Nov. 15 PAKISTAN: LHC overturns death sentence A division bench of the Lahore High Court Friday overruled conviction of 4 convicts in a robbery-cum-murder case. A lower court sentenced Ghulam Haider to death and gave life imprisonments to three others Muhammad Akram alias Fauji, Muhammad Zubair alias Billa and Akhter for killing a bus passenger during a robbery. They convicts went in for appeal against their conviction contending that there was no sufficient light to identify somebody. Appellants' lawyer argued that there were major contradictions and improvements in the statements of the eyewitnesses. He said the appellants were falsely implicated in the case by the complainant and others at the instance of police. According to prosecution, on January 05, 1998 Muhammad Aslam, the complainant, along with other was on their way from Haroon Abad to Lahore in a car. It was 2:30am they were intercepted by the appellants who were armed and half muffled. The appellants started looting the complainant and his companions meanwhile a bus arrived there which was also stopped. The robbers started looting the passengers of the bus and killed 1 of the passengers Naeem on offering resistance, the FIR said. After hearing the arguments of both sides, the bench comprising Justice Tariq Shamim and Justice Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry observed that there were material discrepancies and contradictions in the statements of eyewitnesses. The court remarked: "With the exception of prosecution witness Muhammad Mushtaq, the bus driver, all the other eyewitnesses belong to the car driven by the complainant and prior to the part of the occurrence which took place inside the bus they had all been dragged away about 20 feet from the car." As to how these witnesses had seen part of the occurrence which took place inside the bus is beyond any body's imagination, the bench further held. The bench observed that the statements of the witnesses have failed to furnish a credible account of occurrence. The appellants along with a number of other accused were arrested by Muhammad Ismail (SI) with recovery of arms but none from the vicinity was associated with the recovery proceedings by police which leads to a well founded presumption that the recovery was affected in clear violation of section 103 Cr.P.C. Further no empty was recovered by the police from the spot, thus evidence of recovery of weapons in given circumstances is of no avail to the prosecution. The bench noticed that the exercise of timely identification parade was not taken in the instant case, the subsequent identification of the appellants in police lock up is, therefore, of no consequence. While setting aside the conviction and sentences of the appellants the bench observed that the prosecution has failed to prove its case against the appellants beyond reasonable doubt. The appellants shall be set free forthwith if not required in any other case, the bench ordered. Court orders cases against 3 cops: The Lahore High Court on Friday ordered registration of a criminal case against 3 cops for keeping a lawyer in illegal detention and humiliating him without any reason. Earlier on Friday Justice Muhammad Akram Qureshi summoned the Millat Park SHO on a short notice. However, the SHO did not appear before the court which ordered his arrest. Later, the SHO appeared before the court and took the plea that he was unaware of the incident as he was on leave. The judge ordered the SHO to register a case against ASI Akhter Javed and constables Haroon Rashid and Muhammad Ahmed. Petitioner Zeeshan Rashid advocate, through his counsel Kazim Khan, pleaded that the cops raided and trespassed his residence late night on November 11. The petitioner said as he asked the policemen why they had entered his house, they manhandled him, used filthy language, took him to the police station and detained him for 3 hours. He said when he introduced himself as an advocate, the ASI threatened him, "I will put you behind bars. Finally his father reached the PS and rescued him. (source: The Post) MALAYSIA: Briton freed from death row A British national sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Malaysia has been freed after the country's highest court found police fabricated evidence against him. A 3-judge panel at the Federal Court of Appeal released Chan Kin Yu, who was arrested eight years ago after police claimed to have found 9kg of methamphetamines in his Kuala Lumpur hotel room. Mr Chan, 37, a truck driver and part-time bartender, removed his handcuffs before telling reporters: "I'm happy. I don't know what to say. I just want to go back home fast. I stayed here so long." Mr Chan is from Hong Kong and holds a British passport. He was sentenced to death by the High Court in 2002 after his arrest during a business trip. He has always maintained his innocence. Judge Hashim Yusoff told the court: "I'm of the view ... there is a clear fabrication of evidence." Mr Chan's lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, argued that police framed his client by breaking into his room and planting 3 cylinders containing the drug. The court ruled Mr Chan should be acquitted as it was unclear whether he knew the metamphetamines were in his room. The judges also said previous court decisions failed to take into account discrepancies in witness testimony. They said unlawful hearsay should not have been allowed as evidence. After the acquittal, police refused to comment. (source: The Press Association) AUSTRALIA: Melbourne woman's death-row love for Bali mule Scott Rush AN attractive young woman is sitting on the hard, tiled floor in the visitors' courtyard of Bali's Kerobokan jail. Encircled by her boyfriend, arms entwined, they are deep in conversation. Her boyfriend is drug mule Scott Rush, who is facing the death penalty for his part in the Bali Nine plot. Laura doesn't think too much about the fact her boyfriend may be killed. It's just too depressing. But for the hapless 22-year-old Australian facing the death penalty, a wonderful thing has happened: love has blossomed in this unlikely place. Laura, a 26-year-old Melbourne woman, met Rush when she visited the jail while holidaying in Bali in January. "I felt an immediate attraction but I never thought this was going to happen," she says. Now the two have pledged their love. "We both wear an eternity knot round our necks. Whatever happens, our feelings for each other will be eternal. I love him." The feeling is mutual, she says. "He calls me his angel." How does Rush reciprocate from behind prison walls? "He does some gorgeous things ... he organised a Valentine's card and flowers to be delivered to me through friends who live in Melbourne, and he gives me little gifts. "It's not a conventional relationship of course, but I do love him and I care about him a great deal. It's more of an emotional connection rather than a physical one, obviously." Her friends have not been backward in expressing their views on the relationship. "A lot of people think it's a dead end. They think it's illogical and impractical, and it probably is," she says. "But I know I can deal with whatever comes my way. I just always want to offer support and make him feel happy. I offered him a lot of love and care and finally got to know his personality very well and earned his trust." Laura, who asked The Weekend Australian not to publish her full name, returned to Bali to visit Rush for a month in April and again in September. In December she will return for another month. "It's very tiring and emotionally draining and it's costing a fair bit," she says. "I don't have much contact with Scott's parents and I've never asked them to help me out financially. It's my choice." She met Rush when she and a couple of girlfriends visited the jail to support the Australians held there. "I followed the Bali Nine closely because, regardless of the crime and their stupidity, I just didn't think they deserved death or life sentences in an Indonesian prison. "I wanted to visit one of the Australians ... I had read that Scott welcomed visitors, he wanted people to visit him; a lot of the others don't particularly. And I've always thought the death penalty is rubbish. "I wanted to go to the jail and give him some food and kind words. Obviously, he had quite an impact on me. He was very charismatic, very positive, very kind. I wanted to keep in contact." Laura returned to Melbourne two days later. "We kept in contact via letters. I wrote and told him about my life and who I was, and it progressed from there." Aware that the prison relationship may be criticised or misunderstood, Laura says she focuses on doing what she can "to make Scott's life good". "If people ask me why I'm doing it I say it's because I care so much. I would never not let myself get close to someone, even if there is the risk he might be killed by the firing squad." Rush was originally handed a life sentence, but the Indonesian Supreme Court increased it to death in September 2006 after an appeal by the prosecution. Along with Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Rush still has the option of seeking a judicial review of the death sentence, and a clemency appeal to the Indonesian President. Earlier this year, Rush voiced his fear of death in an interview with SBS. "It weighs on my mind pretty much every 2nd of the day," he said. "I can't have a normal conversation like I used to be able to because of this. It's always in my mind -- always in the back of my head, or it stops sometimes at the front." Laura doesn't have a boyfriend in Australia and is keeping herself for Rush "until things progress and I know what's happening". "I never want to be a source of pain, or worry to him. I don't want him to think I'm gallivanting around town." Rush, asked in the SBS interview if hethought he would get out, replied: "Ifeel that I will. I mean, if I've got any sort of instinct, obviously I'm hoping that I will." (source: The Australian)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Rick Halperin Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:52:32 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Rick Halperin