July 21
IRAN:
Political prisoners Arzhang Davoodi sentenced to death
The Iranian regime's judiciary has sentenced political Prisoner Arzhang Davoodi
to death for his opposition to the clerical regime, according to reports
received from Iran. Mr. Davoodi has already served 10 years in prison
Davoodi, 62, a teacher, was arrested in October 2003 and was sentenced to 15
years imprisonment which was later increased to 20 years.
For the past 10 years he has been subjected to torture and abuses, He has been
held in solitary confinements and denied medical care.
He has been told by Bandar Abbas prison authorities that he would soon be
transferred to Tehran.
**************************
Iranian regime sentences a prisoner to stoning to death and hanging
The Iranian regime's judiciary has sentenced a prisoner to death by stoning,
hanging and 15 years imprisonment, state-run Mehr News Agency reported.
The regime's judiciary chief in northern city of Ghaemshahr who did not
identify the prisoner said the review of the case of this 32-year-old prisoner
has been one the most important tasks of his office.
He said the prisoners has been sentenced to 2 times execution which includes
hanging and stoning to death for alleged crimes that included adultery and
possessing satellite receivers among others.
(source for both: NCR-Iran)
*************************
Wave Of Forgiveness Washes Over Iran
April 16 was supposed to be the last day of Balal's life. Seven years after
stabbing another teen dead in a street fight, Balal was to be publicly executed
in front of his victim's family, in a small town in Iran's northern province of
Mazandaran.
Instead, Balal was given a new lease on life when, in the very last minute, he
was spared by his victim's mother. The dramatic scenes of Balal, his neck in a
noose, being pardoned have received extensive coverage in the media and on
social-networking sites.
Since then the scene has been reenacted dozens of times in a wave of
forgiveness that belies the authorities' efforts to push the death penalty.
Last week alone, according to the reformist "Shargh" daily, nine individuals
sentenced to death were pardoned by victims' families.
Observers say a concerted publicity campaign is at play, but money is also a
factor.
Artists, television celebrities, and rights activists have been publicly
calling on citizens to spare the lives of those sentenced to death and the
media have been sympathetic in their coverage.
In Balal's case, for example, popular TV presenter Adel Ferdowsipour spoke to
an audience of millions in favor of him being pardoned.
But Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, a well-known Iranian lawyer who has represented
several convicted killers, says that what media call a wave of mercy is in fact
a "business."
Under Islamic laws applied in Iran, the families of convicted murderers are
able to buy their kin's freedom from victims' families. The official rate for
blood money is 150 million toumans -- or about $50,000 -- but often the sum
requested is higher.
In Balal's case, his victim's family reportedly received blood money of about
300 million toumans.
"Based on the information I have about some of the cases, I have to say that a
large part of the reconciliations in Qisas" - a reference to the Islamic law of
retribution - "cases are happening in exchange of enormous sums of money from
the families of those convicted," Khoramshahi said earlier this month in an
interview with fararu.com.
The Tehran-based lawyer added that media should encourage people not to request
huge sums of money for showing mercy.
Iranian Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said in April that
during the past Iranian year - from March 2013 to March 2014 - the lives of 358
condemned Iranians were spared under the Islamic law of retribution.
Mahmood Amiry Moghadam, spokesman of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights
organization, says it is not clear how many pardons were prompted by the lure
of financial compensation.
But Moghadam thinks that some Iranians are finding "value" in showing mercy.
"I think as much as the establishment is trying to promote executions," he
says, "a culture that goes against it - a culture of mercy - is being
promoted."
Moghadam says Iran's civil society and anti-death-penalty groups should be
given credit for the trend.
One of the groups active against executions is the "Step By Step To Stop The
Death Penalty In Iran" campaign, founded by a number of prominent intellectuals
and rights activists including former Tehran University chancellor Mohammad
Maleki.
Maleki tells RFE/RL there's a growing distaste for the death penalty in Iran
and a tendency toward mercy.
He agrees that many families spare the lives of their relatives' killers for
money. At the same time, he says he's come across a number of cases where the
families pardoned convicted killers out of compassion.
"It will take time before it becomes ingrained in the society," he says in a
telephone interview from Tehran. "People have to realize slowly that money
cannot replace forgiveness and sacrifice."
Maleki notes that the trend comes as the Iranian establishment continues to
hold public hangings.
"The establishment only knows violence and blood," he says.
One journalist in the Iranian capital says the establishment is already
benefiting from the wave of forgiveness because "it shows a more human face of
Iran."
But others fear that violence is so deeply rooted in Iranian society that it
will take a long time before things change.
The country carried out 665 executions in 2013, according to the Iran Human
Rights Documentation Center.
And with Iranians under tremendous pressures that discourage communication and
dialogue, the wave of mercy is not likely to last, according to prominent
university professor and sociologist Mostafa Eghlima.
"It's not easy [for people] to forgive someone who has killed their children,"
he concludes.
(source: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)
PAKISTAN:
Implementation of death penalty may be resumed soon ---- GHQ attacker, TTP
terrorists can be sent to gallows
Under mounting pressure from the security agencies to lift the moratorium on
death penalty in the cases of dreaded terrorists and hardened criminals, the
federal government may allow carrying out the death sentences.
Likely to be hanged 1st are Aqeel alias Dr Usman, a soldier-turned-jehadi and
the ring leader of the 2009 fidayeen attack on the GHQ building, and several
other TTP terrorists, already handed down death sentences.
According to well-informed government sources in Islamabad, since the launching
of the operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan, the security establishment had
been pressing the federal government hard not only to legislate new laws to
tighten the prosecution of dreaded terrorists but also to lift the moratorium
on death penalty which is in force since 2008.
Because of the moratorium, over 8,000 criminals, including terrorists, target
killers, murderers and those involved in other heinous crimes, have not been
executed for the last 6 years. The federal government had subsequently passed
the Protection of Pakistan Act (PPA) 2014 immediately after the launch of the
operation Zarb-e-Azb in on the recommendation of the khaki top brass.
The government sources said that in their July 17 meeting at the GHQ, Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had discussed in
detail the issue of effectively prosecuting terrorists in the courts as well as
dealing with those terrorists who had been handed down sentences but are not
getting convictions, thus leaving a negative impact on efforts of the armed
forces in the war against terror.
Both the PM and the COAS were unanimous that the terrorists should be given a
tough message that they will not be spared for their misdeeds come what may
once they are arrested. Thus, the government circles say, there is a strong
possibility of the prime minister revoking moratorium on death penalty as far
as the cases of dreaded terrorists and hardened criminals are concerned.
The moratorium on death sentence was invoked by the Zardari-led PPP government
on the pressure of international community.Subsequently, some 8,000 convicted
prisoners continue to defy death despite the fact that they have already
exhausted their judicial appeals and their convictions have been endorsed by
the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
When the Sharif government came into power, it had announced to resume the
death penalty but soon got it reversed. However, repeated warnings by the
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that the executions of jailed militants
including Aqeel alias Dr Usman would compel the TTP to wage a war against the
PML-N leadership finally forced the government to take a U-turn on its previous
declaration.
It was in August 2013 that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had ordered to halt
carrying out of the death sentences in the country till further orders. The
decision came hardly a few days after the ameer of the Punjabi Taliban,
Asmatullh Muavia, warned that the executions of the TTP men would compel the
Taliban to wage a war against the PML-N.
His warning was followed by yet another threatening statement released by the
TTP spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, saying that a highly-trained squad of suicide
bombers has been formed to target two key figures of the PML-N (most likely
Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif) if Aqeel alias Dr Usman was hanged in
Faisalabad jail as per schedule on August 23 [2013].
"The residences of prominent PML-N leadership will be attacked immediately if
Aqeel is sent to the gallows as per schedule. The leadership of the PML-N will
be our target, just like we had targeted the ANP leadership," the TTP spokesman
had warned.
Interestingly, however, before taking the U-turn on death sentences, Interior
Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had stated on August 14 in Islamabad that the
new government was determined to establish the writ of law. "There is a huge
backlog of 450 cases of death sentences and we are processing them as fast as
we can to implement the execution orders of the hardened terrorists so that the
law may take its due course," he had said. On his part, Federal Information
Minister Pervaiz Rasheed was quoted by the national press as saying on August
15 that the death sentences had been awarded by courts and not the PML-N. He
said that the courts were rightly displeased with dragging feet on hanging the
criminals, who have been sentenced and who have exhausted the right of appeal
long time ago.
Against the backdrop of the reports about their imminent executions, the
Taliban had warned through a pamphlet distributed in South and North Waziristan
on August 14: "If the jailed prisoners are executed, it would amount to a
declaration of war on the part of the government".
Aqeel was set to be executed in Faisalabad on August 23, 2013 but he was lucky
to have survived in the wake of Sharif government's decision to impose
moratorium on death penalty.
A deserter from the Medical Corps of the Pakistan Army who later joined the
Taliban ranks, Aqeel was sentenced to death in August 2011 by a Field General
Court Martial (FGCM) in Rawalpindi for his role in the GHQ attack. 3 civilians
- Khaliqur Rehman, Mohammad Usman and Wajid Mehmood - were awarded life
sentences while 2 others, Mohammad Adnan and Tahir Shafiq, handed down 8 and 7
years jail sentences respectively.
While Aqeel was caught alive following the assault, another ex-soldier and 5
civilians were arrested later and were found guilty of abetment in the brazen
attack. The court martial proceedings against the accused were headed by a
serving brigadier and the trial lasted over 5 months at an undisclosed location
near the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
But Aqeel's fate was effectively sealed on December 7, 2012 when an Army
Appellate Court headed by a major general had rejected his appeal against the
death sentence. As Aqeel attempted to challenge his sentence in the superior
courts, he was told that the verdicts handed down by the military courts cannot
be challenged in a high court. As per the confessional statement of Aqeel, he
had deserted the Army's Medical Corps in 2006 to join the Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM). He later joined hands with Commander Ilyas Kashmiri's Harkatul Jehadul
Islami (HuJI), finally becoming a significant leader of the Waziristan-based
Punjabi Taliban. In the aftermath of 2007 Lal Masjid operation, Aqeel and some
other hardcore jehadi elements floated a new group - Tehrik-e-Taliban Punjab -
which had carried out the GHQ attack.
As such, the GHQ assault was one of the first major terrorist attacks
attributed to the Punjabi Taliban. Aqeel had disclosed during interrogations
that the GHQ attack was conceived in the Miramshah headquarter of North
Waziristan by the same militants who had attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team's
bus in Lahore in March 2009.
Shortly after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, Aqeel fled to
Waziristan where he had met al-Qaeda-linked Ilyas Kashmiri. It was at this
meeting that the idea of the attack on the General Headquarters was finalised
by Ilyas Kashmiri, who himself had deserted the Special Services Group (SSG) of
the Army to become a key al-Qaeda leader, before being killed in a US drone
attack in June 2011.
(source: The News)
TAIWAN:
Taiwan prosecutors seek death penalty on subway killer
Taiwanese prosecutors on Monday said they were seeking the death penalty for a
man accused of killing 4 people and wounding nearly 2 dozen others in a
stabbing spree on the Taipei subway that shocked the island.
Cheng Chieh, a 21-year-old college student, was charged with 4 accounts of
murder and 22 accounts of attempted murder for the fatal attack on May 21, the
1st of its kind on the city's subway system since it began operating in 1996,
AFP reports.
"The accused's actions fit the definition of mass murders, his means were
ruthless and inhuman, and caused irreparable harm to the victims and their
families. We demand the court sentence him to death,'' prosecutors said in a
statement.
The incident shocked Taiwan, otherwise proud of its low levels of violent
crime, and resulted in several minor injuries as edgy commuters fled trains
over false alarms in the following week.
Cheng's parents had asked for him to be sentenced to death to help ease the
pain inflicted on the victims and their families, calling their son's actions
''unforgivable''.
Executions are carried out in Taiwan by a single shot to the heart from the
back -- or, if the prisoner agrees to donate his organs, a bullet to the back
of the head.
Prosecutors said psychological evaluations have shown that Cheng was not in a
state of mental disorder when he committed the crime, and that he is fit to
stand trial.
They described him as "anti-society, narcissistic, immature and pessimistic".
In elementary school, he vowed to "kill people in revenge" after having trouble
with classmates, they said.
Local media said he had been obsessed with online killing games and had written
horror stories since high school.
Cheng's parents spoke to reporters on May 27 at the subway station outside
Taipei where the killings took place.
"Although he is our child, the crime he committed is unforgivable," Cheng's
sobbing father said.
"I think he should be sentenced to death... he should face it himself. Only by
so doing may the pains inflicted on the victims and the wounded and their
families be slightly eased.''
He urged judges to pass sentence on his son as soon as possible. "We hope Cheng
Chieh can act in a correct manner during his next life," he added.
Security has been strengthened on the metro, which transports around 1.85
million people a day.
The Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation is seeking a compensation of TW$20.61
million from Cheng for operational losses after it lost around 945,000
passengers in the 10 days following the attack.
(source: The Standard)
SINGAPORE:
Singapore's under fire for execution restart
The hanging of 2 convicted drug smugglers in Singapore has been described as a
step backwards by rights advocates. On Friday, Singapore carried out its 1st
executions in more than 3 years, after 2 men were hung for drug-related
offences.
In late 2012, Singapore's Parliament adopted amendments to abolish the death
penalty under certain circumstances and a number of people have had their death
sentences reviewed since.
(source: Radio Australia)
*********************
It's time for Singapore to relook its war on drugs
48-year-old Foong Chee Peng and 36-year-old Tang Hai Liang were both hanged at
dawn on Friday morning. They are the first 2 to have been executed in Changi
Prison since an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty began in July 2011.
Both men were Singaporeans, convicted on drug trafficking offences. As far as
we know, most of the inmates sitting on death row are there because of
Singapore's never-ending war on drugs.
The resumption of executions sends a chilling message to the inmates as well as
to anti-death penalty campaigners. With 2 already hanged and cremated, will
there be more executions next Friday, and all the Fridays to come? Is the
3-year reprieve now over?
There are many problems with the death penalty and its application. In
Singapore, we have highlighted issues with the mandatory nature of the death
penalty, and how it continues to restrict the discretion of the judges even
after the amendments have been made. We have pointed out that the current
system greatly disadvantages drug mules, while kingpins avoid the noose. We
have expressed our concern with the process of issuing Certificates of
Cooperation, an opaque and confusing system that appears to grant a huge amount
of power to the prosecution.
Beyond that, there is an even wider concern that our current war on drugs is
failing. Even with our best efforts, the drug trade in Southeast Asia has not
decreased, but has instead increased. Continual arrests, death sentences and
even extrajudicial killings over the years - carried out not just by Singapore
by other ASEAN countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand - have done
little to alter this fact.
It is understandable that we would want to live in a safe society where drug
crime is low. But it doesn't make sense for us to cling on to old methods that
appear to have a limited impact on the regional drug trade, in the hopes that
it will suddenly work much better and keep drugs off the streets.
We will need new solutions and new innovations to deal with this problem, and
we won't be the 1st. Other countries and states have already started looking at
alternatives to what has been an expensive and bloody war on drugs throughout
the world, reforming their drug laws and shifting mindsets to allow for more
rehabilitative and restorative methods of dealing with drug crime and drug
addicts.
Portugal was 1 of the first to decriminalise drugs and treat drug users as
patients rather than criminals. Some analysts say that decriminalisation has
actually not led to an increase in drug consumption, while other reports
actually suggest that drug crime has actually gone down.
Singapore might be small and worried about our vulnerability, but we cannot
keep our heads stuck in the sand. We cannot keep sacrificing lives in the hope
that it will one day pay off. It is high time we gather up the courage to
explore new ideas and new solutions.
(source: Commentary; Kirsten Han is a Singaporean blogger, journalist and
filmmaker. She is also involved in the We Believe in Second Chances campaign
for the abolishment of the death penalty. The views expressed are her own.
Singapore Scene)
SRI LANKA:
Ukrainian couple get Lanka death sentence for double murder----Found guilty of
murdering 6-year-old and a woman
A Ukrainian couple have been sentenced to death in Sri Lanka, for a double
murder committed in 2010. The Colombo High Court sentenced the Ukranian
nationals, the 'Colombo Gazette' reported.
They had been found guilty of murdering a 6-year-old along with a woman, who
worked as a maid. The child's mother was also been injured in the attack in
2010 and following the murder the Ukrainians had been arrested.
The Ukranian woman has appealed to court to carry out her sentence immediately
instead of sending her to prison.
(source: emirates247.com)
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