May 16
UNITED KINGDOM:
I would never have believed I'd be writing to a death row prisoner
Kate Hughes from Halewood Liverpool has been writing to American death row
prisoner Robert Pruett. Kate is now campaigning on Roberts behalf and he has
just been given a stay of execution.
The neatly scripted prose reads like many another letter from a friend. Filled
with fun and laughter, he talks about the latest book he has read, and chatters
about his next dream travel destination.
"Life's meant to be enjoyed and not taken too seriously," he enthuses.
Only the postmark and the address on the envelope give a clue as to the unusual
identity of Kate Hughes' penpal: Polunsky Unit, Livingstone, Texas.
Its author, Robert Pruett, is a convicted murderer, currently on death row in
America.
"So many people talk to Robert about his case, I decided I wasn't going to do
that," says Kate, 29, from Halewood.
"I keep my letters light and silly, and if I put a smile on his face, then I
have achieved something."
Kate, a senior care assistant in a nursing home, has been writing to Robert
Lynn Pruett after watching a BBC documentary on the plight of the 33-year-old.
"I don't know what he thinks of me, but in his letters he says he loves the
fact that I'm silly and have a laugh. Other people are too serious."
Robert was already serving a 99-year-sentence for the murder of a neighbour. It
is one both he and his father, who has admitted the crime, says he did not
commit. Robert was subsequently convicted of killing prison guard Daniel Nagle
in 1999.
It was the latter for which he was handed the death sentence, and for which his
supporters claim there is a lack of evidence and that the conviction is unsafe.
As Robert awaits his fate after being given a stay of execution pending
appeals, Kate has joined the campaign to save him from death.
She says: "I saw the documentary, Life and Death Row, and I watched it over and
over again.
Yet no matter how many times I watched it, I thought 'that man is not guilty'.
"It broke my heart and I thought I had to do something."
Kate, a former Anfield Comprehensive pupil, researched Robert's story and case
before getting in touch with his supporters in the States.
"I contacted a friend of Robert's who acts as a legal advocate, and his
attorney, because I just thought that, maybe, if Texas sees that everyone is
behind Robert, it will draw attention to his case and make them look at it
again.
"It's a ripple effect. It can start small. It can start here in Liverpool."
Kate continues: "Robert knew he was facing 99 years in prison. He knew he was
going to die in prison... if he had committed the crime against the guard,
would he not just admit it?
"He has been on death row for 15 years now. He shouldn't be on it.
"I was for the death penalty before I learned about Robert, and looked into
this system. There are people who are taken for execution and actually lie on
the gurney, waiting for a lethal injection, before being told to get off
because it's not going to happen that night. It's inhumane.
"There are tons of stories of people who are on death row for 30 years or more
before being exonerated and released.
"But there are people who have been executed before their innocence is proven.
"It's too late for them - and I don't want that to happen to Robert. I don't
want him to die."
Since she has been writing to Robert the pair have exchanged many letters, Kate
writing via a prison email service 'jpay' and Robert via conventional pen and
paper.
"Robert is a funny man; very clever, quite deep and well read," she says,
"having been educated in prison.
"I don't talk to him about his case because he talks to his attorney every day
about that and I don't think he needs to be talking about it constantly. I
pretend we have met on holiday and we are now friends, keeping in touch.
"We talk about what books we have read, what music we like to listen to and
silly things. We talked about places we would like to visit and Robert said he
would like to visit the Isle of Skye; so I found an image of Skye and
superimposed a picture of Robert onto it.
"He's already told me he loves that idea.
"I don't know what he thinks of me, but in his letters he says he loves the
fact that I'm silly and have a laugh. Other people are too serious."
And she adds: "If my letters can make him smile, hopefully I have made some
impact."
Kate admits she has been asked if she is seeking a relationship with Robert;
whether she is in search of romance but she is adamant: "No, there is no
romance.
"My brother was serving in Afghanistan for a while and the same thoughts I had
for my brother, I have for Robert. I look at him as a friend and that's what he
said, in one of his letters, he wanted to be.
"He will say to me: 'If you have a problem in your personal life or if you are
upset, feel free to talk to me'.
"Overall, he's a nice guy. It's incredible that he can be so positive. We
definitely have a bond."
Of course, there are those who question Kate's new penpal and she freely
admits: "If someone had told me 5 years ago that I would writing to a prisoner
on death row, I would have thought they were having a laugh.
"But I nearly lost my life in 2011 and that has made me look at things
differently, and made me want to help people more; and this is the 1st thing
that's happened where I can.
"There was a time when I could have seen something on the television and
thought 'that's terrible' and turned over.
"But this time I thought that if I turned over, or did nothing to help, what
did that say about me, or the sort of person I was?
"I understand that if someone has committed really awful crimes that person is
wrong. I get that.
"But how can you sentence a man to death when there is no evidence?"
So close to Robert does Kate now feel that, during a trip to America in August
which she had already organised with a friend, she is now planning to see
Robert, and is waiting for a visiting order.
It will be daunting.
"I'm a 29-year-old girl going to see a death row prisoner in America. It would
be scary going into a prison, but especially death row.
"But it will be good to see Robert, though I don't know how it will be. I
imagine I will talk to him like I do in my letters; and hopefully be a breath
of fresh air to him. I want to make him laugh and smile."
As she continues to campaign for a re-trial or for Robert's death sentence to
be commuted down, Kate admits she fears for her friend whose fate now lies with
the Texas Court of Appeals.
He wrote to Kate: "I'm not exactly out of the woods yet but there is plenty of
reason to hope."
"I am worried," she says. "He shouldn't be in prison in the 1st place. He
certainly shouldn't be on death row.
"I just want to raise his profile and get everyone interested in Robert's
story. Why not me? Why not Liverpool?
"I don't want him to die. Even if I never spoke or wrote to him again, I don't
want him to die.
"If he died, of course I would be upset. But it's not about me; it's about him.
"And I can't turn my back on him. An innocent man's life is at stake..."
(source: Liverpool Echo)
SUDAN:
Christian in Sudan sentenced to death for faith; 'I'm just praying,' husband
says
Hours after a Sudanese court sentenced his pregnant wife to death when she
refused to recant her Christian faith, her husband told CNN he feels helpless.
"I'm so frustrated. I don't know what to do," Daniel Wani told CNN on Thursday.
"I'm just praying."
This week a Khartoum court convicted his wife, Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, of
apostasy, or the renunciation of faith.
Ibrahim is Christian, her husband said. But the court considers her to be
Muslim.
The court also convicted her of adultery and sentenced her to 100 lashes
because her marriage to a Christian man is considered void under Sharia law.
The court gave her until Thursday to recant her Christian faith -- something
she refused to do, according to her lawyer.
During Thursday's sentencing hearing, a sheikh told the court "how dangerous a
crime like this is to Islam and the Islamic community," said attorney Mohamed
Jar Elnabi, who's representing Ibrahim.
"I am a Christian," Ibrahim fired back, "and I will remain a Christian."
Her legal team says it plans to appeal the verdict, which drew swift
condemnation from human rights organizations around the world.
In the meantime, Ibrahim, who is eight months' pregnant, remains in prison with
her 20-month-old son.
"She is very strong and very firm. She is very clear that she is a Christian
and that she will get out one day," Elnabi told CNN from Sudan.
Ibrahim was born to a Sudanese Muslim father and an Ethiopian Orthodox mother.
Her father left when she was 6 years old, and Ibrahim was raised by her mother
as a Christian.
However, because her father was Muslim, the courts considered her to be the
same, which would mean her marriage to a non-Muslim man is void.
The case, her lawyer said, started after Ibrahim's brother filed a complaint
against her, alleging that she had gone missing for several years and that her
family was shocked to find she had married a Christian man.
A family divided
The court's ruling leaves a family divided, with Ibrahim behind bars and her
husband struggling to survive, Elnabi said.
Police blocked Wani from entering the courtroom on Thursday, Elnabi said.
Lawyers appealed to the judge, but he refused, Elnabi said.
Wani uses a wheelchair and "totally depends on her for all details of his
life," Elnabi said.
"He cannot live without her," said the lawyer.
The couple's son is having a difficult time in prison.
"He is very affected from being trapped inside a prison from such a young age,"
Elnabi said. "He is always getting sick due to lack of hygiene and bugs."
Ibrahim is having a difficult pregnancy, the lawyer said. A request to send her
to a private hospital was denied "due to security measures."
There also is the question of the timing of a potential execution.
In past cases involving pregnant or nursing women, the Sudanese government
waited until the mother weaned her child before executing any sentence, said
Christian Solidarity Worldwide spokeswoman Kiri Kankhwende.
Rights groups, governments ask for compassion
Amnesty International describes Ibrahim as a prisoner of conscience.
"The fact that a woman could be sentenced to death for her religious choice,
and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion,
is abhorrent and should never be even considered," Manar Idriss, Amnesty
International's Sudan researcher, said in a statement.
"'Adultery' and 'apostasy' are acts which should not be considered crimes at
all, let alone meet the international standard of 'most serious crimes' in
relation to the death penalty. It is a flagrant breach of international human
rights law," the researcher said.
Katherine Perks with the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies said the
verdict goes against Sudan's "own Constitution and commitments made under
regional and international law."
"Meriam has been convicted solely on account of her religious convictions and
personal status," she said.
Foreign embassies in Khartoum are urging the government there to reverse
course.
"We call upon the Government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of
religion, including one's right to change one's faith or beliefs, a right which
is enshrined in international human rights law as well as in Sudan's own 2005
Interim Constitution," the embassies of the United States, United Kingdom,
Canada and Netherlands said in a statement.
"We further urge Sudanese legal authorities to approach Ms. Meriam's case with
justice and compassion that is in keeping with the values of the Sudanese
people," it read.
'Egregious violations of freedom of religion'
Attempts to contact Sudan's justice minister and foreign affairs minister about
the Ibrahim case were unsuccessful.
Sudan is one of the most difficult countries in the world to be a Christian,
according to international religious freedom monitors.
Under President Omar al-Bashir, the African nation "continues to engage in
systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief,"
the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its 2014 report.
The country imposes Sharia law on Muslims and non-Muslims alike and punishes
acts of "indecency" and "immorality" by floggings and amputations, the
commission said.
"Conversion from Islam is a crime punishable by death, suspected converts to
Christianity face societal pressures, and government security personnel
intimidate and sometimes torture those suspected of conversion," said the
commission, whose members are appointed by Congress and the president.
The 8 worst places in the world to be religious
The Sudanese government has arrested Christians for spreading their faith,
razed Christian churches and confiscated Christians' property, the commission
said.
Since 1999, the U.S. State Department has called Sudan one of the worst
offenders of religious rights, counting it among 8 "countries of particular
concern."
"The government at times enforced laws against blasphemy and defaming Islam,"
the State Department said in its most recent report on religious freedom, from
2012.
The State Department's other countries of concern, all of which impose strict
penalties on Christians or other faiths, are: Myanmar (also known as Burma),
China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
Among all religious groups, Christians are the most likely to be persecuted
worldwide, according to a 2014 report by the Pew Research Center.
Between June 2006 and December 2012, Christians were harassed by governments in
151 countries, Pew reported. Islam was second, with 135 countries. Together,
Christians and Muslims make up half of the world's population, Pew noted.
Lawyer says he's gotten a death threat
Elnabi says he got a death threat a day before the controversial court hearing,
with an anonymous caller telling him to pull out of representing Ibrahim or
risk attack.
"I feel very scared," he said. "Since yesterday, I live in fear if I just hear
a door open or a strange sound in the street."
Still, the lawyer said he'll continue representing Ibrahim.
"I could never leave the case. This is a matter of belief and principles," he
said. "I must help someone who is in need, even if it will cost me my life."
(source: CNN)
INDIA:
Supreme Court acquits all six persons in 2002 Akshardham temple terror attack
case
In a major setback to the Gujarat government, the Supreme Court on Friday
acquitted all 6 persons, including 2 on the death row, in the 2002 Akshardham
temple terror attack case.
Allowing their appeals against the conviction and sentencing, a bench
comprising Justices A K Patnaik and V Gopala Gowda held that the prosecution
failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt and they deserved
exoneration from all the charges.
The bench nixed their confessional statements being invalid in law and also
said that the prosecution could not establish they participated in any
conspiracy.
It allowed the appeals of Adambhai Sulemanbhai Ajmeri and Abdul Kayum, who were
given death penalty, challenging the conviction under POTA and Section 302 of
Indian Penal Code.
Mohd Hanif Shaikh, Abdullamiya Yasinmiya Kadri amd 2 others were sentenced to
jail terms varying between 10 years to life imprisonment.
The petitioners had sought to draw parallels between investigations into the
alleged fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin and that of Akshardham terror
attack in which both the fidayeen were killed by NSG commandos on September 25,
2002.
The appeal by the convicts said they were arrested following investigations
conducted by then deputy superintendent of police D G Vanzara, who is facing
trial for the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin. It alleged that Gujarat
government was "notorious for conducting investigations in a totally partial
and unjust manner which was evident from another case monitored by the apex
court - Sohrabuddin encounter case".
In the Akshardham attack, 2 fidayeen sprayed bullets indiscriminately from
their Ak-56 rifles and used hand grenades to kill 33 devotees and tourists and
injured another 86 before being killed by NSG commandos on September 25, 2002.
Saying that there was no link between the 2 fidayeen and the appellants, the
petition filed through counsel Anis Suhrawardy stated that his clients had been
crying hoarse for an independent probe, especially by CBI, but neither the
trial court nor the HC paid any attention to it.
The prosecution case alleges that a group of militants, allegedly belonging to
the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba attacked the temple in Ahmedabad on September 24,
2002, killing 37 people and injuring several others.
(source: Indian Express)
IRAN----executions
2 prisoners hanged in Uremia and Semnan
A prisoner has been hanged in Uremian Prison on May 13.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Majid
Jalili Ayan, 37 years old, from the city of Salmas had been sentenced to death
on charge of murder and rape by the branch 2 of the Salmas court has been
hanged without his family or lawyer being informed.
Majid Jalili Ayan was hanged along with Vahid Pazhuhide, Ghader Anbori and
Aslan Amui Milan in Uremian Prison.
On Thursday, May 15, another prisoner was hanged in Semnan prison.
According to a report by Fars, "A-S" was hanged on charge of murder.
(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)
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