[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 3


IRAN:

Death decrees finalized for 2 women in Khoy and Isfahan



Death decrees were finalized for 2 women in the cities of Khoy and Isfahan 
while two women were executed in late September in the cities of Sanandaj and 
Tehran.

The death decree for Zahra Derakhshan was recently upheld and finalized by the 
Criminal Court of Urmia. Zahra Derakhshan has been detained in Khoy Prison 
since November 2016. The first time she received the death decree was in 
November 2018, but she objected to the court ruling.

Khoy is the second largest city of West Azerbaijan Province, in northwestern 
Iran, after the capital city of Urmia.

Another woman by the name of Fariba was also sentenced to death for killing a 
police officer while trying to help a prisoner escape.

Mohammad Reza Habibi, general director of Isfahan’s Department of Justice, 
announced that the death decree had been objected by the lawyer of this case, 
but the ruling was finally upheld by the supreme court on September 3, 2019. 
(The state-run ROKNA news agency – September 23, 2019)

Leila Zarafshan was hanged in the Central Prison of Sanandaj on September 26, 
2019, and another unidentified woman was hanged in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, 
on September 25, 2019.

Ninety-six (96) women have been executed in Iran under Rouhani. The actual 
number of execution victims and other victims of the clerical regime’s 
Judiciary are far above the data and information published in the state-run 
press.

One of the signs of stepped up pressure and crackdown on women in Iran and the 
accelerating pace of executions is the number of women hanged in recent months. 
Eight (8) Iranian women have been executed in a period of slightly over 3 
months, while in a year-long period from 2016 to 2018, the number of women 
executed by the Iranian regime in the whole year ranged between 6 and 10.

(source: ncr-iran.org)

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4, including 2 Iranians, told to enter defence for drug charge----Judge Datuk 
Akhtar Tahir made the decision at the end of the prosecution case against J. 
Balakrishnan, 61, B. Lacheme Devi, 56, Mohammad Abbasi Younes, 27, and 
Syedmohsen Namazikivaj Seyedreza, 31.



4 accused, including 2 Iranian men, were told to enter their defence by the 
High Court here today for drug charges in 2015.

Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir made the decision at the end of the prosecution case 
against J. Balakrishnan, 61, B. Lacheme Devi, 56, Mohammad Abbasi Younes, 27, 
and Syedmohsen Namazikivaj Seyedreza, 31.

An amended charge was read out to all the accused – in Tamil for Balakrishnan 
and Lacheme Devi, and in Persian for the Iranians. In the amended charge, all 4 
were accused of trafficking by the way of manufacturing methamphetamine at a 
house at Taman Sri Rambai in Seberang Perai Tengah district on Aug 20, 2015 
about 10.10pm. It is an offence under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs 
Act 1952 which is punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same Act read together 
with Section 34 of the Penal Code which carries the death penalty or lifetime 
imprisonment.

If not sentenced to death then the accused must be whipped not less than 15 
times. All 4 pleaded not guilty and claimed trial after the charge was read to 
them.

Balakrishnan was represented by A. Ashok, Lacheme Devi by RSN Rayer and the 2 
Iranians were represented by Kitson Foong. Deputy Public Prosecutor Farah Aimy 
Zainul Anwar prosecuted.

"I hereby order the accused to enter defence against the charges," said the 
judge.

He then explained the 3 options that are available to enter defence; to remain 
silent, give testimony from the dock, or sworn testimony from the witness 
stand.

"They can speak with their counsels, but the decision must be made by them," he 
added.

All 4 then agreed to give sworn testimony and the court fixed Nov 11 to 14 for 
hearing.

(source: indiatimes.com)








SRI LANKA:

Mother and son sentenced to death over murder



A mother and a son of the same family have been sentenced to death by the 
Colombo High Court over a case of murder.

The order was issued by High Court Judge Pradeep Hettiarachchi when the case 
was taken up today (03).

The convicted mother and son had murdered the wife of the son by setting on 
fire back in 2007. The incident which had taken place in 2007 had, reportedly, 
been the result of a family issue.

Following an extensive hearing, the 75-year-old mother and the 35-year-old son 
were issued capital punishment today.

(source: adaderana.lk)








INDIA:

Prime Accused In Radha Kumari Murder Case Sentenced To Death



The prime accused in the Radha Kumari rape and murder case has been awarded the 
death penalty by the District and Sessions Judge, Sivasagar, SK Poddar on 
Thursday, October 3.

The court gave the accused, Bikas Das, 30 days to appeal before the High Court.

21-year-old Radha Kumari was raped and strangled to death inside a passenger 
train travelling from Tinsukia to Rangia on July 10, 2018. Her body was 
recovered from a toilet of the train at Simaluguri Railway Station.

Radha Kumari was a student of Assam Agricultural University in Jorhat.

(source: guwahatiplus.com)








JAPAN:

Expectations pope will meet with ex-death row inmate grow



Expectations are growing that Pope Francis will meet with an 83-year-old man 
whose death sentence has been suspended during his visit to Japan next month, 
to send a clear signal about the Holy See's opposition to capital punishment 
under his pontificate.

It was reported in mid-September that the Vatican is considering the pope 
meeting with Iwao Hakamada, who was sentenced to death for a 1966 quadruple 
murder. He was released in 2014 under a district court ruling and is awaiting a 
retrial at the Supreme Court in which he is seeking exoneration.

With the Catholic Church having announced in August last year a change in its 
catechism to state that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an 
attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person," anti-capital punishment 
campaigners hope the pontiff will issue some form of message to Japan on the 
death penalty if the meeting takes place.

"I expect the upcoming trip to be an opportunity to appeal to the pope's strong 
determination that all life should be protected," said Tomoki Yanagawa of the 
Jesuit Social Center in Tokyo. "He must be interested in issues in Japan 
related to (the sanctity) of life, such as suicide, death from overwork and 
poverty as well as the death penalty."

While the pope's 2 predecessors both spoke out against the death penalty, 
Francis was the first pope to change official church teaching on the issue.

Yanagawa, as a Catholic, has worked for abolishing the death penalty together 
with like-minded people from other religious backgrounds, including Buddhists, 
based on a shared belief in the sacrosanct value of human life. He co-founded 
an anti-death penalty civil group recently with lawyers and scholars.

Japan is one of only a few advanced nations to maintain the death penalty at a 
time when more than two-thirds of states around the world have abolished it by 
law or in practice.

The hope for a meeting with Hakamada arose last year when the Holy See 
requested the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan to compile a report on him. 
Hakamada received baptism on Christmas Eve in 1984 while behind bars.

Hakamada, who has been struggling to clear his name over the murder of a family 
of four, was freed after the Shizuoka District Court granted him a retrial 
based on DNA tests and suspended his death sentence and incarceration.

His release from the Tokyo Detention House received widespread media coverage 
in Japan.

However, the Tokyo High Court overturned the lower court's decision last year, 
showing doubts over the DNA tests. Hakamada filed an appeal with the Supreme 
Court. Due to his age, he was allowed to retain his freedom while his case 
pends with the top court.

Inspired by the Catholic Church's change of stance on capital punishment under 
Pope Francis, Hakamada's older sister, Hideko, sent a letter to the Vatican in 
May.

"I wrote that it would be the best gift for my brother if the pope could meet 
with him in Tokyo even for one minute," said Hideko, 86. "I hope the meeting 
will take place in a quiet and calm atmosphere, not as a spectacular event."

Hideko has devotedly supported her brother, whose mental health has 
deteriorated due to the decades he spent in solitary confinement under the 
constant threat of execution.

Kim Sung Woong, a film director who made a documentary about Hakamada, said he 
hopes that if the meeting with the pope goes ahead, the case will once more 
receive widespread attention.

"His appeal is pending at the top court, and Mr. Hakamada might be detained 
again according to its decision," said Kim, who has closely followed the lives 
of Hakamada and his sister since Hakamada's release.

"The pope will meet with Mr. Hakamada with the understanding that he is still 
on death row," he said. "People will inevitably pay close attention to such a 
situation."

Separately, defense lawyers for Hakamada also wrote to the Vatican, saying a 
meeting with the pope would greatly encourage him.

Japan has been urged by a U.N. human rights body to establish a moratorium as a 
1st step toward the final abrogation of the death penalty.

Executions continue, however, with 15 death-row inmates, including the founder 
and 12 former senior members of the AUM Shinrikyo cult, hanged last year.

In August this year, 2 more inmates were executed, bringing the number of 
executions under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office 
in 2012, to 38.

The executions have taken place against a backdrop of robust public support for 
the death penalty, with a 2014 government poll showing only 9.7 percent 
believed it should be abolished while 80.3 percent agreed its existence "cannot 
be helped."

Despite the unfavorable climate facing the anti-death penalty movement, the 
Japan Federation of Bar Associations declared in 2016 that it will work for 
abolishing capital punishment by 2020.

It said the exoneration of 4 death-row inmates through retrials in the 1980s 
and Hakamada's case showed that executions of innocent people are inevitable as 
long as capital punishment is maintained.

Also sending a letter to the Vatican, the lawyers' group asked the pope to 
issue a message to the people of Japan to call for termination of capital 
punishment.

Pope Francis, the 1st pontiff in nearly 4 decades to travel to Japan, will 
visit from Nov. 23 to 26. His itinerary includes the atomic-bombed cities of 
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with Tokyo.

It is also expected that the pope will meet with those affected by the March 
2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan's northeastern Tohoku region and led 
to the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

(source: Kyodo News)

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

Japan to pardon half a million on occasion of imperial enthronement ceremony



Japan is expected to grant pardons to 500,000 to 600,000 petty criminals on the 
occasion of Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement ceremony on Oct. 22, officials with 
knowledge of the plan said Wednesday.

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will formally approve the plan in 
mid-October, the officials said, adding that the pardons will involve those 
found guilty and fined for minor infractions that took place at least 3 years 
ago.

The amnesty is expected to reverse a temporary prohibition on violators 
qualifying for national professional licenses and will restore their civil 
rights.

Those sentenced to imprisonment or to penal servitude for committing serious 
crimes will not be considered out of concern for the victims. There will also 
be no general amnesty or commutation for those convicted.

Under the law, 5 years must elapse before those who have been convicted and 
fined can take exams to get national professional licenses. But the pardons 
will speed up the process.

Given that the pardons are expected to be granted regardless of criminal 
charges, election law violators are also likely to have their civil rights 
restored under the plan.

Separately, the government is expected to grant special individual pardons to 
those fined for minor infractions within the last 3 years.

More than 10 million people received amnesties and had their civil rights 
restored in 1989 to mark the death of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as 
Emperor Showa, while about 2.5 million people were pardoned in 1990 to 
celebrate Emperor Akihito’s enthronement.

(source: Japan Times)