[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 5




VIETNAM:

Vietnam arests 3 drug traffickers



Police of Vietnam's northern Son La province have detained 3 local people who 
traded and possessed nearly 1.5 kg of heroin and over 3,000 pills of lab-made 
drug.

The detainees include a 19-year-old woman, and two men aged 26 and 29, all from 
Son La, Vietnam News Agency reported on Sunday.

According to the Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of 
heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making 
or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces 
death penalty.

(source: globaltimes.cn)








PAKISTAN:

District Court Hyderabad Upholds Death Penalty In A Murder Case



The District and Session Court here Saturday upheld the death penalty awarded 
by the same court earlier to Muhammad Faheem who was accused of stabbing a man 
to death in April, 2012.

The court of Additional District and Session Judge III recorded statement of 
Faheem and the witnesses in the case and found the accused guilty of committing 
the murder.

The case was referred to the court by Sindh High Court on April 2, 2019, with 
the order to pass judgment in the matter in a month's time.

Faheem had earlier challenged the District and Session Court's order which had 
convicted him with capital punishment in the SHC.

(source: urdupoint.com)








TAIWAN:

EU to push for end to death penalty in Taiwan: official



The death penalty is expected to be discussed by Taiwanese and EU officials at 
the annual Human Rights Consultations this month.

Taiwan and the EU are to hold the 2nd Human Rights Consultations in Brussels, 
which is to be attended by high-ranking representatives from both sides, said 
an EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The EU would raise the issue of the death penalty and gender equality, the 
official said, adding that the EU aims to ask Taiwan to put a moratorium on 
capital punishment, with the ultimate goal of abolishing it.

The first meeting was in Taipei in March last year. The death penalty and 
gender equality were also on the agenda.

However, the Ministry of Justice executed a man convicted of murdering his 
ex-wife and daughter just 5 months after that.

In response, the EU issued a statement expressing its concerns over the 
execution.

In the statement, the EU described the death penalty as a “cruel and inhumane” 
form of punishment that does not act as a deterrent and was an unacceptable 
denial of human dignity and integrity.

Some Taiwanese rejected the EU statement, saying that European countries should 
not impose their values on Taiwan.

Nonetheless, the EU said it would continue discussing the issue.

It has consistently advocated abolishment of the death penalty, even making it 
a requirement for countries to join the regional bloc.

(source: Taipei times)








MALAWI:

Killer of albino sentenced to death in Malawi



Malawi’s high court has sentenced to death a man who murdered a young albino, 
an unprecedented penalty in a country which has seen a surge in attacks and 
killings of people with albinism.

Willard Mikaele, then 28, was convicted of killing 19-year-old Mphatso Pensulo 
in the southern district of Thyolo in 2017.

“He planned to kill an albino so as to get rich fast as advised by the 
herbalist,” judge Maclean Kamwambe said in handing down the sentence on Friday 
in Thyolo.

“It has been reiterated that there will be times when death sentence shall be 
unavoidable due to the circumstances and that it should be reserved for such 
occasions,” the judge said.

Malawi has not carried out any executions since 1994, with death sentences 
commuted to life imprisonment.

The verdict suggests a growing awareness by the Malawian authorities of the 
attacks on albinos, said Ikponwosa Ero, the UN independent expert on albinism.

“I am watching with keen interest, what seems like an awakening on the part of 
the government of Malawi vis-a-vis the terrible crime spree that has been going 
on in the country against persons with albinism,” she told AFP Saturday, while 
expressing strong opposition to the death penalty.

Malawi, one of the world’s poorest and most aid-dependent countries, has 
experienced a surge in violent attacks on people with albinism since late 2014.

In many cases those with albinism are targeted for their body parts to be used 
in witchcraft rituals meant to bring wealth and luck.

In a June 2018 report, rights group Amnesty International said that since 
November 2014 there had been 148 crimes reported against people with albinism, 
with at least 21 deaths.

Just 30 percent of those attacks have been properly investigated, according to 
official statistics, with only 1 murder and 1 attempted murder case 
successfully prosecuted.

President Peter Mutharika in March appointed a commission of inquiry to 
investigate the spate of attacks on people with albinism after coming under 
mounting criticism over his response to the attacks.

Albinism is a genetic disorder that causes a partial or total absence of 
pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes.

As a result, in addition to discrimination, many albinos often experience eye 
problems and have a heightened risk of skin cancer.

(source: journalducameroun.com)








PALESTINIAN AUHTORITY:

American rescued from prison sentence for selling property to Jews----Arrested 
by Palestinian Authority for real estate transaction



An American has been rescued from a prison term – or possibly worse – for the 
crime of selling property to a Jew.

Breaking Israel News reported the Palestinian Authority arrested 55-year-old 
Issam Akel last October, but he now has returned to the U.S. after pressure 
from Israel and the United States.

The Palestinian Authority ban on selling property to Jews carries the death 
penalty, the report said.

“Fortunately, 55-year-old Akel happened to be a citizen of Israel and the U.S., 
a factor that saved his life according to Ateret Cohanim, the NGO which 
facilitated the sale of his home in Jerusalem’s Old City,” the report said.

Ateret Cohanim Executive Director Daniel Luria told BIN the issue remains 
sensitive, because “even though Akel is now in the U.S., there may still be 
elements that would want to harm him.”

BIN explained that two Palestinian factions had been vying to obtain a building 
known as Bet Gitta. The sale, however, was facilitated by Ateret Cohanim to 
Jewish entities.

That turned Bet Gitta into a major issue for both Palestinian groups, Luria 
said, “with each side trying to save face by showing that they were more 
militant in preventing the sale of land to Jews.”

As they argued over the issue, it came to light that another building nearby 
also had been sold to Jews.

That property was dedicated in memory of Ari Fuld, who had been murdered by a 
Palestinian terrorist months earlier.

“The PA accused Issam Akel of helping sell the property,” Luria told BIN. 
“Initially, they were unaware that he was an American citizen. Palestinian 
Authority security forces abducted and incarcerated Akel torturing him for 
several weeks. He was entirely cut off from the outside world. The methods they 
used to torture him were brutal, straight out of the Middle Ages. His house in 
Ramallah was ransacked. Eventually, he was tried and sentenced to life in 
prison with hard labor.”

Luria noted the United Nations, European Union and other international bodies 
were entirely silent about the case.

Palestinians are adamant about the ban on the sale of property to Jews, the 
report explained, “as each piece of property becomes a key element in the 
battle over Jerusalem.”

Luria explained that every sale in which Ateret Cohanim is involved has a 
willing seller and a willing buyer.

“There is no lack of Arabs who would like to sell their property. And as Jews, 
we are very interested in helping to purchase land in Jerusalem,” Luria said.

Ultimately, BIN explained: “Pressure placed on the PA from several angles led 
to the release of Akel. The Israeli police shut down a PA office in Jerusalem 
and arrested several PA operatives. Ateret Cohanim worked to shift the media 
focus onto the event. The U.S. government also exerted political pressure and 
in November, David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, called for the PA 
to release Akel.”

Luria urged citizen activists to address the draconian sale ban.

(source: wnd.com)