Feb. 2
JAPAN:
Death sentence sought for Chinese man in Fukuoka family's murder
Prosecutors demanded the death sentence Tuesday at the Fukuoka District
Court for a Chinese man accused of taking part in the murder in 2003 of a
family of 4 in Fukuoka. Wei Wei, 25, a former Japanese-language student,
is accused of conspiring with two other Chinese to rob and murder Shinjiro
Matsumoto, 41, a clothing dealer, and his family.
Last week, a Chinese court found the other 2 guilty, sentencing one to
death and the other to life in prison. Wei has pleaded guilty. He
apologized and said during a court hearing in December, "I did it. I hope
for the death penalty if it comforts the victims' relatives."
(source: Kyodo News)
PAKISTAN----re: juvenile death penalty
LHC dismisses convicts petition against death penalty
A division bench of the Lahore High Court dismissed a constitutional
petition seeking directions for staying execution of a death convict on
the grounds that he was a juvenile at the time of occurrence of the
murder.
The court observed that the convict Muhammad Hayat, alias Taddi, had not
agitated the point before the trial court, the High Court, nor the Supreme
Court and this point could not be agitated at this belated stage.
The petitioner Zulfiqar Ali, the convicts brother, pleaded that his
brother awarded the death sentence in 1995 in a murder case and he was a
minor at that time, but due tho lack of knowledge about the juvenile law,
this point was not raised before the trial court.
LHC disposes of plea to execute murder convict: A division bench of the
Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday disposed of a plea to execute murder
convict Fazalur Rehman, alias Pashey Khan, of Badami Bagh. Malik Nawaz
said that the execution of Rehman, the convicted murderer of the
petitioners brother, was not being implemented without any reason.
Tariq Shamim, the state counsel, informed the court that the president had
stopped the convicts execution till January 6 on a plea by his wife. He
said that the president had not extended the stay orders and the execution
had been fixed for February 2 (Wednesday).
The bench consisting of Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam and Justice Azmat
Saeed said that the president had powers to stop the execution under
Article 45 of the Constitution and then disposed of the petition.
Judge refuses to hear Ravi Town officials bail plea: Justice M Bilal Khan
of the Lahore High Court (LHC) refused to hear the bail applications of
two Ravi Town officials bail applications because of personal reasons and
sent them to the LHC chief justice for hearing by another bench.
Justice Khan said that he had been pursuing the case as a law officer so
it would not be appropriate for him to hear the case.
Petitioners Suhail Anwar and Malik Tariq said that they refused to follow
the illegal orders of Amir Munir, the Ravi Town nazim, upon which his
gunmen had assaulted them. The petitioners said that Munir also lodged a
theft case of Rs 200,000. They asked the court to quash the FIR.
LHC calls MBBS Admission Board chairman: A Lahore High Court division
bench issued a notice to the MBBS Admission Board chairman for next week,
following a petition by a student seeking admission in MBBS on a 2 % quota
for the disabled.
The bench consisting of justices Syed Jamshed Ali and Umar Ata Bandial,
sought the assistance of the Punjab Additional Advocate General on Azeem
Ahmads petition.
The petitioners lawyer, Malik Waqar Saleem, said that Ahmad was eligible
for admission in MBBS in 2004, but the board denied him admission in order
to accommodate a teachers son Haseeb. The petitioner secured 740 marks in
FSc.
He alleged that the selected candidate was not disabled, while his client
had certificates from 3 different departments to prove his disability.
LHC frees 2 men from 4-day police custody: The Lahore High Court on
Tuesday freed 2 people after releasing them from the four-day illegal
custody of the Chak Jhumra police and summoned the Faisalabad district
police officer with record on February 10. A court bailiff found Iqbal and
Tanvir and brought them before court. The bailiff said that though a case
had been registered against them, their arrest was not mentioned in the
police records.
LHC summons AAG on former SHOs plea against ACE: The Lahore High Court on
Tuesday summoned the Punjab additional advocate general to explain whether
the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) was authorised to entertain a
complaint against a policeman on the allegation of torture.
Khurram Gull, the former Aroop station house officer in Gujranwala
district, challenged the ACEs proceedings on an application against him
that he had tortured a man in custody.
(source: The Daily Times)
CHINA:
Death penalty, abolished or remained in China?
There's been a lot of discussion recently about whether or not China
should abolish the death penalty. Some legal experts suggest China needs
to limit the use of capital punishment, as a mark of a civilized society.
Many argue that capital punishment deters crime, but there are worrys that
the widespread use of it in China raises human rights concerns.
Professor Qu Xuewu, a legal expert from Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, supports the abolition of the death penalty but says it's not an
urgent task.
She says it will take 3 steps to finish the process:
"At first we must try to abolish capital punishment on economic crimes as
soon as possible. Then we need to end the penalty on non-violent crimes.
The last step, of course, is to completely abrogate the death penalty when
China achieves a high-level civilization in the future," said Qu.
Qu Xuewu believes the death penalty will be abolished sooner or later in
China, but says China is not yet ready to abolish it.
She says the death penalty remains a necessary measure to punish crimes
and safeguard people's interests.
Her opinion is echoed by other experts and most ordinary people.
A survey indicates more than 80 % Chinese support capital punishment.
Li Hailong, is one who supports the death penalty.
"At present, the death penalty serves as a powerful weapon, protecting
victims rights and interests," said Li Hailong," we use it to severely
punish some corrupt governmental officials and warn others. If it is
abandoned, it may have a negative impact on public security and the
economy."
Although China still has the death penalty, the Chinese government has
always limited the use of it.
Feng Cangjian, a senior official from China's Ministry of Justice,
suggests a compromise to abolishing capital punishment.
He suggests that one basic policy on the death policy in China is to
retain but seriously restrict it. He says that China will implement the
policy by widely adopting stay of executions and reducing the use of the
penalty for financial or economic crimes.
(source: Xinhuanet)
