April 14
INDONESIA/AUSTRALIA:
Australian facing death sentence in Bali collapses during drug trial
An Australian woman facing the death penalty in Indonesia for alleged drug
smuggling collapsed in court on Thursday as prosecutors were ready to make
their sentence recommendation to the judges.
Former beauty student Schapelle Corby, 27, collapsed in her chair as press
photographers mobbed her shortly before the trial session began, creating
hysterical scenes in the courtroom in Denpasar, the resort islands
capital.
Corbys trial has attracted immense media attention in her homeland,
prompting the Australian government to make unprecedented appeals on her
behalf to Indonesian authorities.
Shortly after Corby collapsed, her sister Mercedes, jumped over the low
fence separating the gallery and the court area and immediately began to
push photographers away, while her mother repeatedly yelled: "Get away
from her."
"You don't have any common sense," she screamed from the gallery.
Doctor Conny Pangkahila, told the court after examining the defendant that
Corby might have collapsed because of stress but ordered a more thorough
examination. Judges delayed the case until April 21.
"She is very tired and in these past few days, she has been suffering from
diarrhoea," Corbys translator told the court.
Earlier on Thursday, as the defendant arrived at the court building, her
sister Mercedes had to battle photographers with her handbag to allow
Corby to go inside.
Corby, from Australias Gold Coast resort area, is on trial in Bali for
allegedly smuggling 4.1 kilograms (9 pounds) of cannabis into Indonesia.
She faces the death penalty if convicted.
The marijuana was found in Corby's unlocked boogie board bag when she
arrived at Balis Denpasar Airport last October. She has steadfastly denied
knowing the drugs were in her luggage.
Corbys Australian lawyers have said that they had obtained new evidence
that she was unwittingly used as a courier by organised criminals trying
to smuggle the cannabis from Brisbane to Sydney.
Indonesian judges have been handing out severe sentences for narcotics
trafficking offences in the past few years as the country attempts to get
tough on a growing drug abuse problem.
The number of death sentences issued by Indonesian courts for drug
offences has reached 31 since the year 2000.
2 Thai nationals and an Indian convicted for drug trafficking in 1994 were
executed, by firing squads, last year.
(source: Khaleej Times)
***********************
Corby to hear if prosecutors seeking death penalty
Police had to carry Schapelle Corby through a throng of journalists
outside a Bali court today, where she will hear if prosecutors want her
put to death for alleged drug tafficking.
The 27-year-old former beauty student from the Gold Coast arrived
handcuffed to an Indonesian female prisoner, who collapsed shortly after
they were let out of the police van and mobbed by dozens of reporters.
Corby's sister Mercedes rushed in to help, yelling angrily at journalists
to "Leave her alone!" before hitting an Indonesian reporter over the head
with her handbag.
Police were forced to carry the 2 prisoners, still handcuffed, to a
holding cell at Denpasar District Court where Corby's case will again be
heard today.
Corby appeared distressed as she arrived on one of the most important days
of her trial.
She will learn today if prosecutors will seek the death penalty if she is
convicted of smuggling 4.1kg of cannabis into Bali in her unlocked
bodyboard bag last October. She has denied the charges.
Ultimately the decision lies with the panel of three judges hearing her
case.
However, the general rule of thumb in Indonesia is that they will not go
below 1/3 of what the prosecution demands, and they rarely hand down a
harsher punishment, observers said.
The Australian government has appealed to Indonesia for clemency.
In a similar case in Bali recently, prosecutors demanded the death penalty
for a taxi driver who admitted possessing 3.9kg of marijuana.
Earlier today, a Gold Coast businessman supporting Corby's case, Ron
Bakir, said he hoped she would make it to today's proceedings.
A hearing that had been scheduled for last week had to be put off after
Corby fell ill, and Bakir today said she remained unwell.
Stress has been blamed for her deteriorating health over the course of the
trial.
(source: AAP)
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Chief justice suggests death sentence changed into life imprisonment
Amid international pressure on the abolishment of capital punishment,
Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan suggested on Thursday that a death
sentence could be changed into a life sentence if the prisoner had been
jailed for more than 5 years.
"If the prisoner (who has been jailed for more than 5 years) was executed,
it's like he or she was sentenced twice," Bagir said.
He said his suggestion should be discussed and formulated into a law by
the House of Representatives.
Last month, a firing squad executed a woman who had been jailed for 9
years, for murder and mutilation in East Java.
Several prisoners related with murder and drug cases are now on death row
although they have been in jail for years.
(source: Jakarta Post)
GUATEMALA:
Guatemala Weighs Abolishing Death Penalty In Honor of John Paul II
The Guatemalan government is considering a proposal to abolish the death
penalty "as a tribute" to John Paul II.
The initiative of President Oscar Berger, which must now go to Congress,
has divided the country's politicians.
Opposition deputy Jorge Soto of the New Nation Alliance said Tuesday that
capital punishment must be abolished in Guatemala so that the country will
not be left behind in the area of human rights. The leftist Guatemalan
National Revolutionary Union also favors the abolition of the death
penalty.
However, the leader of the Patriotic Party, retired general Otto Perez,
said that capital punishment might dissuade criminals provided that it is
applied.
Deputy Mario Taracena of the opposition's National Progressive Party, and
Edgar Rodriguez of the National Union of Hope, also favored retaining the
death penalty, as they do not think it is the appropriate moment to
abolish it.
The decision to abolish capital punishment as a tribute to the late Pope
was announced April 6 in Rome by President Berger of the Grand National
Alliance, which has 45 out of a total of 158 seats in Congress.
According to Berger, the death penalty, applied in his country by lethal
injection, must be abolished because it has not served to resolve the
problem of crime.
"Guatemala can attack crime through the eradication of poverty, which
affects 8 out of 10 people, by giving greater opportunities and being more
solidaristic," he said.
At present, 36 people have been sentenced to death in this country of 14.2
million, the majority for murders and kidnappings. The abolition of the
death penalty must be approved by 80 of Guatemala's 158 deputies when the
initiative goes to Congress.
(source: Zenit News)
UGANDA:
Abolish Death Penalty, Prisons Chief Pleads
Mr Joseph Etima, the outgoing Commissioner General of Uganda Prisons has
urged the Constitutional Court to declare the death penalty illegal.
Etima told a press conference at Nile University offices in Arua town
that, "I would be the happiest person if the Constitutional Court declares
the death penalty unconstitutional".
At least 417 inmates of Luzira Upper Prison and Jinja Main Prison at
Kirinya filed a petition, in which they said the death sentence was
unconstitutional. It is the 1st case to be filed by condemned prisoners in
Uganda.
About 14 Kampala-based lawyers led by Mr John Katende and Prof. Frederick
Ssempebwa, argued the case in mid-January. They said they did the job free
of charge because of its uniqueness.
Etima, his deputy, Mr David Byabashaija, the Assistant Commissioner of
Prisons, Mr Moses Wagaba and Mr David Nsalasatta, swore affidavits
supporting the petition.
Justices Elizabeth Mpagi-Bahigeine, George Engwau, Christine Kitumba,
Constance Byamugisha and Amos Twinomujuni, who heard the case said they
would give their verdict on notice.
Etima who spent 17 years of his 39-year prisons service at the helm of
Uganda Prisons leadership, has consistently opposed the death sentence
saying the killing haunts and traumatises the hangmen.
Clarifying on his imminent exit from Prison at the expiry of his second
two-year post-retirement contract, Etima said, "I am putting this clear
because there may be some misrepresentation that President Yoweri Museveni
removed or replaced me.
"Let the public know that this is a natural process that I requested for
in April last year. There should be no political statements about it," he
said.
He did not elaborate but the statement has been interpreted as a veiled
reference to undo likely political opponents in the event that the
retiring officer seeks elective post in his native Terego constituency as
is being widely speculated.
Etima said he had recommended Byabashaija to replace him.
Asked if he would stand as Member of Parliament against Mr Kassiano Wadri
for the Terego seat, Etima said "I don't have any political ambitions yet
but if people pressurise me to the challenge, I would see to it, although
that is for the future."
He said he would take up any new post as assigned by the President.
Etima, who is one of the high ranking officials from Arua said he would
establish a development consultancy firm from where he would exercise his
vast experiences to light rural development.
(source: The Monitor)
