[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 13




UGANDA:

Museveni orders death penalty for convicted murderers in Uganda after brutal 
killing of nephew



President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda wants the death penalty activated in cases 
of crime following the killing of his nephew

There is a proposition from the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, for the 
courts of the land to mete out equal measures of punishments to persons who 
have perpetrated crimes, especially convicted murderers.

In a statement made on his official Twitter page, the president laid the blame 
at the feet of the country’s law enforcement agencies for what he described as 
their unprofessionalism at tackling crimes in the country.

The president made the statement in reference to the recent rise in violent 
crimes in the country, one of which claimed the life of his nephew, Joshua 
Rushegyera, reports Reuters.

In 2015, while attending a Judges’ Conference in the capital, Entebbe, the 
president called on the judges implement the death penalty instead of the 
unnecessarily lenient judgments they pass on murderers.

It, therefore, comes as no surprise that today, he is calling for the same 
punishments to be handed out to people who kill others.

The Reuters reports that crimes have soared, from killings to violent robberies 
and kidnappings for ransom, and these have stoked widespread public anger.

The most recent cases have prompted the president to rehash his call for the 
death penalty to be activated in cases of crimes. In Uganda, death is the 
maximum penalty for a range of crimes, including murder, treason and 
defilement, however, executions have been rare.

Last week, the nephew of the president 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, also dead from gunshot wounds, 
was in the back seat.

In the other recent case, 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. Their bodies were found two days after they were 
kidnapped in their own vehicle outside the gate of the woman’s home.

On that particular case, President Museveni laid the blame at the feet of 
police officers, accusing them of negligence and for not acting swiftly in 
using a recently installed CCTV system to trace and save them.

He has accordingly directed the arrest and trial of the officers on that case 
who were found to be negligent, pending their dismissal if found guilty.

“You may commit a crime, carelessly taking away the lives of others; however, 
you will also lose your own life,” Museveni said in a statement. “It must be an 
eye for eye”, reports Bloomberg.

According to the president, the country will introduce measures such as digital 
registration of all vehicles and motorcycles so that their movements are 
electronically tracked.

“We need to work on the courts,” Museveni said in his statement.

President Museveni attended the 2015 Judges’ Conference in Kampala where he 
also advocated for the death penalty to be implemented

The Ugandan police, who have also denied corruption claims levelled against 
them by the public, have said that murders in the country have mainly been 
conducted by people riding motorcycles.

“Those people who willfully kill others should be sentenced to death and hanged 
under the law,” President Museveni stated in 2015 while speaking with judges in 
the country.

(source: face2faceafrica.com)








THAILAND:

Thai man convicted of murdering family, sentenced to die



A Thai provincial court yesterday convicted and sentenced a 37-year-old man for 
murdering 5 family members – including his pregnant wife.

An Uttaradit court on Wednesday condemned Weerapol Pin-amorn to die for 
murdering his wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law and cousins. He can appeal his 
case to the Supreme Court.

Weerapol was arrested in January while attempting to flee the country following 
the brutal incident. Upon his capture, police said he confessed to the five 
murders. Prior to the murders, the gunman said he had been fighting with 
Kanyarat Kingkaew, his pregnant wife, and her family over possessions after 
they’d broken up that day.

Chilling CCTV footage emerged to show the moment Weerapol shot his wife and 
father-in-law. The 2 victims, lying on the ground, could be seen crawling 
towards one another before dying in each other’s arms.

Last year Thailand carried out its 1st execution since 2009, prompting 
criticism by rights groups who had hoped the country was moving toward 
abolishing the practice. Debates around capital punishment started again last 
month when two Myanmar migrant workers sentenced to death for the brutal murder 
of a pair of British backpackers in Thailand lost their final appeal.

(source: coconuts.co)








MALAYSIA:

2013 cosplay killer has death sentence reversed on appeal



Poon Wai Hong who was sentenced to die for killing a cosplayer in 2013 
successfully appealed his murder conviction yesterday and will now serve 22 
years’ imprisonment instead.

According to The Star, a Court of Appeal panel agreed to alter his original 
charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code with culpable homicide not amounting 
to murder.

Murder convictions attract the mandatory death penalty.

Poon was convicted by the High Court in Shah Alam last April with murdering 
15-year-old Ng Yuk Tim.

According to previous reports, Poon had stuffed Ng’s body into a suitcase on 
October 22, 2013, after failing to persuade her into sexual relations.

Ng was believed to have gone to the Poon’s house the previous day for help with 
some cosplay costumes.

During the course of the trial, the prosecution called 13 witnesses and the 
defence, just 1.

(source: malaymail.com)








PHILIPPINES:

Human rights lawyer on GCTA law mess: Death penalty will not solve justice 
system



Amid the controversy on the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law, a human 
rights lawyer said Thursday bringing up the death penalty will not solve the 
real problem of the justice system in the country.

Chel Diokno, chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), pointed this 
out after some lawmakers brought up the need to restore death penalty for 
heinous crimes amid the GCTA controversy.

“They always resurrect the death penalty as a shortcut to the problems of the 
justice system. It’s really not the death penalty that is the solution. The 
solution is to make sure that those who commit crimes are really convicted and 
go to jail,” Diokno told ANC.

Diokno said the focus should be on the certainty that the convicted will be 
imprisoned and not on the severity of the punishment.

“That’s what stops crime. Until Congress realizes that, they can talk about 
death penalty forever, it will never solve the problem of our justice system. 
We want to solve the problem of the justice system? Then strengthen it,” Diokno 
added.

Diokno averred that the real problem with the GCTA law was on how to address 
its implementation.

He also underscored the need to resolve the cause of inmates, who were released 
on the strength of GCTA but recalled, even if they did not commit heinous 
crimes.

“A clear investigation must also be done to determine who are really qualified 
or not on the provision of the law and who should be recalled or not,” Diokno 
added.

As for those who were recalled but were not convicted of heinous crimes, not 
recidivists, and not habitual delinquents, Diokno said they have the right to 
question their re-arrest with the courts.

“It’s not just a question of inconvenience for them this is something that they 
have availed of because it’s a law. They would have every right to questions 
being recalled or being put back into prison,” Diokno said.

“Some of the inmate just got scared. They didn’t want to suffer anything 
outside of jail. Baka naisip nila baka mapatay pa sila ‘pag ‘di sila sumuko 
(They thought they will be killed if they did not surrender) and I think that’s 
part of the environment that we are living in today where you really have a lot 
of law that is being enforced by means of fear rather than out of aspects for 
what the law is,” he added.

One of the lawmakers who reiterated calls for the restoration of death penalty 
amid the GCTA issue was Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.

On Tuesday, Dela Rosa said he believed that the death penalty would “cure 
everything”, and that restoring it will “simplify everything.”

Senators Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara and Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go also 
support the restoration of the death penalty.

(source: Manila Bulletin)