[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 11

IRAN----execution

Prisoner Hanged in Borujerd City----The execution has not been announced by the 
Iranian authorities or media so far.



A prisoner was executed almost a month ago at a prison in Lorestan province, 
Iran. The execution has not been announced by the Iranian authorities or media 
so far.

According to IHR sources, on the morning of August 7, 2019, a prisoner hanged 
at the central prison of the Iranian city of Borujerd, Lorestan province. His 
name was revealed as Toranj Feizi, 37. He was arrested four years ago and 
sentenced to death for a murder charge.

At least 110 people were executed in Iran in the first half of 2019; Only 37 of 
the executions have been announced by authorities or Iranian media. Iran Human 
Rights (IHR) could confirm 73 more through its sources. IHR only reports the 
unannounced executions if it could confirm those with two separate credible 
sources. Therefore, the actual number of executions may be even higher than 
reported.

There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results 
in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and 
intent.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








SINGAPORE:

Man gets death penalty for trafficking heroin



A 59-year-old man was sentenced to death in the High Court after being found in 
possession of 52.75 g of diamorphine, also known as heroin, for the purpose of 
drug trafficking.

Justice Aedit Abdullah, in judgment grounds issued on Monday, held that the 
case against Sulaiman Jumari had been proven beyond reasonable doubt.

He found that Sulaiman had control over the room where he had been arrested and 
no one else would have had access to it, and the elements of the charge had 
been made out by the prosecution.

Sulaiman had been nabbed by Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers while alone 
in a rented room in Lorong 39 Geylang on June 23, 2016. The drugs, contained in 
22 packets, were recovered from a wardrobe, a bedside table and a bed in the 
room.

At issue were three packets containing 49.86g of heroin inside a wardrobe 
drawer that did not have his DNA on them, unlike other exhibits. Sulaiman did 
not dispute possession of the other packets containing 2.89g of heroin 
recovered from the bedside table. But he claimed he did not know the three 
packets with 49.86g of heroin were in his room.

The Misuse of Drugs Act provides for the death penalty if the amount trafficked 
exceeds 15g.

He said other people had access to the room, including on the day he was 
arrested, and the packets could have been placed in the wardrobe drawer without 
his knowledge.

His defence lawyers, led by Mr Anand Nalachandran, further argued that the 
statement he gave at the time of his arrest should not be admitted, or it 
should be given minimal weight, alleging that Sulaiman had been induced to give 
it.

But the prosecution led by Deputy Public Prosecutor April Phang said Sulaiman 
had admitted clearly, in the statement he gave shortly after the drugs were 
discovered in his room, that the drugs in the three packets belonged to him, 
and he knew they contained heroin and were meant both for smoking and for sale.

Among other things, when asked by CNB officers if he had anything to surrender 
as he was placed under arrest, Sulaiman said "three" and gestured at the 
wardrobe. A search revealed the 3 packets.

The prosecution noted the drug trafficking paraphernalia found together with 
the quantity of drugs showed he meant to sell drugs.

Justice Aedit said no evidence was presented during the 11-day trial to support 
Sulaiman's version that the packets had been put in the wardrobe by someone 
else.

"For someone to have left the (3 packets) there without his knowing of it was 
beyond any reasonable belief," said the judge.

He also found that Sulaiman's statement at the time of arrest was not given as 
a result of any inducement or any adverse conditions.

Sulaiman, having been convicted, faces the death penalty unless he was a 
courier who had given substantive help to the authorities or was found to have 
mental abnormalities. "As the accused was found to have had the drugs for sale, 
he did not qualify for the alternative sentencing regime, and accordingly the 
death sentence was passed against him," said Justice Aedit.

(source: straitstimes.com)








PHILIPPINES/SYRIA:

Manila hails conviction of Filipina’s murderer in Syria



Filipino authorities said on Tuesday that justice has finally been served in 
the case of an overseas worker after her Syrian employer was found guilty of 
her murder in Kuwait last year.

The body of 29-year-old Joanna Demafelis was found stuffed in a freezer at an 
abandoned apartment.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that a Syrian district 
criminal court had found Mouna Ali Hassoun guilty of her murder, with a prison 
sentence ranging from 8-15 years expected.

“We welcome the news, which means that justice has been done,” presidential 
spokesperson Salvador Panelo said at a press briefing in Malacañang.

In a separate statement, Labor Minister Silvestre Bello said: “We are elated by 
reports that the female employer of Joanna has been convicted. We believe 
justice has been served.”

Hassoun was found guilty of premeditated murder by a court in Damascus. Her 
Lebanese husband, Nader Essam Assaf, is currently on trial for the murder in 
Lebanon.

The couple were earlier tried in absentia, found guilty of murder and sentenced 
to death by hanging by a court in Kuwait.

Demafelis’ family had called for the death penalty, but were reportedly advised 
by a relative that they should instead demand blood money as compensation.

Through a lawyer, Hassoun reportedly offered $50,000 while Assaf also allegedly 
made an offer of $20,000.

The family, though, have demanded $100,000 in addition to outstanding wages, 
future loss of income and the return of Demafelis’ possessions.

Her mother was quoted as saying that the couple may be spared the death penalty 
if they agree to the family’s demands, but would still face prison.

The couple were arrested in Syria in late February 2018. The case had triggered 
a diplomatic crisis between the Philippines and Kuwait, and prompted President 
Rodrigo Duterte to order a total ban on the deployment of workers to the Gulf 
state. The ban was lifted a few months after following the conviction in Kuwait 
of the two suspects. (source: arabnews.com)








SOUTH AFRICA:

Magashule: ANC opposed to return of death penalty but will discuss it----ANC 
secretary-general Ace Magashule said the governing party was not deaf to the 
calls being made by some sections of society for the death penalty to be 
reinstated as the country struggles to deal with gender violence.



The African National Congress (ANC) said although it was opposed to the return 
of the death penalty, it would discuss the issue.

Calls for a referendum on capital punishment have grown louder as the country 
struggles to deal with gender violence.

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule said the governing party was not deaf to 
the calls being made by some sections of society for the death penalty to be 
reinstated.

“We have said to government that we must listen to our people, but we must 
provide leadership. We understand the global situation. We have experience as 
the governing party on what to do and what not to do. We must not be pressured 
by social media.”

The death penalty was abolished in 1995. Magashule said the party would rather 
come up with other mechanisms to deal with the murders and rapes of women and 
children, which have reached crisis levels.

(source: EyeWitness News)








UGANDA:

Ugandan leader calls for eye-for-an-eye-style sentences after nephew murdered



Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has said he wants courts to hand out 
eye-for-an-eye-style sentences for all murder convicts, to help stem soaring 
violent crime that claimed the life of his nephew last week.

>From killings to violent robberies and kidnappings for ransom, crime has been 
surging in recent years in the East African country, stoking widespread public 
anger.

Ugandans complain that most crimes go unsolved because police are corrupt and 
not interested in investigating cases involving ordinary citizens, although 
security officials deny this.

"We need to work on the courts," Museveni said in a statement posted on his 
official social media accounts late on Tuesday.

"They need to move quickly on the cases of murder...the punishments must also 
be severe, including the hanging of killers."

The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, he said, believed in a 
justice system that extracts 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'.

"We need to make this clear to the courts. It must be an eye-for-eye," Museveni 
said. "Nothing less will be acceptable."

Death is the maximum penalty in Uganda for a range of crimes including murder, 
treason and defilement, but executions are rare.

Museveni's statement came after 2 recent murders figured extensively in Ugandan 
media.

Last Thursday, his nephew was found lying on his back on the tarmac on an 
expressway near the capital, dead from gunshot wounds. His body was found near 
his parked vehicle, where a woman was in the back seat, also dead from gunshot 
wounds.

On Aug. 30, the bodies of a woman working for a local non-governmental 
organization and her driver were found dumped in a swamp just east of the 
capital Kampala, 2 days after they were kidnapped in their own vehicle outside 
the gate of the woman's home.

Museveni blamed the deaths of the NGO worker and her driver partly on the 
negligence of police officers who, he said, had not acted swiftly to use a 
recently installed CCTV system on all Kampala roads to intercept their vehicle 
and rescue the victims.

Police who were negligent, he said, have been arrested and he has ordered that 
they be tried and dismissed.

"If those who are in uniform today cannot do their job, there are plenty who 
will replace them."

(source: Reuters)








KAZAKHSTAN:

Senator Baktiyaruly proposes to impose capital punishment for sexual violence 
against women and children



In a video address posted on the website of the Senate, Murat Baktiyaruly 
expresses his view on punishment for serious crimes.

"Rape and sexual abuse of children, kidnapping children, kidnapping people are 
the crimes of violence. Unfortunately, our Criminal Code does not impose 
insufficiently severe punishment for such type of crimes. In previous years, 
we, a group of senators raised this issue and offered to introduce capital 
punishment. Unfortunately, this initiative was not backed. Being a member of 
the Parliament, I believe that capital punishment should be imposed for violent 
crimes against women and children," the Senator says.

(source: inform.kz)








CHINA:

Halt Execution of Uyghur Academic



   Urgent Action

Fears are mounting that the Chinese authorities will imminently carry out the 
execution of Tashpolat Tiyip, a prominent Uyghur academic who was convicted in 
a secret and grossly unfair trial. Subjected to an enforced disappearance in 
2017, he has been arbitrarily detained since then. No information has been made 
available about charges and proceedings against him, and his current 
whereabouts remain unknown.

Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or 
both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.

Xi Jinping

President of the People’s Republic of China

Zhongnanhai

Xichangan’jie

Xichengqu, Beijing Shi 100017

People’s Republic of China

Fax: +86 10 6238 1025

Email: english at mail.gov.cn

Ambassador Cui Tiankai

Embassy of the People's Republic of China

3505 International Place NW,

Washington DC 20008

Phone: 202 495 2266 I Fax: 202 495 2138

Email: chinaembpress_us at mfa.gov.cn

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

Dear President Xi Jinping,

I am writing to ask for your urgent intervention to halt the execution of 
Tashpolat Tiyip which could be carried out at any moment.

Tashpolat Tiyip was the President of Xinjiang University when he was forcibly 
disappeared in 2017, while travelling to Germany with a group of students for a 
conference. He has been detained since then and his whereabouts remain unknown. 
He was convicted of “separatism” in secret and grossly unfair proceedings.

Sentenced to a “suspended death sentence”, which includes the possibility of 
commutation after two years’ imprisonment when no other crimes are committed, 
he now faces imminent execution.

I call on you to immediately halt plans to carry out the execution of Tashpolat 
Tiyip; and release Tashpolat Tiyip unconditionally, unless there is sufficient 
credible and admissible evidence that he committed an internationally 
recognized offense and is granted a fair trial in line with international 
standards.

Yours sincerely,

(source: Amnesty International USA)