Jan. 21
NIGERIA:
Ondo High Court Sentences Prof. Ilemobade's Killer Aides To Death By Hanging
An Ondo State High Court in Akure has sentenced 2 domestic staff members of
late Prof. Albert Ilemobade a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Technology (FUTA) to death by hanging for killing the professor.
The 2 killers, Olayemi Bamitale, a former driver, and Ita Enang, a night guard,
confessed to killing the former university don in cold-blood at his private
residence in Ijapo Estate, Akure, the Ondo State capital.
A SaharaReporters correspondent who was at the trial venue reports that Justice
Olamide Williams sentenced the 2 staff members to death after finding them
guilty of murdering their boss.
(source: Sahara Reporters)
INDONESIA:
Indonesia's death penalty lying in wait
Indonesia's attorney-general has the funds and the will to wield the death
penalty again, even though last year's record 14 executions failed to dent drug
crimes as promised.
On January 18 last year, 6 drugs prisoners were sent to firing squads; all but
one of them was a foreigner.
There would be more international condemnation when another 8 people were
executed in April, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
Despite the diplomatic blowback, Indonesia is yet to retreat from the death
penalty.
No plans are in place and officially, Jakarta says its focus is on improving
economic conditions.
But the attorney-general's office has the budget to execute 14 prisoners in
2016.
HM Prasetyo on Wednesday told lawmakers there's no connection between
executions and the economy.
According to reports, he admitted drug crime was still rising, and that was
reason to push ahead with the "shock therapy" approach.
"I'm confident that the death penalty is a kind of therapy," he said, as
reported by The Jakarta Post. "It is an unpleasant action, but we must do it."
Haris Azhar of rights group KontraS says it's clear there has been no deterrent
effect.
President Joko Widodo, he says, is saddled with a failed policy that remains
popular with constituents.
"In 2015 we saw a period where the new government was laying down its
authority," he said.
"This year, and into the future, there's no guarantee that when the
government's popularity is down again, it wouldn't be used for grabbing public
support."
Migrant Care's Anis Hidayah says Indonesia will need a long road map towards
abolishing the death penalty, with a moratorium as the 1st step.
The organisation that assists Indonesian workers in trouble abroad argues
Indonesia lacks "moral legitimacy" to save their lives when it practises the
same policy.
"Our demand is the same, whether it's to Saudi Arabia or to our own
government," she said.
News of Jakarta's preparations have horrified prisoners on death row, who
include Mary Jane Veloso.
The Filipino single mum was prepared for the firing squad alongside Sukumaran
and Chan, but was given a last-minute reprieve pending the trial of the couple
accused of setting her up as an unwitting drug mule.
Veloso's family last week visited her in prison for the 1st time since that
emotional night.
Lawyer Edre Olalia trusts the Indonesian authorities will wait for the legal
process, saying, "an honourable government will fulfil an honourable
commitment".
While publicity around Veloso's case may yet save her from the death penalty,
the misfortune and corruption that lands others on death row never comes to
light.
The Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) raises the case of Zainal
Abidin, an Indonesian executed with Sukumaran and Chan.
His chance for appeal vanished - literally - when the paperwork went missing
for 10 years.
The ICJR points out also that groups are still challenging the president's
ability to reject clemency without actually reviewing the individual's case.
None of this seems to impress those who still see capital punishment as the
solution to a "drugs emergency".
National Narcotics Board (BNN) spokesman Slamet Pribadi says in his opinion,
the next 14 prisoners should be executed "as soon as possible".
He says 33 Indonesians die every day as a result of illicit drugs - a revision
of the 40-50 figure used by the president to justify the policy.
"Human rights, this is for those western people to know, for those who are
against death penalty, human rights does not only apply to the criminal
perpetrators," he said.
"What about the human rights of victims?"
(source: NT News)
********************
Death penalty still needed: Attorney General
Indonesia's attorney general insists that death penalties must be maintained in
the country's judicial system as a shock therapy against serious crime.
"I'm confident that the death penalty is a kind of therapy. It is an unpleasant
action, but we must do it," said Attorney General HM Prasetyo in a working
meeting with the House Commission III overseeing law and human rights, on
Wednesday evening.
The statement came in response to a question raised by a Commission III member
from the Democratic Party, Ruhut Sitompul, who asked about the spirit behind
the death penalty in Indonesia.
In November 2015, the government suspended executions of death row convicts
amid an economic slowdown. At that time, the government wanted to focus on
improving the economy, which was expanding at a slow pace of 4.73 % in the 3rd
quarter of 2015.
"The death penalty has no connection with the economy," Prasetyo said, adding
that the reactions of foreign countries about the issue are excessive.
Foreign countries and human rights groups have slammed Indonesia for
implementing capital punishment against convicts, as stipulated in the Criminal
Code (KUHP). President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had 2 groups of convicts, totaling
14 people, executed in January and April 2015.
2 of the convicts were Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran
Sukumaran, who were executed in April 2015, causing bilateral tension and
leading to Australia recalling its ambassador from Indonesia.
"We need a similar policy to fight drug crimes," Prasetyo said, adding that
Commission III should issue a statement to put to death some convicts who
already on death row.
(source: thejakartapost.com)
THAILAND:
Defence gets extension to appeal Koh Tao death penalties
2 Myanmar men sentenced to death in Thailand for murder have been given a
momentary reprieve: The court yesterday allotted an extra month for their
appeal. The defence team applied for and was granted the extension just four
days before the initial court deadline.
The lawyers said they have assembled over 100 points to contest in the appeal,
which will seek to overturn the death penalty verdict handed down to Ko Zaw Lin
and Ko Wai Phyo. On December 24, Thai courts found the Rakhine State natives
guilty of murdering 2 British backpackers last year on the resort island Koh
Tao.
Much of the case rests on hotly contested DNA evidence. The defence team has
been working with Australian DNA expert Jane Taupin to question the
prosecutors' claim that forensic samples lead to a 100 % match with the
defendants. In their ruling, the judges cite the claim as creditable, and added
that the methods used to analyse the DNA evidence met international standards.
Ms Taupin told the Bangkok Post earlier this month that the DNA testing was
fraught with serious doubts. She said the 100pc guarantee boasted by the
prosecutors cannot technically be made, especially since DNA matches are not
about certainty but a sliding probability scale. DNA profiling alone should not
form the basis of a criminal conviction, she said.
According to the Migrant Worker Rights Network, which has been assisting the
defence, the team has pored over nearly 4000 pages of court records, and has
assembled an extensive list of appeal points. The extra time will be used to
coordinate with Ms Taupin about the DNA evidence, U Sein Htay, chair of the
MWRN, said.
"The trial and sentence revolved around these DNA results which were not
handled according to international norms," he said. "Additionally, police
reported at the trial that not all DNA results were tested. We have to appeal
these points."
During the trial, which began last July, defence lawyers sought to draw
attention to inconsistencies in the police work, including not sealing off the
crime scene, and not following all potential leads. The defence maintains the 2
Myanmar men were tortured into making false confessions.
The death sentence sparked outrage in Myanmar, where even Commander-in-Chief
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing weighed in, suggesting his Thai counterparts
should "take another look". Protests led by nationalist monks have been
scheduled every Sunday, with the demonstrators vowing to continue until the
verdict is overturned.
At the beginning of the month, President U Thein Sein assigned a cast of
Myanmar lawyers to observe the case and report to the embassy. The delegation,
made up of members of the Myanmar's Lawyers Council, met with Ko Zaw Lin and Ko
Wai Phyo in prison.
"The group will try their best to assist the appeal and report observations
about the forensic data collection process," said a senior official from the
President's Office.
(source: Myanmar Times)
MALDIVES:
Maldives minor on death row asks court to recall witnesses
1 of the 2 minors sentenced to death over the murder of Abdul Muheeth in 2012
has asked the High Court to recall witnesses.
Muheeth was murdered at an alley in front of the Finance Ministry in February,
2012.
The State had charged 3 minors with 1st degree murder which had been denied by
the accused. The 3rd minor was acquitted of the charges over a lack of
evidence.
The 2 were convicted based on witness statements, phone call recordings and
CCTV footage.
All 26 heirs of the victim had asked the court for the death penalty.
The death sentence for the 2 is the 1st in the history of the Juvenile Court.
Both the minors had appealed the sentence and the High Court had held a hearing
of one of them.
During the hearing on Thursday, the defence lawyer Husnu Suood argued that
there were not enough evidence to prove that his client had stabbed Muheeth in
the chest.
Suood insisted that there were irregularities in the statements of prosecution
witnesses.
The court asked the defence to submit the questions for the witnesses for
review.
In response, the state insisted that the irregularities in the testimonies were
not enough to affect the lower court verdict.
Meanwhile, the State has also filed charges at the criminal court against Ali
Mushahfau of Sultan Villa Seenu Atoll Maradhoo, Muhujath Ahmed Naasih of
Abulagee Ge, Gaaf Dhaal Atoll Gahdhoo and Mohamed Maimoon of Zaithoonige,
Lhaviyani Naifaru, for the murder of Muheeth.
The trial at the Criminal Court is still ongoing.
(source: Haveeru Online)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Return Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr's Body to his Family (UA 271/14) | Amnesty
International USA
http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-involved/take-action-now/saudi-arabia-return-sheikh-nimr-al-nimr-s-body-to-his-family-ua-27114
(source: Amnesty International USA)
KUWAIT:
Death Penalty in Flawed Trials----Reverse Sentences, Investigate Ill-treatment
Allegations
Kuwait's 1st instance criminal court sentenced 2 men to death on January 12,
2016, after a flawed trial. The authorities should drop the death penalty
charges on appeal.
The court convicted Hassan Hajiya, a Kuwaiti national, and Abdulreda Dhaqany,
an Iranian national, of spying for Iran and Hezbollah, in both cases without
adequate legal representation.
"Issuing a death penalty sentence, especially after flawed proceedings, is a
terrible way for the Kuwaiti authorities to begin 2016," said Joe Stork, deputy
Middle East director. "The authorities should commute the executions
immediately and reinstate the moratorium that had been in place from 2007 to
2013."
Hajiya's lawyer, Khaled al-Shatti, said that his client was held and
interrogated on an almost daily basis from August 13 to September 1, 2015, by
Homeland Security, the Interior Ministry body focused on internal terrorist
threats, and the state's prosecution authorities, without any access to legal
representation. His lawyer sought access to the interrogations but, al-Shatti
said, the attorney general denied him and all of the other lawyers of the 24
other defendants who faced similar charges access to their clients.
Al-Shatti finally was able to represent his client before a judge in a "renewal
hearing" on September 2, when the prosecution requested an extension of a
10-day pretrial detention period to continue investigations, which the judge
granted. Substantive trial proceedings began on September 15, with lawyers
present, and the court held 11 hearings before sentencing Hajiya to death.
Dhaqany was not arrested, nor was he represented by a lawyer before 3 judges in
Kuwait's 1st instance criminal court sentenced him to death in absentia on
January 12. He is currently outside the country.
International law does not prohibit trial in absentia, but holds that it is an
inadequate substitute for the normal trial process, where an accused is present
to face his accusers. Courts trying defendants in absentia should institute
procedural safeguards to ensure the defendants' basic rights, such as notifying
them in advance of the proceedings, their right to representation in their
absence, and affirming their right to a retrial on the merits of the conviction
following their return to the jurisdiction.
State prosecutors brought charges of espionage and possession of arms without a
license against 26 people in all, many of whom alleged abuse during the
interrogation period. Judges found 24 people guilty of possessing arms without
a license and 18 among them for spying.
One of those sentenced, Zuhair al-Mahmeed, in a note to one of the first
instance judges during proceedings, alleged that during interrogations,
officers from Homeland Security had beaten him in his head, neck, back, and
face; kicked his legs; gave him electric shocks; made him stand for hours; and
deprived him of sleep for 6 days. He also alleged that they threatened to strip
off his clothes, hang him by his feet, mistreat other members of his family,
and confiscate his and their citizenship.
A forensics report issued on August 23, reviewed by Human Rights Watch, found
that three suspects, not including Hajiya and Dhaqany, had abrasions to their
wrists caused by metal shackles and had varying degrees of bruising and
abrasions to different parts of their bodies caused by a solid object. A 4th
suspect had bruising to the base and back of his right-hand index finger.
Another forensics report issued on September 20, about 45 days after suspects
alleged they were abused, found that five suspects showed signs of abrasions
from shackles applied at various times to their wrists, and 3 showed signs that
their ankles had been shackled earlier during their detention. The judge did
not open investigations into any of the torture allegations.
Judges cleared al-Mahmeed of all spying charges and sentenced him to 5 years in
prison for the possession of weapons without a license.
After a de facto moratorium on the death penalty since 2007, Kuwaiti
authorities executed 5 people in 2013. In September 2015, a court sentenced 7
people to death in relation to the Shia Imam Sadiq Mosque bombing in June. On
December 13, the appeals court upheld the death penalty for 1 of them and
commuted the other sentences. Al-Shatti hopes to appeal Hajiya's death sentence
within the next 3 weeks.
Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an
inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment. A majority of countries in the
world have abolished the practice. On December 18, 2007, the United Nations
General Assembly passed a resolution by a wide margin calling for a worldwide
moratorium on executions. The UN Human Rights Committee has said that,"In cases
of trials leading to the imposition of the death penalty scrupulous respect of
the guarantees of fair trial is particularly important."
(source: Human Rights Watch)
_______________________________________________
A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
