[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 29




PAKISTAN:

2 sentenced to death in child kidnap, murder case



An antiterrorism court on Saturday awarded death sentence to 2 men for 
kidnapping and killing a child over non-payment of ransom.

4 accused — Abdul Ghaffar Brohi, Abdullah Magsi, Ali Magsi alias Ali Dino and 
Zahid Hussain Gopang — were charged with kidnapping 4 1/2-year-old Ammar 
Hussain Jatoi within the remit of the Waleed police station, Larkana in 2012.

On Saturday, the ATC-II judge, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex 
inside the central prison, pronounced his verdict reserved after recording 
evidence and final arguments.

The ATC hands down life imprisonment to 2 more accused

The judge noted that the prosecution successfully proved the allegations of 
kidnapping for ransom against the accused Abdul Ghaffar Brohi and Abdullah 
Magsi and handed down capital punishment to them.

The judge awarded life imprisonment to accused Ali Magsi and Zahid Hussain and 
also ordered them to pay Rs500,000 each to the legal heirs of the victim as 
compensation.

The judge further sentenced them to four-year imprisonment for possessing 
illicit arms and ammunition. However, all the sentences shall run concurrently.

According to the prosecution, the accused abducted the child, a student of 
nursery class, when he was playing outside his house in the Sheikh Zayed Colony 
on March 9, 2012 and drove him away in a car.

Later, they demanded a ransom of Rs5 million for his safe release. But, his 
body was found from an abandoned house as the family failed to pay the ransom, 
the prosecution added. The accused were arrested and led the police to the 
recovery of the child’s body.

Trial transferred due to political interference

On April 25, 2012 the Sindh High Court (SHC) had ordered transfer of the case 
from ATC Larkana to an ATC in Karachi after complainant Asfar Hussain Jatoi 
moved an application alleging that then ministers belonging to the Pakistan 
Peoples Party were influencing the investigation to favour the accused persons.

“All the prosecution witnesses (were) examined; (they) supported that on Feb 
13, 2012 the dead body of the child was recovered at the pointation of accused 
persons, mashirnama was prepared as per direction of Assistant Superintendent 
of Police, but nothing was brought on record,” the judge wrote in the order.

He added: “In such circumstances the case was transferred to Karachi due to 
involvement of three Ministers of political party.”

The verdict added that “the mashirnama of the (victim’s) body was prepared, but 
it was destroyed on political grounds and that record is available in his 
report under the Section 168 of the Criminal Procedure Code”.

Earlier, special public prosecutor Nazeer Ahmed Bhangwar submitted that from 
the very beginning of the investigation the police were favouring the accused 
persons and had tried to hide the facts.

He added that two brothers-in-law of the complainant had seen the four accused 
persons with arms in the car, as they were taking away the child and had 
informed the complainant about the incident.

The prosecutor argued that accused Abdullah Magsi had made a phone call to the 
complainant demanding Rs5m ransom for the safe release of his kidnapped son, 
but agreed on Rs3.5m. While the complainant was arranging the money the same 
accused called him the next day and asked him to pick the body of his kidnapped 
son from a house in Yar Mohammad Colony on March 13, 2013, he added.

He contended that the accused persons were arrested on March 13, 2013 and on 
their information the police had recovered the body, but the police showed 
their arrest on March 15 to create doubts and favour the accused. He argued 
that the evidence fully corroborated the prosecution’s case and pleaded to the 
court to convict them in accordance with the law.

Advocate Altaf Hussain for the complainant said that the accused persons were 
influential and politically involved, therefore, under their influence the 
police did not investigate the case honestly. He added that the complainant had 
to move an application for re-investigation, which was conducted after great 
difficulty.

On the other hand, defence counsel Wazeer Hussain Khoso and Safdar Ali Bhutto 
argued that their clients were innocent, but the police framed them in a false 
and fabricated case with mala fide intentions.

5 cases under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 365-A (kidnapping for 
ransom), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false 
information to screen offenders) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan 
Penal Code read with Section 7 (acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 
1997 and Section 13-E of the Arms Ordinance were registered at the Waleed 
police station.

(source: dawn.com)

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

7-judge bench to decide span of life sentence



A 7-judge bench of the Supreme Court (SC) – led by Chief Justice of Pakistan 
(CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa – will, on October 2, decide the duration of the span of 
life imprisonment in Pakistan.

The three-judge bench, led by CJP Khosa, while hearing a matter on July 29 
questioned whether life imprisonment meant imprisonment of a convict for his 
remaining biological life or anything shorter than that – and if so, whether 
different sentences of imprisonment for life passed in the same case or 
different cases were to run concurrently or consecutively.

“The question has appeared to us to be a question of immense public importance 
affecting a larger number of cases in the country,” said CJP Khosa.

The court has also issued a notice to the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP), 
advocate generals and prosecutor generals to assist in the matter.

Justice Isa files plea for formation of full court bench

Members of the bench, hailing from 3 provinces, include Justice Manzoor Ahmad 
Malik, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Mazhar Alam 
Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed. 
All members have expertise in criminal law.

According to sources, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) is also considering 
becoming a party in this case.

A PBC executive member said the bar council wants to assist the SC in this 
matter as lawyers are not in favour of any interpretation, suggesting that life 
imprisonment means imprisonment of a convict for his remaining biological life.

Likewise, a convict Khadija Shah, a British national, has also filed an 
application through his counsel Raheel Kamran Sheikh to become party in the 
case.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Sheikh said any interpretation of the sentence 
of “imprisonment for life” as incarceration for the remaining biological life 
of a convict would be unconstitutional and violative of the fundamental rights 
enshrined in Articles 9, 14 and 25, besides being in contrast with the judicial 
history on the subject.

Currently, the sentence of life imprisonment corresponds to a maximum 
imprisonment of 25 years, and a minimum of 15 years (per Rule 140 of the 
Pakistan Prison Rules 1978); after earning remissions as may be extended by the 
executive functionaries from time to time but subject to Section 401 CrPC, Rule 
216 and Rule 218 of the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978.

Justice Isa criticises govt’s move of lifting ban on prohibited bore licences

The jail manual also provides for at least a 14-year substantive period for 
those sentenced to life imprisonment. Section 57 of the Criminal Procedure Code 
stipulates that life imprisonment will be 25 years.

The CJP had hinted at interpreting the ambiguity of the life sentence while 
hearing review appeal of a death row convict, Abdul Qayyum. During the hearing, 
Justice Khosa had remarked that the current interpretation of life imprisonment 
law was flawed. Referring to judicial practice in India, the chief justice 
remarked that life sentences in India are given after specifying the period of 
imprisonment.

“The span of life imprisonment is regarded as limited to 25 years, while it is 
meant to last a lifetime. The court would thoroughly interpret the law at an 
appropriate time. Once it happens, convicts will ask for a death sentence 
instead of life imprisonment,” CJP Khosa had said during the June hearing.

“In India, they clearly mention the number of years a convict has to stay in 
prison,” he added.

In 2012, the Supreme Court of India said that life imprisonment implied a jail 
term for the convict’s entire life.

The apex court had also noted that its constitutional bench’s landmark judgment 
of 1980 on the criterion for imposing death penalty needed a “fresh look” as 
there had been “no uniformity” in following its principles on what constitutes 
“the rarest of rare” cases.

“It appears to us there is a misconception that a prisoner serving a life 
sentence has an indefeasible right to be released on completion of either 14 
years or 20 years imprisonment. The prisoner has no such right,” said judgment 
issued by SC of India published in an Indian newspaper.

“A convict undergoing life imprisonment is expected to remain in custody till 
the end of his life, subject to any remission granted by the appropriate 
government,” a bench of Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Madan B Lokur said.

The bench, however, clarified that under remission, the appropriate government 
cannot reduce the period of a sentence less than 14 years for a life convict.

“In the case of a convict undergoing life imprisonment, he will be in custody 
for an indeterminate period.”

(source: tribune.com.pk)

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

More than life



A life sentence in Pakistan is counted as 14 years. Wajih-ul-Hassan has served 
far more than that. In 2002, he was condemned to death in a blasphemy case and 
has remained behind bars since then, for 18 years facing not only imprisonment 
but also the constant threat of being walked to the gallows. He is now suddenly 
free. A three judge bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah exonerated Wajih 
from blasphemy and ordered his release. The court observed there was 
insufficient proof that he had written blasphemous letters; it had been alleged 
that at the time Wajih was held, letters had been written to a senior lawyer, 
Ismail Qureshi. The lawyer had filed a petition before the Federal Shariat 
Court, asking it to make death penalty the only punishment for blasphemy. The 
lawyers argued that this had angered Wajih.

The details involved handwriting analysis, the question of Wajih’s religion, 
the fact that the letters were burnt by the lawyer as he considered them too 
sacrilegious and other matters. But what is significant is that a man had so 
many years of his life taken away from him on a charge that he had not 
committed. There are others in the same situation. Junaid Hafeez, a visiting 
lecturer in English at the Bahauddin Zakariya University, has already served 12 
years in jail without even the first phase of his case before a trial court 
having been completed. He was accused by a student of committing blasphemy. 
There are others like Junaid.

To make matters worse, radical television hosts have urged students to capture 
on video any teacher who utters blasphemy, presumably so that they can be 
arrested and penalised. There are multiple cases of people being jailed for 
blasphemy on flimsy grounds, often to settle petty scores or business disputes. 
It is also true some have been killed in jail or later when returned to their 
villages after being freed. The situation is an extremely grave one. It is 
vital the state looks at how it administers the blasphemy law so that innocent 
people cannot so easily be victimised. The case of Aasia Bibi made 
international headlines recently. Pakistan needs to review the way the 
blasphemy law is used in order to spare people so much suffering.

(source: Editorial, thenews.com.pk)








INDIA:

Guru Nanak’s birth anniv: Centre to release 8 Sikh prisoners, commute death 
penalty of 1 to life term



8 Sikh prisoners, lodged in different jails across the country in cases 
registered against them for offences committed during the militancy period in 
Punjab, will be released by the central government on the 550th birth 
anniversary of Guru Nanak in November as a humanitarian gesture.

The Union home ministry also announced that through a special remission, the 
death sentence of another Sikh prisoner was commuted to life imprisonment.

Recently, the Punjab government had sent a list comprising the names of Lal 
Singh, Dilbagh Singh, Saran Singh, all lodged in the high-security Nabha jail, 
Hardeep Singh and Baj Singh, lodged in Amritsar central jail, Nand Singh 
(Patiala central jail), Subheg Singh (Ludhiana central jail), Gurdeep Singh 
Khera (Gulbarga central jail in Karnataka), and Waryam Singh (Bareilly central 
jail in UP) for remission.

The list was sent following a meeting between Punjab chief minister Captain 
Amarinder Singh and Union home minister Amit Shah on September 3.

State government officials declined to comment whether the death sentence of 
Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted for the assassination of former chief minister 
Beant Singh, was commuted to life sentence.

“We are yet to get the final list,” said a senior official.

The Centre took the decision to grant “a special dispensation” to 9 Sikh 
prisoners from various jails in the country on the occasion of the birth 
anniversary of the founder of Sikhism, a Home Ministry spokesperson said. These 
individuals were convicted by various courts in the country, the spokesperson 
said.

The decision was taken by the government as a token of goodwill in response to 
the long-pending demands of the release of Sikh prisoners articulated by 
various sections of the Sikh community.

A communication to this effect was sent on Saturday to the state governments 
and union territories concerned for release of the Sikh prisoners.

The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak will be in November.

Also, the government is planning to release more prisoners from jails across 
the country under the scheme for special remission to prisoners to commemorate 
150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

So far, 1,424 prisoners have been released by states and UTs in 2 phases 
(October 2, 2018 and April 6, 2019).

The 3rd phase of release is due on October 2 and action is underway by states 
and UTs, the spokesperson said.

(source: Hindustan Times)

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

Top Court Sets Up Special Benches To Hear Cases Of Death Penalty, Taxes----The 
Supreme Court on Saturday set up special benches to deal with cases of death 
penalty and tax matters.



The Supreme Court on Saturday set up special benches to deal with cases of 
death penalty and tax matters.

An official source said that a bench comprising 3 judges will come into 
existence from next month to deal with the matters of capital punishment.

The source also said that 2 courts of 2-judge benches will deal with tax 
matters.

4 new Supreme Court judges -- justices Krishna Murari, S Ravindra Bhat, V 
Ramasubramanian and Hrishikesh Roy -- took oath of office on September 23, 
taking the total strength of judges in the top court to 34.

To reduce the growing backlog of cases, the Supreme Court on September 20 had 
made public its decision to provide for sitting of a single-judge bench to hear 
appeals of bail and anticipatory bail in cases related to offences entailing 
jail term up to 7 years.

According to the rules which have been amended, the single judge would also 
hear transfer petitions.

(source: ndtv.com)








EGYPT:

Detention of Sudanese student in Cairo ignites protests in Sudan ---- With 
activists highlighting the influence of Sudan's uprising on Egypt, Walid 
Hassan's detention is viewed as an attempt by Cairo to peg the ongoing protest 
movement on outside interference



News of the arrest of a young Sudanese man in Egypt, accused of participating 
in recent protests against Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, ignited 
demonstrations in the Sudanese capital Khartoum earlier this week.

Walid Abdulrahman Hassan was one of more than 2,000 people detained by Egyptian 
security forces in the past week, and like many others, he stands accused of 
participating in protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square against Sisi’s rule.

Hassan is being accused of participating in a conspiracy against the Egyptian 
constitutional system - a charge that can carry the death penalty under the 
law, and which Egyptian activists argue is being used to draw attention away 
from the legitimate grievances of the protest movement.

Demonstrations first began on 20 September, sparked by whistleblower Mohamed 
Ali’s allegations of high-level corruption and misspending of state funds, 
while many Egyptians suffer from poverty under stringent austerity measures.

Sudanese pro-democracy protesters have staged protests in residential areas of 
Khartoum, while the family of Hassan submitted a petition to the Sudanese 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling for it to intervene to free the 22-year-old 
man.

While Sudanese activists have coalesced in support of Hassan, analysts ponder 
how recent developments in Egypt, now witnessing the first significant mass 
protest movement since Sisi came to power in 2013, may have been influenced by 
Sudan’s own ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir earlier this year.

Shock and defiance

Speaking to Middle East Eye, Hassan’s family said they were torn between 
sadness and defiance, as they remain determined to bring him back, as well as 
hold Egyptian authorities responsible for any harm that might befall him while 
in custody.

On Wednesday, Egyptian channel MBC Masr aired a segment in which prominent 
Egyptian TV presenter Amr Adib publicly revealed the identity of a number of 
foreigners arrested in the past week, and played several videos in which these 
individuals, including Hassan, confessed on camera to being involved in the 
organisation of the protests.

“I can’t sleep or eat since I saw that video,” Hassan’s mother, Khadiga Abu 
al-Zaki, told MEE. “It’s more than painful to see my only son being accused of 
such serious crimes when I know that he is innocent.

“This video is staged, and the Egyptian presenter is lying,” she added. “I know 
my son well, he made these confessions either under torture or threat.”

According to Hassan’s uncle, Mahy Aldi Abu al-Zaki, the young accounting 
student arrived in Egypt for the first time in his life in late August in order 
to study German at an institute in Cairo, as universities in Sudan have been 
closed since the uprising began in the country last December.

“I was talking to Walid frequently since he moved to Egypt and he has nothing 
to do with what is happening in Egypt,” Mahy told MEE. “We were surprised and 
shocked when we saw him in that video claiming Walid supports the Muslim 
Brotherhood in Egypt… most of the information now circulated about him in the 
media are incorrect.”

The Sisi government has tried to dismiss the recent protests in Egypt by 
blaming them on foreign intervention and the Muslim Brotherhood - the 
organisation of Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected Egyptian 
president who was ousted in a military coup in 2013.

While emphasising that her son was not involved in events in Egypt, Khadiga 
said with pride that her son had a history of activism in his own country - 
noting that he was detained by Sudanese forces in September 2013 and in 
December 2018 for participating in anti-government demonstrations.

Hassan’s friends and relatives nonetheless vehemently rejected the Egyptian 
claims that the young Sudanese man was affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood, 
pointing to his longstanding opposition to Islamist rule in Sudan under Bashir.

“Walid has made many sacrifices in Sudan’s revolution because he is against the 
Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan, so how would he supported them in Egypt?" his 
friend Mohammed Saleh asked. “For someone to accuse him of supporting the 
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood its unbelievable.”

'Save Walid'

“Despite the pain and sadness, I am proud of him because he is a brave 
change-seeker who wants the betterment of his country and struggles for his 
future and that of democracy,” Khadiga said.

Hassan’s arrest has prompted thousands of Sudanese pro-democracy protesters to 
organise marches and launch a social media campaign “Save Walid”, calling on 
Egyptian authorities to free him immediately.

Protests that began on Thursday in some residential areas of Khartoum such as 
Haj Youssef, Arkaweet Maamora and Burri quickly spread to outside the Egyptian 
embassy in Khartoum.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), one of the leading organisations 
of the Sudanese uprising, has come out to condemn Hassan’s arrest, joining the 
family’s calls for the Sudanese transitional government to intervene in the 
case and calling the video of Hassan made public on Egyptian television a 
“shameful” move that would have consequences.

“We stress here that the era when Sudanese citizens were humiliated inside or 
outside their country has gone and will never return,” it assured.

Salah vowed that the Sudanese would continue to support his friend Hassan as 
long as he remained imprisoned.

“We will never stop the marches and protests calling for his immediate 
release,” he said. “We have told the transitional government: We brought you 
into this position through our sacrifices, so at the very least protect us, 
preserve our dignity and bring Walid back without further delay.”

Mutual inspiration

With Hassan’s case stirring up emotions in Sudan, a number of Egyptian 
activists and analysts have commented on the influence uprisings in both Sudan 
and Algeria this year may have had on the nascent movement in Egypt.

'The era when Sudanese citizens were humiliated inside or outside their country 
has gone and will never return' - Statement by the Sudanese Professionals 
Association

“Nations are always learning the lessons of liberation from each other,” 
Egyptian activist Essam Shaaban told MEE.

“Youth in the entire Middle East have been inspired by the social movements in 
Europe, and now Egyptians are also looking to the liberation movements in their 
region and how these revolutions have succeeded in the battles for dignity and 
democracy.”

Shaaban nonetheless highlighted that “there are many other domestic factors in 
Egypt that will lead to the expansion of protests such as the political and 
economic crisis in addition to the questions of justice, corruption, et 
cetera”.

For his part, Egyptian political analyst Khalid Youssef said Egyptians had 
always been affected by the goings on in neighbouring nations.

“Egyptian youth were strongly affected by the revolution in Tunisia in 2011, 
and that led to the spread of the Arab Spring. So it’s very probable now that 
the Sudanese revolution is inspiring the Egyptian youth” he explained.

Efforts by Egyptian authorities to block out information on the uprisings in 
Sudan and Algeria from reaching ordinary citizens has been interpreted by some 
as an indication that the Cairo government is well aware of the potential 
impact such news might have on the Egyptian population.

The influence has seemingly gone both ways, as Sudanese and Algerian protesters 
have been known to chant slogans vowing not to let their respective militaries 
derail their movements like in Egypt.

“Egyptian pro-democracy protesters have closely monitored the developments of 
the revolution in Sudan and they were very keen to send advice to Sudanese 
revolutionaries not to trust the military and repeat Egypt’s experience,” 
Youssef said. “This means they gave a lot to the revolutions of Sudan and 
Algeria.”

(source: Middle East Eye)

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

Outrage after Egyptian woman tortures granddaughter to death----Girl’s leg had 
already been amputated because of the inflicted torture



The death of a village child after torture by her grandmother has sparked 
outrage in Egypt and put in focus domestic violence against children in the 
country.

Jana Mohammad Samir, a 5-year-girl, died on Saturday at a hospital in the Nile 
Delta province of Mansura days after she had been brought there with severe 
burns.

Jana’s parents divorced about 4 years ago.

She and her older sister Amani, now aged 6, moved along with their blind mother 
to live at their grandmom’s house under a court ruling in a custody lawsuit.

3 days before her death, Jana had her leg amputated due to wounds allegedly 
caused by the grandma’s torture.

Her aunt claimed in police investigations that Jana told her that the 
grandmother had burnt her around the genitalia in order to conceal traces of a 
sexual assault by her maternal uncle.

The 41-year-old grandma, now in police custody, denied the allegations, but 
could not explain the cause of the fatal wounds sustained by the child.

Relatives said the woman used to beat her up over involuntary urination.

Thousands attend funeral

Thousands of angry mourners attended Jana’s funeral on Saturday at her Delta 
village of Busat Karim.

Some of them chanted: “We want Jana’s right and the execution of the grandma.”

The child’s tragic death riveted attention of several night-time TV stations 
and drew comments from some celebrities.

“Jana died after she had been tortured by a close relative,” said famous 
actress Sherine Reda. “But how many more Jana are there and we know nothing on 
them?”Sherine added in a tweet.

She urged the public to report to authorities about suspected torturers of 
children.

The state National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, meanwhile, demanded 
the death penalty for culprits in Jana’s death, describing it as a premeditated 
murder.

“The council is following up investigations and procedures with the public 
prosecution,” the agency’s chairwoman Azza Ashmawy said in a statement.

The grandma faces life imprisonment or even death if she is convicted of deadly 
torture, according to legal experts.

Ashmawy said the council is acting to provide protecting for Jana’s older 
sister, Amani, who was reportedly subjected to torture by her grandma too.

In recent months, several parents, mainly fathers, were convicted in Egypt of 
killing their children due to family disputes or under drug influence.

(source: gulfnews.com)








IRAN----execution

Man Executed in Isfahan

A man was hanged at Isfahan Central Prison for murder charges Thursday.

On the morning of Thursday, September 26, a man was hanged at Isfahan Central 
Prison for murder charges, Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

According to the Head of Isfahan’s Judiciary, Mohammadreza Habibi, the prisoner 
was sentenced to death for murdering a truck driver during a robbery.

Out of the 110 people who were executed in the first half of 2019, 83 were 
sentenced to qisas (retribution in-kind) for murder.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








KENYA:

Why murder and robbery convicts may be set free



The impeccable tie, knotted on a white shirt was hugging the neck which had 
just escaped the hangman’s noose.

It was tucked inside a grey suit and hanging on the lanky shoulders of the 
bespectacled man with a haunted look.

And the gold-coloured pen he placed on top of a diary completed the picture of 
a ‘makeshift’ advocate on a mission.

By way of introduction, the suit wearer, Aloise Onyango Odhiambo blurted out 
that he was a convicted robber, just out of Kamiti Prison. He was let out 
recently after spending 16 years in a cell, waiting to be hanged.

But as he strutted in our newsroom this week, he did so like a man in a hurry 
and with a purpose. Time is out of joint for him, and he ordered his steps as 
the man cursed to set it right. For almost two decades, Odhiambo has petitioned 
and appealed to have his life back after he was condemned to die for violently 
robbing passengers in a Nairobi matatu.

He owes his freedom to 2 benefactors who are still locked up in Kamiti. And now 
the the self-taught paralegal is on a mission to assist death row convicts 
access justice.

In 2017, when 2 Kamiti inmates challenged the mandatory death sentence handed 
to capital offenders, they were pleasantly shocked when the Supreme Court ruled 
that the High Court hears the case again for sentencing.

2 years later, Francis Kariuko Muruatetu and Wilson Thirimbu who are now 
celebrated as heroes by convicted murderers and armed robbers in all the 38 
prisons across the country are still waiting to be re-sentenced by the High 
Court in Nairobi.

They had no idea they were opening the prison cell doors to release some of the 
country’s most dreaded murderers and violent robbers.

Muruatetu and Thirimbu are still cooling their heels at the same drab cells at 
Kamiti prison’s block for the condemned where they have been from the day they 
were convicted, together with other relatives and suspects, for the gruesome 
murder of Lawrence Githinji Wangondu in February 2000.

For weeks, we have been investigating how this came to be. Our investigations 
have revealed that despite going to the High Court for more than 20 times for 
re-sentencing as was ordered by the Supreme Court on December 13, 2017, they 
are yet to get justice. “The file could not be traced at the High Court. They 
have been languishing in Kamiti Maximum Security Prison because their original 
file has gone missing,” says the ex-convict, Aloise Odhiambo.

The 2 made history when their petition at Supreme Court, challenging the 
constitutionality of the clause that provides that a magistrate trying suspects 
in robbery with violence or murder cases to face mandatory death sentence, was 
allowed.

Denied a fair trial

In their unanimous verdict, Supreme Court judges, Chief Justice David Maraga, 
Philemon Mwilu, JB Ojwang, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u and Isaac Lenaola 
declared that although death penalty was not unconstitutional, the Penal Code 
providing mandatory death sentence was a violation of the law.

“We find that both petitioners are deserving of a remedy as they were denied a 
fair trial. We have looked at comparative case law to give us guidance as to 
how this should be done.”

The court caused ripples in the prisons when it pronounced: “The mandatory 
nature of the death sentence as provided for under Section 204 of the Penal 
Code is hereby declared unconstitutional. For the avoidance of doubt, this 
order does not disturb the validity of the death sentence as contemplated under 
Article 26(3) of the Constitution.”

The court also ruled that Muruatetu and Thirimbu be taken back to the High 
Court for rehearing on sentencing only, on priority basis and in conformity 
with the judgment.

In the landmark judgement, the court further directed that Parliament and 
Senate enact laws or regulations to give effect to the judgment on the 
mandatory nature of the death sentence and the parameters of what ought to 
constitute life imprisonment.

Further, the Attorney General was given 12 months to give a progress report to 
the court on the issue of re-sentencing. The Sunday Standard investigations 
found that the problem of the missing files was not only confined to the 
Muruatetu and Thirimbu case. Thousands of other convicts do not know their fate 
as their files can not be traced.

Kiambu Law Courts, sources indicated has been hit by a major hitch because 
re-sentencing cases have not been heard, subjecting the affected death-row 
convicts to uncertainty.

We obtained a list of 37 cases whose files can not be traced at the Kiambu Law 
Courts where convicts claimed they had been approached to offer facilitation 
fee for their retrieval from the archives.

When the Sunday Standard raised the issue of the missing files with Anne Amadi, 
the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, she explained that it has not been 
possible to carry out an audit on all the cases that needed re-sentencing.

“I suppose it is the issue of old cases. Some of these cases that need 
re-sentencing are more than 20 years old. It takes some time to go through the 
archives to get the files. This has posed a challenge to some courts,” Amadi 
added.

She however ruled out that some files could have been destroyed as happens to 
old cases whose owners have exhausted all avenues of appeals or the cases had 
had been closed.

However, Maryann Njau-Kimani, the Senior Deputy Solicitor General who chaired 
the taskforce on the implementation of Supreme Court’s death penalty decision, 
explained that a comprehensive report was tabled to the Chief Justice on 
December 13 last year.

According to Njau-Kimani, as at February this year, there were 4,819 death row 
convicts out of whom only 1457 had had their cases re-heard for sentencing 
while 3360 are yet to be re-sentenced.

According to the statistics released by Njau-Kimani, Kamiti Maximum Security 
Prison has the highest number of death row inmates at 1117, followed by 
Naivasha (889), Kisumu (444), Shimo La Tewa (355), Kibos (350), Nyeri (302) and 
Manyani (323).

Dashed the hopes

Interestingly, although Kamiti has the highest number of capital offences 
convicts, only 4 out of 1117 have have had their cases re-heard by February. 
Eldoret has tackled only 4 out of 87 while Naivasha had handled 507, leaving a 
balance of 382.

Although the death row convicts are optimistic that once they are re-sentenced 
they may walk to freedom, not all appellants have secured their freedom.

On July 4 this year, High Court judge Florence Muchemi dashed the hopes of two 
convicted murderers who had appeared before her for re-sentencing in a petition 
filed in Embu.

Patricio Njiru Kirangi and Jonathan Njeru Mutunga had originally pleaded with 
the court that their sentenced be reduced to the time served because they had 
already spent 19 years in jail.

The State was however opposed to the release of the 2 who had hacked a woman, 
thrown her body parts into a pit latrine simply because they had failed to find 
her husband who they were pursuing over a land dispute.

Muchemi’s verdict read: “I have carefully perused through the petitions and 
find nothing in mitigation. Ending the life of a human being should not be 
taken lightly for it adversely affects families including innocent children who 
are deprived of parental love and support.”

In another case however, High Court judge Luka Kimaru freed Peter Matiku Muhiru 
who had been in prison for 16 years for violently robbing a Naivasha 
businessman, Peter Mburu Gikonyo of shs2,750 on October 3, 2001.

In Garissa, Aden Shariff Abdi and Arte Abdi Wito who violently robbed and 
killed businessman Haji Omar Ibrahim have been given a new lease of life.

High Court judge, Charles Kariuki re-heard their case and determined that at 
the time, Wito who was armed with a gun was 18 years and was impressionable 
while his co-accused, though aged 25, did not have a dangerous weapon. Kariuki 
referred the two to the magistrates court for re-sentencing.

(source: standardmedia.co.ke)