Oct. 29
IRAN:
European Parliament condemns execution of children and persecution of
journalists -- Joint motion for a resolution on Iran
In a resolution adopted by 105 votes in favour and none against with six
abstentions, MEPs strongly condemn the execution in Iran of the 16 year
old Ateqeh Rajabi and all other death sentences and executions of child
offenders in that country. They call on the Iranian authorities
immediately to halt all attempts at stoning and to prevent any further
application of the death penalty to minors. They reiterate their general
opposition to the death penalty and hopes that a judicial reform in Iran
will bring this inhumane practice to an end.
Parliament also condemns the recent arbitrary arrests of journalists, and
calls on the authorities to release all prisoners prosecuted or sentenced
for press- and opinion-related offences. It condemns the travel ban that
was imposed on journalist and human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi, as on
many other Iranian citizens. It calls on the Iranian Parliament to adapt
the Iranian Press Law and the Penal Code to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, and notably to repeal all criminal provisions
dealing with the peaceful expression of opinion, including in the press.
MEPs call on the Iranian authorities to stop the practice of arresting
family members of journalists and reformers.
Parliament demands that the Presidency of the Council and the Member
States diplomatic representatives in Iran urgently undertake concerted
action with regard to these concerns and calls on the Council to present a
resolution on behalf of the European Union on the deteriorating human
rights situation in Iran for the next session of the United Nations
General Assembly.
Finally, MEPs call on the Council and the Commission to monitor
developments in Iran closely and to raise their serious concerns about
human rights abuses in the framework of the EU-Iran human rights dialogue.
(source: Payvand)
JAPAN:
High court scraps earlier ruling, sentences girl's murderer to death
The Tokyo High Court on Friday scrapped a lower court ruling that
sentenced a man to life imprisonment for brutally murdering a girl then
demanding ransom from her family, and ordered that he be executed for his
crime.
In handing down the death sentence on the convicted man, Masahito
Sakamoto, 38, Presiding Judge Yu Shiraki said Sakamoto had acted selfishly
and brutally.
"His motivation was selfish and his method of murder was extremely brutal.
When he demanded ransom from her parents, he was laughing and his actions
were utterly contemptible," Shiraki said.
Prosecutors had appealed against the district court ruling appealing for
the death sentence. Sakamoto, who had also appealed, saying the sentence
was inappropriate said during the appeal hearing that he had appealed
because he didn't get the death penalty and he thought the original
sentence was too light.
Sakamoto was convicted of forcing a 16-year-old schoolgirl into his
vehicle as she was returning home in July 2002, took her to a forest area
in Miyagi, Gunma Prefecture, raped her, then strangled her, the court
said.
After killing the girl he phoned her parents demanding ransom money, and
collected 230,000 yen, according to the ruling.
The court ruled that Sakamoto had kidnapped the girl because he thought
that his wife who had run away from him was in a child consultation center
and that he could get her back by taking a high school girl hostage.
The initial Tokyo District Court ruling said Sakamoto's crime was not
premeditated, but the high court said it could not overlook the fact that
Sakamoto had immediately demanded ransom.
Sakamoto's lawyer said he had not confirmed the will of his client, but
that he would like to appeal to the Supreme Court.
After the ruling, the victim's father said he could not rest until the
death sentence had been confirmed.
"I believed that the death penalty would be handed down in the appeal
hearing," he said. "There is no other penalty but the death penalty for
someone who has no consciousness of atonement for his crime. I will not
feel better until the death penalty is confirmed."
During the 1st trial in the district court, prosecutors submitted the
signatures of 76,000 people demanding the death penalty for Sakamoto, but
the court sentenced him to life imprisonment. In an unusual move, the
court spoke to the family on the ruling, saying, "From the nation's
perspective, handing down the death penalty is a very serious matter. You
probably can't understand this, but that's the way it is."
(source: Mainichi Shimbum)
