Nov. 28
SUDAN:
SLM-Minnawi warns Khartoum against carrying out death sentences in its members
The head of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM -MM) Mini Minnawi denounced the
death penalty handed yesterday to 18 of its members and warned Khartoum against
carrying it out.
The defendants were arrested following the capture of Ba'ashim area, north-west
of Mellit in North Darfur last March by the Sudanese army and militiamen of the
Rapid Security Forces (RSF).
The defendants faced charges of undermining the constitutional system, stir up
war against the state, using heavy weapons, looting and destroying the
citizens' properties and threatening local peace security.
Minnawi said in a statement today that the verdicts "do not respect the rules
of justice and international law for the protection of prisoners of war under
the Geneva Convention".
He called on all political forces, civil society and humanitarian
organizations, local, regional and international to launch a campaign to save
their lives.
Minnawi described this as a political trial "intended to humiliate the Sudanese
people and avenge for the defeats received by the regime at the hands of our
forces".
The rebel chief recalled that they released scores of Sudanese army POW's with
the remaining ones receiving good treatment.
It is to be noted that the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and
SLM-MM called during their recent negotiations with the Sudanese government to
release its detained members but the government swiftly rejected this demand.
(source: Sudan Tribune)
BARBADOS:
CCJ rejects application by convicted murderers
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), in a ruling today, ordered that the case
of Vincent Edwards and Richard Haynes be sent back to the Barbados Court of
Appeal.
Edwards and Haynes had been convicted of murder in June 2013 and sentenced to
death.
The 2 men had previously appealed their convictions and sentences to the Court
of Appeal, but that matter was dismissed.
They subsequently filed their application to the CCJ and to appeal as poor
persons.
However, the CCJ decided that the issue of the unconstitutionality of the
mandatory death penalty should be sent back to the Barbados Court of Appeal for
a determination of how that issue should be resolved.
'The Court found no 'compelling reason' to allow the applicants to raise the
issue for the first time before the CCJ. The Court said that it should not
lightly allow persons to 'leapfrog the local courts' because 'the views of the
local judges should first be heard' on such an important question."
The CCJ panel, which comprised Justices Adrian Saunders, Winston Anderson and
Maureen Rajnauth-Lee, also advised the Court of Appeal to resolve the matter in
a timely fashion.
". . . the Barbados Court of Appeal could either hear this issue and deliver
judgment itself on it or it could first be heard by a trial judge. However,
whatever option is chosen,writing in a police officer's notebook. These
confessions were never initialled orsigned by either Edwards or Haynes and were
denied by them at the trial.
Secondly, they argued that the mandatory death penalty imposed on them was
unconstitutional, despite a 2002 amendment to the Constitution of Barbados that
specifically legitimizes mandatory death sentences for murder.
This 2nd issue was, however, never raised by the men until they filed their
Application to the CCJ. The Court granted permission for the men to appeal
their convictions on the first ground and to appeal as poor persons.
In granting such permission, the Court found that the case was one of
significant public importance, it warranted an appeal before the final court
and that the men had demonstrated that there was a realistic possibility of a
miscarriage of justice.
The Applicants were represented by Andrew Pilgrim, QC, Angella Mitchell-Gittens
and Alexandria Thomas, while Donna Babb- Agard, QC, and Alliston Seale acted
for the Respondent.
(source: Barbados Today)
MALDIVES:
Verdict looms on death penalty clemency
High Court is set to announce its verdict on Monday over the case seeking to
annul the clause giving the president power to grant clemency to convicts on
death row.
The case seeking to annul the clause in the Clemency Act, which gives the
president the power to turn death sentences into life imprisonment, was filed
privately by a group of individuals.
The High Court ended hearings on the case on Thursday and a verdict is expected
on Monday.
State is against the case arguing that the clause was in direct contradiction
to Islamic law.
The state argued that the authority given to the president by the clause cannot
be used in Qisas (the right of a murder victim's nearest relative or Wali
[legal guardian] to, if the court approves, take the life of the killer) cases.
The case being heard by the 5-judge bench of the appellate court was filed in
2012.
Maldives has recently adopted a series of new rules and regulations and is
currently drafting a law on death penalty.
The Supreme Court issued new guidelines on Sunday allowing death sentences and
public lashing rulings issued by lower courts to be appealed automatically at
the High Court.
In a circular, the Supreme Court said if the defendant fails to appeal death
sentences and public lashing verdicts within 10 days, the court that had
initially issued the verdict should forward the relevant documents to the High
Court. The appellate court would have seven days to notify both the defendant
and the prosecution of the appeal and during that period should take the
necessary steps to begin appeal proceedings, it added.
The new rules follow similar guidelines issued by the apex court early this
month.
The Supreme Court issued new guidelines on November 8 giving a month-long
window for the last chance to appeal death sentences and public lashings backed
by High Court.
According to the guidelines, if a defendant fails to appeal a High Court
verdict in favour of death sentences and public lashing rulings within a 30-day
period, the appeal can then only be filed at the Supreme Court by the
prosecution.
The guidelines, included in a circular signed by Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed,
did not specifically mention sentences of death and public lashing. However, it
says that High Court rulings that need to be reconfirmed by the Supreme Court
had to be appealed within 30 days, including public holidays.
Under local laws, the only sentences that need to be reconfirmed by the Supreme
Court are death sentences and public lashing verdicts.
Judicature Act earlier granted a 90-day period, excluding public holidays, to
appeal rulings by any court.
However, the Supreme Court had in January annulled that clause and issued new
guidelines under which rulings issued by lower courts had to be appealed at the
High Court within 10 days and appeal over High Court verdicts needed to be
filed at the Supreme Court within 60 days.
Meanwhile, the government has included funds in the proposed state budget for
next year to establish an execution chamber at the country's main prison to
carry out the death penalty.
The state budget for next year, which was approved by the parliament on Monday,
includes MVR4 million to build an execution chamber. However, the correctional
service was not immediately available for comment.
Maldives adopted a new regulation last year under which lethal injection would
be used to implement the death penalty.
However, over mounting pressure from human rights bodies, companies have been
refusing to supply the fatal dose to countries still carrying out capital
punishment.
Home minister Umar Naseer had earlier said the correctional service would be
ready to implement the death penalty by the time a death sentence is upheld by
the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the government announced on November 16 that it was in the process
of drafting legislation on implementing death penalty.
Attorney General Mohamed Anil told reporters that the bill being drafted by his
office would expand on the already existing regulations on death penalty. The
bill would include procedures on conducting murder investigations, filing
charges in such cases and conducting proceedings in murder cases, he added.
There are around 10 people on death row at present, but none of whom has
exhausted the appeal process thus far.
(source: haveeru.com)
PAKISTAN:
I'll kill myself before I die!
Mumtaz Qadri, who was awarded a death sentence for the murder of former Punjab
governor Salmaan Taseer, has threatened jail authorities that he would commit
suicide if he were not allowed to meet his family in a separate room as per the
previous routine.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld Qadri's death sentence and he is being
kept in Rawalpindi's Adyala jail.
When Qadri's relatives went to meet him at the jail recently, they were allowed
to meet the convict through an iron fence due to security reasons. Qadri
protested against the move and threatened to commit suicide if he was not
allowed to meet his family in a separate room, a jail official said.
After Qadri's suicide threat, the jail authorities allowed him to meet his
family in a separate room.
A bench of the apex court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa rejected an appeal
seeking to revoke Qadri's death penalty.
Qadri, a former police guard, who was entrusted security of former Punjab
governor Salmaan Taseer, had shot him dead on January 4, 2011 outside his
residence in Islamabad.
(source: Pakistan Today)
***************
Court reserves decision on formation of JIT in Musharraf treason case
A special court in Islamabad on Saturday reserved its decision regarding
formation of joint investigation team and timeframe of probe in the treason
case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, Dunya News reported.
A special court bench headed by Justice Faisal Arab heard the case today.
Prosecution lawyer Akram Sheikh argued that the federal government will
challenge Islamabad High Court's decision in the same court through inter-court
appeal. If decision is upheld on inter-court appeal, another inquiry will be
held against November 3 move.
Akram Sheikh further argued that it is the government's prerogative to get the
matter investigated through any agency.
FIA team had refused to re-investigate the November 3rd action, stating that
the government failed to protect dignity of the agency.
The lawyer prayed to court to announce another timeframe for probe.
Meanwhile, Justice Faisal Arab remarked that apparently it seems that the
government and the defence party are seeing IHC's decision as vague. The high
court has left the matter of re-investigation up to the government.
The decision on the request will be announced at 4:00pm.
Musharraf faces the death penalty if convicted of charges over his suspension
of the constitution and imposition of emergency rule in 2007, when he was
trying to extend his tenure.
Musharraf governed the country for nearly a decade after the 1999 coup but was
forced to step down in 2008 after growing discontent with his rule. He left the
country soon after.
He returned to Pakistan in March 2013 after years in self-imposed exile, with
the hope of running in the national election that was held in May 2013. But he
was disqualified from participating in the vote because of his actions while in
power and has spent most of his time battling legal cases.
(source: Dunya News)
SRI LANKA/SAUDI ARABIA:
Sri Lanka urges Saudi not to stone to death maid for adultery
Sri Lanka said on Friday it was calling on Saudi Arabia to pardon a domestic
worker sentenced to death by stoning after she admitted committing adultery
while working in the Arab nation.
An official from Sri Lanka's Foreign Employment Bureau said the married
45-year-old woman who was working as a maid in Riyadh since 2013 was convicted
of adultery by a Saudi court in August.
Her partner, also a Sri Lankan migrant worker, was given a lesser punishment of
100 lashes on account of being single.
"She has accepted the crime 4 times in the courts. But the Foreign Employment
Bureau has hired lawyers and have appealed against the case," Upul Deshapriya,
spokesman for the Foreign Employment Bureau, told the Thomson Reuters
Foundation.
"The appeal is going on. Also from the foreign ministry side, they are in
negotiation with the Saudi government on a diplomatic level."
Officials from the Saudi Embassy in Colombo did not respond to requests from
the Thomson Reuters Foundation on whether they would consider the plea for
clemency.
Oil-producing Saudi Arabia follows Sharia, or Islamic law, and is often
criticised by human rights groups for the wide range of crimes such as
adultery, drug smuggling and witchcraft which carry the death penalty.
Stoning, a form of execution where a group throws stones at a person buried
waist or chest deep in the ground until they are dead, is still carried out in
parts of the Muslim world.
In 2013, Saudi Arabia beheaded a young Sri Lankan housemaid for the killing of
an infant left in her care, rejecting repeated appeals by Colombo against her
death sentence.
Thousands of men and women from the Indian Ocean island travel to the Middle
East every year to seek jobs as maids or drivers.
According to Central Bank data, 279,952 Sri Lankans went to work in Middle
Eastern nations in 2014, generating over $7 billion in remittances, around 9 %
of total GDP.
Saudi Arabia, which is current chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council
Panel, has executed over 150 people this year, mostly by public beheading, the
most in 20 years, rights group Amnesty International said this month.
Foreigners, mostly guest workers from poor countries, are particularly
vulnerable as they typically do not know Arabic and are denied adequate
translation in court, Amnesty said.
Riyadh says it provides fair trials to all defendants.
(source: Reuters)
****************
'Kill us alongside our children' defiant activists' mothers tell king
The mothers of 5 young Saudi prisoners sentenced to death by beheading made a
passionate plea to the king to spare their sons' lives. The appeal followed
reports that the Gulf kingdom is poised to execute more than 50 people
convicted of terrorism.
In a public letter the women said the verdicts against the young dissidents,
including Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, were based on confessions extracted under
torture and the related trials fell short of international standards.
"The sentences handed down to our children are unique in the history of Saudi
justice," the letter read. "As mothers of young men both deprived of their
right to liberty and facing an unknown fate that may deprive them of their
right to life, we demand that the Saudi government drop their sentences and
order their retrial."
It concluded: "We stress that we will only stay silent over this crime if they
kill us alongside our children." It was signed by Naima Ali al-Matrook, Fatima
Hassan al-Ghzwe, Zahra Hassan al-Rebh, Amena Ahmed al-Saker and Nasra Abdullah
al-Ahmed, mothers of 5 activists from the Shia minority arrested on sedition
charges in 2012 when they were all teenagers.
Among them is al-Nimr, a 21-year-old dissident whose case has triggered uproar
worldwide.The nephew of a vocal Shia cleric and activist, he was arrested aged
only 17, for taking part in a protest.
He was forced to sign a confession under torture and has since been sentenced
to death on a diverse set of charges, including attacking police, breaking
allegiance to the king, setting up terror cells, rioting and robbing a
pharmacy, according to human rights organisation Reprieve. Under Saudi Arabia's
draconian legal system, he is to be beheaded and his body crucified in public.
The death sentence is expected to be carried out in the coming days as local
media reported authorities were preparing for a mass execution of 55 convicts
in a single day.
"These executions must not go ahead and Saudi Arabia must lift the veil of
secrecy around its death penalty cases, as part of a fundamental overhaul of
its criminal justice system," said James Lynch, deputy director of the Middle
East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
"Beheading or otherwise executing dozens of people in a single day would mark a
dizzying descent to yet another outrageous low for Saudi Arabia, whose
authorities have continued to show stone-faced cynicism and even open defiance
when authorities and ordinary people around the world question their sordid
record on the use of the death penalty".
(source: IB Times)
***************
Joint statement on death sentence of Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh ---- Index
on Censorship condemns the decision by Saudi authorities to sentence Ashraf
Fayadh to death on charges of apostasy
We, the undersigned organisations, all dedicated to the value of creative
freedom, are writing to express our grave concern that Ashraf Fayadh has been
sentenced to death for apostasy.
Ashraf Fayadh, a poet, artist, curator, and member of British-Saudi art
organisation Edge of Arabia, was first detained in August 2013 in relation to
his collection of poems Instructions Within following the submission of a
complaint to the Saudi Committee for the Promotion of Virtue. He was released
on bail but rearrested in January 2014.
According to court documents, in May 2014 the General Court of Abha found proof
that Fayadh had committed apostasy (ridda) but had repented for it. The charge
of apostasy was dropped, but he was nevertheless sentenced to 4 years in prison
and 800 lashes in relation to numerous charges related to blasphemy.
At Ashraf Fayadh's retrial in November 2015 the judge reversed the previous
ruling, declaring that repentance was not enough to avoid the death penalty. We
believe that all charges against him should have been dropped entirely, and are
appalled that Fayadh has instead been sentenced to death for apostasy, simply
for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and freedom of belief.
As a member of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), the pre-eminent
intergovernmental body tasked with protecting and promoting human rights, and
the Chair of the HRC's Consultative Group, Saudi Arabia purports to uphold and
respect the highest standards of human rights. However, the decision of the
court is a clear violation of the internationally recognised rights to freedom
of conscience and expression. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR) states that, "[e]veryone has the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or
belief'. Furthermore, under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, "everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this
right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers". Saudi Arabia is therefore in absolute contravention of the rights
that as a member of the UN HRC it has committed to protect.
There are also widespread concerns over an apparent lack of due process in the
trial: Fayadh was denied legal representation, reportedly as a result of his ID
having been confiscated following his arrest in January 2014. It is our
understanding that Fayadh has 30 days to appeal this latest ruling, and we urge
the authorities to allow him access to the lawyer of his choice.
We call on the Saudi authorities to release Ashraf Fayadh and others detained
in Saudi Arabia in violation of their right to freedom of expression
immediately and unconditionally.
List of signatories:
AICA (International Association of Art Critics)
Algerian PEN
All-India PEN
Amnesty International UK
Arterial Network
ARTICLE 19
Artists for Palestine UK
Austrian PEN
Banipal
Bangladesh PEN
Bread and Roses TV
British Humanist Association
Bulgarian PEN
Centre for Secular Space
CIMAM (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art)
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
Croatian PEN
Crossway Foundation
Danish PEN
English PEN
Ethiopian PEN-in-Exile
FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights)
Five Leaves Publications
Freemuse
German PEN
Haitian PEN
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Humanist and Ethical Union
Iranian PEN in Exile
Jimmy Wales Foundation
Lebanese PEN
Ledbury Poetry Festival
Lithuanian PEN
Modern Poetry in Translation
National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC)
Norwegian PEN
One Darnley Road
One Law for All
Palestinian PEN
PEN American Center
PEN Canada
PEN International
PEN South Africa
Peruvian PEN
Peter Tatchell Foundation
Portuguese PEN
Quebec PEN
Russian PEN
San Miguel PEN
Scottish PEN
Slovene PEN
Society of Authors
South African PEN
Split This Rock
Suisse Romand PEN
School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, University of East Anglia
The Voice Project
Trieste PEN
Turkish PEN
Wales PEN Cymru
(source: indexoncensorship.org)
*****************
Woman to be stoned to death for adultery in Saudi Arabia - while male partner
to receive 100 lashes
A woman faces being stoned to death after being convicted of adultery in Saudi
Arabia - while the man she was caught with faces 100 lashes.
The married 45-year-old woman, originally from Sri Lanka, was working as a maid
in Riyadh and was convicted of adultery in August.
But her partner, who was single and also from Sri Lanka, was given a punishment
of 100 lashes after being found guilty of the same offence.
Upul Deshapriya, spokesman for the Foreign Employment Bureau said: "She has
accepted the crime 4 times in the courts.
"But the Foreign Employment Bureau has hired lawyers and have appealed against
the case.
"The appeal is going on. Also from the foreign ministry side, they are in
negotiation with the Saudi government on a diplomatic level."
Saudi Arabia follows Sharia law which is criticised by human rights groups for
carrying the death penalty for crimes such as adultery and drug smuggling.
Stoning, in which 'offenders' are pelted with stones until death is still
carried out in some parts of the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia, which is current chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council
Panel, has executed over 150 people this year, mostly by public beheading,
Amnesty International said this month.
Foreigners, mostly guest workers from poor countries, are particularly
vulnerable as they typically do not know Arabic and are denied adequate
translation in court, Amnesty added.
Last month we reported how a Saudi wife who suspected her husband of cheating
filmed him with his maid on her mobile phone.
She posted the video on social media with the caption: "The minimum punishment
for this husband is to scandalise him."
But, she could actually be imprisoned for a year on defamation charges, due to
Saudi Arabia's strict law.
(source: The Mirror)
*******************
Fellow poets protest Saudi death sentence facing Ashraf Fayadh
Poets from around the world are lining up in solidarity with the Palestinian
poet Ashraf Fayadh, with the Syrian poet Adonis, Ireland???s Paul Muldoon and
Britain's poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy among the signatories to a letter
laying out how "appalled" they are at the death sentence he has been handed by
Saudi Arabian authorities.
Fayadh was sentenced to death last week for renouncing Islam, a charge which he
denies. Evidence used against him included poems from his collection
Instructions Within, which is banned in Saudi Arabia, as well as his posts on
Twitter, and a conversation he had in a coffee shop in Abha which was said to
be blasphemous. He was given 30 days to appeal the sentence.
Today, PEN International published the latest salvo from an international arts
community which has rallied behind him, with Muldoon, Duffy and Adonis joined
as signatories to a letter attacking Saudi Arabia's ruling by major names from
the world of international poetry including the Serbian-American poet Charles
Simic, the American John Ashbery, Palestinian Ghassan Zaqtan, Israeli Amir Or
and the Hungarian-born George Szirtes.
"We, poets from around the world, are appalled that the Saudi Arabian
authorities have sentenced Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh to death for
apostasy," they write, in a letter which PEN International hopes to deliver to
the poet himself in an expression of solidarity. "It is not a crime to hold an
idea, however unpopular, nor is it a crime to express opinion peacefully. Every
individual has the freedom to believe or not believe. Freedom of conscience is
an essential human freedom."
The letter says that Fayadh's death sentence "is the latest example of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's lack of tolerance for freedom of expression and
ongoing persecution of free thinkers", ending with a plea for the Palestinian's
release.
"We, Fayadh's fellow poets, urge the Saudi authorities to desist from punishing
individuals for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression
and call for his immediate and unconditional release," they write.
Speaking to the Guardian on Friday, Szirtes insisted that "opinions are not
crimes".
"Incitement can be a crime, hate speech may be a crime, but opinions are not,"
he said. "That is precisely why organisations such as PEN exist. Any sentence
for an individual opinion brings shame on Saudi Arabia: a death sentence brings
maximum shame."
According to Szirtes it is "incongruous for a country like ours to be allied
with a country that makes decisions like this".
"It runs counter to all our thoughts, habits and instincts, not just as poets
or writers but as human beings," he added. "Nor is it just a cultural matter:
it is a matter of exactly that which we describe as universal human rights."
The appeal follows the release of a joint statement signed by more than a dozen
cultural and free speech organisations condemning the conviction of the
Palestinian poet, including PEN International, which will be delivered to the
Saudi embassy in London today by English PEN.
Last week, Fayadh told the Guardian that he was "really shocked" to receive his
sentence "but it was expected, though I didn't do anything that deserves
death".
"They accused me [of] atheism and spreading some destructive thoughts into
society," he said, describing his poetry collection as "just about me being [a]
Palestinian refugee ... about cultural and philosophical issues. But the
religious extremists explained it as destructive ideas against God."
Pen International pointed to extracts of Fayadh's poems, translated by Mona
Kareem. "it was said: settle there... / but some of you are enemies for all /
so leave it now," he writes in one. "look up to yourselves from the bottom of
the river; / those of you on top should provide some pity for those
underneath."
The free speech organisation said that during his trial, the poet "expressed
repentance for anything in the book that religious authorities may have deemed
insulting", and said, 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 25 November, the Guardian reported that, in a message to his supporters,
Fayadh said he was "grateful for everyone working on my behalf". "To be honest,
I was surprised because I felt alone here. I am in good health. I'm struggling
to follow all the developments. People should know I am not against anyone
here, I am an artist and I am just looking for my freedom," said the poet.
(source: The Guardian)
MALAYSIA:
Hakam: Impose moratorium on execution of 1,022 death row prisoners
The National Human Rights Society of Malaysia (Hakam) welcomes the government's
move to abolish the mandatory death sentence for drug-related offences.
The mandatory death sentence deprives the sentencing judge of the discretion to
consider all relevant facts of the case and the individual circumstances of
each convicted person. A sentencing judge must be given the option to impose
the appropriate sentence.
Whilst removing the mandatory death sentence is a step in the right direction,
we would call on the government to abolish the mandatory death sentence in its
entirety for all criminal offences.
The death penalty violates the right to life guaranteed under Article 5 of our
Federal Constitution and is undoubtedly a cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment contrary to international law. A recent public opinion survey on the
death penalty in Malaysia undertaken by Emeritus Professor Roger Hood QC from
the University of Oxford has shown that the majority of the Malaysian public do
not support an imposition of the death penalty.
We also call on the government to impose a moratorium on the execution of 1,022
death row prisoners currently waiting for execution pending the abolition of
the mandatory death sentence for all criminal offences.
Having been on the Human Rights Council and presently on the Security Council
as a non-permanent member, Malaysia must show a genuine commitment to abide by
international norms in relation to the right to life and the prohibition
against cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
We hope that the government will continue taking steps in the right direction
towards the ultimate abolishment of the death penalty.
Ambiga Sreenevasan is president of Hakam. The above state was issued on behalf
of the Hakam executive committee.
Addendum
Following Hakam's statement calling for a moratorium of all 1,022 executions
while the government looks into abolishing the mandatory death sentence in
Malaysia, Hakam also urges the government to explore all diplomatic channels to
persuade the Singapore government to grant clemency to Kho Jabing, the
Sarawakian who is on death row in Singapore. Hakam acknowledges Sarawak Chief
Minister Adenan Satem's statement that he will write to appeal to the Singapore
government to grant clemency to Jabing.
This is indeed an urgent call for the government to defend one of her citizens
on death row. The Malaysian government must view this as a serious case. Kho
Jabing was sentenced to death in 2008 and in 2013, Singapore amended its law
concerning the mandatory death sentence. This resulted in a resentencing
hearing for Kho Jabing.
The High Court of Singapore then sentenced him to life imprisonment plus 24
strokes of the cane which shows that the High Court found that he should not be
sentenced to death. Upon appeal by the prosecution, the Court of Appeal
sentenced him to death in a 3-2 decision.
This fact plays an important role in proving that we should be pursuing all
means necessary to ensure he is given clemency and a chance at rehabilitation.
The court had also acquitted Kho Jabing's co-accussed, Galing, of murder charge
and sentenced him of the offence of robbery with hurt. The minority judgment of
the Court of Appeal also found that there was insufficient evidence to
establish beyond reasonable doubt that Kho Jabing had acted in a way which
exhibits viciousness or a blatant disregard for human life.
The Malaysian government must do all it can within its capacity to appeal to
the Singapore leadership to exercise discretion to grant Kho Jabing clemency.
This move should not be seen as interfering in the legal system of Singapore
but it must be viewed as the government's positive obligation to protect the
right to life of its citizens abroad.
Hakam reiterates that nobody should be sentenced to death as it is contrary to
international norms in relation to the right to life and the prohibition
against cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
(source: aliran.com)
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