March 21
JAPAN:
Death penalty upheld for woman
The Matsue branch of the Hiroshima High Court upheld on Thursday capital
punishment for a woman convicted of killing two men in 2009, based mainly on
circumstantial evidence.
Presiding Judge Ihei Tsukamoto concurred with the lower court's ruling in 2012
that questioned the authenticity of her claims of innocence.
Miyuki Ueta, 40, a former bar worker, used sleeping pills to drug truck driver
Kazumi Yabe, 47, who she later drowned in the ocean in 2009. She drowned
electronics store owner Hideki Maruyama, 57, in a river that October. She owed
money to both.
(source: Japan Times)
*******************
Court sentences 3 to death for baby's kidnap, murder
An Akure High Court yesterday, sentenced three men to death by hanging for
alleged kidnapping and murdering of an 18-month-old baby, Rachael Akingboye.
The convicts are Olusegun Obaro, Jonah Lase and Theophilus Friday. The trial
judge, Justice Olusegun Odusola, in his judgment, said the 1st and 2nd accused
persons were guilty of kidnapping and murder, while the 3rd accused person was
only guilty of murder.
They had been arraigned on a 2-count charge of kidnapping and murdering of Baby
Akingboye, "contrary to and punishable under Section 3 of the Ondo State
Anti-Kidnapping and Abduction Law 2010, and murder contrary to Section 316 and
punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code Laws of Ondo State".
The convicts were said to have kidnapped the deceased from her parent's
residence at Ikorigho in Igbokoda on the night of June 17, 2011.
After she was kidnapped, the corpse of the baby was said to have been found
near the residence of the parents with her right eye, right ear, right breast
and the right part of her scalp removed.
The convicts had pleaded not guilty to the charges at the commencement of the
trial. However, Justice Odusola in his judgment, held that the totality of the
evidence before him showed that the prosecution had proved that the three
accused persons were responsible for the death of the baby.
He said: "The offences for which the accused were charged are strict liability
offences. Death penalty is the punishment for each of the counts. Having found
the 1st and 2nd accused guilty of both counts, the 3rd accused is guilty of
murder.
"I hereby sentence Olusegun Obaro, Jonah Lase and Theophilus Friday to death by
hanging."
(source: sunnewsonline.com)
SINGAPORE:
Indonesian helper charged with killing Hong Kong-born socialite in Singapore
The Indonesian domestic helper of Hong Kong-born socialite and philanthropist
Nancy Gan Wan Geok has been charged with murder after her boss was found dead
in the swimming pool of her bungalow in Singapore.
Gan, 69, was found motionless in her Victoria Park Road home on Wednesday
morning and was pronounced dead by paramedics soon after they arrived, local
police said.
The acclaimed porcelain artist had suffered head injuries, The Straits Times in
Singapore said. Dewi Suko Wati, 23, had been working for Gan for just a week,
the newspaper reported. The helper could face the death penalty if convicted of
murder.
Gan's death is the 2nd maid-linked tragedy to hit Singapore in just over 2
weeks.
On March 4, Myanmese Than Than Win, 24, was charged with murder after her boss
Yong Wan Lan, 85, was found dead in a condominium.
Yong suffered wounds in her torso. She was believed to be Than Than Win's 1st
employer in the country.
Gan, a mother of 2, was a classical pianist educated at Trinity College London.
She painted landscapes, flora and fauna on porcelain and regularly donated the
works to charity. Most of her time was devoted to philanthropic activities in
Singapore and the Far East, according to her website.
She continued to "push the envelope of porcelain techniques by melding her art
with textures and styles from other mediums", the website said.
In 1988 and 1992, she held exhibitions of her porcelain paintings in Hong Kong.
Various exhibitions were also staged in Singapore, the United States and
Australia.
Gan was in her pyjamas when found dead. Dewi, from Central Java, was charged
with murder yesterday and remanded in custody for psychiatric assessment, The
Straits Times said.
She would appear in court again next month, the newspaper said.
It quoted neighbours as saying Gan had been living in the bungalow temporarily
for almost a year as her other property, on Swiss Club Road, was under
renovation.
She shared the home with her adult son and the helper.
Her son left on a business trip to South Korea on Monday and returned after
Gan's death was discovered.
Her daughter was believed to be a doctor based in London, the daily said.
The neighbours said Gan was gregarious, well groomed and talented, it reported.
(source: South China Morning Post)
INDIA:
HC confirms death sentence for rapist
The Bombay high court on Thursday confirmed the death sentence awarded to a
Wardha man for raping and murdering a 19-year-old girl "even as the village
stood mute witness behind closed doors".
A division bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice C V Bhadang referred to the
recent amendments making rape laws stringent after the Delhi gangrape incident.
They said that the crime of the accused, Rakesh Kamble, could be termed the
"rarest of rare" and deserving the death penalty.
The judges set aside the capital punishment given to the co-accused, Amar Singh
Thakur, but said he would remain behind bars for 30 years before he could be
considered for early release from prison.
"Would the society not expect the holders of judicial powers ...centre, to
award proportionate sentence to the accused who have no respect for human
values and have treated a young girl of 19 years in the most brutal, cruel and
dastardly manner," said the judges, adding that they could not ignore the
amendments made to the Indian rape laws. "The amendment as a matter of fact
echoes the sentiments of the society at large. The society's sentiment is
glaringly explicit that such heinous crime on hapless women is required to be
dealt with an iron hand," the judges said. Both the accused had criminal
antecedents and were held guilty under the Maharashtra Control of Organized
Crime Act in another case. The court refused to show any leniency to the
accused on account of their young age - both were in their early 20s at the
time of the incident.
The incident dates back to December 2005, when Kamble had a quarrel with the
victim. On In the wee hours of the morning of December 18, 2005, Kamble and
Thakur warned the villagers to remain indoors and forcibly entered the victim's
house. She ran to her uncle's home but the 2 pursued her, broke open the doors
and dragged her out to the fields where they raped and then killed her.
"The magnitude of the crime is enormous," observed the judges, while upholding
the trial court's verdict convicting the 2 for rape and murder. It is clear
that the nature of the crime is such which is likely to cause fear psychosis,"
the court added.
(source: The Times of India)
IRAN:
Executions rising in Iran
As many as 700 people were sentenced to death in Iran last year, according to
United Nations estimates. Most were charged with drug-related crimes and
belonged to ethnic minorities, new studies show.
"Despite signs of openness with the election of President (Hassan) Rohani
almost a year ago, the human rights situation in Iran has dramatically
deteriorated," Taimoor Aliassi, UN representative of the Association of Human
Rights in Kurdistan of Iran - Geneva, told IPS.
"Iran is the second executioner country in the world behind China, but the
first one per capita." - Raphael Chenuil-Hazan, executive director of French
NGO Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort.
At least 687 prisoners have been executed in 2013, 68% of the after the
presidential election in June 2013, Aliassi said. This is the highest figure in
15 years.
The vast majority, he said, were from ethnic minorities such as Kurds, Baloch
and Baha'is. "The repression of these minorities has accentuated."
Aliassi's comments followed a report by Dr Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special
Rapporteur on Iran, detailing the executions. The Iranian government labelled
the findings "not objective" and "mostly a compilation of unfounded
allegations." It is opposing the renewal of Shaheed's mandate.
"Last year, there were 2 executions a day," Shaheed said at a meeting in Geneva
earlier this week on rights in Iran. "60 % of them were related to drug crimes.
Many did not have access to lawyers, and confessions were got under torture. 3
juveniles were among those hanged."
Shaheed contested the Iranian government allegation that his report is based on
opposition sources, or even terrorists. "Even though I could not get into the
country, I talked to 700 people. I do my interviews by Skype. If I was able to
go to Iran, there would be government views in my report. It would be in its
advantage."
"Iran is the 2nd executioner country in the world behind China, but the 1st one
per capita," RaphaelChenuil-Hazan, executive director of the French NGO
Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, told IPS. The NGO was created in 2000 to
investigate death penalties. It launched the World Coalition Against the Death
Penalty that holds a congress every 3 years.
"The death penalty is a benchmark for human rights," Hazan said. "It opens the
door to the scrutiny of other human rights violations like juvenile justice,
ethnic minorities, public executions, torture and unfair trials. We manage to
work with grassroots NGOs in all countries, including China and Iraq, but not
in Iran."
The Iranian government, Hazan said, like North Korea "does not allow local NGOs
to come to our congress. Our sources are individuals we identify in the
prisons. Last year we counted 687 executions. We know it is more, but this is
the figure we are able to prove in our report." The UN report is in line with
findings by NGOs.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson of Iran Human Rights, an NGO based in
Oslo with members both inside and outside Iran told IPS that "56% of the
figures included in this report are official, and 44% have been confirmed by us
independently."
Last year, he said, the group "documented 59 public executions, all of them
announced officially. Children are also watching executions since there is no
age limit. But there are so many secret executions in prisons that we need
independent investigations."
According to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights,
ratified by Iran, countries that have not abolished the death penalty can
impose it only for the most serious crimes.
"Since 2010, more than 1,800 people have been executed on drug-related charges.
But is the possession of 30 grams of heroin, morphine, opium or methadone a
'most serious crime?'" said Hazan.
Other reasons for capital punishment are "corruption on earth", rebellion,
sexual offences including same-sex relations, organized crime, robbery and
smuggling, murder and other religious offences. At least 28 women were hanged
publicly in 2013, according to the Special Rapporteur.
Some NGOs accuse the government itself of fostering drug addiction for
political reasons, particularly in the Kurdish area. "It is practicing an
anti-Kurdish policy of pushing youth into drugs and then arresting them," Karen
Parker, a human rights attorney based in San Francisco, told IPS.
Gianfranco Fattorini, of the Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l'amiti? entre
les peuples (MRAP), a French NGO that supports against racism and
discrimination, told the meeting in Geneva that 20 Kurdish activists are known
to be on death row and 25 Kurdish political activists have been sentenced to
death for propaganda against national security and similar charges.
Diane Ala'i, of the Baha'i International Community, an international NGO
representing members of the Baha'i faith, says the persecution of Baha'is is
engrained in the constitution that recognizes only three religious minorities -
Christians, Jews and Zoroastrian. Members of the Baha'i religious minority are
persecuted from the time they are born till they die, said Ala'i at the meeting
in Geneva.
"Children are ostracized at school; youngsters are denied access to university
and to jobs in the public sector. Today 136 Baha'is are in prison only because
they are Baha'is. The accusation goes from enmity against god, to being spies
or belonging to an illegal organization. Some of these people are elderly;
others are young mothers who have to take their children into prison."
She added that their cemeteries are bulldozed and "it is clear that these
horrible acts are condoned by the authorities." Violent crimes and incitement
to hatred are rising against Baha'is and other minorities, but none of these
cases have been investigated by judicial authorities. "This is government
orchestrated," she said.
But more and more Iranians are showing solidarity with the Baha'is, she said.
Last week, 75 prominent activists asked the head of the judiciary to give the
benefit of Islamic law even to "unrecognized religious minorities" like the
Baha'is.
Influential personalities like renowned film-maker Asghar Farhadi have signed
an open charter to ask for abolition of the death penalty, following a campaign
called Legam (step by step abolition of the death penalty) initiated last
November.
"Since they are well known, they encounter fewer risks to go to prison. This
shows that civil society is advancing. Now it is up to the government to show
that it is opening up too," said Hazan.
(source: Inter Press Service)
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