May 7
IRAQ:
Hashimi expects death penalty if judged in absentia
Iraqi vice-president Tariq al-Hashimi expected to receive a death penalty if
Premier Nouri al-Maliki insisted on his "legal mistake" of judging him in
absentia, according to a Turkish newspaper.
In a press conference, covered by Turkish Hurriyet daily, he added "my life
will be in danger if I attended the trial".
The trial was postponed till the end of this week.
Hashimi left Baghdad last December for Kurdistan.
Following a stay there, he left for Istanbul, where he resides now.
From Istanbul, he called Iraqi President Jalal Talabani "to practice his role
as supervisor on the constitution and stop these violations".
He called the international community to practice its responsibility "as soon
as possible", but he denied he was "a fugitive" as described by some media
organs.
Hashimi disclosed that he will return to Arbil next Tuesday, "but my friends
requested me to postpone it for few days".
He concluded that he is awaiting the results of the National Conference due to
be held soon, but excluded having "quick solutions".
(source: Aswat al-Iraq)
INDONESIA:
Bali bomber begs forgiveness
The bombmaker accused of masterminding the Bali attacks that killed 202 people
begged forgiveness from the victims' families on Monday and said the explosions
had been a "total failure".
Umar Patek is accused of being a central figure in the 2002 attacks on 2
nightclubs on the Indonesian resort island, which killed many Western tourists
including 88 Australians.
In an emotional appearance at his trial, Patek, 45, who faces a possible death
penalty but says he was only a bit player in the attacks, spoke in a voice
cracking with emotion.
"I am taking this opportunity to seek forgiveness from the victims, their
families and whoever suffered losses," including the Indonesian government, he
said, before repeating the apology to reporters and shaking hands with
prosecutors.
"I was very sad and regret the incident happened, because I was against it from
the start. I never agreed with their methods," said Patek, wearing a white
shirt and trousers that stopped short of his ankles, his hair dyed henna-red in
keeping with the Prophet Mohammed's custom.
Patek, who was arrested in the same Pakistani town where Osama bin Laden was
killed just months before the Al-Qaeda chief's death, said the attacks on
October 12, 2002, had been a "total failure".
He said the plans were drawn up at the home of Dulmatin, another Bali plotter,
who was killed by police in 2010.
"The reason was to retaliate the killing of Muslims in Palestine but the people
killed had no link to Palestine," he said during his three-hour testimony at
the West Jakarta district court.
"Who were the victims, they were Westerners, they weren't Israelis. In fact
many Indonesians were victims. They had no link to Palestine," he said,
speaking calmly and gesturing with his hands.
When the idea of attacking Bali was brought up, Patek claimed he raised
objections.
"I questioned why in Bali? Jihad should be carried out in Palestine instead.
But they said they did not know how to get to Palestine," he said, adding:
"Dulmatin told me not to think so hard, just help."
Patek allegedly used simple household tools including a rice ladle to assemble
the Bali bombs, which according to the court indictment were housed in ordinary
filing cabinets.
"The defendant filled up the black powder in four filing cabinets, in the
meantime, Dulmatin made the bomb's electronic circuit," the indictment said.
With bombmaker Azahari Husin, a Malaysian later killed at a hideout on Java
island, Patek assembled the detonating cord and then loaded the filing cabinets
into a car, the document added.
But Patek said on Monday his role went no further than mixing the explosives.
"I helped to mix the chemicals," he confessed. "Azahari assembled the bombs.
They loaded explosives onto the car while I stayed inside my room and read the
Koran."
Patek is accused of being the expert bombmaker for Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a
Southeast Asian terror network linked to Al-Qaeda. He is also accused of
attacking churches in Jakarta on Christmas Eve in 2000.
He was arrested in January last year in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where
US commandos killed bin Laden 4 months later.
During the trial, evidence has emerged that Osama gave JI $30,000 to wage jihad
in the region and Patek might have met him when he was in Abbottabad, a claim
Patek has repeatedly denied.
"I don't know about the source of funds," he said on Monday. "In the name of
God, I have never met the man named Osama bin Laden," he added.
US Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Frank Pellegrino testified in
April that Patek was widely known as an expert bombmaker.
According to Pellegrino, a witness interviewed by the FBI in the Philippines
reported Patek as saying he "was interested in going back to Pakistan and
Afghanistan and working with Osama bin Laden".
Patek was once the most-wanted terror suspect in Indonesia and spent nearly a
decade on the run with the US offering a $1 million bounty on his head under
its rewards for justice programme.
Prosecutors have said they will seek the death sentence on charges of
premeditated murder, but will make their formal recommendation on May 21. The
verdict is expected June 21.
(source: Ther Bangkok Post)
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Saudi Arabia beheads citizen for killing wife
Saudi Arabia on Monday beheaded one of its citizens accused of killing his
wife, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency
SPA.
Abdullah Adawi suffocated his wife Rihab Harithi, also a Saudi, as she slept,
the ministry said. He was executed in Jizan, in the kingdom's south.
His beheading brings the total number of executions in the ultra-conservative
kingdom to 24 so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on official
reports.
Under the AFP count, at least 76 people were beheaded in 2011 in Saudi Arabia,
while rights group Amnesty International put the number of executions last year
at 79.
The death penalty in Saudi Arabia applies to a wide range of offences including
rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking, as well as murder, as
stipulated by Islamic Sharia law.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
MALAYSIA:
Woman freed of murder of Singapore businessman
The High Court here today acquitted a motivator of a charge of murdering a
Singaporean businessman last year.
Judicial Commissioner Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab freed Tan Chia Mooi, 39, without
her defence being called, ruling that the prosecution had failed to establish a
prima facie case against her.
Tan was charged with the murder of Arthur Lee Wee Guan, 59, between 9.30pm on
March 20 and 2.30am on March 21, 2011 at Km8.3, Jalan Gunung Jerai, Gurun.
The charge under the Penal Code carries the death penalty upon conviction.
(source: The Star)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
