[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 18



SAUDI ARABIA----executions

Saudi Arabia executes 7 people in 1 day----Death row inmates had been convicted 
of murder and drug trafficking, according to state media



Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed 7 death row inmates who had been convicted of 
murder and drug trafficking, state media reported.

The ultra-conservative kingdom has one of the world's highest rates of 
execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery 
and drug trafficking facing the death penalty.

2 Saudi Arabian citizens and 3 nationals of Chad were executed after being 
sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of a Pakistani security guard, 
with the alleged intent of robbing the warehouse he was guarding, according to 
the state-run SPA agency.

Another Saudi Arabian was executed for murder after setting a man on fire, SPA 
reported.

A Lebanese national was executed for attempting to smuggle captagon into the 
kingdom, SPA said. Captagon, a drug popular among fighters in war zones, 
usually blends amphetamines, caffeine and other substances in pill form.

Tuesday's executions bring to 73 the total number of people put to death in the 
kingdom this year, according to a tally by AFP.

Saudi Arabia had the 3rd highest execution rate in the world in 2017, after 
China and Iran, according to Amnesty International.

Rights experts have repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of trials in 
the kingdom, governed under a strict form of Islamic law. The government says 
the death penalty is a deterrent for further crime.

In April, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, next in line to the throne, 
suggested the kingdom would consider changing the penalty from death to life in 
certain cases except murder, in an interview with Time Magazine.

(source: arabianbusiness.com)








INDIA:

HC upholds death sentence to Rohtak girl who killed 7 of her family----On the 
night of September 14, 2009, Sonam mixed some sedative in the dinner ('rotis') 
and milk of her family members and strangled them with rope with the help of 
Navin after they fell unconscious.



Terming them "monsters", a Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday upheld the 
death sentence of a teenage girl and her boyfriend, who killed 7 members of her 
family at Kabpulpur village in Rohtak in September 2009.

The convicts are Sonam Dagar, now 27, and Navin Dagar, 28, both hailing from 
the same village.

Sonam and Navin who belonged to the same clan were having an affair. They were 
studying at Rohtak town and started liking each other. When Sonam's parents got 
to know of their affair, they asked her to discontinue studies and restricted 
her to home.

Apprehending that her family will not accept their relationship, the duo 
eliminated Sonam's parents (Surender, 45, and Promila, 40), brother Arvind , 
15, grandmother Bhuro Devi, 70, and 3 cousins Vishal, 10, Sonika, 12, and 
Monica, 14.

Marriage within the same clan is considered a taboo in the rural Haryana.

On the night of September 14, 2009, Sonam mixed some sedative in the dinner 
('rotis') and milk of her family members and strangled them with rope with the 
help of Navin after they fell unconscious.

To avoid suspicion on her, Sonam lay down in the bathroom pretending to be in 
an unconscious state and tried to portray the incident a result of property 
dispute or loot.

Police had solved the case after tracking the call details of Sonam and Navin. 
Sonam and Navin were convicted under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and were 
awarded death sentence by the Rohtak district and sessions court on March 4, 
2014.

"The murders were committed one by one. The conscience of both accused was not 
shaken even after committing the 1st murder. Accused Sonam was given birth and 
brought up by her parents. A woman by its very nature is merciful. From 
childhood, all necessary facilities were extended to her by her parents," the 
division bench of justice AB Chaudhari and justice Kuldip Singh said, while 
justifying the death sentence.

"After committing murder of Bhuri (grandmother), both of them committed sexual 
intercourse on the bed where dead body of Bhuri was lying. The grisly act and 
the manner of commission of crime shows that both accused are monsters," the 
division bench added.

The court further observed that the collective conscience of the community is 
shocked with the present case. "...Death penalty in present case is desirable 
and is only punishment, which could be awarded. The murders show deplorability. 
The murders were committed in cold blood," the bench added.

(source: Hindustan Times)

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

1-eyed molester faces death penalty



Ayaz Mohammed Ansari, the 1-eyed serial child molester, faces the death penalty 
after he was convicted of raping and performing unnatural sex on a 13-yearold 
girl. This was the 3rd conviction for Ansari, who has at least 11 more cases 
against him.

Soon after he was convicted by special POCSO judge M A Baraliya on Friday, the 
special public prosecutor filed an application for the death penalty to be 
applied against him. The court will take a decision on Wednesday.

According to the police, Ansari, 33, confessed to molesting 24 minors from the 
western suburbs. On Tuesday, he was held guilty of rape, unnatural sex and 
grievous hurt under sections of the Indian Penal Code as well as the Protection 
of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

In this incident, which occurred in 2015, the prosecution, led by Special 
Public Prosecutor Geeta Sharma, said that a drunk Ansari raped the girl, who 
was returning home alone after an exam, after pretending to be her father's 
friend. He stopped only after a watchman spotted him and informed her father.

Earlier convictions

In a case registered in January 2013, the victim, who lived in Juhu, deposed 
before the court that she was returning home from tuition when Ansari 
approached her. He introduced himself as Rakesh and said he wanted to give a 
number to her father for some official work. The girl told him that she was 
getting late and that he should call up her father instead. But Ansari insisted 
that it would only take 5 minutes and asked her to follow him. He took her to a 
secluded floor of a nearby building, where he held her hand, flashed his 
private parts and started masturbating. He also threatened her that if she 
screamed, he would take a knife from his pocket and slash her.

The girl said that he then began removing her clothes when they heard some 
voices. The girl ran out and called her father, who filed a police complaint.

In another case, registered at Amboli police station on March 9, 2013, Ansari 
accosted a 10-year old girl, when she was out to eat panipuri in her 
neighbourhood. Ansari told her that he is her father's friend and that her 
mother was with him. He asked her to accompany her, but the girl refused. He 
then forcefully picked her up and assaulted her.

(source: Mumbai Mirror)








SRI LANKA:

EU warns Sri Lanka over death penalty



EU ambassadors warned Sri Lanka on Monday against ending its 42-year moratorium 
on capital punishment and said the island risked losing trade concessions if it 
went ahead.

Last week President Maithripala Sirisena said repeat drug offenders would be 
hanged as part of his administration's new crackdown on narcotics.

"The diplomatic missions have requested the President to maintain the 
moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty and to uphold Sri Lanka's 
tradition of opposition to capital punishment," the EU ambassadors said in a 
joint statement.

The communique was supported by their colleagues from Canada and Norway.

Police believe the Indian Ocean island is being used as a transit point by drug 
traffickers. More than a tonne of cocaine seized in recent years was destroyed 
by police in January.

The main Welikada prison said it was advertising this week for 2 hangmen to 
carry out the 1st execution in 42 years after refurbishing the gallows.

Diplomats said they expected Sirisena to roll back the decision, but should the 
island go ahead it would loose preferential access for its exports to the 
28-member EU bloc.

"If Sri Lanka resumes capital punishment, Colombo will immediately lose the 
GSP-Plus status," an EU diplomatic source told AFP.

This refers to its generalised system of preferences (GSP Plus) - a favourable 
tariff scheme to encourage developing nations to respect human rights - 
restored by the EU in May 2017 after a 7-year hiatus.

Sri Lanka was denied GSP Plus status in 2010 after failing to meet its rights 
obligations. The Sirisena administration reapplied after coming to power in 
2015.

EU diplomats have estimated that Sri Lanka gains an estimated $350 million 
advantage annually thanks to the GSP-Plus system.

Prison spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya said there were 373 convicts on death row 
in Sri Lanka, including 18 for serious drug crimes.

Death sentences are still handed down for crimes including murder, rape and 
drug-related crimes, but the last execution was in 1976.

Nearly 900 people are currently in prison after been sentenced to death, 
although many have had their sentences commuted to life or are appealing.

(source: Dhaka Tribune)








JAPAN:

Death penalty sought for man over 2014 deaths of 2 people who were buried alive 
in Saga



Prosecutors on Tuesday demanded the death penalty for a man who allegedly 
murdered a man and a woman by burying them alive in the city of Saga in 2014 in 
an attempt to avoid paying back a debt.

Teruyoshi Oho, 69, is alleged to have suffocated Ra Si Chan, a 76-year-old 
South Korean national, and his associate Chie Matsushiro, 48, by burying them 
in their car in a hole 5 meters deep, according to the indictment. Oho's 
defense team reiterated that he is innocent of the charges.

Oho, a former president of a soil treatment company, had been urged by Chan to 
pay back some Y40 million ($356,000) he had borrowed from him, the prosecutors 
said in their closing argument at the Saga District Court.

"It was a well-planned crime based on a strong intention to kill him," the 
prosecutors said, pointing to the fact that Oho had asked his employees to dig 
the hole before the alleged murders in August 2014. There is no special 
circumstance that should allow him to avoid capital punishment, they added.

Oho has kept silent since his arrest in September 2015, including during his 
trial that began last month. His defense lawyers pleaded not guilty on his 
behalf.

"The hole was for dumping industrial waste. His debt was not a valid reason for 
the killings while the cause of death is not known," they said.

The district court is scheduled to hand down its ruling on Aug. 6.

(source: The Japan Times)