[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

January 8




SOMALIA:

2 Al-Shabaab Assassins Executed For Killing Chief In Somalia



2 al-Shabaab assassins, convicted of killing traditional chief, have been 
executed in Somalia on Monday. The 2 were trying to escape from the scene of 
the killing of chief Hilowle Heefow Hussein in 2016 when they were nabbed by 
police.

25-year-old Hassan Al Hassan, and 22-year-old Abdirahman Isse Ali, were 
executed 2 weeks after 41-year-old Abdul Kadir Shaa’ir, described as a Seril 
Al-Shabaab bomber, was executed by firing squad. He was convicted of a series 
of bombings in 2017.

Activists have challenged the death penalty in Somalia. The country is one of a 
few African nations that still apply the capital punishment.

Most African countries usually commute death penalties to life imprisonment.

(source: Africa News Network)








PAKISTAN

Military courts award death penalty to 345 terrorists since their establishment



Since the establishment of military courts, cases of 717 accused terrorists 
were sent to them by the federal government and 646 of them have been 
finalized.

The swift trial courts were set up through a constitutional amendment for a 
period of 2 years in January 2015 to stem the growing tide of militancy and 
terrorism. Their term was extended for another 2 years in January 2017, which 
has also ended now.

According to the details available with this news agency, out of the 646 
finalized cases, 345 terrorists were given death penalty and 296 rigorous 
imprisonment of varied durations, ranging from life imprisonment to a minimum 
duration of 5 years. 5 accused were also acquitted.

Out of 345 sentenced to death, 56 terrorists have been executed after 
completion of legal process beyond military court decisions, which included 
their appeal in superior civil courts and rejection of their mercy petition 
both by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the President of Pakistan.

Those, who have been given death penalty, included masterminds, executers and 
abettors/facilitators.

(source: brecorder.com)








INDIA:

Govt introduces amendments to POCSO Act in Lok Sabha----The Sections 4, 5, 6 of 
the Act are proposed to be amended to provide the option of stringent 
punishment, including death penalty, for committing aggravated penetrative 
sexual assault on a child.



The Government on Tuesday introduced in Lok Sabha amendments to the POCSO Act, 
which provides for the death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children, 
making it gender neutral and introducing provisions against child pornography 
and for enhancing punishment for certain offences. The Protection of Children 
from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019, seeks to protect children from 
offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography and provide for 
the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of such offences.

The POCSO Amendment Bill, introduced by Minister of State in Ministry of Women 
and Child Development Virendra Kumar, also provides for stringent punishments 
for other crimes against those below 18 years of age. “The said Act is gender 
neutral and regards the best interests and welfare of the child as matter of 
paramount importance at every stage so as to ensure the healthy physical, 
emotional, intellectual and social development of the child,” said the 
statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill.

The Sections 4, 5, 6 of the Act are proposed to be amended to provide the 
option of stringent punishment, including death penalty, for committing 
aggravated penetrative sexual assault on a child. The Act defines child as any 
person below the age of 18 years and the amendments are aimed at discouraging 
the trend of child sexual abuse by acting as a deterrent.

Besides, Section 9 of the Act is being amended to protect children from sexual 
offences in times of natural calamities and disasters and in cases where 
children are administered any hormone or chemical substance to attain early 
sexual maturity for the purpose of penetrative sexual assault.

The Bill proposes a fine of not less than Rs 1,000 for not destroying or 
deleting or reporting the pornographic material involving a child. In case of 
subsequent offence, the fine would be not less than Rs 5,000 crore. The 
offender can be further penalised with 3-year jail term or fine or both for 
transmitting, propagating, administrating such material.

“In the recent past incidences of child sexual abuse cases demonstrating the 
inhumane mind-set of the abusers who have been barbaric in their approach 
towards young victims is rising in the country. Children are becoming easy prey 
because of their tender age, physical vulnerabilities and inexperience of life 
and society,” the Bill said. It said there is a strong need to take stringent 
measures to deter the rising trend of child sex abuse in the country.

The proposed amendments make provisions for enhancement of punishments for 
various offences so as to deter the perpetrators and ensure safety, security 
and dignified childhood for a child.



BANGLADESH:

Gang rape in Noakhali----Criminals' death penalty demanded

Local people, including the fathers of 2 of the 9 accused in the case for gang 
rape of a housewife in Subarnachar upazila, yesterday demanded death penalty to 
the culprits.

The demand came at a protest rally organised by NGO Nijera Kori at Pangarbazar 
in Subarnachar.

"Not only the rapists, but also the masterminds who incited them, should be 
awarded with death penalty," said Baigon Ali, father of an accused Hanif.

Tofail Ahmed, father of another accused Mosharraf, also made the same demand.

Relatives and family members of all the nine prime accused were present at the 
rally chaired by Sirajul Islam, president of upazila landless people's 
association.

Nijera Kori Coordinator Khushi Kabir and women's rights activist Advocate Salma 
Ali attended as chief guest and special guest.

Some Awami League men gang-raped a mother of 4 on December 30, allegedly for 
not voting for 'boat' symbol.

The incident sparked huge outrage across the country.

The victim's husband filed a case accusing 9 people. Later, police added 4 more 
names after interrogation of some of the accused and 10 people have so far been 
arrested in this connection.

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

Lone accused given death penalty



A Sylhet court yesterday handed down death sentence to a youth for the 2016 
murder of college student Tonni Ray in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj.

Rezaul Karim, judge of Speedy Trial Tribunal in Sylhet, delivered the verdict 
against the lone accused, Ranu Ray, 25, from the same upazila, said Kishor 
Kumar Kar, special public prosecutor.

Tonni's father Bimol Ray expressed satisfaction over the verdict, saying, “I am 
pleased with the verdict and hope to see the death sentence carried out as soon 
as possible.”

According to the case statement, Tonni, 18, was murdered on September 17, 2016.

Tonni had gone missing the same day after she went out of the house for 
computer lessons at a training school in the upazila. After three days of 
search, her body was found in a sack in a river in the area.

Her father filed the case with Nabiganj Police Station. Police arrested Ranu 
from Brahmanbaria on October 7 that year.

On October 8, Ranu, in a statement given under section 164 before Habiganj 
Judicial Magistrate Nishat Sultana, confessed to have committed the murder.

In February last year, the case was sent to the Speedy Trial Tribunal in Sylhet 
and the tribunal recorded depositions of 20 witnesses.

(source for both: The Daily Star)








IRAN:

Iran freed the Ukrainian sailor, who was facing the death penalty



In the next few days will be back to Ukraine Odessa Andrew seaman Beginners, 
which in Iran threatened the death penalty.

In Iran freed Ukrainian sailor Andrew Novichkova, who was facing the death 
penalty. In the coming days he will return Home, reported Tuesday, January 8, 
President Petro Poroshenko in Facebook.

“That was liberated by the Ukrainian sailor Beginners. Now Andrew is in the 
territory of the Embassy of Ukraine in Iran. Congratulations from Odessa with 
the return of our compatriot,” wrote the head of state on the social network.

He also said that reported that to the grandmother of a sailor who was waiting 
for the release of his grandson.

As you know, Odessa Andrew seaman Beginners was arrested in early 2017 on 
suspicion in murder of Iranian sailors in Iran, he risked the death penalty. In 
particular, the Ukrainian sailor was accused that he allegedly threw overboard 
the Iranian sailor, but the accused denied it, and witnesses of incident were 
not. The Ukrainian government was negotiating for its release.

It was also reported that in Iran, the 33-year-old Ukrainian sailor Andrew 
Beginners who contains in prison of Tehran, went on hunger strike because of 
the “unjustified arrest”.

(source: micetimes.asia)








BELARUS:

Double homicide: Another death sentence looming in Belarus?



On January 8, a double homicide case is being presented in Babruysk court. The 
defendant is an ex-con who served 12 years for previous crimes.

According to the theory of the prosecution, Alyaksandr Asipovich, a 36-year-old 
resident of Babruysk, brutally killed two girls on July 20, 2018. The man met 
them in a cafe, where they had some drinks, and then the trio headed to the 
man’s place. Asipovich stabbed and hammered the girls to death. Their bodies 
bearing multiple cuts and injuries were found in the bathroom.

The defendant fully realized what was happening at the moment of the murder; he 
even tried to cover up the crime, state prosecutor Volha Ivanova said. His 
turning himself to the police cannot be a mitigating factor, she stressed.

The state prosecutor demands the supreme penalty (execution) should be 
inflicted on Asipovich.

Belarus remains the only country in Europe that still applies capital 
punishment. The West has repeatedly called on the Belarusian authorities to 
join a global moratorium as a first step towards the abolition of the death 
penalty.

The exact number of executions in Belarus is unknown, but local human rights 
defenders and journalists have worked tirelessly to uncover some information 
about death sentences and executions. According to the Ministry of Justice of 
Belarus, 245 people were sentenced to death from 1994 to 2014. Human rights 
NGOs believe that around 400 people have been executed since the country gained 
its independence in 1991; president Alyaksandr Lukashenka granted a pardon to 
only 1 convict.

(source: belsat.eu)