Feb. 4
CHINA:
Chinese man appeals death sentence in Fukuoka murder
A Chinese man sentenced to death for the 2003 murder of a family of 4 in
Japan's Fukuoka Prefecture began on Thursday steps to appeal the ruling,
an official of the Japanese consulate in Shenyang said.
Yang Ning, 24, submitted related documents to the Intermediate People's
Court in Liaoyang, a city in China's northeast Liaoning Province, on
Thursday afternoon, according to the official.
(source: Kyodo News)
BRUNEI:
Filipino to hang in Brunei for murdering girlfriend
A Filipino with a history of psychiatric problems has been sentenced to
death in Brunei for murdering his Filipina girlfriend.
Brunei's High Court convicted Ibrahim bin Abdullah Puzone, 50, a Muslim
convert formerly known as Edgar Puzone, and sentenced him on Thursday to
hang for the death of Vilma Taalal Misal in May 2003.
The court heard Puzone stabbed Misal, a 25-year-old waitress, in the chest
with a knife while she was working at a restaurant in Bandar Seri Begawan.
Puzone then tried to kill himself repeatedly with a knife, ice pick and
paper cutter, but workers at the restaurant prevented him from fatally
wounding himself.
Puzone's lawyers told the court he was on medication to treat a long
history of psychiatric problems, and medical experts were flown in from
Manila to testify that he was not aware of his actions when he murdered
Misal.
But judge Dato Paduka Steven Chong said Puzone's mental illness was not a
strong enough mitigating factor for him to escape the death penalty.
"Considering the evidence in totality, we are not persuaded on a balance
of probabilities that the defendant was suffering from such abnormality of
mind as to substantially impair his mental responsibility for his act,"
Chong said.
"We are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that this was a premeditated and
brutal murder and the defendant is convicted of the charge accordingly."
Puzone had been living in Brunei for 10 years and worked as a graphic
designer.
A Philippine embassy official said Puzone would appeal his sentence to the
Appeals Court, made up of a panel of 3 High Court judges.
(source: INQ7 News)
