July 21
MALAYSIA:
5 years on death row
Lai Chaw Keong, 35, was convicted of drug trafficking in 1997 and
sentenced to death in 2000.
5 years on, he is still languishing on death row.
The reason: The High Court, which convicted him, has yet to hand down a
written judgment on his case.
Until this is done, Lai cannot appeal against the sentence.
His distraught mother, Gan Ean Yau, 53, lives a daily life of anguish
knowing that her son is "wasting away in prison".
"This does not mean I want to see my son executed quickly," she said.
"I am just appealing for justice for my son. Being sentenced to death does
not mean he should be deprived of his right of appeal."
Lai was convicted of trafficking 55,428.1g of cannabis in a house at Taman
Timur here about 10.20pm on Aug 1, 1997.
He was sentenced to death at the Johor Baru High Court on Aug 29, 2000,
under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Lai had filed a writ of habeas corpus at the High Court here July 5 for
his release through counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik.
In the writ, he claimed his continued imprisonment since 2000 pending the
execution was illegal, wrong and unjust.
He also claimed imprisonment denied him a fair trial under Articles 5 and
8 of the Federal Constitution.
In his writ, Lai asked that the High Court set him free or, alternatively,
offer him a permanent stay of execution pending appeal.
(source: New Straits Times)
PHILIPPINES:
Death penalty vs. 5 in Chiong case affirmed
The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed on Thursday the death sentence
meted against those convicted in the Chiong murder case, namely Francisco
Juan Larranaga, Josman Asnar, Rowen Adlawan, Alberto Cano and Ariel
Balansag.
In a 21-page resolution, the High Court en banc dismissed the claims of
those convicted that the lower court erred in not considering that the
police planted evidence against them and that the defendants had an alibi.
Larranaga, Asnar, Ad-lawan, Cano and Balansag, through their lawyers, also
claimed that the prosecutions witness, David Rusia, was coached during
their trial and that a corpse found was not one of the victims, Marijoy
Chiong.
The High Court backed the Cebu City Regional Trial Courts death sentence
that found defendants guilty of the special complex crime of kidnapping
and serious illegal detention with homicide and rape.
According to law, the 5 face execution by lethal injection.
"This case presents to us a balance scale whereby per-ched on one end is
appellants' alibi supported by witnesses who were either their relatives,
friends and classmates, while on the other end is the positive
identification of the herein appellants by the prosecution witnesses who
were not, in any way, related to the victims. With the above jurisprudence
as guide, we are certain that the balance must tilt in favor of the
latter," said the Court's resolution.
The Court pointed out that Larranaga's claim that he was in Quezon City
when the abduction of the Chiong sisters, Marijoy and Jacqueline, occurred
did not satisfy the proof of physical impossibility since it was proven
during the hearing that it takes only one hour to travel by plane from
Manila to Cebu. The Court explained that an alibi does not suffice against
positive identification by witnesses.
Meanwhile, the Court ordered the Office of the Solicitor General to get
records from the local civil registrar of Cotabato City and the National
Statistics Office to verify the claim of brothers James Andrew and James
Anthony Uy that they were minors when the crime was committed. The
brothers are among the accused.
The Court gave the Office of the Solicitor General 10 days to reply to the
motion of reconsideration filed by the Uy brothers, who claimed the
privileged mitigating circumstance of minority.
The Uy brothers and the 5 accused were found guilty of abducting Marijoy
and Jacqueline Chiong from the Ayala Center in Cebu City on July 16, 1997.
Marijoys body was found but Jacqueline is still missing. Rusia testified
that he saw Rowen and Ariel pushing Marijoy into a deep ravine, following
Josmans instruction to get rid of her.
(source: The Manila Times)
INDONESIA:
Prosecutors seek death penalty for McDonald bomber in Indonesia
Indonesian prosecutors on Thursday recommended death sentence for Agung
Abdul Hamid for masterminding bomb attack on a McDonald restaurant in
South Sulawesi province that killed 3 people, including a suicide bomber.
Agung is accused of plotting the attack and illegally possessing guns and
three bags of potassium, prosecutors told the panel judge in a district
court in Makassar, capital of the province.
"There are no mitigating factors," prosecutor head Muhammad Taufik was
quoted by the Detikcom on-line news service as saying.
Besides the McDonald restaurant, the December 2002 attacks also targeted a
car dealership in the South Sulawesi town of Bone, but no one was injured
in the separate attack.
(source: Xinhuanet News)
