[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

October 15




BANGLADESH:

Dhaka not to abolish death penalty: FM----Govt defends Digital Security Act

Bangladesh would not abolish death penalty, foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali 
said in Dhaka on Sunday.

Law minister Anisul Huq defended Digital Security Act 2018 claiming that the 
law was finalised for ensure people's right to safe digital space after 
intensive consultation with the editors' council and other journalist groups. 
Ali also said the law 'is necessary to ensure public safety and order.'

They said these at a diplomatic briefing in presence of about 37 ambassadors 
and diplomats of foreign missions in the capital.

'Bangladesh is not abolishing death penalty considering its public opinion and 
socio-political reality,' the foreign minister said as European Union 
ambassador Rensje Teerink wanted to know whether the Bangladesh government had 
any plan to abolish or put moratorium on death penalty, according to a foreign 
ministry press release.

The diplomatic briefing was organised to inform the diplomatic community in 
Dhaka of the verdict in the case of August 21, 2004, grenade attack on an Awami 
League rally and the recently-passed Digital Security Act.

Law minister Huq claimed the trial was done complying with due process of law 
having heard 225 witnesses and the defence was also allowed to exercise all 
rights guaranteed to them under the law.

Journalist community in Dhaka and international quarters were protesting 
against the law describing it against the exercise of freedom of speech.

State minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam and foreign secretary M 
Shahidul Haque were also present.

Earlier on the day, heads of mission of the EU member states and the European 
Union called on the Bangladesh authorities calling for a moratorium on 
executions as a 1st step towards abolition of capital punishment.

The 10th of October is World Day against the Death Penalty and they said that 
on that same day 19 death sentences were issued in Bangladesh.

European Union and its member states reiterated their absolute opposition to 
capital punishment in all circumstances and restated their commitment to the 
worldwide abolition of the death penalty.

The death penalty violates the inalienable right to life enshrined in the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and was a cruel, inhuman and degrading 
punishment, they said.

(source: newagebd.net)








PAKISTAN:

Urgent prayer for Pakistani mother on death row----'Pray for me' pleads Asia 
Bibi



A Catholic Pakistani woman facing the death penalty for blasphemy against Islam 
is calling on the international community to pray for her release.

After spending almost a decade in jail, Aasiya Noreen - commonly known as Asia 
Bibi - is now anxiously waiting to hear if she will be sentenced to death after 
her final appeal was heard in Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday October 8. A 
decision is expected any day.

Despite increased calls from radical groups for the death penalty to be carried 
out, sources report that Bibi's family remain hopeful that she will be 
acquitted.

"God willing it will soon be over and [Asia Bibi] will be back home with the 
family." - Emmanuel Yousef

While waiting for the court's ruling, Bibi's family have been visiting England 
with support from the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). 
Speaking on behalf of the family, Father Emmanuel Yousef from ACN, said: 
"Although the judges didn't give a judgement, this has happened in many cases 
of this kind in the past - and they still ended positively ...

"We will have to wait a few days but we are confident that things will go well 
... God willing it will soon be over and [Asia Bibi] will be back home with the 
family."

Bibi's husband Ashiq Masih was equally optimistic when speaking to the Catholic 
Herald, saying that his wife "wanted to deliver a message to the international 
community that they must remember her in their prayers." He continued, "These 
prayers will open the door of the prison, and she will be released very soon."

"She feels when she is praying, Jesus is encouraging and supporting her." - 
Ashiq Masih

According to the Catholic Herald, Masih also said his wife was "spending her 
life praying with a very strong faith and is reading the Bible every day. She 
feels when she is praying, Jesus is encouraging and supporting her."

As the mother of 5 made her final appeal in court last week, Pakistani 
Christians engaged in a day of fasting and prayer. Meanwhile, radical religious 
groups are making death threats towards the judges presiding over the case to 
warn them against showing leniency towards Bibi.

According to AFP, hardline Islamic party, the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), 
warned judges they would meet a "horrible" end if they didn't go through with 
the death penalty via a press conference recorded on YouTube. The group was 
also calling for mass protests this week to support the stricter enforcement of 
Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

Another religious group, the Red Mosque in Islamabad, is also reported to have 
asked the Supreme Court to rule that Bibi is not allowed to leave the country 
if she is acquitted.

Bibi has always maintained her innocence.

Bibi has been on death row since 2010, when she was convicted of blasphemy 
against Islam's prophet Muhammad. It took 4 years for her appeal against this 
charge to be first heard by the Lahore High Court in 2014. At that time the 
court upheld the death sentence, but postponed her execution. Her 2nd - much 
delayed - appeal this month was Bibi's final chance to have the charge 
overturned.

Bibi has been on death row for 9 years for alleged blasphemy.

Bibi has always maintained her innocence, most definitively through her memoir, 
Blasphemy, which was published in 2013. In this book, she tells how she was 
accused of blasphemy while working in the fields picking fruit in Punjab, 
Pakistan's second-largest province, in 2009. According to Bibi, her offence 
stemmed from simply drinking a cup of water.

A series of catastrophic events resulted. Bibi was accused of stealing the cup 
by a Muslim co-worker and contaminating it as an "unclean" Christian. An 
argument followed, during which one of the women accused Bibi of blasphemy for 
a comment she allegedly made about the founder of Islam, Mohammed - a charge 
punishable by death in Pakistan. Bibi was beaten by a mob, imprisoned and, 1 
year later, sentenced to be hanged.

Since then tensions around the case have escalated. Bibi's family have been 
forced to flee their village due to threats of violence. 2 prominent public 
figures who came to Bibi's defence - the Muslim governor of the Punjab 
Province, who supported reform to the country's blasphemy laws, and Pakistan's 
Christian Minister for Minorities - were both assassinated. In 2016, around 150 
Muslim clerics from radical Islamist group Sunni Tehreek called for Bibi to be 
hanged.

International outcry about the case has come from the European Parliament, the 
EU’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, and even from Pope 
Francis.

And now, the rest of the world is being called to urgent prayer for Bibi. 
Yousef told ACN: "We have prayed 10 years now for our sister, Asia, and I am 
confident that our prayers will be heard, and the judgement will go in favour 
of Asia, her family and the entire Pakistani Christian community."

(source: eternitynews.com.au)

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

LHC seeks replies on plea for public hanging of Zainab's killer



The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued notices to the Punjab government 
and other respondents on a petition filed by Amin Ansari, father of 7-year-old 
Zainab, seeking court directives for public hanging of his daughter's murderer.

A bench of the LHC directed the respondents to file their replies on the 
petition on Tuesday (tomorrow).

The petitioner submitted that convict Imran Ali, who will be sent to the 
gallows on Oct 17, could be executed publicly under Section 22 of the 
Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. He added the section allows the government to 
"specify the manner, mode and place of execution of any sentence passed under 
this Act having regard to the deterrent effect which such execution is likely 
to have."

Amin said the murderer of Zainab should be given exemplary punishment to stop 
such incidents in future.

The convict will be hanged on the morning of October 17 at the Lahore Central 
Jail. He was found guilty of rape and murder of seven minors including Zainab.

The warrants were issued after President Arif Alvi rejected the mercy plea on 
October 10.

Death row prisoner Imran Ali was handed 4 counts of death penalty, one life 
term, a 7-year jail term and Rs4.1 million in fines in the Zainab rape and 
murder case.

(source: arynews.tv)








AUSTRALIA:

Australia in push to ban death penalty



Australia will lead a push to stop pregnant women, children, and people with 
mental or intellectual disabilities being handed the death penalty as a step 
towards its global abolition.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Monday launched a concerted diplomatic 
strategy to end the death penalty.

"We consider the death penalty to be deeply flawed and an affront to human 
dignity," Senator Payne said on Monday.

"There is no conclusive evidence that the death penalty deters crime. It is 
irrevocable and degrading."

As part of the push, Australia will aim to increase the number of abolitionist 
countries, and try to get pardons for people on death row.

Australia also aims to reduce the number of executions and the number of crimes 
that attract the death penalty.

The strategy calls for an end to the use of the death penalty on pregnant 
women, people younger than 18 years and those with mental or intellectual 
disabilities.

(source: 9news.com.au)








MALAYSIA:

Death penalty still in effect until abolished, says Dr M----Tun Dr Mahathir 
says the death penalty in Malaysia is still in effect and will remain until it 
is officially abolished.



The prime minister said the necessary legislation has yet to be put in place to 
abolish the death penalty.

"(Saying that the death penalty will be abolished) does not mean that it has 
already been abolished.

"We have to wait until the necessary Act is passed to repeal it," he told 
reporters at the Parliament lobby on Monday.

Last week, the Cabinet gave the green light to put in motion the end of the 
death penalty in Malaysia.

Malaysia will join 106 countries which have abolished capital punishment.

If Parliament approves its abolishment, it will serve as a reprieve for 1,267 
prisoners currently on death row.

The pending abolishment, however, has triggered a storm of controversy. In an 
online poll conducted by NSTP, 82 % of the 22,000 netizens polled opposed the 
government's move to axe the death sentence.

On Sunday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law) Datuk Liew Vui 
Keong said the death penalty will be replaced with a sentence of a minimum of 
30 years behind bars.

He said this could be used in the proposed amendment to Section 39 (B) of the 
Dangerous Drug Act 1952, for instance, where a convicted offender was subjected 
to the mandatory death sentence.

In addition, there are also 17 other criminal offences that bear the same 
sentence. These offences include waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, 
terrorism, murder, attempted murder during a life imprisonment, killing victims 
during kidnapping, possessing and using firearms as well as rape leading to 
death and rape of minors.

(source: nst.com.my)

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

No death penalty reprieve for man who distributed cannabis oil



Muhammad Lukman Mohamad, who was found guilty of distributing cannabis oil 
(medicinal marijuana), is not getting a moratorium on his death sentence as his 
case is still up for appeal, the minister in charge of law, Liew Vui Keong, 
said today.

Any moratorium on death sentences could only be for cases which have completed 
the process of trial and appeal in the courts, the Minister in the Prime 
Minister's Department told The Malaysian Insight.

(source: themalaysianinsight.com)

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

Man to hang for killing woman in confinement



A security guard was sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court today after 
he was found guilty of murdering a woman in confinement, 3 years ago.

Judge Mohd Azman Husin made the decision after finding that the prosecution had 
proved a prima facie case against Mohd Azmirul Shamsuddin, 39.

Mohd Azmirul was charged with murdering Rabiatul Adawiah Abd Aziz, 23, at an 
apartment in Sungai Way, Petaling Jaya, near Shah Alam, at 8.22pm on March 4, 
2015.

The charge, under Section 302 of the Penal Code provides for a mandatory death 
penalty upon conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Lokman Kasim prosecuted, while Mohd Azmirul was 
represented by lawyer Halim Ashgar Mohd Hilmi.

A total of 14 prosecution witnesses and 1 defence witness testified during the 
trial.

According to media report, the woman, who was in confinement after giving birth 
to her daughter 2 months earlier, was found dead in the apartment with her 
hands and legs tied and her mouth gagged, next to her unharmed baby.

(source: malaysiakini.com)

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

Surgeon tells High Court videographer would have bled to death from gunshot



A cardiac surgeon told the High Court that if RTM videographer Mohamad Amirul 
Amin Mohamed Amer, who was shot in the chest, had not had surgery he would have 
probably died from his injuries.

Dr Francis Gerard Lopez said Mohamad Amirul sustained 2 injuries, circular 
wounds on his chest and back due to a foreign object penetrating through him.

"There was an entry wound on his chest and an exit wound on his back. If the 
operation had not been performed immediately, he would have continued to bleed 
and his breathing would have continued to be affected resulting in probable 
death.

"From the X-ray, CT scan and findings during the operations, the object was no 
longer in the victim.

"He also sustained fractures to his ribs," he said during examination-in-chief 
by senior DPP Emma Syafawati Abdul Wahab on Monday (Oct 15).

Meanwhile, factory worker Lee Hong Boon, 58, said that bodyguard Ja'afar Halid 
stopped Lee's motorcycle and pointed the gun at him before shooting him in his 
left shoulder.

"I was driving home when he (Ja'afar) stopped me and asked me to get off my 
motorcycle.

"He said 'turun, turun, turun' three times with the gun pointed at me. He then 
told me to remove my helmet.

"I removed it and raised my hands in fear. I then took 2 steps back and he shot 
me. I then ran about 30ft before hiding behind a tree," he said during 
examination-in-chief.

Lee then identified Ja'afar as the shooter when he was asked if the man who 
shot him was present in the court room.

During cross-examination by defence counsel Y. Anbananthan, Lee, 58, said 
Ja'afar looked fierce but had a bit of a smile.

"He did not raise his voice and sounded normal. We did not argue and I followed 
his instructions.

"I heard a gun shot and realised I had been shot," he said.

When asked if he believed Ja'afar behaved like he was crazy, Lee agreed that he 
behaved like a crazy person.

Dr Francis and Lee were testifying in the trial of bodyguard Ja'afar, 39, who 
claimed trial to murdering his boss, businessman Datuk Ong Teik Kwon, 
professional clown Choi Hon Ming and flower supplier M. Senthil.

The incident happened at the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway between 7.15pm and 
7.30pm near the Penang Bridge intersection of the expressway on Dec 1, 2016.

He faces the mandatory death penalty if convicted of murder.

He also claimed trial to the attempted murder of Dr K. Arivarni, TNB Bhd 
assistant manager Nurul Huda Ab Aziz, Lee, Mohamad Amirul and Puoh.

He can be jailed up to 20 years if convicted for attempted murder.

The hearing will continue on Tuesday (Oct 16) before Judicial Commissioner 
Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed.

(source: thestar.com.my)








IRAN:

Iranian political prisoner calls for stop of death sentence----On World Day 
Against Death Penalty Iranian political prisoner call for stop of death 
sentence

On the occasion of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, a number of 
families of political prisoners and execution victims issued messages and 
statements calling for abolition of the death penalty in Iran.

In an open letter that has been secretly sent out of prison, Iranian political 
prisoner Hassan Sadeghi, who has been held in Iran's Rajaie Shahr Prison, has 
revealed details about the execution of political prisoners during 1980s.

Reiterating periods during which the Iranian regime carried out widespread 
executions of Iranian opposition members, Sadeghi, who has spent many years in 
the Iranian regime’s prisons, writes:

Wishing for an Iran without execution

"We are approaching the World Day for the Abolition of the Death Penalty and 
the executions continue in Iran. The ruling mullahs have no scruples in 
resorting to the death penalty as a tool for repression because it is founded 
on pillars of executions, killing and criminality and from the very first day, 
it found his survival in this inhuman act.

The regime ironically has worn the execution of so many innocent people as a 
badge of honor. The execution of innocent children and juveniles like Fatemeh 
Mesbah and Ezzati Mesbah at the ages of 13 and 15 will not be erased from the 
record of this regime." Sadeghi writes.

"I had 2 uncles, Haj Mohammad Mesbah and Ata Haj Mahmoudian. We were always 
together.

Fatemeh, Ezzat-o-Sadat, Mahmoud, Asghar and I, were childhood playmates. Our 
toys were pens, papers and books. Our play was to read and write books like 
Little Black Fish, or the stories of Qoran, Imam Hussein and Imam Ali. Everyone 
should tell what he understood so that our fathers gave us scores," Sadeghi 
recounts.

"We had never thought that one day what we had learnt from Imam Hussein and 
Imam Ali (2 of the most revered Shiite leaders) would lead to imprisonment of 
Fatemeh, Ezzat and I, and eventually to the execution of 13-year-old Fatemeh, 
and 15-year-old Ezzat, even without trial. We had never thought that one day 
Ezzat-o-Sadat 15, and his brother, Mahmoud 18, would be executed without 
committing any crime," Sadeghi writes.

"The regime's crimes got to a point where it had to conceal them under the 
banner of supporting the children in Yemen.

Can you tell what you have done to the Iranian children that you are now 
talking about killing children? What did you do with the youth like Mohammad 
Mesbah, Teymour Davar, Masoud Khastou and Ali Khademi so now you are talking 
about the killing of Palestinian youth?

Of course, it is not surprising that if the hangman Pourmohammadi shamelessly 
says before camera that, "we executed people and it was out right."

Who gave you the right to execute teenagers like 15-yer old Afshin or the youth 
like 20-year-old Mostafa Mosana?

I was taken to Ghezelhesar Prison in 1982. Later, I heard that Mahmoud Mesbah, 
whose leg was broken the time of the farewell, was executed shortly after my 
departure along with his brother Akbar Mesbah while holding their hands at the 
last moments." Sadeghi recounts.

"Less than a year later I was transferred to Evin Prison's room 30 of Hall 6. 
Only 5 people had remained of 30. Ahmad, Jebreil, Teymour, Behrouz, where had 
they all gone?" Sadeghi asks from the remaining fellow cellmates.

"I got my answer from a sob caught in their throat and their heads down. The 
regime's execution machine is still on after 40 years and continues to kill. 
Just a few weeks ago, they executed Zaniar and Loghman. No matter how many 
youths are murdered, the ruthless dictators never get satisfied. I hope one day 
the world makes any relations with the record holder of per capita executions, 
conditional on an end to the death penalty.

Hassan Sadeghi

Gohardasht Prison

October 2018"

(source: iran-hrm.com)