[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 20



BELARUS:

Declaration by the Committee of Ministers on the execution of Alyaksandr 
Zhylnikau in Belarus



The Committee of Ministers deeply deplores the execution of Mr Alyaksandr 
Zhylnikau, announced on 13 June 2019.

It calls on the Belarussian authorities not to carry out the execution of Mr 
Vyachaslau Sukharko, condemned for the same crime as Mr Alyakasandr Zhylnikau.

The Committee of Ministers reaffirms its unequivocal opposition to the death 
penalty and reiterates its strong call on Belarus to establish a moratorium on 
executions as a first step towards abolition of the death penalty.

The Committee of Ministers remains ready to assist the Belarussian authorities 
to promote a public debate on the issues relating to the full abolition of the 
death penalty, as foreseen in the Belarussian Constitution

(source: coe.int)








PAKISTAN----execution

Death row convict hanged in Haripur jail



A death row convict was hanged in the Haripur Central Jail here on Wednesday 
morning.

Chanzeb, a resident of Peshawar, had been awaiting execution since 2006 when 
Federal Shariat Court had awarded him death penalty for raping and murdering a 
minor girl who happened to be his sister-in-law in 1996.

After issuance of his black warrants the jail administration arranged his last 
meeting with his family on Tuesday. According to jail sources, his execution 
was carried out at 4.30am amid tight security.

According to deceased’s last will, his real sister received his body and took 
it to Peshawar for burial.

Police and witnesses said Sheikh Abdul Fatakh of Kalas village was on way to 
pick his daughter from university when his bike collided with a speeding van, 
injuring him critically.

The locals shifted him to Haripur Trauma Centre where he succumbed to injuries.

(source: dawn.com)








INDIA:

State to HC: No deliberate delay in executing death penalty of 2 convicts



The Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that there 
has been no “deliberate or inordinate delay” on its part in deciding and 
executing the death penalty imposed on two convicts in the 2007 Pune BPO 
employee's gang-rape and murder case.

The state home department and Superintendent of Yerwada jail in Pune, where the 
2 convicts are lodged, filed their affidavits in response to the pleas filed by 
the duo seeking to halt their execution scheduled on June 24.

The petitions filed by Purushottam Borate and Pradeep Kokade have claimed that 
the “inordinate delay” in executing the sentence violated their fundamental 
rights. They urged the high court to commute their death sentence to life 
imprisonment.

In the affidavit, the government said the Pune sessions court delayed in 
issuing warrants for the convicts' execution despite several reminders sent by 
the Yerwada prison superintendent and Additional Director General, Prisons 
Department, Pune.

The home department, in its affidavit, stated that the superintendent of 
Yerwada prison was informed on June 19, 2017 that the convicts' mercy petitions 
were rejected by the President.

“The Yerwada prison superintendent informed the convicts about the decision on 
the same day and also wrote a letter to the sessions court concerned, 
intimating it about the rejection of the mercy petitions and seeking for 
appropriate orders to be passed regarding the death penalty imposed,” the 
affidavit said. From June 19, 2017 to December 2018, the Yerwada prison 
superintendent as well as additional director general, prisons, Pune wrote 
letters to the sessions court, requesting for appropriate orders to be issued.

“There has not been any delay... on the part of the state government as such, 
either in intimating the convicts, or in forwarding the documents to the 
government of India,” the state government said in the affidavit.

The affidavit filed by the present superintendent of the Yerwada prison said no 
blame can be put on the then jailor as he had followed the procedure and had 
sent repeated letters to the sessions court in Pune, requesting for necessary 
orders for execution of the death penalty.

“It was entirely within the jurisdiction and totally in the absolute discretion 
of the sessions court to issue the death warrant. There is no delay in 
executing the death sentence of the two convicts by the state of Maharashtra,” 
the affidavit said.

Meanwhile, the affidavit filed by the Union government Wednesday said the 
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) received the mercy petitions filed by the two 
convicts on May 18, 2016 and these were decided on May 26, 2017 after taking 
into account all relevant considerations, such as the convicts' age, 
background, role in the offence and so on.

The convicts' counsel, Yug Chaudhry, claimed that this is the first case in the 
country that has witnessed such an inordinate delay. A division bench headed by 
Justice B P Dharmadhikari will continue hearing arguments in the case on 
Thursday. A sessions court in Pune had on April 10 issued warrants setting June 
24 as the date of execution.

In March 2012, the duo was convicted and awarded death penalty by a Pune 
sessions court for kidnapping, raping and murdering a BPO employee in Pune in 
2007.

The victim, a female Wipro BPO employee, got into the regular cab contracted by 
the company to report for her night duty on November 1, 2007 in a Pune suburb. 
Cab driver Borate, accompanied by his friend Kokade, changed the route and took 
her to a remote place, where they raped her and strangled her with her dupatta. 
They also disfigured her face to conceal her identity.

In September 2012, the high court confirmed the punishment and the verdict was 
upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2015. The Governor of Maharashtra rejected 
their mercy petitions in April 2016 and the President in May 2017.

“Excessive and unexplained delay of over 4 years (1,509 days) in execution of 
the sentence of death causes unnecessary and unavoidable pain, suffering and 
mental torment that constitutes cruel and unusual punishment violative of 
Article 21 (right to life),” the duo said in the petitions filed in the high 
court last month.

(source: Free Press Journal)

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Baba Ramdev demands capital punishment for adulteration in food



Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Wednesday demanded that government should make 
stringent laws for people adulterating food and vegetables.

He went on to say that such offenders should be given capital punishment like 
in China. At a press conference in Mumbai, when Ramdev was asked about the 
effects of fertilisers on health, he demanded that FDA rules should be made 
stringent.

"There are instances of fertilisers used on vegetables at farms and next day 
they are sold in the market and consumed. This is leading severe health 
effects. Hence, my demand will be that government makes stringent laws for 
adulteration. Capital punishment should be given to the culprits and if not 
capital punishment then life imprisonment," said Ramdev.

Ramdev further added that politicians who have left yoga have lost elections. 
Taking a dig at Congress President, Rahul Gandhi, he said "Nehruji and Indiraji 
used to do yoga in closed doors. But their coming generation has left it and 
now lost power. 'Acche din' come for politicians who do yoga. Modiji is the 
only prime minister who does yoga in public glare."

Ramdev will be taking a session of yoga in Nanded on international yoga day 
where Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will be present. Ramdev did 
yoga asan along with newly appointed education minister Ashish Shelar.

(source: India Today)








BANGLADESH:

9 get death, 2 jailed for life for murder in Chapainawabganj



A Chapainawabganj court has handed the death penalty to 9 people and life 
imprisonment to 2 others for the murder of former treasurer of C&F Agent 
Association Monirul Islam.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Shawkat Ali delivered the verdict in the 
5-year-old case on Thursday.

Monirul was shot to death on Oct 24, 2014. His wife Rahima Begum as plaintiff 
initiated a case over the incident with Shibganj police the next day.

The recipients of the death penalty are Akherul Islam, Sirajul Islam, Tohrul 
Islam alias Tutul, Abdul Malek, Sirajul Islam alias Sentu, Sirajul Islam, 
Shariful Islam alias Sharif, Mohammed Masud and Abdus Salam from several 
villages in Shibganj Upazila. They were also fined Tk 200,000 each.

Masud alias ‘Lalchan’ and Parul Begum were given life imprisonment along with a 
fine of Tk 200,000 each, facing an additional year to the sentence for failure 
to pay it.

8 of the 11 convicts were present in court during the verdict while Md Masud, 
Abdus Salam and Parul Begum are absconding.

The court also acquitted Selim Reza, Benaul Islam, Khairul Islam and Obaidur 
Rahman from Baliadi village.

“The convicts, led by then C&F Agent Association President Akherul Islam, lured 
Monirul out of his home in the Sialmara village around 1:30pm in 2014. Later he 
was shot to death on the evening near Shibganj Upazila Stadium," said 
Additional Public Prosecutor Anjuman Ara.

According to the case dossier, a dispute over the distribution of the 
association’s funds led to Monirul’s killing.

(source: bdnews24.com)








PHILIPPINES:

CBCP exec tells new leaders: ‘Defend human life in all its stages’



On the 13th anniversary of the signing of the law abolishing death penalty in 
the country, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal 
Commission on Prison Pastoral Care reminded the country’s new leaders of their 
responsibility to defend human life in all its stages.

“The responsibility to defend human life in all its stages falls upon all 
Christian citizens. It falls, with particular weight, upon Christian 
politicians,” CBCP ECPPC Executive Secretary Rodolfo Diamante said in a 
statement.

“They have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human 
life,” he added.

Diamante said the latest pronouncement of legislators on the resumption of the 
deliberation on the re-imposition of death penalty in the country was 
“disturbing” as it strongly implied that the current set of elected leaders 
believe in killing as a solution to the nation’s peace and order problem.

“We argue that there are other more deeply-rooted reasons for the lack of peace 
and order in our society that leaders have failed to appreciate and 
acknowledge,” he said.

“The CBCP ECPPC reiterates that capital punishment is an affront to the human 
dignity of both those on whom it is inflicted and that in whose name it is 
employed,” added Diamante.

He said they also firmly believe in the capacity of the human being to 
“transform and reform” its behavior, especially with the help of society.

Diamante also explained that human life is precious and so instead of taking it 
away, the Church advocates for a shift in the paradigm of justice, from 
litigation to mediation; prosecution to healing; punishment to reform and 
rehabilitation; from retribution to restoration.

CBCP ECPPC appealed to legislators to resolve to live the Gospel of Life fully 
and faithfully.

“Affirm an option for life and justice that moves beyond punishment,” said 
Diamante.

(source: Manila Bulletin)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi authorities say they're seeking the death penalty for five people for 
Khashoggi murder



A long-anticipated report from a United Nations rights expert has concluded 
there is 'credible evidence' that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and other 
high-level officials are liable for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The report says the evidence merits further investigation by an impartial 
international inquiry.

But Saudi authorities insist they were not acting on the the Crown Prince's 
orders.

They say they've now put 11 unidentified people on trial behind closed doors, 
and are seeking the death penalty for 5 of them.

(source: abc.net.au)








IRAN----femlae execution Fatemeh Nassiri executed in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj



A woman by the name of Fatemeh Nassiri and a man were executed Wednesday 
morning, June 19, 2019, at Gohardasht Prison (Rajai-Shahr) in Karaj.

Fatemeh Nassiri had been transferred from Ward 7 of Qarchak Prison to 
Gohardasht Prison to carry out her death penalty. She had been in jail since 11 
years ago when she undertook the responsibility of a murder committed by her 
son.

Fatemeh Nassiri is the 89th woman hanged during Rouhani’s term in office.

The clerical regime in Iran uses the death penalty as a tool to suppress and 
silence a disgruntled society the majority of whom live under the poverty line, 
are unemployed and deprived of freedom of speech.

This is how the mullahs hold their grab on power. Iran is the world’s top 
record holder in per capita executions. More than 3,600 people have been 
executed in Iran since Rouhani took office in 2013.

< **************************

Deputy Judiciary Chief Given Authority to Hand Down Death Sentences in Iran



In a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, June 18, 2019, Gholam-Hossein 
Mohseni-Ejei, the Iranian regime’s First Deputy Judiciary Chief, announced that 
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has increased the level of authority he enjoys, 
permitting him to now hand down death sentences.

Based on articles 477 and 350 of the Iranian regime's penal code, the Supreme 
Leader has authorized the Judiciary Chief to issue sentences of death and 
‘qisas’ (retribution), under the regime's so-called Sharia law, to punish 
criminals with the same crime they have committed. Ejei said that from now on, 
the First Deputy Judiciary Chief has the same authority and can decide over 
death and qisas sentences.

These changes, within the last 2 1/2 months, facilitated the conclusion of more 
than 600 cases of qisas and execution, he said, the state-run ISNA news agency 
reported.

Yet Ejei did not say how he concluded the cases - whether he confirmed all the 
death and qisas sentence or not. He called this action as a “revolutionary 
Jihadi act” by Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi.

Ejei’s remarks imply Raisi, a notorious member of the 1988 Death Commissions 
that ordered the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, had asked the Supreme 
Leader to allow his deputy to approve more execution and qesas sentences in 
order to increase oppression and terrorize the society.

The Iranian regime’s Judiciary, even according to state-run news agencies, is 
one of the most corrupt institutions of the regime, with a high rate of 
corruption among the so-called judges.

Yet this corrupt system, with the Supreme Leader’s permission, now has more 
authority to execute and oppress the people.

(source for both: ncr-iarn.org)








TANZANIA:

Tanzanian court sentences 3 Muslims to death for murder



A court in Tanzania has sentenced 3 Muslims to be hanged for decapitating 4 
Christians in 2015 during an outbreak of violence fuelled by religion, a legal 
source said.

The East African country maintains the death penalty on its statutes, although 
nobody has been executed since 1994.

High Court Justice Lameck Mlacha in the northwestern town of Bukoba on 
Wednesday found the three guilty of murder, the source in the court clerk's 
office told AFP, asking not to be named.

The conviction was partially based on a video in which all 3 men appeared to 
acknowledge to police and local officials that the crime was motivated by 
religious convictions, added the source.

They killed their victims on November 11, 2015 and left headless bodies to be 
found at Katoma in the Bukoba district.

The 3 men are already serving jail terms for their involvement in arson attacks 
on more than a dozen churches, according to prosecutor Hashim Ngole, quoted by 
the Tanzanian press.

Ngole said that 13 other cases arising from the decapitation of people and 
church burnings in 2015 were undergoing legal process.

The condemned men intend to appeal, according to their leading lawyer Mathias 
Rweyemamu, who told the press that they had been tortured in detention, while 
the video recording of their confessions was "a fake stitched together".

Some 500 convicts in Tanzania's jails face the death penalty or have seen their 
sentences commuted to life prison terms on a de-facto basis.

President John Magufuli has said that he will sign no death warrants.

(source: business-standard.com)








KENYA:

Moses Kuria threatens to sponsor bill to have terror convicts executed in 
public----The vocal MP noted most suspects were often handed lenient 
punishments despite heinous crimes



Moses Kuria has decried lack of stringent anti-terrorism laws to deal with 
suspects found guilty of the crimes.

The Jubilee lawmaker threatened he would sponsor an amendment to the laws to 
mete out harsher penalties to convicts such as death sentence or public 
execution to serve as a lesson.

Kenyans charged with violent robbery who would have faced the death penalty, 
the terrorist scums will get a maximum of a life sentence, thanks to lopsided 
anti-terrorist laws.

"I will be initiating an amendment to send convicted terrorists to hell through 
the death penalty and a public execution at Uhuru Park," he posted on 
Wednesday, June 19. Kuria was reacting to a court's decision to sentence 3 
individuals who masterminded the deadly attack at Garissa University College 
that left 148 students dead in 2015. The 3, Rashid Charles Mberesero, Hassan 
Edin and Mohamed Abdi alias Mohamed Ali Abikar were found to have actively 
planned the attack with al-Shabaab operatives.

Milimani law courts' Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi in his ruling noted the 
amount of evidence presented before court proved beyond reasonable doubt that 
indeed the trio was in close contact with the militia.

“The court finds that they knew the plot and were part of the attackers as they 
were arrested while travelling from Garissa 2 days after the attack,” he said. 
Court will resume on July 3 when the suspects will be handed jail terms.

However, Kenya is among countries under the United Nations which abolished 
death penalty in law or practice.

(source: tuko.co.ke)