June 24
SOUTH KOREA:
The Supreme Court Hands Down Death Penalty to Parricide Case
The Supreme Court confirmed its ruling of the death penalty for Kim (23),
a college student on a leave of absence, who is facing parricide charges
for killing his mother and grandmother because they refused to pay off his
credit card debt.
This is the 1st time this year that the Supreme Court has sentenced
someone to death. There are currently 58 prisoners sentenced to death.
There has not been an execution in Korea for 6 years since a December 1997
ruling, when 23 felons were executed at once.
Kim has been charged with parricide charges for killing his mother and
grandmother and also attempting to kill his father and brother because
they refused to pay off his W70 million credit card debt. Kim was
sentenced to the death penalty, and the court had previously rejected his
appeal.
(source: The Chosun Ilbo)
INDONEISIA:
Revenge killer of businessman gets death sentence
An Indonesian who murdered his former father-in-law in revenge for a
prison sentence was sentenced to death on Thursday.
Gunawan Santoso, 40, murdered Budiharto Angsana in June 2003 "because he
has ruined my life," according to testimony in the trial.
Santoso had defrauded his father-in-law's company Asaba. Angsana took
Santoso to court and he was jailed for 30 months after an earlier trial.
Santoso, who later divorced Angsana's daughter, decided to get revenge
after escaping from jail in January 2003 and recruited 2 marines as
hitmen. They shot and killed Angsana and his bodyguard as Santoso looked
on.
Judge I Wayan Padang told North Jakarta court that Santoso had given
evasive evidence at the murder trial, had corrupted members of the armed
forces and had twice tried to escape detention.
In the latest escape attempt in March, Santoso accidentally shot himself
in a fight with the driver of a prison vehicle as he tried to escape en
route to court. He had smuggled the gun into jail.
The 2 marines will face a court martial separately.
The defence counsel said they will appeal the verdict.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
INDIA:
Dhananjay Chatterjee's execution stayed
The impending execution of convict Dhananjay Chatterjee at Alipore Central
Jail in Kolkata has been stayed, West Bengal advocate general Balai Roy
said on Thursday.
A communication had been received from the President's office, that an
application was moved for clemency and the President was considering the
appeal. The office had ordered a stay on the execution until the President
took a final decision, he said.
Dhananjay's wife Purnima Chatterjee had moved the application on June 17
on the ground of delay in execution of the death sentence. Held guilty of
rape and murder of school student Hetal Parekh in a housing complex, its
security guard Dhananjay had been sentenced to death in 1991, but the
sentence had not been carried out.
(source: The Times of India)
GHANA:
Soldier before NRC on human rights abuse including executions
Sergeant Anthony Charles Apoera of the Second Infantry Battalion of the
Ghana Army based in Takoradi, was on Wednesday at the National
Reconciliation Commission (NRC) to answer allegations of human rights
abuses, including executions in 1983 made against him.
Sergeant Apoera, alias Tarkwa Killer, who was subpoenaed by the
Commission, had been alleged to have terrorised, brutalised and killed a
number of people and dumped their bodies into an abandoned mine pit called
Fanti Mines, near Tarkwa.
Counsel for Sergeant Apoera, Lawyer Joseph O. Amui cross-examined
Witnesses, Mr James Cudjoe alias Abotukura and Mr Osmanu Sulemanu, Drivers
of the vehicles Sergeant Apoera and other soldiers used for operations.
The Commission, however, deferred the evidence of Sergeant Apeora to July
7 because the Third Witness, Kweku Sey was bereaved and would be available
by that date.
Mr E. Allotei Mingle, Head of Legal Affairs of the Commission, led Mr
Cudjoe, who now lives at Tarkwa Borbobu, in his evidence.
Mr Cudjoe, who said he was then a Security Driver at the State Gold Mining
Corporation at Tarkwa, told the Commission that the General Mines Manager,
Mr Twum Antwi released his vehicle to a platoon of soldiers on operational
duties at Tarkwa and asked him to work with them. Witness said Sgt
Apoera's group, which was led by one Sheriff included one Osmanu, Adama,
Sgt Ahialleh, Nyantakyi, Alamanyo, Willie Brown and others.
Mr Cudjoe said one Saturday, Sgt Apoera and Osamanu bundled one Issahaku
into his Land Rover and took him to the abandoned mines. He said a scuffle
ensued when Issahaku refused to obey the orders of Sgt. Apoera to get down
and come together with Osmanu to the shaft. Osmanu after hitting Issahaku
with his gun issued a code and Apoera rushed to the scene and hit
Issahaku's forehead with the butt of his gun.
The Sergeant then dragged Issahaku to the pit, shot him and threw the body
into the pit.
Mr Cudjoe said on another occasion Sergeant Apoera arrested a man, called
Borhor, who posed as an Army Lieutenant at the Tarkwa main station.
He said when Borhor could not produce an ID card to prove that he was a
Lieutenant, Sergeant Apoera ordered him to get on their vehicle. After 2
weeks' detention in Police cells, the soldiers, Sergeants Apoera, Ahialleh
and Adongo informed him that they were "ready" for Borhor.
He said instead of going to the Police station, they made him to drive
them to the Tarkwa Cemetery and after staying there for some time they
left and picked Borhor from the Police cells to the Fanti Mines. Borhor
realising that his death was imminent jumped from the vehicle in an
attempt to escape but fell by the roadside and Sgt Ahialleh fired shots at
him.
Mr Cudjoe said they left the body there and went for it next morning and
took it to the mortuary.
During cross-examination Witness admitted that civilians reported and made
allegations about others.
He, however, stated that he did not hear of any allegations of stealing
and the possession of vanishing mystical powers against Issahaku, which
Lawyer Amui suggested and stated that Sgt Apoera shot Issahaku.
When it got to the turn of Mr Sulemanu, he said he was the "main man of
Sergeant Apoera," adding that, he worked with the Tarkwa Goldfields as a
Driver, and drove the operational vehicle for the soldiers. He said one
day in 1983, while returning from an operation, three soldiers, Lamenyo,
Owusu and Sergeant Apoera arrested a lady during curfew hours at the
Tarkwa Railway Station.
Mr Sulemanu said the Lady, who was about to get out of the station, was
too frightened that she wet herself at the sight of the soldiers. The
soldiers bundled her into the vehicle and drove her to their residence, at
the bungalows of the Mines, which they had named 'Barracks'.
Witness said he suspected that she was raped after the 3 soldiers had kept
her in a room for about 45 minutes.
After taking the motionless woman, who was also breathing irregularly,
briefly to the Police Station, they deposited her in front of a mortuary
and drove away but came back to pick and dumped her in the shaft at Fanti
Mines.
They then went to the Railways Station to enquire of the identity of the
woman but the fear stricken people were tight-lipped.
Mr Sulemanu recalled another incident when a Policeman reported a young
man, who was alleged to be a thief to Lamenyo and Apoera. He said the
Policeman, who wore a thick moustache took the soldiers to a place called
Layout and pointed the house of the alleged thief to them.
However, when they knocked at the door, there was no reply and so they
forced it open only to find the young man dead.
Mr Sulemanu said there were signs that he had died out of burns from an
electric heater and found a knife stuck in his anus.
The soldiers took the body and dumped it in the Fanti Mines. The Chairman
of the Commission, Mr Justice Kweku Etru Amua-Sekyi, thanked the two
Witnesses and said their evidence was very useful to the Commission
Justice Amua-Sekyi said the remains of 2 men; 3 women and a boy of about
12 years old had been recovered from the Fanti Mines and appealed to the
public to help in their identification.
(source: Ghana News Agency)
