July 7
INDIA:
Life Sentence for Mumbai Lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha's Killer
A Mumbai court today announced life sentence for a man found guilty of
assaulting, molesting and killing young lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha in her flat
in 2012.
Sajjad Ahmad Moghul, 22, the watchman at Pallavi's apartment building, was
given life term after being found guilty by the court last week.
During the hearing on the quantum of sentencing last week, Special Public
Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had sought the death penalty for Sajjad.
He told reporters, "The crime was committed in the most ghastly manner
possible. Her cut her trachea so that she could not speak, shout or weep. The
postmortem shows that she had over 16 injuries. This crime falls into the
rarest of rare category and he should be sentenced to death."
On August 9, 2012, the prosecution had said, Sajjad stole Pallavi's flat keys,
sneaked into her apartment and tried to rape her. When she fought back, he
stabbed her repeatedly before slitting her throat.
Bloodstains on the corridor outside the flat and on the neighbours' doorbell
were proof of Pallavi's struggle to escape and get help before being dragged
back in.
"Our daughter died this way. She was everything to us. (Sajjad) deserves
nothing less than death," Pallavi's mother Sumita Purkayastha told reporters.
The 25-year-old lawyer and national level swimmer was murdered in her 16th
floor "Himalayan Heights" apartment in Wadala in central Mumbai. Within 24
hours, the police homed in on the watchman, who had been missing.
The prosecution alleged that Sajjad decided to assault Pallavi after she told
him off for staring at her.
The night of the murder, the watchman repeatedly switched off power supply to
Pallavi's flat knowing that she would ask for help. When she did, he arrived
with an electrician and stole her flat keys. Later, Sajjad sneaked into the
flat when Pallavi was sleeping.
Pallavi's fiance Avik Sengupta, who lived with her, found her body lying in
blood.
Mr Sengupta, who met and fell in love with Pallavi in law school, died of a
brain illness in November last year. "He died of trauma at seeing his beloved
die in such a brutal manner," said Pallavi's father Atanu Purkayastha, a joint
secretary in the Union Agriculture Ministry.
"(Sajjad) devastated 2 families. For our families, the only closure will be
when he gets death," Mr Purkayastha told NDTV.
(source: NDTV news)
LEBANON:
Judge charges 28 with ISIS affiliation, terrorism
Military Prosecutor Saqr Saqr Monday charged 28 people with belonging to the
Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) and planning terrorist
operations in Lebanon.
The 28 suspects, 7 of whom were arrested in security raids on hotels in Beirut,
were charged with "affiliation to ISIS in order to perform terrorist operations
using suicide vests, rigged cars, as well as the purchase of weapons and
explosives to train suicide bombers in Lebanon."
The planned suicide bombings were meant to target residential neighborhoods in
Beirut, the National News Agency reported.
Saqr referred the case to Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghida, with the
suspects expected to be given the death penalty if convicted.
(source: The Daily Star)
FIJI:
The haunting past of the hangman
It is a place where most people convicted of committing a crime are sent to.
While some change after serving their sentence, others continue to live a life
of crime and keep making visits to the institution for different time lengths.
Although the basic necessities of life are provided to them in the confines of
the 4 walls, their freedom, however, is restricted.
The maximum sentence that a person may get now for a serious crime is life
imprisonment, which is often meted out to convicted murderers.
However, there was once a time in Fiji's history when convicted murderers were
hanged until death.
The last hanging of a convicted murderer was reportedly in 1964, something that
still makes a person emotional and sorrowful.
It is something that has been lingering in his mind ever since, although the
last hanging was the 1st one for him to officiate in.
Today, The Fiji Times brings you part one of an exclusive interview with the
man who officiated in the country's last hanging of a convicted murderer.
He prayed with the prisoner and escorted him from his cell to the gallows,
witnessed the execution and prayed for him again after death.
--
He worked as a Customs officer after leaving school and after a few years of
service, he was promoted.
The promotion was not within the HM Customs and Excise department, where he
worked, but to the HM Prisons Department as it was known then.
It was mid 1964 and the promotion was the result of his diligent work in
securing cargo on the Norwegian vessel, the Ragna Ringdal which had run aground
on Vatoa Reef in the Lau Group in late 1962.
After spending about 5 months on Vatoa Island, he returned to Suva in mid 1963
and was greeted with the news of his promotion and a wage increment.
Being young and energetic then, he did not hesitate to take up the post at a
completely new environment compared with his work as a Customs officer.
As the principal prison officer, his 1st posting was as the cemetery officer,
which made him in-charge of outside working parties consisting of prisoners.
Isoa Koroivuki, now 78, was based at the Suva Prison, which was established
around 1913. He was also in-charge of maintenance works at Government House.
"Transport was a scarcity in those days and I was given a bicycle, which I used
to travel to the working areas and even up to Naboro Prison," he said.
"I had to visit Naboro and all cemeteries in the Central Division thrice a
week. I was young (28 years old), married and strong at that time and I enjoyed
my work."
Mr Koroivuki said it took him at least an hour to cycle from Suva Prison to
Naboro on the gravel road, which was very dusty.
But he did whatever he could to protect himself from breathing in dust, not
forgetting protecting his eyes too.
He said people entrusted to administer places of confinement or detention then
found it much easier to administer from the laws as well as their personal
philosophies.
"We had those types of prisoners then who were not sophisticated like those
now. The iTaukei prisoners mainly came in for not paying provisional tax.
"Those committed for capital offences like murder were mostly rural dwellers.
"But the passage of time brings about changes and the prison began to receive
educated prisoners who were found to be very violent, very aggressive and very
destructive in outlook."
Mr Koroivuki said while working as a prison officer, he also attended some
courses overseas to help him acquire more knowledge about his profession,
especially in dealing with the prisoners then.
However, he says there was always a moment of sorrow and a sea of emotions
whenever he thinks of his service with the then HM Prisons Department.
He said reminiscing on his time working as a prison officer filled him with
waves of anxiety and emotions, sometimes bringing tears in his eyes.
"It happens when I ponder how we always used to impose solitary confinement on
the prisoners with reduced diet and when I had to officiate in carrying out the
courts order to impose corporal punishment on the prisoners.
"One thing that is still in my mind is the last execution that was carried out
sometime in September 1964.
"It was mandatory to carry out the execution or hanging on a Wednesday and I
don't know why this particular day was chosen."
Mr Koroivuki said the executions were carried out at Suva Prison's execution
chamber.
"The execution compound was an entity of its own. It was a walled-in area and
made up of condemned prisoners' accommodation. The execution chamber was within
that building.
"The execution chamber was similar to others around the world and the condemned
prisoners had to be hanged until death.
"I remember that three prisoners were often assigned to guard a condemned
prisoner, someone who the court had ordered to be executed.
"When someone was convicted for capital offences like murder and sentenced by
the court, the death penalty was mandatory at that time.
"The condemned prisoner was given all ample opportunities to appeal against the
sentence and conviction in court.
"When any prisoner lodged an appeal against conviction or sentence, he was put
on the Await Trial List pending the outcome of the appeal."
Mr Koroivuki said he officiated in the last execution or hanging of a condemned
prisoner in September 1964.
He said the last person who was hanged to death did not get the opportunity of
having a psychiatric evaluation, saying "anyone who kills another human being
is not mentally sane".
"The last person who was hanged until death was a 21-year old Fijian of Indian
descent who had butchered his wife, 3-month old child and his 80-year old
grandfather.
"He did it alleging that his grandfather was having an affair with his wife. He
was from the Central Division and a small guy in built."
Mr Koroivuki, a Roman Catholic by faith, said he was successful in persuading
the prisoner awaiting the death sentence to receive God's message through
Reverend David Mustapha.
This happened on the night before the prisoner was scheduled to be hanged until
death.
On the execution day, Mr Koroivuki went to the prisoner's cell and prayed with
him before escorting him out, on the way to the gallows.
"I was ordered by my superiors to carry out that special duty to escort him
from his cell to the execution chamber after his hands were strapped to the
waist with very special leather belts made for such purpose.
"There was no fear in the prisoner but a radiance in the man's face that told
me and others that he had been forgiven by God.
"As we walked towards the execution chamber, he told me that he wants to see
God. He was ready for the execution without any fear," said Mr Koroivuki.
* NEXT WEEK: Sir, I will always pray for you.
(source: The Fiji Times)
DR CONGO:
Congo war crime witnesses deported despite AI warnings
3 Congolese witnesses of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague
were deported out of the Netherlands on Sunday, despite concerns Amnesty
International (AI) had raised about their safety.
The 3 Congolese nationals - Floribert Ndjabu Ngabu, Sharif Manda Ndadza Dz'Na,
and Pierre-Celestin Mbodina Iribi - were returned to Kinshasa on Sunday after
Dutch authorities rejected their request for asylum. They had been called to
The Hague in 2011 as witnesses in the ICC prosecution of former Congolese
militia leader Germain Katanga. They are expected to be taken into custody on
their arrival in Kinshasa, having been held in prison in the DRC prior to their
transfer to The Hague in connection with allegations of crimes under
international law.
AI had protested against their return and charged that it was on the
Netherlands' conscience should they be executed upon their arrival in the DRC.
The human rights watchdog said that the men claim that they are at risk of
persecution and reprisals from the DRC authorities if sent back, having
publicly made allegations that the President of the DRC has been involved in
serious crimes. "Amnesty International believes that the detained witnesses
have a reasonable fear that they will be subjected to torture or other
ill-treatment in DRC prisons; that they will face flagrant violations of the
right to a fair trial and that they may face the death penalty," the
organization stated.
It said that the 3 men will be judged by military courts, which are often
subjected to political pressure and interference; "their rights to a fair trial
are at risk of being violated and they are at a high risk of torture or other
ill-treatment, which is often committed in detention facilities in the DRC."
AI said its research indicates that the justice system in the DRC is not
sufficiently robust to protect the men's rights. It said the Dutch Government
was wrong in accepting assurances from the DRC about their safety. "The Dutch
court's decision places an unjustifiable weight on the DRC government's
promised protective measures and other assurances to the ICC. We are deeply
concerned that the Netherlands accepted assurances given not to itself but to a
3rd party and without allowing the 3 witnesses to present evidence to challenge
these assurances," AI said. It said the Netherlands is not a party to the
assurances and will have no way to supervise them and to ensure that they are
implemented.
Human Rights Watch had on Friday also written an appeal to State Secretary Fred
Teeven of Justice not to deport the men.
(source: The NL Times)
NIGERIA:
Kano Court Reportedly Seeks Death Sentence for Nigerian Child Bride who Killed
Her Husband
Wasila Umaru, the 14-year-old child bride who killed her husband and his
friends in April because she was forced to marry him, may face the death
penalty.
You will recall that Umaru had previously been arraigned before a magistrate
court, however; protests from a women lawyers' human rights group prompted the
Kano State Judicial Council to transfer the case to the juvenile court.
Now, authorities in Kano have reportedly re-transferred her case from the
juvenile court to a Kano State High Court, insisting that the "culpable
homicide" charge, which is punishable by death, still stands, Vanguard reports.
The Kano State High Court has announced that hearing will commence on August 4.
(source: Bella Naija)
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