Sept. 28
CHINA:
China's debate on the death penalty becomes increasingly open----Calls for
death penalty reform in China are growing, but so is the ability of the public
to pressure courts into changing sentences perceived as too lenient – a
development some say verges on mob justice.
Li Changkui, a southern Chinese farmer charged with raping and murdering a
teenage girl before killing the girl’s 3-year-old brother, was tried for the
3rd time in a Chinese court late last month. Both the evidence and charges
against him were virtually the same as those of his previous trial, but this
time he was sentenced to death.
Months earlier, the Yunnan Provincial High Court had given Mr. Li a lighter
sentence tantamount to life imprisonment – overturning a lower court’s death
sentence. But the high court’s leniency sparked a massive public outcry
demanding that Li be sentenced to death. “If Li Changkui doesn’t die, there is
no law in China!” a commenter in an online forum wrote.
It was this onslaught of public pressure that ultimately led to an unusual
decision to retry Li.
Li’s case, the latest in a series of controversial death penalty decisions,
shows that the increasingly open debate on death penalty reform in China can be
a double-edged sword: Though the contingent of lawyers, scholars, journalists,
and judicial officials who advocate for reform has grown, so has the ability of
the general public to pressure courts to change sentences perceived as too
lenient – a development some say verges on mob justice.
“When it comes to popular will, I'm conflicted,” says Liu Renwen, a legal
scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “On one hand, when the
public holds the courts accountable, it prevents problems like corruption, and
that’s a positive function. But on the other hand, [in this case] it seems like
popular will has too much power.”
World's leader in executions
China infamously executes the largest number of people in the world per year.
Amnesty International pegs the figure in the thousands, but the true number is
a state secret. Though there are relatively few intellectuals in China who
favor completely abolishing the death penalty, judicial reform advocates say
there is growing support for reducing the number of death penalty sentences
courts hand out.
That movement reached a milestone in February, when an amendment to China’s
criminal code struck down 13 charges from the list of crimes punishable by
death, including smuggling historical relics and evading taxes. The amendment
was heralded as evidence of the government’s commitment to reducing the number
of criminals put to death.
The Supreme People’s Court in the past three to five years has been working
hard to reduce the number of death sentences,” says He Weifang, a legal scholar
at Peking University and longtime activist for judicial reform. “But when it
meets with cases that spur major public indignation … the Supreme People’s
Court basically can't endure the pressure that comes from public opinion and
the Party. They can only apply the death penalty.”
The exact relationship between public pressure and Li’s retrial is unclear.
Legal scholars say it is unlikely that public pressure alone forced the court
to change the sentence, but most point to it as a dominant factor.
Courts under pressure
Courts are constantly under pressure not to appear “soft on crime,” says Jon
Kamm, executive director of the San Francisco-based Duihua Foundation, which
conducts research on the death penalty in China. “If you’re constantly handing
down unpopular decisions, it will affect your chances for promotion,” he
explains.
In China, microblogs and online forums have become a kind of megaphone for
critics. After the high court's first ruling, the victim's family posted
messages online decrying the decision and calling for Li to be executed.
The messages struck a chord with netizens across China, turning a local murder
case into a national story.
Despite the wave of criticism after the Yunnan Provincial High Court issued its
first sentence, it initially appeared that the court was willing to stand
behind its controversial decision. Tian Chengyou, the court’s deputy chief
justice, defended the court’s decision to reduce Li’s sentence at a press
briefing July 6. Tian pointed out mitigating factors in Li’s case, including
that Li agreed to compensate the victims’ family and that he turned himself in.
“Society should be more rational,” Mr. Tian told journalists. “We can’t
sentence someone to death because of public anger.”
But just days later, the court announced its decision to hold the retrial. On
Aug. 22, a crowd of villagers formed around the municipal courthouse where the
retrial was taking place. The crowd stayed past dusk, shouting and brandishing
signs, Chinese news media reported.
The cries for blood in response to the Li case mirrors another high-profile
death penalty case this spring, in which a university student murdered a young
woman to cover up a hit-and-run accident. Like the Li case, that case also
elicited an outpouring of public rage, particularly drawing on perceptions of
the defendant’s privileged family background.
Legal experts say it’s still too early to determine whether these cases will
have any long-term impact on how public opinion shapes court rulings in China.
“The real problem isn't public opinion; it's that the courts just aren’t
independent enough,” says Xu Zhiyong, a well-known legal scholar and human
rights activist. “That's what’s not as it should be.”
(source: Christian Science Monitor)
IRAN----excecution
One prisoner was hanged in Qom (south of Tehran) today
2 prisoner was hanged in the central prison of Qom (south of Tehran) early this
morning reported the Iranain state media.
According to the state-run news agencies Fars and Mehr, the prisoner identified
as "M.F." who was convicted of buying and keeping 1572 grams and 800 miligrams
of crack, and participation in buying and keeping 2435 grams of crack. The
prisoner was arrested in October 2009 and sentenced to death by the
revolutionary court of Qom in May 2010.
The charges have not been confirmed by independent sources.
(source: Iran Human Righs)
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