Feb. 27
NIGERIA:
Nigerian gets death for trafficking in 22kg of cannabis
The High Court sentenced to death a Nigerian man after he was found guilty of
drug trafficking 2 years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab said the prosecution had proved its
case beyond reasonable doubt against 34-year-old Oluigbo Eric Chimeze.
Oluigbo allegedly distributed 22.159kg of cannabis at a traffic light in Napoh,
near here, heading to Bukit Kayu Hitam at about 6.45am on Sept 1, 2010.
He was charged under Section 39 (B) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which
carries a mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
The accused was represented by counsel B.Murthy while prosecution was conducted
by deputy public prosecutor, Noor Fadzila Ishak.
(source: All Africa News)
INDIA:
SC rules out death penalty for rape & murder accused
Putting to rest the controversy over whether a person charged with rape and
murdering his victim should be sentenced to the extreme penalty of death, the
Supreme Court has ruled that in such a rarest of rare case an accused can’t be
given the capital sentence but life term till the end of his life.
This ruling has given a new thrust to the raging debate on compulsorily giving
the extreme sentence of death to a rapist. But conscious of the consequences of
such a legislation that could lead to serious ramifications, it is argued that
the victim couldlose the life too after having suffered the worst kind of
brutality.
In a recent verdict, the top court has set aside a judgment by the Allahabad
high court that upheld the sentence of death to one Amit, a teenager who raped
and murdered a 13-year-old school going girl 7 years ago.
“In such cases of rape followed by murder by a young man, instead of death
sentence a life imprisonment should be awarded with a direction that life
sentence imposed will extend to the full life of the appellant (accused) but
subject to any remission or commutation at the instance of the government for
good and sufficient reasons,” the court added.
A trial court and the HC had observed that the offence committed by Amit
squarely fell in the ‘rarest of rare’ category, thus the appropriate sentence
would be death.
The court expressed the hope that the accused would be reformed and turn out to
be a better citizen in future. They said he had never committed such an offence
in the past and a chance must be given to him to become a good citizen.
In 2008, the top court had however taken into account the increasing number of
rape and murder cases as it handed down death sentence to a resident of Pune
for raping and killing a girl living in his neighbourhood.
“A large number of cases in recent times coming before this court involving
rape and murder of young girls, is a matter of concern,” judges had added.
They also rejected the plea for mercy made by the accused and said, “Undue
sympathy to impose inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system
to undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law.”
(source: Daily News & Analysis)
********************
Godhra changed Gujarat’s social fabric
Perhaps no other incident has changed Gujarat's history like the burning of the
Sabarmati Express at Godhra on February 27, 2002, has done. It was just another
quiet morning in the town until the train arrived full of kar sevaks, resulting
in an altercation on the platform and the burning of the S-6 coach which led to
the killing of 59 people, mainly kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya. The
resulting riots changed Gujarat's social fabric forever.
In all, 134 people were accused of the Godhra carnage of which 94 were tried by
the sessions court in Godhra. However, even 10 years after the carnage, at
least 15 people have still not been arrested and are absconding. As many as 254
witnesses were examined and 268 witnesses dropped.
After a long legal battle, on March 1, 2011, a special court gave the death
penalty to 11 people and life terms to 20 for burning the S-6coach on that
fateful day. This decision of the trial court will be effected only after
Gujarat high court confirms it. Calling the Godhra killings "rarest of rare
incidents", Godhra sessions judge P R Patel had pronounced death by hanging for
11, including key conspirators Abdul Razak Kurkur and Bilal Ismail alias Haji
Bilal.
Jabir Binyamin Behra, whose confession before the magistrate gave out the whole
conspiracy, also got death. The court had earlier let off Maulvi Husain Umarji
who, Behra had said, was the mastermind of the train burning plot. The court
found all of them guilty of being actively involved in stocking petrol and
burning the S-6 coach to kill the kar sevaks. The motive of the murders was
"anger against the kar sevaks", the court had said earlier while pronouncing
the verdict on February 22, 2011.
None of the 31 convicts expressed emotion as the sessions judge read out the
sentences. Those present in the Sabarmati jail courtroom said there was neither
relief on the faces of the 20 who got life imprisonment nor shock. All the
convicts had a uniformly stoic expression as the judge read out one name after
another.
How it all happened
The Sabarmati Express arrived at 7.43am at the Godhra railway station on
February 27, 2002, 4 hours late. Some kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya got
down for refreshments and began shouting 'Jai Sri Ram'. In the 5-minute halt,
there was a fight and kar sevaks beat up a tea vendor, Siddiq Bakkar, and
autorickshaw driver Siraj. They beat up another vendor Mohammed Latika because
he refused to say 'Jai Sri Ram' with them.
One of the kar sevaks tried molesting a Muslim girl, says the charge sheet.
Salim Panwala spread the word about the molestation and collected a crowd.
Mehbub Latiko joined in and began calling people. Scared, the kar sevaks downed
the window shutters and locked the coach doors.
The mob threw stones at the train from behind the parcel office and broke many
window panes. After sometime, the train started and stopped again. It is not
clear whether the 3 vendors inside the train pulled the chain as the police
charge sheet says, or kar sevaks pulled the chain to get in the passengers left
behind.
Hasan Charkha, Yunus Ghadiyali, Latiko and Jabir Behra rushed to Razak Kurkur's
house in Signal Falia to fetch petrol. This group had met at room no 8 of
Kurkur's Aman Guest House to plot the attack on S-6 coach of the Sabarmati
Express.
Ramjani Behra, a tea vendor on the platform, brought the petrol in his vehicle
to A cabin and with the rest and tried to pour it in from broken windows.
Saukat Charkha and Imran Bhatuk who are absconding, went to A cabin where the
train stopped. Panwala and Kurkur joined in and first reached S-2 coach. Mehbub
Popa, Ghadiyali and others tried to set this coach on fire. Then they went to
S-6. Latiko cut open the canvas of the vestibule connecting S-6 and S-7. Latiko
forced open the sliding door and got in with Jabir and the petrol cans. Saukat
Charkha, Rafiq Bhatuk, Irfan Bhopo and Imran Bhatuk joined them and poured the
petrol.
Hasan Charka threw a burning rag and set the coach ablaze killing 58 people.
One of the passengers died later.
Case file
Total accused - 134
Trial against - 94
Conviction - 31
Death penalty - 11
Acquitted - 63
Person facing trial - 1
Absconders - 15
Deceased accused - 6
Juvenile accused - 5
Charge-sheeted - 19
Confessions - 14 (9 under 164, 5 under Pota)
Discharged accused - 13
Witnesses examined - 254
Witnesses dropped - 268
(source: The Times of INdia)
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