[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 3




CHINA----execution

Serial killer executed in northwest China



A man convicted of killing 11 women was executed Thursday in northwest China's 
Gansu Province, local authorities said.

Gao Chengyong, 53, killed 11 women between May 1988 and February 2002 in Gansu 
Province and neighboring Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Gao killed the 
victims after committing a series of robberies and rapes in the city of Baiyin 
in Gansu and the city of Baotou in Inner Mongolia.

Police had been hunting the criminal for 28 years until one of Gao's relatives 
committed a crime and underwent DNA testing in 2015, which led to his arrest in 
August 2016.

He was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of Baiyin City on 
March 30.

Gao's death sentence has been reviewed and approved by the Supreme People's 
Court, the country's top court.

(source: xinhuanet.com)

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

China’s ‘Jack the Ripper’ executed for rape & murder of 11 women and girls



A serial killer known as China’s ‘Jack the Ripper’, who killed 11 people – the 
youngest being only 8 years old – has been executed, a Chinese court has 
announced. Gao Chengyong, a married father of two who ran a grocery store in 
Baiyin, China, killed his victims (women and girls) between 1988 and 2002. He 
received the gruesome nickname for the way he mutilated the bodies of his 
victims.

The killer targeted young women wearing red and followed them home, where he 
would rob, rape, and murder them. In several cases, Gao also cut off parts of 
his victim’s reproductive organs. His youngest victim was 8 years old.

Dating back 30 years, the string of murders was left unsolved until police were 
literally handed the evidence they needed to crack the case.

Gao was unmasked after his uncle provided a DNA sample to police while being 
processed for a minor crime. The sample revealed that he was related to the 
elusive killer, and a subsequent investigation led to Gao’s arrest.

In March 2018, the Baiyin City Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Gao to 
death after he was found guilty of homicide, robbery, rape, and dishonoring 
corpses.

In a statement released after his sentencing, the court denounced Gao’s 
“perverted desire to dishonour and sully corpses” and described his actions as 
“despicable.” It’s not clear how the execution was performed, although China 
typically uses lethal injection or a firing squad to carry out death sentences.

The original Jack the Ripper is believed to have murdered and mutilated at 
least 5 women in east London in 1888. The string of heinous killings was never 
solved.

(source: rt.com)








MALAYSIA:

Court upholds death sentence of China drug smuggler



The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the death sentence imposed on a Chinese 
woman for trafficking 2,156.8gm of methamphetamine inside 3 pillows in her 
luggage at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang.

A three-man panel chaired by Justice Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid unanimously 
dismissed the appeal by Yan Lanhua, in her 30s, to set aside her conviction and 
death sentence passed by the Shah Alam High Court on Sept 28, 2017.

Justice Umi Kalthum, who presided over the appeal with Justice Rhodzariah 
Bujang and Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, said the panel found that the 
appeal had no merit.

“We, therefore, affirm the appellant’s conviction and sentence imposed by the 
High Court,” she said.

Yan was found guilty of trafficking the methamphetamine at the Passenger 
Inspection Branch 2 at the LCCT upon arrival from Shenzhen, China, on Nov 15, 
2013.

According to the facts of the case, Yan had carried a blue luggage containing 
children’s items, among them three small pillows, shoes and clothing and, 
during an inspection, the drugs were found in the pillows.

During the trial, Yan denied she had knowledge of the drugs and had alleged 
that the blue bag was given to her by an African named “Baba” at the airport 
and she had a quick glance but did not see any suspicious item in the bag.

She said “Baba” requested her to deliver the bag to his friend in Malaysia and 
he (Baba) had paid for her air ticket and given her some pocket money for her 
stay in Kuala Lumpur.

In another case, the Court of Appeal also affirmed the conviction and death 
sentence passed on Sharin Abu Bakar, 41, for trafficking 27.30gm of mixed 
heroine and monoacetylmorphine at Jalan Kembia 10, Taman Puteri Wangsa, Pelangi 
Indah, Johor Baru on March 12, 2016.

Justice Mohtarudin Baki, who led a 3-man bench comprising Justice Rhodzariah 
and Justice Mohamad Zabidin, held that the panel unanimously found that the 
issues raised in the appeal had no merit.

“The evidence is solid and the conviction is safe. As such, the appeal is 
dismissed, and the conviction and sentence retained,” he said after hearing 
submissions from lawyer Andrew Lourdes, who represented Sharin, and DPP Dhiya 
Syazwani Izyan Mohd Akhir.

(source: thestar.com.my)








BANGLADESH:

Man gets death penalty in Krishna Kaberi murder case



A speedy tribunal here on Thursday sentenced a man to death in a sensational 
case over the murder of former college teacher Krishna Kaberi Biswas in 
Mohammadpur area in the capital.

The condemned convict is M Jahirul Islam Polash, manager of a broker house in 
Gulshan. He was tried in absentia.

Under section 302 of Penal Code, the court fined him Tk 1 lakh.

Besides, under section 20 and 7 of the Penal Code, the court sentenced him to 
life term imprisonment for the attempt to murder Kaberi’s husband and 2 
daughters, leaving them injured.

Under the sections, the court also fined him Tk 50,000, in default, he has to 
serve 1 year more imprisonment.

Krishna Kaberi Biswas, 36, wife of BRTA deputy director Sitangshu Shekhar 
Bishwas and a former teacher of the city’s Mission International College, came 
under a brutal hammer attack by Jahirul at their apartment in Mohammadpur Iqbal 
road on March 30, 2015.

Jahirul entered the flat of Sitangshu, who was acquainted to him, to greet him 
on his belated birthday. Then Jahirul hit him on the head with a hammer after 
making him drowsy with contaminated juice, leaving him injured.

As Krishna wanted to save her husband, the killer hacked her with a kitchen 
sickle and later set her on fire. She died the next day.

Their 14-year-old daughter Srabani Biswas Sruti and eight-year-old daughter 
Arti Biswas were also injured in the attack.

Later, Sitangshu’s brother Sudangshu Shekor Bishwas filed the murder case with 
Mohammadpur police station on April 1 accusing Jahirul and his brother-in-law.

Later, police pressed chargesheet acquitting his brother-in-laws.

After examining all the records and witnesses, Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 
judge Shahed NurUddin handed down the verdict.

(source: United News of Bangladesh)








CARIBBEAN:

'Time to abolish death penalty'----Amnesty International urges Englishspeaking 
Caribbean to get rid of punishment



The London-based international human rights organisation, Amnesty 
International, says while it welcomes a “significant reduction” in the 
application of the use of the death penalty in the English-speaking Caribbean 
in recent years, it is urging all regional countries to abolish it.

“As the English-speaking Caribbean marks its 1st decade as an execution-free 
region, Amnesty International congratulates those governments who have 
recognised the ultimate cruelty of the death penalty and renews its calls on 
them and all other states that still retain this punishment to take further 
steps to abolish it for good,” Amnesty International said in a statement at 
year-end.

It said figures on the use of the death penalty in the English-speaking 
Caribbean indicate that there has been a significant reduction in the 
application of this punishment in recent years.

According to Amnesty International, only half of the 12 English-speaking 
Caribbean countries have imposed new death sentences since the last man was 
executed in St Kitts-Nevis at the end of 2008.

It said 5 countries – Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica, and St 
Lucia – have commuted their remaining death sentences in the past 5 years 
(2013-2017), reporting empty death rows and leaving a minority of countries to 
carry the weight of the death penalty in the Americas region, together with the 
United States.

Amnesty International said the United States has remained the only State to 
carry out executions, but even in the USA figures on death sentences imposed 
and implemented have reached historically low records.

Amnesty International said that as of the end of 2017, over 96 % of all those 
on death row in the English-speaking Caribbean were held in 3 countries alone, 
Barbados (13 %), Guyana (32 %) and Trinidad and Tobago (52 %). The 3 countries 
retain the mandatory death penalty in their legislation. “International law 
prohibits the mandatory imposition of the death penalty, as it removes from 
judges the possibility of considering any mitigating factors at sentencing in 
relation to the circumstances of the offence and of the offender.”

Amnesty International said that the overall decrease in the death sentences in 
the region fully reflects global trends on the death penalty, noting that in 
the past decade, 13 countries have repealed the death penalty completely from 
their national legislation and a further two have become abolitionist for 
ordinary crimes, such as murder, retaining it only for crimes committed in 
exceptional circumstances.

The international human rights group notes that a recent decision by the 
Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the highest appellate court 
for Barbados, shows that the momentum towards abolition is set to continue.

It said that on June 27, last year, the CCJ ruled in relation to two cases from 
Barbados that Section 2 of the Offences Against the Person Act was 
unconstitutional because it gave judges no choice but to apply the death 
sentence.

“The court recommended resentencing for all cases where a death penalty 
sentence was initially given for murder under Section 2 of the Act. As the 
Parliament of Barbados continues its deliberations on draft legislation 
proposed in 2014, aiming at introducing judicial discretion in murder cases to 
comply with decisions by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the death 
penalty in the region was handed another blow,” Amnesty International added.

It said cracks in the wall of capital punishment in the English-speaking 
Caribbean were also seen at the international level in 2018.

“For the 1st time, 2 countries from the English-speaking Caribbean did not 
oppose a UN call for the establishment of a moratorium on executions with a 
view to abolishing the death penalty, in a historic move that further shows 
that global consensus is building towards ending the use of the death penalty.”

Amnesty International said on December 17, the UN General Assembly adopted with 
record-high support its seventh resolution on the issue.

“For the 1st time, Dominica co-sponsored and voted in favour of the resolution, 
and Antigua and Barbuda and Guyana abstained at the vote, in an unprecedented 
move that shows the perception of the death penalty in the region is changing,” 
Amnesty International said.

(source: Jamaica Observer)








IRAN:

Remembering Baqir al-Nimr, symbol of resistance



“Either we live on this land as free men, or die and be buried in it as pious 
men. We have no other choice,” Sheikh Baqir al-Nimr famously said in 2011. He 
walked the talk, refused to pledge allegiance to the despotic rulers of his 
land, refused to accept humiliation, and chose to die with dignity and honor.

On Wednesday, people of the free world marked third martyrdom anniversary of 
this great flag bearer of resistance, the beloved leader of the campaigners of 
truth and justice, who laid down his life to uphold the lofty principles 
exemplified by his leader and the ‘master of martyrs’ in the desert plains of 
Karbala 1400 years ago.

On January 2, 2016, Saudi Arabian authorities executed 47 people, including 
Shaheed Nimr, on dubious charges like ‘disobeying the ruler’ and ‘encouraging, 
leading and participating in demonstrations’. The trial was marked by many 
glaring inconsistencies and authorities blatantly violated his right to a fair 
trial. It was a brazen, deliberate miscarriage of justice.

Shaheed Nimr, who belonged to Shia-dominated Awamiyah village in Qatif region 
of Saudi Arabia, was a vocal critic of the despotic Saudi monarchy. He 
exercised his right to free speech to voice his resentment over the 
decades-long discrimination against Shias in the Kingdom. He fearlessly raised 
his voice against the brutalization and criminalization of dissent in his 
country.

In 2011, when the volcano of anger and outrage among Saudis erupted in 
country’s eastern province, Shaheed Nimr was seen as spearheading the movement 
for radical political reforms and an end to marginalization of minority Shias. 
The protests spread widely and the Saudi rulers saw it as a threat to their 
fiefdom.

A year later, without an arrest warrant, Shaheed Nimr was arrested and put 
behind bars. According to observers, Saudi authorities chased his car until he 
crashed, dragged him out of the car, and shot him in leg. With blood oozing 
from his leg, he was taken to the jail.

Shaheed Nimr was put in solitary confinement of a prison hospital and his 
family and friends were not given permission to meet him. He was denied proper 
medical attention for the injuries he sustained during his arrest, which 
resulted in his poor health condition and partial paralysis of his leg. It took 
many months for the hospital authorities to remove the bullet from his leg.

During the court hearings in 2013 and 2014, he was denied fair trial. His 
defense team was ill-equipped to counter the bogus charges against him and the 
judges failed to inform his defense counsels about hearing dates. His counsels 
were not allowed to cross-examine police officers that arrested him in an 
injured state, which was in violation of both Saudi and international laws. He 
was not even allowed a conversation with his lawyers.

On 15 October 2014, following a farcical judicial process, a Saudi court 
sentenced Shaheed Nimr to death for crimes related to free speech, disobeying 
the ruler, mobilizing masses against the regime, and encouraging pro-democracy 
demonstrations. His brother Mohammad al-Nimr was arrested after he tweeted 
about the death sentence.

In November 2014, many special rapporteurs issued a report to the office of the 
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) that Shaheed Nimr’s trial “did not 
meet the most stringent due process and fair trial guarantees.” They alleged 
that he was subjected to torture during his detention, and was denied medical 
attention.

The torture and lack of medical attention forced him to go on a hunger inside 
the jail, which further deteriorated his health condition.

Shaheed Nimr’s astounding popularity was demonstrated on the streets across the 
world. There were massive protests against the Saudi regime before and after 
his execution. While he was in custody, his wife Muna Jabir al-Shariyavi died 
in a New York hospital while mobilizing support for him. Importantly, the 
silence of U.S. and other Western powers over it amounted to complicity.

In October 2015, Saudi apex court ratified Shaheed Nimr’s sentence, ending all 
hopes of his survival. Then it was a foregone conclusion. On January 2 2016, he 
finally faced the gallows, with pride and a smile, like a true warrior.

His arrest, trial and execution were in clear violation of Article 9 and 10 of 
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the country’s own 
constitution. His custodial torture was in violation of Article 15 of the 
Convention against Torture (CAT).

Amnesty International said the sentence was carried out “after grossly unfair 
trial” and said there were “questions about the fairness of the trial is a 
monstrous and irreversible injustice”.

“The killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr suggests they (Saudi regime) are using the 
death penalty in the name of counter-terror to settle scores and crush 
dissidents,” said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle 
East and North Africa Programme, following Shaheed Nimr’s execution.

His family was even denied the right to give him a proper funeral. He was 
secretly buried by Saudi officials without informing his family.

Meanwhile, according to a latest report by UK-based human rights group 
Reprieve, the prosecutions for political crimes have increased under crown 
prince Mohammad Bin Salman and that “at least 54 people are facing death 
sentences for opposing the regime, of which 30 are at risk of imminent 
execution.”

One of them is Ali al-Nimr, Shaheed Nimr’s nephew, who was framed under dubious 
charges of participating in pro-democracy rallies in 2012 at the age of 17, and 
sentenced to death by crucifixion.

Ali al-Nimr’s planned execution, according to Reprieve, is “based apparently on 
the authorities’ dislike for his uncle, and his involvement in anti-government 
protests, would violate international law and the most basic standards of 
decency. It must be stopped.”

If we don’t raise our voice for the young Nimr, he will also meet the same fate 
as his uncle. Time is now.

(source: tehrantimes.com)








SAUDI ARABIA----executions

Saudi Arabia Begins 2019 with 3 Executions for Drug Offences



Authorities in Saudi Arabia executed 3 people for non-violent drug offences on 
the 1st day of 2019, highlighting the continuation of brutal drug policies 
under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

2 Egyptian nationals, Ataiwi Suleiman and Sobhi Ouda, were executed for 
smuggling cannabis, as well as illegal opiates and amphetamines, while 
Pakistani national Nizar Ahmad Qal Ahmad was executed for trafficking heroin. 
The legitimacy of their convictions is highly disputable due to the prevalence 
of corruption, and the known use of torture, among Saudi authorities.

Saudi Arabia’s approach to drugs is based on a strict interpretation of Sharia 
law, meaning that drug offences are considered to be a crime against God. The 
Ministry of the Interior cited verse 5:33 of the Quran as justification for the 
executions: “[those] who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after 
corruption in the land will be [...] killed or crucified, or have their hands 
and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land".

Saudi Arabia traditionally executes people by beheading, although the state 
occasionally kills prisoners via firing squad.

As a report by Harm Reduction International has shown, Saudi Arabia is one of 
the world’s most prolific executioners, with drug-related executions making up 
a significant proportion of these deaths. The report warns of the likelihood of 
abuse and corruption within the Saudi judicial system; "one of the main 
concerns remains the extraction of ‘confessions’ under torture, duress or 
coercion, which are often the sole evidence used in death penalty cases".

All executions in Saudi Arabia require approval by a royal order. According to 
research by non-profit Reprieve, executions in the authoritarian kingdom have 
doubled under the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – who assumed power 
in June 2018. In the first two months of 2018 alone, 33 executions took place, 
of which 52 % were reportedly for drug smuggling.

Unlike the wider population, powerful members of the country’s royal House of 
Saud family rarely face legal consequences for their involvement with drugs. As 
Foreign Policy magazine has reported, many evade conviction or sentencing – 
even for drug offences committed overseas. Notably, Mohammed bin Salman's 
predecessor - Mohammed bin Nayef - was removed from his post due to his 
“addiction” to painkiller drugs, a source told Reuters, but faced no legal 
consequences.

Implementing the death penalty for people convicted of non-violent drug 
offences is illegal under international law. Nonetheless, such executions are 
likely to continue in the kingdom unabated – not least due to the lack of 
foreign sanctions or criticism faced by the oil-rich country for its crimes.

(source: talkingdrugs.org)

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

Saudi Arabia says 5 face death penalty in Khashoggi killing



Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday it will seek the death penalty against 5 
suspects in the slaying of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a killing 
that has seen members of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage 
implicated in the writer's assassination.

Prosecutors announced that 11 suspects in the slaying attended their first 
court hearing with lawyers, but the statement did not name those in court. It 
also did not explain why seven other suspects arrested over the Oct. 2 killing 
at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul did not immediately face formal charges. The 
kingdom previously announced 18 people had been arrested.

Saudi officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The killing of Khashoggi, who wrote columns critical of Prince Mohammed, has 
strained the decades-long ties the kingdom enjoys with the United States. It 
also has added to a renewed international push to end the Saudi-led war in 
Yemen.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency and state television gave few details about 
the hearing.

"The Public Prosecutor demanded imposing proper punishments against the 
defendants and is seeking capital punishment for five of the defendants for 
their direct involvement in the murder," a statement from prosecutors said, 
without elaborating.

The suspects requested copies of the indictments they faced, as well as asked 
for more time to prepare for their case, prosecutors said.

While vague on details about the case, prosecutors made a point to express 
concerns about Turkey. They alleged that Turkish officials did not answer 2 
formal requests made for evidence in the case.

"To date, the Saudi Public Prosecutor has not received any response, and the 
Public Prosecution is still awaiting their response," the statement said.

Officials in Ankara could not be immediately reached for comment. Turkish 
officials have previously said they shared evidence with Saudi Arabia and other 
nations over Khashoggi's killing.

Turkey also has demanded Saudi Arabia extradite those 18 suspects to be tried 
there for Khashoggi's killing. Turkish security officials have kept up a slow 
leak of videos, photographs and morbid details surrounding Khashoggi's slaying 
to pressure the kingdom, as the two U.S.-allied countries vie for influence 
over the wider Mideast.

Turkish media have published photographs of members of the crown prince's 
entourage at the consulate in Istanbul ahead of the slaying. Khashoggi's body, 
believed to have been dismembered after his killing, has yet to be found.

Khashoggi, 59, entered the consulate Oct. 2 as his fiancée waited outside. But 
unbeknownst to him, a team of Saudi officials had flown in before his arrival 
and laid in wait for him.

Saudi Arabia denied for weeks that Khashoggi had been killed but later changed 
its story and ultimately acknowledged the brutal slaying. King Salman ordered 
the restructuring of the country's intelligence service, but has so far 
shielded Prince Mohammed, his 33-year-old son who is next in line to the throne 
in the oil giant kingdom.

All that has not has not stopped widespread international criticism against the 
kingdom. Under Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia has seen the arrest of business 
leaders, royals and activists while also recently granting women the right to 
drive.

U.S. senators in December passed the measure that blamed the prince for 
Khashoggi's killing and called on Riyadh to "ensure appropriate 
accountability." Senators also passed a separate measure calling for the end of 
U.S. aid to the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Both measures drew angry responses from 
the kingdom, but a renewed international effort has begun to end the Yemen war.

It is no surprise that the kingdom would seek to execute those accused in 
Khashoggi's slaying. Saudi Arabia was the world's 3rd top executioner in 2017, 
behind China and Iran, according to Amnesty International's most recent figures 
available.

The kingdom executed at least 146 people, according to the group. It regularly 
beheads those condemned to death and last year said it "crucified" a Myanmar 
man, an execution in which the condemned is usually beheaded and then the body 
put on display, arms outstretched as if crucified.

(source: Associated Press)