Sept. 10
INDONESIA:
Death demanded for Benget
Prosecutor Ibu Suut demanded on Monday that the East Jakarta District Court
sentence Benget Situmorang to death for the mutilation murder of his wife Darna
Sri Astuti on March 4.
In a separate trial, prosecutors also demanded an 18-year prison term for Tini,
Benget's fiancee, who has been accused of abetting the crime.
The prosecutor said the defendant deserved the harshest punishment because he
not only killed his wife but also tortured her, inserted a bottle of hot water
into her vagina, dismembered her, made broth with her heart and dumped her body
parts on the Cikampek toll road.
Benget's lawyer, Edward Sihombing, strongly objected, claiming that his client
had a long-standing mental problem.
"I object to the death penalty for my client. The condition of a totally sane
person would worsen when handed the death penalty, let alone someone with a
mental problem," he said as quoted by kompas.com.
He said that in presenting his defense next week, he would ask the panel of
judges to seek expert opinion on whether the death penalty was appropriate for
his client.
Benget and Tini were arrested on March 6, 2 days after the victim's mutilated
body was discovered on the toll road. According to the police investigation,
the murder was a result of an argument between Benget and his wife over his
relationship with Tini, a maid in their house in Rambutan, East Jakarta.
(source: Jakarta Post)
PAKISTAN:
ATC verdict: 2 sentenced to death for DSP's murder
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) sentenced 2 people to death on Tuesday on charges
of assassinating DSP Muhammad Ibrahim in Gilgit last year.
In addition to the death penalty, ATC Judge Raja Shahbaz Khan also handed down
a 10-year imprisonment sentence to Azhar Hussain and Shaukat Hussain alias
Major for the high-profile killing. The offenders are residents of Barmas and
Khomer.
2 others charged in the case include Wajahat Hussain and Sajid Hussain and were
sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs300,000 each.
Wajahat and Shaukat are yet to be arrested, while Azhar and Sajid are in police
custody. Advocates Manzoor Hussain and Ansar Ali were representing the
offenders.
Lawyer Imran Hussain said those charged for the offence can submit an appeal to
the court within 10 days.
DSP Ibrahim, a resident of Astore valley, was killed on January 4, 2012 in
front of his house in Nagral area while returning home from work late night. He
had been posted in the investigative wing of the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) police
and was working on cases involving sectarian killings at a time when sectarian
bloodshed in G-B was on the rise.
The chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue is directed to issue notices for
all authorised routes of entry to the country, including inland, and by air,
and ensure proper checking of all those coming to the country. Only after their
credentials are verified will they be allowed to enter the country," CJ Khan
ordered. The chief justice directed the joint taskforce to not only investigate
the matter of illegal documentation but also arrest those found guilty.
The PHC ordered a report be prepared in time for the next hearing on October
10.
Under the court's orders, the heads of armed forces and spy agencies can seize
NADRA'S record if thought to be relevant to the matter of illegally issued
CNICs and passports.
(source: Paksitan Tribune)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Top court overturns death verdict on 10 drug dealers
The UAE's top court has annulled death sentences against 10 Pakistani drug
dealers and reduced verdicts for 4 other convicts.
10 of the 14 defendants had been sentenced to death by a lower court for
smuggling 2.6 tonnes of hashish into the UAE while another one got 10 years in
jail.
The remaining 3 defendants were given various prison sentences.
The Federal Supreme Court said its decision to annul the death verdicts was
based on the fact that the defendants were caught smuggling drugs for another
dealer rather than for themselves.
It reduced the jail sentence for the 11th defendant and ordered confining the
remaining 3- to the social care centre pending deportation on the grounds they
are teenagers.
(source: emirates247.com)
INDIA:
Delhi gang-rape trial: death sentence inevitable, says Indian minister
An Indian government minister has said four men found guilty on Tuesday of the
gang-rape and murder of a woman in Delhi last year will be hanged.
Sushilkumar Shinde, India's home minister, told reporters in Mumbai that a
death sentence was inevitable. "We have strengthened the law. [The] death
penalty is assured in this case," he said.
The comments, after the verdict but before sentencing, are unusual and an
indication of the government's concern about public anger over the incident.
The judge, Yogesh Khanna, delivered his verdict just after noon on Tuesday at
the end of the seven-month trial at the district court of Saket in south Delhi.
"I convict all of the accused. They have been found guilty of gang rape,
unnatural offences, destruction of evidence ... and for committing the murder
of the helpless victim," Khanna said.
Akshay Kumar Singh, a bus cleaner; Vinay Sharma, a gym instructor; Pawan Gupta,
a fruit seller; and Mukesh Singh, who was unemployed, will be sentenced on
Wednesday. Most observers say a death sentence is very likely, though life
imprisonment remains a theoretical possibility. Lawyers for the four men said
they would appeal and branded the verdict "politically motivated".
Public opinion in India appears almost unanimously in favour of a death
sentence. One TV channel ran a headline asking: "They've been convicted, but
will they hang?"
The mother of the 23-year-old victim, who cannot be identified under Indian
law, sat just a few feet from the four men who stood against a wall in the
court as the verdict was read out. She and her husband have repeatedly called
for the men, who attacked their daughter on a bus after she had watched a film
at a south Delhi cinema, to be put to death.
Outside the courthouse, dozens of protesters chanted: "Hang them! Hang them! "
India has executed 3 people in the last 9 years: a man who raped a 14-year-old
girl, and 2 Islamic militants.
The trial of the men, aged between 19 and 34, started in February, 2 months
after the attack. One defendant, a bus driver, hanged himself in prison in
March. The oldest of the 6 accused, he was alleged by police to have been the
ringleader. The youngest among the alleged attackers, who was 17 at the time of
the assault, was tried separately and was sentenced last month to 3 years in a
juvenile reform home, the maximum possible punishment under Indian law.
The ruling Congress party was heavily criticised after the incident last
December for its slow and insensitive response. Sheila Dikshit, a Congress
leader and chief minister of Delhi, called the incident a wake-up call that was
"very shocking and very painful and shook up everyone of us, in Delhi and the
entire country".
Ambika Soni, a senior Congress parliamentarian, said the punishment should be
"exemplary". Opposition politicians also said they wanted to see the severest
possible punishment for the rapists.
The attack prompted an unprecedented national discussion about sexual violence
and calls for widespread changes in cultural attitudes and policing, as well as
legal reform. The international image of the country was damaged, with numbers
of female tourists dropping significantly.
Since the attack, laws have been tightened and pledges made to improve the
investigation and processing of sexual violence cases.
Vrinda Grover, a well-known activist, said the challenge was to make any
changes institutional. "There is certainly much higher awareness now ... but
the Indian system has huge inertia," she said.
Much of the trial was held behind closed doors, with media excluded for many
months. The court heard details of how the victim, who had recently qualified
as a physiotherapist, had suffered severe internal injuries when repeatedly
violated with an iron bar during the assault.
The victim's father told the Guardian last week that the family had been
disappointed by the 3-year sentence given to the juvenile convicted last month.
Police have said the teenager was the most violent of the attackers.
All of the men on trial in Saket denied charges of rape, murder and destroying
evidence. 2 said they had been to listen to a music concert in a park on the
night of the attack. One said he was driving the bus in which the assault took
place and did not take therefore directly take part in the assault. A 4th, a
26-year-old drifter, said he had left Delhi for his village.
The prosecution case relied on testimony from 85 witnesses, a statement given
by the victim before she died, DNA samples, dental records from bite marks on
the victim's body that matched the teeth of some of the men, and the evidence
of the victim's male friend, who was badly beaten in the attack.
The victim and her friend were eventually dumped on a roadside layby on the
outskirts of Delhi, and the woman died 2 weeks later in a Singapore hospital.
Her ashes were eventually scattered in the Ganges river near her ancestral
village in rural India.
The men were also found guilty of robbing another man earlier in the evening of
the incident. Police described how the six had set out from the Singh brothers'
home in a bus on a joyride. They tricked the victim and her friend into
boarding the bus and assaulted them shortly afterwards.
There has been widespread criticism of the fast-track court set up to ensure
rapid justice in the case, which was one of the most high-profile in India for
years.
Gang-rapes, acid attacks and other acts of violence against women continue to
be reported across India each day. In one recent incident a photojournalist was
raped repeatedly by a group of men in a disused building in Mumbai, the
commercial capital. Suspects have since been arrested. The victim of the attack
was widely praised for her courage in complaining to police and identifying her
attackers.
Rape victims in India often prefer to remain silent rather than risk social
ostracism, and sexual harassment remains a daily reality for Indian women.
"Every day I take trains, buses and rickshaws and every day I get harassed one
way or another. Last week it was a boy of only nine years old. We have to stand
up to them. No one will take the first step unless you take it yourself," said
Shurbhi Sharma, a 19-year-old student in Mumbai.
It is hoped that fast-track courts such as the one in which this trial was held
will help improve a poor conviction rate. Last week 6 men accused of the
gang-rape of a law student in October last year were sentenced to life
imprisonment by a fast-track court in the southern city of Bangalore.
Many families of victims pressure them not to press charges, police often
refuse to file cases for those who do, witnesses are systematically intimidated
and courts rarely deliver swift justice in the few cases that are filed. Indian
courts had a backlog of 33m cases as of 2011.
In this case, an appeal can first be made to Delhi's high court and then, if
that fails, to the Indian supreme court, legal experts say. Each appeal could
take up to a year.
India has executed more than 50 people since gaining independence in 1947 and
has repeatedly voted against United Nations resolutions seeking a global
moratorium on capital punishment.
The Indian president has the power to pardon or commute sentences.
3 men have been hanged in the last nine years, including Mohammed Ajmal Kasab,
the only survivor of the extremists who attacked hotels and other targets in
Mumbai in 2008, who was hanged last year, and Afzal Guru, found guilty for his
role in the terrorist attack on the Indian parliament in 2001, who was hanged
in February this year. The third was found guilty of the rape and murder of a
14-year-old girl.
Last year a 22-year-old man was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a
75-year-old woman.
(source: The Guardian)
*******************
Surfers want death sentence for December 16 convicts
Convicted rapists sentenced to death should not have the right to appeal for
presidential pardon and rapists deserve no mercy, said Gaurav C. Sawant,
Editor, Strategic Affairs, Headlines Today, in a live chat on the topic on
Tuesday.
He was responding to questions on a fast-track Delhi court holding the four men
guilty of raping and murdering the 23-year-old in a moving bus on December 16
last year.
The court, which delivered its judgement in nine months, is set to pronounce
the quantum of punishment on Wednesday.
Here is the full transcript of the chat:
Q: Why death? Why not life term?
Gaurav C Sawant: The idea is to keep them out of our society. Keep society safe
from such elements. So death or a life in prison is best left to the honourable
judge to decide.
Q: Do you think the 4 may actually get life sentence since they did not
directly kill the girl?
Gaurav C Sawant: If you read the verdict, the Honourable Additional Sessions
judge Yogesh Khanna has convicted them of murder too. Their act of "gangrape by
6 persons 1 by 1 and...iron rod and hands were inserted into the abdominal
cavity"...makes it horrendous.
Q: Can this be a unique case of death sentence for rape and murder in India?
Gaurav C Sawant: Some of my guests on #NewsNight tonight were of the opinion
that the convicts should get death sentence.
Q: The juvenile beast should also be hanged.
Gaurav C Sawant: The India Today Group has initiated a campaign - 'Adult Crime
Adult Punishment'. Why should the juvenile rapists in the Delhi & Mumbai gang
rapes get away lightly? Laws should be amended. In fact, 2 of my 3 guests on
#Newsnight at 8 pm were of the opinion the juveniles should also be punished at
par.
Q: The lawyer said 2 of them were not present at crime scene and wrongly
convicted? Is he lying?
Gaurav C Sawant: The learned additional sessions judge Yogesh Khanna heard both
sides and delivered his verdict of guilty. So the defence lost their case in
the fast track court. They of course have the option to go to the superior
court now.
Q: If the 4 are given death, why should the juvenile be spared? He is not a
minor anymore.
Gaurav C Sawant: Personally, I agree with you. And Delhi Police told us the
"juvenile" rapist was the worst of the lot. He was the most brutal. Also on
Headlines Today, we did a special story on how a juvenile rapist came out of
remand home and is now threatening the family of the girl he had earlier raped.
Q: They must be hanged. Or more rapes will happen. This must be stopped.
Gaurav C. Sawant: Madhu Kishwar was of the opinion even death penalty is not a
deterrent.
Q: Are these fall guys for India's blood lust?
Gaurav C Sawant: Blood lust? Read the judgement please. See how they brutaliSed
the girl. 6 of them. And then the rod. Most inhuman. If you think it is still
blood lust -- if the society wants them in jail for life or be hanged...you are
entitled to your opinion.
Q: If the 4 are hanged, do you think the Mumbai rapists should also be given
death?
Gaurav C Sawant: Personally, I have very strong views on rape. I think rapists
deserve no mercy and there can be no mitigating factors. So in my opinion, rape
and acid attack deserve no mercy.
Q: I think life in prison is better. They will get what they did many many
times. I'm sure you all heard soap stories.
Gaurav C Sawant: Life in prison then should mean, as long as they live. There
should be no bleeding heart, candle light brigade to appeal for mercy. A life
in prison means life in jail till they meet their maker.
Q: Why are rape laws so weak? They should be hanged, or women will fear going
out or reporting crime.
Gaurav C Sawant: Even if rape laws are not weak, the police need to work better
(like they did in this case). Solid professional investigation and the case
should be pursued in a time bound manner.
Q: The rapists must be hanged. Even if they go to Supreme Court.
Gaurav C Sawant: On the show tonight (#Newsnight at 8 pm), I made a point -- a
convicted rapist should not have the right to appeal for presidential pardon.
He should have the right to appeal till the Supreme Court but the apex court
should also decide in a time-bound manner.
Q: Even animals don't rape their female kind, these "whatever you call them"
can't even be called animals, if that being the case why treat them to human
law? Their right to appeal should be cancelled and they should be burnt to
death.
Gaurav C Sawant: Burning them to death -- is not a solution. That perhaps would
be blood lust. But looking at the crime graph, I am of the firm opinion that
the cases need to be decided in a time-bound manner -- from the lower court to
the apex court and no presidential appeal for convicted rapists.
Q: Why are our netas not interested in making laws against rape tougher?
Gaurav C Sawant: If you had seen the way some of our honourable members of
parliament debated this after the December 16 gang rape, you'd be equally
disappointed. The mindset needs to change -- harshest possible punishment for
rape and acid attacks in my humble opinion.
Q: No one knows who will turn rapist like no one knows who will become a
murderer? Will hanging them really be a deterrent?
Gaurav C Sawant: Perhaps one verdict will not bring about a positive change.
But once it becomes a trend -- and once justice is delivered in a time-bound
manner (not after two decades), then hopefully, we will see a positive change.
I am very hopeful.
Q: Should we have different sorts of punishment for different crimes like in
other countries, like the Arabs?
Gaurav C Sawant: I cover the armed forces. Punishment there is swift,
commensurate with the crime and exemplary. It does act as a deterrent. I am
firmly of the opinion for rape and the acid attacks punishment has to swift,
commensurate with the crime and exemplary. For acid attacks, it has to be death
and not a life in prison.
Q: Why so many youngsters involved in rape? What's happening?
Gaurav C Sawant: Our moral and social fabric needs strengthening. Also, we need
to inculcate better family values. Moral education at schools and in society is
a must. We must never ever glorify/condone poor behaviour with women. There has
to be a multi-pronged attack on this.
Q: Everyone talks of the harshest possible punishment, but no one defines it?
Gaurav C Sawant: Harshest possible punishment as per Indian law is -- to be
hanged from the neck till death. (No firing squads, no lethal injections.)
Q: Don't you think rape must be stopped before it happens, like changing
people's mentality?
Gaurav C Sawant: That is a commendable long term measure. We need to attack
this problem of crime against women at multiple levels. Short term, medium term
and long term. Changing the mindset is long term. Hang them in the short term.
We can continue this debate this at @gauravcsawant.
Q: Do Bollywood and its songs promote such crimes?
Gaurav C Sawant: Bollywood needs to contribute positively to this. We must
declare war on crimes against women.
(source: India Today)
**********************
Death penalty should be awarded only in exceptional cases: SC
Life imprisonment is the rule and death penalty an exception and courts should
also consider socio-economic compulsions such as poverty while awarding the
extreme sentence to a convict, the Supreme Court today held.
"Poverty, socio-economic, psychic compulsions, undeserved adversities in life
are some of the mitigating factors which are also required to be considered, in
addition to criteria laid down in its 2 landmark verdicts on death penalty,"
the court said.
"We may note that the rule is life imprisonment for murder, and death is the
exception for which special reasons are to be stated," a bench of justices S J
Mukhopadhaya and Kurian Joseph said.
The court, in its judgement, commuted the death sentence into life imprisonment
of a man who was convicted for killing his wife and 2 sons.
It said that the condemned convict had intended to wipe out the whole family
including himself on account of abject poverty and these aspects were not
considered by the courts below while awarding him death sentence.
"It has come in evidence that the appellant suffered from economic and psychic
compulsions. The possibility of reforming and rehabilitating the accused cannot
be ruled out. The accused had no prior criminal record. On the facts available
to the court, it can be safely said that the accused is not likely to be menace
or threat or danger to society.
"There is nothing to show that he had any previous criminal background. The
appellant had in fact intended to wipe out the whole family including himself
on account of abject poverty," the bench said.
The apex court in its judgement mentioned the circumstances under which the
convict had killed his wife and two sons and also tried to murder his daughter.
Giving the sequence of incidents, the bench mentioned that he stopped short of
killing his daughter when she questioned why he was doing so after which he
gave water to the injured daughter.
"It so happened by chance that despite the stab injuries inflicted on the
daughter, she managed to weepingly question her father why he was acting in
such a manner. The change of heart is also discernible from the fact that he
had given water to the injured daughter.
"After this, he no longer used the weapon for finishing her. He tried once
again by taking her to his lap and stifling her with the aid of a pillow.
However, as can be seen from his own statement, he could not finish killing
her. Thereafter, he went straight to the police station and gave a statement of
what he had done," the judgement said.
"If we analyse the facts of the case in the backdrop of the circumstances of
the appellant at the time of commission of the offence and on applying the
crime test and the criminal test, it is fairly clear that the case does not
fall under the rarest of rare category of cases so as to warrant a punishment
of death," the bench said.
"When there are binding decisions, judicial comity expects and requires the
same to be followed. Judicial comity is an integral part of judicial discipline
and judicial discipline the cornerstone of judicial integrity. No doubt, in
case there are newer dimensions not in conflict with the ratio of larger bench
decisions or where there is anything to be added to and explained, it is always
permissible to introduce the same," it said.
(source: Times of India)
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