Aug. 24
INDONESIA:
Dozens of RI nationals on death row for drugs: BNN
The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has said that there are currently 129
Indonesian nationals facing the death penalty for their role in drug smuggling.
"The majority of them are migrant workers who were tricked into becoming
couriers by international drug syndicates and most of them are women," BNN
chief Anang Iskandar said as quoted by Antara news agency on Sunday.
The BNN has appealed to Indonesian citizens, especially migrant workers in Hong
Kong and Macau, to remain alert over the danger of drug syndicates in the
countries in which they work.
"They should not be easily duped. They should be careful when someone wants to
entrust something to them. Also be very careful with strangers," he said.
Anang earlier warned women in the country to be careful when dating foreigners,
suggesting they could be tricked into becoming drug mules. He said that many
Indonesian women were languishing in prisons abroad because they were "easily
tricked into drug-trafficking". On Sunday, Anang also called on Indonesian
nationals who use drugs abroad to immediately stop and seek help from an
Indonesian representative office. The office, he said, could recommend them to
a rehab center.
"We are cooperating with a number of countries on a bilateral and multilateral
basis to prevent and eradicate drug abuse, and to unravel international drug
networks that use Indonesian citizens as mules or consider Indonesia a part of
their smuggling route," he said.
Anang also said that the demand for drugs in Indonesia remained very high,
making the country one of the main destinations for drug smuggling.
The BNN estimates that there are more than 4.2 million active drug users in the
country.
"If one of them consumes 0.2 grams a day, it means 80 kilograms of drugs is
needed every day to satiate demand, or 2.4 tons per month and 29 tons per
year," he said.
Indonesian consul general in Hong Kong, Chalief Akbar Tjandraningrat, said
there were 28 Indonesian citizens currently embroiled in drug cases in Hong
Kong.
"12 of them are still in detention, while 16 others have been sentenced. In
Macau the number is 10, and most of them are couriers and most are women," he
said.
Under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration, the government has
implemented tougher measures on drug offenders.
Declaring a "drug emergency", President Jokowi has called for the death penalty
for drug dealers and has rejected clemency pleas from convicted traffickers.
Despite protests from human rights campaigners and the international community,
his administration executed 14 convicts - including foreigners of multiple
nationalities - in January and May of this year.
(source: The Jakarta Post)
MALAYSIA:
Suhakam disappointed with sluggish response from government
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) is disappointed with the
sluggish response from the government on its various proposals relating to
human rights issues.
Among these were its recommended amendments to the Suhakam Act, a report on a
national inquiry, its convention against torture and the death penalty, as well
as the proposed National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP).
Suhakam vice-chair Datuk Dr Khaw Lake Tee said overall, the respective
recommendations and reports were submitted, but responses had either been
"slow" or "unfavourable".
The amendments to the Suhakam Act, in particular, were presented in
anticipation of the commission's re-accreditation exercise that would take
place in November this year.
She revealed the commission met with the Attorney-General's office, the police,
as well as the director-general of the legal department in the Prime Minister's
Department.
Suhakam, Khaw said, was hoping to convince the accreditation board that it was
a body that was able to retain its status under its principles.
"We are not sure now what that position is going to be in view of the rejection
or unfavourable response from the government," she told reporters at a press
conference today.
Currently in "Grade A", which entitles the commission to speaking rights,
Suhakam expressed fears of being downgraded to "Grade B", which does not allow
speaking rights.
"We basically can't go to an international forum and have our views expressed,"
she added of the Grade B status.
Other amendments to the Suhakam Act included the issue of Suhakam's visitation
to detention centres and consultation on amendments of any laws relating to
human rights.
It also wants its annual reports to be debated in Parliament. This was
currently not being done although the reports were given to the house of
representatives.
Khaw said the act currently gave the commission power to visit detention
centres, but that was subject to rules and needed authorisation from the
authorities.
"We asked that Suhakam be given authority to visit without seeking permission
from authorities. In other words, surprise visits."
On the convention against torture and the death penalty, Khaw said the
government was urged to review it and also suggested a moratorium on the death
penalty.
"During the second universal periodic review, one of the comments made by the
government was that the government was studying the death penalty and in
particular the mandatory death penalty imposed (on drug traffickers) and that
the study by the Attorney-General's Chambers will be ready by the end of 2014.
"We are almost at the end of 2015 and we have yet to hear the progress made."
Where the NHRAP was concerned, a draft was submitted to the government in 2006,
said Khaw, with the government having said in 2010 that it would develop the
action plan.
"A steering committee was formed but to date, progress has been very slow. We
regret the lack of progress made and hope this cam be expedited."
(source: The Rakyat Post)
BANGLADESH:
Bangladesh Indicts 10 for Allegedly Beating Boy to Death
A magistrate in northeastern Bangladesh indicted 10 men and issued arrest
warrants for three alleged fugitives Monday in the beating death of a
13-year-old boy in a case that stunned a nation used to violent crime because a
video of him being tortured was posted online.
Magistrate Shahedul Karim made the decision and fixed Aug. 31 for next hearing,
prosecution counsel Misbahuddin Siraj said.
The boy, Samiul Islam Rajon, died of internal bleeding after being attacked in
the northeastern city of Sylhet. The attackers allegedly were punishing him for
stealing a bicycle, an allegation his family and police say is unfounded.
The alleged fugitives include the main suspect, Kamrul Islam, who has been
detained in Saudi Arabia and is awaiting repatriation. 10 men are behind bars
after being arrested with the help of local residents, who were said to have
caught some of the attackers when they tried to dump the body.
The charges in the indictment include murder or helping the alleged attackers.
Defendants convicted of murder could face the death penalty.
Some of the accused men said they were innocent.
The chilling, 28-minute video went viral online, triggering protests in the
South Asian country, where such incidents are not rare. His body bore at least
64 injury marks, according to an autopsy report.
In the cellphone video, the boy is heard screaming in pain and pleading with
his attackers: "Don't beat me, please, will die, will die." The attackers
laughed at the boy when he asked for water.
Like many poor children in Bangladesh, Rajon was forced to leave school to work
to help his family, in his case selling vegetables.
(source: Associated Press)
PAKISTAN:
Is Pakistan bold enough to give sex-offenders the death penalty? ---- LHC
ordered the offender to pay compensation of Rs0.1 million to the victim and
another Rs1 million to the child born out of the rape.
A recent verdict of the Lahore High Court (LHC) has laid appropriate emphasis
on the award of both criminal and civil compensation for rape victims. In the
contemporary judgment of Nadeem Masood vs The State, Justice Anwarul Haq, while
invoking Section 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), not only sentenced the
convict to 20 years of imprisonment but also ordered the offender to pay
compensation of Rs0.1 million to the victim and another one million rupees to
the child born out of the rape.
This judgement, however, comprises part of the population of less than 5 % of
Pakistan's rape cases that actually result in a conviction and came to a
resolve after almost 5 years.
Following the amendment to the controversial Zina Ordinance 1979, and PPC
through the Protection of Women (Criminal Law) Amendment Act 2006, section 376
PPC states that,
"(1) Whoever commits rape shall be punished with death or imprisonment of
either description for a term which shall not be less than 10 years or more
than 25 years and shall also be liable to fine.
(2) When rape is committed by 2 or more persons in furtherance of common
intention of all, each of such persons shall be punished with death or
imprisonment for life."
Despite the laws being extensively revised, no one can safely conclude that the
modifications have led to a measurable decrease in incidents of rape across
Pakistan - the Kasur sexual abuse scandal can be cited as supporting evidence
to this claim. One cannot also place reliance on the reported rape cases
statistics available as majority of the rape cases go unreported. Experts in
the field have suggested that reported cases are but the tip of the iceberg and
actual cases may be significantly higher.
Nevertheless, we can certainly concur that notwithstanding the offence of rape
being punishable by fine, imprisonment, and even death penalty, the punishments
would only act as a deterrent to rape if they are consistently and effectively
enforced over a period of time.
The abovementioned ruling of Nadeem Masood vs The State is a rare case in point
that not only indemnified the victim, but also the child born as a result of
the rape with supporting citations from the Hadith and Indian and Bangladeshi
case precedents - albeit the ballpark figures awarded as compensation must
undoubtedly be questioned as 'appropriate' or not, as no amount of money can
underwrite the physical and psychological damage suffered by a rape victim and
Rs1 million is certainly not enough to raise a child.
The compromised law enforcement for rape victims in Pakistan has generally been
attributed to its patriarchal set-up and socio-cultural norms which have given
birth to a complex and rather inaccessible legal and procedural framework for
seeking justice in such cases. The reluctance to report rape cases is not only
a consequence of protecting family 'honour' but also the convoluted legal
procedures involved that ultimately result in delayed, reconciliatory or no
justice at all - even 'justice delayed is justice denied'.
Judgments such as Nadeem Masood vs The State must be applauded and highlighted
time and time again in the media. However, such decisions are relatively
painless wins for Pakistan's law enforcers as these are single individuals
accused. Where there is more than one accused in a rape case, for example gang
rapes, the courts have been reluctant to award a sentence, as the prescribed
penalty is death or imprisonment for life. Take for example the Mukhtaran Mai
case, where those accused of the gang rape were eventually acquitted. The
disinclination from judges to apply capital punishment in rape cases has also
severely handicapped the spirit behind the extortionate punishment, that is,
prevention of sexual abuse.
Additionally, the wearisome chain of command involved in pursuing a rape case
(from the police to various authorities to lawyers to judges) in a
male-dominated culture is itself a discouragement to even initiate a First
Information Report (FIR). In the absence of expectation of a fair treatment
from the subordinate hierarchical avenues, the onus lies on the chief
authority, judges, to implement laws impartially but rigorously.
Many have cited lack of education, sexual frustration, and laws as reasons
behind a crippled justice available to rape victims. While it could take
centuries to rid Pakistan (for that matter the world) of patriarchy and high
testosterone levels in men (pun intended), with the judges having been armed
with a largely apt technical legal structure for rape laws in Pakistan as an
aftermath of Protection of Women (Criminal Law) Amendment Act 2006, the ball is
now in the judges court to enforce an accountable justice system for rape
victims by taking bold and daring decisions and put into effect punishments
that reflect the spirit of the law - even if it means a death penalty.
(source: The Express Tribune)
******************
The farce of justice
India recently hanged to death Yakub Memon, a chartered accountant, for his
role the Mumbai bombings in 1993 which took 257 innocent lives. The execution
took place on July 30, 2 hours after the final decision on Memon's fate was
taken by the bench which was constituted after 2 Supreme Court judges had
differing opinions on the matter.
This execution has sparked a fiery public debate on the abolition of the death
penalty in India. Prominent figures like Salman Khan and Shashi Tharoor who
vociferously opposed Yakub Memon's hanging were ostracised and labelled as
unpatriotic or sympathetic to terrorists. Anil Dharkar, a prominent journalist,
very rightly pointed out the arbitrariness and politics that surrounds the
death penalty in India by asking how many were prosecuted by the state when
thousands of Sikhs and Muslims were killed by Hindu mobs in 1984 in Delhi and
in the 2002 Gujrat riots respectively. The answer is zero. He further
highlighted how the state rescued those convicted for Rajiv Gandhi's murder for
the simple reason of them having already spent 22 years in prison. So had Yakub
Memon but he was not pardoned as the pressure from the public driven by media
publicity seemed to have influenced the judges of the apex court.
Things are no different, in fact even worse, in Pakistan. After the gruesome
attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16, 2014, the public
was thirsty for revenge and as a knee-jerk reaction the moratorium on the death
penalty was lifted. The 21st Amendment passed to pave the way for the creation
of military courts was duly endorsed by the Honorable Supreme Court and
military courts are now a reality we have to live with for another 2 years.
In India, however, there are certain additional safeguards - at least on paper,
even if practically little relief is given to people like Yakub Memon. These
safeguards include a right to the second review of the Supreme Court's appeal
decision and a mechanism known as 'curative petition' whereby 3 senior-most
judges of the apex court determine whether any exceptional oversight has led to
miscarriage of justice and avert or cure it accordingly. Additionally the
Indian Supreme Court declared that the death penalty be awarded only in the
"rarest of the rare" cases and this does involve subjectivity and a degree of
arbitrariness as there is no objective criteria to determine when the threshold
is passed in this regard, but at least there is a filter which does not happen
to be the case in Pakistan.
Whether we must jettison the death penalty altogether or not is another debate
altogether but the history of the criminal justice system of Pakistan is
replete with instances of miscarriage of justice and gross violations of
international human rights law. The lifting of the moratorium as a means to
curb crime and terrorism and to satisfy the desire for revenge is a logically
flawed and imprudent assertion as there is no statistical data indicating a
correlation between the death penalty and crime prevention. Second, a state
policy to be based on emotions of revenge and retribution is absolutely
ridiculous.
The very purpose of lifting of the moratorium becomes obsolete with the record
revealed by Reuters stating that of 180 people hanged since December 2014,
fewer than one in six were linked to militancy. So if we are not executing
terrorists then who? It is people like Abdul Basit, a paraplegic who went into
coma for 3 weeks, and was sentenced to death in 2009 and Khizer Hayat who is
schizophrenic and whose plight is similar to that of Kanizan Bibi who was a
schizophrenic and despite having spent 26 years in prison was executed. The
execution of these 2 men has been stayed at the moment.
How can we forget Shafqat Hussain, the case that attracted a lot of media
attention, a juvenile who was tortured into confessing and despite the
governments of Sindh and AJK calling for his execution be halted, nothing could
change his fate. Shafqat's case was similar to that of Aftab Bahadur Masih who
was executed in June this year and was only 15 years old at the time of
commission of the offence in 1995 (a juvenile could be awarded a death penalty
then).
The minimum age for execution was raised to 18 under the Juvenile Justice
System Ordinance 2000, which has been challenged in the senior courts and whose
future remains uncertain. It is in gross contravention of both national and
international law to execute juveniles, and those mentally or physically unfit.
Similarly the police department is inefficient and corrupt and the tactics they
used to cover up their incompetency include torturing the accused into
confessing and, if someone has absconded, harassing family members and often
times arresting and implicating next of kin instead. Another facet of the
misery of condemned prisoners is what is known as 'double-jeopardy' - despite
having spent more than 15 years behind bars, the duration equivalent to life
imprisonment, they are still executed. This goes against the letter and spirit
of Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which provides sentence for murder
to be either death or life imprisonment and not both.
In a recent Supreme Court judgement in Mohammad Arshad v The State (2015 SCMR
257), the apex court distinguished this case from the earlier precedent set in
Hassan and others v The State (PLD 2013 793) and Dilawar Hussain v The State (
2013 SCMR 1582), ruling that double jeopardy in itself is not sufficient to
commute a death sentence. In absence of effective investigation and good legal
representation, miscarriage of justice is commonplace.
Article 45 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan allows
condemned prisoners a chance to send a mercy petition to the president who has
the discretionary powers to commute the sentence, but practically speaking such
petitions are not only refused but also ignored. It is also common knowledge
that it is the interior ministry that takes decisions on mercy petitions and
not the president himself. There is lack of clarity in the Prison Rules with
regard to mercy petitions, and the provision in the constitution itself is
apparently redundant as hardly any convict is given any relief under this
provision.
We need to overhaul the criminal justice system as the word 'justice' is more
of a farce in the present situation where it is predominantly the poor who are
thrown to the gallows while the rich - like Shahrukh Jatoi - get away
unpunished by exploiting the non-compoundable status of the offence of murder.
There is still time and the president of Pakistan can exercise the
discretionary powers given to him under the constitution to pardon lives of
Abdul Basit, Khizer Hayat, and many others like them who have been languishing
in prison for years and there are compelling reasons to commute their
sentences.
(source: Opinion, Ayesha Siddique Khan; The writer is a barrister based in
Islambad----The News)
****************
The force of law
Pakistan has the misfortune of being periodically bashed by the international
media. Recently, it has been the uproar over the revival of the death penalty.
The European Union, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, called for reimposition of the
moratorium on executions.
Locally, the HRCP criticised the measure, arguing (without any study/survey)
that execution of convicts has no nexus with the crime rate in the country.
Some columnists also cautioned the government to exercise restraint, lest
innocents get hanged for want of a fair trial.
The moratorium was imposed in 2008 as a condition for getting the GSP Plus
status with the European Union. Reportedly some 8,000 convicts, proven guilty
for heinous crimes including terrorism, were languishing in prisons - with
growing attacks by the Taliban to set them free. In April 2012, in a daring
assault on the Bannu prison, 400 prisoners were released, followed by another
audacious attack (in July 2013) at a prison in D I Khan, resulting in the
release of another 248 hardened criminals. This caused alarm and panic in the
country: the KP government asked the centre to transfer Dr Shakil Afridi, a
high-value target (alleged facilitator of the US raid on Bin Laden), from the
Central Prison Peshawar. There were calls for resumption of executions of
condemned prisoners.
The government was, however, in a quandary: the moratorium could not be lifted
without the risk of losing the GSP-Plus status. Public pressure then
intensified after the horrific incident of APS, Peshawar. The government
relented and executions resumed.
The global community is divided over the imposition of capital punishment. It
has abolished or suspended in 140 states but still practised in 63 others. In
Pakistan, the death penalty is prescribed for various offences, ranging from
murder, bomb blasts/suicide explosions to narcotic/drugs, gang rape, blasphemy,
etc. It is in our constitution and sanctioned by the substantive/procedural
law.
Under the constitution, the right to life is not absolute but qualified; hence
the state has the right to award capital punishment. There is yet another
aspect of the death penalty: it is imposed under Islamic law, which carries
supremacy. The constitution stipulates that any existing law repugnant to the
injunctions of Islam is invalid (Article 203D), and all such laws must be
brought in conformity with Islamic injunctions (Article 227).
Islamic law lays stress on the sanctity of life. Says the Quran: "On that
account: We ordained for the children of Israel that if anyone slew a person -
unless it be for murder or spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if
he slew the whole mankind: and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he
saved the life of the whole mankind" (Sura 5:32).
Thus, Section 302 of the PPC prescribes Qisas as punishment for the offence of
murder. It is a private right of the heir of the victim and can be compounded
by Diyat or forgiven without compensation. And whereas the president has the
power to grant pardon (Article 45 read with Section 402A of the CrPC), such
power cannot be exercised in respect for the penalty of Qisas without the
consent of the heirs of the victim (Section 402 of the CrPC). Besides Islam,
other revealed religions - Judaism and Christianity - also permit capital
punishment. Israel practises capital punishment for major offences including
treason and war crimes/crimes against humanity. Some states in the US also
practise capital punishment.
The insistence of the European Union on abolition of the death penalty is
unfair, keeping in view the troubling times. Its stance is baffling, for it
doesn't object as vehemently to the killings of hundreds of thousands of
innocent people in the illegal/unjustified wars in Iraq, Syria and the drone
strikes in Pakistan. Capital punishment is awarded to convicts proven guilty
for the heinous offences of murder, bomb blasts, terrorists' acts, etc.
The European Union has also reminded Pakistan of its obligations under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966. Let it be clarified
that this convention, far from imposing a total embargo on capital punishment,
permits it for serious crimes. It however bans the death penalty for children
under 18; that is fully complied with under the Juvenile Justice System
Ordinance 2000, which prohibits, inter alia, death sentence to minors below 18
years of age.
The abolitionists' often-quoted arguments are that the death penalty is cruel,
inhuman, degrading, and that convicts are likely to suffer
irreparable/irreversible loss due to a defective criminal justice system, etc
don't stand to logic, as the same arguments equally apply to the suggested
alternative punishment of imprisonment for life.
What then is the likely scenario: letting the murderers/terrorists get way and
relapse into Hobbes' state of nature: "war of every man against every man",
making "life solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". Further, the
counter-narration of pain/suffering inflicted on a victim and his/her family,
disturbing the social balance in society, flouting the writ of the state, is
missing from the discourse. It is a cardinal principle of morality and justice
that the convict gets his just desserts to assuage the angry sentiments of both
the victim and the community.
The government therefore need not be influenced by such criticism. The
executions are legal; the moratorium was illegal since executive notification
cannot override the law. The country is passing through a turbulent period.
There is no security of life/ property; even highly guarded ministers/political
leaders are being targeted. There is an escalating trend of violence coupled
with bomb blasts and suicide explosions by militants/terrorists. In these
circumstances, the country can ill afford to lower its guard by abolishing the
death penalty and giving a free hand to militants/terrorists to operate with
impunity.
After normalcy returns, the government may refer the matter to parliament as it
requires research and study. The law must be reviewed to restrict the scope of
anti-terrorism law and ensure that capital punishment is awarded in
serious/heinous crimes. The law/constitution are not immutable but organic and
open to reform. The provision of Qisas requires review.
Law, in order to remain relevant, must evolve with the vicissitudes of time,
emerging realities and socio-economic conditions. Our criminal justice system
is also in dire need of reform/improvement to prevent the miscarriage of
justice.
(source: Dr. Faqir Hussain; The writer served as secretary, Law & Justice
Commission of Pakistan; director general, Federal Judicial Academy; and
registrar, Supreme Court of Pakistan----The News)
INDIA:
Kidnapping for ransom qualifies for death: SC
The rising incidents of kidnapping and abduction for ransom not only by
ordinary criminals but even by terrorists necessitate a stringent punishment
for those indulging in such activities, the Supreme Court has said while
upholding death sentence under section 364A of IPC. ???The gradual growth of
the challenges posed by kidnapping and abductions for ransom, not only by
ordinary criminals for monetary gain or as an organised activity for economic
gains
but by terrorist organisations is what necessitated the incorporation of
Section 364A of the IPC and a stringent punishment for those indulging in such
activities, reports PTI.
"Given the background in which the law was enacted and the concern shown by
Parliament for the safety and security of the citizens and the unity,
sovereignty and integrity of the country, the punishment prescribed for those
committing any act contrary to Section 364A cannot be dubbed as so outrageously
disproportionate to the nature of the offence as to call for same being
declared unconstitutional," a 3-judge bench headed by Justice T S Thakur said.
The apex court's verdict came on a petition filed by a convict, who was awarded
death sentence in a kidnapping-cum -murder case, challenging the constitutional
validity of section 364A of IPC.
The court made it clear that "situations where the act which the accused is
charged with is proved to be an act of terrorism threatening the very essence
of our federal, secular and democratic structure may possibly be the only other
situation where courts may consider awarding extreme penalty.
"But, short of death in such extreme and rarest of rare cases, imprisonment for
life for a proved case of kidnapping or abduction will not qualify for being
described as barbaric or inhuman so as to infringe the right to life guaranteed
under Article 21 of the Constitution."
(source: Free Press Journal)
*****************
Panel to submit death penalty report
The Law Commission of India is expected to submit its report on the death
penalty to the Supreme Court next week making its recommendations as to whether
capital punishment should be retained or done away with. The report comes days
after the law panel's consultation process saw a majority opposing the death
penalty.
The commission is expected to submit its report to the Supreme Court "sometime"
next week on whether India should continue with the death penalty or abolish
it. A copy will also be handed over to the Union law and justice minister as
any call on changes in penal provisions will be taken by Parliament.
The report assumes significance as it comes days after a debate was generated
over the hanging of Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon. The commission is
working overtime to complete the report as its 3-year term is coming to an end
on August 31.
The Supreme Court, in Santosh Kumar Satishbhushan Bariyar vs Maharashtra and
Shankar Kisanrao Khade vs Maharashtra, had suggested that the Law Commission
should study the death penalty in India to "allow for an up-to-date and
informed discussion and debate on the subject".
In a consultation paper released on May 22 last year, the commission had said
that at this juncture, an ex-haustive study on the subject would be a useful
and salutary contribution to the cause of public debate on this issue. Such a
study will also provide a definitive research-backed orientation to the
legislators and judges on this very contentious issue, it had said. The
commission said the study would have to address queries and concerns of courts
and present an international perspective.
(source: Asian Age)
CHINA:
China Plans to Boost Penalties for Sex With Girls Under 14
Chinese state media say China is planning harsher penalties for men who have
sex with girls under 14, following public outrage over high-profile offenders
including teachers.
Under the new law, all such cases would be considered rape because another
criminal charge that served as a loophole for some offenders would be
eliminated.
The state-run China News Service said Monday the crime of "prostitution with
underage girls" would be removed from China's penal code under the revision
being considered by lawmakers. If the bill is approved, any sex with girls
under 14 would be considered rape and subject to harsher penalties, including
death.
The current penalty for prostitution with underage girls is 5 to 15 years in
jail.
Members of the public and legal scholars have long called for the change.
(source: Associated Press)
ZAMBIA:
3 inmates on death row
The Zambia Prisons Service (ZPS) says there are only three inmates on death
penalty at Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison in Kabwe after President Lungu
commuted death sentences of 332 people.
On July 16, President Lungu commuted death sentences of 332 prisoners who were
on death row to life imprisonment.
ZPS deputy public relations officer Stephen Kagoli said in an interview that
the condemned prisoners were sentenced to death after the President exercised
his prerogative of mercy on the 332.
"As of now, we only have 3 inmates on death row countrywide," Mr Kagoli said.
He said the 3 are all male.
The condemned section at Mukobeko has a capacity to accommodate 48 people, but
the number swelled to 332 as at July 16.
(source: Daily Mail)
IRAN----executions
At Least 3 Prisoners Executed in Northern Iran----2 prisoners charged with
murder were hanged to death in Rasht's Lakan Prison, one prisoner was hanged in
Ardebil Central Prison on a drug related charge.
2 prisoners charged with murder (identified as M.M., 37 years old, and A.M., 33
years old) were hanged to death in Rasht's Lakan Prison on the morning of
Saturday August 23, reports the Justice Department in the province of Gilan. An
informed source, who has requested to be annonymous, says there were a total of
3 prisoners who were hanged to death in Lakan Prison on Saturday. "One of the
prisoners' names is Asghar Mohammadi," says the source.
In Ardabil Central Prison one prisoner (identified as Hamed Madeh Moghadar) was
hanged to death on Saturday for possessing more than 580 grams of crystal meth,
according to the Press Department of Ardebil's Judiciary. The prisoner was
reportedly issued the death penalty by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in
the province of Ardabil.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Indian wife on a mission to save husband on death row in UAE----Convict's wife,
supported by village, trying to raise blood money
The wife of an Indian convicted to death in the Gulf is running from pillar to
post to secure blood money in order to free her husband.
Keralites will find the story line familiar - of an award-winning Malayalam
movie 'Perumazhakaalam' - except that this time it is for real and the man who
has been accused of murder is in the central prison in Abu Dhabi for killing
his colleague.
Santosh Prabhakaran from Attingal village in Thiruvananthapuram was arrested in
July 2011 following the murder of Subin Varghese.
Both men worked for a building maintenance company in the UAE.
A UAE court awarded the death penalty to Santosh and even as his appeal is
pending before a higher court, his wife, supported by other members from the
village, is frantically trying to raise enough blood money that could free
Santosh from the sentence of death.
So far about Rs18 lakh (Dh100,000) has been raised and additional funds have
been promised by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Santosh's wife Sheena says the victim???s family are
demanding Rs50 lakh (Dh280,000) to issue a mercy petition that could spare
Santosh's life.
"My family, neighbours and members of the village panchayat have come forward
to collect money. So far, we have managed about Rs38 lakh (Dh211,111), which
includes about Rs20 lakh (Dh111,111) promised by the Kerala Chief Minister's
office," she says.
Meanwhile, the lawyer representing Santosh has appealed against the death
penalty, which is scheduled for September 7.
Santhosh's brother Satish, who also works in the UAE, has flown to India to try
and get the mercy petition signed by the victim's parents.
"He landed here this (Sunday) morning. We are planning to pay Rs16 lakh
[Dh88,888] to Varghese's family and get the mercy petition signed. The
remaining amount has to be deposited before the court in the UAE before
September 7. We are trying our best," she added.
Santosh had come to the UAE a month after his wedding. The couple have an
8-year-old school-going daughter. Varghese is survived by his parents and 2
sisters.
Sheena is hoping that her story could end the way the director scripted the
tale of 'Perumazhakalam'. The movie ends on a note where the victim's wife
signs off on the petition, enabling the freedom of the man who had accidentally
killed his friend in Saudi Arabia.
(source: emirates247.com)
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