August 24
IRAN:
Iran towns jail has 30 prisoners on death row
There are 30 prisoners on death row in a prison in the town of Arak,
central Iran, according to the areas Islamic Revolutionary Prosecutor.
Hamzeh Pakbin said that the prisoners had all been sentenced to hanging
for a variety of crimes, local newspapers reported on Wednesday.
"At present, these 30 individuals are in prison and their execution
sentences have been handed down. These individuals remain in Arak Prison
and it is unclear how the complainants will act, since the victims next of
kin have not stepped forward and have not made any requests," Pakbin said.
Under Iran's religious laws, a person convicted of murder and sentenced to
death can be given clemency by the victim's family who may seek blood
money. The law specifies that the blood money for a woman is half that of
a man.
(source: Iran Focus)
IRAQ:
Another execution due in Iraq as new death sentence passed
An Iraqi man convicted of murder was sentenced to death on Wednesday in
Iraq's 4th scheduled execution since authorities reinstated capital
punishment, banned since the 2003 US-led invasion.
Abed Saleh al-Issawi, a 24-year-old restaurant employee, was accused of
assassinating two policemen and a finance ministry driver in January on
the road from Baghdad to the southern town of Kut, judge Jaafar al-Ussi
told AFP.
Issawi, a suspected member of a militant group called Abu Abdullah, earned
100 dollars for the killings, according to the court in Kut, a dusty
Shiite town 175 kilometres (110 miles) from Baghdad.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari announced last week that the 1st
post-Saddam Hussein executions were to be carried out imminently in Kut
for 3 men convicted of murder, kidnap and rape.
The 3 men were accused of belonging to Al-Qaeda-linked group Ansar
al-Sunna and sentenced to death in May, a verdict later approved by the
Supreme Council for Justice, the highest judicial authority in Iraq.
Kurd Bayan Ahmad al-Jaf, a 30-year-old taxi driver, as well as two Sunnis,
Oudai Dawud al-Dulaimi, a 25-year-old builder, and Taher Jassem Abbas, a
44-year-old butcher, were condemned to death after being convicted of
killing and kidnapping policemen and raping Iraqi women.
Those were the 1st death sentences to be announced by Jaafari's government
since capital punishment was suspended by US authorities following the
ousting of Saddam Hussein.
Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi was delegated to sign the necessary
decrees after the country's president, Jalal Talabani, a longstanding
opponent of the death penalty, had refused.
The Iraqi government on Sunday defended its decision to reinstate the
death penalty following a United Nations appeal for Baghdad to reconsider
executing the three convicted felons.
"(We) understand the position of international organisations ... but we
are faced with a reality in Iraq where people are murdering, and what we
want is a sentence which punishes the hand that kills," a government
spokesman said.
The UN special envoy to Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, had urged Baghdad not to go
ahead with the executions.
"One should look at consolidating the right to life instead of imposing
the death penalty which has a very poor recognised effect in deterring
crimes," read a statement from Qazi. It is not known how the government
intends to carry out the executions, but during Saddam's regime, criminals
used to be hanged, while disloyal soldiers faced the firing squad.
Human rights groups said the executions could set a precedent for
sentencing when the high-profile trials begin of former regime figures,
including Saddam.
The Iraqi Special Tribunal filed charges against Saddam in late July over
the 1982 killing of 143 residents of the village of Dujail, northeast of
Baghdad, where he had been the target of a failed assassination bid.
The human rights group Amnesty International has also condemned
reinstating capital punishment in Iraq.
(source: Agence France Presse)
*********************
Condemnation of scheduled executions
International human rights groups have condemned the passing down of the
1st death sentence in Iraq since US-led forces invaded the country in
April 2003 and ousted former leader Saddam Hussein.
Three men will be executed in the 1st week of September, officials said.
The death penalty, which was used to punish criminals during Hussein's
regime, was abolished by US forces in 2003, but reinstated in August 2004
during the rule of former prime minister, Iyad Allawi.
The execution will take place in the city of Kut, 172km southeast of the
capital, Baghdad, where three men, accused of the kidnapping and raping of
women, will be hanged.
The three men are Bayan Ahmad al-Jaf, a 30-year-old Kurdish taxi driver,
and two Sunni Arabs, Uday al-Dulaimi, a 25-year-old builder, and Taher
Jassem, a 44-year-old butcher.
The decision, which Iraqi President Jalal Talabani reportedly refused to
sign, was authorised by the Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi.
Human rights organisations and the United Nations have responded with
indignation.
"In the process of transition that Iraq is experiencing, one should look
at consolidating the right to life instead of imposing the death penalty
which has a very poor recognised effect in deterring crimes," Ashraf Qazi,
the UN special representative in Iraq, said in a statement on 20 August.
He added that he deeply regretted the decision.
A senior Ministry of Human Rights official, Ahmed Subhi, said that they
believe the implementation of the death penalty was not a solution.
"You cannot treat crime with crime and this will be what happens if the
Iraqi government accepts the execution of those three men in Kut," he
said.
Amnesty International also condemned the execution order, saying it was
concerned that dozens of death sentences had been handed out in recent
weeks and that in this case there was no difference between the time of
Saddam and the present.
"We urge the Iraqi government to reconsider the death penalty case and
prevent the death of those 3 men in the coming days. We condemn the death
penalty whatever the crime and there are other humane procedures that can
be carried out without the need of this aggressive form," Middle East
spokeswoman for Amnesty, Nicole Choueiry, told IRIN from their London
headquarters.
Local human rights organisations also condemned the sentence, saying that
Iraq's legal system needed to be updated.
The death penalty has not been included in a draft of the country's new
constitution, according to government sources.
(source: IRIN)
INDONESIA:
Prosecution Demands Death Sentence for Ahmad Hasan
The death sentence has been demanded by the prosecution for Ahmad Hasan, a
defendant in the Kuningan bomb case.
Hasan says that the charges had been made up.
Public prosecutors A.A. Welang and Suntoro said during the trial at the
South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday (23/08) that the defendant was
proven to have been involved in the planning and execution of the bombing
in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta on September 9, 2004.
They also said he was proven to have hidden alleged bombing masterminds
Dr. Azahari and Noor Din M Top.
In the trial, led by the head of the judges Ahmad Sobari, the prosecution
revealed various matters that strengthened the charges against Ahmad
Hasan.
Hasan is considered to have participated in the planning of the bombing
together with other bombing suspects Rois, Hery Sigu, Amin aka Ali, who is
assumed to be Dr. Azahari, and Kholid aka Abdurrahman, who is assumed to
be Noor Din.
Hasan is also alleged to have prepared bombing materials.
Technically, he was also involved in planning and preparing bombs in a
Daihatsu vehicle with the license plate number of B 9056 NH.
In addition, Hasan was alleged to have carried out a survey of the bombing
location and prepared Heri Gholun aka Igun to commit the bombing.
The prosecution accused the defendant of having ridden a motorcycle
together with Amin aka Dr. Azahari after the bombing.
The prosecution concluded that the defendant had always remained in
contact with Dr. Azahari.
The judged adjourned the trial until September 1, with the agenda being
the defendants defense.
(source: Tempo Interactive)
AFGHANISTAN:
2 murderers awarded death penalty
In Kabul, a lower court awarded death penalty to 2 men charged with the
murder of a car driver. The verdict can be appealed in 2 higher courts.
Sala Khan and Mohammad Juma, from Alishang district of the eastern Laghman
province, were convicted by the Ninth District's court of killing Abdul
Habib from Nimroz province 9 months ago.
Attorney Abdul Habib Yousufzai of the investigation branch of the
provincial prosecution office, who presented evidence, sought execution of
the convicts.
The 2 were charged with stabbing to death and beheading Abdul Habib, whose
car they had hired from Kandahar to Kabul on December 1, 2004. Ghazni
police had found Habib's body on a roadside on the highway a day after he
was beheaded.
(source: SANA)
