Feb. 6
MALAYSIA:
Malaysian court drops charges against 11 Filipinos accused of waging discord
The charges against 11 of the 27 Filipinos accused of waging conflict against
the Malaysian King and being a member of a terrorist group in connection with
the Lahad Datu incident that took place in February 2013 were ordered dropped
by the High Court of Kota Kinabalu on Friday, February 5, the Philippine
Embassy in Kuala Lumpur reported.
In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Philippine embassy
said Judge Stephen Chung found no prima facie evidence against the Filipinos.
The prosecution was given 14 days to file an appeal for the dismissal of the
charges. If no appeal is filed, 10 of the 11 acquitted will be released and
eventually sent home.
One of the 11, Totoh bin Hismullah may remain in Malaysia as he had been found
by the Court to be a Malaysian citizen and no longer a Filipino.
The remaining 16 Filipinos, however, have been ordered by the Court to present,
through their legal counsel, evidence in their defense after prima facie
evidence were found against them. This will give the Defense side an
opportunity to rebut the Prosecution's evidence.
The determination made by the Court is only preliminary and was based on the
evidence presented by the Prosecution. A verdict on the culpability, if any, of
the 16 remaining accused will not be rendered only after the Defense has
completed the presentation of its evidence, which is expected to begin later
this month.
Majority of those accused were supposedly members the Sulu Sultanate's Royal
Security Force (RSF). One of those allegedly charged is the nephew of Sulu
Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, Datu Amir Bahar, who was captured not in Lahad Datu
but in Sandakan.
The accused Filipinos were charged for violating 2 articles of Malaysia???s
Penal Code: Section 122 (waging war against the King); and Section 130 KA
(terrorism).
While Section 130 KA (terrorism) calls for a jail term of up to 30 years,
Section 121 (waging war against the King) can fetch the death penalty.
The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has hired the services of Malaysian
lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan, one of the few Asian legal practitioners
accredited by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, and 6
Sabah-based counsels to represent the accused.
Their services were paid for by the Philippine government.
The Lahad Datu incident began when a group, all followers of Sultan Kiram,
landed in Tanduo village on February 9, 2013 drove out the residents, and
occupied it to signify a presence that stood for ownership of the land that
belonged to the Sulu Sultanate but passed on by Britain to Malaysia in 1957
after granting independence to its colony once known as Malaya.
It ended with at least 3 people dead, a still undetermined number of wounded,
and several members of the Sultanate of Sulu arrested.
(source: mb.com.ph)
EUROPEAN UNION/IRAQ:
Statement by the spokesperson on the application of death penalty in Iraq
Executive orders for the execution of 80 persons have recently been announced
in Iraq, with further possible execution orders to follow. This is a
regrettable development as, following the formation of a new Government in Iraq
in 2014, a review of all pending cases was undertaken. This review and a
possible permanent suspension of all executions had been seen as a positive
signal by the EU, in line with its principled opposition to the use of the
death penalty.
Capital punishment is counter-productive as a crime deterrent. The EU strongly
encourages Iraq to reinstate a de facto moratorium on the death penalty.
(source: europa.eu)
AUSTRALIA/INDONESIA:
Justice Minister Michael Keenan's approval required for AFP to assist with
possible death penalty case in Indonesia
Justice Minister Michael Keenan would have to personally sign off on the
Australian Federal Police assisting an Indonesian police investigation into a
woman who could face the death penalty.
In a case that has gripped Indonesia, 27-year-old woman Jessica Kumala Wongso,
who studied in Australia, has been charged with the premeditated murder of her
friend, Wayan Mirna Salihin.
The AFP confirmed it had been approached by the Indonesian National Police for
assistance but would seek ministerial approval before releasing any
information.
Under the AFP guidelines on international police assistance in death penalty
situations, ministerial approval is required if a person has been detained,
arrested, charged or convicted of an offence that carries the death penalty.
Ms Wongso and Ms Salihin reportedly studied together at Billy Blue College of
Design in Sydney and Swinburne University of Technology.
Ms Wongso worked for NSW Ambulance until late last year.
"The AFP has been advised by the Indonesian National Police of the arrest of Ms
Wongso for murder, which attracts the death penalty," a spokesman said. "The
AFP can confirm that they have not released any information to the Indonesian
National Police in relation to this request and will seek ministerial approval
for any such release."
The AFP faced criticism for handing over information to Indonesian authorities
about the Bali 9, which led to their arrests for heroin smuggling in 2005. The
coordinators of the Bali 9, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed in
Indonesia last year.
New guidelines for the AFP's role in cases involving the death penalty were
introduced in 2009 after a federal court exonerated the AFP from acting
unlawfully in the Bali nine case but argued new protocols were needed.
The guidelines require senior AFP officials to take into account a series of
factors before providing assistance in potential death penalty scenarios. These
include whether the information is favourable to the defendant, the nationality
of the person involved, the person's age and personal circumstances, the
seriousness of the suspected criminal activity and the likelihood the death
penalty will be imposed.
Australia's interest in promoting and securing cooperation from overseas
agencies in combating crime is also a consideration.
This information would all be provided to Mr Keenan by the AFP to assist him
make a decision.
A spokeswoman for Mr Keenan said the minister was yet to receive a formal
request for approval of assistance from the AFP under the death penalty
guidelines.
Ms Wongso and Ms Salihin met at Olivier Cafe in Grand Indonesia Shopping Mall
on January 6.
Ms Salihin took a sip of the Vietnamese iced coffee, which Ms Wongso had
reportedly ordered for her. She began to suffer convulsions and foam at the
mouth and died on the way to the hospital.
Jakarta Police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said Ms Wongso had been arrested last
Saturday. "She is being detained under article 340 (of the criminal code) for
premeditated murder," he said.
Mr Iqbal said Ms Wongso and the victim had a connection with Australia which is
why police had sought assistance from the AFP.
Ms Wongso's lawyer, Yudi Wibowo, said police had no proof of his client's
involvement.
"What can the AFP provide? Criminal records, she has none. She and Mirna were
just friends, nothing else. What's being reported (in the media) are all lies,
not true."
He said Ms Wongso was doing fine, considering the circumstances. "Right now, we
are just going along with the police investigation."
(source: smh.com.au)
JAPAN:
'Death Penalty Movie Week' to be held in Tokyo
8 films from home and abroad on the theme of capital punishment will screen at
a Tokyo theater from Feb 13 to 19, providing Japanese viewers with an
opportunity to contemplate the death penalty while their country maintains the
policy in the face of a global trend towards its abolishment.
Films to be presented during the 5th "Death Penalty Movie Week" include
"Freedom Moon" which depicts the struggle for exoneration by a death-row inmate
Iwao Hakamada and his sister, as well as "Death by Hanging," directed by the
legendary Nagisa Oshima in 1968.
Hakamada, a former professional boxer convicted of a 1966 quadruple murder, was
released in March 2014 after a court decided to reopen the high-profile case.
But despite his release, he remains on death row as prosecutors have appealed
the court's ruling.
A movie on another death row inmate, Masaru Okunishi, who was convicted for the
1961 murder of 5 women, will also be shown.
Okunishi had once been acquitted over the murder known as "the Nabari wine
poisoning case," but the verdict was overturned. While on death row for more
than 40 years, he sought exoneration through retrial, but died of pneumonia
last October at the age of 89.
From abroad, "The Sleeping Voice," a 2011 Spanish film set in 1940s Spain under
the authoritarian rule of leader Gen. Francisco Franco, and 2 other European
movies will also be screened.
"We need to give consideration through the screening to the fact that innocent
people are sometimes killed in the name of the state," the organizer, Forum 90,
said.
"At the same time we expect viewers to think about and discuss how a person who
actually killed someone should be punished," the anti-death penalty group noted
in its leaflet.
During the 7-day event at the Eurospace movie theater in Tokyo's Shibuya
district, 4 movies will be shown per day, accompanied by sessions with guest
speakers, including a lawmaker, scholars as well as Kim Sung Woong, director of
"Freedom Moon," and Hakamada's sister Hideko.
Attracting around 4,500 viewers in total to the annual event during the past
four years, Masakuni Ota, a Forum 90 member, said, "We have provided
diversified standpoints in thinking about the death penalty by screening
various movies."
"We welcome not only death penalty abolitionists but also those ardently
supporting it" so the issue of capital punishment can be discussed from
multiple points of view, he added.
Japan hanged 2 death row inmates in December, bringing the total number of
executions under the second Shinzo Abe administration which began in December
2012 to 14. Around 70% of nations have abolished the death penalty by law or in
practice.
Tokyo was urged by the U.N. Human Rights Committee in 2014 to "give due
consideration to the abolition of the death penalty," but has legitimized its
continuance by citing the outcome of a survey, which indicated more than 80 %
of people in Japan support the death penalty.
(source: Japan Today)
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