[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 19



NIGERIA:

Man with 86 wives appeals death sentence


Alhaji Bello Masaba, the man who says he has 86 wives, has invoked the
original jurisdiction of the Federal high court sitting in Abuja seeking
its order nullifying the death sentence (Fatwa) passed on him by the
highest Islamic body in Northern Nigeria , Jamatu Nasril Islam.

Masaba is also begging the court to declare as illegal and
unconstitutional the order of banishment issued against him by Bida
Emirate Council.

The Emirate Council is a body comprising the Emir and traditional leaders
of Nupe.

In the application for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights
lodged at the registry of the Federal high court by his lawyer, Masaba is
inviting the court to hold that notwithstanding the provisions of Islamic
laws, the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria must take precedence.

He is of the view that by the provision of the 1999 constitution, he
enjoys freedom of movement and that his choice to marry 86 wives does not
constitute a legally punishable offence at the time the marriages took
place and that the order of "Fatwa" passed on him is unknown to law.

The Administrative Judge of the Federal high court, Abuja is yet to assign
the case to any judge. But Justice G O Kolawole of the Abuja division of
the Federal high court, had during vacation, granted Masaba permission to
sue both the Jamatu Nasril Islam, and the Bida Emirate Council together
with their officials.

The court had ordered all parties in the case to stay action in the matter
pending determination of the motion on notice in the case

Kolawole J had also ordered Alhaji Masaba to serve all the court processes
including the motion on notice on all the defendants while yesterday was
given as a return date.

Although the court order was allegedly carried out to the letter by Alhaji
Masaba, both the Jamatu Nasril Islam and Bida Emirate Council were alleged
to have petitioned the police over the matter leading to the arrest and
arraignment of the man with 86 wives before an Upper Sharia court sitting
in Minna.

He is presently cooling his heels in detention.

Masaba had already reported the matter to the Federal high court, Abuja .

The court was supposed to hear him out yesterday but it appeared the case
file was yet to be assigned to any judge that would hear the substantive
case.

Vanguard however reports that both the Bida Emirate Council and the Jamatu
Nasril Islam had hired notable Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SANs) to handle
their cases and defend their positions.

Masaba came to the limelight recently when he claimed in an interview that
he had 86 wives.

Following the interview, the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, asked him
to divorce 82 of them or be banished from Bida.

The Etsus directive was based on the Islamic injunction that allows a
Muslim only 4 wives.

At a meeting held at the palace of the Etsu Nupe, with Masaba in
attendance, the acting Chief Imam of Bida, Malam Yakatu Adamu, read the
relevant verses of the Quran on marriage.

Adamu made references to Masaba's various interviews and said that having
86 wives was an offence in Islam.

In his response, the 84-year-old Masaba said he stopped reading the Quran
many years ago and sought to know why the Holy Book should limit a Muslim
to only 4 wives.

After a heated argument, the Etsu, who presided over the meeting,
pronounced that Masaba was not a Muslim.

"From the facts available to us, you are not a Muslim and you are hereby
given 2 days to divorce 82 of your 86 wives. "If you fail to do so, we
cannot guarantee your safety in Bida and the entire Nupe kingdom and as
such, you should pack your load and leave," he said.

Subsequently, Masaba has denied reports in the media that he was planning
to divorce 82 of his wives.

He said there was no such plan. Rather, he said, he would take more wives
if the need arose.

Until his arrest yesterday, Masaba was living in Bida with his family.

(source: The Vanguard)






INDIA:

Commutation of death sentence for Nalini vitiated by illegality: Swamy;
Nalini can not apply for premature release under section 433 A Cr.P.C.


Strongly opposing the plea for the premature release of Nalini, a life
convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, Janata Party leader
Subramanian Swamy on Thursday said the commutation of the death sentence
on her to one of life imprisonment was vitiated by illegality.

In his submissions before Justice S. Nagamuthu, Dr. Swamy said the Centre
should have either adopted the State governments argument or answered some
of the issues arising in the petition filed by Nalini.

The Centre had on Wednesday submitted that it was not filing any counter
to the petition by Nalini seeking premature release. On Thursday, it said
it was adopting the State government's argument.

In his written arguments submitted to court, Dr.Swamy said Nalini had
filed a mercy petition before the President, but its outcome had not been
disclosed by her in the present writ petition. But, according to her,
after Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had publicly stated that she had no
objection to the petitioner's death sentence being commuted to life
imprisonment, Nalini preferred an application to the Tamil Nadu Governor
for clemency and sought commutation of the death sentence. This public
statement is material evidence in the writ petition and hence the Centre
should have filed a counter affidavit and documented the statement and the
reasons for the same in its entirety. Failure to do so remained a mystery.

Dr. Swamy argued that the prayer in the writ petition seeking a direction
to the respondents to order her premature release was misconceived. Nalini
can not apply for premature release from prison under section 433 A
Cr.P.C.

That provision would apply only if the original commutation of the death
sentence to life imprisonment had been made under section 433 Cr.P.C.

Quoting a Supreme Court order, Dr. Swamy explained that unless an order of
commutation under subsection (b) of section 433 Cr.P.C was issued, life
imprisonment meant imprisonment for life. Nalini could not claim as a
fundamental right to require the appropriate government to set her free
after serving 14 years imprisonment. The discretion on whether to release
her or not rested with the appropriate government even if an order was
issued under section 433 (b) Cr.P.C. In the review in the Swami
Shraddhanand case, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the settled case law i.e.,
that a commuted sentence of life imprisonment meant imprisonment for the
physical life of the convict unless the order of commutation from death
penalty to life imprisonment specifically stated otherwise.

The Rajiv Gandhi assassination case was the rarest of rare cases and
deserving capital punishment that the Supreme Court had upheld and
reconfirmed in the review petitions filed by the convicts, including
Nalini.

The apex court's observations while upholding the death sentence were
relevant for deciding the present writ petition.

(source: The Hindu)

*****************************************

Defence wants death penalty for Banka murder accused


The defence lawyer of the Banka couple murder case will plead death
penalty for the accused, Kebol Roy. The court was to announce the quantum
of punishment on Thursday. Due to the death of a lawyer, the case has been
deferred till Saturday.

Public prosecutor Ganesh Maity said the case was among 'rarest of rare'
ones. "Roy was the domestic help of the elderly couple, who had placed
immense trust on him. Yet, he brutally murdered them. We will demand death
penalty for the accused," he added.

The Supreme Court had also used the term 'rarest of rare' case, when
Dhananjoy Chatterjee was sentenced to death in the Hetal Parekh rape and
murder case.

If the court awards death sentence in the Banka murder case, this will be
the 2nd incident in less than 30 days, when a domestic help has been
awarded death sentence for murder of the employer.

On August 29, Nikku Yadav ( 24) was sentenced to death by the Alipore
sessions court for the murder of Ravinder Kaur Luthra (51), in whose
Ballygunge Circular Road apartment he had worked for seven years. Roy also
worked as a domestic help for Tarachand Banka and wife Sarda. Both were
found brutally murdered in their Camac Street apartment 3 years ago.

(source: Express India)






INDONESIA:

Constitutional court to hear experts on death sentences


A Constitutional Court jury handling a petition for a judicial review of
the law prescribing the shooting of death-row convicts was to hear the
opinions of authorities on the subject presented by both the petitioners
and the government at the court`s session here on Thursday.

The petition was submitted to the court by convicted Bali I bombers Amrozi
et al who claim despatching condemned prisoners by a firing squad was
torture and thus inhuman whereas inhuman treatment of humans was against
the Constitution.

Amrozi et al, through their lawyers, said the rule requiring condemned
prisoners to die by a firing squad was contained in the law on procedures
to implement death sentences and therefore they asked the court to subject
the law to a judicial review.

They said the law was a violation of Article 281, section 1, of the 1945
Constitution.

Earlier, Law and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalatta at a previous
Constitutional Court session presented arguments against Amrozi et al's
petition.

The minister said there was no torture in the execution of people
sentenced to death by bullets aimed at their hearts as prescribed by the
law.

He also said there was a distinct difference between torture and pain.
Pain, he said, was a logical consequences of, and a natural process in any
form of execution.

(source: Antara News)

*************

Execution plans for Bali bombers labelled torturous


Indonesia's Constitutional Court has heard a detailed description of how
the Bali bombers will die from a Catholic priest who says the execution is
torturous.

As a priest at a Catholic church in Cilacap near where the Bali bombers
are imprisoned, Father Charlie Burrows was recently called upon to witness
the executions of 2 Nigerian drug dealers.

On Thursday, he gave evidence to Indonesia's Constitutional Court in
support of the argument that death by firing squad is torture.

Father Burrows said the 2 men were cruelly executed at midnight in a field
while tied to crucifix-like poles with rubber rope.

They wore black veils and their hands and feet were cuffed before a doctor
marked the place of their hearts with a piece of black cloth.

After execution teams of 7 fired, the men moaned in pain, one of them for
7 minutes.

Other witnesses argued that when done correctly beheading, hanging and
lethal injection are less painful ways to die.

***************************

Execution is torture: Priest tells Indon Constitutional Court


An Australian priest has testified that execution by shooting is torture
in a case brought before Indonesia's Constitutional Court by the convicted
Bali bombers.

ABC News reports that Fr Charlie Burrows gave a detailed description of
the executions of 2 Nigerian drug dealers.

He was giving evidence to the Constitutional Court in support of the
argument that death by firing squad is torture.

Fr Burrows said the 2 men were cruelly executed at midnight in a field
while tied to crucifix like poles with rubber rope.

They wore black veils and their hands and feet were cuffed before a doctor
marked the place of their hearts with a piece of black cloth.

"They were moaning again and again for seven minutes," Fr Burrows told the
court according to an The Sydney Morning Herald report. "I think it is
cruel, the torture."

Desperate to provide some sort of consolation, Father Burrows sang Amazing
Grace as the pair slowly died from their bullet wounds. They were
pronounced dead 10 minutes after being shot.

Fr Burrows was a late addition to the constitutional challenge, in place
of the notorious East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres, whom the
bombers had called to testify about the agony of being shot.

Their lawyer, Adnan Wirawan, said the Irish born priest was chosen because
he had witnessed firing squads, while Guterres "had just seen people
shot".

Fr Burrows said police aimed M16 assault rifles at the prisoners' hearts
from just a metre away. The pair had been strapped with tyre inner tubes
to wooden crucifixes "like mummies", he recalled.

In a last ditch effort to avoid execution, the bombers are claiming firing
squads are a form of torture and are unconstitutional.

(source for both: ABC News)