Oct. 29
SINGAPORE:
Halt imminent execution of Malaysian national
The Singaporean authorities must immediately halt the imminent execution of
31-year-old Malaysian national Kho Jabing amid concerns his death sentence was
re-imposed at the last stage and on the basis of a disputed reconstruction of
the circumstances of the crime, Amnesty International said today.
"We urge the President of Singapore to immediately halt Kho Jabing's execution
and reconsider the decision to reject his clemency application. The decision to
take his life is based on disputed facts and even the country's Apex Court was
divided on the life and death decision in his case. With no legal avenues left,
clemency is the only way to safeguard Kho Jabing's life," said Josef Benedict,
Campaigns Director for South East Asia and the Pacific at Amnesty
International.
In 2010 Kho Jabing and a co-defendant were charged with murder, punishable at
the time by the mandatory death penalty. After Singapore reviewed its mandatory
death penalty laws in 2012 and allowed sentencing discretion for unintentional
murder, the High Court resentenced Kho Jabing to life imprisonment and 24
strokes of the cane, but the prosecution appealed.
At Kho Jabing's resentencing, the 5-judge bench unanimously established that
the death penalty should be imposed if the murder he committed exhibited
"...viciousness or a blatant disregard for human life".
However, despite all 5 Supreme Court judges agreeing that there was not enough
evidence available in Kho Jabing's case to allow for a precise reconstruction
of the murder, they failed to agree whether it was possible to prove beyond
reasonable doubt that the murder was particularly vicious. 3 judges found that
his actions did deserve to be punished by death, while the other 2 held that
the evidence available did not prove that he had hit the victim more than
twice, necessary to meet the criteria for "blatant disregard". The death
penalty was therefore re-imposed with a close 3-to-2 majority and with no
further avenue for legal appeal.
"The holes in the evidence available in Kho Jabing's case, and the disagreement
between the judges, raise questions that go beyond his case. These deal with
the impact of the legal reforms of Singapore's mandatory laws, particularly the
use of Singapore's power to grant clemency. A man could now be killed after
such a disputed life and death decision. International safeguards guarantee in
all cases the right for anyone sentenced to death to appeal against the death
sentence, but Kho Jabing is left without any legal avenues. The President of
Singapore must reconsider his earlier rejection of clemency for Kho Jabing and
stop this execution immediately," said Josef Benedict.
In 2011 Kho Jabing's co-defendant was spared the death sentence after his
conviction was commuted to 'robbery with hurt'.
"The dithering lack of consensus over Kho Jabing's sentence is just another
indication of why the death penalty must end. We are calling on the Singaporean
authorities to immediately re-impose an official moratorium on executions with
a view to abolishing the death penalty for good," said Josef Benedict.
The last execution announced in Singapore was carried out on 17 April 2015 for
intentional murder, an offence which still carries the mandatory death penalty.
Background
As of today, 140 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice;
3 more countries - Fiji, Madagascar, and Suriname - have abolished the death
penalty for all crimes in 2015. One more US state, Nebraska, has also become
abolitionist and the Governor of Pennsylvania established an official
moratorium on executions earlier this year.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception,
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or
other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to
carry out the execution.
(source: Amnesty International USA)
AUSTRALIA:
Restrict police cooperation in death penalty cases: LCA, ABA
Legal professional groups have urged the government to restrict Australia's
involvement in transnational crime investigations that could end in executions.
The Law Council of Australia and the Australian Bar Association have called for
reform to the Australian Federal Police Act 1979 (Cth) to prevent authorities
from providing information to foreign countries in cases that could lead to a
person facing the death penalty.
In a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and
Trade this month, the legal bodies said current practice was inconsistent with
Australia's "absolute opposition" to capital punishment.
"The death penalty is cruel and inhuman, and has not been shown to deter
crime," the submission states.
"Legislative reform would relieve the Australian Federal Police of the burden
of making such complex decisions in life and death matters."
According to the submission, the majority of the 1,847 names provided by the
AFP to foreign police between 2009-14 were being investigated for drug offences
in countries with the death penalty.
However, between three and 15 requests for assistance in cases involving the
death penalty were denied by the AFP. This indicates that the AFP is already
exercising discretion, while still approving the "vast majority" of these
cases, according to the submission.
"The issue is then whether this is an appropriate outcome in light of
Australia's opposition to the death penalty," the submission reads.
Under the Extradition Act 1988 (Cth) a person cannot be extradited to face the
death penalty.
In the submission, the legal bodies argue that there is no real distinction
between sending a person to face the death penalty directly and helping with an
investigation that may lead to that outcome.
The ABA and LCA's submission also promotes government strategies for persuading
other countries to abolish capital punishment, arguing that Australia is "well
placed to be a leading state actor" in the Asia-Pacific region.
While Australia ditched the death penalty for good in 1967, 9 countries carried
out executions every year between 2009-13, including Bangladesh, China, Iran,
Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the US and Yemen. China alone executed
more than 1,000 people in 2014.
However, more than 4 out of 5 countries are either abolishing the death penalty
or not practising it.
(source: Lawyers Weekly)
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