Aug. 31
INDONESIA:
Govt will not swap Sandiford with Rizvi
Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin said on Friday that Indonesia
would not swap British Lindsay June Sandiford - a narcotics convict on death
row - with Rafat Ali Rizvi, a British national convicted of fraud for his role
in the Bank Century scandal.
The minister made the statement in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that
rejected Sandiford's appeal of her death sentence for smuggling 3.8 kilograms
of cocaine into the resort island of Bali.
A prisoner swap could only be carried only if there were regulations to
implement it Amir said on Friday on the sidelines of an event at the State
Palace.
In January, the Denpasar District Court handed a death penalty to the British
national despite the prosecutors' demand that she be jailed for 15 years. The
Bali High Court upheld the verdict in April.
Rizvi, a 52-year-old British national was sentenced in absentia to 15 years by
the Central Jakarta District Court in 2010 for numerous counts of bank fraud
that led to financial difficulties prior to the Bank Century bailout scandal.
Rizvi, the former owner of Bank Century, along with convicted Saudi Arabian
national Hesham al Warraq, fled overseas in April last year and stashed their
stolen money in Hong Kong and Europe, according to the National Police.
In total, the pair embezzled around Rp 12 trillion of bank assets, according to
the Attorney General's Office (AGO) in November 2009. Bank Century, now renamed
Bank Mutiara, received a state bailout worth Rp 6.7 trillion after its
near-collapse in 2008.
Amir denied there were talks between the 2 governments about a swap following
British media reports.
However, according to the ministry's website, Amir is known to have visited the
UK recently and met with some officials including the Senior Minister of State
at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Minister for Faith and Communities
Baroness Warsi "to increase legal cooperation between Indonesia and the UK
related to the asset recovery from and extradition process of Rizvi to
Indonesia".
Supreme Court spokesman Ridwan Mansyur said the cessation panel never
considered anything related to politics in issuing its verdict. "The judges
[only looked at the facts] for example, she was found guilty of bringing a
considerable amount of cocaine into Indonesia."
(source: The Jakarta Post)
****************************************
Justice has not been served for Lindsay Sandiford ---- More needs to be done to
support the hundreds of Brits arrested abroad every year
Yesterday Lindsay Sandiford's appeal against her death sentence was rejected by
Indonesia's Supreme Court.
2 further appeals are available to her. The 1st, a judicial appeal, would
require new evidence. The 2nd, clemency, is very rarely granted.
Justice has not been done. Lindsay is caught between 2 legal systems and as a
result has not had adequate legal support. The Indonesian government supports
the defence of Indonesian citizens abroad, but not foreign nationals in
Indonesia. The UK government refused to pay for Lindsay's legal defence, or
appeal. In refusing to do so, they have arguably violated obligations under
international law that prohibit aiding the commission of human rights abuses.
In the end it was left to the British public to step in and fund her most
recent appeal. They donated over 10,000 pounds in a heroic opposition to this
injustice.
Lindsay thanked her supporters in an open letter published by Reprieve. She
also said:
"There are others who are even more desperate than me, other British people who
face execution without anyone on their side."
She is right. Over a thousand Brits are currently imprisoned abroad, and many
face similar issues (although only a minority face the death penalty).
Many, like Lindsay, will not have access to adequate legal defence. Those
facing trial can expect to be defended by an over-worked lawyer who does not
speak or understand their language. Translation services are not universally
available (although this will change in the EU later this year).
(source: The Independent)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Govt vows to support death-row woman
The government yesterday vowed to support a woman on death row in Indonesia for
drug smuggling as she mulls her next step after the country's top court
rejected her appeal.
3 judges at the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld the death sentence
handed down to Lindsay Sandiford in January after she was caught trying to
bring $2.4mn worth of cocaine into the resort island of Bali last year.
It was the 57-year-old's 2nd appeal, and she now has just two more chances to
get the sentence overturned and avoid the firing squad. She can seek a judicial
review of the top court's decision, but to do so she must show the judges in
her case were negligent or find new evidence to present. Otherwise, she can
appeal to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for a pardon.
Death row convicts in Indonesia rarely succeed in getting their sentences
reduced, however.
A spokesman for the British embassy in Jakarta said London would support
Sandiford's efforts.
"In line with our strong opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances,
we will consider how to support any application for judicial review or clemency
that Sandiford chooses to make," he said.
The death sentence handed to Sandiford came as a shock after prosecutors
recommended just 15 years in jail. Police said she was at the centre of a
drugs-importing ring involving 3 other Britons but Sandiford argued she was
forced to transport the drugs to protect her children whose safety was at
stake.
Britain has previously raised concerns about Sandiford's treatment in Bali's
notorious Kerobokan jail, alleging in papers submitted to a court in the
island's capital Denpasar that officials threatened her with a gun and deprived
her of sleep.
In April, the British grandmother lost her attempt to get the government in
London to fund her legal case. Members of the public have donated thousands of
pounds to help fund her fight.
(source: Gulf Times)
TRINIDAD:
De la Bastide: State can carry out death penalty...within 5 years of sentence
Former Caribbean Court of Justice president Michael de la Bastide says as far
as he is concerned, there is nothing to prevent the State from carrying out the
death penalty, provided it is done within 5 years of the accused being
sentenced. He said over the last 20 years or so people convicted of murder were
able to string out appeals and applications to international bodies and the
Privy Council so the 5 years run out while their proceedings are pending.
De la Bastide, former T&T chief justice, was responding to questions from the
Guardian on the ongoing controversy over the death penalty. Prime Minister
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, during a visit to crime hot spot Duncan Street
recently, said the Government is looking at taking the death penalty
legislation back to Parliament. She said recently the death penalty issue would
have been among the top of the list in talks with the Opposition on Thursday.
The PM said the murder rate continues to be very high and noted that, according
to a poll, the majority of citizens appeared to be in favour of the death
penalty. The Opposition, while supporting the death penalty, is of the view the
existing legislation is good enough, that there is no need to fix it to hang
people. Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley said last Monday the PNM informed the
Government of its commitment to uphold the law.
"But the Government must do all the administrative things to comply with the
guidelines set by the Privy Council." Rowley said the Opposition is awaiting
the proposal of the Government on the matter but will not be encouraged to make
bad law. He insisted capital punishment can't be done with proper policing and
said there are only 3 people on death row. He said they have rights which can
further delay the capital punishment process.
De la Bastide said it seems that evidence on which to convict people of murder
is seldom forthcoming. "Many times, witnesses are afraid, and not without good
reason." De la Bastide said even juries seem to lean towards convicting of
manslaughter rather than murder, even when the facts do not justify it. "You do
not see many convictions of murder these days."
He said the prosecution is sometimes fearful witnesses may not come forward and
accept a manslaughter plea, to get a conviction of one sort or another, even
when the facts do not support it. Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence
Maharaj, under whose term druglord Dole Chadee and eight others were hanged
over a 4-day period in 1999, said it was a national joke for the Government to
say hanging would be a deterrent to crime.
Maharaj's main bone of contention was that the detection and conviction rates
of crime were too low and there may not be enough people to hang to send a
message to criminals. Citing police statistics, he said up to August 22, 2013,
there were 250 murders but only 18 people were charged. "In order to carry out
the death penalty, you need to have persons charged and convicted. The
statistics show people are not charged and convicted for 99 % of the murders
that occur."
The rate of detection in everyday crime that affects the average citizen is
also dismally low. "There were 1,649 robberies for the same period but only 193
were charged. There were 1,551 burglaries and break-ins and only 122 were
charged." Maharaj said Attorney General Anand Ramlogan can carry out the death
penalty without any new law using administrative efficiency. "The Prime
Minister and the Attorney General, as senior counsel, should not mislead the
population. They are presumed to know the law."
(source: The Guardian)
PAKISTAN:
Why death sentences were halted
Though some media managers of the PML-N government have tried to throw the ball
in President Zardari's court, official communications reveal it was a Foreign
Office note that resulted in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's decision not to
implement the death sentences permanently.
This has been done for greater economic gains in the form of GSP-plus status
from the European Union (EU), it is reliably learnt. It is now confirmed and
admitted by the top officials of the Foreign Office, the PM secretariat and the
interior ministry that halting of death penalty had nothing to do with either
the letter of the president or the proposed dialogue with the Taliban.
The PML-N government's latest move has halted the implementation of death
sentence of some 90 condemned prisoners, including terrorists from
Lashkar-e-Jhanghvi (LeJ) and other pro-Taliban groups whose mercy appeals were
rejected by the President.
However, the official position of the federal government is that the government
has 'not yet decided to permanently halt the implementation of death penalty'
and a top spokesman told The News "the process has been halted just because of
delay in the proposed meeting between the President and the Prime Minister".
After an application from Islamabad, European Parliament is expected to
consider the GSP-plus status for Pakistan bill in January next year and the EU
has handed over to Pakistan a list containing more than a dozen conditions to
be fulfilled.
These include honouring international conventions on human rights, especially
labour laws, and governance. The EU???s "Generalised Scheme of Preferences"
(GSP) allows developing country exporters to pay lower duties on their exports
to the EU. This gives them vital access to EU markets and contributes to their
economic growth.
The reformed GSP, which will apply from 2014, will further focus support on
countries most in need. According to Muhammad Sarwar, the governor of Punjab,
the GSP-plus status will not only increase foreign reserves of the country, it
will boost textile exports many times and create at least one million jobs.
While Pakistan's application for GSP-status was pending with EU, the new PML-N
government in Islamabad announced abolishing November 2008 moratorium and
starting implementing death sentences. Hanging any condemned prisoner, whose
mercy appeal to the president is rejected, takes 14 days including issuing of
black warrants which are generally shared with press.
The EU responded negatively to the decision and clear messages were sent to
Pakistan through official channels that Pakistan should forget the GSP-status
for its textile exports if it restarts implementation on death penalty. EU also
told Islamabad that it would have to honour all conditions for availing this
status.
According to SOPs, Foreign Office (FO) forwarded the same with the opinion that
Pakistan should honour all conditions to avail this economically beneficial
status.
Contrary to Foreign Office opinion, the interior ministry's opinion was not
tilted in favour or against abolishing the death penalty. Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif who had promised to enforce Islamic laws in Pakistan after coming into
power, according to these official communications, gave his decision on the
file as, "agree with FO view".
This was a big policy decision taken up by the chief executive without any
deliberations or discussions. This could come under criticism from the
religious circles while the business community, especially the textile
exporters, would welcome it. However, as a matter of principle, in a democratic
system, the prime minister should have taken the people into confidence on this
issue in his 1st address to the nation. While the government decided not to go
ahead with death penalty and was deliberating the modalities, the date of
execution of at least 10 condemned prisoners arrived as it was scheduled in the
3rd and 4th week of August. Ridiculously, the media managers decided to take
advantage of a letter of President Asif Ali Zardari seeking a meeting with
Prime Minister on the issue of implementation on the death sentences.
The media was informed that death sentences were halted because of the
President's letter. The prime minister met the president after that but top
government officials maintain that the issue was not discussed, as it was just
a courtesy call at the time of dinner hosted for diplomats by the outgoing
president to which the PM was also invited.
(source: The News)
INDIA:
India Court Finds Teenager Guilty in Delhi Gang-Rape Case
An Indian court found a teenager guilty on Saturday over the fatal gang-rape of
a student in New Delhi, a crime that sparked revulsion and angry protests in
the country, an official said.
"He has been held guilty for rape and murder and sentenced to 3 years subject
to review," Anil Sharma, the chief investigating officer in the case, told
reporters outside the court in the capital, announcing the 1st verdict in the
case.
The teenager, who was 17 at the time of the attack, was given the maximum
penalty allowed after being tried as a juvenile, and the 3 years will include
the time he has already spent in custody.
The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died of internal injuries after being
raped and assaulted with an iron bar allegedly by 6 men on the night of
December 16. Her male companion was also beaten up before both were thrown from
the bus.
The attack brought simmering anger about endemic sex crime in India to the
boil, and sparked weeks of sometimes violent street protests in the country.
The victim's mother emerged from the court in tears, saying "he got just 3
years ... from December onwards he has been given 3 years".
The victim's family had earlier called for the teenager to be given the death
penalty, saying the juvenile justice system, which seeks to reform rather than
punish, was too lenient.
(source: Naharnet)
*************************
'We want hanging': Family of Delhi gang rape victim demand death penalty as
guilty teenager is sentenced to 3 years; Ruling is 1st for 5 males standing
trial for the assault of the 23-year-old student
India is in the grip of a debate over what should happen to a teenager
convicted over his role in the rape and murder of a Delhi student and who was
subsequently sentenced to three years in a juvenile institution.
In the 1st ruling relating to 5 males standing trial for the assault last year
on the 23-year-old physiotherapy student, a juvenile court in Delhi found the
18-year-old guilty, having delayed announcing its decision several times.
Anil Sharma, the chief investigating officer in the case, told the media that
the juvenile had been "held guilty for rape and murder and sentenced to 3
years, subject to review".
Many in India believe the sentence handed down is too lenient and that he
should face the death penalty, given the brutality of the assault. Led by the
family of the young woman, they have called for Indian law to be changed so
that he can be treated as an adult and face the death penalty.
On Saturday, the family of the young woman, who cannot named for legal reasons,
were present to hear the announcement. Even though the sentence was the maximum
available under Indian law, the young woman's family emerged to tearfully
demand a tougher sentence.
"We are not accepting this. This is not true justice," said Gaurav Singh, the
brother of the young woman. "We want hanging."
According to the Associated Press, the mother of the student, Asha Devi, said:
"He should be hanged irrespective of whether he is a juvenile or not. He should
be punished for what he did to my daughter."
The attack last December on the 23-year-old medical student sparked outrage
across the world and an unprecedented debate within India about the position of
women. The government hastily enacted new laws that increased the punishments
for sex offenders.
In the aftermath of the attack, Delhi police arrested 6 males, including 1 man
who was found hanging in his prison cell earlier this year. In addition to the
teenager who was convicted on Saturday today, 4 men are still being tried for
gang-rape and murder. Like the juvenile, the 4 men have denied the charges.
The inquiry by the Delhi juvenile justice board was completed 3 weeks ago but
an announcement was deferred because of legal efforts being made by a senior
opposition politician to have the teenager tried as an adult.
As the 2 parallel hearing were going ahead, the family of the physiotherapy
student said the teenager should not be treated any differently to the adults
if he was convicted. 2 weeks ago, the family told the Independent on Sunday
that only by securing the death penalty would they feel they had received
justice.
The role of the juvenile and the punishment he should receive has been among
the most controversial aspects of the gang-rape case. The public mood was
fuelled by anonymous leaks from the police to the Indian media that claimed the
teenager was one of the most brutal of the attackers and had led the assault.
Whether or not this is true remains unclear. Evidence collated by the police
and handed to prosecutor made no mention of this and the trial of the juvenile
has been held behind closed doors.
Yet child rights activists say the Indian authorities must ensure the
18-year-old, who is the eldest of 5 children and is from an impoverished
labouring family in rural Uttar Pradesh, has a chance at rehabilitation.
"No doubt, this was a horrendous attack. But we are being driven by the desire
for retribution when we should be looking to rehabilitate," said Meenakshi
Ganguly of Human Rights Watch.
Shireen Vakil Miller, of Save the Children India, said most youngsters who came
into conflict with the law were from a background of "neglect, abuse and
deprivation".
"The most important step is to ensure that there is a comprehensive
rehabilitation package for the juvenile which includes counselling, and a
provision for vocational training," she added. "This would help the juvenile
reintegrate into society."
The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died of internal injuries 2 weeks after
being raped and assaulted with an iron bar on a bus as she and a male friend
tried to find their way home after a visit to a cinema in the south of Delhi.
Her friend was also beaten up before both were stripped naked and thrown from
the vehicle.
While the media has been reporting more cases of sexual assault, activists say
the authorities have done very little to protect women. They say they there are
countless thousands of rapes and assaults across India that get little
attention.
(source: The Independent)
LEBANON:
Court charges 5 over Tripoli car bomb blasts
A military court charged 5 people on Friday including a Syrian intelligence
officer over the twin car bombings that killed 47 people last week and injured
500 in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper reported,
citing judicial sources.
The Syrian intelligence officer and a 2nd Syrian national were charged in
absentia. They were named by the newspaper as Mohammad Ali Ali and Khodr Lutfi
al-Airouni, respectively.
2 Lebanese suspects, Ahmad Gharib and Hashem Minqara, were charged with tasking
Ali Ali and al-Airouni with setting up a cell "to carry out terrorist acts in
Lebanon, particularly in the north, by preparing bombs and booby trapping cars
and putting them in specific areas, including religious institutions with the
aim of killing and assassinating political and religious figures."
Police informant Mustafa Houri was also charged in the case, in which the car
bombs exploded outside two Sunn mosques on 23 August.
If convicted, the suspects face the death penalty.
Minqara is said to be the head of an Islamist group in Lebanon that backs
Syria's authoritarian president Bashar al-Assad, and Gharib is allegedly a
close associate of Minqara's, according to the Daily Star.
Houri is known to have close ties to Syrian intelligence, according to the
Daily Star.
(source: Adnkronos International)
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