Feb. 24
INDIA:
The politics of executions in India; Indian Muslims and people of Guru's home
state of Jammu and Kashmir have accused the Congress government of playing
dirty politics by fast-tracking his execution. This allegation has some
substance
"The 23 years of life in a prison and that too on death row and the solitary
isolation has almost snatched everything from us and all we have is life in our
body and hope in our heart. Please release my father and get him back to me,
you'll be hailed as saviours."
Priyanka Harithra,
Daughter of Nalini and Murugan
"Guru was killed by the Congress for political gains. They sacrificed him for
votes. If after so many years, their sentence could be commuted, what was the
hurry in killing him?"
These 2 statements are a telling commentary on how Indian politicians and
governments adopt double standards while dealing with Muslim and non-Muslims
sentenced to death by a court of law. The 1st is from a mercy petition written
by Priyanka Harithra, the 22-year-old UK-based daughter of Nalini and Murugan
who were awarded death penalty in 1999 for assassinating former prime minister
Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991. The mercy petition this week was addressed to
Rajiv's widow Sonia and son Rahul after Supreme Court commuted Murugan's death
sentence over a technicality. Nalini's death sentence was commuted after she
was pardoned by Rajiv's family members on humanitarian grounds. Harithra
pleaded with Sonia and Rahul to release her parents.
Harithra's mercy plea came after Supreme Court on February 18 commuted death
sentence of Rajiv's killers, including Murugan. While commuting the death
sentence, the court cited federal government's delay in dealing with all the 4
convicts' mercy petitions. Soon after this verdict, a regional politician and
chief minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalitha announced her government will
release the four convicts, all from Tamil Nadu. Her decision, months before
general elections, is seen as an attempt to gain support of Tamil nationalists
who sympathise with the assassins and blame Rajiv for sending Indian army
troops to crush the Tamil rebellion in Sri Lanka.
The 2nd statement is of the widow of a Muslim, Afzal Guru, who was hanged for
his role in the December 2001 Parliament attack. After the court commuted
Murugan's death sentence, Guru's widow Tabassum questioned why her husband was
hanged when Rajiv's killers who were sentenced way back in 1999 have now been
pardoned. Guru was sentenced to death in 2003 and the verdict was upheld by the
Supreme Court in 2005. In a secret operation on February 9, 2013, the
Congress-led UPA government executed Guru and buried him inside Tihar jail
where he was lodged since his arrest. The hanging came as a surprise because
Guru was 25th on the list of death convicts and the government deals with mercy
petitions from death convicts in a chronological order. Clearly, 43-year-old
Guru was treated as a special case for some inexplicable reasons and his
hanging and burial was shrouded in secrecy. Moreover, the government failed to
inform the family members, Guru's widow Tabassum received a letter about the
hanging 2 days after TV channels broke the news. Tabassum, who has a
13-year-old son, was also not informed about the rejection of her mercy
petition. One year on, Tabassum is still pleading for her husband's body and
belongings.
Impressing Hindu nationalists
Indian Muslims and people of Guru's home state of Jammu and Kashmir have
accused the Congress government of playing dirty politics by fast-tracking
Guru's execution. The hanging, they feel, was an attempt to impress Hindu
nationalists and a crude attempt to check the rising graph of right-wing
opposition Bharatiya Janata Party which had been demanding swift execution of
Guru. This allegation has some substance.
To get a sense of this complex game of politics of death practiced by
governments and politicians, it is necessary to go into the background of
Guru's sentencing. Throughout his trial, Guru maintained his innocence and
denied he had any role in attacking Parliament in which a dozen people were
killed. The Supreme Court, in a controversial, order rejected Guru's appeal and
upheld the death sentence. The order, considered controversial by Muslims and
human rights activists, makes an interesting read: "Thus the conspirator, even
though he may not have indulged in the actual criminal operations to execute
the conspiracy, becomes liable for the punishment... The incident, which
resulted in heavy casualties, had shaken the entire nation and the collective
conscience of the society will only be satisfied if the capital punishment is
awarded to the offender."
Thus, the Supreme Court, while admitting there was no direct evidence to
convict Guru, went ahead to uphold his death sentence in order to "satisfy the
collective conscience of the society". Guru's trial in lower court also failed
to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he was indeed involved in the conspiracy
to attack parliament. Here is a paragraph from an article written by human
rights activist and celebrated author Arundhati Roy a day after Guru was
hanged: "The trial in the fast-track court began in May 2002. The world was
still convulsed by post 9/11 frenzy. The US government was gloating prematurely
over its "victory" in Afghanistan. In the state of Gujarat, the massacre of
Muslims by Hindu goon squads, helped along by the police and the state
government machinery that had begun in late February, was still going on
sporadically. The air was charged with communal hatred. And in the parliament
attack case the law was taking its own course. At the most crucial stage of a
criminal case, when evidence is presented, when witnesses are cross-examined,
when the foundations of the argument are laid, Afzal Guru, locked in a
high-security solitary cell, had no lawyer. The court-appointed junior lawyer
did not visit his client even once in jail, he did not summon any witnesses in
Guru's defence, and he did not cross-examine the prosecution witnesses. The
judge expressed his inability to do anything about the situation." Like his
hanging, the trial was also swift and fast-tracked.
In contrast, Murugan, his wife and 2 others - all Hindu Tamils - were sentenced
to death for killing Rajiv and 14 others in a suicide bombing. Successive
governments never showed any haste in deciding on their mercy pleas. This week,
15 years after they were convicted, the Supreme Court commuted the death
sentence blaming the government for delay in deciding mercy petitions. In
another case, Sikh terrorist Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar was sentenced to death
for carrying out a bomb blast in 1993, killing 9. The government rejected his
mercy petition in 2011 but is yet to execute him, possibly to avoid a backlash
from the Sikh community.
One can speculate that the government dragged its feet on politically sensitive
cases of Rajiv killers because the assassins enjoyed sympathy of Tamil Hindus.
Guru's case was handled with ruthless swiftness because he came from Kashmir, a
state in conflict with Indian troops. More significantly, hanging of a Muslim
terrorist brought cheers from Hindu nationalists and right-wing politicians.
After all, the Supreme Court condemned Guru to die in order to satisfy the
nation's conscience and the government could not have denied Indian people a
moment of national glory.
(source: Opinion, Gulf News)
*****************
India wilts under pressure: No death penalty for Italian marines
What can be read as India wilting down under pressure, Italian marines facing
murder charges for killing Kerala fishermen wouldn't be prosecuted under the
Anti Piracy charges as per what centre told the Supreme Court.
The charges of Anti Piracy would be dropped thus sparing them from the
likelihood of getting death penalty.
The apex court would be examining Italy's plea challenging jurisdiction of
National Investigation Agency (NIA) inquiry in the case.
The centre had earlier argued in the Supreme Court that the NIA can continue
with further investigations in the case.
The case relates to the killing of 2 Kerala fishermen allegedly by Latorre and
Girone, the 2 Italian marines, aboard 'Enrica Lexie' off Kerala coast on
February 15, 2012.
Following which the 2 were arrested on Februray 19, 2012. The 2 had claimed
that they only fired at the victims after fearing attacked by pirates.
(source: Bhaskar.com)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Kiwis in UAE drugs probe to appear in court
3 New Zealand citizens arrested in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as
part of an investigation into drugs-related offences are due to appear in court
today.
The 3, who live in the UAE, were arrested on December 19. They had been held in
detention, but no formal charges had been laid, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Trade (MFAT) spokesperson said.
A 4th New Zealander arrested had since been released.
Representatives from the New Zealand Consulate-General in Dubai had visited the
detained Kiwis 3 times, to check on their health and wellbeing and to provide
consular support.
Consular staff in Dubai continued to provide updates and advice to the
detainees' families, MFAT said.
MFAT could not comment on the legal process or interfere in the judicial
proceedings of another country.
The British government warns its citizens the UAE has a zero tolerance for
drugs-related offences. It said penalties for drug trafficking, smuggling and
possession of even residual amounts of drugs were severe.
Sentences for drug trafficking could include the death penalty, while
possession of even the smallest amount of illegal drugs could lead to a minimum
4-year jail sentence. The presence of drugs in the bloodstream counted as
possession.
(source: Fairfax NZ News)
SINGAPORE:
Factory worker escapes the gallows
A 36-year-old factory worker escaped death when the High Court here yesterday
acquitted him of a charge of trafficking in 6.782kg of methamphetamine 3 years
ago.
Judge Datuk Zakiah Kassim ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a
prima facie case against Ahmad Fauzi Ismail.
The father of 4, who was clad in a red shirt, beamed with joy as he stepped out
of the courtroom after being freed.
"I am grateful for being spared from the death penalty," he said before leaving
the court, accompanied by his lawyer, Datuk Naran Singh.
Zakiah said the prosecution had failed to prove that the car driven by Fauzi
where the drug was found belonged to him.
Fauzi was jointly charged with his wife, Faizah Hamzah, 40, with committing the
offence in front of the Kubang Pasu district police headquarters at 9.30am on
Aug 5, 2011.
However, Faizah was found not guilty at the end of the prosecution on Oct 20
last year, while her husband was ordered to enter his defence.
Deputy public prosecutor Siti Aisyah Abdul Rashid prosecuted.
(source: New Straits Times)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan's harsh blasphemy law under scrutiny
Mohammad Asghar, a 69-year-old paranoid schizophrenic, faces a death sentence
in Pakistan for claiming to be the Prophet Mohammed in letters written to
officials and police in 2010.
The retired British national of Pakistani descent is partially paralyzed after
a stroke, but Pakistani courts have so far refused to acknowledge his physical
and mental limitations.
The charges against Asghar recall the case of Rimsha Masih, a teenage girl who
was alleged to have dumped torn and burnt pages of the Quran into a garbage
heap nearly 2 years ago. Rimsha, who is Christian, was also arrested under
Pakistan's blasphemy law, which stipulates a life sentence for defiling the
Quran.
Later, it emerged that the torn and burnt pages were from an Arabic primer.
Rimsha, whose lawyers claim she is developmentally disabled, was granted bail
and whisked away in a helicopter amid tight security.
The Pakistan Penal Code prohibits blasphemy against any recognized religion,
providing penalties ranging from life imprisonment to death.
The law has been widely abused in Pakistan, where about 247 blasphemy cases
have been registered, affecting the lives of 435 people since 1987, according
to a 2013 report from the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), an
independent think tank based in Islamabad.
Though the courts have not sentenced anyone to death for blasphemy, 52
Pakistanis have fallen prey to extrajudicial killings as a result of blasphemy
charges. According to the CRSS research, 25 were Muslims, 15 Christians, 5
Ahmadis, one Buddhist and 1 Hindu.
The growing misuse of the blasphemy law has riled some Pakistanis and,
increasingly, foreign powers. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was
"deeply concerned" about Asghar's conviction. British Foreign Minister Sayeeda
Warsi spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif about restoring a
moratorium on death penalty convictions for blasphemy. Sharif, younger brother
of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, reportedly assured Warsi a review of
the death penalty freeze was forthcoming.
Pakistan risks losing vital British support for greater trade access with the
European Union if it does not agree to a moratorium on the death penalty
sentences for blasphemy convictions.
But Babar Sattar, a popular columnist for the Dawn newspaper and a
constitutional lawyer, said that after 2 high-profile killings, the mood has
become so coercive that "a demand for amending the law is translated as
blasphemy in itself."
On Jan. 4, 2011, Punjab province's outspoken governor Salman Taseer was shot 27
times from close range by his security guard Malik Mumtaz Qadri for favoring
review of the blasphemy law.
2 months later, Minister for Religious Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, a Roman
Catholic, was shot dead for questioning the law. Though the Waziristan-based
Taliban has admitted killing him, no one has been arrested for the crime.
"One way of curbing abuse of the blasphemy law can be to award life
imprisonment or death sentence for the false accuser," said Tahir Ashrafi, a
Muslim activist.
In rural areas of Sindh and Punjab province, Hindus and Christians have been
forced to flee their homes after being threatened with accusations of insulting
the Quran or the Prophet Mohammed.
Azhar Hussain, president of the Islamabad-based Peace & Education Foundation,
which works for educational enhancement and religious reconciliation, believes
the law leaves room for vigilantism owing to the weakness of law and order in
the country.
"If Islamabad can't suspend the law till its enforcement procedure is improved,
the public needs to be educated about spirit and intent of the law," Hussain
said.
In 1 instance, Sajjad Farooq - who had memorized the Quran by heart - was
beaten to death by a mob in the Punjab province on suspicion of committing
blasphemy in 1995.
Aslam Khaki, a Supreme Court lawyer with doctorate degree in Shariah law,
suggested that a committee consisting of religious scholars, lawyers and civil
servants should examine each allegation before a charge is brought.
Through the years, those accused of blasphemy have sometimes been smuggled out
of Pakistan to Europe to allow tempers to die down. In June, Canada's CBC News
reported that Rimsha now lives at an undisclosed location in Toronto with her
parents and siblings.
Asghar's lawyers have appealed and are hoping for the best.
(source: Lohud.com)
***********************
Court hands death sentences to 3 murderers in Karachi
An anti-terrorism court has handed death sentences to 3 murderers, Express News
reported on Monday.
The 3 killers had murdered a trader on August 17, 2010, after they had
kidnapped him for ransom.
The trader was murdered despite his family paying Rs10 million in ransom. The
kidnappers reportedly killed the hostage in fear of getting caught.
Businessmen in the city are often targeted by extortionists while police
response to such incidents is far from satisfactory.
Death penalty
No execution has been carried out in Pakistan since 2008 except one when a
convict was executed on November 14, 2012, under the orders of a military
court.
The last government of Pakistan Peoples Party - through a moratorium - had
stopped executions under death penalty.
Recently, the federal government had claimed that there are 547 persons on
death row in the country - a figure strongly contested by human rights
organisations.
Of these prisoners, 63 were awarded death sentences on their involvement in
terrorist activities.
These numbers are, however, disputed. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
in September last year had quoted that there were more than 8,000 convicts on
death row in the country. Of these, 450 were awaiting execution by August 2013.
(source: Express Tribune)
GLOBAL:
Here are the 10 countries where homosexuality may be punished by death
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni today signed a law that imposes a 14-year
prison sentence for homosexual acts - and life sentences for those found guilty
of "aggravated homosexuality." A measure imposing the death penalty was removed
from an earlier version of the bill.
Homosexuality was already illegal in Uganda, as it is in 37 other African
countries. Though the death penalty was removed from Uganda's law, it's a
potential punishment elsewhere, including parts of Nigeria, Mauritania and
Sudan.
(Last month, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed a measure similar to
Uganda's into law; a few weeks later, a mob pulled 14 young men from their beds
and assaulted them, screaming about cleansing their neighborhood of gay people.
)
Here are the 10 countries where homosexuality may be punishable by death:
see:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/24/here-are-the-10-countries-where-homosexuality-may-be-punished-by-death/
Here are the 10 countries where homosexuality may be punishable by death:
Yemen: According to 1994 penal code, married men can be sentenced to death by
stoning for homosexual intercourse. Unmarried men face whipping or 1 year in
prison. Women face up to 7 years in prison.
Iran: In accordance with sharia law, homosexual intercourse between men can be
punished by death, and men can be flogged for lesser acts such as kissing.
Women may be flogged.
Iraq: The penal code does not expressly prohibit homosexual acts, but people
have been killed by militias and sentenced to death by judges citing sharia
law.
Mauritania: Muslim men engaging in homosexual sex can be stoned to death,
according to a 1984 law. Women face prison.
Nigeria: Federal law classifies homosexual behavior as a felony punishable by
imprisonment, but several states have adopted sharia law and imposed a death
penalty for men. A law signed in early January makes it illegal for gay people
countrywide to hold a meeting or form clubs.
Qatar: Sharia law in Qatar applies only to Muslims, who can be put to death for
extramarital sex, regardless of sexual orientation.
Saudi Arabia: Under the country's interpretation of sharia law, a married man
engaging in sodomy or any non-Muslim who commits sodomy with a Muslim can be
stoned to death. All sex outside of marriage is illegal.
Somalia: The penal code stipulates prison, but in some southern regions,
Islamic courts have imposed Sharia law and the death penalty.
Sudan: 3-time offenders under the sodomy law can be put to death; 1st and 2nd
convictions result in flogging and imprisonment. Southern parts of the country
have adopted more lenient laws.
United Arab Emirates: Lawyers in the country and other experts disagree on
whether federal law proscribes the death penalty for consensual homosexual sex
or only for rape. In a recent Amnesty International report, the organization
said it was not aware of any death sentences for homosexual acts. All sexual
acts outside of marriage are banned.
(source: Washington Post)
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