Oct. 7


SOUTH AFRICA/MALAYSIA:

Govt bids to save SA drug smuggler


The South African government has requested a meeting with the Malaysian government in a bid to save a South African drug smuggler from the death penalty.

Deon Cornelius was sentenced to death by a Malaysian court in January this year for attempting to smuggle drugs into the country in 2013. The 29-year-old Johannesburg man was arrested at Penang International Airport after he was found to be in possession of 2kg of methamphetamine. Cornelius claimed that a man named Tony had given him a laptop containing the drugs.

Cornelius last week lost an appeal against his death sentence but the South African government is now making a last ditch attempt to have his sentence lightened.

"We will make representations on his behalf with the Malaysian government regarding possibly turning the judgment to a lighter sentence," Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesperson Nelson Kgwete said in a News24 report.

"Our embassy in Malaysia has sent a letter to the minister requesting a meeting to negotiate these terms. We have also conveyed to Malaysia our position on the death sentence."

Malaysia has a zero tolerance approach to drug smuggling and foreigners caught with drugs are often sentenced to death.

Cornelius is set to make a final appeal to Malaysia's federal court.

(source: iafrica.com)






SINGAPORE:

Nordea Singapore Employee Charged for 5-Year-Old Son's Murder


Philippe Graffart, head of Asia Pacific fund distribution at Nordea Investment Management in Singapore, was charged in a Singapore court on Wednesday for the murder of his 5-year-old son.

Graffart, 41, will be remanded for psychiatric observation. He didn't enter a plea and his next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28. He wasn't represented by a lawyer. If convicted, he may face the death penalty.

Singapore Police said on Tuesday an injured man was found outside a police center at 5:11 a.m. After preliminary inquiries, officers went to an apartment unit, where the man's son was found lying motionless in a bedroom, according to a statement on the Singapore Police Force website. Paramedics pronounced the boy dead at 6:17 a.m.

Magnus Nelin, a spokesman for Stockholm-based Nordea, confirmed in an e-mailed response to queries that Graffart is employed by the bank.

"We are aware of this very tragic event and our thoughts go out to the family," Nelin said. "We can't comment further at this stage. We have to wait for the ongoing investigation and the court's ruling."

The case is Prosecutor v Graffart Philippe Marcel Guy, Singapore State Courts.

(source: Bloomberg news)






ENGLAND/SAUDI ARABIA:

PM 'could intervene' over death row Saudi's case


David Cameron has said he will "look to see if there is an opportunity" to intervene personally on behalf of a protester on death row in Saudi Arabia.

Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was 17 when he was arrested for taking part in anti-government protests in 2011.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has urged Mr Cameron to directly intervene.

The PM said the government had raised the case but also defended the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia saying it was important for national security.

"We have a relationship with Saudi Arabia, and if you want to know why, I will tell you why, " Mr Cameron told Channel 4 News on Tuesday.

"It's because we receive from them important intelligence and security information that keeps us safe.

"There was one occasion since I've been prime minister where a bomb that would have potentially blown up over Britain was stopped because of intelligence we got from Saudi Arabia.

"Of course it would be easier for me to say, 'I'm not having anything to do with these people, it's all terribly difficult et cetera et cetera.' For me, Britain's national security and our people's security comes first."

'Horrific sentence'

Mr al-Nimr was accused of taking part in anti-government protests in the eastern part of the country in 2011, involving the country's Shia Muslim minority, and was arrested the following year.

State media later reported he had been found guilty of a long list of crimes including sedition, breaking allegiance to the king, rioting, using petrol bombs against security patrols, robbing a pharmacy and more. He could be beheaded and his body displayed in public.

Last month, Mr Corbyn urged the prime minister to raise the case "directly" with his Saudi counterparts and "request that they commute the unjust and horrific sentence... which violates any number of international laws".

Mr Corbyn also raised questions about a Ministry of Justice bid to provide services to Saudi prisons.

Mr Cameron said: "We have raised this as a government. The foreign secretary has raised this, our embassy has raised this, we raise this in the proper way.

"I will look to see if there is an opportunity for me to raise it as well. We oppose the death penalty anywhere and everywhere and we make that clear in all of our international contacts."

(source: BBC news)



INDONESIA:

Jakarta Police Still Looking for Clues in Murder of 9-Year-Old Girl


4 days after the discovery of the body of an abducted 9-year-old girl in West Jakarta, local cops are still nowhere near apprehending the perpetrator, prompting the Jakarta Police to take over the investigation.

The girl's body was found wrapped in cardboard in Kalideres.

West Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Rudi Heriyanto said his men have discovered new information but none of it has led to the identification of the person responsible for the death of the victim, whom police refer to as P.N.F., who was likely to have been suffocated after being sexually abused.

The police chief also cited key information provided by witnesses who told police that the victim was picked up by 2 men on a motorcycle after school. However, the police chief added: "[these are] only the claims of some kids who were there. But we will investigate all possibilities."

Looking for clues

Police are collecting footage from surveillance cameras around the scene, looking for men carrying cardboard boxes. Footage "of the area's entrance and exit has been gathered and is being analyzed," the officer continued.

Rudi went to the Jakarta Police headquarters in South Jakarta on Tuesday after the provincial police formed a special task force led by Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti, the Jakarta Police's director of special crimes.

"The case will be handled by a joint team of investigators from the Jakarta Police, the West Jakarta Police and the Kalideres subdistrict police," Krishna said.

Rudi said investigators were able to lift fingerprints from the cardboard box, but added that "we don't know whom the fingerprints belong to." Rudi also said that police found semen on the victim's body which the police have taken to a laboratory for DNA testing.

At this stage, the evidence presented is consistent with "signs of sexual assault," Rudi said.

According to Rudi, the police have also tested the DNA of the victim's relatives and neighbors but have still been unable to identify the perpetrator.

Inadequate child protection laws

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) and watchdog Komnas Anak visited the girl's school and family home on Tuesday, calling on police to quickly arrest those responsible for her rape and murder.

"The case has spread terror and fear amongst society," KPAI chairman Asrorun Soleh said as quoted by Detik.com.

"Everyone must work together so that the suspects are caught and so that similar cases won't happen again," Asrorun added.

Fahira Idris, a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), said the government and law enforcement agencies are still too lenient towards child abusers, adding that she is an avid supporter of the death penalty in cases of child abuse resulting in death.

Masinton Pasaribu, a member of the House of Representatives, echoed the sentiment.

"Prosecutors and judges must provide the maximum sentences in child abuse cases, be it life in prison or the death penalty," the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker, said as quoted by Kompas.com news portal.

"We have the law on child protection. If it is not punitive enough, we can revise it."

(source: Jakarta Globe)






IRAN----executions

Iran regime hangs 4 men


The mullahs' regime on Tuesday hanged 4 men in northern and southern Iran.

The regime's judiciary in Qazvin Province, north-west of Tehran, said a prisoner only identified by his first name Aliyar was hanged on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday the fundamentalist regime hanged 3 prisoners in Adel-Abad Prison in Shiraz, southern Iran.

They were identified as Ali Baz Khosravi, Mostafa Khosravi and Ali Baz Nourian.

On Sunday Mr. Aziz Maktabi was hanged in the same prison.

In Karaj, north-west of Tehran, at least 9 prisoners were transferred on Monday to solitary confinement in Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison.

The 9 prisoners have been identified as: Hamidreza Azhdari, Mohammad Aziz-Abadi, Morteza Bayat, Mohammad Bigi, Mohammad Bik Mohammadi, Majid Javan Khalil-Pour, Mohammad Mikaelzadeh, Alireza Rahimi, and Dariush Shirazi.

Reports have surfaced that the regime plans to hang all 9 men on Wednesday, only 3 days before the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

The mullahs' regime in Iran continues to execute more of its citizens per capita than any other U.N. member state. Some 2000 people have been executed during Hassan Rouhani's presidency in the past 2 years.

A statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on August 5 said: "Iran has reportedly executed more than 600 individuals so far this year. Last year, at least 753 people were executed in the country."

Amnesty International said on September 7 that "the Iranian authorities must end their unprecedented killing spree - more than 700 people have been executed so far this year."

(source: NCR-Iran)

************

Woman Prisoner Saved from Execution After Reprieve


Sahar Mahabadi Monfared, a 29-year-old prisoner at Qarchak Varamin Prison (in the province of Tehran), was saved from execution after receiving a reprieve from the plaintiff on her case file.

According to close sources, Sahar and her husband were fighting in public in April 2009 when Sahar drew out a knife to protect herself and ended up fatally stabbing her husband. Sahar was reportedly sentenced to death for murder in May 2010 by Tehran's Criminal Court.

Confirming the news to Iran Human Rights, Sahar's lawyer, Mohammad Ali Jedari Foroughi, says he hopes his client will be released from prison after her case file is examined and the charges against her are investigated.

Iranian authorities had initially appointed a lawyer to Sahar, however, Jedari Forough became her lawyer after he offered to take Sahar's case pro bono.

(source: Iran Human Rights)


PAKISTAN:

Supreme Court upholds death penalty for Mumtaz Qadri

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has upheld the death sentence for Mumtaz Qadri, former elite force guard who killed former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer.

A 3-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on Wednesday scrapped a plea seeking to revoke Qadri's death sentence.

The convict's lawyer maintained that the Islamabad High Court's ruling of a death sentence for Qadri was not in accordance with the law and constitution of Pakistan as the murder was caused by 'provocation'.

On Tuesday, the 3-judge bench has questioned whether an individual had the authority to assume the role of a judge, jury and executioner after having accused someone of blasphemy.

Justice Khosa was apprehensive that if people had the authority to punish alleged blasphemers, then chaos will reign. He warned that people could misuse it by accusing opponents of blasphemy to settle personal scores.

The court further asked whether Qadri had approached the state with his accusation of blasphemy against Taseer, and whether any evidence was available that lent credence to such accusations.

Qadri's counsel Justice (retd) Mian Nazir Akhtar contended that something had happened just before Taseer was killed since none of the other elite force personnel present at the scene reacted to Qadri's action.

He added that punishing a blasphemer was "a religious duty enjoined on everyone".

The counsel argued that in blasphemy cases, words also matter though intention to commit a crime may not be as relevant.

Last month, the IHC rejected Qadri's application against his death sentence under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) but accepted his application to void ATA's Section 7, after which Qadri's counsels decided to challenge the IHC's ruling in the Supreme Court.

Qadri's petition had demanded that his death sentence should be quashed and the second asked for Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) to be declared void from the sentencing.

In Oct 2011, an anti-terrorist court (ATC) in Rawalpindi had sentenced Qadri to death on 2 counts under section 302 PPC and 7 Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) for killing Taseer. Following the sentencing, Qadri's legal team had challenged the ATC's decision through 2 applications the same month.

Qadri had confessed to shooting Taseer dead outside an upmarket coffee shop close to the latter's residence in the capital on January 4, 2011.

(source: Daily Pakistan)






JAPAN:

Death of 'innocent man' in Japan after 46 years on death row shines light on country's flawed justice system


There's something going on in Japan and the government doesn't want you to know about it.

Behind drawn curtains, where the press and public are forbidden, one of the world's most advanced democracies is frozen in time, practising a tradition the rest of the world long ago left behind.

There, in a carpeted room, are 2 red squares. People call this place the "Tokyo death house" and "the secret theatre".

Whatever the name, the result is the same: Prisoners are hanged in front of a large glass window separating the condemned from the captivated audience.

This is how Japan exacts justice, and the hanging is not even the most disturbing part of the process.

For years, often decades, inmates accused of murder or treason are kept in solitary confinement. They are tortured not only by the agonising wait to die but often to confessing to crimes they did not commit.

Last year a man named Iwao Hakamada was released after 45 years on death row. He is believed to have been convicted on falsified evidence.

Amnesty International staff in Japan told news.com.au that 93 out of 128 death row inmates are appealing for a retrial. None will likely be successful.

This week time ran out for a man who had been on death row for 46 years. Okunishi Masaru died at Hachioji Medical Prison on Sunday, aged 89.

He too had protested his innocence but had his requests for a retrial rejected on 8 separate occasions.

His death has shone the spotlight on Japan, the only industrialised democracy other than the United States that continues to enforce capital punishment.

The US, for its part, is turning a corner. Public pressure there has forced states to reconsider their stance and, in some cases, abolish the death penalty altogether. The conversation hasn't even started in Japan, and that's exactly how they want it to stay.

'JAPAN'S JUSTICE SYSTEM TOTALLY FAILED HIM'

Japan has executed 103 people since 1993. Of those, 4 were women. All 103 were convicted of murder. Most were convicted of multiple murders. Okunishi Masaru was next.

The high-profile case started in March, 1961, and involved the poisoning of 17 people, according to the Japan Times.

5 women, including Okunishi's wife, died after drinking wine laced with a pesticide. Okunishi confessed to poisoning the women to "end a love triangle" but later retracted his confession. He was acquitted in 1964 but five years later was sentenced to hang. For 46 years he protested his innocence to no avail.

Amnesty International this week joined a growing vocal opposition to the treatment of the accused and the way they are executed. In a statement, the organisation labelled Okunishi's death an "urgent" reminder of the need for change.

"Okunishi Masaru may not have gone to the gallows, but Japan's justice system totally failed him. It is outrageous he was denied the retrial his case unquestionably merited and instead was left to languish on death row for more than 46 years," said Hiroka Shoji, Amnesty's East Asia researcher.

"It is too late for Okunishi Masaru but others remain on death row convicted primarily on the basis of forced 'confessions'. The Japanese authorities must urgently review their cases to ensure that time does not run out for them to see justice."

Before Okunishi's death, 44-year-old Tsukasa Kanda was executed for the murder of 31-year-old Rie Isogai in central Japan, in 2007. Tsukasa was the 12th man to be executed in Japan since Shinzo Abe was elected as Prime Minister.

INSIDE JAPAN'S DETENTION HOUSE

Something changed in 2010 when the country's Justice Minister Keiko Chiba allowed journalists into the gallows for the 1st time.

There, photographers documented large glass windows, carpet floors and wooden walls.

In the centre of the room, 2 red squares are placed beneath a noose. There a prisoner stands with a rope around his or her neck before the trapdoor opens and they are dropped into a 2nd room below. The 2nd room has grey tiled floors and a large glass viewing window.

American Journalist Charles Lane wrote about the 2-room setup in 2003. He said what he saw shocked him.

"I became critical of the Japanese death penalty. The dichotomy between that nice upper chamber and the chilly 'world of death' below seemed emblematic of the wider contrast between the shining, safe streets of which Japan is justifiably proud, and the sometimes troubling methods the authorities employ in the name of public safety."

He said he was surprised by how secretive Japan was about the entire process.

"Probably the biggest difference between the death penalty in Japan and the death penalty in the US is that the entire process in Japan is shrouded in secrecy. In the US, a death-row inmate can send messages from his cell. But in Japan, death-row inmates are held in solitary confinement, visits limited to a bare minimum of family members and defence counsel."

Amnesty said Japan continues to rely heavily on confessions obtained through torture.

"There are no clear limits on the length of interrogations, which are not fully recorded and which lawyers are not permitted to attend," the organisation said in a statement this week.

Amnesty Japan told news.com.au: "In the past, (prisoners) were physically tortured and now they are still mentally tortured. Suspects are questioned from morning to night without presence of lawyers and are detained up to 23 days which is in violation of international standards."

RELEASED PRISONER TELLS ALL

Iwao Hakamada was released last year. Once out, he told the world about how he'd been treated.

The former boxer had confessed to murdering 4 people in 1966. He retracted his statement shortly after. He said he was coerced into confessing, like many others in a country boasting a 99 % conviction rate.

"One of the interrogators put my thumb on an ink pad, drew it to a written confession record and ordered me 'write your name here' (while) shouting at me, kicking me and wrenching my arm," he told Amnesty.

The case against Hakamada rested on bloodstained pyjamas, prosecutors said. But instead of presenting the pyjamas at the trial they found 5 other pieces of clothing, each with blood on them, at his workplace.

He was sentenced to death but in 2006 one of the judges revealed he'd always believed Hakamada was innocent. It took until 2014 for him to be freed. Sadly, Okunishi Masaru never saw such a moment.

(source: The Courier Mail)



SRI LANKA:

Sri Lankan president moves to implement death penalty


A reactionary campaign has been launched in Sri Lanka, calling for the return of the death penalty, encouraged by President Maithripala Sirisena. Yesterday, the Sri Lankan parliament discussed a proposal calling for capital punishment for those convicted for child abuse and murder.

There are 1,115 prisoners on death row, according to the commissioner general of prisons, Rohana Pushpakumara, with 600 undertaking appeals. Because of widespread public opposition to the death sentence Sri Lanka has not executed anyone since 1976, despite occasional calls by the media, the clergy and politicians. Under the constitution, the president has to sanction executions.

Deputy social empowerment and welfare minister Ranjan Ramanayake brought forward yesterday's proposal, citing 9 recent child abuse and murder crimes. Ramanayake commenced his campaign after the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl, Seya Sandevumi, at Kotadeniyawa, a rural village about 40 kilometres north of Colombo, on September 14. This crime triggered widespread protests in the country. Influenced by comments by the government minister, many protestors called for executions.

Presenting the proposal to the parliament yesterday, right-wing United National Party (UNP) member Hirunika Premachandra claimed it was needed to protect innocent children. Housing minister Sajith Premadasa agreed to the proposal and other MPs jumped on the bandwagon.

President Sirisena, while posing as a moral crusader, told a meeting in Galle on September 18 that he would implement capital punishment from next year if parliament approved. Though the penalty can be imposed via his executive powers, "I thought that the better option was debate in the parliament," he said. "As a leader who respects moral principles, I will pay strict attention to the demand of the people to enforce the death penalty."

Sirisena's claim to "respect moral principles" is entirely hypocritical. Sirisena and the coalition government recently conspired with Washington at the UN Human Rights Council to cover up war crimes and human right violations, such as extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, abductions and disappearances, committed during the communal war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The protests of people against violent crimes also signify underlying discontent over unbearable living and social conditions. In May, when Vithya Sivalohanathan, an 18-year-old schoolgirl was murdered in Jaffna after being sexually harassed, anger spread across the Jaffna Peninsula and beyond. It was an eruption of discontent against the maintenance of repressive and degrading conditions six years after the end of the defeat of the LTTE.

Leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which represents the Tamil elite, issued a call for the death penalty to divert anger and unrest. Nervous about the popular disaffection, Sirisena flew to Jaffna and vowed that maximum punishment would be imposed on those found guilty.

When law and order and prison reforms minister Tilak Marapana met chief Buddhist prelates in Kandy, they advised him to strictly implement the law. Marapana told them that his government had given unreserved freedom to the police, supposedly in order to curb crime and corruption. Thus, the death penalty campaign is being utilised to further strengthen police-state methods.

According to Amnesty International's 2014 report, Sri Lanka is among the countries where the death penalty was imposed after unfair trials. It cited a 22-year-old case where a Trincomalee court in eastern Sri Lanka in 2014 sentenced a man to death for a crime allegedly committed when he was just 12 years old.

The police investigation into the September 14 killing is riddled with contradictions. First, the police arrested a 17-year-old school student and then a father of one child. After being released because their DNA tests were negative, both complained that they were tortured to try to extract confessions.

A 3rd suspect, a youth named Dunesh Priyantha, was arrested on September 23 and the police released an account of his confession to the media. On October 3, police arrested his elder brother, claiming that he confessed to the same crime. They have been subjected to DNA tests, to be released in a week.

The agitation for carrying out the death penalty has nothing to do with curbing crimes. On the contrary, under the mask of good governance and morally cleaning up society, the campaign is seeking to divert public concern from the real economic and social problems and further strengthen the state with new police powers.

Successive Sri Lankan governments have burdened the working class with severe austerity measures and cuts to social welfare services, education and health care. Social polarisation is widening. The richest 20 % of households receive 53.5 % of total income, while the poorest 20 % receive only 4.4 %.

Studies have also revealed that underprivileged youth, often army deserters, have joined the underworld due to poverty. Around 30,000 soldiers are known to have deserted from the 350,000-strong military. Speaking about their psychological problems Prabath Gunatillka, a psychology lecturer, said: "Soldiers have been witness to scenes on battlefields that many of us cannot imagine; they have killed people and been praised for doing so. They now believe that they are above the law, and this is reflected in their decision to desert and pursue criminal activities."

Young people are experiencing mounting difficulties in obtaining a proper education, rising unemployment and social insecurity. Increasingly people delay entering into marriage, or find it completely unattainable due to poverty. Unemployment among young people between 15 and 24 is 21.7 % and among those aged 25-29, it is 8.7 %.

According to media reports, the mother of the recently arrested Priyantha explained her helplessness and poverty to the police. She has 4 children. Her husband, imprisoned for robbery, died in prison. She does not write or read. Because of her financial difficulties she was unable to ensure that her children went to school.

While opposing the death penalty, some groups are calling for greater police resources. "Friday Forum" an organisation of upper middle class intellectuals and professionals, said the prospect of judicial execution was a "counter-productive reaction to horrible crimes." It stated: "The real deterrent is the likelihood that one will be found out, arrested, tried, convicted and punished. The remedy is improving the criminal justice system - better crime prevention, better crime detection, better investigation, improved prosecutions and trial procedures."

Such propositions only divert attention from the deteriorating social conditions and assist the ruling elite to strengthen the state machinery, which will be directed, above all, at suppressing opposition to these conditions, which are produced by the capitalist profit system itself.

(source: World Socialist Web Site)

************

Sri Lanka will not implement death penalty for now - Justice Minister


Sri Lanka will not implement the death penalty temporarily as the country has decided to vote in favor of a UN resolution for moratorium on death penalty in 2015, Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha said in parliament yesterday.

The Minister noted that Sri Lanka had voted in favor of the UN resolutions calling for moratorium on death penalty in 2007, 2008 and 2010. In 2012, Sri Lanka had abstained from voting for the resolution.

However, Sri Lanka, to be in line with the current global trends, has decided to vote in favor of the UN resolution for moratorium on death penalty in 2015 when the vote is taken at the UN General Assembly.

He recalled that that Pope when addressing the inaugural session of the UN General Assembly on September 24 requested all countries to abolish death penalty.

Emphasizing that more than 100 countries have abolished the death penalty, the Minister told the parliament that especially in democratic countries punishments are aimed at correction and rehabilitation. The world opinion with regard to the capital punishment is in favor of not implementing it, he added.

There is no evidence that the death penalty is any more effective in reducing crime, the Minister emphasized.

He said Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in his address to the UNHRC on September 14 also stated that Sri Lanka would not implement the capital punishment.

President Maithripala Sirisena last month said he would open a dialogue in the parliament on enforcing the capital punishment for the convicts of heinous crimes.

The Justice Minister however, said an interactive dialogue should be held to find out the root causes of crimes and the Parliament should focus attention on strengthening the laws to prevent crimes.

Although Sri Lankan courts give death penalty in serious crimes such as murder, rape and drug trafficking, no executions have been carried out since 1976.

Following the recent abduction, sexual assault and murder of a 5-year old Seya Sadewmi, Sri Lankans have demanded the death penalty for the perpetrators of heinous crimes.

(source: Colombo Page)



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