Oct. 19
IRAN:
UN rights experts condemn Iran execution of juvenile offenders
UN human rights experts on Friday condemned Iran's execution of a juvenile
offender convicted of murdering her husband whom she was forced to marry at the
age of 16. Fatemeh Salbehi was executed on Tuesday despite several reports of
flaws in her trial and appeals process. The UN rights experts pointed to her
age at the time of the marriage and the allegations of domestic abuse as
reasons why her case should have received more consideration. The experts also
reported that Iran executed another juvenile in secret the week before. UN
Special Rapporteur on summary executions Cristof Heyns stated, "[l]et us be
clear - these are unlawful killings committed by the State, the equivalent of
murders performed by individuals. These are profound tragedies that demean the
value of human life and sully the reputation of the country." He added that
"executing a juvenile offender, especially after a questionable trial, directly
contravenes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a party. Iran must
immediately stop killing children."
Much international pressure has been directed toward Iran in recent years for
its use of the death penalty. In February Iran reportedly executed Saman
Naseem, a juvenile offender who was 17 years old when sentenced to death,
despite international pressure to halt the execution. UN experts urged Iran
last year to halt the execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari. Jabbari was eventually
executed despite international opposition. In June of last year former UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemned Iran's use of the death
penalty for juvenile offenders and called on authorities to halt the announced
execution of Razieh Ebrahimi, who was 14 years old when sentenced to death.
Also that June a group of independent UN human rights experts condemned Iran's
execution of a political prisoner, calling for the country to end the death
penalty.
(source: jurist.org)
THE MALDIVES:
Maldives overturns woman's stoning sentence
The Maldives' highest court has overturned an unprecedented sentence of death
by stoning for a woman convicted of adultery, a crime in the Muslim island
nation, media reports said on Monday.
The woman, identified by local media as a mother of five, was convicted by a
local judge on a remote island in the Maldives, a popular tourist destination
that has seen a rise in Islamic extremism.
The Haveeru news site said the woman had confessed to the crime after giving
birth on the remote equatorial islet of Gemanafushi, about 400km south of the
capital Male.
The Supreme Court annulled the case on Sunday night, ruling that the judge had
failed to consider the legal as well as Islamic procedures of the nation of
340,000 Sunni Muslims, the Maldives Independent website said.
The Maldives, a popular Indian Ocean honeymoon destination, observes elements
of sharia as well as English common law.
Sex outside marriage is against the law in the Maldives, although the ban does
not apply to tourists visiting the upmarket holiday destination.
The sentence was unusually harsh even for the Maldives, which has frequently
sentenced those convicted of extramarital sex to public flogging.
However, the country is not known to have carried out the death penalty.
The UN Human Rights Council has repeatedly asked the Indian Ocean atoll nation
to end the practise of flogging women convicted of sex outside marriage.
In 2013, the government intervened to overturn the conviction of a 15-year-old
rape victim sentenced to 100 lashes for pre-marital sex after an international
outcry.
The girl had been repeatedly raped by her own father, who was later charged
along with her 29-year-old lover, who was given 10 years in jail.
The sentence of death by stoning is the latest blow to the international
reputation of the atoll nation, which has been in the grip of political unrest
since the toppling of its 1st democratically elected leader, Mohamed Nasheed.
The former president was jailed for 13 years in March after being convicted
under the country's terrorism laws for ordering the arrest of an allegedly
corrupt judge in 2012.
The UN has said his rushed trial earlier this year was seriously flawed and a
UN panel has ordered his immediate release along with compensation, but the
government of President Abdulla Yameen has refused to comply.
(source: enca.com)
INDIA:
Juveniles over 15 years of age should get death penalty for rape, says Arvind
Kejriwal
Juveniles who are 15 years old too must get death penalty if they commit rape,
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.
The chief minister made the announcement after a cabinet meeting which
discussed issues related to women's safety, with particular emphasis on
incidents of rape.
"There should be death penalty or life term for accused above the age of 15
years in such (heinous crimes)," Kejriwal told reporters.
"There is a need for time-bound investigation and fast tracking of cases to
make Delhi safer for children," he added.
Last week, 2 girls were raped within a span of 24 hours. One was 2 1/2 years
old and the other 5 years old. 2 boys, aged around 17, were detained by police
in the 1st case.
The increasing number of heinous crimes where boys below the age of 18 were
found to be involved led to a move by the government this year to try them as
adults.
Delhi also needs more fast track courts to deal with crimes against women,
Kejriwal said.
He said the subject of increasing fast track courts would be discussed with the
chief justice of the Delhi high court and his government would provide all help
to make the courts a reality.
"The government is prepared to allocate funds to increase the number of fast
track courts," he said. "We will take help from the chief justice of Delhi.
"We will need to set up many more courts. We need to speed up the legal
process... We have the political will. Whatever funds and staff are needed for
this, we will provide," he said.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader said one reason why attacks on women, rapes in
particular, were on the rise in Delhi was because criminals had no fear of the
law.
"I don't think all the bad people live only in Delhi, and that people living in
places like Kolkata, New York, London or Varanasi are saints. It is just that
the fear of law is not there in Delhi."
In May, the Lok Sabha passed a bill to amend the Juvenile Justice Act under
which children who are aged 16 and above will be tried as adults for crimes
like rape and murder.
Kejriwal suggested pushing down the age bar to 15.
Kejriwal's comments came a day after he again demanded control over Delhi
Police, which now reports to Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung and the central home
ministry and not to his government.
(source: firstpost.com)
***********
'Judges should be allowed to act independently'
The independence of the judiciary will be lost if the judges are not allowed to
think and act independently, said G. Masilamani, former Advocate General, Tamil
Nadu Government and former Additional Solicitor General of India.
Delivering the Advocate V.C. Rajagopalachariar (VCR) Memorial Lecture under the
auspices of the VIT Business School in the VIT University campus here on
Sunday, Mr. Masilamani said that VCR who practised simplicity in life and
honesty and integrity in his profession was a role model for advocates. The
fact that VCR is remembered 43 years after his death speaks volumes of the
nobility of the service he rendered to his litigants. VCR broke the barriers of
religion and embraced a cosmopolitan outlook.
"He believed that being truthful and practising universal brotherhood, and not
performance of rituals, was the real service to God", Mr. Masilamani said.
G. Viswanathan, VIT Chancellor who presided said that VCR was such a simple man
that he did not believe in amassing wealth. He would keep enough money to run
the family, and distribute the rest of his earnings to the needy. He was always
for rendering justice to the poor litigants, and will never take up a wrong
case, unlike the present situation where justice to the poor is elusive, he
said.
Pendency of cases in courts
Referring to the pendency of cases in courts, Mr. Viswanathan said that 2.64
crore cases were pending in courts throughout the country, of which 44 lakh
cases were pending in the High Courts. It is estimated that on an average, it
will take 30 years for a case to be disposed of.
"It is worth pondering as to how the poor people will get justice under these
circumstances. Litigation in the High Courts and the Supreme Court of India has
become costly. The Government, the Bench and the Bar should sit together and
evolve a method by which the poor people can approach the High Courts and
Supreme Court for speedy justice", he said.
Poor man's advocate
T.M. Vijayaraghavalu, Senior Advocate said that VCR was a poor man's advocate.
Adverting to the Law Commission's recommendation that the Indian Penal Code
should be amended in such a way that the death penalty is confined only to the
terrorists,
Mr. Vijayaraghavalu said that even 5 decades ago, VCR had said that it was
barbaric to kill a human being even through the judicial process.
M.V. Sankaran, Senior Advocate narrated the history of some of the cases taken
up by VCR to prove his humanitarian approach. Kalyani Rangarajan, Dean VIT
Business School welcomed the gathering.
(source: The Hindu)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Saudi juvenile offender al-Nimr could be 'beheaded imminently'
Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, a young man sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for crimes
he committed as a child, has been relocated by jailors in a move that could
mean his execution is imminent.
The family of Mr al-Nimr, whose case has been raised by both Jeremy Corbyn and
later David Cameron, said he has now been transferred to solitary confinement.
An appeal against his sentence was rejected by Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court
last month, and all family visits and prison calls have been cancelled. Mr
al-Nimr's mother and father fear that his beheading and crucifixion could take
place within days.
"We are worried about him, we are not allowed visits, there is no way of
communicating," his father told The Times. "The government have not given us
any explanations for this transfer. There is no department within the state
that we can appeal to directly, we fear they will do it any day now."
Mr al-Nimr was sentenced to death for his involvement in anti-government
protests when he was 16 or 17 years old. The young man's case has been the
subject of fervent campaigning from rights groups including Amnesty
International and Reprieve, who say he was tortured and forced to sign a false
confession before being sentenced to "death by crucifixion". They have
continued to argue that to behead and crucify someone arrested as a juvenile is
"indefensible".
Mr al-Nimr's mother, Nusra al-Ahmed, has claimed she has seen the evidence of
the torture, with scars on his forehand and broken and missing teeth.
His family believe the sentence could be linked to the fact they are part of
the Shia minority. He had joined a protest appealing for equal rights for Shias
in Saudi Arabia, during a wave of demonstrations 3 years ago. Mr al-Nimr's
family have claimed that he is being referred to as "that Shia boy" and not as
a Saudi citizen, potentially highlighting a sectarian element to this case.
Under international law, countries are not allowed to sentence under-18s to
death - but Saudi law allows anyone under the age of 18 to be tried and given
the death penalty if they show physical signs of puberty.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been vocal about the case and demanded that
David Cameron intervenes. Mr Corbyn has written to the Prime Minister, urging
him to use his influence to "prevent a grave injustice". Mr Nimr's family have
also appealed to David Cameron, Barack Obama and King Salman in the hope of
halting the execution.
Since January there have been 135 executions in Saudi Arabia, with beheading
the most common method. Sentences are frequently carried out in public to serve
as a deterrent to others.
(source: The Nation)
INDONESIA:
As British drugs mule granny waits to die, ringleader lives it up in Bangkok
after he was released early from jail ---- British granny Lindsay Sandiford
could face firing squad early as January
A suspected ringleader of the cocaine smuggling plot that landed British
grandmother Lindsay Sandiford on death row was yesterday toasting his freedom
on a golfing holiday in Thailand after being released early from jail.
The Mail on Sunday tracked down wealthy convict Paul Beales to an expat pal's
house in Bangkok where he has been enjoying nights on the town since walking
free on Monday from Bali's notorious Kerobokan prison after serving just 3 1/2
years.
Looking lean and tanned after shedding more than 2 stone in jail, the former
Milton Keynes property developer refused to comment as he rode a mountain bike
near his friend???s home while preparing to leave the Thai capital for a golf
resort. 'I've got nothing to say to you,' he grinned.
He has told friends he has no plans to return to England and instead wants to
go back to Bali where he has an Indonesian wife and children aged 11 and nine,
even though drug offenders are usually banned from ever returning.
Beales faced a possible death sentence for drug trafficking after he was snared
in a sting set up by police after drugs mule Sandiford was caught at Bali
airport in May 2012 carrying 10.5lb of cocaine worth 1.5million pounds.
But the trafficking case against him mysteriously collapsed amid rumours of
bribes to officials, and he was sentenced instead to 4 years' jail for
possession of cannabis found in a police search of his villa in Bali, where he
has lived for 15 years.
Sandiford, 59, by contrast, received the death penalty and could face the
firing squad as early as January depending on the outcome of her final appeal
due to be heard before the end of the year.
Beales was arrested as he allegedly went to collect the cocaine haul from
Sandiford with gangster Julian Ponder, 45 - known as Bali's Mr Big - who
escaped with a 6-year jail sentence after the trafficking case against him also
collapsed.
Ponder conducted a sordid prison romance with the British Vice Consul Alys
Harahap, who lost her job over the affair.
Beales, 43, who protested his innocence and claims he was set up by Sandiford,
was allowed a meeting with his wife and children after his release before being
deported.
His lawyer is understood to be in talks with officials asking to allow him to
return to Bali. 'Until then he'll probably stay in Thailand and enjoy the
sunshine and his freedom,' a friend said.
(source: Daily Mail)
MALAYSIA:
Malaysia's highest court backs death for Japanese nurse over drug smuggling
A 41-year-old Japanese woman has lost her last chance to escape the gallows
with Malaysia's highest court affirming the death sentence meted out by a lower
court for trafficking drugs into the Southeast Asian country, her lawyer said
Friday.
The 5-man bench of the Federal Court unanimously rejected Mariko Takeuchi's
appeal on Thursday.
"Basically, the court does not believe her defense," her lawyer Teh Poh Teik
told Kyodo News.
Teh had argued that there was a defect in the chemical analysis of the drug and
questioned why the assistant chemist who conducted a particular test was not
called to testify by the prosecution.
He also suggested to the court that Takeuchi, a former nurse, should have been
charged with "possession," for which the heaviest punishment is life
imprisonment, instead of trafficking, which carries a mandatory death sentence.
"But in the end, just like the high court and the court of appeal, the federal
court found her story not credible," Teh said.
Takeuchi was convicted by the high court and sentenced to death in October 2011
for trafficking 3.5 kilograms of methamphetamines into Malaysia on Oct 30,
2009. In March 2013, she failed to get the appellate court to overturn her
conviction and she took her case to the Federal Court where she again lost.
Under Malaysian law, anyone found possessing a minimum of 50 grams of
methamphetamine is considered to be trafficking in a dangerous drug, which is
punishable by death.
Takeuchi had pleaded innocent in her 1st trial. She testified that she did not
know about the drugs found in a suitcase she brought to Malaysia from Dubai.
She said she was carrying the suitcase as a favor for an Iranian acquaintance.
Takeuchi, who has been incarcerated since her arrest, is the first Japanese
national to be tried on a drug trafficking charge in Malaysia and the 1st
sentenced to hang.
Teh said her last resort is to seek a pardon from the Sultan of Selangor state.
Meantime, Takeuchi is being held at a women's prison in northeastern Kelantan
state.
(source: Japan Today)
PAKISTAN----impending executions
5 convicts to be hanged on Tuesday
3 prisoners on death row will be hanged at Faisalabad's Central Jail on
Tuesday.
The jail spokesperson said on Sunday that Muhammad Akram had killed the father
of his paramour in Medina Town. He was sentenced to death by a sessions court.
Saeed Ahmed of Chak 349-JB and Shahid Mehmood of Ghulam Abad were sentenced to
death in other murder cases.
Their appeals had been dismissed by superior courts. Their mercy petitions were
also turned down by the president. The spokesperson said arrangements for their
execution were complete and they will meet their families for the last time on
Monday.
In Bahawalpur, 2 convicts on death row will be executed on Tuesday and another
on Wednesday at the Central Jail. Bahawalnagar District and Session Judge Nisar
Ahmad has issued death warrants for the convicts. Shahid was involved in a
murder case in a Chishtian Saddar police precinct. Mustafa had murdered a man
in a McLeod Ganj police precinct. A Lodhran district and session judge issued
death warrants for Fayyaz to be hanged on October 21. He was convicted of
murder in a Kehror Pakka Saddar police precinct.
(source: The Express Tribune)
SINGAPORE:
Kovan murder trial starts tomorrow
The widely anticipated trial of policeman Iskandar Rahmat, accused of a double
murder in Kovan more than two years ago, is scheduled to start in the High
Court tomorrow.
Iskandar, 36, has been remanded in custody since his arrest at an eatery in
Johor Baru 2 days after allegedly killing a father and son.
He is charged with murdering car workshop owner Tan Boon Sin, 67, and Tan Chee
Heong, 42, by inflicting multiple knife wounds on them at about 3.30pm on July
10, 2013.
The older Mr Tan's body was found in his Hillside Drive terrace house and his
son's was found on the road outside Kovan MRT Station, 1km away.
Details of the deaths shocked Singaporeans, especially accounts of how the
younger man's body was dragged under the family's Toyota Camry before it was
dislodged outside the MRT station. The blood- stained car was found in Eunos.
But the biggest surprise came when it emerged that the suspect was a policeman.
Iskandar, then 34, was a senior staff sergeant attached to Bedok Police
Division and had been with the force since 1999.
Announcing Iskandar's arrest on July 13, 2013, then-Police Commissioner Ng Joo
Hee said that when he was told the suspect could be a cop, his reaction was
disbelief, swiftly followed by anger and anguish.
"I cannot remember the last time a murder suspect was also a police officer.
You may have seen this kind of thing depicted in the movies and on TV, but when
it happens for real, it hits you like a freight train," he said.
On July 15, Iskandar was charged with 2 counts of murder. Police said he had
been interdicted, a step taken when a civil servant faces serious charges, and
includes suspension from duty and docking of pay.
Police also confirmed that he was facing disciplinary proceedings for failing
to declare his personal debt.
Iskandar's trial is scheduled over 2 tranches, during which Justice Tay Yong
Kwang will hear testimonies from more than 100 witnesses.
The 1st tranche, due to last from tomorrow until Oct 30, will see mainly
witnesses of fact taking the stand. The 2nd is set to take place from March 29
to April 8 next year and will focus on expert evidence from forensic
pathologists, psychiatrists and other experts.
American forensic scientist Henry Chang-Yu Lee, who worked on famous cases like
the JonBenet Ramsey murder and trial of American football player O. J. Simpson,
will testify for the prosecution.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Lau Wing Yum, Prem Raj and Mansoor Amir will conduct
the prosecution's case.
Shashi Nathan, Rajan Supramaniam and N. Sudha Nair, are defending Iskandar
under the Legal Assistance Scheme for Capital Offences (Lasco).
Iskandar is charged under Section 300(a) of the Penal Code, which carries the
mandatory death penalty. It is the most serious form of murder in which there
is intention to cause death.
Generally, a person charged with murder can raise several defences for their
actions, including provocation, self defence and sudden fight. If the court
accepts his defence, he will be found guilty of culpable homicide, which
carries the maximum of life imprisonment, and caning.
Another defence option is to convince the court that Iskandar's acts fall under
the 3 other forms of murder, in which the court can choose to impose the death
penalty or life imprisonment and caning.
(source: news.asiaone.com)
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