Feb. 13
GERMANY----film festival entry
Steve Coogan Film at Berlin Fest Puts Death Penalty on Trial
Is it possible to discuss an emotive topic like the death penalty with both
passion and reason? Steve Coogan hopes so.
The British actor-comedian plays a lawyer battling to keep his client from the
gallows in Berlin Film Festival entry "Shepherds and Butchers," set in South
Africa in the last years of apartheid. Adding to the ethical complexity, the
defendant is a white death-row prison guard, who has killed seven black men in
an apparent road rage incident.
Coogan says director Oliver Schmitz's film, which has its world premiere at the
festival on Saturday, is "a powerful indictment of capital punishment" but not
"sanctimonious or preachy."
"No one is demonized in this film, apart from the system itself," Coogan said
over the phone from New York, where he's filming taut domestic drama "The
Dinner" alongside Laura Linney and Richard Gere. "It's about the brutalizing
effect on those who carry out executions and the dehumanizing effect on all
those involved."
There's no doubt where Coogan stands on the issue; he thinks capital punishment
is "repellent and morally objectionable." But he said Schmitz's film, which
also stars Andrea Riseborough and young South African actor Garion Dowds,
approaches the topic without "hand-wringing or pious pontification."
"The film is very honest in its presentation of literally what happens, and
sometimes it's hard to watch," Coogan said. "It's a literal representation of
the minutiae of what happens when the state kills people.
"It lets the actions do the talking for themselves."
Like many comedians, 50-year-old Coogan relishes the chance to get serious. He
has worked hard to expand his career beyond its comic origins - a particularly
difficult task in Britain, where his best-known creation, pompous radio
personality Alan Partridge, is a comedy icon.
He has given his comic skills free rein in road series "The Trip" and "The Trip
to Italy," in which he drives, eats and banters with Welsh comedian Rob Brydon.
But he also co-wrote and helped produce 2013 feature "Philomena," in which he
starred alongside Judi Dench as a jaded journalist who helps an Irishwoman
search for the son taken from her decades earlier by Catholic church officials.
The film, based on an actual case, was nominated for four Oscars, including
best picture.
"I think a film is interesting if the subject matter is divisive or has some
tension within it," Coogan said.
"If you try to make films all things to all men you end up with some kind of
nondescript soup, which may tick all the boxes in terms of the bottom line, but
I don't think it makes for very interesting art.
"With 'Philomena,' one of the most gratifying things about it was that people
left the theatre talking animatedly about forgiveness and whether it was
appropriate. To provoke discussion is a good thing."
(source: Associated Press)
EUROPEAN UNION:
British MP Lambert accepts Bangladesh criticism for her call to spare 1971 war
criminal Mujahid's life----Member of European Parliament Jean Lambert says her
letter urging the government to review the death sentence of war criminal Ali
Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid should not be seen as "a partisan move on behalf of any
particular party."
"I'll be hated to be saying that ...," the chair the European Parliament
Delegation to South Asia said at a press beefing on Friday when she was asked
why she had made the appeal to spare the Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general's
life.
Mujahid was hanged in November last year along with BNP leader Salauddin Quader
Chowdhury for the horrific crimes against humanity they had committed in 1971
to thwart the independence of Bangladesh.
Just before the verdict of their final review in October, Lambert had written
in her "personal capacity" to the Bangladesh government through the ambassador
in Brussels. In the letter, she had called for a review of Mujahid's death
sentence.
The EU, as a matter of policy, does not support death sentence to any person in
any part of the world.
But the British MP Lambert had made the request to the Hasina government
specifically in Mujahid's case. bdnews24.com had seen the letter and run a
story.
"You're right in saying that it was a specific case. I think you are also right
in implied criticism that why I did not mention others," she said.
"It was a case where I was asked to intervene. You are absolutely right, I
should raise other issues of death penalty."
But the member of European Parliament (MEP) added: "I don't want to be
misinterpreted that this was support of any particular individual in terms of
who they are. It's a question about raising opposition to death penalty."
(source: bdnews24.com)
IRAN:
Infographic: Capital Punishment in Iran - 2015
IHRDC's final update of its chart of executions carried out by the Iranian
government in 2015 counts 966 executions, an increase of nearly 34% from the
previous year. The infographic below highlights some of the details behind
these numbers, including the charges leading to the death sentences of the
individuals in question, the 8 top cities for executions in the last year, and
trends in overall executions and the executions of juvenile offenders over the
last year. Iran has led the world in executions per capita for years.
Among these 966 executions, 625 - nearly 2/3 - arose from drug trafficking
charges. This represents a rise of over 75% in executions for this charge over
the previous year. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) establishes that the death penalty may only be used for "the most
serious crimes", and international legal experts have long averred that
drug-related offenses do not fit in this category. Iranian law envisions the
use of capital punishment for a wide variety of crimes, including armed
robbery, drug trafficking, fraud, and sodomy.
These executions took place in a highly problematic judicial context. There
have been hundreds of reports of violations of due process in Iran in recent
years, including the denial of access to counsel, the denial of the right to be
heard by a fair, independent, and impartial judicial body, and a routine
reliance on confessions extracted under physical and psychological duress as
primary forms of evidence in capital cases.
see:
ttp://www.iranhrdc.org/english/news/features/1000000626-infographic-capital-punishment-in-iran-2015.html
(source: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center)
PAKISTAN:
JI calls for revoking Qadri's death penalty
Jamaat-i-Islami leader Prof Mohammad Ibrahim Khan has asked the president and
the prime minister to revoke death penalty of Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, the
murderer of the former Punjab governor Salman Taseer, and set him free
'honourably'.
"President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should show wisdom
in the case of Qadri. They should not only revoke his death penalty but also
set him free from the jail honourably," a statement issued here on Friday
quoted the former senator as saying.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has upheld the death sentence of Qadri. "If the
president and prime minister don't show wisdom then it can trigger crisis
across the country," he cautioned.
The JI leader said blasphemy should not be associated with an individual but
this was an issue of the entire Muslim Ummah. He urged ulema to highlight the
issue of death penalty of Qadri in their sermons in mosques.
Justifying action of Qadri the JI leader said late governor Taseer had visited
the jail where he met Asia Bibi who was detained in blasphemy case. He said Mr
Taseer not only met Asia Bibi but also expressed sympathies with her and
started efforts for her release.
Prof Ibrahim raised reservations over Mumtaz Qadri case and said instead of
blasphemy law he was treated under the anti-terrorism law. He said law in
Taseer case was 'misused'.
(source: dawn.com)
DONETSK PEOPLES REPUBLIC:
DPR court hands down 1st death sentence
1 person has been sentenced to death in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's
Republic (DPR), Lyudmila Strateichuk, DPR Supreme Court judge and acting
chairman of the DPR Military Tribunal, said.
"1 such sentence has now been handed down. There are cases that are pending
consideration, and they also envisage the death penalty. These cases involve
killings and espionage," Strateichuk told reporters on Friday.
She also said the republic's military tribunal has considered two criminal
cases against DPR troops, and over 40 are pending consideration.
"The military tribunal has now tried 2 criminal cases, both defendants are DPR
troops. Another 46 cases are pending trial," she said.
(source: interfax-religion.com)
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