[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 20



SOUTH AFRICA:

The call for the death penalty is getting louder



South Africa needs a justice-based capital punishment, which should come with 
an automatic appeal process to ensure that if the death penalty is implemented, 
it is to deserving offenders and it will only apply to repeat offenders.

The nation’s demand for justice for the brutal murder of the teenager Thoriso 
Themane and the call to bring back the death penalty symbolise the desperation 
and hopelessness of its citizens. This is a clear indication of a government 
that has lost the battle against crime.

In the same week that the community of Limpopo marched for justice for Thoriso, 
days later another murder was reported. A rising star Sibusiso Khwinana, who 
was a lead actor in the locally-produced movie Matwetwe, had been stabbed to 
death over a cellphone in Pretoria, sending shock waves across the nation.

On average, 57 people are killed in South Africa every single day. Defenceless 
and impatient South Africans who constantly live in fear of crime, are making a 
call to their government to deal decisively with serious crime by bringing back 
the death penalty. This is a call that cannot be ignored.

This is because many believe that a lot of murderers and criminals often get 
away with murder. Even after being locked away, many would argue that too often 
the sentences handed down against these criminals do not match the crimes 
committed. Some even point to the fact that many unrepentant criminals who have 
committed these crimes get released, but only to commit more crime not long 
after they have been released.

At the core of the communities’ anger against criminals being released is the 
feeling that the convicted criminals after being released from prison don’t own 
up to what they have done, and often don’t give back to the same communities 
they have wronged.

A US’s award-winning author and preacher Rev Renee Pittelli, says a lot of 
offenders stop at repentance, but there is restitution which requires offenders 
to make amends, by giving back to the person or the community they have 
wronged. Pittelli writes: “Restitution is unfamiliar and often uncomfortable to 
many. It comes as a quite surprise to offenders to be told that they are 
expected to undo the damage they did.”

There’s an important lesson that we can take from Pittelli’s argument as far as 
restitution is concerned. With the average population of more than 160,000 
prisoners locked away in South African prisons, the country has consequently 
locked away potential. The state should make it compulsory and mandatory for 
all the ex-offenders to work for the state free of charge, for at least up to a 
year after being given parole. As opposed to the current dysfunctional model, 
where ex-offenders are only required to volunteer to do community work at their 
“spare-time”. To deal with serious crime such as murder, what needs to happen 
urgently is the immediate review of the parole system. This would include, 
making use of labour convicts as a means of them earning their way back into 
society; by contributing to the welfare and economy of the country. There also 
needs to be a justice-based capital punishment which should come with an 
automatic appeal process. This is to ensure that when the death penalty is 
implemented, it is to deserving offenders and it will only apply to repeat 
offenders.

(source: dailymaverick.co.za)








NIGERIA:

Abolish death penalty in Nigeria - Okowa tells FG



Delta state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has called for the abolishment of the 
death penalty in the country - The governor also called for the reformation of 
prisoners to make them better citizens of the country - Okowa further disclosed 
that the state government would give starter packs to those leaving prisons, to 
enable them start up their own businesses



Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state on Monday, March 18 called for the 
abolishment of death penalty in Nigeria. The governor made the call when 
members of the Presidential Committee on Prisons Reforms led by its chairman, 
Justice Ishaq Bello, paid him a courtesy visit in Asaba, NAN reports.

Atiku tells tribunal Legit.ng gathers that the governor stated that the death 
penalty should be abolished and those who are already sentenced to death should 
have their sentences converted to life imprisonment; more so now that most 
state governments are unwilling to sign the death warrant. He also called for 
the reformation of the prisoners to make them better citizens of the country.

Okowa condemned a situation where prison inmates coordinate criminal activities 
such as kidnapping from the prisons, adding that reforming the prisoners was 
apt for a sustainable crime-free society.

“We need to reform the minds of the prisoners, a programme to reform the mind 
of prisoners is very important because once you are able to reform their minds, 
they will become better citizens.

“As a state government, we are extending our skills acquisition programmes to 
the prisons.

“But it will be such that the prisoners would be given starter packs as they 
are leaving the prisons to enable them start their own businesses and be useful 
members of the society,’’ he said.

According to the governor, setting up of the committee for prison reform is 
timely, and he urged it to ensure a thorough job. He noted that the crime rate 
in the country was on the rise and available prisons infrastructure had been 
stretched beyond their limits. Earlier, Bello said that they were in the state 
as part of their activities to reform the Nigerian Prisons Service.

He said that the committee had visited more than 13 states in that regard.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a bill prescribing death by 
hanging for any person found guilty of any form of hate speech that results in 
the death of another person received the first reading at the Senate. The bill, 
sponsored by Senator Sabi Abdullahi, sought the establishment of an independent 
national commission for hate speeches.

(source: legit.ng)








IRAN:

Iran Execution Report 2018: Public Executions



A part of the 11th Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, by IHR, deals 
with public executions in the country.

Despite continuous international criticism, Iran is among the few countries 
where public executions have been organized by the authorities.

Public executions have repeatedly been criticized by the UN. Both the UN 
Secretary-General and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in 
Iran have expressed concern about the continued practice of public executions 
in Iran[1]. During Iran’s second UPR[2], the Government did not accept the 
recommendations to put an end to public executions[3]. This has also been 
emphasized in the recent report of the current Special Rapporteur on Human 
Rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman.[4]

In 2008, a judicial moratorium on public executions was adopted by the Iranian 
authorities. As a consequence, the number of public executions in 2008-2010 was 
relatively lower than in the previous years. However, after 2010 the number of 
public executions increased dramatically, reaching an average of 50 to 60 
public executions between 2011-2015In 2018, the Iranian authorities executed 13 
people in public spaces. This is the lowest number of public executions since 
2009 (the year after the moratorium, 9 public executions). Whether there is a 
political decision behind this reduction remains to be seen.

Public Executions Since 2008

The number of public executions in 2018 was significantly lower than the number 
in the previous seven years. Whether it is a permanent change or not remains to 
be seen. In the first half of January 2019, five public executions were 
implemented in three different Iranian cities.[5]

Geographic Distribution of Public Executions

Public executions were conducted in 6 different provinces in 2018, compared to 
15 provinces in 2017. Fars province (Southern Iran) which had topped the public 
executions between 2010 and 2016, registered one public execution in 2017. In 
2018, this province is once again one of the two provinces with the highest 
number of public executions.

Official charges for public executions:

Public executions documented by the Iranian media

In 2015, in response to a joint statement by 2 of the UN Special Rapporteurs 
condemning the practice of public executions by the Iranian authorities, the 
“High Council for Human Rights” of the Iranian Judiciary issued an official 
statement saying, “public executions take place only in some limited and 
special circumstances, including incidents which distort public sentiment, to 
act as a deterrent to decrease the number of drug-related crimes. It should 
also be noted that the mentioned sentences are provided to avoid the presence 
of minors at the scene of executions”.[6]

However, photos taken from the execution scene in the previous years 
demonstrate that children are often present at these events. The executions are 
often announced in advance and take place early in the morning in front of 
dozens of citizens. In 2018 the Iranian media showed more restriction than 
before in showing children watching the public executions. However, all the 
reports, information and testimonies, reveal that in 2018 the executions were 
carried out in public spaces or in the residential areas in front of a crowd of 
several hundreds. No reports indicate any specific measure taken by the 
authorities to limit the presence of children. One of the official reports 
mentioned that children between 3 and 10 years were present among the crowd.[7]

On March 15, 2018, two prisoners were hanged in public in the city of 
Dogonbadan, the capital of Gachsaran County, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 
Province. The prisoners were siblings and were sentenced to death for an armed 
robbery which resulted in the death of two people. It took less than 100 days 
from their arrest until they were executed in public.[8]

2 prisoners were hanged in public in the city of Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan 
Province, on July 22, 2018.[9] They were convicted of rape. One of the 
prisoners was begging for his life before the execution according to the 
report. Photo: Mohsen Rahimi

Public execution of two men in Mashhad for rape charges on May 15, 2018.[10] 
The banner says: “Implementation of hodoud punishments is more useful than rain 
for the people”. Photo: Mashhad Fori News website

3 prisoners were hanged in a residential area in Shiraz, Fars Province, on 
November 21, 2018[11]. The prisoners were charged with Moharebeh for armed 
robbery. “The prisoners were brought to the execution area around 7 AM with his 
hands tied. The area looked like parking and was surrounded by a fence making 
it less accessible to the public. One of the prisoners asked to do his last 
prayer before the execution. The authorities accepted his request. While he was 
praying, execution of the 2 others was carried out. A dozen children between 3 
to 10 years old were among the crowd watching the executions along with their 
parents,” reported the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).[12]

References:

[1] EU strategy towards Iran after the nuclear agreement-EU Parliament text 
adopted 25 October 2016

[2] Outcome of the universal periodic review: the Islamic Republic of Iran, 
A/HRC/DEC/28/108, 
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G15/107/16/PDF/G1510716.pdf?OpenElement

[3] UPR-info: Hungary, Norway and Germany called on a moratorium or immediate 
end on public executions

[4] Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the 
Islamic Republic of Iran A/73/398 http://undocs.org/A/73/398

[5] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/3615/

[6] http://en.humanrights-iran.ir/news-22714.aspx

[7] http://www.irna.ir/fars/fa/News/83107624

[8] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/3259/

[9] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/3398/

[10] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/3321/

[11] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/3557/

[12] http://www.irna.ir/fars/fa/News/83107624

(source: Iran Human Rights)








ISRAEL:

Netanyahu Tells Ettingers Will Seek Death Penalty for Terrorists



Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Ettinger family that he will 
seek the death penalty for terrorists, in a condolence visit on Tuesday.

Rabbi Achiad Ettinger Hy”d, a well-known educator and father of 12, was killed 
in a shooting attack on Sunday at the Ariel Junction in the Shomron.

During the visit, in the community of Eli, Netanyahu told the bereaved family:

“The shock is enormous. From what I have heard about Achiad, he was an amazing 
person, a man of valor with nobility of soul. The pain over your loss is 
immense; I understand how deep it is. But I want you to know that it is a shock 
to the heart of the entire people.”

Efrat Ettinger, a daughter of Rabbi Achiad, told the prime minister that “it’s 
impossible that a terrorist commits such an act and comes out alive.”

While speaking about enactment of the death penalty, Netanyahu cautioned that 
this won’t happen “in a day,” Ynet reported.

She responded: “That’s what they say at every condolence call after an incident 
like this and it doesn’t happen. It’s just talk.”

Netanyahu’s response was not reported.

Ettinger’s mother, Carmit, told the PM she hopes the government will reinforce 
troop presence in Yehudah and Shomron, which she said has dwindled recently. 
“This is our country,” she says. “While traveling after recent events we 
haven’t felt safe. See what you can do to help those who live here.”

The prime minister replied: “A few days ago, we destroyed the [Hamas] 
headquarters in Gaza to the ground. What we have here is something else.

(source: hamodia.com)



PAKISTAN:

Mentally disabled Christian man charged with “blasphemy” in Pakistan



Stephen Masih, a mentally disabled Christian man, was charged with “blasphemy” 
in Punjab, Pakistan on 11 March following a complaint by two Muslim men who 
claimed he “made derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet Muhammad in their 
presence” and ignored their requests to stop.

The complaint was lodged at Badiana police station in Sialkot District by local 
cleric Hafiz Muhammad Mudassar under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, 
which carries a mandatory death sentence.

Stephen is being held in police custody while investigations continue. CLAAS 
(Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement), which is supported by 
Barnabas Fund, has taken up his case.  Stephen, 38, lives with his elder sister 
Alia and their mother, who is bedridden because of serious illness. At the age 
of about ten he became ill with typhoid fever which caused damage to his brain, 
leaving him mentally disabled.

Stephen’s family is too poor to pay for the medicine he needs to control the 
fits and vocal outbursts of bad language caused by his mental disability.

On 11 March, while his sister Alia was at church, Stephen became involved in a 
quarrel with the wife of Hafiz Muhammad Mudassar. She and a woman friend 
threatened to report Stephen to the police because “he often used filthy 
language against the local women”.

A crowd of Muslim men, including Muslim clerics, later gathered and brutally 
beat Stephen while Alia begged for his life. The beating only stopped when the 
police arrived and took Stephen into custody.

Alia conceded that Stephen used bad language to local women but said he did not 
utter any derogatory remarks against Muhammad. She said the family had lived 
happily among the Muslim community for up to 35 years, but now, for the first 
time, they are scared for their lives because of the false “blasphemy” 
accusation.

Pakistan’s “blasphemy” laws comprise 295-A, B and C of the Pakistan Penal Code. 
However, it is only the charge of “defiling the name” of Muhammad (295-C) which 
carries the death penalty. To date no one has been executed under the law, but 
a number of Christians and others have received death sentences. Aasia Bibi, 
who was in prison for more than nine years after being convicted of 
“blasphemy”, was acquitted by the Supreme Court in October 2018.

(source: Barnabas Fund)






SINGAPORE:

Stop imminent hanging of Malaysian national



The Singaporean authorities must halt the imminent execution of Micheal Anak 
Garing, a Malaysian national, Amnesty International said today.

Garing and another man, both from Sarawak, Malaysia, were convicted of murder 
by the High Court of Singapore in 2014 for killing a man during an armed 
robbery that took place in 2010. Garing was sentenced to death.

His family was recently informed that his execution is scheduled to take place 
on Friday 22 March.

“Once again, Singapore threatens to inflict the kind of cruelty it claims to 
oppose. No matter how heinous the crime, the death penalty is a degrading and 
inhuman punishment. We denounce its use in all circumstances,” said Rachel 
Chhoa-Howard, Singapore Researcher at Amnesty International. “The Singaporean 
authorities must immediately halt their plans to carry out this callous 
execution.”

This would be the 1st execution to take place in Singapore this year that 
Amnesty International is aware of. The Singaporean authorities carried out 13 
executions in 2018, but details of the executions are not publicly available.

“The number of executions in Singapore surged into double digits last year, for 
the 1st time since 2003,” said Rachel Chhoa-Howard. “This is a deeply 
concerning escalation. We urge the authorities to change course and 
re-establish the moratorium on executions, as a 1st step towards their 
abolition.”

Background

When Micheal Anak Garing and his co-defendant were charged, a conviction of 
murder carried the mandatory death penalty. Following amendments to Singapore’s 
Penal Code that came into effect in 2013, murder without an explicit intention 
to kill became punishable by life imprisonment and caning, or, at the judge’s 
discretion, by the imposition of a sentence of death. At the co-defendants’ 
sentencing in April 2015, Garing was sentenced to death, having been identified 
as the one who inflicted lethal wounds on the victim - a fact that he later 
contested in his appeal to the Court of Appeal, which was rejected in 2017. His 
co-defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, 
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the guilt, innocence or 
other characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to carry 
out the execution. The death penalty violates the right to life and is the 
ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

As of today, 106 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and 
142 in total are abolitionist in law or practice. In 2017 the death penalty was 
imposed or implemented for drug-related crime in 15 countries, against 
international law and standards. Amnesty International recorded executions for 
drug-related offences in only four countries: China (which classifies figures 
as a state secret), Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. Singapore retains the 
mandatory death penalty, in certain circumstances, for murder and drug 
trafficking, contrary to international safeguards and restrictions on the use 
of the death penalty.

(source: Amnesty International)

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

Dr M hopes S'pore will see death penalty as 'excessive', spare S'wakian



The government is striving to save the life of a Malaysian who is scheduled to 
be hanged to death in Singapore, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

Sarawakian Michael Garing, 30, is scheduled to be hanged to death on Friday at 
Changi Prison in the republic.

He had been sentenced to death by hanging in 2015 for murder. The Court of 
Appeal affirmed the conviction in 2017.

“We are trying to save his life. As we know, in Malaysia now, people think that 
the death penalty is excessive.

"So, we hope that other countries will also look at it that way,” he told a 
press conference at the Parliament lobby.

Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and de facto Law 
Minister Liew Vui Keong said Malaysia will write to Singapore protesting 
against the death penalty imposed on Michael.

(source: malaysiakini.com)








PHILIPPINES:

Catholic Church not calling for restoration of death penalty



A photo shared tens of thousands of times in multiple Facebook posts claims to 
show members of the Philippine clergy holding a banner supporting the 
restoration of the death penalty.

The claim is false, the photo has been doctored from an original which shows an 
anti-death penalty message.

The photo, which was posted here and here shows men and women in white cassocks 
holding a banner with a message, which when translated to English, says “NOT 
everything uttered by a Priest is CORRECT. You should also Think! 
#YesToDeathPenalty

Below is a screenshot of the post:

The status of the post, when translated to English, says “#YestoDeathPenalty 
That's right! You should think! Because it was also stated in the bible that we 
should follow the law of the Government on Earth.”

The photo was 1st posted in March 2017 after the House of Representatives 
passed a bill reinstating the death penalty for some drug-related crimes.

The bill was passed 11 years after the death penalty in the Philippines was 
abolished in 2006 through a law signed by then President Gloria 
Macapagal-Arroyo.

But the bill was blocked by Senate inaction and the death penalty is not 
currently imposed in the Philippines.

The photo was reshared in March 2019 after the killing and mutilation of a 
16-year-old girl in the southern province of Cebu prompted calls for the death 
penalty to be reinstated.

A reverse search traced the photo back to this Facebook post on the account of 
the Immaculate Conception Major Seminary, a seminary in central Philippines.

The message in the banner, when translated to English, says: “NOT everything 
that is legal is RIGHT. Death penalty is very wrong! #NoToDeathPenalty.”

The original photo was published on March 24, 2017 at 11:40 am, 7 hours before 
the first misleading post was published.

AFP used the magnifying tool in Invid, an image and video verification tool, to 
highlight the time of the publication of the original and misleading posts.

The original photo was posted at 11:40 am on March 24, 2017:

The altered photo was posted at 6:56 pm on March 24, 2017:

The typeface of “Yes” in the #YestoDeathPenalty is clearly different from the 
typeface of the rest of hashtag in the misleading photo, indicating that the 
text has been changed or edited.

The Immaculate Conception Major Seminary has also said that the photo of them 
calling for the revival of death penalty is “fake.”

The photo has been shared over 20,000 times by different Facebook pages and 
groups, most of which support Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

(source: abs-cbn.com)








INDIA:

After 13 years on death row, 5 men finally walk free: The fear never leaves 
you----In an unprecedented decision, the Supreme Court, after restoring the 
appeals of the 6 convicts on death row, not only set aside their conviction and 
death sentence but also asked the state to pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh to 
each of them



21-year-old Arjun Shinde points to a shed built with 12 bamboo sticks and 8 
asbestos sheets that he and his 17-year-old brother Krishna built last week. 
“Not all the sheets are new, some are old. But we wanted to have some semblance 
of a home when Pappa came back from prison. He was coming home after 16 years. 
He would have felt bad to find out that his family had no home while he was 
gone,” says Arjun.

In Bhokardan’s Kailash Nagar, stripped of lustre both by its parched backdrop 
and abject poverty, the shiny sheets of metal are conspicuous in their newness. 
The colony that is home to 5 extended families of the nomadic Vadar tribe, 
however, closed in to cheer the return of Ambadas Shinde, Bapu Shinde, Rajya 
Shinde last week but still wait anxiously for Raju Shinde who is yet to be 
released from the Nagpur Central prison for he is wanted in another case in 
Buldhana.

In an unprecedented decision, the Supreme Court, after restoring the appeals of 
the six convicts on death row, not only set aside their conviction and death 
sentence but also asked the state to pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh to each of 
them. It also directed the Maharashtra government to act against police 
officers who falsely implicated them in the murder of four members of Trambak 
Satote’s family in Nashik.

But those 16 years cost everyone almost everything they had: from Bapu’s eldest 
son, who died while his father was in jail to Rajya, whose wife married another 
man and from a juvenile, who still has nightmares from staying on death row to 
Ambadas, whose children never went to school.

Arjun is the son of Bapu Shinde, 1 of the 6 members of the Shinde clan, who 
were released by the Supreme Court on March 5, 13 years after they were first 
handed out the death sentence by the Sessions Court in Nashik for the ‘heinous’ 
murders of four members of a family and raping a minor.

Bapu points to a picture of a 12-year-old boy wearing dark sunglasses. “This 
was my eldest son Vijay. He was the shoulder his mother leaned on after I was 
arrested. He died in 2008 after he was electrocuted and his father was nowhere 
to look after him,” said Bapu insisting that things would have been different 
had he been there.

He points at the pickaxe and the shovel, two tools used for breaking rocks and 
digging. The Vadar community travels taking up odd jobs like breaking rocks, 
desilting nullahs, working construction, in agricultural farms across the state 
– that fetch meagre daily wages.

The 2 tools, Bapu says, are indispensable in the community. “Ours is the 
hardest kind of labour,” says Ambadas Shinde, who was also released from Nagpur 
prison with his cousins Bapu and Rajya. “Instead of these tools, I wanted my 
children to hold a pen. They could get no education. They would have perhaps 
had jobs had I been around. Now they too are illiterate like their father.”

“We have never even been to Nashik,” said Rajya, who claims he was picked up by 
the police in Umbergaon near Gujarat. Ambadas said that he, Bapu and Raju, were 
picked up by the Bhokardan police while they were working in their fields. “We 
were told that they were investigating a theft in a home nearby. We never 
committed the theft and then we were later implicated in this very serious 
offence that we could not even have imagined,” said Ambadas.

“The only time we went to Nashik was when the police took us there,” says 
Rajya.

“Some times I wonder why we were implicated in this case. On other days, I 
wonder what stops that from happening again? I always had faith though. I had 
faith that the truth will prevail. Gharchanchi and varchanchi krupa hoti (It 
was the blessings of those at home and those above),” said Ambadas.

In the shed that Bapu’s sons built him are frugal possessions. A small mound of 
clothes. A thin mat and a bunch of papers. The papers include newspaper 
cuttings of their case, court order copies and some carefully preserved letters 
from their lawyer Yug Chaudhry sent from his office in Fort, Mumbai.

The handwritten letters, written in Marathi usually informed them about the 
progress of their case. “An inmate would read it for us in jail,” says Bapu.

Outside the shed is a heap of rubble that used to be the house of brothers Bapu 
and Rajya. “The sun and rain took their toll. There was no one to look after it 
or make the walls stronger. Reptiles started inhabiting it and over the years 
it just crumbled,” said Arjun.

“My wife and children slept in the open, on gunny bags and papers. Had I been 
here and worked and made some money, wouldn’t I build a stronger home for my 
family? Put a roof over their head?” said Bapu.

“I had been married for just 2 months when the police took me away. Since I was 
incarcerated for a long time, 2 years after my arrest my wife remarried another 
man. She was told I would never return. I am 37 now. Who is going to marry me? 
I also have been maligned since I went to jail,” said Rajya, who always dreamed 
of having a family.

His mother Vaijabai said, “Nobody wants their daughter to marry a man who has 
returned from jail and we don’t have the money for a wedding anymore.”

Ambadas, Bapu, Rajya and the juvenile, who was released from prison 4 years 
ago, cast pensive glances into the distance every time the death penalty is 
mentioned.

“The fear never leaves you,” said the juvenile, rehabilitated into his 
community since his release. “There is this constant weight on your head. You 
don’t know which morning you will be told that today is the day you hang. We 
can’t even read and write to understand what is going on or where our petitions 
stand. I would break into cold sweats and wake up at nights in prison,” he 
said.

“And if there isn’t the fear of death then there is the fear of being 
re-arrested and thrown into jail for years again.”

According to Ambadas, the death penalty doubles the punishment. “The death 
penalty shouldn’t be given even if the person has actually committed a horrible 
crime. You cannot swallow your own food, in solitary confinement, one faints 
from overthinking,” he said.

“It feels like many things. Like a cobra sitting on your chest for years, a 
sword dangling over your head, you feel sleepless, lose appetite and the jail 
staff keeps you alive, sometimes using IV drips,” said Bapu.

The Rs 5 lakh compensation, they feel, could help them start life afresh but 
may not sustain it for too long. “Can a government give us some jobs? Or help 
us build our home? If we decide to build the home, we will have spent all the 
compensation money. What will we be left with then,” said Rajya.

In Kailash Nagar, Rani Shinde and her 3 daughters await the return of Raju 
Shinde. Their plight is shared by their extended family, holding back any kind 
of rejoicing until he gets home.

His daughters studying in a government girl’s hostel in Bhokardan, too wait to 
see their father home. “I was pregnant with my youngest when my husband was 
arrested,” said Rani. “While he was locked up, he lost both his parents and a 
sister. He never even held his youngest daughter in her arms.”

“Raising 3 girls without any support has not been easy. I would travel with 
them to Nagpur jail so that they get to see their father at least but as 
travelling got expensive I had to stop that too,” she said.

Her eldest daughter dreams of enlisting the police force. “I will wait till 
Pappa comes back. Then fill the recruitment form with him by my side,” she 
said.

“Our experience with the police has been very bad but my daughter wants to join 
the force so that there are some good, compassionate people in the force who 
don’t torment the poor and the vulnerable,” said Rani on her daughter’s career 
choice.

But the sense of justice still eludes the Shindes. “There were so many flaws in 
the investigation. There were statements that the accused spoke Hindi. We never 
speak Hindi. We speak Marathi and among ourselves, we speak Telugu,” said 
Ambadas. “We were just framed for no reason. Our lives just were taken away 
just like that,” said Ambadas.

“We are glad to be back with our families but justice will only be done when 
the police officers who framed us, ruined our lives are brought to book. They 
have to be punished,” said Ambadas.

Meanwhile, the men and their families may celebrate a festival together for the 
1st time in 16 years with some colours on Holi. But the entire family will 
accompany them to a poll booth next month when they get their fingers inked 
like free men.

THE CASE

Trambak Satote, the caretaker of a guava orchard in Nashik’s Belatgavan Shivar, 
his wife, 3 sons, a daughter and his nephew were attacked in their hut by “7 to 
8” men on June 5, 2003, at around 10:30 pm. The assailants took their cash and 
belongings, went out and consumed liquor and returned with sharp weapons and 
unleashed carnage. They attacked the men, raped the minor girl and his mother 
and walked on the bodies of the victims assuming they were all dead. Satote’s 
wife and son Manoj, however, survived becoming the main prosecution witnesses.

THE TIMELINE

June 22, 2003 – Rajya and the accused later identified as a juvenile were 
arrested

June 27, 2003 – Ambadas, Raju and Bapu were arrested

October 7, 2004 – Suresh alias Surya Shinde was arrested

June 2006 – Sessions Court in Nashik convicted the 6 accused and sentenced them 
to death

2007 – The Bombay High Court upheld the conviction but commuted the death 
sentence of three accused while confirming that of the other 3.

April 30, 2009 – Supreme Court dismisses appeals filed by the accused and 
restorers the death sentence of all 6

October 31, 2018 – Supreme Court allows review and recalls its 2009 judgement

March 5, 2019 – Supreme Court acquits all 6, reversing its earlier decision.

(source: indianexpress.com)








MALAYSIA:

Legal expert: Keep death penalty only if system is foolproof



Malaysia’s criminal justice system must be foolproof if the death penalty is to 
be retained, said a legal expert.

This included enhancing both the procedural and evidential aspects of the law, 
said Assoc Prof Dr Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz of the International Islamic 
University of Malaysia.“To my mind, the judge may err because of the procedural 
and evidential levels of the standard of proof. It’s not the fault of the death 
penalty.

“It is the administrative process of the criminal justice system that must be 
relooked,” she said at a roundtable discussion on the death penalty organised 
by the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies yesterday.

Procedural aspects refer to investigations by the police, the prosecution 
process and the court process.

Evidential aspects refer to the kind of evidence that can be considered 
admissible in court.

Prof Shamrahayu, who supports the retention of the death penalty for “cruel or 
heinous” crimes such as murder, was speaking on the possibility of 
misjudgements occurring and innocent people being sentenced to death.

She added that there is also a need to increase the level of standard of proof 
in court beyond any reasonable doubt so that the accused would be given the 
benefit of the doubt.

“Although we support the death penalty, it does not mean we take the rights of 
suspects for granted,” she said, adding that there was also a need to take care 
of the rights of victims.

Suhakam commissioner Datuk Mah Weng Kwai asked if those supporting the death 
penalty would want executions to be carried out in public if it is to have a 
deterrent effect.

“Is society being hypocritical in this? While we want to have the death 
penalty, we don’t want to show it. Keep it quiet ... and let others do it,” 
said Mah, who argued for the abolition of the death penalty.

He also said if the death penalty was a successful deterrent, there would be no 
more crime.

Last week, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Hanipa 
Maidin said the government decided to abolish the mandatory death penalty for 
11 offences under 2 acts – 9 under the Penal Code and 2 under the Firearms 
(Increased Penalties) Act 1971.

In October last year, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew 
Vui Keong said the government would fully abolish the death penalty, with a 
moratorium for those on death row.

As of October 2018, 1,279 people were on death row in Malaysia, with the 
majority of them incarcerated for drugs offences.

(source: thestar.com.my)




BANGLADESH:

Death penalty for 15 in murder case over land dispute



A Dhaka court has handed death penalty to 15 people for their roles in the 
murder of Nazrul Islam, a clothing trader in Dohar in a conflict over land a 
decade ago.

Dhaka First Additional District and Sessions Judge Pradeep Kumar Roy announced 
the verdict on Wednesday as he sentenced 2 others to life in prison.

On Apr 3, 2008, the perpetrators killed Nazrul Islam at Narisha West Char 
beside the Buriganga Bridge over a land dispute, State Counsel Advocate Kazi 
Shahanara Yasmin told bdnews24.com.

Nazrul’s uncle Nazimuddin Ahmed filed a case with Dohar Police Station the same 
day.

On Apr 3, 2008, the perpetrators killed Nazrul Islam beside the Buriganga 
Bridge over a land dispute, State Counsel Advocate Kazi Shahanara Yasmin told 
bdnews24.com.

Among the 15 to be hanged, Siraj alias Seru Karigar, Minhaz Alias Minu, Khalil 
Karigar, Shahjahan Karigar, Kalu alias Kuti Karigar, Azhar Karigar, Niaz Uddin, 
Mozammel Alias Shuja, A Latif, Jalal and Billal Roy were present in the court 
as the verdict was announced. The rest of the accused—Didar, Ershad, Jalil 
Karigar and Ibrahim—are at large.

Majidal alias Majeda and China Begum have been given a life term and are 
absconding as of now. The court has fined them Tk 20,000 each. They will have 
to serve one more year in prison in case they fail to pay the fine, said State 
Counsel Kazi Shahanara Yasmin.

The accused had a dispute over land with Nazrul, according to the case details. 
There had been multiple cases running in court on the issue. The accused had 
hit Nazrul with an iron rod and bamboo sticks injuring him severely.

They hit Nazrul’s wife Shurjovan when she came forward to save him. Nazrul was 
taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the doctors on duty declared him 
dead.

Nazrul’s uncle Nazimuddin Ahmed filed a case with Dohar Police Station the same 
day.

Anowar Hossain, sub-inspector of the Detective Police, submitted the charge 
sheet in July 2008, accusing 17 persons following an investigation.

The court began the trial on May 25, 2009 and announced the verdict after 
recording testimonies of 14 witnesses from the complainants.

(source: bdnews24.com)








JAPAN:

Japan marks 1st anniversary of Aum Shinrikyo sarin nerve gas attack since top 
cult members' executions



Japan marked the 24th anniversary Wednesday of a deadly sarin nerve gas attack 
on Tokyo’s subway system carried out by the Aum Shinrikyo cult, which killed 13 
people and injured more than 6,000 others.

In a memorial ceremony at Kasumigaseki Station, relatives of the victims and 
employees of the subway operator observed a moment of silence at 8 a.m., around 
the time when the attack occurred on March 20, 1995.

The doomsday cult’s founder, Shoko Asahara, and several of his former followers 
were executed for the crime last July.

“After the executions, I came here with a different feeling than before,” said 
Shizue Takahashi, who lost her husband, Kasumigaseki assistant stationmaster 
Kazumasa Takahashi, in the attack. “Half a year has passed and I am thinking 
about the consequences of capital punishment more deeply.”

Following prolonged trials, Asahara, 63, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, 
was convicted of numerous murders, including the 1995 sarin gas attack, and 
hanged along with 12 other former senior members of the cult.

Immediately after the executions, Takahashi, 72, said her suffering had not 
stopped and that she was having a “very hard time.” But on Wednesday, she said 
she has started to think about how the executed death row inmates had spent 
their time in prison and how their families are doing.

Stands for flowers were set up by Tokyo Metro Co. at Kasumigaseki and other 
stations where people fell victim to the attack. Kasumigasaki Station is in a 
district containing many ministerial and other governmental offices.

The nerve agent was scattered in five subway cars during the morning rush hour 
under Asahara’s instructions, causing mayhem at the stations.

With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics approaching, the government is 
considering ways to further strengthen the safety of the country’s railway 
system.

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry conducted an 
experiment at Kasumigaseki Station earlier in the month to check whether a body 
scanner can detect hazardous materials if a passenger tries to secretly carry 
them onto trains.

The ministry hopes the device will enhance safety without affecting the 
convenience of railway passengers.

(source: Japan Times)








CHINA:

Trump calls on China to seek death penalty for fentanyl distributors: ‘Results 
will be incredible!‘



President on Wednesday called on China to seek the death penalty for 
distributors of fentanyl, an opioid linked to thousands of deaths in the United 
States each year. China is the of the drug.

“If China cracks down on this ‘horror drug,‘ using the Death Penalty for 
distributors and pushers, the results will be incredible!” the president wrote 
in a post on Twitter. He said that an agreement about the drug reached with his 
Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was “very exciting,” and suggested it could be a 
“game changer.”

The Trump administration has made it a top priority to tackle Chinese exports 
of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that 
can be as much as 100 times stronger than morphine.

Over the weekend, the White House alluded to the possibility that China would 
seek the death penalty for distributors.

In a statement, the White House said Xi had agreed to designate fentanyl a 
controlled substance, “meaning that people selling Fentanyl to the United 
States will be subject to China‘s maximum penalty under the law.”

The maximum sentence for drug distribution in China is the death penalty.

But it was not immediately clear that the U.S. and China had reached a 
significant agreement.

Fentanyl has been designated as a controlled substance in China for .

In its own statement, the Chinese foreign ministry that China would designate 
all “fentanyl-like substances” as controlled substances “and start working to 
adjust related regulations.” The statement did not say what penalties the 
government would seek. Experts have that Chinese officials have shown a 
willingness to work with their American counterparts, but that regulations 
remain “slow and ineffective.”

In testimony to lawmakers in September, Paul Knierim, a DEA official, the drug 
is made illicitly in China by some of China‘s 160,000 chemical companies.

“Although the majority of chemical production is intended for legitimate use, 
illicit drug manufacturers directly source or divert their chemicals from China 
for their drug production,” he said.

The Chinese pharmaceutical industry is the 2nd largest in the world, after the 
United States, generating more than $100 billion in revenue.

The exact amount of Chinese exports of fentanyl and related substances is 
unknown. But, in a 2016 letter to the United Nations secretary-general, 
then-Secretary of State John Kerry that the Obama administration had identified 
at least 257 suppliers of two key precursor chemicals. More than half those 
suppliers were in China.

The high potency of the drug lends it deadly force even at small doses. Just 
$5,000 can buy enough fentanyl on the Chinese market to provide lethal doses to 
half a million people, according to a by the U.S.-China Economic and Security 
Review Commission.

China used the death penalty more than any other country in 2017, according to 
Amnesty International. The rights group , however, that “the true extent of the 
use of the death penalty in China is unknown as this data is classified as a 
state secret.”

(source: Hartsburg News)








TURKEY:

Turkey’s Erdogan says removing death penalty was ‘wrong’



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again brought up the issue of 
restoring the death penalty, vowing to approve such legislation if parliament 
passes it.

“We have done wrong by removing the death penalty. It offends me to feed those 
in prison, those who martyred 251 of our citizens, police officers and soldiers 
on the night of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, even though they are serving 
life sentences,” Erdogan said on March 19 at a rally for the upcoming local 
elections in the northern province of Zonguldak.

“I have been saying this all the time, if parliament passes such legislation, I 
will approve it,” he added.

Erdogan also called on New Zealand to hand down a “proper punishment” to the 
white supremacist, identified as Brenton Tarrant, who claimed 50 lives in 2 
Christchurch mosques.

“You have nefariously, perfidiously and vulgarly killed 50 of our praying 
brothers. You will pay for this. If New Zealand fails to do so, one way or 
another, we will make you pay for it,” he said, referring to Tarrant.

The president even said he would “argue relentlessly with New Zealand’s 
administration” concerning the attacker’s punishment.

Erdogan once again recalled Tarrant’s statements about Turkey in his manifesto, 
in which the shooter said he wanted to drive Turks out of the country’s 
northwest into the Asian part, and the symbols drawn on the rifle he used to 
carry out the attack.

“Even the expressions in this terrorist’s gun are like a confession made about 
the games played on our country. So what? We are not supposed to cross to the 
European side of Istanbul? Who are you to say this?” he stressed.

Erdogan also blamed Anzac troops for fighting in the Gallipoli War in WWI.

“You came to Gallipoli from 16,500 kilometers away, what were you doing here? 
You showed up from Australia. After all these years, they still have hatred 
against us,” he said.

The only reason is we are Muslims, they are Christians. Their aim is the same 
as those who are trying to form a terror corridor along our borders,” he added.

European countries are being insincere, the president said, adding that 
terrorism is still ongoing in France, the U.K., and Netherlands.

“They are paying a price because they are insincere. We are telling them that 
we should fight against terrorism altogether,” he said.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Death Penalty, Turkish politics, local polls, Turkey 
elections 2019.

(source: Hurriyet Daily News)

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

Turkey's Erdogan calls on New Zealand to restore death penalty over shooting



President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called on New Zealand to restore the death 
penalty for the gunman who killed 50 people at 2 Christchurch mosques, warning 
that Turkey would make the attacker pay for his act if New Zealand did not.

Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, was charged with 
murder on Saturday after a lone gunman opened fire at the two mosques during 
Muslim Friday prayers.

“You heinously killed 50 of our siblings. You will pay for this. If New Zealand 
doesn’t make you, we know how to make you pay one way or another,” Erdogan told 
an election rally of thousands in northern Turkey. He did not elaborate.

He said Turkey was wrong to have abolished the death penalty 15 years ago, and 
added that New Zealand should make legal arrangements so that the Christchurch 
gunman could face capital punishment.

“If the New Zealand parliament doesn’t make this decision I will continue to 
argue this with them constantly. The necessary action needs to be taken,” he 
said.

Erdogan is seeking to drum up support for his Islamist-rooted AK Party in March 
31 local elections. At weekend election rallies he showed video footage of the 
shootings which the gunman had broadcast on Facebook, as well as extracts from 
a “manifesto” posted by the attacker and later taken down.

That earned a rebuke from New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who said 
he told Turkey’s foreign minister and vice president that showing the video 
could endanger New Zealanders abroad.

Despite Peters’ intervention, an extract from the manifesto was flashed up on a 
screen at Erdogan’s rally again on Tuesday, as well as brief footage of the 
gunman entering one of the mosques and shooting as he approached the door.

Erdogan has said the gunman issued threats against Turkey and the president 
himself, and wanted to drive Turks from Turkey’s northwestern, European region. 
Majority Muslim Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, is split between an Asian part 
east of the Bosphorus, and a European half to the west.

Erdogan’s AK Party, which has dominated Turkish politics for more than 16 
years, is battling for votes as the economy tips into recession after years of 
strong growth. Erdogan has cast the local elections as a “matter of survival” 
in the face of threats including Kurdish militants, Islamophobia and incidents 
such as the New Zealand shootings.

A senior Turkish security source said Tarrant entered Turkey twice in 2016 - 
for a week in March and for more than a month in September. Turkish authorities 
have begun investigating everything from hotel records to camera footage to try 
to ascertain the reason for his visits, the source said.

(source: Reuters)