Jan. 4
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
17 former death row Indians now face more charges
The Sharjah Court of Appeal resumed criminal proceedings today against 17
Indian men convicted of murder who had escaped the death penalty after paying
blood money to the victim’s family. Prosecutors are now seeking more jail time
for the men on charges of bootlegging, the illegal sale of alcohol and causing
injuries to three other men during the brawl, according to the men’s lawyer.
The men were scheduled to be deported back to their home country last year
before prosecutors argued that the guilty verdict for murder did not take into
account the three men who were allegedly injured in the brawl. The guilty
verdict, prosecutors argued, also did not take into account the bootlegging or
alcohol consumption charges that had been filed against the convicted men.
Today’s proceedings by the Sharjah Court of Appeal followed a decision last
week by the Federal Supreme Court to transfer the case back to the Sharjah
Court.
“The case was transferred to the Sharjah court by the Federal Supreme Court on
December 27,” said Mr Mohammed Salman, who was appointed by the Indian
government to defend the men.
“The court will examine charges of bootlegging, sale of alcohol and claims of
assaulting three Pakistani men,” Mr Salman said, adding that his firm has not
yet received papers from the Supreme Court and prosecutors detailing the exact
charges.
Lawyers for the men say they are not sure exactly what the additional charges
are.
The 17 men were convicted of killing a Pakistani national in January 2009 in a
bootlegging brawl in Sharjah. However, they escaped the death penalty last year
after paying Dh3.4 million blood money to the dead man’s family. The court also
commuted their sentences to two years, time they had already served.
But the men were not deported to their home country as scheduled after the
Public Prosecution referred the Sharjah appeal court’s judgment to the Federal
Supreme Court regarding the plight of the allegedly injured men. Last week, the
Supreme Court transferred the criminal case back to the same court in Sharjah,
directing the lower court to look into the lesser charges.
In a separate case, 2 of the 3 men who were allegedly injured in the brawl have
filed a compensation suit at the Sharjah Court of First Instance, claiming Dh
1.5 million for injuries.
“We want to finish this case as early as possible,” Mr Salman said. The accused
men were not at today’s hearing.
The next hearing will take place on January 11. It will be the final hearing
for the defence to present its arguments against the criminal case. The civil
case, however, has been adjourned to January 29.
(source: The National)
IRAN----executions
The new year begins with more executions in Iran
The new year (2012) begins with more reposts of executions in Iran. According
to official and unofficial sources at least 25 prisoners have been executed in
the past 2 days.
2 prisoners executed in the prison of Arak (south of Tehran):
According to Markazinews (official site of the Markazi province, south of
Tehran) 2 prisoners were hanged in the prison of Arak early Tuesday morning
January 3. According to the report the prisoners were identified as "J. Sh."
and "A. A." and were convicted of "keeping and carrying 2,5 kilograms and 4400
grams of concentrated heroin and crack, respectively".
Secret execution of 22 prisoners in Tehran according to unofficial source:
The website "Human Rights and Democracy Activists of Iran" (HRDAI) reported
that 22 prisoners were executed in the Evin prison of Tehran early Tuesday
January 3.
According to this report the prisoners who were allegedly convicted of
drug-related offences had been transferred from the Ghezel Hesar prison of
Karaj to Tehran’s Evin prison on Sunday January 1. The report identified 13 of
the prisoners by name and said that there was one Afghan citizen among them.
One prisoner was executed in Zanjan:
According to "Kurdistan News Agency" (Kurdpa) one prisoner identified as Salah
Rashidi from the village of "Arbila" near Urmia was hanged in the prison of
Zanjan (west of Tehran) on Monday January 2. According to this report the
prisoner’s body was handed over to his family few hours after the execution. He
was convicted of drug trafficking, said the report.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
INDONESIA/AUSTRALIA:
No new hope for Aussie pair on death row
Jakarta's successful diplomatic efforts to save Indonesians from the death
penalty in other countries do not mean the 2 Bali 9 members on death row can
expect a reprieve, the country's foreign minister says.
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the so-called ringleaders of a 2005 plot to
smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Australia, had their final appeals
against their death sentences rejected last year.
They must now rely on clemency from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono if they are to avoid the firing squad and are expected to lodge their
applications later this year.
Indonesia was last year successful in saving the lives of 35 of its own
citizens facing execution overseas.
"As for Indonesian citizens that have been (given) the death penalty, various
diplomatic approaches were carried out at all levels, including by the
president," Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Wednesday.
"Among all Indonesian nationals facing the death penalty, more than 65 % were
sentenced for drug offences and 31 % for homicide, the types of criminal
offences that face serious consequences in many countries including Indonesia."
But in a worrying sign for Chan and Sukumaran, Dr Natalegawa also appeared to
downplay suggestions the successful intervention in capital punishment cases
involving Indonesians abroad translated into hope for the 2 Australians.
"The reality is in Indonesia, as in many other countries, capital punishment,
death penalty, is still very much part of our legislation, our legal
framework," he said in response to a question regarding the Australians on
death row in Bali.
"What we need to be ensuring as far as Australian citizens are concerned, in
the same way as our citizens overseas, is that their legal rights are
protected, that in the legal process they are given the respect for the
presumption of innocence and that the whole process (is carried out) in good
standing."
He rejected, however, the suggestion that efforts to save Indonesians from
being put to death while also continuing to apply capital punishment against
foreign nationals amounted to a double standard.
The comments come after a spokesman for the Indonesian president said late last
year that Dr Yudhoyono remained steadfastly opposed to leniency for people
convicted of drug offences.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard raised the issue of clemency for Chan and
Sukumaran, as well as the Gold Coast's Schapelle Corby, when she held talks
with Dr Yudhoyono in Bali in November.
Corby has already lodged a clemency appeal against her 20-year sentence for
drug trafficking.
Chan and Sukumaran are among 87 people on death row in Indonesia, of whom 50
had been convicted of drug-related offences.
A spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Ministry
said his department was working with the Supreme Court to carry out the
executions.
The long delays in carrying out executions have meant some prisoners in
Indonesia have been on death row for more than 40 years.
(source: Sydney Morning Herald)
JAPAN:
Open letter on the abolition of the death penalty in Japan
Open letter to:
Mr. Yoshihiko Noda
Prime Minister of Japan
Shugiin Giin Kaikan No.1 #821
2-2-1, Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
100-0014
Mr. Hideo Hiraoka
Minister of Justice of Japan
Shugiin Giin Kaikan No.2 #205
2-1-2, Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
100-0014
Paris, 3 January 2012
Re: Open letter on the abolition of the death penalty in Japan
Dear Prime Minister Noda,
Dear Minister of Justice Hiraoka,
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Coalition
Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) are honoured to write to you at this critical
juncture of death penalty developments in Japan. Your country has not carried
out any execution since the last executions in Japan were carried out on 28
July 2010, when Mr. Ogata Hidenori and Mr. Shinozawa Kazuo were hanged at the
Tokyo detention centre. FIDH and WCADP welcome such a positive development;
2011 has been the first year without any execution in Japan since 1993.
Especially we applaud the deliberated initiative taken by Minister Hiraoka,
despite various difficulties he faced in domestic circumstances.
FIDH and WCADP thus encourage your government to sustain its efforts and call
on your authority not to approve any execution order in the future and to
initiate careful studies and to engage in public and parliamentary debates of
the use of capital punishment in the country. Japan would benefit from the
establishment, as soon as possible, of an independent, broad-based panel of
experts, including civil society representatives, to study and make
recommendations to the Government on the abolition of the death penalty.
More than two thirds of the countries in the world have abolished the death
penalty in law or practice. Out of 41 countries in the Asia-Pacific, 17 have
abolished the death penalty for all crimes, nine are abolitionists in practice
and one – Fiji – uses the death penalty only for exceptional military crimes.
This means that less than half of the countries in the region still use this
ultimate and irreversible punishment.
Of the G8 nations, only Japan and the United States still use capital
punishment, while Russia has not executed anyone since 1996. Even in the US, 16
States and the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty, while the
Governor of Oregon has recently declared he would not allow any execution
during his term. On 9 September 2011, the Republic of Korea marked the 5000th
day without execution. In January 2010, the Mongolian president has announced a
moratorium of the death penalty and called for its abolition.
As a leading democracy in Asia and a key member of the international community,
an official commitment by Japan towards the abolition of the death penalty will
not only be consistent with the international trend but also send a powerful
signal all over the world that the right to life must be respected and
protected.
We thank you for your attention and future actions regarding this important
matter.
Sincerely yours,
Souhayr Belhassen----FIDH president
Florence Bellivier----WCADP president
(source: FIDH.org)
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