Aug. 19
VIETNAM:
Vietnam court sentences Nigerian man to death for drug trafficking
A Ho Chi Minh City court Monday sentenced a Nigerian man to death for smuggling
more than 3.4 kilograms of methamphetamine from Thailand into Vietnam in 2012.
Ejiogu Benjamin Ikechukwu has smuggled a large quantity of drugs and the crime
is considered "extremely serious", the court said.
Ikechukwu was arrested on June 23, 2012 when he was entering Vietnam through
the Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.
Customs officers found he had hidden the methamphetamine inside 16 metal
cylinders and a laptop adapter.
He confessed he was transporting the cylinders and adapter for a man named
Onyekachi, who is still at large. This man told him that some one would find
him to receive the consignment.
In Vietnam, which has some of the world's toughest drug laws, death is
stipulated as a punishment for those convicted of smuggling more than 2.5
kilograms of methamphetamine.
Those convicted of producing or selling 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of
other illegal narcotics can also face the death penalty.
Last October, Vietnam sentenced a 61-year-old Filipina to death after she was
caught smuggling 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of methamphetamine into the country.
In June 2012, a Ho Chi Minh City court handed down the death penalty to a
23-year-old female student from Thailand for trafficking 3 kilograms of
methamphetamine from Benin to Vietnam.
Death penalty statistics are not released in Vietnam, but the punishment is
handed down most frequently to those convicted of murder or drug-trafficking.
Vietnam officially switched from the firing squad to lethal injection in
November 2011.
However, a lack of lethal injection doses led to a delay of executions because
the original decree stipulated that the drugs be imported from the European
Union (EU).
The EU banned the exportation of lethal injection drugs because it regards
capital punishment to be a violation of human rights.
The Vietnamese government later amended the decree, which took effect on June
27, allowing domestic-made drugs.
Last August, Vietnam executed its 1st prisoner by lethal injection, ending a
2-year pause in capital punishment.
There are currently 586 people on the death row in the country.
(source: Thanh Nien News)
IRAQ----executions
Iraq executes 17 prisoners over terror acts: ministry
The Iraqi Ministry of Justice on Monday announced that it executed 17 convicted
prisoners, including an Egyptian and 2 Iraqi women, over terror charges and
criminal acts.
"The Ministry of Justice carried out executions of 17 convicts with most of
penalties over terror charges, and their rules were final decisions signed by
the presidency," the ministry said in a statement.
16 of the convicts were executed in accordance with the anti-terrorism law,
including the Egyptian and the 2 women, while the other one was over criminal
offense, it said.
The increasing of executions in Iraq sparked calls to stop use of capital
punishment by the UN mission in Iraq, the European Union and some international
human rights groups, which have criticized the lack of transparency in the
proceedings of the Iraqi courts.
Death penalty in Iraq was suspended by the then US administrator for Iraq Paul
Bremer on June 10, 2003, about a year after the US-led invasion.
However, the Iraqi government reinstated it on Aug. 8, 2004, saying it would
curb the widespread violence in the country. Since then, scores of people have
been executed, including toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
(source: Global Times)
INDONESIA:
New hope for Redcar drugs case woman facing death by firing squad
A North-East grandmother may avoid death by firing squad in Bali by being
extradited back to Britain.
Lindsay Sandiford, 57, originally from Redcar, has been sentenced to death by a
court in Indonesia for bringing cocaine worth 1.6m pounds into the country.
However Foreign Office minister, Baroness Warsi has personally brought up the
case with a high-ranking minister in the Indonesian government.
It has been reported Baroness Warsi has asked that Sandiford and another Briton
on death row, Gareth Cashmere, to be allowed to serve out jail terms in the UK.
In return Indonesia's justice minister, Amir Syamsuddin, has asked that Britain
extradite Rafat Ali Rizvi, a 52-year-old British national sentenced in his
absence to 15 years in 2010 for allegedly stealing funds from Indonesia's
collapsed bank Century.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office did not confirm the details of any proposed
deal between Britain and Indonesia, but confirmed a meeting between the
ministers had taken place. He said: "We are aware that Lindsay Sandiford is
facing the death penalty in Indonesia. We strongly object to the death penalty
and continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay and her family during
this difficult time.
"We have made repeated representations to the Indonesia authorities and
Baroness Warsi raised Lindsay Sandiford's case with Amir Syamsuddin, Indonesian
Minister of Law and Human Rights on Tuesday, July 30."
Balinese police claim Sandiford, now of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was at the
centre of a drugs-importing ring involving three other Britons. However she
claims she was forced to transport the drugs to protect her children, whose
safety was at stake.
The British Government refused to fund Sandiford's 1st legal challenge. However
she has raised more than 10,000 pounds from public donations through a
fundraising web page. The pressure group Reprieve has also taken up her case.
Sandiford was arrested at Bali's airport in May, 2012 after 4.8kg of cocaine
was found in the lining of her suitcase.
She has lost her 1st appeal but in May launched a 2nd bid to overturn the death
penalty in the Bali High Court.
Cashmere, a 34-year-old roofer from Wakefield, was convicted for smuggling
14lbs for crystal meth.
(source: The Northern Echo)
CHINA:
Executions In China Declining
Transcript
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
China executes more people each year than the rest of the world put together.
That's according to human rights groups. China's government doesn't release
execution figures, but it appears that executions in China are declining. Last
year, an estimated 3,000 people were put to death. That's down from an average
of 15,000 per year in the 1990s. In the 1980s, 24,000 people were sentenced to
death in one year alone.
Gady Epstein is the China correspondent for The Economist magazine. And he's
written an article about changes in how the death penalty is applied in China.
Gady Epstein joins us from Beijing. Thank you so much for being with us.
GADY EPSTEIN: Thank you for having me, Rachel.
MARTIN: So, if we could back up a bit and have you explain how China came to
have such high numbers of executions in the first place?
EPSTEIN: In the 1980s, as China had opened up politically, one way of
maintaining social order was to institute a very tough criminal justice system.
And they did this with these Strike Hard campaigns that started in 1983. And
that's the year - that 1st year of Strike Hard is when they sentenced 24,000
people to death. These campaigns continue through the '80s and '90s.
MARTIN: You have a provocative quotation in your piece when you talk about that
period of time. You write: The government believes that, quote, "When there is
a chance to kill or not to kill, choose to kill."
EPSTEIN: That's right, and these were in cases not just of murder, but of
aggravated robbery, drug trafficking. And so, when the lower courts were told
to err on the side of execution, they did.
MARTIN: How do we know the executions have been declining now? I mean, who
tracks these statistics? Where do they get their information?
EPSTEIN: The actual figures are a state secret. So there's only one group that
really tries to put an estimate on the number of executions in China. That's
the Dui Hua Foundation out of San Francisco. This number - this is an imperfect
science. So Dui Hua is doing this based on a little bit of guesswork. But
scholars broadly agree with their figures.
So, in 2002, their estimate is that they've executed 12,000 people. 2012, their
estimate is that they've executed 3,000 people, a decline of 75 %.
MARTIN: Do you have any idea what has motivated this change by the government?
Is it purely pragmatic; you can't just kill everyone was accused of a certain
level of crime? Or is their moral dimension to it? Is it just embarrassing?
EPSTEIN: I think it's a combination of those. One significant milestone came in
2007 when the Supreme People's Court began to review every single death penalty
case, and probably is the one factor that's most chiefly responsible for the
reduction in executions overall. I think the people who were evolving in the
system in the '80s and '90s - people who were trained in law - they paid
attention to the fact that international public opinion was horrified at the
number of people being executed in China, to the extent that it was kind of a
public issue.
And this gets at why this decline was not really well noticed, is because the
number of people that China executes every year is not widely publicized in
itself, because it's a state secret. So similarly, the decline has happened
very quietly.
MARTIN: I imagine though there would be critics out there who would then argue
that keeping that same person in prison for a life sentence is also expensive.
EPSTEIN: I don't think that's an issue that's there. They don't spend that kind
of money that America spends to incarcerate its convicts. The conditions here
for people in prison are pretty bleak. Actually, what I think that raises is
another point, which is that even though many fewer people are being executed,
a lot of those people who aren't being executed are being put away for life in
a system that still doesn't guarantee a fair trial - and far from it.
MARTIN: Gady Epstein is the China correspondent for The Economist. He joined us
from Beijing. Gady, thank you so much for taking the time.
EPSTEIN: Thank you, Rachel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
(source: KTEP News)
PAKISTAN:
LHC rejects GHQ attack convict's appeal against death sentence
The Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench on Monday rejected an appeal of Aqeel
Ahmed alias Dr Usman against the death sentence for the 2009 attack on the Army
General Headquarters (GHQ).
The bench comprising Justice Mazhar Iqbal and Justice Ibadur Rahman Lodhi,
observed that the government had not yet decided on the implementation of
capital punishment. The appeal could be heard after the government takes a
decision on the matter, it added.
Usman, a former soldier of the Pak Army's Medical Corps, was convicted in the
GHQ attack in August 2011 and given death penalty by a military court. His
earlier appeal against the sentence was rejected.
(source: Associated Press of Pakistan)
*****************
Government Re-impose Temporary Ban on Moratorium
Pakistan government announced to lift temporary ban on moratorium imposed by
outgoing president Asif Ali Zardari. State further announced to go ahead with
executions including some hard core militants to curb militancy and terrorism.
Black warrants of at least 4 death row prisoners were issued and they were
scheduled to be hanged during August 2013. However, government plans suffered a
major blow when President re-imposed ban on moratorium and wrote to prime
Minister that he wants to discuss the matter with him in coming week.
Following the president's letter to discuss the issue, Prime Minister has once
again ordered to halt the executions till his meeting with the president
regarding the matter.
Prior to the decision, death warrants of 2 Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militants were
issued and both of them were scheduled to be executed on August 22. LeJ
militants Attaullah alias Qasim and Muhammad Azam alias Sharif were convicted
in July 2004 by ATC for killing Dr. Ali Raza Pirani in soldier bazar Karachi.
The Pakistan government also stopped the execution of Munir Hussain, a death
row prisoner in district jail Vehari at the last moment. He received death
penalty after he was convicted in a murder case.
"The process of execution of a death-row prisoner has been halted last minute
at the district jail Vehari in pursuance of orders by the president to this
effect," District Jail Superintendent said.
(source: Pakistan Tribune)
**********************
No amendment in capital punishment law, clarifies PM House
A spokesman of Prime Minister House on Sunday clarified that no amendment has
been made in the law pertaining to capital punishment.
The spokesman said President Asif Ali Zardari was on a foreign tour; therefore
the matter has not been discussed with him by the PM. He said the president is
authorized to convert the death penalty into life imprisonment. He said that
the president had shown desire to held meeting with the prime minister.
Sources claimed that the Interior Ministry had sent summary about executions of
20 death row prisoners, but the Presidency hadn't responded as yet.
On the other hand a private TV channel has said that Prime Minister Mian Nawaz
Sharif in a letter sent to the presidency has clarified that the sentences
awarded to the prisoners would be implemented at every cost and no pressure
would be tolerated in this regard. The reply says the non-implementation of the
punishments awarded to the accused give further encourage the terrorists.
The reply says the accused would have to face the music at every cost. The
reply says that the government will not come in the pressure of any threats and
will not accept any pressure.
(source: South Asian News Agency)
INDIA:
Rapist-murderers' final attempt to evade the gallows; Duo move SC; seek life
term instead of death penalty.
Rape convicts on death row, Shivu Munishetty and Jadeswamy Rangashetty, have
moved the Supreme Court, seeking commutation of their death penalty to life
imprisonment, while the gallows await them at the Hindalga Central Prison.
The mercy petitions of Munishetty, 34, and Rangashetty, 36, who were convicted
for the rape and murder of an 18-year-old girl in Bhadrayanahalli in 2001, were
rejected by president Pranab Mukherjee. They were sentenced to be hanged on or
before Thursday.
However, the 2 stand a chance to escape the noose as have murder accused
Saibanna Ningappa Natikar and aides of slain forest brigand Veerappan -
Gnanprakasham, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran.
Natikar was convicted of killing his two wives and a daughter. He was sentenced
to death in 2005 for murdering his 2nd wife Nagavva and daughter Vijayalakshmi
in 1994, when he was out on parole from a life sentence for killing his 1st
wife, Malakamma in 1992.
Natikar was the 2nd person whose mercy petition was rejected by the president
after that of Ajmal Kasab, who was hanged on November 21, 2012.
Though Natikar's petition was supported by 14 former judges to reduce the death
sentence into life imprisonment, president Mukherjee kept aside the opinion by
stating that capital punishment is compulsory for any prisoner convicted for
the 2nd time.
Natikar, who was expected to be hanged in January 2013, escaped by approaching
the Karnataka high court, taking contention of avoidable delay in deciding
mercy petition. However, his petition is still pending before the court.
About a month after the incident, it was the turn of Veerappan's associates to
give the gallows a miss. Gnanprakasham, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran
were incarcerated in the Hindalga prison in 2004 for killing 22 policemen and
forest personnel from Tamil Nadu in a landmine blast at Palar, Karnataka, in
1993.
They escaped death penalty by filing a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking
commutation of their death penalty to life imprisonment. Munishetty and
Rangashetty hope to emulate the success of Natikar and Veerappan's aides in
deflecting the gallows by questioning the delay in deciding on their mercy
petition.
According to rules, convicts should be hanged within 14 days of rejection of
mercy petition by the president.
It is also learnt that the convicted approached the SC on Saturday and their
petition will be heard on Monday. If they succeed, the 37th hanging of the jail
will be postponed indefinitely for the 3rd time.
Hindalga Central Prison witnessed its last execution in 1983.
(source: DNA India)
*******************
Rapist-killers may be hanged next week
The spotlight is on Hindalga Jail again after President Pranab Mukherjee
rejected the mercy plea of 2 of its convicts, Shivu Munishetty and Jadeswamy
Rangashetty. According to reliable sources, jail authorities have gone to the
Chamarajanagar session court to get the execution warrant, also called a black
warrant.
The duo is likely to be hanged on or before August 22. The last hanging at this
jail was in 1983.
(source: The Times of India)
DR CONGO:
Imprisoned Norwegian Tjostolv Moland dies in DR Congo
Tjostolv Moland, 1 of 2 Norwegian citizens imprisoned in the Democratic
Republic of Congo on murder charges since 2009, has died, officials say.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Mr Moland was found dead in
his cell on Sunday morning and that his family had been informed.
Mr Moland and British-Norwegian citizen Joshua French were sentenced to death
in 2009 for murdering their driver.
The 2 former soldiers were also convicted of spying for Norway.
"We have been informed today that Tjostolv Moland is dead. He was found in his
prison cell in Kinshasa this morning," Mr Eide told reporters.
The cause of death was not immediately clear, says lawyer Hans Marius
Graasvold.
"Conditions have been better now for the past year than they were, because they
were transferred a year ago, but still it is a prison in Congo and they have
been on death row and it has been hard both physically but also mentally for
them," Mr Graasvold told the BBC World Service's Newsday programme.
Mr French, who had been informed of Mr Moland's death, was upset but in good
health, he added.
"He's in shock; he has just lost his very good friend, but he is a very
sensible person so he is dealing with this as best he can," said Mr Graasvold.
The 2 men were convicted in the north-eastern city of Kisangani for the murder
of their driver, Abedi Kasongo, and attempted murder of a witness. They were
also found guilty of spying after military ID cards were found on them.
Both men have maintained their innocence.
The Norwegian government, which denied accusations that they were spies, had
previously asked the Congolese authorities to allow both men to serve their
sentences in Norway.
After their conviction, both men reportedly wrote to Congolese President Joseph
Kabila asking for a pardon or for their death sentence to be commuted to life
imprisonment and to be served in Norway.
Mr Moland, 32, worked with the Norwegian military until 2007, at which point he
and Mr French started working for private security companies in Africa.
They claimed they were in DR Congo to research setting up their own security
company.
They said they had hired Mr Kasongo as a driver after their motorbike broke
down but that he was killed when they were ambushed by gunmen in the jungle.
While the verdict was overturned by a high military court in early 2010, a new
panel of judges convicted them in a retrial later the same year.
Mr French, 31, was born in Norway to a British father and Norwegian mother, and
lived in Margate, Kent, as a child.
He moved back to Norway when his parents divorced, but returned to the UK aged
20 and served in the British Army.
The UK-based legal charity Reprieve has strongly condemned the conviction of
the 2 men.
(source: BBC News)
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