[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

January 4




BANGLADESH:

Kaberi murder convict given capital punishment



The lone convict in the college teacher Krishna Kaberi murder was sentenced to 
death in absentia.

Dhaka's Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 Judge Shahed Nur Uddin announced the verdict on 
Thursday.

Convict Zahirul Islam Palash was a business associate of Krishna's husband and 
BRTA official Sitangshu Shekhar Biswas, says case record.

The judge also fined Zahirul Tk 100,000 under Section-302 of the Code of 
Criminal Procedure. In addition to death penalty, he was given life 
imprisonment for assaulting Sitangshu and his children.

The inability to pay the fine will add another year to his imprisonment term. 
On Mar 30, 2015, Palash went to the couple's home at Mohammadpur's Iqbal Road 
to greet Krishna's husband Sitangshu on his birthday with cake, sweets and 
flowers.

Biswas lost consciousness after drinking fruit juice which Palash had spiked. 
He then assaulted him with a hammer.

When Krishna tried to save her husband, she was also battered mercilessly along 
with Sitangshu. Her saree caught fire from the candle's on the cake and she was 
burnt badly.

When their daughters 'Shruti', 14, and 'Atri', 8, shouted for help, they were 
also attacked by Zahirul. Krishna, who taught at the Mission International 
College in Dhaka's Adabar, succumbed to the burn injuries at hospital the next 
day. Kaberi's husband Sitangshu Shekhar Biswas is a director at BRTA.

His brother Shudhangshu Shekhar Biswas had filed the murder case with 
Mohammadpur Police Station making Zahirul the lone accused.

Sub-Inspector Delowar Hossain, the case's investigating officer, submitted the 
charges to court on May 30, 2016 after a year of investigation.

Sitangshu Shekhar Biswas had opened a Beneficiary Owner Account or BO account 
through Haji Ahmed Brothers Securities with Tk 800,000, said the charge sheet 
of the case.

Zahirul attempted to kill Sitangshu over the money.

After being indicted on April 2017, Zahirul gave a confessional statement in a 
court.

At least 22 witnesses testified in the case.

(source: thedaiynewnation.com)








IRAQ:

Report: Jihadist born in Switzerland risks death penalty in Iraq



An alleged jihadist born and raised in Switzerland is facing trial in the 
capital of Iraq, according to an investigation conducted by the 10vor10 
programme and the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper.

Iraqi troops captured the 24-year-old man, a Turkish national who grew up in 
Switzerland, as they regained territory from the Islamic State group.

The man has been brought before a specialised tribunal in Baghdad where he 
faces the death penalty, according to an Arabic article published in a magazine 
of the Iraqi judicial authorities.

The article describes the man as a native from the northeastern Swiss town of 
Arbon who used the battle name "Obeida" and had a Turkish 1st name.

The Swiss attorney general told public broadcaster SRF that criminal 
proceedings were brought against this man in Switzerland in 2015 over his 
suspected membership in a terrorist group.

The proceedings were suspended in December 2016 but as a precaution he has been 
banned from entering Switzerland.

Federal police spokeswoman Catherine Maret told SRF: "We can do that if we have 
the feeling that there is a threat to internal security - which is the case 
here".

The Iraqi authorities apparently quote from interrogation records in the 
article and refer to him as an IS member.

The man from Switzerland had been trained in the use of weapons in a training 
camp in Syria.

Afterwards, according to his testimony, he was sent to Iraq where he was asked 
what type of training he had.

"I said that I worked in the field of electricity and electricity," the Iraqi 
judiciary quoted him as saying. Then follows his explosive confession: "For 
nine months I built the circuits for explosive charges".

He is accused of working as a bomb maker for ISIS.

An investigation into his childhood in Switzerland found that “Obeida” only 
completed elementary school and that the electronics training related to an 
internship of several months in this field. In Arbon, “Obeida” was apparently 
part of a group of jihadis.

Rights group stress that criminal trials in Iraq do not meet Europe's 
constitutional standards. Judgments are usually handed down without sound 
evidence, trials are often very brief, the accused might not be heard, and 
confessions are extracted under the force of torture.

“Obeida” reportedly has a lawyer but he has never been allowed to speak to his 
client. The lawyer is working to avert the execution of a death sentence.

The man from Arbon had a C residence permit in Switzerland but no citizenship. 
As such, the Swiss foreign ministry has not offered him consular assistance.

(source: swissinfo.ch)








IRAN----executions

12 Prisoners Executed For Drug Charges



Last month IHR and several other rights groups and news websites received 
reports about the execution of 12 imprisoned drug offenders on December 6, in 
the Central Prison of Kerman, South-Eastern Iran. IHR has now confirmed the 
reports through several independent sources. This is the highest number of 
drug-related executions in 1 day since the new amendments to the Anti-Narcotics 
Law were enforced in November 2017.

According to the IHR sources, on the morning of December 6, 2018, at least 12 
prisoners were hanged at Kerman prison, all of whom had been sentenced to death 
for drug-related charges.

3 of the prisoners were identified as Ali Deyhim (or Deyhi), Majid Shiki and 
Reza Ouhadi, charged with possession of 700 Kg opium, 1700 Kg opium, and 14 Kg 
Heroin respectively. Local sources identified two other men as Jalil, son of 
Khodabakhs and Yousef, son of Jalaloddin.

“These people had at the prison for several years. One of them had spent 15 
years in jail. Another 1 was convicted to life imprisonment. He had been given 
a prison furlough and was charged with possession of drugs while he was on 
furlough and sentenced to death,” a well-known source told IHR, “their death 
sentences were upheld even after the case reviews under the new law.”

The identities of 4 other executed prisoners were revealed by other rights 
groups as “Abdolghani Ghalandarzehi, Yaghoub Ghalandarzehi; and 2 brothers with 
the surname of Shahzehi”, all from the Province of Baluchistan.

3 of the prisoners executed on December 6 have not been identified yet. None of 
the executions was announced by the Iranian authorities.

The new amendment to Iranian Anti-drug law which was enforced on November 14, 
2017, includes a mechanism to limit the use of the death penalty and reduce the 
sentences of those sentenced to death or life imprisonment. The law was 
retroactive and could potentially save many prisoners’ lives after their 
case-review process.

Following the enforcement of Iranian Anti-drug law in November 2017, the number 
of drug-related executions is significantly decreased compared to the past 
years. According to some official reports 238 death sentences have been 
commuted and changed to life in prison in Kerman since enforcement of the new 
law.

(source: Iran Human Rights)