Jan. 13
THAILAND:
Killers executed before victim buried? Accused won't even say sorry.
The confessed killers of tragic backpacker Katherine Horton have
repeatedly refused to apologise to her family.
Several journalists approached Bualoi Posit, 23, and Wichai Somkhaoyai,
24, after they appeared in court yesterday to ask if they would say sorry.
One reporter asked the two uneducated fishermen through a translator: "Do
you want to say sorry to your victim's family - or do you have a message
for them."
But the pair - who have confessed to raping and killing the 21-year-old
from Thornhill, Cardiff, on New Year's Day - ignored them.
An inquest was being opened into the death in Cardiff today as Posit and
Somkhaoyai await their fate in a provincial prison in Surat Thani.
Coroner Mary Hassell, who was due to briefly open the investigation, will
be able to release Katherine's body for burial.
If her alleged killers plead guilty - as expected - they could be executed
before their victim is laid to rest.
Experienced Thailand reporter Andrew Drummond said the sentence of death
by lethal injection could be carried out in just "a couple of days" if
there are guilty pleas. But the pair's lawyer Amatin Nuami said the
peasant fishermen - who have admitted their crime to him - might not be
aware they face death by lethal injection.
"It is hard to say. They have no education. They might not be aware of the
consequences," he said.
He continued: "If the suspects did the crime they deserve the death
penalty to do justice to Katherine's family."
Neither of the accused spoke during the 25-minute hearing yesterday in a
court 75 miles from Lamai beach on Koh Samui where the Reading University
psychology student was brutally killed.
Both were barefoot, wearing T-shirts and shorts, and handcuffed as they
were charged with rape and premeditated murder.
When asked by the judges if they disputed the charges, the suspects shook
their heads but were not asked to plead.
Illiterate Somkhaoyai cannot write and recorded his understanding with a
thumbprint.
The Foreign Office said both men were expected to plead guilty and the
trial - which could start next week - could last just one day.
Students at Reading University, who have already been given a talk about
Katherine, will remember her at a service of remembrance this afternoon. A
book of condolence will be available for the students, who University
Union president Dave Lewis said were shocked and saddened.
(source: South Wales Echo)
SINGAPORE:
Singapore's Law Society to give death penalty a fair airing
Should kidnappers be punished with death? Should the amount of heroin that
warrants the death penalty be raised?
A high-powered committee, charged by the Law Society to review the death
penalty, could be asking these questions for a report to be submitted to
the Ministry of Law in October.
Today learnt that the 8-man Law Society committee - comprising lawyers, a
law academic and a former judicial commissioner - will study judicial and
death penalty systems in countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom,
Australia, Hong Kong and India and compare it with Singapore's.
"Our main focus is on issues like administering the death penalty: Should
the decision maker be the judge, or should it be a mandatory one so that
the judge doesn't have to worry about whether or not to impose the death
penalty?" Law Society president and Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam said.
The team, named the Review Committee on Capital Punishment, will also
study if capital punishment has been an effective deterrent and will
explore issues on "proportionality", he said.
Currently, those convicted of crimes such as murder, kidnapping, mutiny,
firing a gun in public and several types of drug offences could be sent to
the gallows.
"We will review the rationale and (see) if the circumstances have
changed," said lawyer Peter Low, a co-chair in the committee.
Mr Chia Boon Teck, the other co-chair, said they will explore death
penalty issues with "open minds".
"It's not like we already have decided on an outcome and - 'Quick, let's
do our research and justify this outcome'," said Mr Chia.
"The committee wants to look at the various jurisdictions - at the various
offences that attract the death penalty. Are the laws still relevant
today? Are they serving us well? If not, what do we do?"
Mr Jeyaretnam said there will not be any "sensationalising" of the legal
issues, though "it's part of our responsibility to go into them".
The others in the committee, formed last Friday, are lawyers Chandra
Mohan, Loo Ngan Chor, Anand Nalachandran, Lee Terk Yang, law lecturer
Michael Hor and former judicial commissioner KS Rajah.
Talk about a review were fuelled after the latest issue of the Singapore
Law Gazette. In it, Mr Jeyaretnam hints of a law review: "The death
penalty has been on our radar for a number of years. Times do change, and
laws may need to change, too."
Admitting that the review had something to do with the saga involving
executed Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van, Mr Jeyaretnam said
the society had received a "flurry" of letters from foreign bar
associations asking for its views on the death penalty.
The Singapore law profession has mixed views on the death penalty, he
said, but the society wanted to see whether it had a "collective view" or
if it could "develop" one.
Other than conducting surveys within the law profession, the committee
will also hear views from people who are against the death penalty on such
grounds as religion, said Mr Jeyaretnam.
The Law Society Council will have the final word on whether the report
should be handed over to the Government. "If the whole report is rejected
(by the Council), it won't be submitted," he said.
This is the third time in recent years that the Law Society is doing a
review of Singapore laws.
Last September, the society submitted a report to reform the law and
practice of information sharing between prosecutors and defence lawyers
during criminal trials, while another committee has just been set up to
study how the reach of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme can be extended to
help more of those in need.
(source: ChannelNewsAsia)
IRAQ:
SADDAM LIKELY TO GET DEATH SENTENCE SAYS LEGAL EXPERT
Saddam Hussein is likely to be handed down a death sentence by the special
tribunal that is currently trying Iraq's former president and seven
co-defendants on charges of crimes against humanity, American legal expert
Jimmy Gurule has told the Austrian Kurier newspaper in an interview
carried by the Austrian press agency on Thursday.
"A death sentence is very probable against Iraqi ex-dictator Saddam
Hussein," said Gurule, who was one of a team of international experts who
trained the Iraqi judges presiding over the special tribunal set up to try
Saddam.
Garule predicted that the trial - at which Saddam and his co-defendants
are facing charges connected with the murder of 143 Iraqi Shiite men and
boys at Dujail in 1982 - would not "drag on endlessly" like that of
Serbia's former president, Slobodan Milosevic, at the UN's Hague war
crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Saddam's trial has already been adjourned several times since it began in
October, and is due to start again on 24 January.
The most important issue at present was that Saddm's trial should be fair,
and "this is in fact the case," Garule stated. "But there should be
improvements, such as better protection for judges and lawyers," he
admitted. 2 lawyers on Saddam's defence team have been murdered since the
start of the trial, 1 of whom was kidnapped on its 2nd day.
Calling witnesses in the trial was also highly problematic, because it
endangered the lives of people willing to testify against Saddam and his
co-defendants, as well as the lives of witnesses' famiies, Garule added.
Many have expressed grave doubts whether international fair trial
standards are being met. Saddam's lawyers complained they were not given
adequate time to properly prepare his and his co-defendants' defence.
If the former military dictator does get the death penalty for the Dujail
massacres, "It would be entirely at the discretion of the current tribunal
whether after a death sentence, further court cases would be started
against Saddam," Garule argued.
There is a long list of allegations against Saddam for which he has yet to
be charged. These include other alleged crimes against humanity such as
the poison gas attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988, and the
repression of the 1991 Shiite uprising, as well as genocide against
Iranians during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Many have speculated these
cases may never come to court.
(source: AKI)
