Feb. 14
CENTRAL ASIA:
Human Rights Headlines----A coordinated civil society campaign to abolish
the death penalty in Central Asian states
Human rights activists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan met in Vienna on 12 February along with international experts
and staff of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF)
to plan a 2-year "Coordinated Civil Society Campaign to Abolish the Death
Penalty in Central Asian States," a project co-financed by the European
Union.
"While moratoria on death penalty sentences have been established in
Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, this cruel and inhumane punishment
could be re-instated, and is used frequently in Uzbekistan," according to
Brigitte Dufour, Deputy Executive Director and Legal Counsel for the IHF.
"Our goal is to help civil society groups ensure that the death penalty is
abolished."
The IHF and its partners will develop and distribute information to the
public, media, members of parliament and government officials; organize
national and regional meetings; and advocate at the national and
international level.
(source: HREA--Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an
international non-governmental organisation that supports human rights
learning; the training of activists and professionals; the development of
educational materials and programming; and community-building through
on-line technologies.)
JAPAN:
Death penalty sought for man over murder of 2 women in Shizuoka
Public prosecutors demanded a death sentence Tuesday for a 25-year-old man
accused of killing two women in Shizuoka in January last year.
Yoshimasa Takahashi, who was stripped of his status as a Shizuoka
University student last summer, has pleaded guilty to the killings in his
trial at the Shizuoka District Court.
Takahashi was charged with murder and robbery for allegedly killing Kakuko
Imoto, 60, and Machiko Takeuchi, 57, with a knife at a health goods shop
where they were working and stealing some 66,000 yen from the shop on Jan.
28, 2005.
The defendant reversed his previous denial of the charges at the trial's
1st hearing in June last year.
He said he had intended to kill the director of a neurosurgery clinic
housed in the same building as the shop because a woman who was kind to
him died after undergoing treatment at the clinic.
As the director was not present when he went to the clinic, he killed the
women at the shop to ensure their silence after they told him that the
clinic chief was not there, Takahashi said at the time.
He took the money to disguise the crime's motive as robbery so as to
suggest it was not committed by someone holding a grudge against the
hospital, he said.
*************
Top court lets death penalty stand for former right-winger
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal against the death penalty
for a 42-year-old former right-wing group member found guilty of murdering
2 men in 1992 and 1994 in conspiracy with others, letting stand a high
court ruling in favor of capital punishment.
Justice Toyozo Ueda who presided over the top court's No. 3 petty bench,
said in handing down the ruling to Takehiko Tanaka, the murders were
"premeditated, brutal and cruel crimes. The death penalty is inevitable as
he played a central role."
According to the ruling, Tanaka, in conspiracy with others, strangled car
salesman Toshiaki Ichikawa, 29, over money troubles in Moriguchi, Osaka
Prefecture, in February 1992 and buried his body.
In April 1994, Tanaka strangled Haruo Fujita, 54, a then senior right-wing
group member, in Kawachinagano, Osaka Prefecture, also in collusion with
others. He also stole 10 million yen in cash and Fujita's belongings and
dumped the body into Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, near Osaka.
His family name was Kubori at the time of the cases.
The Sakai Branch of the Osaka District Court sentenced Tanaka to life
imprisonment in March 2000. But the Osaka High Court upgraded the penalty
to the death sentence in December 2001.
(source for both: Japan Economic Newswire)
INDONESIA:
2 Australians sentenced to death in Bali drugs trial
An Indonesian court on Tuesday sentenced 2 young Australian men to die by
firing squad for attempting to smuggle heroin from the resort island of
Bali, verdicts that could strain ties with Canberra.
The sentences matched what prosecutors had demanded for Andrew Chan and
Myuran Sukumaran, the accused masterminds of a group of 9 Australians
arrested on Bali last April for trying to smuggle more than 8.2 kg (18 lb)
of heroin to Australia.
Activists from an Indonesian anti-narcotics group inside the courtroom
shouted "Hooray! Long live the judges!" when the verdicts were read out in
separate sessions.
The court also sentenced 2 drug couriers to life in jail, after giving the
same punishment to 2 others on Monday.
Chan, 22, shook his head, stared at the ceiling and then smirked when the
verdict was delivered. Both he and Sukumaran, 24, are from Sydney.
"There are no mitigating factors. His statements throughout the trial were
convoluted and he did not own up to his actions," chief judge Arif
Supratman said, while handing down Chan's verdict.
"His actions ... tainted Bali's name as a resort island."
The death sentences could ignite criticism in Australia, which has
abolished the capital punishment.
Australia had urged Jakarta not to impose the death penalty on any of the
group and will plead for clemency for any condemned to die, Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer said on Tuesday.
Lawyers for Chan said they would appeal.
"Life and death are God's decisions. If it is made through a court verdict
that equals murder," said lawyer Agus Saputra.
Prosecutors had said Chan was the "driving engine" of the operation.
He was arrested inside a Sydney-bound flight at Bali's airport after
police had caught the four defendants sentenced to life with packages of
heroin strapped to their bodies inside the airport.
It was unclear if Sukumaran would appeal.
Prosecutors had said Sukumaran helped strap the packages on the 4 couriers
and was a planner of the operation. He was arrested at a Bali hotel.
The latest Australians to get life in jail were Michael Czugaj, 20, from
Brisbane and Martin Stephens, 29, of Wollongong.
Their sentences also matched what prosecutors had demanded.
Czugaj appeared tense and stared at a translator sitting beside him as the
verdict was read out in the Indonesian language.
GROWING DEATH ROW
Around 20 foreigners, most of them Africans, are on death row in Indonesia
for drug offences. The latest foreigners shot by firing squad for drug
offences were 2 Thais in October 2004. They had sat on death row for 8
years.
The final stage of an appeal allows inmates on death row to seek clemency
from the president.
The verdicts against the Australians have highlighted Indonesia's zero
tolerance for drug offences.
On Monday, the court jailed Renae Lawrence for life even though
prosecutors had asked judges to show leniency by jailing her for 20 years
because of her cooperation in the case.
Lawrence, 28, from the city of Newcastle, is the only female of the group,
dubbed the "Bali 9" by Australian media.
Under Indonesian law, a prosecution demand is non-binding for judges but
is seen as a strong recommendation.
Among verdicts of recent years, the same court jailed Australian woman
Schapelle Corby for 20 years last May after she was found guilty of
smuggling marijuana.
(source: Reuters)
