[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 29



ZIMBABWE:

Group Blasts 'Cruel' Judges Over Death Sentences



A leading watchdog on parliamentary and judicial issues has scorned "cruel" 
local judges who continue to pass death sentences while ignoring signs that the 
government is keen on totally abandoning capital punishment.

In one of its regular bulletins on parliament and the courts, Veritas Zimbabwe 
said Tuesday the country has upheld a moratorium on the death penalty since 
2005 and passing a death sentence was not in sync with the mood of the day.

Veritas welcomed President Emmerson Mnangagwa's recent decision to place death 
row inmates on life imprisonment this past week.

The President also pardoned 3,000 prisoners.

"The Clemency Order is welcome step, albeit a small one, towards abolition of 
the death penalty," said Veritas.

"No executions have been carried out in Zimbabwe since 2005, so there is an 
effective moratorium on the death penalty which is likely to continue for as 
long as the President, known to favour abolition, remains in office.

"In view of this it seems not only cruel but futile for the courts to continue 
sentencing people to death."

The group added, "Section 48 of the Constitution allows a law to provide for 
the death penalty; it does not say the law must do so.

"Hence abolition would not entail amending the Constitution, just a simple Act 
of Parliament removing references to the death penalty from the Criminal Law 
Code and the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act."

Veritas has led the campaign for the abolishment of the death penalty in 
Zimbabwe. It has also written to the President asking him to enact legislation 
abolishing capital punishment.

The group has also drafted a Bill which it presented to the Justice Minister to 
abolish the penalty and has also sponsored petitions for government to commute 
death sentences to life imprisonment.

(source: allafrica.com)








EGYPT:

Urgent Action Update: Court Upholds Death Sentences of 2 Men (Egypt: UA 91.16)



On 26 March, the Supreme Military Court of Appeals upheld the death sentences 
of 2 men, Ahmed Amin Ghazali and Abdul Basir Abdul Rauf. The 2 men are at 
imminent risk of execution unless President Abdelfatah al-Sisi decides within 
14 days of the sentence date to pardon or mitigate the sentence.

TAKE ACTION

Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

Calling the Egyptian authorities to quash the death sentences against the 2 
men;

Calling on the Egyptian authorities to retry all those convicted in the case 
before an ordinary, civilian court, without recourse to the death penalty, and 
in proceedings that respect international fair trial standards and exclude 
"confessions" and other evidence obtained through torture and other 
ill-treatment;

Urging them to establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to 
abolishing the death penalty.

Contact these 2 officials by 9 May, 2018:

Defence Minister

Colonel General Sedqi Sobhi

Ministry of Defence

Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt

E: mc at afmic.gov.eg, mod at afmic.gov.eg

Salutation: Your Excellency

Ambassador Yasser Reda, Embassy of Egypt

3521 International Ct NW

Washington DC 20008

Phone: 202 895 5400

Fax: 202 244 4319 -OR- 202 244 5131

Email: embassy at egyptembassy.net

Contact Form: https://goo.gl/q5EN69

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

(source: Amnesty International USA)








INDONESIA:

Man to hang for killing ex-girlfriend



The High Court here sentenced a man to death by hanging this morning after he 
was found guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend 2 years ago.

The sentence was handed down by Judicial Commissioner, Dr Alwi Wahab after the 
prosecutor had successfully proven a prima-facie case against the accused.

Nasir Ramli, 30, from Lorong 5F-2a, Tudan Desaras, here was charged according 
to Section 302 of the Penal Code which carry a death penalty if found guilty.

Based on the charge, the accused had committed the murder of Norfisa Othman, 25 
with intent.

The crime was committed between 11pm on June 5 and 1am on June 6, 2016, at 
Permyjaya here.

Post-mortem report revealed that the victim died due to severe injury on the 
head and her skull was cracked, believed to be hit using a hard and blunt 
object.

After committing the crime, the accused fled and was only arrested by the 
police in Kuching 3 months later.

(source: Borneo Post)








THAILAND:

6 men sentenced to death in southern Thailand's massacre case



6 males were on Wednesday sentenced to death on charges of perpetrating last 
year's massacre in southern Thailand, police said.

Krabi Provincial Court ruled Surikfat Bannopwongsakul, 41, and 5 accomplices 
guilty of manslaughtering eight people, including children, at the house of the 
victims in Ao Luk district of Krabi province, about 780 km south of Bangkok, 
last July and delivered them the death penalty.

Surikfat and his men in camouflage clothing cold-bloodedly killed village 
headman Worayut Sanglang and the 7 members of his family with the victim's 
handgun following an unsettled dispute over a costly land deal.

The murderers used Worayut's gun in a cover-up to make it look as if he had 
killed his own family members and committed suicide under extreme stress, the 
police said.

2 other accomplices, including a female, were sentenced to 21 months and 12 
months in jail respectively.

Surikfat's lawyer has planned to refute the Krabi court's verdict in the 
Appeals Court at a later date.

(source: Xinhua)