May 13
INDIA:
Thane: 2 get death for 2012 gangrape and murder----Police officers recall how
probe into case began with just an unidentified body.
The death penalty Thursday awarded by a Thane sessions court to 2 persons for
raping 2 women and killing 1 of them has marked the end of a 5-year story for
the investigating officers of the case. The case that was solved by the Navi
Mumbai crime branch started with an unidentified body of a woman found below an
under-construction flyover on the Sion Panvel highway on May 9, 2012.
During the course of the investigation, the police found that the woman was a
ragpicker and had been raped and murdered. More importantly, they found that
another woman had been attacked with her, but had managed to survive. The
police traced her, and it was the testimony of the survivor that helped police
arrest the 2 accused, Rahimuddin Shaikh (29) and Sandeep Shirsat (25). After
their conviction and sentencing, officers said they felt satisfied
professionally.
A Thane sessions court on Thursday held Shaikh and Shirsat guilty of gangrape
and murder. District government pleader Sangita Phad said, "The court found
that their act was of extreme brutality and awarded them the death penalty."
Both the women, in their 20s, had been attacked several times with knives and
hexo-blades by Shaikh and Shirsat.
Meera Bansode, the investigating officer of the case, said, "The case began
with an unidentified body of a woman with absolutely no clue. After
investigating, we found that another woman too had been attacked at the same
spot but had managed to flee. We then started looking for the woman.
Eventually, after verifying several details, we managed to track her to Govandi
in Mumbai. She too had sustained several injuries."
The police then convinced her to be a complainant in the case and based on her
statement, found that Shaikh and Shirsat, 2 caterers, had attacked them.The
survivor told the police that the duo had promised to get them jobs as
caterers.They then took them below the flyover, where they got them inebriated
by mixing their cold drinks with alcohol.
The accused then raped the 2 women at knifepoint and slashed and stabbed them
several times. "They also disfigured the face of 1 of the women before they
left. They did not realise that the other woman was still alive," Bansode said.
Dattatray Shinde, the then DCP, Navi Mumbai crime branch, who is now Sangli
Superintendent of Police, said, "It is satisfying to know that the death
penalty was awarded in the case. The men were heartless. They deserved nothing
less then capital punishment," Shinde said.
(source: indiansxpress.com)
PAKISTAN:
Lahore court awards death penalty to 2
District and sessions Judge Chaudhry Muhammad Tariq handed down a death
sentence and life imprisonment to 2 suspects for a murder case in the Katha
Saghral police jurisdiction.
According to the prosecution, Shahnawaz, along with Ahmad Nawaz, Gulbaz and
Sher Muhammad, killed Ghulam Haider of Mangowal over an old enmity on October
10, 2015. The local police had registered a case against the suspects and
presented the charge sheet before the court for trial.
After considering the evidence, the court sentenced Shahnawaz to death and sent
Ahmad Nawaz to jail for life.
In another case, additional district and sessions judge Mian Shahzad Raza
sentenced a man to death on Friday for a murder case in the Bhalwal police
jurisdiction.
According to the prosecution, accused Muhammad Mumtaz of Bhalwal, with his
accomplice Akhtar, had murdered Muhammad Ashraf over some issue on July 6,
2007.
Police registered a case against the accused and the court sentenced Mumtaz to
death, while slapping a fine of Rs 220,000. It also handed a sentence of 10
years imprisonment to Akhtar.
Meanwhile, police also arrested 11 suspects and recovered narcotics and illegal
weapons from their possession on Friday.
Members of the force confiscated 2,800g of hashish, 1,005g of heroin, 226
bottles of liquor, 1 pistol and a gun.
(source: The Daily Times)
KENYA:
Court directs Parliament, AG to amend juvenile death penalty law
The High Court has ordered the National Assembly and the Attorney General (AG)
to amend the criminal law that allows children to serve the death penalty.
Justice John Mativo ordered that the National Assembly and the government's
principal legal advisor should see to it that the criminal law that subjects
minors to the death penalty is changed so that it is in tandem with the one
that protects rights of every child in the Constitution.
The criminal law as it is currently allows the courts to have child offenders
sentenced to death be detained until only when the President intervenes can
they be freed.
But Justice Mativo in his ruling declared such detention at the President's
pleasure for children as unconstitutional.
"The AG and Parliament be and are hereby directed to move with speed to enact
the necessary amendments to ensure that the section of the criminal law that
allows children to be detained at the President's pleasure conform with the
constitutional one that specifies on rights of a child," said Justice Mativo.
CONVICTS
The judge pointed out that in the concept of separation of powers, judicial
authority cannot be subjected to the hands of the executive at all.
He also ruled that judicial discretion and independence as well as promoting
constitutionalism should be at the forefront in a democratic society.
The judge issued the verdict in a case in which 6 convicts, who were put on
death row before they attained age 18, sought an interpretation on the disputed
section of the impugned criminal law (Section 25(2) & (3) of the Penal Code).
They had sued the offices of the AG and the Director of Public Prosecution
(DPP) in December 2015.
At the time of conviction, they were aged between 12 and 17 years. They have
all been in prison for a period ranging between 8 and 22 years.
They argued that arraignment of an accused person to court up to sentencing is
a function of the judiciary, which requires a fair trial at all stages.
EXECUTIVE POWERS
But the DPP argued that the disputed law does not go against the constitution.
The AG did not respond to the suit.
However, with the verdict issued, Justice Mativo granted them reprieve as he
also ordered that they be released from prison immediately.
The judge said they were imprisoned for an indefinite period at the pleasure of
the President, which automatically means that executive powers will determine
the duration of their sentences yet that alone is unlawful.
Since the Children's Act came into effect on March 1, 2002 while the criminal
law (Penal Code) on August 1, 1930, the judge said it is more powerful as it
revokes the other.
???In my view sentencing of children is a constitutional matter of great
concern, their rights are of great importance in our society, therefore, courts
are required to distinguish between minors and adult offenders since they must
enjoy preferential sentencing treatment," ruled Justice Mativo.
(source: kdrtv.com)
INDONESIA:
Catholic leaders criticize Indonesia's continued use of death penalty
Indonesia has rejected the possibility of abolishing the death penalty at a
United Nations hearing reviewing the country's human rights situation.
Abolishing the death penalty was one of the recommendations put to Indonesia by
member states at the 27th session of the U.N. Universal Periodic Review in
Geneva. The review regularly examines the human rights record of member states.
Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, who led the Indonesian delegation
at the hearing that ended May 12, rejected the recommendation. She said the
death penalty was an integral part of President Joko Widodo's fight against
narcotics, which she described as one of the top-3 causes of death among
Indonesian youths.
Catholic Church leaders in Indonesia immediately criticized the rejection.
Father Paulus Siswantoko, executive secretary of the Indonesian bishops'
Commission for Justice, Peace and Pastoral for Migrant People, said the
government's insistence on keeping the death penalty shows its failure to
handle drug-related crimes, reported ucanews.com.
The government often has argued the death penalty is a deterrent, but Father
Siswantoko challenged the notion.
"Drug-related crimes and serious violence continue to occur unabated," he said.
Teguh Budiono of the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Catholic lay group, said
keeping the death penalty will perpetuate a culture of violence in society.
"Instead of providing a deterrent effect, this practice will only provide an
affirmation of the passion of revenge," he said.
(source: Catholic News Service)
***************
Indonesia dismisses calls to abolish death penalty----Church leaders call
rejection proof of govt failure to tackle drug problem, other serious crimes
Indonesia has rejected the possibility of abolishing the death penalty at a
United Nations hearing reviewing the country's human rights situation.
Abolishing the death penalty was one of the recommendations put to Indonesia by
member states at the 27th session of the U.N. Universal Period Review in
Geneva, Switzerland.
Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, who led the Indonesian delegation,
rejected the recommendation, saying the death penalty was an integral part of
President Joko Widodo's fight against narcotics, which she said was 1 of the
top-3 causes of death among Indonesian youths.
Catholic Church leaders in Indonesia immediately criticized the rejection.
Father Paulus Siswantoko of the Indonesian bishops' Commission for Justice,
Peace and Pastoral for Migrant People said the government's insistence on
keeping the death penalty shows its failure to handle drug-related crimes
. The government has often argued the death penalty is a deterrent, but this is
not the case, he said.
"Drug-related crimes and serious violence continue to occur unabated," he said.
Teguh Budiono, from the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Catholic lay group, said
keeping the death penalty will perpetuate a culture of violence in society.
"Instead of providing a deterrent effect, this practice will only provide an
affirmation of the passion of revenge," he said.
(source: ucanews.com)
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