March 31
KUWAIT----impending executions
Kuwait to carry out first executions since 2007; Authorities deny live
television broadcast rumours
On Monday, Kuwait will end a 6-year hiatus on capital punishment and carry out
its 1st execution since 2007.
Security sources that 3 people, a Saudi, a Pakistani and a stateless resident
(Bidoon) will be executed at 8am inside the central prison.
The Saudi was sentenced to death for killing his friend, while the Pakistani
was found guilty of killing a Kuwaiti couple. The Bidoon was given the capital
punishment for murdering his wife and their children, claiming that he did it
under the order of the 'Awaited Mahdi', Kuwaiti media reported.
Rumours sweeping through the northern Arabian Gulf country in the morning that
the 3 executions would be broadcast live on Kuwait Television were denied by
the security sources as "baseless and lacking credibility".
However, newspapers were told by the security forces that they could send
journalists to cover the executions.
Several death sentences have been handed down in the last 7 years, but no
execution was carried out.
According to Capital Punishment UK, an organisation that tracks capital
punishment worldwide, Kuwait has carried out 72 executions (69 men and 3 women)
between April 1964 and May 2007.
The organisation said that Kuwaiti law did not allow the execution of the
insane or people under 18 years of age.
"Capital cases are automatically reviewed by the Court of Appeal, and if
upheld, are referred to the Court of Cassation, the country's highest court,
before being sent to the Emir for ratification. Once they have been approved by
the Emir, an execution order is issued by the chief justice and passed to the
prosecutor general. Since 1969, terrorist and treason trials have been tried
before the State Security Court," it said.
(source: Gulf News)
ZAMBIA:
Sentencing of a woman to death sends fellow prisoners weeping at Mukobeko
Maximum prison
Nearly all the incarcerated women at Mukobeko Maximum female prison last week
openly wept after learning that a 24-year-old woman who murdered her baby by
throwing it in a well due to economic challenges had been sentenced to death.
Sources disclosed that upon Agness Njovu's arrival at the prison, her
colleagues asked her how the judgment went and upon disclosing to them that she
had been sentenced to death, the inmates all started crying out loudly.
"This is normally an area where the women live like a family but that afternoon
was a solemn one to see the inmates weeping on top of their voices which also
alarmed us as officers," the source said.
The women later assisted the woman to pack her belongings before she was
whisked away to the female condemned section.
Since that day, the mood had remained solemn among the female inmates. Recently
Kabwe High Judge Elita Mwikisa sentenced Njovu to death by hanging after
finding her guilty of having caused the death of a 1-year-6 month's old baby,
Angelina Mumba, saying she had no right to take the life of her own child.
Njovu threw herself in the same well.
This is in case in which Njovu was facing 1 count of murder committed on April
13, 2012 after she threw the toddler and another 4-year old girl into a well
but members of the public managed to retrieve the 4-year old and her.
In her judgment, Judge Mwikisa said it was saddening that the accused ended the
life of her own child and that despite the challenges, it was not wise to act
in such a manner and that she should pay for her actions.
"Unfortunately my hands are tied because the charge you are faced with is very
serious which attracts a sentence of death penalty and cannot be reduced. I
therefore sentence you to death, to be hanged until you are pronounced dead,"
she said.
(source: Lusaka Times)
MALAYSIA:
PH embassy team meets 8 Filipinos detained for Sabah standoff
A consular team from the Philippine Embassy visited and conferred Thursday with
the 8 detained Filipinos in Sabah facing charges for their alleged involvement
in the Lahad Datu stand-off, and then clashes, between Malaysian security
forces and hundreds of followers of the Sulu Sultanate.
The Embassy team, led by First Secretary and Consul Antonina Mendoza-Oblena and
Director Renato Villa, talked to the 8 individuals at the prison facility in
Tawau and inquired about their conditions. They also asked about the places of
origin and respective families of the accused, some of whom face charges that
could carry the death penalty.
The 8 men facing criminal charges were identified by the Embassy as: Atik
Hussin Bin Abu Bakar, Basad H. Manuel, Habil Bin Suhaili, Holland Bin Kalbi,
Thimhar Hadil Suhaili, Lin Bin Mad Salleh, Kadir Bin Uyung and Lating Bin
Tiong.
"It is a standing policy for the Philippine Government to provide appropriate
consular assistance to nationals in distress, whether or not we agree with
their acts or advocacies," Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya said. "We would like to
ensure that their rights as accused are respected and that they have legal
representation when court sessions resume on April 12, as promised by Malaysian
authorities."
The consular jail visit was conducted after arrangements were made with the
Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General's Chambers and
Tawau prison officials.
No other details were made available due to the sensitivity of the cases, the
embassy said.
The Embassy said it may find difficulty in extending consular assistance to
Raja Muda Agbimuddin, the younger brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, in
light of revelations that he had "acquired" Malaysian citizenship. There are
conflicting reports also as to the whereabouts of the man said to have led over
200 followers of the Sulu sultanate in reclaiming their "homeland" of Sabah,
which Malaysia got from the British government when its federation was created,
but remains subject of a claim by the sultanate, to which Malaysia pays annual
rental payments.
In an interview with reporters on March 23, Malaysian Defense Minister Datuk
Seri Zahid Hamidi earlier confirmed that Agbimuddin is a Malaysian citizen who
worked as a civil servant in Sabah. He said that Agbimuddin was an assistant
district officer in Kudat under the administration of former Sabah Chief
Minister Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun.
(source: InterAksyon.com)
INDIA:
Delhi HC blast: Trial against Malik to commence tomorrow
The trial against Wasim Akram Malik, arrested for his alleged role in the
September 2011 Delhi High Court blast, will commence tomorrow in a Delhi court.
The special NIA court had framed charges against Malik including that of waging
war against India and fixed April 1 for recording of evidence in the case.
District judge I S Mehta will start the trial by recording the statement of
co-accused-turned-approver Amir Abbas Dev, who was also arrested by the
National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in the blast but had
later turned approver and was granted pardon by the court.
The blast had left 15 people dead.
The court had framed charges under sections 121 (waging war against country),
121-A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the state), 122
(collecting arms with intention of waging war against government) and 123
(concealing with intent to felicitate a design to wage war) of the IPC against
Malik.
Earlier, the trial court had declined NIA's plea to prosecute Malik under
stringent charge of waging war against India which entails maximum punishment
of death penalty, but the Delhi High Court had ruled otherwise.
The trial court said that merely because an e-mail referring to the release of
Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged on February 9, was
sent by the accused after the blast, it does not mean that an offence against
the state was committed.
However, the High Court had on December 3 last year ordered the trial court to
frame charges of waging war against the country against Malik, who is lodged in
jail under judicial custody, after which the special NIA court had framed
additional charges against him under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal
Code.
The trial court had earlier framed charges, including that of murder, against
Malik under the IPC, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosive
Substance Act for his alleged role in the attack at the High Court's reception
area.
The court had also framed charges against Malik for offences punishable under
sections 120-B(criminal conspiracy), 440 (mischief committed after preparation
made for causing death or hurt), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance),
302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (causing hurt) and 325 (voluntarily
causing grievous hurt) of the IPC.
Subsequent to framing of the charges, Malik had pleaded not guilty and claimed
trial.
While deciding to frame charges against Malik, the trial court had referred to
Dev's statement to the magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC.
The NIA had filed charge sheet against 6 persons including Malik, Dev and a
minor.
The minor's case is being adjudicated separately.
2 others, Amir Kamal and Junaid Akram Malik, suspected members of the banned
Hizb-ul Mujahideen and evading arrest were also named in the charge sheet.
The NIA had told the court that the 6th accused Shakir Hussain Sheikh alias
Chota Hafiz was killed in an encounter with security forces on December 20 last
year in Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir.
(source: Deccan Herald)
**************
India using death penalty as a tool of political control; ADPP want release of
Sikh political prisoner Prof Bhullar
Sikhs in large numbers took part in a march and demonstration to seek release
of Sikh political prisoner Professor Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, who is facing
death penalty in India. The march and demonstration was organized by Akali Dal
Panch Pardhani (ADPP) in Bathinda region of Punjab.
Prof. Bhullar was awarded death punishment by a TADA court in a 1993 Bitta
Blast case. His conviction was rejected by Justice M. B. Shah of Supreme Court
of India who had acquitted Prof. Bhullar in this case, but the other 2 judges
of the 3 judge constitutional bench of SCI had confirmed the faulty decision of
the trial court.
According to Amnesty International, Professor DPS Bhullar was denied fair trial
in India.
As per information available with Sikh Siyasat News (SSN) the march from
Professor DPS Bhullar's native village - Dialpura Bhai Ka to Bathinda was
started after performing ardas at Gurudwara Zafarnama at village Dialpura Bhai
Ka. It was was followed by a peaceful demonstration at Bathinda.
Bhai Mandhir Singh, Secretary General of ADPP, told Sikh Siyasat News (SSN)
over phone that the march that comprised of around 500 motorcyclists and more
than 200 cars and other vehicles, was meant to spread awareness among the
masses.
Bhai Mandhir Singh informed that the march passed through Jalaal, Bhagta Bhai
Ka, Kalyan, Nathana, Dehlwan, Gobindpura, Bibi Wala before reaching Bathinda.
The march was reportedly received by groups of local people on it's way to
Bathinda.
"This march and demonstration was part of awareness campaign initiated by Akali
Dal Panch Pardhani to secure release of Professor Devender Pal Singh Bhullar"
Bhai Mandhir Singh added.
"Indian state is using death punishment as a tool of political control against
struggling nations, religious and ethnic minorities and the Dalits. This is
practise has highly dangerous dimensions and must be opposed" he added.
He said that Professor Devender Pal Singh Bhullar's case was not considered
according the set norms and laws rather it was considered as an exceptional
case due to political reasons.
"Prof. Bhullar was sentenced to death for being a Sikhs, and it's the moral
duty of every Sikh to oppose his execution" he added.
As per information Bhai Harpal Singh Cheema, Baba Hardeep Singh Mehraj, Amrik
Singh Isru, Baldev Singh Sirsa, Darshan Singh Jaga Ram Tirath, Advocate Jaspal
Singh Manjhpur, Surinder Singh Nathana, Gurmeet Singh Samana, Onkar Singh
Bhadaur, Jaspal Singh Heiran (Editor, Pehredar), Sarabjeet Singh Ghumaan (Dal
Khalsa), Baljinder Singh (Ek Noor Fauj), Lakhwinder Singh Lakha (People's Party
of Punjab - PPP) also participated in the march and demonstration.
It is learnt that during demonstration at Bathinda a memorandum adressed to
Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was handed over to the district
administration.
(source: sikhsiyasat.net)
**********************
MNS takes out protest morcha, demands death penalty for rapist
Hundreds of irate citizens from Thane under the banner of Raj Thackeray's
Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) took out a protest morcha to the office of
the District Collector and Police Commissioner to demand death sentence for the
vendor who allegedly raped a 3 year old girl on Wednesday.
The police arrested the accused Mohan Chotu Singh, a local vendor who had
allegedly wooed the kid under the pretext of giving her a chocolate, took her
to an isolated locality and raped her.
The Shiv Sena activists had organised protests that day itself and targeted the
carts of the vendors near the Thane Railway Station. The MNS took out a morcha
on Sunday and submitted memorandum to the District Collector and Police
commissioner demanding death for the rapist and also sought the case to be
conducted in a fast track court.
(source: post.jagran.com)
**************************
99 % of death sentence prisoners escape gallows
Lost in the cacophony of human rights activists protesting against death
penalty after Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru's hanging, is an
interesting statistic that reveals the working of the Indian judicial system.
Of the 1460 persons sentenced to death in India between 2001 to 2011, only 4
have been hanged -- Afzal Guru, Ajmal Kasab, Auto Shankar and Dhananjoy
Chatterjee.
The National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB) statistics reveal that an average of
146 death sentences are awarded by Indian courts every year. Amnesty
International estimates that 140 people are sentenced to death every year in
India. The NCRB stats also reveal that in the same period, various higher
courts commuted death sentences of 4,321 convicts to life imprisonment. In
spite of so many death sentences passed by Indian courts, nearly 99 % convicts
never face the gallows.
Among the 139 countries where the death penalty is part of penal provisions,
Saudi Arabia tops the list of executions -- an average of 275 a year --
followed by the US, where an average of 50 convicts are sent to the electric
chair or the gurney for lethal injections. India executed 2 persons in 2012,
its highest in 20 years.
In India, in the aftermath of the Delhi gangrape, the number of death sentences
pronounced by the lower courts has grown remarkably. Courts in western Odisha
have sentenced at least five persons to death for rape and murder.
On 23rd March, a Mumbai sessions court awarded the death sentence to 2 persons
for murdering a minor. A fortnight earlier, Binay Bagdi was sentenced to death
by the Burdwan sessions court for raping and strangling a minor.
In the last 9 months, courts in Bihar have sentenced 4 to death; Jharkhand 2,
Punjab 3, and MP 12. Obtaining the exact numbers of death sentences awarded by
all lower courts across the country takes time to be tabulated, since
procedural delays mean it takes more than a year for all data to be compiled.
At the moment, 404 convicts are in the death row in various prisons across the
country and 64,000 murder convicts are in jails serving time. Another 52,000
are accused of murder.
(source: The New Indian Exress)
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