March 13
PAKISTAN:
Musharraf attackers won’t be hanged
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the death sentences given by a
military court to two men who were convicted of involvement in a suicide attack
on former President Pervez Musharraf in 2003.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, which heard a
review petition filed by the two men, declared the death sentences given by a
military appellate tribunal as null and void.
However, the bench said the two men would have to serve prison terms given to
them by a field general court martial.
The two men, Rana Naveed and Amir Sohail, were initially convicted by the field
general court martial for their role in the suicide attack on Musharraf’s
convoy in Rawalpindi on December 25, 2003.
Naveed was given a life sentence while Sohail got a 20-year prison term. The
military appellate tribunal subsequently converted the prison terms into death
sentences.
The bench raised questions about the procedures adopted by the military court
in converting the prison terms to death sentences.
“It is against all principles of justice and fair trial to convert a life term
into death penalty by an army court of appeal without informing the convicts
and adhering to the relevant procedure laid down in the law,” the Chief Justice
had remarked, earlier.
(source: Deccan Herald)
SAUDI ARABIA----executions
Saudi Arabia executes 7 men despite UN appeal for clemency----Human rights
activists say men were executed by firing squad, but country's official news
agency says they were beheaded
Saudi Arabia has executed 7 men for an armed robbery, the interior ministry
said, despite an appeal for clemency by United Nations human rights
investigators.
The 7, some of whom were under 18 when the crime was committed in 2006, had
been due to be put to death last week but were granted a stay of execution
while authorities reviewed their case.
Human rights activists in Saudi Arabia said they had been executed by firing
squad, but the country's official news agency said they had been beheaded. The
original sentences called for death by firing squad and crucifixion.
The men, from Asir province in the south of the country, were convicted of
robbery and theft.
One of the men told Associated Press earlier this month that he was only 15
when he was arrested as part of a ring that stole jewellery in 2004 and 2005.
Nasser al-Qahtani said he was tortured to confess and had no access to lawyers.
"The charges against all seven persons were allegedly fabricated and all 7 were
convicted following unfair trials," the UN experts said in a statement on
Tuesday.
The conservative Islamic kingdom, which applies a strict interpretation of
sharia, has faced criticism by western countries for its frequent use of
capital punishment and trials that human rights groups say do not meet
international standards.
(source: The Guardian)
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