[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 26



EGYPT/LIBYA:

Egypt asks Libya for stay of executions


Libya has agreed to postpone the execution of an Egyptian man who was due
to die on Sunday, after Egypt asked Tripoli to allow more time in that and
9 other cases, the Egyptian state news agency MENA said on Saturday.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit wrote on Friday to his Libyan
counterpart, Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam, asking Libya to postpone 10
executions to give more time for contact with the victims' families.

Under Libyan law a death sentence can be commuted if the victims'
relatives pardon the killer or accept compensation.

The Egyptian agency quoted Assistant Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ouf as
saying Libya had responded in the case of Emad Abdel Wahed Mohamed Ali,
who was going to be executed on Sunday. It did not mention a new execution
date.

Ali was convicted of killing a Libyan man in 1999, and the victim's
relatives have rejected compensation, MENA said.

The 10 death sentences date from between 1994 and 2003, and Libya has told
Egypt that after some long delays it intends to carry out the executions
within 3 months.

The families of most of the victims have repeatedly refused to forgive the
killers or accept compensation, in some cases because the bodies were
mutilated, MENA said.

(source: Reuters)






INDIA:

Indian Army soldier gets death penalty for killing colleague


In the 2nd such judgment in 3 months, an Indian Army soldier has been
sentenced to death for shooting dead his colleague, a defence ministry
spokesperson here said Friday. Sepoy Satyam Kumar of the Corps of Signals
had opened fire and killed Havildar Padam Rajan on October 28, 2006.

He was arrested and tried at a general court martial (GCM) conducted by
the army's Northern Command in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir that
delivered its verdict on May 18.

During the trial he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death,
army spokesman Lt. Col. S.D. Goswami said here.

The verdict, the 6th such in 2 decades, would now travel up the chain of
command to the general officer commanding of the Northern Command, the
army chief and the defence minister before it is confirmed.

Kumar would also have the option of appealing to the Kashmir High Court
and the Supreme Court and then to the president, who is the supreme
commander of the armed forces, in case the sentence is confirmed.

On February 26, Sepoy S.C. Behera was sentenced to death for killing his
commanding officer, Lt. Col. Saket Saxena on October 30, 2006.

This sentence is also awaiting approval of the higher authorities.

The 2 verdicts come in the wake of a staggering 23 cases of fratricidal
killings that were reported in the Indian Army during 2006. None of the
previous death sentences have, however, been executed as the appeals in
them are pending at various states in civil courts, officials here said.

The killings had prompted Defence Minister A.K. Antony to task a
high-powered panel that included representation from the Defence Institute
of Psychological Research (DIPR) to examine the malaise and suggest
remedial measures. This report is believed to have been received and is
being examined by the defence ministry.

Simultaneously, Antony has taken 2 other steps.

He has urged the armed forces to re-look leave rules and other benefits
for soldier to make them more humane and to enable them spend more time
with their families.

Antony has also written to all the state chief ministers and union
territory administrators to ensure that land-related and other problems
that soldiers face back home are speedily addressed so that the men in
uniform can focus on the job at hand.

Among the other death sentences handed down, a havildar of the 75 Armoured
Regiment, whose name was not immediately available, was held guilty of
killing two of his officers in 1984-85.

In 1990, Sepoy D.N. Roy of the Corps of Signals was held guilty of murder,
while in 2000, Havildar Surendra Singh of the Regiment of Artillery was
sentenced on a similar charge.

In 2005, havildar Jagtar Singh, also from the artillery, was awarded the
extreme punishment for killing 2 of his colleagues.

(source: IANS)






INDONESIA/MALAYSIA:

Hundreds of Indonesia workers could face death penalty in Malaysia


More than 200 Indonesian workers are on death row or facing possible
capital punishment in neighboring Malaysia, mostly for illegal drug
possession, local press said Saturday.

English daily The Jakarta Post reported it was estimated 279 workers are
in detention, facing the capital punishment or charges, 95 % of whom are
Indonesians from Aceh province, a place of many hidden marijuana fields.

"The government cannot interfere in the Malaysian judicial system because
both countries impose harsh sanctions on such criminal acts," Manpower and
Transportation Minister Erman Suparno was quoted as saying.

Erman said several Acehnese sentenced to death in drug cases were awaiting
execution after their appeals were rejected by the Malaysian Higher Court.

He declined to reveal how much the government had spent to provide legal
assistance to the workers, but said his office and the Foreign Affairs
Ministry had worked closely to lobby Malaysian authorities to protect the
workers' rights and to recruit Malaysian lawyers to accompany them during
the police investigation and at court hearings.

In addition, Erman said, several Indonesian migrant workers are on death
row in Saudi Arabia for their alleged involvement in murder cases at their
workplaces.

(source: Xinhua)