[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 20




PHILIPPINES:

Arroyo seeks group's support for anti-abortion law, abolition of death
penalty


President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has urged the Buhay party-list group to
support and pursue legislative measures that would promote life similar to
the anti-abortion law and repeal of the death penalty law that she
strongly supported.

Arroyo, during the 23rd anniversary of the El Shaddai and the 68th
birthday celebration of Catholic charismatic leader Brother Mike Velarde
at the Quirino Grandstand, congratulated Buhay, which is composed of El
Shaddai charismatic group officials and members, for winning in the
elections last May.

The President, in a statement after the anticipated Mass that started
around 10:45 p.m. Saturday and ended around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, said Buhay
topped other party-list groups and would have 3 representatives in the
House of Representatives.

(source: Manilla Sun Star)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Kin Seek Repatriation of Jeddah Chop-Chop Victims' Remains


Relatives of the 3 victims in the infamous "chop-chop killings" of Jeddah
are willing to talk about forgiveness with the convicted killers and they
want the bodies of their loved ones to be sent home, Ambassador Antonio P.
Villamor has said.

Villamor said he was not sure if the repatriation of the victims' remains
was a condition, adding it would be made clear only when talks begin.

He said suggestions have been made to tap the help of political leaders in
Pampanga province, north of Manila, where the victims and the 7 accused
are from. "The new governor of Pampanga, Ed Panlilio, could be a big help
because he is a priest," he said, noting the strong influence of religious
leaders among their flock.

Three of the seven accused  Edison Gonzales, his brother Roland, and
Eduardo Arcilla  were sentenced to death by a regional trial court in
Jeddah last month for the April 2006 murder of fellow Filipinos Reno
Lumbang, Jeremias Bucod, and Dante Rivero.

The rest of the accused  Victor Alfonso, Omar Basilio, Efren Dimahon and
Joel Sinamban  were each sentenced to receive 1,000 lashes and a prison
term of 8 years.

In an interview 2 weeks ago, Consul General Lomondot said the 4 were given
a lighter penalty because they were considered only as accomplices.

Citing Saudi police investigation report, which became part of court
records, Lomondot said the four confessed their roles in the killings and
led police to where some of the body parts of the victims were thrown or
hidden.

Arab News learned this week from a Department of Foreign Affairs official
in Manila that the DNA samples taken from relatives of Rivero and Bucod
matched the samples taken from the body parts.

The samples were taken from the victims' relatives by the National Bureau
of Investigation in Manila and sent to Saudi investigators last May.
Lumbang's identity was readily established and probers deemed that no DNA
test was necessary.

As pieced together by Saudi investigators and gathered by Arab News from
consulate and community sources, one night in April last year, Lumbang and
Bucod were playing a card game at one house in Jeddahs Industrial area
with Gonzales and his cohorts when the killing took place.

In their testimonies, the 4 who were given light sentences pointed to the
Gonzales brothers and Arcilla as the killers and that their only role was
to help remove evidence from the crime scene and dispose of the bodies.

One of them also said Rivero was picked up from his apartment on orders of
Edison because Rivero knew where his 2 friends were on that night. Rivero,
who works at the Sarawat supermarket, came with Lumbang and Bucod to the
gambling house earlier that night but he left early.

Investigators also established that the root cause of the murders was
rivalry between 2 groups illegally engaged in jueteng (a numbers game)
operations in Jeddah and nearby places, according to consulate officials.

One group was headed by Edison Gonzales and the other by Lumbang.
Gonzales' group was said to be losing bettors because of the bad
experience of some gamblers whose winnings were not paid. Bettors flocked
to Lumbang's group and Gonzales did not like what was happening.

Lomondot said the ruling made so far was just the first and that the death
sentence is not going to be carried out so soon.

As in the Philippine judicial system, the Saudi courts have 2 more layers
of appeal for the convicted  its Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, he
said.

He said that under Saudi law, there is a chance of the Gonzales brothers
and Arcilla escaping death if the aggrieved parties agree to forgive them
and accept blood money payment.

"But there is also under Saudi law a provision stating that if the court
rules that the offense committed is a heinous crime, the forgiveness by
the aggrieved party won't stop the execution," Lomondot explained.

Lomondot said the Philippine government is committed to provide support
for both sides since they are all Filipino citizens.

Lomondot acknowledged, however, that hiring lawyers for each of the
Filipinos involved in the case would be a costly. He said the minimum rate
to hire a lawyer for such case is SR100,000.

(What OFWs Say About the Extent of Assistance Government May Give to Death
Row Convicts)

Following the imposition of the death penalty on 3 of 7 Filipinos accused
in the infamous "chop-chop killings," Arab News randomly asked overseas
Filipinos, some based in other countries, their opinion on the extent of
help the government should extend to the convicts, considering that the
victims were fellow Filipinos. Below is an excerpt of what they are
saying:

Larry Cabago, Yanbu: Our officials should discriminate in providing blood
money payment. One of the reasons some of our compatriots willfully
violate the laws of the land where they work is that they know our
government would help them.

Zenaida Concepcion, International Medical Center, Jeddah: The Philippine
government representative has to investigate the root cause of the crime.
Blood money for offenders is not encouraged because the convicts are
supposed to behave in accordance with law in a foreign land.

Cipriano Gamboa, Jubail: Our government should help every OFW in distress.
Every Filipino citizen is entitled to protection and those on death row
need urgent action by our officials. However, if the victim is a
compatriot, the law of the host country should be followed.

Perla Vega, California: It's just right that the government helps those on
death row, but not to the extent that the system gets abused. But I go
with those who say that if the victim of a heinous crime  for which the
death penalty is imposed  is a fellow Filipino, we should let the law of
the host country take its due course.

Vic Hizo, Taif: By all means, the government should act to save every
Filipino on death row, guilty or not. Its important to save lives to give
the accused a chance to reform.

Edison Madrideo, Jeddah: The government should treat all those on death
row equally and give them all the help they need, guilty or not.

Noel Pacheco, Riyadh: If the accused is proven guilty in court of a
heinous crime, he should be made to pay for it. To bail out everyone from
death row, never mind if they are guilty, only encourages the
criminal-minded to commit more crimes.

Joro Cantarona, Riyadh: When you talk of blood money, it means the
victim's heirs have already agreed to accept compensation. In that case,
our government should intervene, bail out the convicted Filipino citizen
and let the legal proceedings continue at home.

Kiel Erida, Jeddah: If an accused has been found guilty beyond reasonable
doubt in a proper court, the law should take its course. However, our
government should intervene from the very beginning to prevent a possible
miscarriage of justice.

Jimmy Villa, Jeddah: The government should help in the legal proceedings
to ensure that the accused is accorded all his rights. But if the accused
is found guilty, he should be punished.

Efren Rodrigo, Jeddah: There should be no limit to the governments
intervention to help OFWs on death row. If the penalty of one's crime is
death, our government should work to get the penalty reduced at least to
life imprisonment.

Ed Dioneda, OFW Community leader in Taif: Life being precious, it's
imperative that our government moves to save every Filipino citizen on
death row and give them a chance to reform.

Ador Taedo, president of the Filipino Community in Jubail: In the case of
those convicted of killing their fellow Filipinos the government should
not give any help, particularly in raising blood money. What the
government may do is ask the families of victims to at least appeal to
lessen the punishment of the convicted.

Ali Misuari, an official at the United Muslim Association in Alkhobar: In
cases where the offenders and victims are both Filipinos, the government
should help both parties. Blood money payment can be done away with if the
family of the victim is persuaded to forgive the offender.

Flos Famarin, adviser of the Al-Hasa Basketball Association: In cases such
as the "chop-chop killings," to help the accused escape death by paying
blood money would set a bad example that you can get away with murder.

Ariston "Bong" Magno, Qatar: Our government's help for death convicts
should be on a case-to-case basis. If the convict, for instance, killed in
self-defense or because of maltreatment, by all means the government
should help in the payment of blood money.

Gregg Crisosto, a leader of the Khafji Filipino Sports Organization: The
root cause of the Jeddah killings is envy and greed and both the accused
and the victims were engaged in an illegal activity. The government should
not help any of them. Instead of wasting time and money on them, the
government should focus its attention on the thousands of runaways who
really need help. But let us not rush into giving blood money. For as long
as the victim's family is not asking for blood money, we should not offer
any because such could be misconstrued as adding insult to injury.

(source: Arab News)

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

2 Indians on death row Seek Pardon


2 Indian nationals sentenced to death on drug smuggling charges in Saudi
Arabia have appealed to King Abdullah for clemency, an Indian embassy
official said on Monday.

Sheikh Mastan, a 32-year-old worker from the southern state of Kerala, was
arrested in January 2004 in Riyadh and sentenced to death by a court in
the eastern city of Dammam in May 2006, the official said.

"A clemency petition has been forwarded by the ambassador of India... to
King Abdullah... on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, on the basis
of requests received from the family and the detainee himself," said P.
Balachandran, second secretary at the Indian embassy in Riyadh.

He said a similar petition had been delivered on behalf of another Indian
man, Hamza Aboobaker, sentenced to death in the same case. Family friend
Narayan Nilakant said Mastan had been living in Riyadh for 6 months when
he was arrested, the day after Aboobaker was detained at Dammam airport
with 2 kilogrammes (4.4 pounds) of heroin in his luggage.

Nilakant sent a copy of a message from Mastan's mother in India in which
she said she went to see Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July,
accompanied by Mastan's wife and 4-year-old daughter, to plead for his
intervention to secure a royal pardon.

The message quoted Mastan as saying that after his arrest he was taken to
hospital for mental health problems, and when he went to court "the judge
told me that I admitted my offence (in a statement) signed by me."

The family friend said Mastan's case went to appeal about a year ago, but
nothing has been heard from the court, adding that the accused does not
speak Arabic and cannot afford a lawyer.

Saudi Arabia applies a strict form of sharia, or Islamic law, imposing the
death penalty for drug trafficking as well as for rape, murder, apostasy
and armed robbery.

A total of 122 people have already been beheaded in the ultra-conservative
kingdom since the beginning of 2007, a record number in recent years, many
after they were convicted of drug trafficking. Around 1.5 million Indians
live and work in oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

(source: Agence France Presse)




CHINA----executions

2 drug traffickers executed in southwest China


2 convicts have been executed for drug trafficking in southwest China's
Yunnan province, according to local sources on Sunday.

Wang Zuguang and Xu Lianke were sentenced to death earlier for trafficking
433.95 kilograms of heroin by the Intermediate People's Court of Pu'er
while their accessary Hu Yuguang received death penalty with two-year
reprieve.

The court heard that Wang sent Hu to receive 77 kg of heroin from Thailand
in October and November 2001.

In 2002, Xu was caught when transporting 356.95 kg of heroin sealed in 13
timbers from Myanmar to south China's Guangdong and Hong Kong. Wang and Hu
were arrested while receiving the drugs and delivering messages.

(source: Xinhua)






CONGO:

Congolese President pardons prisoners


Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso Sunday granted total and partial
pardon to several prisoners, including 17 whose death sentences were
commuted to life sentences.

A decree issued in Brazzaville said President Sassou Nguesso took the
decision to mark the celebration of the nation's independence 15 August.

Meanwhile, several human rights organisations have commended the decision
and called for the death penalty to be abolished in Congo.

In a statement, the Congolese Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) also
denounced overcrowded jails in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire.

The OCDH said the Brazzaville prison, built in 1944 with a capacity of 50
inmates, was currently hosting 300 prisoners.

"The prisons in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire have no operating budget.
Remand prisoners are more numerous than those serving sentences because of
delays in the judicial process," the OCDH said.

(source: Afriquenligne)

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

Congo commutes death sentences


Congos President Denis Sassou Nguesso has commuted the sentences of 17
people on death row to life terms in a sweeping pardon to mark the
country's national day, according to a statement.

"10 years have been taken off sentences ranging from 21 to 30 years," a
presidential decree said, adding that all death sentences had been
commuted to life terms.

It said life sentences had been cut down to 30 years in prison.

"Sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years will be cut by half," the statement
said.

Roger Bouka Owoko, director of the Congolese Observatory for Human Rights,
welcomed the presidential decree to mark the country's 47th anniversary of
independence from France on Wednesday, but urged the head of state to
scrap capital punishment.

According to London-based rights monitor Amnesty International, there have
been no penal executions in Congo since 1982.

(source: Agence France Presse)