[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 15



IRAN:

70 Iranian lawmakers hope to amend pardon law, reduce death penalty



70 Iranian lawmakers have signed a bill to apply for collective pardons for 
political crimes and political prisoners who were served with harsh sentences.

"Collective pardons are within the authority of lawmakers. As lawmakers can 
define a crime, they also can provide pardons for some crimes," Mohammad Javad 
Fathi, member of the legal and judiciary committee of the Iranian parliament, 
told ISNA news agency.

Iran frequently comes under fire for its human rights record.

The bill covers all politically-related sentences and aims to reduce use of the 
death penalty.

The bill comes amid expectations that Ramin Hossein Panahi may be executed 
shortly. He was arrested in June 2017 on charges of being a member of the 
Kurdish opposition party Komala. Prosecutors said he had received military 
training and was carrying a gun and a grenade at the time of his arrest.

The punishment for those who fight against the Islamic Republic is the death 
penalty.

Panahi's lawyer denied the prosecutor's version of events, insisting his client 
had been unarmed when he was arrested.

The bill also addresses dual nationals.

"Iranians living abroad can return to Iran without any prosecution if they have 
not been sued by any person," Fathi explained.

In Iran has arrested several Iranians with dual nationalities. Around 6 million 
Iranians live outside the country, mostly in Europe and the US.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman, is serving a 5-year prison 
sentence for allegedly planning the "soft toppling" of Iran's government.

In May, Tehran's Revolutionary Court announced that she was facing new 
security-related charges.

"I think as lawmakers we have to show this green light to about 6 to 7 million 
Iranians abroad because there are many experts among them," Fathi stated, 
noting the country is in need of this human capital.

The bill is likely to be discussed in parliament next week. If it is passed by 
the legislature, it will still have to be approved by the Guardian Council of 
the Constitution, a conservative council of the Islamic Republic, in order to 
become law.

(source: rudaw.net)

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

MPs Propose An Amnesty For Diaspora Iranians



The Islamic Republic's parliament (Majles) has drafted a double emergency 
motion to declare general amnesty and judicial immunity for diaspora Iranians.

Meanwhile, the motion has also called for restricting death penalty across the 
country.

The motion, signed by more than 70 MPs, has been delivered to the parliament's 
board of directors, a member of Majles Judicial and Legal Commission, Mohammad 
Javad Fat'hee told E'timad Online pro-reform website on Wednesday, June 13.

"Since the legislators are authorized to define a crime, they have also the 
authority to demand amnesty for people convicted of particular crimes," Fat'hee 
argued, adding, "Therefore, the new motion has proposed a general amnesty for 
all the people charged or convicted of political and security related crimes."

However, according to Fat'hee, the new motion has excluded people charged and 
convicted of physical sabotage actions "deplored by all the nations across the 
world", including espionage, setting fire to banks and damaging public 
properties.

"Crimes, such as espionage and setting fire to banks are so deplorable that 
people charged with such offenses are usually forced to commit suicide under 
mental and psychological pressures," Fat'hee maintained.

However, avoiding any reference to Iranian dual nationals currently behind bars 
in the Islamic Republic, Fat'hee did not elaborate on the reasons and the 
timing for the new motion 39 years after the Islamic Revolution in the country.

Many western countries have warned their Iranian dual citizens to stay away 
from their homeland, lest they be arrested.

Currently, an unknown number of Iranians with dual citizenship are sentenced to 
long prison terms, charged with espionage for the so-called "enemies" of the 
state.

If the new motion does not extend the amnesty to alleged cases of espionage, 
dual citizens would be reluctant to return to Iran.

Following the United States withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran is under 
diplomatic and financial pressures, which could be the driving force behind the 
proposed amnesty. Such a move can both put Iran under a better light 
internationally and also might entice diaspora compatriots to make investments 
in the country.

As a matter of fact, Fat'hee has insisted that the new motion "Will hopefully 
reduce the international pressure on Tehran concerning the fate of Iranians 
with dual citizenship who are currently kept mainly in Tehran's notorious 
prison, Evin."

As a legislator, Fat'hee insists, "We should give the green light to the 6-7 
million Iranians living overseas. Iranian diaspora enjoys having significant 
assets and expertise that people inside Iran have been so far deprived of."

But Iran is among the countries with highest number of executions, which have 
included political opponents.

Internal and international civil rights activists say that human rights in Iran 
have been systematically violated during almost 4 decades of theocracy to the 
extent that the UN has assigned a special rapporteur to monitor the human 
rights situation in the country.

Most of the political, ethnic rights activists detained in Iran are generally 
convicted of vaguely defined charges, including "action against national 
security" and "anti-system propaganda".

In the new double emergency motion, according Fat'hee, political and ethnic 
rights activists will be pardoned.

The double emergency motion, if passed by the parliament, requires the Guardian 
Council's (GC) ratification to become a law.

GC is totally dominated by ultra-conservative elements with its most 
influential members directly appointed by the Islamic Republic's Supreme 
Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to Fat'hee, the new double emergency motion is expected to be tabled 
next week.

(source: radiofarda.com)








BELARUS:

Belarus Suspends 2 Death Sentences, Rights Group Says



The Supreme Court of Belarus has suspended 2 death sentences, the Minsk-based 
Vyasna (Spring) human rights center says.

Vyasna cites relatives of Ihar Hershankou and Syamyon Berazhnoy as saying that 
the court has suspended the implementation of the 2 men's death sentences while 
their appeals are being considered.

In a June 14 statement, Vyasna lawyer Paval Sapelka said the appeals offers a 
possibility that the sentence be commuted.

Appeals usually take at least 1 month to consider.

Earlier in January, Amnesty International raised concerns about Hershankou and 
Berazhnoy, saying their executions were imminent after the Supreme Court upheld 
their sentences in December.

In July 2017, the 2 men were found guilty of murder and kidnapping, after an 
investigation established that they were part of a gang that killed old 
home-owners in order to acquire their properties.

Belarus remains the only country in Europe and Central Asia to carry out the 
death penalty.

The European Union and rights groups have urged Belarus for years to join a 
global moratorium on the death penalty.

According to rights organizations, more than 400 people have been sentenced to 
death in Belarus since it gained independence after the collapse of the Soviet 
Union in 1991.

(source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)








JAPAN:

Father of slain Vietnamese girl demands death penalty



The father of a 9-year-old Vietnamese girl allegedly killed by a male neighbor 
near Tokyo in 2017 demanded capital punishment at a court hearing on Friday.

Le Anh Hao, the 35-year-old father of Le Thi Nhat Linh, said at the Chiba 
District Court, "Linh said she wanted to become a bridge between Japan and 
Vietnam. I cannot forgive the killer."

According to the indictment, Yasumasa Shibuya, the 47-year-old former head of a 
parents' association at the girl's school, bundled Linh into his car on the 
morning of March 24, 2017, and sexually assaulted her before strangling her and 
abandoning her body near a drainage ditch in the city of Abiko, Chiba 
Prefecture.

Shibuya has pleaded not guilty, saying the prosecutors' claims are fictitious 
and fabricated. He has denied any involvement in the case.

Hoping that his daughter would connect the 2 countries, Hao said he picked Nhat 
and Linh for her name, meaning Japan and shine, respectively.

"I was anguished to learn that she was killed in such a cruel manner. I demand 
the death penalty," he said.

Saying his grief was beyond words, he told the court, "It was so painful. My 
wife was so worn out that she could not even shed tears."

Hao submitted around 1.16 million signatures he collected online and on the 
street in support of the death penalty for his daughter's killer to the Chiba 
District Public Prosecutors Office.

The focal point of the case is how and why blood and saliva matching the 
victim's DNA was found in Shibuya's car and the credibility of the DNA test. 
Evidence matching Shibuya's DNA was also found on Linh's body.

At a court hearing on Thursday, the defendant said he was preparing to go 
fishing on the day when Linh went missing. The girl was on her way to school in 
Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, to attend a ceremony marking the end of the academic 
year.

(source: kyodonews.net)