[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 19



TRINIDAD:

Time to carry out death penalty swiftly



As of June 13 - we have a documented murder toll of 249. We have more murders 
than days in the year at this juncture. The murder rate per capita in Trinidad, 
reported by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is 31 per 100,000 
persons and stood at 11th in the world and 6th in the Caribbean.

This issue of the escalating homicide rate and mechanisms to ameliorate it are 
multi-faceted. While the issue of depleting the homicide rate involves a 
multi-dimensional approach where some tools (such as moral education, more 
vocational programmes, increasing the social responsibility of the 
denominational churches, increasing temporary relief programmes, looking at 
proper rehabilitation programmes that are geared to minimising repeat 
offenders, mentoring programmes) will assist in the long-term. We must look at 
what is required now given a most horrendous and unspeakable murder rate.

New York state that has over 20 million people has a far lower homicide rate 
that Trinidad and Tobago has had for the longest. Imagine from 2002-2009, we 
had over 3,000 homicides (excluding other serious crimes like shooting and 
wounding with intent to kill, rape).

Theopilus Mendez Diego Martin

(source: Letter to the Editor, Trinidad Express)








IRAN----execution

Dervish Member Executed----Serious Allegations of Torture to Force Confession



Iran's judiciary executed Mohammad Sallas, a Dervish minority member, on June 
18, 2018, Human Rights Watch said today. He was convicted after a trial that 
raises serious concerns about its fairness, and despite serious allegations 
that the authorities tortured him in detention. Sallas???s family was allowed 
to bury his body in Boroujerd cemetery in Lorestan province, in western Iran, 
under a heavy security presence, though activists reported that his children 
were not allowed to view his body.

On March 18, after a rapid trial that concluded only a few weeks after his 
arrest, and allegations of police torture to elicit a forced confession, the 
court sentenced Sallas, 46, to death. He was charged with killing 3 police 
officers by driving a bus into a crowd of security officers during the clashes 
that broke out after security forces violently repressed a demonstration of 
Dervish community members on February 19 and 20.

"The Iranian judiciary's determination to execute Sallas after rushing his 
trial and sentence despite serious allegations of torture betrays the legal 
system's core function of upholding justice," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle 
East director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead of conducting an independent 
investigation into the security incidents during the February Dervish protests 
and granting all the accused a fair trial, authorities have once again shown 
their disdain for due process or defendants' rights."

Based on the Supreme Court's verdict, which Zeinab Taheri, Sallas's lawyer, 
published, the sole piece of evidence used to determine in court that Sallas 
was driving the bus that killed 3 police officers was the confession that 
Sallas said he gave after police officers severely beat him. After the trial, 
on May 15, Taheri told the Center for Human Rights in Iran that authorities had 
beaten Sallas so hard that he almost lost his eyesight and afterward had 
serious hearing problems, and that it was under these conditions that he made 
the confession. He repeated this confession in his 1st court session, saying 
that he drove into the police officers, but did it out of anger over their 
actions and had not intended to kill anyone.

Sallas said that police also had severely beaten him before the bus driving 
incident, causing serious head injuries.

On June 17, Narges Sallas, Sallas's daughter, told Human Rights Watch that 
authorities had broken Sallas's finger after he told the judge during his 2nd 
trial session that he did not remember driving the bus toward the police. There 
is no evidence that the courts considered the allegations of torture.

On May 23, Taheri told media that she had filed for an appeal at branch 35 of 
Tehran's Supreme Court, but the court rejected it. On June 12, Mahmoud Jafari 
Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, told journalists at a news conference that 
Sallas would be executed after Ramadan. During the holy month of Ramadan, which 
ended in Iran on June 15, the Iranian government rarely carries out executions.

Since the February demonstrations, about 400 Dervish community members facing 
vaguely defined security charges have remained in detention. On May 28, Jafari 
Dolatabadi told journalists that verdicts had been issued against 67 of them. 
On May 27, Faeze Abadipour, a member of the Dervish community, tweeted that 
authorities had sentenced 23 members to a total of 119 years in prison, plus 
time in exile and flogging.

Attacks on police forces are criminal acts, but Iranian authorities should 
ensure that all convictions are based on individual determinations of guilt 
after fair trials and not extend criminal responsibility to an entire group of 
protesters, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch opposes the death 
penalty in all circumstances because it is an inherently irreversible, inhumane 
punishment.

Under international law, torture, as well as cruel, inhuman, or degrading 
treatment, is banned at all times, in all places. No national emergency, 
however dire, ever justifies its use, or the use of evidence obtained by 
torture.

Under international law, everyone is allowed to participate in lawful and 
peaceful assemblies, based on the principles embodied in the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a party. The United Nations Basic 
Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials 
require them to avoid the use of force when dispersing assemblies that are 
unlawful but nonviolent or, if that is not practicable, to restrict such force 
to the minimum extent necessary.

Article 14 of the ICCPR also requires Iran to ensure the right to a fair trial 
for anyone brought before the criminal courts. This includes the right "to have 
adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defense and to 
communicate with counsel of his own choosing." The Iranian authorities should 
charge detainees only with a recognizable crime and ensure the right to a fair 
trial for anyone charged, Human Rights Watch said.

(source: Human Rights Watch)

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

Strong Condemnation of the Brutal Execution of Mohammad Salas by Iran Regime



The office of Mr. Gerard Deprez, MEP, Chair of the Friends of a Free Iran in 
European Parliament has issued this statement today.

It is with great regret and outrage that we heard this morning, Monday 18 June 
2018, Islamic Republic of Iran executed an innocent man from the country's Sufi 
religious minority.

Mohammad Salas, 51, a Gonabadi Dervish (Sufi), was arrested in February 2018 
during the protests in Tehran. He was tortured, had his teeth, nose and ribs 
broken; needed 17 stitches on his head, lost his vision and consciousness, and 
was forced to sign a false "confession" which was later used to sentence him to 
death.

Amnesty International had called on the international community to "Do 
everything in their power to stop the execution."

Mr. Salas had repeatedly announced that he had been forced under torture to 
accept charges which he was not involved in. According to witnesses who were 
not allowed to testify to the court, Salas had been arrested and beaten up 
hours before the incident for which he was later accused of.

Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament which enjoys the support of 
many MEPs from all political groups, had campaigned to stop the execution of Mr 
Salas.

We call on the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and the European 
Parliament President Antonio Tajani to immediately condemn this brutal act of 
barbarity that has been carried out by the Iranian regime.

In recent weeks, while the EU officials seem to have been only focused on the 
Iranian nuclear deal, the Iranian regime has been persecuting dissidents and 
civil society activists, handing them harsh sentences.

We keep insisting that any advancements of EU's relations with Iran must be 
conditional to a clear improvement of human rights, women's rights and a halt 
to the executions.

Gerard Deprez, MEP----Chair, Friends of a Free Iran in European Parliament

Friends of a Free Iran (FoFI) is an informal group in the European Parliament 
which was formed in 2003 and enjoys the active support of many MEPs from 
various political groups

(source: ncr-iran.org)

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

UN Rights Experts: Iran Must Halt Execution of Ramin Hossein Panahi



UN human rights experts have made a fresh call to Iran to annul the death 
sentence imposed on Iranian Kurd Ramin Hossein Panahi, amid reports that he 
will be executed after the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

The execution of Mr. Panahi was previously set for 3 May, but was postponed. It 
is understood that a request for a judicial review was rejected by the Iranian 
Supreme Court in late May, and the sentence against him was then referred to 
the office responsible for carrying it out.

"The Iranian authorities must now halt the execution of Mr. Panahi and annul 
the death sentence against him," the experts said.

It follows a similar appeal last month by the Special Rapporteur on 
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, who cited 
concerns that Mr. Panahi had not been given a fair trial, and that he had been 
mistreated and tortured in detention.

"While acknowledging the postponement of the sentence in May, we regret that 
Iran seems intent on executing Mr. Panahi, disregarding previous calls to annul 
the death sentence, and ensure he is given a fair trial," Ms Callamard said.

The UN experts said there were many legal concerns about the handling of the 
case, including reports that Mr. Panahi had been tortured, denied access to a 
lawyer or medical care, and that he had been held incommunicado.

The experts also stressed their concern that the charges against Mr. Panahi did 
not meet international standards, which specify that the death penalty must be 
limited to cases of intentional killing.

Mr. Panahi was arrested in June last year for alleged membership of the Kurdish 
nationalist group Komala. He was convicted of taking up arms against the State, 
and sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in January 2018.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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

Sufi prisoner Mohammad Salas Buried After Sudden Execution Without Family's 
Permission; Lawyer: Burial Attended by "200 Anti-Riot Agents"



Iranian authorities buried the body of Mohammad Salas after he was executed on 
June 18, 2018, without his family's permission at a burial presided by security 
agents, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned.

"They denied us our last visit... They executed our father... Then they called 
us and said he had been buried somewhere... My father was tortured... His head 
was covered with stitches... When he was brought to court they had put makeup 
on him like actors to hide the stitches," Salas' son Alireza Azami tweeted.

Hanged at dawn in Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, Salas, 51, was 
buried in Darolsalam Cemetery in his hometown of Boroujerd, Lorestan Province, 
in the presence of "200 anti-riot agents," his lawyer Zeynab Taheri tweeted.

"Despite his family's formal request for it to be transferred to the medical 
examiner, Mohammad Salas' body was buried by the security forces in Boroujerd 
without his relatives' permission," the defense attorney wrote. "If you did not 
commit any atrocities or torture him, what were you afraid of?"

Salas was arrested on February 19, 2018, in Tehran during a violent clash 
between security forces and followers of the Sufi Gonabadi Order in Iran known 
as the Gonabadi dervishes.

He was charged and convicted of killing three policemen by allegedly driving a 
bus over them. In the weeks before his execution, he accused his interrogators 
of forcing him to confess under torture.

"I am innocent. There were 2 buses. I was not the driver of the bus that killed 
those people. I am not a killer. I cannot even kill an ant. My bus was not 
damaged and did not have any bullet marks. The police have fabricated all of 
this. I was not behind the wheel of the bus that killed those people. That was 
another bus," said Salas in an audio file released by his lawyer on May 22.

Salas' swift execution occurred 3 months after the Iranian authorities arrested 
dozens of Sufi protesters in Tehran who were demanding the release of a 
detained faith member who was being held in a local police station at the time.

Dervish Mohammad Raji died in police custody in Tehran sometime between 
February 20 and March 4 after being detained at those protests.

The Gonabadi dervishes believe in a different interpretation of Islam than that 
of Iran's ruling Muslim Shia establishment. The Islamic Republic views any 
alternative belief system, especially those seeking converts, as a threat to 
the prevailing Shia establishment and has imprisoned members of the Sufi order 
as part of an ongoing persecution campaign.

Iranians Speak Out

Iranians took to social media to condemn Salas' execution in the face of 
glaring irregularities in his case.

Former political prisoner and prominent reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh 
tweeted, "The judiciary's unfathomable actions are causing tensions: Filtering 
Telegram, executing Mohammad Salas without eliminating uncertainties, issuing 
heavy sentences against students who took part in the December 2017 protests, 
keeping Mohammad Ali Taheri in prison and detaining Nasrin Sotoudeh without 
reason. Why is the [reformist] Omid faction [in Parliament] silent?"

"The IRIB [Iranian state-run TV] aired a confession from Salas the day he was 
arrested but many people didn't believe it. He was put on trial and repeatedly 
said his confessions were forced. Many Sufis said he was already in detention 
when the accident happened. With all these ambiguities, why the hurry to 
execute him?" tweeted journalist Farnaz Ghazizadeh.

Salas' lawyer Zeynab Taheri tweeted, "You are witnessing the crushing of 
people's rights. The world is a witness, I will certainly follow up on this 
matter with international organizations."

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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

Crowd in Erbil asks UN to pressure Iran to halt Kurd's execution



Protesters from Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhilat) and the Kurdistan Region gathered 
on Tuesday in front of the United Nations (UN) office in Erbil, asking the 
international community to use its influence to stop the execution of a 
condemned Kurdish prisoner in Iran.

Some held up photographs of Ramin Hossein Panahi, the Kurdish prisoner who has 
been jailed in Iran for months and has been reported to have spent a large 
percentage of his detention in solitary confinement.

Panahi was sentenced to death in January by an Iranian court in Sanandaj (Sina) 
for "taking up arms against the state." His conviction was based on claims that 
he is a member of the armed Kurdish opposition group Komala, but no evidence 
was presented that would link him to crimes he was charged with, which included 
murder.

In April, Iran's Supreme Court approved the sentence.

"We demand the cancellation of the death sentence for Ramin Hossein Panahi who, 
unfortunately, has been sentenced unjustly by a so-called court in Iran," a 
demonstrator said, reading a prepared statement to reporters in front of the UN 
compound.

The protestors urged the international organization to increase efforts to 
pressure Tehran into overturning the verdict, warning that the sentence could 
be implemented at any time and on any date and claiming that all necessary 
preparations had been made to carry out the execution.

In late April, a UN statement read, "Executing Mr. Panahi, following his 
torture, and unfair trial and on the basis of charges that do not meet 
international standards for the use of death penalty, would be unconscionable. 
We urge the Government of Iran to annul the death sentence."

Previously, international human rights organizations have voiced grave concerns 
about Panahi's death sentence and urged Iranian authorities to overturn the 
execution.

The sentence came after 'a grossly unfair trial and amid serious torture 
allegations,' said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Research and Advocacy 
Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"Ramin Hossein Panahi's case has been a breathtaking miscarriage of justice 
from start to finish. After appearing at his trial reportedly bearing torture 
marks on his body he was convicted in less than an hour," Luther added.

He continued, "During the investigation period, he was denied access to both 
his lawyer and his family, as well as to any details of the evidence against 
him. In a complete mockery of the judicial process, intelligence officials also 
repeatedly pressured him to make a televised 'confession' in exchange for the 
quashing of his death sentence."

"His refusal to submit to this pressure has seen him languishing in solitary 
confinement."

In recent years, Iran has proven to be one of the leading nations in carrying 
out the death penalty against its citizens. Of the 993 people executed globally 
in 2017, 507 of them were in Iran, according to Amnesty.

"We urge the Iranian authorities not to compound this shocking catalogue of 
human rights violations by proceeding with what is the ultimate and 
irreversible denial of human rights," Luther previously stated.

"Ramin Hossein Panahi's death sentence must be quashed now before it's too 
late."

(source: kurdistan24.net)








THAILAND----execution

Killer put to death



A 26-year-old convicted killer was executed by lethal injection on Monday, the 
7th person to be put to death since the method was introduced and the 1st since 
2009, Corrections Department chief Pol Col Naras Savestanan said.

Theerasak Longji, 26, was convicted of the brutal killing of a 17-year-old boy 
in Trang.

He stabbed his victim 24 times in a frenzied attack on July 17, 2012, before 
making off with his mobile phone and money.

Theerasak was convicted of the crime and his conviction was upheld by the 
Appeal Court and the Supreme Court.

The death sentence was carried out in line with regulations and the Criminal 
Code, Pol Col Naras said.

Theerasak was the 7th convict to be executed by lethal injection since it was 
introduced in 2003, replacing execution by firing squad.

Pol Col Naras said 326 convicts have now been put to death since modern-day 
executions were introduced in 1935.

A total of 319 were executed by firing squad by the time it was officially 
abolished on Dec 11, 2003.

The 1st convict to receive a lethal injection came the next day.

Theerasak's execution was the 1st death sentence to be carried out in Thailand 
since August, 2009, when 2 drug traffickers were executed simultaneously.

(source: Bangkok Post)

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

Officials Silent on Thailand's 1st Execution in 9 Years



Death penalty opponents were caught by surprise by Thailand's 1st execution in 
9 years Monday night while officials are offering no explanation.

After 26-year-old Teerasak Longji was executed at Bangkok's Bang Kwang Central 
Prison by lethal injection for aggravated murder, the leading group calling for 
abolition of capital punishment said Tuesday it deplored the decision and had 
no idea why the unexpected execution occurred now.

"We are not sure," Amnesty International Thailand Director Piyanut Kotsan said 
Tuesday morning when asked about the timing.

Piyanut said Amnesty was not in the loop despite years of discussions with the 
Justice Ministry. She said her understanding was that Thailand has committed to 
becoming an abolitionist state as reflected in its master plan for human 
rights.

The last execution occurred in 2009 when 2 men were put to death for 
drug-related crimes. This past October, the head of the government's human 
rights agency signaled the death penalty, which had been in de facto moratorium 
since 2009, would eventually be abolished.

"I can't say when it will end but in practice it will soon be 10 years since no 
execution has taken place," Pitikan Sitthidej said in October. "We don't know 
when the death penalty will be abolished."

Amnesty Thai director Piyanut said that standard practice for the last resort 
of clemency has been to obtain a royal pardon commuting death to life in 
prison. She said it's unclear whether a royal pardon had been sought by 
Teerasak, who 6 years ago stabbed a 17-year-old high school student 24 times to 
steal his smartphone and wallet in Trang province.

Corrections Department chief Narat Savettan declined to comment Tuesday on the 
circumstances.

"I cannot give any comment about this," he said, adding that the department 
would not issue any further statement on the matter.

A statement from Narat released Monday shed now light on why an execution had 
taken place after 9 years. The last paragraph of the statement stated hope the 
execution would serve as deterrence.

"It is hoped that this execution will give pause to those thinking of 
committing heinous crimes or violating the law to consider the penalty," it 
read.

The statement also pointed out that since the introduction of modern execution 
in 1935, 325 executions have taken place.

Someone who answered the phone at Bang Kwang Prison said its director, Sophon 
Yimpreecha was out for a meeting and could not be immediately reached.

Amnesty Thailand issued a statement Monday saying execution is deplorable and 
will not reduce crime.

"This is a deplorable violation of the right to life. Thailand is shockingly 
reneging on its own commitment to move towards abolition of the death penalty 
and the protection of the right to life, and is also putting itself out of step 
with the current global shift away from capital punishment," wrote Katherine 
Gerson, an Amnesty campaigner in Thailand.

According to Amnesty Thailand, 510 people were on death row as of the end of 
2017, 94 of which were women. The number of those who have exhausted all final 
appeals is 193.

Gerson wrote that there is no evidence that the death penalty has any unique 
deterrent effect, "so the Thai authorities' hopes that this move will reduce 
crime is deeply misguided."

Kingsley Abbot, senior legal advisor for the Geneva-based International 
Commission of Jurists, tweeted on Monday that execution is never justifiable 
and "flies in the face of Thailand's repeated commitments on the international 
to work towards abolition."

Amnesty announced it will hold a demonstration outside Bang Kwang at 2pm this 
afternoon.

(source: khaosodenglish.com)

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

Country's 1st execution since 2009 a deplorable move



Responding to the news that Thailand executed a 26-year-old man for aggravated 
murder on 18 June, in the country's 1st execution since August 2009, Katherine 
Gerson, Amnesty International's Thailand Campaigner, said:

"This is a deplorable violation of the right to life. Thailand is reneging on 
its own commitment to move towards the abolition of the death penalty, and is 
putting itself out of step with the current global shift away from capital 
punishment.

"There is no evidence that the death penalty has any unique deterrent effect, 
so the Thai authorities' hope that this move will reduce crime is deeply 
misguided. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading 
punishment and provides no quick-fixes to problems the authorities want to 
confront.

"After almost 10 years without an execution, this represents a major setback in 
the country's journey towards abolition. The Thai government must immediately 
halt any plans to carry out further executions and establish a moratorium on 
the implementation of the death penalty."

Background

This is the 1st execution in Thailand since 2 men were executed by lethal 
injection in August 2009, which followed a period of no executions since 2003. 
Figures provided by the Ministry of Justice in March 2018 state that 510 
people, including 94 women, were on death row of whom 193 had exhausted all 
final appeals. More than 1/2 are believed to have been sentenced for 
drug-related offences.

While the imposition of the mandatory death penalty is prohibited under 
international law, the death penalty in Thailand remains mandatory for a number 
of offences, including aggravated murder. Many of the offences for which the 
death penalty may be applied do not meet the threshold of the "most serious 
crimes" to which the use of the death penalty must be restricted under 
international law in countries where it has not yet been abolished.

As of today, 106 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and 
142 in total are abolitionist in law or practice.

(source: Amnesty International)








MYANMAR:

Myanmar parliament votes down motion on death penalty for rape of minors



Myanmar's House of Representatives (Lower House) has voted down a motion on 
death penalty for rape of minors, the official Global New Light of Myanmar 
reported Tuesday. The motion, tabled by a parliament member, called on the 
government to enact an effective special law to prevent the rape of minors and 
to include the death penalty in the law.

Noting that Myanmar is a member country of the United Nations and had pledged 
to uphold human rights and basic freedom, lawmaker Daw Myint Myint Soe said in 
a debate in the House Monday that Myanmar had also unconditionally accepted the 
fact that no crime should have the death penalty as agreed by many member 
countries of the UN and furthermore there is no evidence to show that the death 
penalty deters or reduces crime.

She pointed out that the biggest weakness of the death penalty is that there is 
absolutely no chance for the person accused of the crime to take a legal 
recourse.

"Death penalty is contrary to a democratic system, establishment of peace and 
the rule of law which our country is undertaking as preliminary step," she 
added.

Other MPs said taking a life is not related directly to reducing or eliminating 
this crime, urging to adopt other methods so that people in the society live 
according to ethics.

A government official recalled that there is a death penalty in law in Myanmar 
but it is no longer imposed.

Meanwhile, the government is drawing up a bill for a special law on children's 
rights and a bill for a law on preventing violence against women which are 
being submitted for consideration.

The official concluded that these 2 bills are what the motion is proposing, 
saying that if the MPs work on these 2 bills, appropriate action would have 
been taken.

The House took the decision on the motion through voting with 141 in favor and 
227 against. The motion was announced to be kept on record.

(source: xinhuanet.com)




ISRAEL:

Former minister could potentially face death penalty for spying for 
Iran----Justice Ministry official says capital punishment an option in Gonen 
Segev's case, but would be an 'unprecedented penalty' for espionage



Former minister Gonen Segev - found guilty of drug smuggling in 2006 - has for 
years been a source of ridicule, his name usually only brought up in public 
discourse as a comparison with other loud-mouthed rule-breaking lawmakers.

But charges announced Monday alleging that he engaged in espionage against 
Israel for arch-foe Iran could see him facing much stiffer penalties than the 3 
years he served in prison a decade ago.

If Segev is found guilty of handing information to Iran - as alleged in an 
indictment revealed by the Shin Bet security agency Monday - he could face 
either the death penalty or up to life imprisonment, legal sources told The 
Times of Israel following the bombshell announcement.

Segev, who served as infrastructure and energy minister between 1995-1996, 
provided Tehran with information about locations of security centers and 
Israel's energy industry, the Shin Bet said. As somebody who 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, though it is unclear how damaging the information would have been 
20 years later.

The ex-minister is also 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, he tried to make direct connections between 
his Israeli contacts and Iranian handlers, presenting the spies as 
businesspeople.

He is also said to have 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 even allegedly traveled to Iran twice in order to divulge security 
secrets.

After having been extradited to Israel from Equatorial Guinea last month, he 
was indicted in a Jerusalem court on charges of assisting the enemy in wartime, 
spying, and a number of other related crimes.

While Segev was sentenced to a relatively short 5 year prison sentence for his 
drug smuggling conviction (which was cut by 1/3 for good behavior), the Israeli 
legal system is unlikely to treat his latest apparent crimes nearly as lightly.

"Even the death penalty is an option," said Michael Sfard, an Israeli lawyer 
and political activist specializing in international human rights law and the 
laws of war.

"Espionage is in its own category according to Israeli law, the most serious 
punishment is available," added Sfard, who co-authored the biography of the 
Soviet spy Marcus Klingberg, perhaps the most damaging spy in Israel's history, 
with Klingberg himself.

>From 1957, Klingberg, deputy director of the top-secret Israel Institute for 
Biological Research at Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv, and a professor of 
epidemiology at Tel Aviv University, passed information about Israel's chemical 
and biological activities to the Soviet Union.

Charged with spying for the KGB for 3 decades, Klingberg served 20 years in 
prison, the first 10 in solitary confinement.

Segev could end up with a similar sentence, or worse.

"He's facing a life sentence or death penalty for the crime of aiding an enemy 
in a time of a war, and 15 years to life sentence for espionage," said Nitsana 
Darshan-Leitner, president of Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center, a Tel 
Aviv-based non-governmental organization whose aim is to put terror 
organizations out of business.

"Giving information is 15 years, giving confidential information is life," she 
added.

Only 1 person has ever been put to death after a death sentence by a standing 
Israeli court: Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the 
Holocaust. (Eichmann was convicted on 15 criminal charges, including crimes 
against humanity, war crimes, and crimes against the Jewish people, and was 
sentenced to death on June 1, 1962.) In 1948, the country put to death Meir 
Tobiansky for treason, after a field court martial, the first and only 
execution of an Israeli.

(John Demjanjuk was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and 
sentenced to death in 1988. But 5 years later Israel's Supreme Court 
unanimously ruled Demjanjuk was not death camp guard "Ivan the Terrible," and 
overturned the 1988 verdict.)

However, the death penalty formally exists in Israeli law. It is technically 
allowed in cases of high treason, as well as in certain circumstances under the 
military law that applies within the IDF and in the West Bank.

A Justice Ministry official, speaking with the The Times of Israel, confirmed 
that the death penalty is an option for prosecutors to pursue in Segev's case, 
but admitted it would be an "unprecedented penalty" for espionage.

Segev, who served as a minister between January 1995 and June 1996, seems to be 
the highest-ranking Israeli official ever charged with being a spy. But he 
joins a long list of senior officials, including MKs and top army brass, who 
have been charged with treason through the decades.

Segev has reportedly admitted to Shin Bet investigators that he was in contact 
with Iranian intelligence officials, but claimed his alleged espionage on 
behalf of the Islamic Republic was actually an effort to help Israel. The Shin 
Bet was reported not to believe him.

During his interrogation, Segev reportedly told investigators that he had no 
ideological or financial motive in helping Iran, and that he did not hand over 
any classified information.

Segev's lawyers said in a statement to the press that the full charge sheet 
painted a "different picture" from that which can be seen from only the parts 
cleared for publication.

(source: Times of Israel)