[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 20



INDONESIA:

Duo escape gallows but get 20 years, 10 lashes



The Federal Court yesterday set aside the death sentence imposed on 2 
27-year-old men for drug trafficking and amended the charge against them to 1 
of drug possession.

The 5-member bench chaired by Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Raus Sharif, who 
sat with Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Wira Datuk Seri Ahmad Hj Maarop and 
Justices Tan Sri Datuk Zainun Ali, Tan Sri Dato' Sri Azahar Mohamed and Tan Sri 
Dato' Wira Aziah Ali, allowed the appeal by Eswaran Susop and Jaswant Singh 
Ranjit Singh.

They unanimously set aside the appellants' conviction on the original charge 
under Section 39B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) 1952, which carries 
the capital punishment, and replaced it with a charge under Section 12 (2), 
punishable under Section 39A (2), both of the same Act, which carries an 
imprisonment for life or not less than 5 years and whipping of not less than 10 
strokes.

Accordingly, both accused persons were sentenced to 20 years??? jail plus 10 
strokes of the cane each for possession of syabu.

The duo, who were arrested for possession of 770.9 grams and 780.2 grams of 
syabu respectively at the arrival hall of Terminal Two, LCCT in Tanjung Aru on 
March 18, 2012, were ordered to serve their jail terms from the date of their 
arrest on March 18, 2012.

When asked by the court for their mitigation plea, Johor Bahru-based counsel 
Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, representing Eswaran, urged court to impose a jail 
sentence counting from the date of their arrest on the grounds that both 
accused were still very young.

In reply, the prosecution asked for a jail term of more than 20 years to be 
imposed on both appellants as the weight of the drugs was very high.

On October 22, 2013, the High Court here had sentenced the appellants, who were 
jointly tried, to death by hanging after finding them guilty as charged for 
drugs trafficking.

On July 18, 2016, the duo lost their appeal bid when the Court of Appeal 
affirmed the decision of the High Court.

In his submission, counsel Hisyam Teh raised the issue that the convictions 
cannot be sustained as they were based on approximation on weight of the drugs.

He argued that there was a slight amendment made when the lower court delivered 
its decision with the addition the word 'about' in the respective charges, as 
the trial judge was not satisfied with the evidence of PW2, who was a chemist. 
Consequently, the appellants were called upon to enter their defence.

The counsel said, as a consequence, both appellants were convicted for 
trafficking in the 'about' weight of the drugs. Counsel went on to point out 
that this was a serious misdirection as there was ambiguity as to the amount of 
drugs and the DDA is a piece of penal statute for which there is no room for 
ambiguities and uncertainties.

Counsels Dato' Jagjit Singh Bant Singh, Ram Singh and Kimberly Yee were also 
counsels representing the appellants.

Meanwhile, the same court affirmed the death sentences of two men and a woman 
convicted of drug trafficking.

The appeals by Tan Boon Kwang, 36, Muhammad Rizal Kamarudin, 37 and Lan Yi 
Ling, 28, to have their convictions set aside were dismissed by the panel.

On June 3, 2015, Tan, who hails from Penang, was found guilty by the High Court 
for trafficking in 1,609 grams of cocaine at the Crime Investigation Department 
at Terminal Two of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) on October 
26, 2013.

Muhammad Rizal was found guilty by the lower court on August 15, 2014 for 
trafficking in 2,850.60 grams of syabu at the Customs Passengers Examination of 
International Unit at the arrival hall of the KKIA on December 18, 2012.

As for Lan, who is from China, the High Court here had on November 30, 2015 
found her guilty of trafficking in 336 grams of syabu at the arrival hall of 
the KKIA on August 17, 2014.

Tan and Lan had their appeals against the High Court decision dismissed on 
September 19, 2016 while Muhammad Rizal's appeal was also dismissed on 
September 20, 2016, all the Court of Appeal here.

Ram Singh represented Tan and Lan while Muhammad Rizal was defended by counsel 
Farazwin Haxdy.

(source: Borneo Post)








JAPAN:

Japan marks anniversary of sarin attacks as execution speculation grows



Tuesday marked the 23rd anniversary of a deadly sarin attack on the Tokyo 
subway system, as speculation grows that members of the cult behind it could 
soon be executed.

At Kasumigaseki Station, one of the targets of the attack, subway staff 
gathered at 8 a.m., around the same time the events occurred on March 20, 1995, 
to observe a moment of silence and offer flowers.

Toyohiko Otomo, the 57-year-old chief of the station, and Shizue Takahashi, 71, 
who lost her husband, Kazumasa, an assistant stationmaster, were among those 
who offered flowers at the station.

"We will work together to make further efforts to ensure the safety of 
passengers so that they can feel safe using the service," Tokyo Metro Co. said 
in a statement.

The subway operator set up stands to allow people to offer flowers at 
Kasumigaseki, Kodenmacho, Tsukiji and three other stations where lives were 
lost in the attack.

13 people were killed and thousands more injured when members of the Aum 
Shinrikyo cult released bags of sarin on packed rush hour trains, piercing the 
pouches with sharpened umbrella tips before fleeing.

The nerve agent caused horrendous deaths and injuries, and prompted mass panic, 
turning the busy capital into something resembling a war zone.

Passengers streamed out of stations vomiting, coughing and struggling to 
breathe, with emergency services administering life-saving treatment by the 
side of the road.

Ambulances streamed through the streets, and helicopters landed on major roads 
to assist with evacuations.

On that day, Kazumasa Takahashi unwittingly picked up a punctured packet of the 
nerve gas from the floor of one of the trains at Kasumigaseki Station.

He and another colleague died.

"I came here today, with the same feeling I have every year," Shizue Takahashi 
told reporters at the station after paying tribute to her late husband.

"The health of some victims is deteriorating, and some families are also going 
through a tremendously difficult time," she said, adding that the passage of 
time had not healed the pain suffered by victims' families.

After years of legal proceedings, the prosecution of 13 Aum Shinrikyo members 
on death row for the attacks and other crimes finally concluded in January, 
clearing the way for their execution.

Last week, authorities began separating and transferring them to different 
detention facilities equipped with the infrastructure to carry out executions 
by hanging.

The transfers have prompted speculation that cult leader Shoko Asahara and the 
12 of his followers on death row could soon be executed, though there has been 
no official indication.

Authorities usually announce executions after the fact, with no advance 
warning.

Takahashi said the timing of the transfers initially startled her, but stressed 
that the executions must proceed in due course.

"The death penalty came as the result of long trials, and it has entered the 
next phase," she said.

"It is not at a phase where I can say or do anything about it. I feel that 
steps should be taken in accordance with the law," she said.

Some experts, however, oppose the executions - with the exception of Asahara - 
saying authorities risk transforming the other 12 into martyrs that will help 
the cult's successor groups recruit new members.

(source: Japan Times)

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

Japan prepares to execute up to 13 members of Aum Shinrikyo cult----Some cult 
members, who killed 13 people in a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 
1995, have been moved to new facilities



Japan is believed to be preparing to execute as many as 13 members of a 
doomsday cult in what could become the country's biggest round of hangings in 
the past decade.

Tuesday marked the 23rd anniversary of Aum Shinrikyo's sarin nerve gas attack 
on the Tokyo subway, which killed 13 people and caused illness among thousands 
of others.

Some of the members of the cult were transferred to detention facilities 
outside of Tokyo last week, fuelling local media speculation that their 
executions could be imminent. Japan normally doesn't execute people until all 
accomplices' cases have been finalised. That milestone was reached in January 
this year.

Japan executed 15 people throughout the course of 2008, the largest number to 
be sent to the gallows in a single year in recent history.

It is unclear whether the Aum Shinrikyo members would be put to death on the 
same day, but executions in Japan are routinely shrouded in secrecy until the 
final moments. In previous cases, inmates have spent years on death row only to 
be informed of their impending execution hours before being led to the gallows. 
Families are sometimes informed only after the hanging has taken place.

Amnesty International argued that if the government proceeded with the Aum 
Shinrikyo executions in coming months, it would be seen as a "cynical" attempt 
to get the news out of the way before the elevation of a new emperor next year 
and the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020.

"The mark of a civilised society is recognising the rights of every individual, 
even those responsible for heinous crimes," said Amnesty east Asia researcher 
Hiroka Shoji.

"The death penalty can never deliver justice as it is the ultimate denial of 
human rights."

Aum Shinrikyo was a violent cult that sought confrontation with the state as a 
prelude to the end of civilisation. On 20 March, 1995, members used umbrellas 
with sharp tips to puncture bags filled with liquid sarin in five train 
carriages during Tokyo???s morning rush hour.

13 members were sentenced to death for a range of Aum-related crimes including 
the subway attack. Seven were transferred to a number of different detention 
facilities outside of Tokyo. Ringleader Shoko Asahara, 63, who is also subject 
to a death sentence, is yet to be moved.

The Japan Society for Cult Prevention and Recovery (JSCPR) has written to the 
justice minister calling for everyone but Asahara to have their death sentences 
commuted to life imprisonment.

"Asahara was the brain and the other 12 were merely the limbs," said Taro 
Takimoto, a JSCPR board member who himself was a victim of a sarin attack by 
Aum Shinrikyo.

Japan was recently challenged about the death penalty in a United Nations human 
rights forum. Several countries called for the punishment's abolition, or at 
least for a moratorium on executions being carried out.

But the Japanese government said sovereign countries should be allowed to make 
independent decisions.

"The majority of the Japanese people consider the death penalty to be 
unavoidable in the case of extremely heinous crimes and therefore Japan 
currently does not have any plans to establish a forum to discuss the death 
penalty system," the government said in a formal reply.

Shizue Takahashi, 71, whose husband Kazumasa died in the subway attack, laid 
flowers at Kasumigaseki station in central Tokyo on Tuesday morning. Referring 
to the death row inmates, she told Kyodo News: "I hope they will be executed 
according to law and without making a fuss about it."

(source: The Guardian)








PAKISTAN:

Multan ATC hands death sentence to man for raping, murdering minor girl



An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Multan on Monday sentenced a man to death on 4 
counts while also handing him a life imprisonment sentence after finding him 
guilty of raping and murdering a 6-year-old girl.

The court also ordered the convict to submit Rs2 million as fine and provide 
Rs0.5 million as compensation for the bereaved family, DawnNewsTV reported.

A month ago, the convict, Ali Haider, had strangulated the minor girl to death 
after raping her in Lodhran district.

Haider was awarded death sentence on the very 1st day of hearing as the court 
finished trial proceedings in less than a month.

The convict was charge-sheeted earlier in the day after which witnesses 
recorded their statement following which court announced its verdict.

He was sentenced to death under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and the Pakistan 
Penal Code

Pakistan lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in 2015.

Since then, a total of 465 prisoners have been executed, according to a data 
analysis by Justice Project Pakistan which was released in July last year.

(source: dawn.com)







IRAN:

Iran Sentences Sufi To Death Over Killing Of 3 Police Officers



Iran has sentenced a man to death for killing 3 police officers during clashes 
in Tehran last month between security forces and members of a Sufi order.

State media reported on March 19 that Mohammad Reza Salas can appeal his 
verdict within 20 days.

Salas rammed a bus into a group of police officers on February 19 during 
violent battles between security forces and followers of the Sufi Gonabadi 
order, known as dervishes.

During court hearings, Salas said repeatedly that he did not kill the police 
officers intentionally, according to local media.

The dervishes were protesting the arrest of members of the sect, as well as 
rumors that their 90-year-old leader Nourali Tabandeh would soon be detained by 
police, despite assurances by the authorities that they had no such intention.

2 members of the paramilitary Basij force, which is linked to the hard-line 
conservative Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, were also killed in the 
skirmishes, authorities said.

Some 300 dervishes were reportedly arrested following the violence.

The daughter of one of them told RFE/RL's Radio Farda on March 4 that her 
father died while in custody.

Tayebeh Raji said that authorities had informed her family that Mohammad Raji 
died after falling into a coma caused by "bleeding and injuries."

More than 80 Iran-based political and rights activists said in a statement 
issued on March 3 that they were concerned over "unpleasant reports" concerning 
conditions for the Gonabadi dervishes and their situation behind bars.

The statement, published by opposition websites including Kalame, called for 
fair legal processes concerning indictments filed against the detained Sufis.

"We expect the judiciary to respect the laws and the civil rights of 
[detainees] fully," the statement said.

Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, is not illegal in Iran but rights groups 
accuse the Iranian government of harassment and discrimination against their 
followers, including the Gonabadis, one of the largest Sufi sects.

In March 2017, the UN special rapporteur for Iran expressed concern over the 
state targeting of members of Sufi groups, saying they "continue to face 
arbitrary arrest, harassment, and detention and are often accused of national 
security crimes."

(source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

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

Man Sentenced to Death for Killing Cops in Tehran Riot



An Iranian court on Monday handed down death sentence for a rioter that had 
driven a bus into a group of police officers during a February mob attack in 
north Tehran.

Mohammad Salas, driver of the bus that killed 3 police forces and wounded a 
number of others during the February 19 disturbance on Tehran's Pasdaran 
Street, was sentenced to death under a court ruling released on Monday.

The convict appeared in 3 court sessions before facing the death penalty. He 
will have a period of 20 days for an appeal to the court.

During the clashes on Pasdaran Street, Salas drove a bus into a group of police 
officers, killing 3 and wounding a number of others. In a separate attack, 1 
member of the Basij forces was run over and killed, while another was stabbed 
to death.

Police spokesperson said 30 police forces were injured and many public and 
private properties were destroyed in the riot.

The security forces were trying to quell a disturbance involving Gonabadi 
Dervishes, a Sufi community in Iran.

In comments after the attack, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major 
General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said security forces will harshly counter 
violent law-breaking to prevent a recurrence of the recent mob attack.

(source: tasnimnews.com)








IRAQ:

Former Al Qaeda leader's sister gets death sentence for helping ISIL in 
Mosul----Abu Omar Al Baghdadi's sister was found guilty of ???offering logistic 
support and help to ISIL insurgents"



A sister of a former Al Qaeda leader was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court 
on Thursday for terrorism offences, including providing support for ISIL 
operatives.

It comes as Iraqi courts try hundreds of detained women and their children who 
lived with the insurgents as they battled government forces.

The spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, Abdul Sattar Bayrkdar said 
Abu Omar Al Baghdadi's sister was found guilty for "offering logistic support 
and help to ISIL insurgents in carrying out criminal acts".

Al Qaeda in Iraq was the umbrella group from which ISIL emerged.

Little is known about the woman, who was not named by the court. Mr Bayrkdar 
said she was found guilty of "distributing money" among ISIL militants in 
Mosul, Iraq's 2nd-largest city which was under the group's rule for more than 
three years from mid-2014.

Her husband was also sentenced to death for ISIL membership.

The country's counter-terrorism law stipulates that aiding or belonging to ISIL 
carries the penalty of life in prison or death.

Al Baghdadi led Al Qaeda's Iraqi division since its formation in 2006 and was 
responsible for the group's attacks in Baghdad and surrounding areas, including 
suicide bombings targeting Iraqi security services. He was killed along with 
Abu Ayyub Al Masri, another prominent Al Qaeda leader in Iraq, in a joint 
US-Iraqi operation in 2010.

Al Baghdadi's widow has also been arrested and sentenced to life in prison on 
terror-related charges.

In 2014, ISIL were at the height of their power in Iraq, having taken 1/3 of 
its land. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi declared victory over the 
extremist group in December after a military campaign lasting more than 3 
years, and Iraqi authorities began prosecuting foreign militants and their 
families soon afterwards.

The fate of current ISIL leader Abubakr Al Baghdadi is not known. He has been 
reported killed or severely injured in air strikes and fighting in both Iraq 
and Syria, but there has been no confirmation.

Since Iraq's victory, the central criminal court has issued number of sentences 
against ISIL women, ranging from long prison terms to death by hanging.

Last month, a court in Baghdad sentenced a Turkish woman to death, while 10 
other foreign ISIL wives received life in prison for terrorism offences. A 
German woman has been sentenced to death for providing logistical support to 
the insurgents.

However, dozens of Russian women and children suspected of links to ISIL 
fighters were handed over to Moscow last month.

Thursday's sentences came as the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC) called for relatives to be given access to detained ISIL suspects.

The ICRC president Peter Maurer said countries investigating terror offences 
should "respect the rules of war" and cautioned against depriving families of 
suspected insurgents of "regular access to brothers, fathers, husbands".

Many were worried about "where they are detained and by who, what is the future 
of their bread-giver," he said during a press conference in Baghdad. "The issue 
of foreign fighters is particularly complex."

Regional director Robert Mardini told The National that the Red Cross was 
urging "those holding any persons captured to be treated humanely, and in 
accordance to the law".

"Everyone has a right to be treated with humanity and dignity. This means: no 
one can be tortured, nor summarily executed. Everyone has a right to procedural 
safeguards, and to a fair trial. This includes the so-called foreign fighters," 
Mr Mardini said.

(source: thenational.ae)