[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 13



KUWAIT:

Another Pinoy gets death sentence in Kuwait


Kuwait's Court of First Instance has handed the death sentence to a
Filipino who was accused of killing a fellow Filipino contract worker in
October last year, the Philippine embassy said.

"Our deepest sympathy to the family of Jhias Gumapac, however, we are also
duty-bound to exhaust all means to save Bienvenido Espino Jr from the
gallows who is also a Filipino national," said Philippine Ambassador to
Kuwait Ricardo Endaya on Monday after the court handed down the death
verdict on Espino for stabbing Gumapac to death on October 30 near a
bakery in Salmiya.

Gumapac, 30, then working as a barista for a coffee shop, was stabbed 33
times over a laptop given to her as collateral for money borrowed by
Espino.

Endaya vowed to look into all the legal remedies to save Espino, the third
OFW on the death row for murder. The other two are Mae Vecina and Jakatia
Pawa.

The ambassador said that according to defense lawyer, Khaleel Al-Qattan, a
"tanazul" or letter of forgiveness from the victim's family can help spare
Espino's life.

"We have already contacted the family of Espino and advised them to talk
to Gumapac's family in Cagayan de Oro City and seek forgiveness," he said.

According to police reports, Gumapac and Bienvenido met on the evening of
October 30 after the suspect agreed to redeem the laptop from her.

But when they met, Bienvenido did not have the money to pay for his loan.
Gumapac refused to turn over the laptop to him.

He told her he has a buyer for the laptop and promised to pay her once it
is sold.

Gumapac refused and demanded full payment of the loan, plus interest. The
exchange allegedly prompted Bienvenido to pull a knife to scare her,
ending up in a fight that led to her death.

Some sources, however, insinuated that a love angle was behind Gumapacs
death since Espino courted the victim. She turned him down and refused to
have a relationship with him because he is married.

(source: ABS-CBN News)






CANADA:

Passive support of the death penalty


PoliticsCanada is not allowed to deport people convicted of the death
penalty in other countries without first getting legal assurances from
said country that the death penalty will not be sought. That was a
decision brought down by the Supreme Court of Canada - a decision I am
sure the Harpercons absolutely detest in their attempts to come across as
the law and order party.

That hasnt stopped them from trying to show people how macho they are
however - Stockwell Day announced last November that Canada would no
longer seek clemency for Canadians convicted and given the death penalty
in countries deemed to have the rule of law in place. Setting aside once
again the problems that will occur on how Canada intends to define that,
we now find out they've gone even further then that - it appears in the
case of a Canadian convicted of the death penalty in Montana, they were
offered a deal for clemency and a return of the Canadian to serve time in
Canada - but it was turned down by the Canadian government:

"the Governor of Montana indicated to our Consul General that they were
willing to consider commuting Mr. Smiths sentence so he co

uld be transferred back to Canada, but that they would want some type of
guarantee that he would spend at least 5 years in prison in Canada should
a transfer occur." The revelation is contained in briefing notes prepared
in November for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and released on Friday
after an Access to Information request by Canwest News Service. The
Nicholson backgrounder is the strongest indication yet that Canada's
efforts to win clemency for Smith were long-standing, resolute and
progressing well until the Conservative government abruptly called off the
push by its U.S.-based diplomats to fight for Smith's life.

As Quito says at his site, we basically have enforced the death penalty,
not through inaction, but direct action in refusing very reasonable terms
offered by Montana - they commute the death penalty, we guarantee hell
stay in prison for a minimum amount, which could probably be set higher if
the Canadian government felt it was warranted.

Smith may not be a role model, but he is an example of Canadians in other
countries being abandoned by their government in order to show how "tough"
they are, and to hint to their base how they'd love to have capital
punishment here or deport people to get fried if they were allowed. Omar
Khadr is another example of this, and Brenda Martin would have been
another but for the resulting uproar that forced the Conservatives to act,
and only after it took a couple of tries.

Note that it took an Access to Information Request to find this refusal of
Montana's offer out. The government was not forthcoming with the public or
the opposition parties in QP over this.

I'm outraged that this has occurred, but not surprised with this
Harpercons bunch.

(source: Scott Tribe, American Politics, Canadian Politics)