin Bet, Segev also tried to make direct connections between 
his Israeli contacts and Iranian handlers, presenting the intelligence officers 
as businesspeople.

Segev was initially held in a Shin Bet facility, where he was kept in solitary 
confinement, but he was later moved to a regular jail.

His arrest sent shockwaves through Israel, with Gonen regarded as the most 
high-ranking official alleged to have given information to the country's 
archenemy. The allegations opened a rare window into the covert espionage war 
taking place between Tehran and Jerusalem.

Having sat in government meetings and headed ministries dealing with energy and 
national infrastructure, Segev would have had access to sensitive material 
during his time as a politician.

However, defense analysts noted that this was over 20 years ago, meaning much 
of the information is likely no longer relevant. Israelis in Nigeria said 
Segev, a doctor, provided medical care to Israelis in Abuja, including 
diplomats.

Given that material relating to the case was not released in full, it was not 
clear what damage he may have caused to Israeli security.

The former politician had been living abroad since his release from prison 
after he was found guilty of drug smuggling in 2007.

Segev was born in Israel in 1956. He was a captain in the IDF and went on to 
study medicine at Ben Gurion University in the Negev and became a pediatrician.

He was elected to the Knesset in 1992, at the age of 35, as part of Raful 
Eitan's now defunct Tzomet party.

He famously split that party in 1994 and set up the short-lived Yiud faction 
along with two other Tzomet MKs. He joined Yitzhak Rabin's governing coalition 
in January 1995 and headed the Energy and Infrastructure Ministry (now known as 
the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources) until 
June 1996. His vote was critical in passing the Oslo II Accord in the Knesset 
in October 1995. He quit politics after losing his seat in the 1996 elections.

Segev then became a businessman, and was arrested in 2004 for attempting to 
smuggle 32,000 ecstasy (MDMA) tablets from the Netherlands into Israel. He also 
illegally extended his diplomatic license and committed several offenses 
involving use of credit cards.

The former minister was convicted in 2005 of drug smuggling, forgery and fraud. 
He received a 5-year prison sentence as well as a $27,500 fine. He was released 
from prison in 2007 after a third of his sentence was cut due to satisfactory 
behavior in jail.

However, Segev could not go back to working as a doctor since his medical 
license was stripped from him shortly before his release. Segev appealed this 
decision to the Jerusalem District Court, but was rejected.

Immediately following his release, Segev left the country and has since been 
working as a doctor and a businessman in Nigeria.

In 2016, the Israeli Health Ministry rejected a request from Segev to reinstate 
his medical license in order for him to return to the country.

His attorney argued at the time that there were ministers who had committed 
offenses and still returned to government positions. He cited the example of 
current Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who has been jailed for bribery and yet 
returned to the very same ministerial position he held when he committed his 
crime.

(source: Times of Israel)








IRAN----executions

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



2 prisoners were executed at Urmia Central Prison.

According to close sources, on the morning of Wednesday, July 4, 2 prisoners, 
sentenced to Qisas, were executed at Urmia central Prison. It should be noted 
that 3 prisoners were scheduled to be executed today, but 1 of them was able to 
win the consent of the plaintiffs at the last moment.

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

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the 
517 execution sentences in 2017 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 kind of murder regardless of intensity and 
intent.

Considering the fact that the number of drug-related executions has been 
reduced in recent months due to the enforcement of the new drug law in 2018, 
most of the executed prisoners were those sentenced to Qisas.

(source: Iran Human Rights)