Aug. 15
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Accused in Obaida's murder case sentenced to death ---- The bench also ruled
that 48-year-old Jordanian defendant, Nidal Abdullah, should pay Dh 21,000 in
civil damages.
The court bench, looking into the case in which a man is accused of kidnapping
and killing 8-year-old Obaida after sexually assaulting him, sentenced him
unanimously to death on Monday morning.
The Court of First Instance also ruled that 48-year-old Jordanian defendant,
Nidal Eissa Abdullah, should pay Dh21,000 in temporary civil damages and that
his body be repatriated after the execution.
Several members of the Jordanian child's family welcomed the ruling with tears
and sighs of relief and hugged each other praising God and justice.
Outside the courtroom, the child's father said the family is satisfied as
justice has been served. He pointed out that he would visit his son's grave to
tell him that his killer would be executed for what he did.
Death sentence
A capital punishment verdict becomes final after it is upheld by Dubai's top
court, the Court of Cassation. And it has to be approved by the Dubai Ruler
before it can be executed by a firing squad.
The verdict text
The defendant was convicted of premeditated murder, kidnap, physical assault,
making criminal threats, consuming of alcohol without licence and drink
driving, based on the solid technical evidence and witnesses presented by the
public prosecution.
The defendant, who appeared calm and did not show any expression upon hearing
his conviction, was escorted by several security guards out of the courtroom
right after the verdict was read out.
The verdict text read that the defendant was convicted of premeditated murder,
kidnap, physical assault, making criminal threats, consuming of alcohol without
licence and drink driving, based on the solid technical evidence and witnesses
presented by the public prosecution.
The accused retracted his earlier confession and denied the charges in the
previous hearing.
He claimed that he was not in Al Mamzar where he is accused of taking the
victim when the incident took place on May 20.
The defendant denied that he had given a confession to the police officers or
led them to where he disposed of the victim's body.
He claimed before the court that he suffered from mental and psychological
problems.
He told the court that he does not recall anything and is not aware of what
happened on the day of the incident.
His defence lawyer requested that his client be examined by a medical
specialised committed to determine his state of mind when he allegedly
committed the crime.
The lawyer requested that the charge of murder and kidnap be modified to
assault resulting in death. He argued on the grounds that his client did not
have criminal intentions.
The public prosecution had called on the court all along to inflict the death
penalty on the accused.
"What mercy or leniency is he asking for given the horrendous way he committed
his crime? He is a monster and does not deserve to live in our safe society,"
chief prosecutor Dr Ali Al Housani said.
Abdullah admitted earlier that he drank 5 bottles of vodka before and on the
day he kidnapped the victim.
Obaida was reported missing from outside his father's car workshop in Sharjah
on May 20. His body was found after 2 days under a tree on the Academic City
Road in Al Warqa.
Monday morning's verdict remains subject to appeal.
A capital punishment verdict becomes final after it is upheld by Dubai's top
court, the Court of Cassation. But it has to be approved by the Dubai Ruler
before it can be executed by a firing squad.
(source: Khaleej Times)
IRAN:
Iran children at the gallows
As Iran currently executes the highest number of juvenile offenders in the
world, hundreds of Iranian minors helplessly watch their childhoods pass them
by, as they await their fatal ends behind bars.
Shockingly, rights groups have reported that Iran has executed at least 230
people since the beginning of 2016.
While the majority of countries worldwide are fighting for the eradication of
capital punishment against adults, Iran continues to sentence girls as young as
9 and boys aged 15 to death.
According to a recent report issued by Amnesty International, at least 160
young Iranians currently await execution.
While Iran is a major perpetrator in this human rights violation against
minors, a host of countries, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen,
uphold Iran's belief that the death penalty is an acceptable form of punishment
for "devious" minors.
The death penalty for minors in Iran is invoked by what are considered to be
"Hodud crimes". "Hodud" refers to offences which have fixed definitions and
punishments under Islamic law.
For example, those engaged in the practices of alcohol consumption, adultery,
and same-sex fornication will, in most cases, face the grave consequence of
death.
Iran's brutal stance on the death penalty was brought to the fore this August,
as Human Rights Watch reported on the mass execution of 20 felons in Iran's
Rajai Shahr prison on August 2nd.
While a score of "criminals" were put to death this month, Alireza Tajiki,
managed to narrowly escape his final execution date of August 3.
Alireza, now 19, was sentenced to death at the tender age of 15, following a
trial that did not meet international standards of justice.
Thankfully, the young Iranian evaded execution due to the support of a lawyer.
However, the postponement is only temporary.
Alireza, who has been convicted of rape and murder, is one of the hundreds of
young Iranians to be sent to the gallows for what Iran considers to be "the
most serious" of crimes.
Hassan Afshar, arrested at 17 and convicted of "forced male to male
intercourse" did not share the same luck as Alireza.
On July 18, Amnesty International reported the hanging of Hassan by Iranian
authorities. He had no access to a lawyer.
Drug-related crimes are also among the host of "atrocities" to be deemed
punishable by death.
Janat Mir, a young Afghani residing in Iran, was arrested for drug offences
after his friend's house was raided by local police.
Similar to the vast majority of young people in his grave situation, he did not
have legal protection or consular services.
He is said to have been 14 or 15 years old when he was mercilessly executed in
2014.
Unfortunately, many convicted youths in Iran find themselves trapped in
similarly hopeless situations to those described above.
The most alarming issue is that Iranian minors are, for the most part, blindly
unaware of their rights to a fair trial.
Although a progressive path was paved when the Iran Supreme Court announced
that youths sentenced to death could apply for a retrial, this reform did not
leave the impact it should have.
While the official policy has been amended and undertaken, an underlying
problem persists; the vast majority of incarcerated children are kept in the
dark on their right to a retrial.
Even though a revised Islamic Penal Code was introduced in 2013 wherein
children who "did not comprehend the nature of their crime" or who lacked
"mental growth and maturity" during the criminal act could be given an
alternative punishment to the death penalty, the code does not meet Iran???s
international obligations.
No judge or courts, under any circumstances, should have the authority to
sentence juvenile offenders to death.
In this way, Iran has consistently failed to abide by the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child, by neither protecting nor informing
minors of their rights and also refusing to put an end to the death penalty for
minors.
Ironically, Iran often denies confining and subsequently executing young
offenders.
In April 2014, the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani,
stated: "In the Islamic Republic of Iran, we have no execution of people under
the age of 18."
In this sense, it remains evident that the Iranian judicial system demonstrates
a blatant disregard of its human rights obligations to children.
James Lynch, deputy middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty
International, emphasised his belief that: "Iran's bloodstained record of
sending juvenile offenders to the gallows, routinely after grossly unfair
trials, makes an absolute mockery of juvenile justice and shamelessly betrays
the commitments Iran has made to children's rights."
In many ways, the amendment of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code is the fundamental
key to achieving child development and juvenile justice in the Islamic Republic
of Iran.
The penal code must be altered in order to explicitly prohibit the use of the
death penalty for all crimes committed by people under 18 years of age,
increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility for girls to that for boys,
which is currently set at 15, and ensure that no individual under 18 years of
age is held culpable as an adult, in line with Article 1 of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
Now, it is time for the world to call for a reform of the Islamic Penal Code.
The justice, freedom, and fundamental human rights Iran's children behind bars
have been so mercilessly denied of must be put to an almighty halt.
(source: NewsDay)
******************
Iran's execution frenzy of Kurdish prisoners
Although almost 4 decades has passed since the rise of the Islamic Republic,
the so-called Revolutionary Courts once ruled by the hanging judge, Ayatollah
Khalkhali who gained notoriety for his Sanandaj summary executions, continue
their rite of terror. According to Human Rights Watch Iran continues to be the
top executioner with at least 230 executions since January 1 and over 1,000
last year. The execution of 20 Sunni Kurds on August 2 at Rajai Shahr prison,
all charged with alleged association with a "takfiri Group" (Apostates), and
the hanging of the Kurdish nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri on the charge of
"conspiring with 'the great Satan'" divulge a cruel retribution against Kurdish
prisoners irrespective of their ideology, creed, and religion. The new litany
of executions evokes not only in the words of Sarah Leah Whitson, the director
of Middle East Human Rights Watch "a shameful low point in the human rights
record" but horrific sights of recurrent hangings of political prisoners in
Iran.
As human rights organizations denouncing the recent executions have noted,
there were no justifications for these tribunals in which the victims were
summarily re-tried and then executed. The new executions may be distinguished
from other instances in the ways in which the Islamic Republic has represented
them regionally and globally as a part of the war against terrorism. In a
furious diatribe to the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad al-
Hussein who had called the executions "Injustices", Iran's Foreign Ministry
charged that "Instead of adopting double standards on the issue of terrorism,
the West has to show serious resolve in bringing together the global
community's will and efforts to eradicate takfiri terrorism, including the
DAESH terrorist group," Those executed are labeled as takfiri or DAESH
"terrorists" albeit all had been arrested long before ISIS had even come into
existence.
The executions reveal a more insidious and interventionist behavior on the part
of Iran as it claims to occupy a new status in the post nuclear deal as an
emerging power to be reckoned with in the region in its fierce competition with
Saudi Arabia. If in the past it remained non-complaint with the international
law under religious codes and traditions or was simply nonchalant in its
response to world community protests about its human rights violations as a
pariah state; now under the guise and guide of the Iran Project, presumably
non-governmental organization created to promote the nuclear deal- is
camouflaging its repression as the war on terrorism expects the world community
to be oblivious to its invidious record of human rights and instead concentrate
on the abysmal condition of human rights in Saudi Arabia.
In attempting to camouflage its internal repression as the war on terrorism,
Iran has now gained a free hand in its foreign policy to create instability,
paradoxically, in the name of security as it has begun shelling Kurdish
villages in the KRG region presumably to drive away the Kurdish Democratic
Party of Iran who has recently re-engaged in armed struggle against the Iranian
government. The severity and speed with which the Kurdish prisoners were
executed along with simultaneous threats against KRG reflect renewed efforts to
intimidate Kurdish political opposition in the region by intensely securitizing
the entire region within and beyond its borders.
All the executed prisoners had been held without due process, tortured,
re-tried, their sentences extended, charged falsely, and many held
incommunicado, intolerable conditions to which, the prominent imprisoned
Kurdish human rights activist, Mr. Kaboudvand protested through his moth long
hunger strike in May. A cursory review of the number of Kurdish prisoners
executed during the past years shows a clear and disproportionate bias against
Kurds. According to Rudaw on Aug 9, 2016 6 prisoners were executed in Urmia
where the prison officials had refused to release the body of Mohammad
Abdollahi, the hanged prisoner to his family. In yet another case in the same
city, in May 5 Kurdish human rights activists, who had been arrested on a
Wednesday, were hanged publicly on Friday of the same week, on the charge of
membership in the Kurdish Democratic Party.
The use of such brute force shows that the Islamic Republic of Iran continues
to see Kurds as a formidable challenge to its image; it is well aware that
Kurds were the foremost pro-democracy force that challenged the very foundation
of the Islamic order at its inception in 1979. Therefore, the Islamic
Republic's ongoing hostility against Kurds is both ideological and rooted in
the Kurdish opposition to the dominant political structure, culture and the
very identity of the theocracy. The Kurdish struggle for human and civil rights
with its vicissitudes has had a lasting effect on exposing the political
tyranny, ethnic persecutions, religious intolerance, and sectarianism. That is
why the Islamic Republic officials are relentlessly unforgiving in inflicting
incomparable punishments on Kurdish human rights activists and prisoners of
conscience.
Dr. Amir Sharifi, President of the Kurdish American Education Society Los
Angeles
(source: Opinion, rudaw.net)
ETHIOPIA:
Fears for Briton following Ethiopian crackdown
The killing of almost 100 street protestors in Ethiopia and a new round of
political trials have raised fears for a British political activist on death
row there, international human rights charity Reprieve has said.
Andargachew 'Andy' Tsege is a British citizen and leading figure in Ethiopian
opposition politics who faces execution after a show trial sentenced him to
death in absentia in 2009 whilst he was living in London with his partner and 3
young children. In June 2014, he was kidnapped by the Ethiopian authorities
when changing planes at an international airport and rendered to the regime's
prisons. His kidnap was part of a wider crackdown on opposition voices in the
country ahead of Ethiopia's 2015 General Elections.
Tsege has spent the last 2 years in arbitrary and illegal detention, initially
at a secret location, before being taken to the notorious Kality prison. He has
never had an opportunity to defend himself in court and the Kality prison
authorities deny that he is in their custody.
Reprieve has urged the Foreign Office to request Andy Tsege's release, and his
return to the UK - a call that has already been made by the UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention, the European Parliament, and several MPs. However, the FCO
has declined to ask for his release, and has instead insisted on securing
'legal access' in Ethiopia. (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/23121) Asked about
the case last month, then Prime Minister David Cameron defended the FCO's
approach.
Demonstrations took place over the weekend 6-7 August 2016 in the capital and 2
major regions, motivated by wider grievances against the ruling party who won
100 % of parliamentary seats at the 2015 election. Protestors called for "the
release of jailed opposition politicians", according to the Guardian.
Ethiopia's government has faced a wave of protests since November 2015 and is
alleged to have used excessive force to crush them. 20 Ethiopian students were
tried on 10 August for protests in March 2016 against the government's human
rights record.
Commenting, Maya Foa, director of Reprieve's death penalty team, said: "The
shooting of protesters shows that the Ethiopian government has no qualms about
executing its political opponents like Andy Tsege. Britain must call for Andy's
release before the crackdown on pro-democracy activists goes any further.
Ethiopia never gave Andy a fair hearing before sentencing him to death in
absentia, and this new round of political trials for students shows the
government's scornful attitude to free speech and use of the long-arm of the
law to crush dissent."
(source: ekklesia.co.uk)
EGYPT:
Jailed Egypt photographer says he's been 'forgotten'
Shouting to make himself heard from the soundproof glass dock during a break in
his trial, Egyptian photographer Mahmoud Abdel Shakour said he feels he has
been "forgotten" in prison.
3 years ago, Abdel Shakour - known as Shawkan - had been covering the police
dispersal of an Islamist protest camp in Cairo when he was arrested, and he has
been in jail ever since.
August 14, 2013, was the bloodiest day in Egypt's modern history and one of the
deadliest in the region since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
Hundreds of Islamists supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi, toppled by the
military in July that year, were mowed down by police in clashes. About 10
policemen were killed.
3 years later, thousands of Islamists remain in prison after a wide-ranging
crackdown that has extended to leftists and even journalists like Shawkan.
Shawkan had been photographing the carnage that day for the Demotix photo
agency when he was arrested. 3 journalists, including Sky News cameraman
Michael Deane, were shot dead in the violence.
The photographer spent months in pre-trial detention before he was put on trial
along with hundreds of other defendants over the protest.
"I feel like I've been forgotten in prison," Shawkan, 29, told an AFP reporter
during a break at a recent court session, yelling through the glass barrier to
make himself heard.
"I feel despair, and powerless. Time is flying by while I'm in jail."
He is imprisoned in a poorly ventilated cell which becomes scorching hot in
summer.
"My hope diminishes every day," he said, adding that he missed being able to
look at the sky.
Sitting on his bed back home, next to a framed picture of her son, Shawkan's
mother Reda Mahrous said she has trouble getting to sleep.
"I feel oppression and injustice," she said, wearing a green bracelet that her
son made her in prison.
"Every day I make his bed and wait for a knock on the door to see him before
me. But it never happens."
'No evidence'
Shawkan and his 738 co-defendants are accused of involvement in the killings of
policemen and resisting the authorities during the protest dispersal.
If convicted, they will face the death penalty.
"There is no evidence against him. To the contrary, there is evidence proving
he was working as a freelance photographer," said his lawyer Karim Abdel Rady.
The photographer has won 2 awards this year, including 1 from the Committee to
Protect Journalists.
"I wanted to be happy but I couldn't. Give me my freedom and take the prize,"
Shawkan said.
He suffers from Hepatitis C, which is common in Egypt, and his family says he
needs treatment that is not available in prison.
Shawkan was detained as part of a crackdown on Egyptian journalists, rights
activists say.
His co-defendant Abdullah Elshamy, a journalist with Qatar-based satellite
broadcaster Al-Jazeera, was released and left the country after a long hunger
strike.
Rights groups say President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government has tried to
repress all opposition since the former army chief led the overthrow of Morsi.
Fears of restrictions on press freedoms heightened after the head of the
Journalists' Syndicate and two aides were put on trial for harbouring wanted
men - including a reporter - in the union's headquarters.
They had been sought by police for alleged involvement in April protests
against a deal to give Saudi Arabia 2 islands.
"It's the worst era for someone to be a journalist in Egypt," said Sherif
Mansour, with the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
Egypt provoked international condemnation when it arrested 3 Al-Jazeera
reporters, including an Australian and a Canadian, in late 2013 and put them on
trial.
They were sentenced to jail terms but were later pardoned by Sisi after a
lengthy international campaign, and have since left the country.
He said the parties also had common ground in their manifestos, which included
the eradication of shacks.
(source: news24.com)
ALGERIA:
Child kidnapping triggers debate over death penalty restoration in Algeria
Politicians, lawyers and the public in Algeria have showed divergent views on
the issue of the restoration of death penalty, exclusively against child
kidnappers.
The controversy was sparked after the abduction and assassination of Nihal Si
Mohand, a 4-year-old girl, in Tizi Ouzou province, 100 km southeast of the
capital Algiers.
The girl was kidnapped on July 21 near her grandfather's house in Ouacif
village, in the upper region of Tizi Ouzou.
Remains of her little body were found earlier in August, as forensics confirmed
that they belong to Nihal. The investigation is still underway.
Speaking on the topic, Secretary General of the National Democratic Rally
(RND), the ruling party, Ahmed Ouyahia said "the RND endorses the popular
demand for the application of death penalty against child kidnappers and
supports any legislation that would reactivate the suspended penalty in the
parliament."
Algeria has suspended death penalty since 1993. Even if judges continue to
sentence people to death, the condemnation is systematically commuted to life
imprisonment.
Yet, Head of the pro-government Consultative Commission for the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights, Farouk Ksentini, suggests to go through a popular
referendum to request the temporary freezing of the agreement signed by Algeria
with international bodies, which would allow the North African nation to
"justify" the reactivation of death penalty vis-a-vis international public
opinion.
However, unlike parties deemed close to the government as well as Islamists who
demand the application of the canonical principle "eye for eye, tooth for
tooth," the secular opposition has clearly displayed rejection to the
reactivation of death penalty, urging for the outright abolition of this
"overage" sentence.
In this regard, Secretary General of the Workers Party Louisa Hanoune accused
"some parties of politicizing the Nihal issue," saying "they are trying to
manipulate the death penalty issue for electoral purposes."
She said she supports the family of the little girl, yet considered that "it is
illogical to claim both modernity and obscurantism."
This opinion was shared by President of the Algerian League for the Defense of
Human Rights (LADDH), Noureddine Benissad. He said dealing with such issues
requires "a serene climate."
He argued that those who are supporting for the reactivation of death penalty
are reacting on the heat, as they are furious at the tragedy of little Nihal.
The human rights activist said "death penalty has never been a solution to stop
crimes and assassinations."
While the public, pro and anti-government parties have delivered their opinions
over the issue of death penalty, the authorities still remain mute.
(source: Global Times)
SUDAN:
Sudanese pastors facing death penalty due in court
2 Sudanese pastors facing the prospect of a death penalty are due in court on
Sunday accused of at least 7 crimes including waging war against the state.
Revd Hassan Abduraheem and Rev Kuwa Shamal have been charged with other
offences including espionage after Revd Hassan helped pay for the treatment of
a Darfur man injured at a political demonstration.
Speaking earlier this month about the pair and a 3rd man - Abdulmonem Abdumawla
- who stands charged alongside them, Chief Executive of the anti-persecution
charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Mervyn Thomas said: "We are
deeply concerned to learn of the serious charges levelled against Reverend
Hassan Abduraheem and Abdulmonem Abdumawla simply for seeking to assist with
medical expenses, and against Reverend Kuwa Shamal merely for being a Christian
and a friend of Reverend Abduraheem."
Revd Hassan and Mr Abdumawla came to the aid of Ali Omer who was severely
burned at Quran Karim University last year in an incident which what appears to
reflect how government and intelligence forces are increasingly targeting
Darfuri students and suppressing peaceful demonstration.
The crackdown follows the death of a senior member of the student wing of the
ruling National Congress Party (NCP) when 150 NCP students violently attacked
Darfuri students who were holding a meeting at the Sharg El Nil College in
Khartoum.
Mervyn Thomas added: "These innocent men now face the possibility of a death
sentence on evidence that would not justify an arrest, let alone a conviction,
given its paucity.
"We call on the Sudanese Government to ensure that this trial is conducted with
respect to Fair Trial Principles, which include regular access to legal
representatives and family members.
"We also urge the government to end the harassment and targeting of Darfuri
students and Christians by NISS and to uphold the rights of every Sudanese
citizen, regardless of their religion or ethnicity."
The case against Reverends Abduraheem and Shamal and Mr Abdummawla comes at a
time when severe restrictions are being applied against Christians by the
government though the National Intelligence and Security Services, CSW says.
(source: premier.org.uk)
SOMALIA----execution
Puntland Military Court Executes Officer Over Killing
A military court in Somalia's northeastern semi-autonomous region of Puntland
State has executed an army officer by firing squad in Garowe city on Sunday
(August 14, 2016).
Hassan Fardhiye, the chief of Puntland military court confirmed the execution
of Aydarus Dahir who was convicted of killing Abdiwali Farah Ismail, another
army officer in May.
The court in Garowe was hearing verdicts against soldiers and officer accused
of committing crimes against humanity and murdering civilians in Puntland
region.
Death penalty is legal in Somalia, a mostly lawless state in East Africa.
(source: allafrica.com)
BANGLADESH:
British Journalist, 81, Facing Death Penalty, Enters 4th Month of Bangladeshi
Detention
An elderly British journalist who could face the death penalty in Bangladesh
will tomorrow have been jailed without charge for 4 months, amid worsening
fears for his wellbeing.
Shafik Rehman, 81, is a well known journalist and editor in Bangladesh who has
also worked as a speechwriter for the country's main opposition party. On April
16th this year, he was arrested without a warrant in his home, by plainclothes
officers who reportedly posed as a TV camera crew. Mr Rehman has been held ever
since then without charge, but it is feared that if charged he may face trial
for crimes which could carry the death penalty. A Supreme Court hearing later
this month will consider Mr Rehman's case.
Mr Rehman, who has been repeatedly denied bail, is in poor health. He spent the
first weeks of detention in solitary confinement, without a bed. His health
deteriorated and he was rushed to hospital. Human rights organization Reprieve,
which is assisting him, has written to UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson,
asking him to urgently support Mr Rehman's application for bail.
Mr Rehman's detention comes as Bangladesh faces criticism for a wider attack on
journalists and opposition activists. Last week, 26 press freedom groups wrote
to Bangladesh's justice minister, Anisul Huq, calling for Mr Rehman's release,
and highlighting their "serious concerns" about his treatment and that of other
journalists. A former US ambassador to Bangladesh and Pakistan, William B.
Milam, has said that Bangladesh's government "has silenced critics by resorting
to enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings", and that
journalists who, like Mr Rehman, "dare cover any of this are being charged with
sedition and treason."
Speaking to the BBC last week in response to the press freedom groups, an
official from the Bangladeshi High Commission in London defended Mr Rehman's
lengthy detention, and denied that press freedoms were under threat in
Bangladesh.
Commenting, Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said:
"Bangladesh's government has inflicted a whole series of injustices on Shafik
Rehman - from his arrest by a fake TV crew, to his detention without charge in
poor conditions, and repeated refusal of bail. This is an outrageous way to
treat an elderly journalist whose only 'crime' appears to have been writing
critically about the government. Shafik's family in the UK are desperately
worried that he may face a death sentence - the British government must urge
Bangladesh to end this charade, and release Shafik."
(source: commondreams.org)
***************
Repatriation process for 6 Bangabandhu killers hiding abroad stalls
The government has long been maintaining it is working to bring back the 6
killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman hiding abroad, but no significant
headway is visible.
After 5 other killers were executed 6 years ago, Bangladesh Police had Interpol
issue 'red corner notices' for the absconding death-row convicts.
So far, they have been able to become 'almost certain' about the whereabouts of
5 of them, Interpol's Bangladesh chapter National Central Bureau (NCB) chief
Rafiqul Islam Gani says.
"We don't know for sure where Risaldar Moslehuddin (Khan) is right now," he
said.
The other 5 are Abdur Rashid, Shariful Haque Dalim, M Rashed Chowdhury, AHMB
Noor Chowdhury and Abdul Mazed. All of them are former army officers.
However, Assistant Inspector General of Police Gani could not say how much
progress has been made in their repatriation process when asked on Sunday, a
day before the nation observes the 41st anniversary of the Bangabandhu's
assassination.
He told bdnews24.com: "At the moment, there is no new progress."
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the Father of the Nation, had said in
September last year in Parliament that Rashid had gone to Pakistan from Libya.
Dalim was also in Pakistan.
The 4 others are either in the US or Canada.
The Canadian government has already made it clear that they would not deport
Noor, who lives in Toronto, to Bangladesh where he will face the death penalty.
The US is also unwilling to send back Rashid, who is in Los Angeles.
Police have information that Mazed is in Senegal. Officials said further
inquiries are being made regarding his whereabouts.
The 5 convicts hanged on Jan 27, 2010 were Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan
Shahariar Rashid Khan, Bazlul Huda, Mohiuddin Ahmed and AKM Mohiuddin.
Another, Abdul Aziz Pasha, who was hiding in Zimbabwe, died there in 2001,
police said.
After their executions, government ministers on several occasions had said the
death convicts who are hiding abroad will be brought back and hanged. But no
effective measures have been taken yet to deliver on their pledge.
NCB chief Gani maintained a similar tone on Sunday. "Efforts are on to bring
back the fugitives. Talks are ongoing at Interpol and diplomatic level."
When asked, he could not say when the attempts will bear fruit. "We can't say
anything for certain now."
After Canada and the US refused to send Noor and Rashed back, Prime Minister
Hasina had said in Parliament, "I don't know why they give shelter to killers
despite being civilised nations."
4 years after Bangladesh became independent, independence architect Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family members on Aug
15, 1975, by a group of rogue army officers at his Dhanmondi residence in
Dhaka.
His daughters Hasina and Sheikh Rehana escaped the massacre as they were in
Europe at that time.
After the gruesome murders, 12 army officers involved had been awarded with
jobs in diplomatic missions abroad in 1977 when Gen Ziaur Rahman, who founded
the BNP, captured power through a military coup.
Bangladesh's 1st military ruler later promulgated the Indemnity Ordinance to
save the self-proclaimed killers of the Bangabandhu.
The ordinance was abrogated on Nov 12, 1996, when the Awami League returned to
power 21 years later, paving the path to bring the killers to justice.
But the case proceedings came to a near halt after the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami
coalition government came to power.
After coming back to power, the Awami League restarted the trials. Following
the verdict in the case, 5 of the killers were hanged.
Though all the killers were given the death penalty, the ruling party leaders
have always said the conspirators of the Bangabandhu assassination have not
been brought to justice.
They have also been claiming that 'a foreign power' was involved in the
conspiracy.
(source: bdnews24.com)
SINGAPORE:
Man arrested for fatal Yishun stabbing
When she saw her mother's face covered in blood on Saturday night, the
10-year-old girl panicked and ran next door to ask for help.
The neighbour, who wanted to be known only as Madam Misnah, 51, told Shin Min
Daily News: "She told my husband that her mother had fallen and was not moving,
and there was blood on her face."
When Madam Misnah's husband got there, he saw the girl's mother lying in the
bedroom in a pool of blood.
She had been stabbed multiple times.
A 37-year-old man has been arrested, said police. He is expected to be charged
in court today with murder, which carries the death penalty.
Neighbours said the victim, a 29-year-old woman, was his wife.
The incident is believed to have happened at around 8.30pm on Saturday, after
an argument.
The woman died 8 hours later at 4.26am at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Police said they received a call at about 9pm, requesting for help at a unit in
Block 342B, Yishun Ring Road.When they arrived, they found a 29-year-old woman
with injuries in the flat.
She was conscious when she was taken by ambulance to KTPH.
Madam Misnah said the woman, whom she identified as Madam Sri Idayu Ghazali,
was a clerk and that she had moved into the Yishun flat with her family about a
year ago.
It was also about the same time that Madam Misnah's family moved in next door
and the 2 families became close.
Madam Misnah said there were 8 people living in Madam Sri Idayu's flat - Madam
Sri Idayu, her husband, their 2 daughters, her parents, her sister and a maid.
"The 2 girls would often come over and play. Whenever we make something special
for dinner, we would give them some and they would reciprocate," she said.
She told a Shin Min reporter that before the stabbing, she heard loud arguments
coming from Madam Sri Idayu's flat.A resident who lives upstairs said he heard
quarrelling at about 8pm on Saturday.
The man, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lim, said he then heard piercing
screams, followed by silence.
Residents said they saw the woman's husband being questioned by the police at
the void deck before he was handcuffed and taken away in a patrol car.
(source: asiaone.com)
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