April 16
VIETNAM:
Pinay meted death in Vietnam
A court in Vietnam has sentenced another Filipino to death after she was found
guilty of smuggling nearly 1.5 kilograms of cocaine into the communist country
in 2013.
The state newspaper Thanh Nien News reported that Donna Buena Mazon, 41, was
meted the death sentence by a Ho Chi Minh City court on Friday.
Mazon was arrested on December 31, 2013 after security officials in Tan Son
Nhat International Airport found 2 bags of cocaine in her luggage.
She arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from Brazil.
The Filipino woman admitted that she was hired by a certain Precious Rudica as
a drug mule for a fee of $3,000 with flight tickets and visas.
The authorities failed to locate Rudica.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) refused to comment on the incident
saying it is still verifying the report.
"I have nothing to say at this time. We are still trying to verify and get more
information about the case," Assistant Secretary and DFA spokesman Charles Jose
told The Manila Times on Saturday.
In 2014, Emmanuel Sillo Camacho, 39, was also sentenced to death by a Hanoi
court for transporting 3.4 kilograms of cocaine from Brazil into Noi Bai
International Airport, also in December 2013.
Thanh Nien News quoted Camacho as saying that he smuggled the illicit drugs for
a Filipina, named Jessica who was living in Brazil. Jessica promised to find
him a job with a monthly salary of $1,000 to $1,500 in the South American
country.
Vietnam has some of the world's toughest anti-drug laws. Anyone found guilty of
possessing more than 600 grams of heroin, or more than 20 kilos of opium, can
face the death penalty.
Dozens of foreigners, including Filipinos, have been sentenced to death for
drug offenses.
(source: manilatimes.net)
IRAN:
NCRI Women's Committee calls for annulment of death penalty in Iran ----
Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran calls for
annulment of death penalty, especially against women and youth
The misogynic mullahs' regime hanged Amene Rezaian, a female prisoner in
Kashmar Prison, on April 14, on the verge of a visit by the EU High
Representative Ms. Federica Mogherini to Iran. Rezaian, 43, had been in prison
for 2 years. Thus, the number of prisoners executed in the past 6 days stands
at 14. At this time, at least 1 other woman in the women's ward of this prison
awaits execution.
These executions stand in the face of calls by the international community for
the annulment of the death penalty. Mr. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, urged the Iranian regime on April 14 to annul
the death penalty for crimes related to narcotics saying: "Last year, at least
966 people were executed in Iran - the highest rate in more than 2 decades -
the majority for drug offences."
Speaking on the matter, the NCRI Women's Committee Chair Ms. Sarvnaz Chitsaz
stated that the increasing number of executions by the religious fascism ruling
Iran proves the fact that ignoring the tragic situation of human rights in
Iran, especially the execution of the youth and women, has no end but to
encourage this regime to continue on this criminal path. She stressed that all
relations with Iran must be preconditioned to the annulment of the death
penalty in the country, especially against women and juveniles.
(source: Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
PAKISTAN:
President turned down 513 mercy petitions over last 5 years: Interior Ministry
The Pakistani president rejected as many as 513 mercy petitions of condemned
prisoners over the last 5 years, an Interior Ministry document revealed on
Friday.
The Interior Ministry, in a written response to a question raised by
Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Sirajul Haq, said that all mercy petitions sent to the
president during the time period were rejected.
Only 38 mercy petitions of condemned prisoners who were awarded a death
sentence are pending with the Interior Ministry, of which 13 cases are under
submission to the President Secretariat for decision, the document said.
"Appeals of these condemned prisoners have already been rejected by higher
courts," the Interior Ministry said.
Earlier this month, an Amnesty International report said Pakistan carried out
326 executions last year - the highest ever recorded by the organisation for
the country.
In 2015, Pakistan completely removed a 7-year moratorium on the death penalty
after a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan attack on Peshawar's Army Public School in
which at least 144 people, most of them children, were killed.
Amnesty said it received information that Pakistan was 1 of 2 countries that
had executed people in 2015 who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were
committed, and it said juveniles face the death sentence in several other
countries.
Champa Patel, Amnesty International's Director of South Asia Regional Office,
said that Pakistan had vaulted to the 3rd spot for recorded state executions in
the world. Patel added that most of those executed were not convicted of
terror-related offences, and there is evidence that at least 2 and possibly
more of them were juveniles when they committed their alleged crimes.
"The death penalty is always a rights violation, but its use in Pakistan is all
the more troubling given the serious fair trial concerns - including
insufficient access to lawyers and endemic police torture to extract
confessions," Patel said.
(source: Pakistan Today)
************
Pakistani Religious Group Demands Execution of Blasphemers
A Pakistani religious group on Friday demanded the immediate execution of a
Christian woman on death row and all others convicted under the country's harsh
blasphemy law.
Small groups from the Sunni Tehrik party held demonstrations in several
Pakistani cities warning the government against any attempt to amend the
blasphemy law.
A statement from the party accused the government of seeking to change the
blasphemy law to pave way for transforming the country into a secular and
liberal state.
The protesters demanded the execution of all those convicted of blasphemy
including Aasia Bibi, who was convicted in 2010. Her appeal was dismissed by
the Lahore High Court in 2014, but the supreme court stayed her execution in
2015 and suspended the high court verdict.
Bibi was arrested under the blasphemy law after she had a verbal clash with
Muslim women working at a farm harvesting berries in eastern Punjab province.
She was accused of insulting the prophet of Islam, a charge she has repeatedly
denied.
Governor Salman Taseer of Punjab and minority minister Shahbaz Bhatti were
murdered in 2011 after speaking in support of Bibi and calling for reform of
Pakistan's blasphemy law.
(source: Associated Press)
UGANDA:
Army will maintain death penalty, says General Wamala
The Chief of Defence Forces General Katumba Wamala maintains that the death
penalty as stated in the UPDF Act should stay.
Gen. Katumba was giving submissions to the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Committee of parliament in relation to the Law Revision (Penalties in Criminal
Matters) Miscellaneous Amendment Bill, 2015, which was tabled by MPs Alice
Alaso and Fox Odoi.
(source: ntv.co.ug)
INDIA:
12 convicted for killing Bengal student
The Barasat court on Friday convicted 12 persons, including main accused
Shyamal Karmakar, in connection with the murder of college student Sourav
Chowdhury in Bamangachhi of North 24 Parganas.
The 21-year-old student of Mrinalini Dutta College in Birati was brutally
murdered following his abduction in the early hours of July 5, 2014 because he
had organised a protest against illicit hooch dens run by Shyamal, a local
miscreant, in the locality.
Later, the dismembered body of Sourav was found lying on railway tracks in
between Bamangachhi and Duttapukur stations, triggering a statewide uproar.
Probing the case, the police had arrested 14 accused out of 15 and
chargesheeted them with the depositions of 41 witnesses in September of 2014.
Public prosecutor Biplab Roy said, "9 accused - Shyamal Karmakar, Suman Sarkar,
Suman Das, Somnath Sardar, Amal Barui, Tapas Biswas, Tarak Biswas, Rakesh
Burman and Ratan Samaddar - were held guilty by seventh additional district
judge Daman Prosad Biswas of Sections 364 (abduction for murder), 302 (murder),
201 (destruction of evidence) and 34 (common intention) the Indian Penal Code
(IPC)."
"Shyamal was also convicted of Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act. 3 other
accused - Shishir Mukherjee, Poly Maity, now on bail, and Ratan Das - were
found guilty of Section 212 (harbouring the offenders). 1 accused, Anup
Talukdar, was acquitted while another, Uttam Shikari, turned approver with 1
more accused still absconding," he added.
The quantum of punishment will be announced by the court on Saturday. The 9
convicts of murder and other severe charges may get life imprisonment as the
minimum punishment or death penalty as the maximum.
Demanding death penalty for all the convicts, the victim's kin, friends and
neighbours took out a rally in the court premises. Sourav's father said, "We
want all the convicts be hanged."
(source: asianage.com)
*******************
Double murder case accused found guilty
A district court here on Friday found the 2 accused in the "Attingal double
homicide case" guilty of premeditated murder, conspiracy, and destruction of
evidence.
The suspects, Nino Mathew and Anushanthi, were software engineers and
colleagues at Technopark who allegedly shared an extramarital relationship. The
case pertained to the murder of Anushanthi's 4-year-old daughter, Saswathika,
her 60-year-old mother-in-law, Omana, and the attempt to murder her engineer
husband, Lijeesh.
The police case was that the "need to gratify their lust" had driven the
suspects to the "devilish acts" of murder. The trial court judge V. Shircy
would pass sentence on Monday.
It had emerged during investigation that the suspects had videorecorded their
intimate moments at office and outside, triggering salacious gossips and an
almost voyeuristic interest in the case.
(The 115 video clippings and hundreds of WhatsApp communications retrieved from
their computers had become part of classified evidence in the case.)
Lawyers, journalists and public had thronged the court as the final hearing
commenced at 3 p.m. The accused watched nonchalantly from the dock as their
respective counsels spiritedly opposed the prosecution's demand for death
penalty.
Mr. Mathew's counsel, Sasthamangalam Ajith Kumar, said there was no direct
evidence in the case. No one had witnessed the crime. A count of injuries and
circumstantial evidence alone were not enough to sentence a suspect to death.
The court rejected his plea to allow Mr. Mathew's wife to testify about her
husband's "devoted" character and "potential for reform." Ms. Anushanthi's
counsel quoted failing eyesight as a mitigating circumstance to be spared of
the death penalty.
Special Prosecutor Vineet Kumar argued for death penalty for both. The
conspiracy could be traced back to 2013. Ms. Anushanthi had provided Mr. Mathew
with sketch of her house.
She had pointed the by-road through, which he could escape unnoticed after the
crime.
He said Mr. Mathew casually killed an invalid woman, a child and then waited
armed for his "lover's" husband, his third prey, to arrive. In the meantime, he
cut off the jewellery from his victims' bodies to make the murder resemble a
crime for profit. Ms. Anushanthi evinced no interest in attending her
daughter's funeral or calling on her injured husband.
(source: The Hindu)
AUSTRALIA:
Supreme Court of Victoria: 175 years of murderers to conmen, habeas corpus to
hashtags
Bushrangers, murderers, conmen and thieves have all come and gone through
Victoria's Supreme Court over its 175 years of history.
"Whenever there has been a crisis or a serious problem in society, invariably
the Supreme Court has been right in the thick of it," Chief Justice Marilyn
Warren said.
The Eureka Stockade was an important first test for the court, when Ballarat
gold miners clashed with police in 1854.
The leaders of the rebellion were tried and all but one was acquitted, with the
rebellion leading to the establishment of the Court of Mines to oversee the
mining trade.
Ned Kelly was born at around the time of the rebellion, but his notoriety lives
on and he remains one of the Supreme Court of Victoria's best known clients.
"We've got lots of treasures, but probably one of the ones that we always get
people 'oohing and aahing' over is our Edward Kelly book, the Kelly book as we
call it," archives manager Joanne Boyd said.
Amongst artefacts on display to the public as part of the 175th anniversary
celebrations is a black execution cap and a piece of silk cloth judges would
place on top of their wig when pronouncing a death sentence.
Court once dealt out death penalty
In 1967, convicted murderer Ronald Ryan was hanged in Pentridge Prison. He was
the last man in Australia to face the death penalty.
Jean Lee, a single mother and prostitute, was hanged for her involvement in the
violent death and robbery of an elderly man in 1951. She was 31 years old.
"Every time I walk into court 4 ... I always think of Jean Lee. She was the
last woman hanged in Victoria, convicted of murder," Chief Justice Warren said.
"I've often wondered if she had some of the top QCs we now have acting at our
bar acting for her, if the outcome of the case might have been different."
(source: ABC news)
SINGAPORE:
CNB operation nets 103 suspects and more than 1.5kg of heroin
A 4-day islandwide operation by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) led to the
arrest of 103 suspects and the seizure of 1.5kg of heroin, 329g of 'Ice', 80g
of cannabis, 153 ecstasy tablets, 26 Erimin-5 tablets and some ketamine
estimated to be worth more than S$177,000.
CNB said in a news release on Friday (Apr 15) that the suspects were arrested
for various drug offences during the operation, which was carried out between
Apr 11 and 15.
According to CNB, more than 570g of heroin and more than S$2,000 in cash were
seized in 1 of the cases, following the arrests of 2 suspects along Upper Boon
Keng Road.
A 52-year-old Singaporean was found to have some Erimin-5 tablets and drug
paraphernalia in his possession while another Singaporean, 60, had more than
80g of heroin, seven Erimin-5 tablets and some cash seized from him.
CNB said follow-up investigations on the 60-year-old man led to the arrest of a
suspected drug trafficker. The 28-year-old Malaysian was arrested in Somerset,
with 450g of heroin recovered from him.
In a separate incident, CNB said another suspected drug trafficker and his
associate were arrested in Woodlands and Holland, respectively. More than 1kg
of heroin and a small amount of 'Ice' - worth more than S$73,700 in total -
were seized from them.
Investigations into the drug activities of all suspects are ongoing. The Misuse
of Drugs Act allows for the death penalty if the amount of diamorphine (or pure
heroin) trafficked exceeds 15g.
The operation was supported by officers from the Singapore Police Force, and
was conducted at various parts of Singapore including Tampines, Toa Payoh, Ang
Mo Kio, Clementi, Punggol, Sembawang, Woodlands and Yishun.
(source: channelnewsasia.com)
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