Nov. 23
SINGAPORE:
Fate of Sarawakian on death row in limbo after Singapore court reserves
judgment
The Court of Appeal in Singapore today reserved judgment on whether it should
review the death sentence meted out on Sarawakian Kho Jabing for murder 8 years
ago.
Lawyer Chandra Mohan K. Nair, in his 2-hour submission this evening, told the
court that Jabing should be given a lighter sentence given that a lower court
had earlier sentenced him to life imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane.
Jabing was found guilty of killing a man in a botched robbery in 2007.
"The lawyer today urged the judges to reconsider the death sentence," Kirsten
Han, co-founder of Singapore's anti-death penalty group, We Believe in Second
Chances, told The Malaysian Insider.
In 2010, the Sarawakian was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of
Chinese national Cao Ruyin. His case, however, was remitted to the Singapore
High Court in 2013 for re-sentencing after the island-state reviewed their
mandatory death penalty laws in 2012.
He was then sentenced to life imprisonment with caning.
His family's relief was shortlived when the death penalty was reimposed by the
Court of Appeal in a close 3-2 decision.
Today's proceedings ended with the court reserving judgment to a date which has
yet to be decided. Until then, Jabing's stay of execution remains.
Han said that it was likely that judgement would only be announced after the
court, which would be on vacation at the end of next week, resumed its session
in the new year.
Jabing, who is of Iban and Chinese descent, was scheduled for execution at dawn
on November 6, but received a surprise stay of execution the day before after
the Singapore Court of Appeal granted his lawyer time to file a criminal motion
for a review of his case.
Jumai, and their mother Lenduk with the help of civil society groups in
Malaysia and Singapore, have since ramped up efforts to appeal for support from
Malaysian lawmakers and the public in calling for the Singapore government to
grant him clemency.
Jumai, who was in Kuala Lumpur with her mother on November 11 to meet
Sarawakian lawmakers and civil society groups, told The Malaysian Insider that
her brother was "truly repentent". "He was so naive when he first went to
Singapore, he had never worked or lived away from home.
"He was easily influenced, and he knows he is wrong. He just wants a 2nd chance
at life, even if it is behind bars," she said.
(source: The Malaysian Insider)
***************
Kovan double murder: Verdict on 4 December
The verdict of the Kovan double murder trial will be delivered by Justice Tay
Yong Kwang on 4 December.
Iskandar Rahmat is standing trial for murdering Tan Boon Sin and his son Tan
Chee Hong on 10 July 2013. The former police officer will be hanged if found
guilty of the charges.
The accused was in court on Monday morning for the final submissions by both
defence and prosecution for his case.
No intent by suspect
Iskandar's lawyer, Shashi Nathan, appealed in his submission for Justice Tay to
lower the original charge of murder with the intention to kill under Section
300 (a) of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty, to that
of Section 300 (c) of the Penal Code.
Section 300 (c) of the Penal Code prescribes that an act is murder if it is
done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person and the bodily
injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature
to cause death.
The death penalty is not mandatory under Section 300 (c) of the Penal Code, but
Iskandar faces life in prison and possibly caning.
Shashi said that he is not asking for his client to be acquitted as Iskandar
had already admitted to stabbing both his victims.
"Yes he stabbed both of them but he had no intention to kill them," said
Shashi.
The lawyer added that his client is financially strapped and his only motive
was to rob the elder Tan to pay off his debts.
He pointed out that his client did not bring a change of clothes and had not
parked his car anywhere near the vicinity of the crime scene to facilitate his
escape.
"He did not bring a knife and ultimately no knife was found," said Shashi, who
added that his client panicked after murdering his victims and left empty
handed.
Iskandar wanted to silence victims
The prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lau Wing Yum, maintained
that Iskandar had planned to kill his victims in order to silence them.
He urged Justice Tay to convict Iskandar under Section 300 (a), arguing that
the accused intended to kill his victims and was not acting in self-defense
during the incident.
DPP Lau said that the total number of 40 stab wounds found on both victims
showed that Iskandar was not defending himself during the incident and that he
was determined to kill his victims.
"The accused admitted that he had a knife in his hand when he was defending
himself yet there were wounds to the head, neck and chest of both victims,"
said DPP Lau.
(source: Yahoo News)
KENYA:
7 On Trial Over Murder of Former Kabete MP George Muchai
The State has lined up 4 key prosecution witnesses in a case in which 7
suspects face trial for the murder of former Kabete MP George Muchai.
Mr Muchai, his 2 bodyguards and driver were killed aides in Nairobi early this
year.
The witnesses include 2 sisters who were carjacked shortly before the killings
and who are "eyewitnesses" in the prosecution's list.
Another witness is a taxi driver who was called after the fatal shooting and
who was "warned not to disclose what he had seen or heard or else he would be
killed in the next 2 days."
The prosecution also has an "unnamed" witness" who was in contact with the
accused persons and who revealed that while in their company, they warned him
against mentioning what he had seen and heard and if he did so they would kill
him."
The suspects face 2 different capital offences before two courts in Nairobi
arising out of the gangland style killing of the trade unionist-cum-politician.
Eric Isabwa alias Chairman, Raphael Kimani alias Kim Butcheri, Mustapha Kimani
alias Musto, Stephen Astiva alias Chokore, Jane Wanjiru alias Shiro, Margaret
Njeri and Simon Wambugu have denied the four charges of murder at the High.
ROBBERY CHARGES
In a magistrate's court, they also face multiple robbery charges in which the 2
sisters are complainants, having been allegedly carjacked and are eye witnesses
of the killing.
If found guilty, the suspects could be sentenced to hang "twice" since each of
the 2 separate capital offences attracts the death penalty.
The 7 suspects were charged before Lady Justice Lessit with 4 counts of murder.
The charges state that on the night of February 7, 2015 along Kenyatta Avenue
in Nairobi, they murdered Mr Muchai, his 2 bodyguards Samuel Kimathi Kailikia
and Samuel Lekakeny Matanta, and his driver Stephen Ituu Wambugu.
At the magistrate's court, the suspects face ten counts of robbery with
violence on the same night they allegedly killed the MP.
A lone gunman shot Mr Muchai, who, prior to the incident, had said his life was
in danger.
The gunman reportedly stepped out of a car which had brushed Mr Muchai's at
around 3am on February 7, 2015 at the Nyayo House round-about within the CBD as
the MP was being driven home from a family gathering at Galileo's restaurant in
Westlands, Nairobi.
Police reports stated that the gunman motioned 2 other accomplices from their
getaway car who then stole the bodyguards' pistols and a briefcase before
speeding off.
The getaway car had been robbed from Ms Glady's Waithera and her sister Irene
Muthoni.
The 2 have since testified in the robbery case.
(source: Daily Nation)
SOUTH KOREA:
Experts Divided over Death Penalty Abolishment
Scholars and experts were divided over retaining capital punishment on Monday
in a public hearing held by the parliamentary legislation and judiciary
committee.
Lawyer Kim Hyung-tae claimed that abolishing the death penalty will eliminate
the risks of wrongful executions, noting that murders decreased in Canada after
it abolished the death penalty.
Seoul National University law professor Han In-seop said that 140 of 200
countries effectively abolished the death penalty, adding capital punishment
cannot be a resolution.
Meanwhile, Sookmyung Women's University law professor Lee Young-ran said that
the death penalty has a deterrent effect, warning against a hasty decision to
abolish it.
The parliamentary committee has been deliberating on a bill aimed at abolishing
the death penalty, after 171 lawmakers made the proposal in August.
(source: kbs.co.kr)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Poet Sentenced to Death for Apostasy----Reverses Earlier Ruling of 4 Years, 800
Lashes
A Saudi court sentenced a Palestinian man to death for apostasy on November 17,
2015, for alleged blasphemous statements during a discussion group and in a
book of his poetry.
The accused, Ashraf Fayadh, 35, denies the charges and claims that another man
made false accusations to the country's religious police following a personal
dispute. Fayadh has 30 days to file his appeal.
"Regardless of what Fayadh said or didn't say, Saudi Arabia should stop
arresting people for their personal beliefs," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle
East director. "The fact that Ashraf Fayadh is facing the prospect of being
beheaded only adds to the outrageousness of this court ruling."
The Guardian reported that Fayadh was born in Saudi Arabia and is a member of
the British-Saudi art organization Edge of Arabia, and has curated art shows in
Jeddah and Venice.
The trial documents, which Human Rights Watch reviewed, indicate that members
of Saudi Arabia's Committee on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,
or religious police, arrested Fayadh at a cafe in Abha, in southern Saudi
Arabia, in August 2013. The religious police went to the cafe after a man
reported that Fayadh had made obscene comments about God, the Prophet Muhammad,
and the Saudi state. The man also alleged that Fayadh passed around a book he
wrote that allegedly promoted atheism and unbelief.
After Fayadh was arrested, the court documents indicate, the religious police
discovered on his phone photos of Fayadh with several women, whom Fayadh said
he met at an art gallery.
The religious police held him for a day, then released him, but authorities
re-arrested him on January 1, 2014. Prosecutors charged him with a host of
blasphemy-related charges, including: blaspheming "the divine self" and the
Prophet Muhammad; spreading atheism and promoting it among the youth in public
places; mocking the verses of God and the prophets; refuting the Quran; denying
the day of resurrection; objecting to fate and divine decree; and having an
illicit relationship with women and storing their pictures in his phone.
During the trial, which consisted of six hearings between February and May
2014, Fayadh denied the charges, and called three witnesses contesting the
testimony of the man who reported him to the religious police. The defense
witnesses said that the man reported Fayadh following a personal dispute, and
that they had never heard blasphemous statements from Fayadh. Fayadh also said
that his book, Instructions Within, published a decade before, consists of love
poems and was not written with the intention of insulting religion.
During the last session, Fayadh expressed repentance for anything in the book
that religious authorities may have deemed insulting, stating, according to
trial documents, "I am repentant to God most high and I am innocent of what
appeared in my book mentioned in this case."
On May 26, 2014, the General Court of Abha convicted Fayadh and sentenced him
to 4 years in prison and 800 lashes. The court rejected a prosecution request
for a death sentence for apostasy due to trial testimony indicating "hostility"
between Fayadh and the man who reported him, as well as Fayadh's repentance.
The prosecutor appealed the ruling. Human Rights Watch was not able obtain a
copy of the appeals ruling on the initial verdict, but the case was eventually
sent back to the lower court. On November 17, 2015, a new judge with the
General Court of Abha reversed the previous sentence and sentenced Fayadh to
death for apostasy.
According to the judge's ruling, he dismissed the testimony of the defense
witnesses in the initial trial and ruled that Fayadh's repentance was not
enough to avoid the death sentence.
"Repentance is a work of the heart relevant to matter of the judiciary of the
hereafter; it is not the focus of the earthly judiciary," the ruling said.
The case moves next to the appeals court. The sentence must be approved by the
appeals court and the Supreme Court.
Saudi Arabia has executed 152 people in 2015, which according to Amnesty
International is the highest recordednumber since 1995. Most executions are
carried out by beheading, sometimes in public. The vast majority are for murder
and drug crimes, but Saudi courts occasionally hand down death sentences for
other "crimes" such as apostasy and sorcery.
In February 2015, a Saudi court sentenced a Saudi man to death for apostasy for
allegedly posting a video to YouTube showing him tearing pages of the Quran. A
local activist associated with the case told Human Rights Watch that the man
suffered from a mental disorder.
Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all countries and under all
circumstances. Capital punishment is unique in its cruelty and finality, and it
is inevitably and universally plagued with arbitrariness, prejudice, and error.
Saudi authorities regularly pursue charges against individuals based solely on
their peaceful exercise of freedom of expression, in violation of international
human rights obligations. The Arab Charter on Human Rights, which Saudi Arabia
has ratified, guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression under
article 32.
"This death sentence against Fayadh is yet another indictment of Saudi Arabia's
human rights record," Whitson said. "The Saudi authorities should immediately
vacate this sentence and order Fayadh's release."
(source: Human Righs Watch)
BANGLADESH:
Bangladesh on high alert after 2 opposition leaders executed
Bangladesh was on high alert Monday after executing 2 opposition leaders for
war crimes during the country's 1971 independence war, despite threats of
violence by their supporters and international concerns that the legal
proceedings were flawed.
A reporter was shot and wounded Sunday after covering the funeral of 1 of the
men, though it was not clear who was responsible.
On Monday, paramilitary border guards and thousands of other security officials
were patrolling cities including the capital, Dhaka, in an effort to prevent
any violence as the South Asian country's main Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami,
called for a nationwide strike.
The party is protesting the hanging Sunday of its general secretary, Ali Ahsan
Mohammad Mujahid, and Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salahuddin Quader
Chowdhury.
Mujahid had been found guilty on charges of genocide, conspiracy in killing
intellectuals, torture and abduction during the South Asian nation's
independence war against Pakistan, while Chowdhury was convicted on charges of
torture, rape and genocide.
Authorities did not expect many to follow the call to strike, given that
Jamaat-e-Islami has only about 3 percent of the country's vote. Nevertheless,
authorities were being cautious after a spate of killings claimed by Islamist
extremists this year, including the murders of four secular bloggers, a
publisher and two foreigners since February.
While there has been concern over the legal process that led to the executions,
most leading Bangladeshi newspapers and TV stations supported the hangings.
The leading English-language Daily Star in one story detailed the atrocities
for which Chowdhury was convicted. A 2nd story narrated how minority Hindus had
been brutally attacked and killed and their homes torched under Chowdhury's
leadership.
2 top Bangla-language dailies, Samakal and Prothom Alo, also published reports
demonstrating support for the trials and executions.
A few hours after the men were hanged at Dhaka Central Jail in the nation's
capital, a security detail escorted ambulances carrying their bodies to their
homes, where their families were to perform burial rituals.
Rajib Sen, a reporter for the Mohona TV station, was on his way back from
Chowdhury's funeral in Chittagong district when his car was sprayed with
bullets, the station said. 3 other journalists in the car escaped unhurt, and
Sen was rushed to a hospital in Chittagong. The TV station is owned by a member
of the ruling Awami League party.
Police would not provide any details on the shooting, and it was not
immediately clear who attacked the car.
Last Wednesday, Bangladesh's Supreme Court upheld the men's death sentences.
President Mohammad Abdul Hamid rejected a clemency appeal on Saturday, clearing
the way for the executions, according to both the justice minister and home
minister. The families denied that the 2 men asked for mercy, according to a
spokesman.
Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party say the trials were
politically motivated - an allegation Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has denied.
2 other senior Jamaat-e-Islami party leaders have already been executed for war
crimes, among 18 people convicted of war crimes since the tribunal was set up
in 2010 - most of them leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami.
The party had campaigned openly against independence for Bangladesh, which was
part of Pakistan until the 1971 war. Bangladesh's government says that
Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed 3 million people and
raped 200,000 women during the war.
Mujahid, 67, was the head of Islami Chhatra Sangha, then the student wing of
Jamaat-e-Islami . He was accused of being the mastermind behind the killing of
intellectuals, including teachers and journalists, days before the Pakistani
military surrendered to a joint force of freedom fighters and Indian army units
on Dec. 16, 1971, after a bloody 9-month war.
Chowdhury, 66, whose father was the speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly
and, at times, the acting president of Pakistan, also actively opposed
Bangladeshi independence. He was accused of carrying out war crimes, including
killing more than 200 civilians, mostly minority Hindus, during the
independence war, according to evidence presented at the tribunal.
In a statement late Sunday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the men's trials
had been flawed, and that "Pakistan is deeply disturbed" by the executions.
U.S. lawmakers overseeing foreign policy also described the war crimes
tribunal, set up in 2013, as "very flawed" and a means of political
retribution. Leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a letter sent
Tuesday to the top U.S. diplomat for South Asia, voiced concern that
"democratic space is shrinking" in Bangladesh amid "a growing climate of
violence, fear and self-censorship."
Since February, 4 secular bloggers, a publisher, and 2 foreigners - an Italian
aid worker and a Japanese agriculture researcher - have been killed in attacks
linked to Islamic militants.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for some of the attacks, but
authorities say the Sunni extremist group has no presence in the country.
Instead, Hasina has blamed the attacks on the opposition, accusing them of
trying to destabilize the country and halt the war crimes trials. Both
opposition parties denied the allegation.
Such extremist violence was once rare in Bangladesh, which is mostly Muslim but
has a strong secular tradition. Meanwhile, at least a dozen Christian bishops
or priests have received death threats by phone or SMS from suspected radical
groups, according to a Christian association.
(source: Associated Press)
**************
Brotherhood condemns Bangladesh execution of opposition leaders .
The Muslim Brotherhood has condemned the "unjust and unfair" execution of 2
opposition leaders in Bangladesh.
On Saturday, the authorities in Dhaka carried out the death sentences passed on
the Secretary General of the Islamic Group in the country, Ali Ahsan Mujahid,
and an MP of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.
"The fierce attack on the symbols of Islamic Action by imprisonment and the
death penalty will not succeed in dissuading the Mujahideen fighters who walk
the path of freedom and dignity," said a Brotherhood statement on its website.
Bangladesh's highest court sentenced the 1 opposition leaders to death for
crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the country's war of
independence in 1971.
(source: Middle East Monitor)
***********
War Crimes Trial ---- 4 major appeals pending with SC; Hearing on Nizami's
appeal may end next month
Appeals of four top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, among others, against death
penalties handed down to them for war crimes are now pending with the Supreme
Court and those would be dealt with 1 by 1.
The convicts are: Jamaat Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, Mir Quasem Ali, ATM
Azharul Islam, and Abdus Subhan.
The Appellate Division of the SC is now hearing the appeal of Nizami.
The SC might complete hearing Nizami's appeal by December 15, said Attorney
General Mahbubey Alam while talking to reporters yesterday at his office.
After disposing of the appeal of Nizami, the apex court might hold hearing on
the appeal of death-row inmate Quasem, and then of Azharul's and Subhan's, he
said.
Besides, the appeals of condemned war criminals Mobarak Hossain, an expelled
Awami League leader of Brahmanbaria, and Syed Mohammad Qaisar, former state
minister of HM Ershad's government, were also pending with the SC, court
sources said.
So far, trials of five war criminals have been completed with the SC's latest
verdicts on Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and BNP leader Salauddin
Quader Chowdhury.
Mojaheed and Salauddin were executed in the early hours of yesterday, as the
apex court finally upheld their death penalty on November 18 for their crimes
against humanity and war crimes in 1971.
Earlier, the SC upheld the death penalties of Jamaat leaders Abdul Quader
Mollah and Muhammad Kamaruzzaman for their wartime offences. Mollah was
executed on December 12, 2013, and Kamaruzzaman on April 11 this year.
The SC on September 17 last year commuted the death penalty of Jamaat leader
Delawar Hossain Sayedee and sentenced him to imprisonment until death.
Mahbubey said his office would move a review petition before the Appellate
Division seeking to reinstate the death penalty for Sayedee after the SC
releases the full text of the judgment that commuted his sentence.
The SC verdicts on Mojaheed, Salauddin, Kamaruzzaman, and Quader Mollah had
satisfied family members of the war crimes victims, justice seekers, war crimes
trial campaigners, state counsels, and investigators, but the judgement on
Sayedee has frustrated them.
The convicts' families, defence counsels, and the party they belong to were
dissatisfied with the trials and verdicts and pointed to controversies.
Eminent jurist Shahdeen Malik told The Daily Star that in spite of some
controversies and shortcomings, the war crimes tribunals have certainly worked
well.
The accused war criminals had received adequate opportunities to present their
cases and the trials have been conducted and completed well, he said.
"I strongly feel that most of the international criticisms are unfair."
Khurshid Alam Khan, an SC lawyer and editor of Dhaka Law reports, told The
Daily Star that the war crimes trials were fair despite controversies.
War crimes were different from other crimes and there was no need for
eyewitnesses, he said, adding that the documentary evidence was enough for
holding such trials.
After the International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Sayedee to death in 2013,
activists of Jamaat and pro-Jamaat student body Islami Chhatra Shibir resorted
to violence that left 65 people dead and several hundred injured in just 1
week.
International Crimes Tribunal-1 chairman Justice Md Nizamul Huq resigned on
December 11, 2012, following the "leaked Skype conversation between him and
expatriate legal expert Ahmed Ziauddin".
Bangla daily Amar Desh also published "transcripts of the Skype conversation of
Justice Huq with Ahmed Ziauddin".
Kamaruzzaman on January 2, 2013, sought retrial of the war crimes case against
him following the "scandal".
Other accused, particularly Salauddin, filed several petitions with the
tribunals and the SC to delay the proceedings.
Salauddin and his men had used every means at their disposal to cause delays
and create controversies.
His family members and others allegedly leaked the draft tribunal verdict of
his case and launched an online campaign to create a controversy.
A controversy surfaced a few days before the SC verdict that upheld Salauddin's
death penalty. Janakantha, a Bangla daily, published an article headlined "Saka
Paribarer Totporota! Palabar Path Kome Gechhe" (Lobbying by Salauddin Quader's
family! Escape route narrowed). Among other things, the opinion piece claimed
that a member of the SC bench hearing the appeal of Salauddin met the convict's
family members.
Later, the SC found the newspaper editor and the writer of the article in
contempt and punished them.
Salauddin submitted a forged certificate from Punjab University of Pakistan
before the SC to prove that he was not in Bangladesh during the country's
Liberation War in 1971. However, the apex court saw through that and dismissed
his review petition and upheld his death penalty.
(source: The Daily Star)
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