June 24
THE MALDIVES:
Bill proposing death by hanging rejected
Parliament on Monday threw out the bill proposing to enforce the death penalty
by hanging.
The bill proposed by Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed was rejected during parliament
sitting after 26 MPs voted against with only 18 in favor.
Most members who spoke during the debate on the bill last Wednesday said a
specific law is not even required to implement the death penalty as Islamic
Sharia allows capital punishment. The bill is designed to accuse the parliament
of dragging its feet over implementing the death penalty, some MPs had alleged.
If the bill is passed with the current plight of the judicial system, many
innocents will be put to death by the State, other MPs had alleged.
Meanwhile, the government has also drafted a death penalty bill proposing
execution by lethal injection. However, the bill which has been opened for
public opinion is yet to submitted to the parliament.
(source: Haveeru.com)
IRAN----executions
4 hanged in Shahrekord including a woman
A man convicted to drug trafficking was hanged in public and 3 others including
a woman were hanged in the Central Prison of the city of Shahrekord.
The death sentence of a man convicted of drug trafficking was issued in the 1st
branch of the Revolutionary Court in Shahrekord and carried out on Thursday,
June 20 in his own district, Mahdieh of Shahrekord City.
The death penalties of 3 others including a woman were also verified by the
public prosecutor and carried out in the city's Central Prison.
(source: NCRI)
SINGAPORE----mother faces death penalty
Mother accused of murdering son found to be of sound mind
The mother accused of murdering her 9-year-old son in West Coast has been found
to be of sound mind.
Rebecca Loh Chui Lai allegedly caused the death of Gabriel Loh, who was found
lying unconscious at the foot of a block of flats at West Coast Road on 1 June.
The boy was declared dead shortly after 7pm, less than an hour after he was
sent to the National University Hospital (NUH).
It is understood that the boy attended a special needs school.
On Monday, the court heard that Loh was remanded for psychiatric assessment and
was found to be of sound mind.
The prosecution said the 31-year-old is fit for court proceedings.
She has been remanded to help with further investigations.
If convicted of murder, Loh faces the death penalty.
(source: channelnewsasia)
SUDAN:
Sudan ex-intelligence boss faces charges
Sudan's once-powerful intelligence chief has been charged with plotting against
the state and could face the death penalty, his lawyer said on Monday as he
tries to get the charges withdrawn.
Salah Gosh has been detained since November in connection with the alleged coup
plot against the 24-year regime of President Omar al-Bashir.
Gosh was charged several days ago under the criminal code and anti-terrorism
law for his alleged role in the conspiracy, the lawyer, Ali Al-Saeed, told AFP.
"We believe he is not guilty of all these charges," said Al-Saeed.
He is seeking to have the charges thrown out before the case goes to trial.
Gosh headed Sudan's national intelligence service for about a decade until
Bashir replaced him in 2009.
During his tenure Gosh boosted cooperation with the American Central
Intelligence Agency.
After leaving the security service he became presidential security adviser but
was sacked in early 2011.
He had been pushing for dialogue with the political opposition.
In April Bashir pardoned about 15 security agents and military men who had been
jailed for their roles in the coup plot.
Analysts say the case reflects a political struggle within Bashir's government.
Officials have never revealed more than vague details about the conspiracy
which analysts said was linked to hardcore Islamist officers who had once
firmly backed the regime.
Gosh himself is not part of the Islamist camp.
(source: News24)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistani Premier Calls for Prosecution of Mosharaf for Treason
Pakistan's premier said Monday that the military ruler who ousted him in a coup
over a decade ago should be tried for treason, but the government stopped short
of pressing official charges.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spoke in parliament as the Supreme Court held a
hearing on a possible treason case against Parvez Mosharaf. The former military
ruler can only be tried for treason if the federal government presses charges
against him.
Sharif said the government agrees with the Supreme Court's decision that
Mosharaf committed treason under Article 6 of the constitution when he declared
a state of emergency in 2007 and suspended the constitution. Trying Mosharaf
for treason could set up a clash with the country's powerful army.
"The prime minister is under oath to protect, preserve and defend the
constitution and it is implicit in his oath that his government ensures that
persons guilty of acts under Article 6 are brought to justice," Sharif said in
parliament, AP reported.
The premier was reading from a statement that was submitted to the Supreme
Court by Attorney General Munir Malik on Monday. The statement did not mention
Mosharaf's ouster of Sharif in a coup in 1999 when he was serving as army
chief, perhaps because the move was retroactively approved by the Supreme Court
and parliament at the time.
"Mosharaf has to answer for all his deeds in court," Sharif said in a separate
part of the speech.
But the government stopped short of actually pressing charges against Mosharaf
and said it will consult with other political parties on the matter, leaving
open the possibility that it could still choose to abandon the case at some
point in the future. Mosharaf would be the 1st military ruler tried for treason
in a country that has experienced 3 military coups in its nearly 66-year
history.
"The federal government will proceed in accordance with the law and also take
political forces into confidence through a consultative process so that the
collective will and wisdom of the people of Pakistan is duly reflected in
further process in this behalf."
Mosharaf, who is currently under house arrest in connection with a separate
case, could face the death penalty or life in prison if he is convicted of
treason. But some analysts doubt the army, which is considered the country's
most powerful institution, would allow that to happen and could intervene to
prevent it. Mosharaf has maintained his innocence.
Mosharaf returned to Pakistan in March after years in self-imposed exile, with
the hope of running in the national election that was held in May. But he was
disqualified from participating in the vote because of his actions while in
power and has spent most of his time battling legal cases. The government has
barred him from leaving the country while the cases are in progress.
The caretaker government that ruled the country in the run-up to the election
declined to press treason charges against Mosharaf, telling the Supreme Court
that the issue was outside its mandate.
Supreme Court judges quizzed the attorney general on Monday about the
government's specific plans to bring charges against Mosharaf. Malik requested
30 days to prepare a plan. The judges ordered him to appear before the court
again on Thursday to provide an update.
(source: Fars News Agency)
BANGLADESH:
Bangladesh Orders War Crime Trial of Top UK Muslim
Bangladesh war crimes court ordered a British-based Muslim leader and a U.S.
citizen to be tried in absentia for the murder of 19 intellectuals during the
1971 independence war, prosecutors said.
The country's much criticized International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) charged
Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan with 11 "crimes against humanity"
violations including murder, confinement, abduction and torture.
"They have been charged with the murder of 19 top intellectuals during the war.
They included writers, university professors, doctors and journalists," senior
prosecutor Ziad Al Malum told AFP, adding that both face the death penalty if
convicted. Rana Dasgupta, another prosecutor, told AFP that the court "has
fixed July 15 for the opening statement" in their trial.
Some of the intellectuals the two men are accused of murdering, Malum said, are
Sirajuddin Hossain, the executive editor of the Ittefaq daily newspaper; top
playwright and Dhaka University professor Muneer Chowdhury; and the popular
novelist Shahidullah Kaiser.
Both Mueen-Uddin and Khan were born in what was then East Pakistan before the
nine-month war of independence against West Pakistan that ended in December
1971. They fled the country after Bangladesh successfully proclaimed its
independence.
"Mueen-Uddin is living in Britain and Khan in the United States. The court has
ordered the trial to be held in absentia and has provided defense lawyers for
them," Malum said, adding the court was not seeking their extradition. "It's up
to the British people and their government whether they are going to extradite
a top war criminal accused or not," he said.
Mueen-Uddin, 64, has held positions in a host of top Islamic organizations in
his adopted homeland of Britain and was involved in setting up the Muslim
Council of Britain - the largest umbrella group in the UK representing Muslims.
The London-based former journalist, who denies any wrongdoing, was a newspaper
reporter in the impoverished South Asian country when the war of independence
broke out. He is accused of being a leading member of the notorious Al-Badr
militia and of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami political party, which
opposed the country's break-away from Pakistan.
Mueen-Uddin would face the death penalty if convicted and extradited, although
historically, Britain has always refused extradition requests if the charges
carry a death sentence.
Last week Mueen-Uddin told the BBC that he did not have confidence in the
tribunal. "I am happy to respond to these charges in an open and fair court of
law that is recognized by the international community," he said. "But I have
little faith that the current process in Bangladesh is open nor just."
Khan, a United States citizen, was a Dhaka University student leader during the
war and who is now believed to be living in New York. Prosecutors described him
as the "chief executor" for the Al-Badr militia. He has yet to make any public
statement on the allegations.
The tribunal has already charged 12 people with war crimes. 4 Islamists have
been sentenced, 3 of whom have been handed down death sentences by hanging,
including the vice-president of Jamaat-e-Islami.
Deadly protests over the trials have gripped the impoverished Muslim-majority
country since January, when the court started handing out verdicts.
Bangladesh has struggled to come to terms with its violent birth. The current
government says up to three million people were killed in the war, many
murdered by locals who collaborated with Pakistani forces. Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina's government established the ICT in 2010 to try the
collaborators, but it has been hit by a series of controversies, with Human
Rights Watch further adding that the tribunal's procedures fall short of
international standards.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
CHINA:
Man gets death for killing 7 in 9 days
A man who went on a killing spree across three provinces with a friend last
year has received the death penalty.
Liu Qizhi, 19, killed 7 people - including a pregnant woman - during a violent
rampage that lasted 9 days.
His accomplice, identified by authorities only as Fu, was sentenced to life in
prison, a more lenient punishment because he was under 18 at the time of the
killings, Legal Daily reported on Sunday.
The 2 were sentenced at Qujing Intermediate People's Court in Yunnan province
on Thursday.
Both defendants will be stripped of their political rights for life and their
personal property is to be confiscated.
Liu and Fu met at high school in Wugang, Hunan province. They dropped out and
devised a plan to steal money in the summer, Legal Daily reported.
In April, the Qujing court found them guilty of killing 2 couples in Hunan and
Guangdong provinces in August. They stole 3,000 yuan ($490) in cash from 1
couple.
The duo then killed another victim in Fuyuan county in Yunnan on Aug 29 - this
time for just 90 yuan. One day later, they killed a 5-month-pregnant hotel
owner and her 2-year-old daughter in the county.
From Aug 21 to Aug 30, they killed 7 people, police said.
Police caught Fu in Jiangxi province on Sept 6. Liu was detained on the same
day at a hotel in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.
During the hearings in Qujing, the 2 confessed to all of the killings.
Liu and Fu's family were ordered to pay 250,000 yuan in compensation, which
will be shared by the victims' families.
Investigations showed that the 2 were from poor families.
Liu said he quit school because his performance was poor, and that he was
criticized by school authorities for violating regulations.
(source: China Daily )
*******************
Key questions never asked in graft probe of ex-railways chief Liu Zhijun;
Length of probe into Liu Zhijun indicated scale of misdeeds, but murky details
of a web of corruption were not clarified in swift trial
Former railways minister Liu Zhijun stood in a Beijing court on June 9 facing
charges of bribery and abuse of power in one of the country's most sensational
trials of recent years.
The court did not announce its verdict, but Liu faces life in prison or the
death penalty.
Apparently, the authorities intend to come down hard on Liu to show its
determination to fight corruption and salvage the reputation and image of
China's trillion-yuan high-speed railway system. It went ahead in leaps and
bounds under Liu but also was tarnished by safety concerns and mismanagement,
particularly following the fatal crash that killed 40 passengers and injured
more than 170 in Wenzhou in 2011.
Unfortunately, Liu's long investigation and trial have raised more important
questions about the country's judicial system and anti-corruption efforts.
Liu disappeared from public view and was believed to be being dealt with by the
Communist Party's anti-graft investigators since February 2011, before he was
formally charged this month. The length of the investigation indicated the
complexity and scale of his irregularities.
According to the indictment, he took advantage of his position and helped 11
people win promotions and contracts, and accepted 64.6 million yuan (HK$80.9
million) in bribes between 1986 and 2011.
But his trial lasted just 3 1/2 hours, including the reading of the indictment
and arguments from prosecutors and defence lawyers.
The trial's brevity even shocked many mainland criminal lawyers accustomed to
such summary proceedings. Some have openly wondered in state media if the trial
was just a show and whether Liu received any real defence.
The pressure from their peers was so strong that Liu's 2 court-appointed
lawyers were forced to defend themselves in long media interviews.
Those interviews, together with the indictment and the state media reports,
have shed interesting light on how the prosecutors built the case and the
loopholes that exist in the judicial system.
According to the indictment, Liu received 15.61 million yuan from 10 people,
most of whom were former railways officials and Liu's close allies seeking
promotions.
The remaining 49 million yuan came from a businesswoman named Ding Shumiao ,
the key beneficiary of Liu's abuse of power. At Liu's instruction, Ding used
the money to bribe other officials in an attempt to clear another former senior
official who was implicated in corruption in 2007. In the end, the official
concerned was jailed for 14 years in 2009 for receiving 1.9 million yuan in
bribes and failing to account for 3.97 million yuan in assets.
Liu's lawyers argued in the court that the 49 million yuan should not have been
included in the charges against Liu as the money did not belong to him.
Interestingly, while the prosecutors admitted the 49 million yuan as part of
the evidence, they excluded much larger amounts Ding spent or held for him.
According to state media, Ding spent 50 million yuan on a TV drama series based
on the classic novel The Dream of Red Mansion and managed to get several of the
actresses to sleep with Liu, prompting speculation that Ding financed the
production with this in mind.
More importantly, Ding and her family made nearly 4 billion yuan on contracts
on the high-speed railway network because of Liu's help.
Liu reportedly asked Ding to hold the 4 billion yuan for him as he wanted it to
pay bribes for further career promotions. Before his downfall, Liu was already
a powerful cabinet minister and a member of the party's central committee. It
has made people shudder at the thought of what he had in mind - a Politburo
member?
That also explains why he was able to rule the railways ministry for nearly 10
years despite much speculation that he was corrupt. According to the
indictment, the charges against him covered a period of 25 years from 1986 to
2011.
How was he allowed to climb up and carry on for so long? Who were his
protectors in the leadership and how much money did they receive?
Those are the interesting questions anti-graft investigators have never
bothered to explore.
(source: South China Morning Post)
BELARUS:
Belarusian Orthodox Church wants death penalty to be abolished
The Belarusian Orthodox Church said the death penalty must be abolished. But it
also said that this problem should not be politicized.
"The Belarusian Orthodox Church drew citizens' attention to the problem of the
death penalty back in the 1990s. In 1996, on the eve of a national referendum
which dealt with the death penalty among other issues, we urged the Belarusian
people to give up this punishment," Metropolitan of Minsk and Sluzk and
Patriarchal Exarch to all Belarus Filaret said in a message of greetings to a
roundtable conference on religion and the death penalty in Minsk.
"We, Christians, cannot justify the death penalty, because it is the sin of
murder. Any life belongs to God as its creator. It is not us, the sinful, who
give one the gift of life. It is not for us to take one's life away. Our Lord,
Jesus Christ, sacrificed His life for each of us after suffering humiliation,
torture and death on the Cross. By subjecting its citizens to the death penalty
the state crucifies Christ again and again," Metropolitan Filaret said.
"That was our position when the referendum was held. It has not changed," he
said.
Citing the fundamentals of the Russian Orthodox Church's social concept,
Metropolitan Filaret said that, "many countries have abolished the death
penalty and do not practice it." "Remembering that mercy is always better than
revenge, the Church welcomes such steps," he said.
He also said that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and his predecessor
Patriarch Alexy II both spoke in favor of abolishing the death penalty.
(source: Interfax)
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