June 24
VANUATU:
Vanuatu minister wants death penalty discussed
Vanuatu's Minister for Justice Alfred Carlot believes the government should
give some thought to introducing the death penalty to punish murderers and
rapists.
His call follows reports of 2 deaths in Port Vila, one of a young fisherman
from Ambae whose body was found on the seashore with extensive injuries, and
that of a British investor.
The former British SAS soldier died when he was injured during a drunken brawl
between expatriates at a bar in Port Vila last Friday night.
The minister says killers have no place in Vanuatu, which prides itself as a
tranquil destination, and would like the government to think about introducing
tougher laws to protect the country's reputation.
(source: Radio New Zealand)
LEBANON:
Death Sentence Demanded for Syrian, Palestinian Nusra Front Members
A Syrian and a Palestinian have been sentenced to death for belonging to the
terrorist al-Nusra Front, reported the National News Agency on Tuesday.
It said that Military Tribunal Judge Imad al-Zein demanded the penalty against
Syrian detainee Mahmoud al-Kaaki and Palestinian fugitive Ahmed Taha.
An explosives belt was found at Kaaki's residence in the Bekaa region of Arsal.
A booby-trapped Chevrolet pickup truck without license plates was also
discovered parked in front of his house.
The 2 suspects were charged with preparing to carry out terrorist attacks and
car bombings.
Zein issued arrest warrants against Kaaki and Taha and search warrants against
four of their accomplices.
On June 13, the army detained 5 Syrians in raids carried out on the outskirts
of Arsal on charges of participating in training with terrorist groups.
Zaher Abdul Aziz al-Ahmed was arrested for belonging to al-Azzam brigades while
Nour Muheiddine Shameseddine, Haitham Nader Ghannoum, Adel Suleiman Ghannoum
and Mohammed Nazih Ghannoum were arrested for the possession of cameras,
computers and CDs that show their participation in training with terrorist
groups.
Ever since the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011, Arsal has served as a key
conduit for refugees, rebels and wounded people fleeing strife-torn Syria.
(source: naharnet.com)
IRAN----executions
8 more prisoners hanged in Birjand and Yazd
The Iranian regime henchmen hanged at least 8 more prisoners in cities of
Birjand and Yazd.
Last Thursday a group of 5 prisoners were hanged in the main prison in city of
Birjand.
Another group of 3 inmates were hanged secretly in city of Yazd.
Nearly 800 recorded executions in the 1st year of Hassan Rouhani's presidency.
The high rate of arbitrary group executions in Iran during the past year shows
that the so-called 'moderation' of the Iranian regime is nothing more than a
mirage.
(source: NCR-Iran)
*********************
7 Prisoners Executed For Drug-Related Charges in Northern Iran
7 prisoners were hanged in the prison of Rasht (Northern Iran) reported the
official website of the Iranian judiciary in Gilan Province.
According to the report all the 7 prisoners were convicted of drug-related
charges. The prisoners were identified as M.H. charged with participation in
buying 2 kilograms of the narcotic drug Crystal, S. G. for trafficking of 2851
grams of heroin, A. D. for manufacturing and trafficking of 3 kilograms of
concentrated heroin, J. Kh. for buying and selling 100 kilograms of opium and
possession of 14810 grams of crack, A. A. for participation in buying 147
kilograms of cannabis and 8 kilograms of opium, A. S. for possession of 6
kilograms and 12 grams of heroin and B. B. for possession and trafficking of
2368 grams of crack.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
*****************************
Child Bride to Be Executed After Killing Husband
When Razieh Ebrahimi was 14 years old, she was married off to her 28-year-old
neighbor. Although Razieh initially refused, her father insisted and soon she
was in the clutches of a man who, according to Razieh, would repeatedly rape
and abuse her for years to come.
Pregnant at 15 and trapped into an endless cycle, every day began to feel like
torture for her. At the age of 17, unable to handle her humiliation and anger
any longer, she picked up a gun, snuck up behind her sleeping husband, and shot
him in the head. Later that night, she buried him in their garden.
When the police caught wind of her crime, she was arrested. Fully admitting to
her guilt, but blaming it on years of mental and physical abuse, she conceded
that she wished she could explain it to her son. Held in the city of Ahvaz for
the past 4 years, she lamented, "I haven't been able to see him even once, and
because of this I am sorry."
Razieh was sentenced to death for her crimes, and has taken the walk to her
execution before. She was only saved when she told the officials she was a
minor during the crime. As Human Rights Watch explains: "A source familiar with
Ebrahimi's case told Human Rights Watch that prison authorities attempted
earlier to carry out her execution, but when she informed them that she was 17
when she killed her husband they returned her to her cell. The source said that
following recent changes to Iran's penal code the lawyer requested a retrial
from the Supreme Court on the basis that she had been under 18 and did not
understand the consequences of her actions, but the court refused."
Revisiting Razieh's court case made sense, when Article 91 (regarding the
executions of minors) was amended by Iranian courts. The head of the judiciary
in the country had long urged that executions not be handed down to those under
18, and in some cases Article 91's laws have been changed to reflect that.
However, the wording is vague and only calls for a suspension on the death
penalty in cases regarding drugs and 'discretionary crimes.'
Article 91 still clearly states that children may be sentenced to death if they
'understood' the crime they committed. Even more abhorrent are the ages that
this code puts in place. Boys as young as 15 years old can be sentenced to
death, and for girls the mind-boggling age of 9 is the legal minimum.
And even though child executions are illegal under international law, Iran
leads the world in executing minors. Since 2009, there have been 10 such
executions on the official level, and whispers of far more occurring under the
radar.
This case is also compounded by Iranian marriage laws, which states that girls
as young as 13 and boys at the age of 15 can be married. Her father didn't do
anything illegal by marrying her off that young, and her husband was well
within the legal limits to take her as a wife.
Under the Sharia portion of Iranian law, if the family of her husband had
forgiven her, or 'pardoned' her, the courts would drop all charges. Iran has
seen a number of dramatic pardons in the past, with one mother of the victim
waiting until the murderer was in the noose, before slapping him across the
face and giving him back his life.
However, in this case it remains unlikely that any last minute pardons from her
husband's family will take place, as they've refused to forgive her thus far.
Instead, what her lawyer is pleading for is simply a retrial for her life.
Reziah, now 21 years old, has been told she's in imminent danger of execution.
And with the government refusing her lawyer's requests, there isn't much hope
surrounding this case.
Stories such as these are not that uncommon in Iran, due to the prevalence of
child brides attempting to break free from the confines of abusive marriages
they've never consented to. And as long as child marriage laws remain inhumane,
it's likely we'll see situations similar to Razieh's again and again.
(source: care2.com)
INDIA:
Ashiyana fake encounter: Main accused gets death penalty
A CBI court in Patna on Monday awarded death sentence to a police inspector and
life term to 7 other policemen after finding them guilty in connection with the
fake encounter of 3 students in the Ashiyana Nagar area of the city on December
28, 2002.
Shamse-e-Alam, who was the Station House Officer of Shastri Nagar Police
Station at the time of the fake encounter, has been given capital punishment by
CBI fast track court-I judge Ravi Shankar Sinha.
On June 5, 2 policemen - Shamse Alam and constable Arun Kumar Singh - were held
guilty by the court for murdering 3 students in a fake encounter. The court
also convicted 6 others of attempt to murder in the case.
3 students - Vikash Ranjan, Prashant Singh and Himanshu Shekhar - were killed
at a market near Ashiyana Nagar locality.
The 6 who were held guilty of attempt to murder were shopkeepers of Sammelan
Market and they had thrashed the students badly after they entered into a brawl
with the shopkeepers.
The 6 were Kamlesh Kumar Gautam, Raju Ranjan, Soni Rajak, Kumod Kumar, Rakesh
Kumar Mishra and Anil.
The shopkeepers had informed Alam who arrived at the scene and shot dead the 3
students. He later claimed that the deceased were dacoits. Patna police
initially probed the case, which was then transferred to CID and finally to
CBI.
The CBI court examined 33 witnesses. Alam was arrested in 2003 after he was
denied bail by several courts.
(source: Delhi Daily News)
EGYPT:
Muslim Brotherhood Chairman Badie Denounces 1100 Death Sentences and Absence of
Justice in Egypt----As a court sentences Muslim Brotherhood Chairman Badie to
death, in yet another trumped up case, the 71-year old leader condemns the
injustice dealt generously in Egypt today.
During his trial Monday in the fabricated case known as the Rabaa Operations
Room lawsuit, Mohamed Badie, Muslim Brotherhood Chairman, said the death
sentence issued Saturday does not scare him, adding that he only regrets the
absence of justice in Egypt.
In his statement to the judge, Badie said: "The death penalty does not scare
me. I'm not afraid of spending the rest of my life behind bars. The best form
of Jihad is: telling the truth to the face of an unjust ruler.
"I complain to God about the absence of justice... I have been turned from
victim to accused under the current military coup regime that killed my son,
Ammar, and never investigated the incident or brought to trial those
responsible for the crime."
The Muslim Brotherhood leader further denounced another death sentence issued
against him in absentia, without any chance for a defense statement, in another
case earlier on. He said: "This is utter injustice, especially since the
prosecutor brought completely trumped up charges against me and the rest of the
defendants".
Earlier, on Saturday, Minya Criminal Court confirmed a sentence for the mass
execution of 183 opponents of the coup, including Dr. Mohamed Badie and other
Muslim Brotherhood leaders, in another fabricated case for allegedly "storming
and torching Odoua police headquarters in the province of Minya, killing 1
police sergeant" at the time when coup security forces were killing thousands
of peaceful protesters in the Rabaa Adaweya anti-coup sit-in (August 2012),
although the Brotherhood Chairman Badie was in fact in Cairo, where he was
arrested, not at all in Minya.
So far, 1100 coup opponents have been sentenced to death for the supposed
murder of that one police sergeant in the Odoua police headquarters.
(source: Ikhwanweb.com)
JAPAN:
Death penalty in '11 stalking case upheld
The Fukuoka High Court upheld the death sentence Tuesday for a 29-year-old man
over the killing of the mother and grandmother of a former girlfriend in a
high-profile 2011 stalking case.
Presiding judge Hiroshi Furuta said he could find nothing unreasonable with the
district court ruling.
In a lay judge trial in June 2013, Nagasaki District Court sentenced Gota
Tsutsui to death on charges of murder and intimidation after he was found the
morning after the murder with the knife used in the crime and traces of the
victims' blood on his clothes.
Tsutsui has maintained his innocence. The high court judge rejected the
defendant's claim that the police planted the weapon on him, calling the claim
groundless and absurd. Tsutsui's defense counsel plans to appeal the high court
ruling.
Furuta described the double murder as "a ruthless crime based on strong
criminal intent."
Tsutsui admitted his guilt during the police investigation but then pleaded not
guilty during the trial.
(source: The Japan News)
*******************
Death penalty upheld for killer of 2 kin of woman he stalked
The Fukuoka High Court on Tuesday upheld a death sentence handed to a
29-year-old man for killing 2 relatives of a woman he had been stalking in
Nagasaki Prefecture in 2011.
Presiding Judge Hiroshi Furuta rejected an appeal filed by Gota Tsutsui against
the ruling issued by the Nagasaki District Court in June last year.
Tsutsui fatally stabbed the woman's mother Mitsuko Yamashita, 56, and
grandmother Hisae, 77, at their home in the city of Saikai, Nagasaki
Prefecture, on Dec. 16, 2011, according to the district court ruling.
The man was also charged with injuring the woman he stalked and sending
intimidating e-mails to 8 people, including her relatives.
During the trial, Tsutsui's defense lawyers asserted he was not responsible and
he was coerced by investigators into confessing to the murder charges.
The district court recognized the credibility of his confession and cited
bloodstains found on his coat that were identical to the murder victims' DNA.
(source: Mainichi)
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