Sept. 17
MALAYSIA:
Lahad Datu: Trial of 30 people charged with security offences postponed
The trial of 30 people charged for various security offences in connection with
the Sulu gunmen intrusion at Lahad Datu district last February has been
postponed.
The hearing for 29 men and a woman was supposed to begin on Tuesday for 10 days
at a hall designated as an open courtroom in the State Prison complex at
Kepayan, here.
However at the start of the hearing, Kuala Lumpur-based lawyer Datuk N
Sivananthan representing 27 of the accused applied to presiding High Court
judge Stephen Chung for an adjournment of the trial.
Sivananthan said an adjournment was necessary, as he and his legal team had
received numerous documents from the prosecution and these needed time to be
studied,
He noted that getting instructions from the 27 accused he was representing were
of Bajau and Suluk backgrounds would take time as language was a barrier for
his legal team and him.
Sivananthan told the court that they had also sought for more documents from
the prosecution and believed that these were in the process of being delivered
to them.
At this juncture Justice Chung inquired if there were any objections to an
adjournment prompting Attorney General Tan Sri Gani Patail heading a 6-member
prosecution team to say he had none.
Gani told the court that they had received some of the forensic reports in
regards to the Sulu gunmen intrusion about 2 weeks ago and more were still
coming in.
Justice Chung subsequently fixed Nov 1 for the case to be mentioned and to set
a new trial date.
The other counsels for the three accused were Kamaruddin Mohmad Chinki, Rowiena
Rashid and Abdul Gani Zulika. 22 of the accused faced 2 charges under Sections
121 and 131KA of the Penal Code for waging war against the Agong and being a
member of terrorist group respectively.
Among those facing the 2 charges that provides for the death penalty life
imprisonment respectively were Datu Amirbahar Hussin Kiram, a nephew of the
self-styled Sulu sultan Jamallul Kiram and "general" of the "Royal Sulu Force"
that intruded into Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu in February.
Others charged for similar offences were Basad Samuel, Mohamad Ali Ahmad,
Pabblo Allie, Abd Hadi Mawan, Atik Hussin Abu Bakar, Dani Ismail, Saidili
Jaharul, Totoh Hismullah and Basil Samiul,
Those also charged for the 2 offences were Rizman Gulan, Abdul Majil Jubin,
Rijmal Salleh, Julham Rashid, Tani Lahad Dahi, Al Wazir Osman @ Abdul, Virgilio
Nemar Patulada, Masir Aidin, Anwar Salib Akhmad, Ismail Yasin and Binhar Salib
Akhmad.
Another 4 individuals were only charged under Section 130KA of the Penal Code
and they were Aman Radie, Timhar Hadir, Holland Kalbi and Lin Mad Salleh.
Three individuals, including a woman, had been charged under Section 130K of
the Penal Code for harbouring terrorists.
Those charged under this Section that provides for life imprisonment were
Norhaida Ibnahi as well as Kadir Uyung and Lating Tiong.
One more accused - Salib Akhmad Emali - faced all 3 charges and a 4th under
Section 130E of the Penal Code for recruiting individuals to become members of
a terror group.
When met outside the court, Sivananthan said he was hopeful that the trial
could begin sometime in January or February next year.
(source: The Star)
*********************************
Malaysia trial of Sabah attackers adjourned; Trial of 27 Filipinos and three
Malaysians accused of invading village in March is adjourned until November.
The trial of 30 people accused of invading a Malaysian village has been
adjourned until November.
The 27 Filipinos and 3 Malaysians, facing charges of terrorism and waging war
on the King of Malaysia, appeared in court for the opening session on Tuesday
in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah state's capital, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported.
They stand accused of being part of more than 200 armed men and women who had
briefly taken over the village of Tanduo in Sabah state last March, claiming
the territory belonged to the descendants of the Sultan, who once ruled over
the land.
The Filipinos belong to a faction of followers of the Sultan of Sulu, a south
Philippine region.
Malaysia launched a full-scale assault in response, including air strikes,
before reclaiming the village.
At least 60 people, including 52 fighters and 8 Malaysian police officers, were
been killed in the fighting.
Many of the intruders are believed to have gone back to the Philippines, but 30
of those alleged to have been involved were rounded up and are now in a
high-security jail in Kota Kinabalu.
They could face the death penalty if convicted.
"Their trial may shed light of some of the mysteries that surround the attack",
Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas, reporting from Kota Kinabalu, said.
"Did anyone in the Malaysian authorities know anything about the attack in
advance? Was the attack an attempt to destabilise a peace deal between the
Filipino government of the Philippines and Muslim militants?" These were
questions Malays hope would be answered, Thomas said.
Thousands of Filipinos residing in Malaysia illegally, some for decades, were
deported in a security crackdown that followed the attack. Some of them were
forced to leave behind family members.
(source: Al Jazeera)
*****************
Perth man in long battle to escape death
Perth man Dominic Bird has been granted bail in Malaysia pending the outcome of
an appeal against his acquittal on drug trafficking charges, but still faces
another lengthy court battle to escape the death penalty. Mr Bird, accused of
supplying 167 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover police officer, was
acquitted on September 4 but re-arrested days later, minutes before his flight
to Perth was to depart, after prosecutors launched an 11th hour appeal.
The 33-year-old's lawyer Muhammed Shafee Abdullah had argued that the re-arrest
was unconstitutional on the grounds that his client had been declared by the
Kuala Lumpur High Court to be a free man, and should be allowed to return to
Australia.
But Court of Appeal Justice Azahar Mohamed on Tuesday ruled that the arrest was
lawful and that the appeal, for which prosecutors are yet to provide any
details, was simply a continuation of a trial. "Consequently, criminal
proceedings against the respondent are revived," Justice Azahar said.
"The right to liberty is not absolute," he said.
Still, Justice Azahar also ordered that Mr Bird, having already spent more than
18 months behind bars, should be granted bail pending the outcome of the
appeal, dismissing concerns from prosecutors that the Perth man was likely to
abscond.
Mr Bird must first come up with 50,000 Malaysian ringgit ($A16,000) in order to
post bail, and will be required to report to police once a week.His passport is
already in the hands of Malaysian authorities.
Mr Abdullah said he would push for the appeal to be expedited.
"We would like to have this appeal within a month from today," Mr Abdullah said
outside the court.
However, prosecutor Ahmad Bache told AAP on Tuesday morning that he expected
the appeal would not be heard until next year at the earliest, and that it
would take several months more to be concluded.
Prosecutors are yet to detail the grounds on which they will appeal the case.
Mr Bird was initially arrested in March last year at a cafe near his apartment
in Kuala Lumpur after allegedly supplying an undercover police officer with 167
grams of methamphetamine.
Possession of more than 50 grams of the drug carries a mandatory death penalty
in Malaysia.
The prosecution's case subsequently collapsed amid allegations of corruption,
including drug trafficking, against their star witness - drug squad detective
Luther Nurjib - who was also responsible for Mr Bird's arrest.
Mr Bird has always maintained he was set-up by Inspector Nurjib, who last month
was found guilty of contempt of court and fined RM2000 ($A665), after it
emerged he had threatened and attempted to bribe a witness in the Bird case.
(source: The Australian)
INDIA:
The death penalty
People's fury over the Delhi gangrape is a continuing thing as proved by the
explosion of emotions at judgment time. When the pronouncement of punishment
was put off by a few days, angry crowds raised slogans of protest. Defence
lawyers were harangued by irate citizens for daring to plead for the criminals.
The cry for the death penalty rose from all quarters. A nation was in rage.
And in frustration, we might add. Despite the death sentence passed by the
court, the feeling lingered that the violence against women was not going to go
away in India, adjudged the worst country for women among the well-to-do G-20
nations in a 2011 study; even Saudi Arabia was safer than India. If the Delhi,
Manipal and Mumbai gang-rapes caught mass attention, there are thousands of
others that went unnoticed. Among the victims have been 6- and 5-year-olds and,
recently, a 5-month-old.
This is happening despite vastly increased public awareness and tightening of
laws. One reason is that law-makers and law-enforcers are half-hearted about
solving the problem. In fact, they are part of the problem. It is well known
that the police across the country look suspiciously at women going to them
with complaints. Rather often, women are raped inside police stations.
Politicians are no better. In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and more recently in
Haryana, ministers and MLAs have been brazen in their abuse of women, sometimes
leading to the suicide or murder of the victims. Samajwadi Party leader Naresh
Agarwal was inspired by the Mumbai gang-rape to advise all women to pay
attention to what they wear.
Perhaps insensitivity is a required qualification for politicians everywhere.
US presidential candidate Santorum publicly proclaimed that pregnancy through
rape should be accepted as a gift from God. A US senator said in the case of "a
legitimate rape", women's bodies had ways to shut down (meaning, to block
pregnancy). Putting them all in the shade, Asaram Bapu said the Delhi rape
victim was equally at fault and could have avoided the rape had she taken guru
diksha, chanted the Saraswati Mantra and pleaded with her tormentors for mercy.
Did any of the victims of this man, currently in jail on rape charges, escape
by chanting the Saraswati Mantra in the nick of time? This proves yet again
that the thinking that goes with a crime is more dangerous than the crime
itself.
In Rajasthan last year, a father used a sword to behead his 20-year-old
daughter for marrying a lower-caste boy. Then he went about displaying the
blood-oozing head of his daughter as a warning to other girls eyeing boys below
their caste.
Rape becomes particularly heinous when the mindset behind it calls for
extraordinary cruelty as well. The gang that raped the girl in the Delhi bus
was not satisfied with mere sex. Sadism was also at play, the gang inflicting
unspeakable tortures on her, including pushing an iron rod inside her.
Such attitudes make it a dim picture for those who hope that court
pronouncements will be a deterrent to criminals. As one defence lawyer put it,
will killing rapists make streets safer for women? Will the death penalty end
crime? Logical questions. But sometimes it helps if logic makes way for
emotion.
A death sentence may on occasion provide badly needed relief for a public
conscience wounded by inexplicable brutality. The right punishment would have
been what Sri Krishna gave to Ashwathama - roam about the earth for 3,000
years, shunned by all and tormented by all diseases on earth. Perhaps the
so-called juvenile who was the cruellest in the gang but escaped with only
three years in a rehabilitation centre, will get something akin to that kind of
just justice.
(source: T J S George, New Indian Express)
SOUTH AFRICA:
Death penalty for rapists does not heal society
Sentencing rapists to death denies opportunities for gender reconciliation,
says Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu.
South Africans, grappling to come to terms with deplorable levels of
gender-based violence in our society, closely followed the case in New Delhi
where 4 men were sentenced to death on Friday for raping and murdering a young
woman in December.
The case mesmerised India. It symbolised systemic gender-based violence in that
country and society's inability to stop it. It mirrored our situation and our
anxieties in South Africa.
In India last year, there were 24 923 cases of rape reported to police,
according to government statistics.
In South Africa, according to police, 64 514 "sexual crimes" were reported
between April 2011 and March 2012 - not all of them rape. It is common cause
that many more offences in both countries go unreported.
6 weeks after the New Delhi case garnered international headlines, South
African teenager Anene Booysen was brutally raped and murdered in the southern
Cape.
Booysen's alleged killer goes on trial in Swellendam next month, and it comes
as no surprise that some are calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty
in South Africa.
We understand the sentiment that led to the imposition of the death penalty in
India. But we cannot applaud the choice.
Let us not be fooled.
First, as a form of punishment, the death penalty is irreversible, inhumane and
unjustifiable.
It closes the door to the possibilities of discussing, healing, forgiving and
reconciling.
And its alleged power as a deterrent has never been scientifically proven ??? a
point borne out by the number of rapes in India.
Second, in the context of gender violence, the imposition of the death penalty
almost feels like a cop-out.
It is a simple, vengeful response that seems to let society off the hook for
having to make a far more difficult choice: actually doing something meaningful
about gender-based violence so that Anene Booysen's friends - and their
children - can live in safety and thrive.
Yes, the perpetrators must be held to account for their sins. But it makes very
little sense to punish the perpetrators while continuing to ignore the
patriarchal, patronising and demeaning societal framework that creates this
criminality.
In South Africa, young men deny that they are rapists even as they admit having
forced a woman to have sex against her will.
They feel "entitled" to sex because the woman is their girlfriend, wife,
subordinate, possession.
By this reckoning a woman is not entitled to bodily integrity, ceding that
right by the singular fact of being born female.
Let us engage in the difficult discussion about gender reconciliation and
address the root cause of the illness rather than having to constantly deal
with the symptoms.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Reverend Mpho Tutu
Executive Director, Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, Milnerton
(source: IOL News)
IRAN----executions
27 executed including women and teenagers executed in 2 weeks
The clerical regime of Iran executed 27 prisoners including 1 woman and 2
youngsters, 18 and 23 years of age in 2 recent weeks in various cities of Iran.
5 of them including 2 youngsters were hanged in public in Ghaemshahr, Ilam and
Dehdasht.
Mehr news agency affiliated with the Iranian Intelligence Ministry reported on
September 14 that the 18 year old prisoner, who had been arrested at the age of
17, was hanged in the northern city of Ghaemshahr on September 14. 3 weeks
prior to this, another adolescent, who had been arrested at the age of 12, was
hanged following enduring 6 years of imprisonment in Dizel-abad prison in
Kermanshah, a western city of Iran.
3 other prisoners were executed in a group in Aligoodarz prison in Lorestan
province of western Iran on September 15. On September 12, 3 more were executed
in public in the city of Dehdasht in Kohgilooyeh province and another 1 in
Darab prison. On September 11, 2 prisoners were hanged in Kemanshah, and 6
others including a woman were killed in a mass execution in the city of
Oroomieh on September 10 while 2 other prisoners were hanged in Shahrood on the
same day.
Between September 3 and 8, 3 prisoners in Lakan prison of Rasht and 2 prisoners
in Dastgerd prison of Isfahan were executed and a young man of 23 years old,
who spent 5 years in jail, was hanged in public in Imam-Hossein Square of Ilam.
During the same period, a prisoner by the name of Younes Asadi in the prison of
Sanandaj, 1 more in the prison of Gachsaran and another one in the Karoon
prison of Ahwaz city were all executed.
In fear of the rising protests and its definite overthrow, the befalling
clerical regime of Iran is resorting to various means of suppression inside
Iran including waves of mass executions in the streets of various cities across
the country. The regime also has in its agenda the massacre of the members of
the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Camp Ashraf who
inspire the Iranian people and youth who are at their wits' end with this
regime. No doubt, this will only intensify the Iranian people's abhorrence
towards the broken regime of Khamenei.
(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)
**************
4 Sunni prisoners in danger of imminent execution
1 of the Ghezel Hesar prison authorities informed four of Sunni prisoners that
supposedly their execution verdict will be enforced on September 22.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 6 of the
Sunni prisoners who have been sentenced to death are imprisoned currently in
unit 3 of ward 4 in Ghezel Hesar prison.
Sediq Mohammadi the son of Hossein, 27, and Seyyed Hadi Hosseini the son of
Moheyeddin, 30, are 2 of the prisoners sentenced to death. Their dossiers have
been sent to the court in Sanandaj for reconsideration because of
contraventions found by bureau. Sediq Mohammadi and Seyyed Hadi Hosseini were
arrested involved in other story and both of them have mental disorders.
Evidently one of the Ghezel Hesar prison authorities informed Hamed Ahmadi the
son of Habibollah, 32, Kamal Molaie the son of Ahmad, 29, Jamshid Dehghani the
son of Khodaraham, 28 and Jahangir Dehghani the son of Khodaraham, 27, that
their execution verdict will be enforced on September 22 due to the judicial
warrant.
One of the sentenced to death prisoners who asked to remain anonymous told
HRANA reporter "One of the prison authorities told us if everything will go
normally your execution verdict will be enforced on September 22 and it could
be postponed to first 2 weeks of October. He asked us in a friendly way to do
whatever possible action we could do from now."
"Our trial session was held in branch 28 of Tehran revolutionary court by judge
Moghayesseh while we are all from Sanandaj. During the trial we were
blindfolded and the security agents beaten us several times by electric shocker
while we were talking. We had no access to any lawyer during the process and
even when a lawyer introduced himself to the court in terms of defending us,
the security agents threatened him and he gave up. We were just preaching in
the mosques. For a while some CDs were released which contained offensive
content on Sunni Madhab followers and we objected this, Then they arrested us
because of that and accused us to terror."
"The terrors we have been accused to, were took place on September 9, 2009
while the date we were been arrested is clear. Jamshid and Jahangir Dehghani
who are brothers were arrested on June 17, 2009, Kamal Molaie was arrested on
July 14, 2009 and Hamed Mohammadi on July 30, 2009. When the terrors took place
we were under arrest in Intelligence office, then howcome we have done the
terrors? We were arrested with Bahram Ahmadi, Asghar Rahimi, Behnam Rahimi,
Mohammad Zaher Bahmani, Kaivan Zand Karimi and Hoshiar Mohammadi; 6 of them
were hanged on December 27 of 2012 in Ghezel Hesar prison.
"The 10 of us were under arrest in solitary confinement and under the most
severe mental and physical tortures. We were in solitary confinements of
Sanandaj Intelligence for 9 months, 6 months in Zanjan Intelligence and 5
months in solitary confinements of intelligence in Evin. No one knew what we
are going through then they treated us in any way they liked."
He mentioned that they have not the right to get in touch with any normal
prisoner and anyone who get in touch with them, will be transferred and in
trouble.
His last words were "We are in danger of imminent execution and we will be
hanged in a month eventually. We ask solidarity and support from all the human
rights organizations and the free medias to achieve a fair trial with presence
of lawyer and medias for us."
(source: HRANA)
CHINA:
6 Chinese Officials Stand Trial for Torture in Landmark Case
6 Communist Party officials will stand trial in China on Tuesday on charges of
torturing a man to death during an internal investigation in a case that has
exposed the secret workings of the party's judicial system.
Yu Qiyi, 42, a chief engineer for a state-owned investment firm in the eastern
city of Wenzhou, drowned in April after being dunked repeatedly in a bucket of
ice-cold water, state media said last week. His case sheds light on the
detention of party officials under a system lawyers say is rife with abuse.
The officials - 5 from the party's corruption watchdog, the Central Commission
for Discipline Inspection, and a local prosecutor, were indicted on charges of
intentional infliction of harm leading to death for the alleged abuse of Yu.
They face the death penalty.
Yu had spent 38 days under shuanggui, a form of extra-legal detention imposed
on party officials being investigated for disciplinary violations.
"I believe that these egregious cases in which officials who have been under
shuanggui have died rarely enter the judicial process," said Pu Zhiqiang, a
lawyer representing Yu's family.
Reuters was not immediately able to locate lawyers for the 6 accused. Neither
the government nor the party has publicly given an account of what happened.
The story has received limited coverage in state-run media.
It is not precisely clear why Yu was being investigated, according to his
family's lawyers. Si Weijiang, a 2nd lawyer for the family, said it was
possibly because of improprieties related to a land deal.
Ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai was subject to shuanggui for 17 months
before facing trial last month on charges of corruption and abuse of power.
During his trial, Bo recanted an earlier confession to party investigators
saying it was made under psychological pressure. A verdict is expected in the
coming weeks.
"We think this (Yu's case) is a real tool to measure whether China wants to
become a country ruled by law," said Si.
"That is: 'Should shuanggui be included in the legal system?'"
Investigators put Yu's head in a bucket of ice-cold water and held it down
repeatedly, eventually causing his death, according to Si. Yu was also beaten
and his body scarred by what appeared to be cigarette butt marks.
Yu's death comes as China wages war on corruption. President Xi Jinping has
pledged to go after "tigers" and "flies" in the battle against graft, referring
to both political heavyweights and low-ranked officials.
Pu said Yu, who was made to strip naked before interrogators dunked his head,
struggled and shouted during the questioning session, citing the indictment.
Photographs of Yu taken by family members after his death showed an emaciated
man who was "black and blue", Pu said.
Si said it was likely the hearing would be closed to the public, saying
authorities had worked to keep information about the trial under wraps such as
preventing lawyers from photocopying evidence and restricting the number of
lawyers the family could hire.
The question of who authorized the harsh treatment of Yu remains largely
unanswered, Pu said, adding the 6 officials were carrying out orders from the
disciplinary commission.
"Who approved the use of such torture? The bucket and the ice cold water were
already prepared in that place in advance," Pu said. "These people have not
been investigated yet."
Most Chinese criminal trials are over within days, often after just a single
day. The country's courts rarely acquit defendants in criminal cases.
Yu's ex-wife, Wu Qian, said she was not confident justice would be done.
"We've noticed a certain degree of interference in the legal process already in
preparing for this case," she told Reuters, without elaborating.
(source: The Jakarta Globe)
******************
Officials to Face Death Penalty in Drowning Death
The 6 men charged in the April drowning death of state-owned employee Yu Qiyi
will stand trial on Tuesday, according to Reuters, which reports that they will
face the death penalty:
Yu had spent 38 days under "shuanggui", a form of extra-legal detention imposed
on party officials being investigated for disciplinary violations.
"I believe that these egregious cases in which officials who have been under
'shuanggui' have died rarely enter the judicial process," said Pu Zhiqiang, a
lawyer representing Yu's family.
Reuters was not immediately able to locate lawyers for the 6 accused. Neither
the government nor the party has publicly given an account of what happened.
The story has received limited coverage in state-run media.
It is not precisely clear why Yu was being investigated, according to his
family's lawyers. Si Weijiang, a 2nd lawyer for the family, said it was
possibly because of improprieties related to a land deal.
(source: China Digital Times)
BANGLADESH:
Shahbagh ecstatic after death verdict
Demonstrators at Shahbagh's Ganajagaran Mancha cried their hearts out after the
Supreme Court condemned Jamaat-e-Islami's Abdul Quader Molla to death for his
part in the 1971 war crimes.
Youths and people in general had come out in full fury at Shahbagh on Feb 5
this year after the Jamaat Assistant Secretary General was given a life
sentence by the 2nd war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh.
The punishment of past atrocities was greeted with loud cheers by
banner-carrying public.
Expressing satisfaction, Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarkar said, "The verdict
has dispelled all our doubts on whether we'd get justice."
He said the people of Bangladesh had been waiting for a long time for justice
and urged the authorities to execute the sentence soon.
Sarkar demanded outlawing the Jamaat as a political party, which had opposed
the nation's birth.
The Mancha activists took position at Shahbagh from Monday night but later
postponed their sit-in programme due to rains. They resumed their sit-in from
Tuesday morning.
Molla had flashed a 'victory' sign while getting out of the tribunal in a car
after the tribunal had handed him life term, sparking off a wave of anger and
frustration, drawing hundreds of people to Shahbagh to form mass protests.
Within a matter of days, the non-violent movement spread across Bangladesh
demanding maximum penalty for convicted war criminals.
"The arrogance Quader Molla showed on the day of the tribunal's verdict has
been answered with the order of his hanging," Sarkar said.
The February-March protests had forced Parliament to change the war crimes
laws, allowing the prosecution to appeal against any verdict and seek the death
penalty in the Supreme Court. Previously, the prosecution could appeal only in
case of an acquittal.
(source: bdnews24.com)
***************
Death penalty to be executed within AL tenure: Hanif
Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif on Tuesday said the
verdict against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla will be put into
effect during the tenure of the current ruling government.
Hanif made the claim while talking to journalists at his Karwan Bazaar office
at around 11:30am.
Deeming the trial a milestone, Hanif said: "The nation has been pleased with
the fulfilment of their long awaited expectation."
Earlier in the morning, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court sentenced
Abdul Quader Molla to death for his crimes against humanity during the
Liberation War.
(source: Dhaka Tribune)
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