Nov. 12
UGANDA----female death sentence reduced
Kigula's death sentence reduced to imprisonment
AFTER being on death row for nine years now for the murder of her husband,
Susan Kigula, 32 on Friday had a reason to shed tears of joy when the sentence
was reduced to 20 years imprisonment.
Kigula’s maid and age-mate Patience Nansamba, who was convicted together with
her for being an accomplice in the murder of Constantino Sseremba, also had a
reason to jubilate when their trial judge reduced her death sentence to 16
years imprisonment.
Justice Vincent Musoke Kibuuka of the High Court, who tried the 2 convicts made
the ruling that was read on Friday by the Deputy Registrar, Criminal Division,
Elizabeth Kabanda.
The judge said in his ruling that he had considered mitigating factors advanced
by the convicts’ lawyer, Fred Mukasa Lugalambi, who represented them during the
trial, who made extensive submissions and those by a team from Katende,
Ssempebwa and Company Advocates.
He said he had also considered carefully the strong submissions by Principal
State Attorney Caroline Nabaasa Mubangizi, who contended that the case of the 2
convicts fell in the category of the worst of the worst cases, deserving
imposition of the death sentence.
The judge contended that he had taken into consideration the aggravating
factors that the death of the victim was purely pre-meditated and the manner in
which it was executed and in the presence of the children of the deceased, who
was a co-habitant of Kigula.
The court had also considered the conduct of the convicts before and after the
murdering.
Justice Musoke Kibuuka further stated that he had considered the mitigating
factors in favour of and by the convicts that included being first offenders
with no previous criminal record; being remorseful and apologeticto court and
the victim’s families. That they were relatively youthful at the time of the
murder and being potentially able to reform and be useful citizens if given a
chance.
However, the judge stated that he did not consider post-sentence developments
to be relevant to that review, because they would only be relevant where a
general review of the sentence imposed were to be done.
“In this process, as I understand it, court is mandated only to listen to
mitigating factors as they stood at the time the mandatory sentence of death
was imposed. The court then decides whether it would have imposed the death
sentence if it had not been mandatory and if the court had heard that
mitigation at the time,” the judge said.
“After considering all the facts and circumstances and the aggravating and
mitigating factors, court concludes that if the death sentence had not been
mandatory and had had the opportunity of hearing the mitigation, which it has
now heard, it would not have imposed the death sentence on either of the
convict in this case,” Musoke Kibuuka stated.
“The court, therefore, substitutes the death sentence on A1 (Kigula) for 20
years imprisonment and a sentence of imprisonment for 16 years, in respect of
A2 (Nansamba). The effective date for each sentence being September 11, 2002.
However, the relatives of the victim, the late Sseremba, went away cursing the
convicts for their actions.
The 2 women, convicted in September 2002, were sentenced to death because, at
the time, the death sentence was mandatory, in that there was no any other
sentence other than death, upon conviction for the offence of murder.
However, following an order of the Supreme Court in a constitutional appeal by
Kigula, who led other 417 inmates seeking to abolish the death sentence, the
sentencing now lay in the trial judge’s discretion.
The Supreme Court also ruled that a convict could also go back to the trial
judge and mitigate over the sentence if he/she has not been hanged within 3
years after the last appeal, hence Kigula’s mitigation on the sentence.
While mitigating the sentence of death early this month, Kigula and Nansamba
asked the judge to give them a chance to live. They separately promise never to
commit any such offence, if given a 2nd chance to live. They added that since
their conviction and sentenced to death they had learnt to value human life and
had reformed.
Kigula told the court that she was leading a crusade of fellow inmates and
promised further that if given a custodial sentence after which she would be
able to continue that kind of crusade to other fellow women wherever she would
be with her 12-year-old daughter Namata she had with her late husband.
She also called out her late husband’s son, Herbert Sseremba, saying: Herbert
don’t you know that I love you so much? You know that I do love you so much”
However, Herbert, who was only five years of age at the time his father was
murdered in cold blood as he slept in his bed, could not answer the call by his
stepmother, who was standing in the dock mitigating as she sobbed.
Herbert, now aged 14 had testified against his step mother in court during
trial that he had witnessed the eyesore incident in which she cut his father’s
throat with a brand-new panga she had brought home the previous evening and hid
it under the bed.
Nansamba pleaded that she was the only bread winner for a family of six
children and had come to Kampala from Masindi District to look for employment
so that she could support her younger siblings, because their mother died and
their father ran mad. She had worked for the family for only 3 months.
Kigula burst into tears as she looked at her 12-year-old daughter in the dock
in court with her elderly mother, Gertrude Kigula.
(source: New Vision)
TANZANIA:
Human rights activists seek end to capital punishment
He knew that he was innocent and had nothing to worry about. He went to court
confidently thinking that he would be found innocent.
Little did he know what lay ahead of him as it had taken years for the court to
deliver the sentence; the day he had been waiting for. A Judge of the High
Court of Tanzania issued the judgment that he was found guilty of murder and
would thus be sentenced to death.
“I can’t explain how it felt as all of a sudden my body became numb and I could
not even walk past the few steps at the High Court. It is better to hear
someone else sentenced to death and not you trust me,” said Tete Kafunja, while
giving his testimony to mark the World Day Against the Death Penalty on October
10, 2011 at a gathering convened by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) in
Dar es Salaam.
Kafunja‘s story was part of the testimonies issued to depict on the evil of the
death sentence.
Presenting a paper on the event, an anti-death penalty campaigner from the
University of Dar es Salaam, Dr. Khoti Khamanga, said religious teachings say
the punishment is not as easy as people wanted to believe. He gave the example
of God ordering Adam and Eve to eat any fruit and failure of which was supposed
to be death.
“We are all aware that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit but they were never
punished by death but rather God told them that the man will eat through hard
labour while Eve will have to undergo painful delivery,” Dr. Khamanga alluded
to the Bible.
Dr. Khamanga often referred to the Biblical Abel and Cain as the first homicide
case. He said Cain killed his brother, an act which disappointed God so much,
yet the Almighty cursed Cain saying he would lead a life of wandering!
Contributing to the discussion, a participant, James Julius, wondered on what
happens to the hangman once he kills a person.
“If a mortuary attendant is affected by staying with dead bodies what do you
think happens to the person who pulls the knob or who kills, beheads or shoots
a person convicted to die? The government, too, kills people. Must we too kill
it?” he querried queried, raising concern over the psychological torture that
the hang man has to endure.
Francis Kiwanga, executive director of the LHRC is of the view that Tanzanians
should sit as a nation to find an alternative to the death penalty.
“There is evidence that a person found guilty today can as well be innocent the
next morning. You may sentence someone to death today only to find out tomorrow
that he was innocent.
There’s never a way to reverse the decision. The trend could see a lot of
innocent persons lose their lives,” he said.
He proposed a long-term prison term which will see murder convicts to support
families of slain victims.
Presenting a paper recently on the evils of capital punishment at a meeting in
Kigali, Rwanda, LHRC Advocate Harold Sungusia said laws that impose death
penalty are strictly based on vengeance.
He cautioned that it was dangerous for governments to adhere to unguided public
opinion on account that if it were to be adhered to with its quest for
vengeance, then it would require governments to provide a mechanism where in a
case of rape, the rapist would be sentenced to rape or castrated.
In the case of robbery, the sentence would be to rob the robber. Similarly, in
a case of corruption it would be more difficulty. All this would lead to an
irrational reverse of rule of law and recycling of injustice and mischief.
“The duty of state is to preserve life not to take it away. The state should
make every effort to provide policy guidance and decisions that would end the
death penalty,” Sangusia told the Kigali summit
Today one may be a decision-maker and tomorrow the same person may be a death
row inmate,” Sangusia concluded.
(source: The Guardian)
INDIA:
Man gets death sentence in Soumya murder case
Govindachamy, who raped and murdered Soumya, 23, a Kochi mall employee, after
throwing her out of a moving train on February 1, will be hanged, a fast track
court ruled here on Friday. Soumya was returning to her home at Manjakkad near
Shoranur, when the incident happened.
Pronouncing the verdict, Judge K N Ravindra Babu said the accused committed the
crime in a ‘diabolic manner’ deserving no leniency. He asked Govindachamy
whether he had anything to say, and he said: “I am innocent; but if you decide
to punish me, give me the minimum punishment. According to the prosecution,
Govindachamy assaulted and pushed Soumya out of the ladies’ compartment of the
Kochi-Shoranur train.
Reading out the judgment, the judge said, “This is a case that shocked the
entire society here. Soumya was admitted to a hospital for 6 days. She was in a
vegetative state. She was raped, despised. This cannot be morally or legally
justified. Her head was banged against the train interiors repeatedly in the
most brutal fashion. The accused had several occasions to reform, but he does
not seem to have changed his criminal behaviour which has been formed from the
eight previous cases he had committed... persons such as the accused are a
threat to womenfolk. The court does not perceive any lesser penalty in such
conditions than the hardest and the highest, and the accused need not expect
any leniency from the judiciary... Hence, the accused is hereby pronounced to
be hanged by the neck till he is dead.” The judgment is subject to confirmation
by the High Court.
Guilty on many counts
Fast track court judge K N Ravindra Babu had on October 31 held Govindachamy,
hailing from Vriddhachalam in Tamil Nadu, guilty of offences under IPC 302
(murder), 376)(rape), 394 (robbery) and other counts for raping and murdering
Kochi mall employee Soumya on Feb 1.
Apart from the death penalty, Govindachamy was given a life term under Section
376 of the IPC with a fine of `1 lakh and rigorous imprisonment for 7 years
under Section 397 with a fine of `1,000. The judge also asked him to pay `2
lakh as fine under Sections 302 and 376, and in default undergo an extra 4
years’ jail term plus another year.
(source: Indian Express News)
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