June 28
CHINA:
13 Chinese sentenced to death for drugs offences as thousands look on in public
trial----8 executed immediately after open hearing in a stadium in notorious
drug producing area of Guangdong province
3 courts in southern China's Guangdong province sentenced 13 people to death
for producing and selling drugs at a public trial in a stadium in the city of
Shanwei watched by some 10,000 people, the official Xinhua news agency
reported. The Shanwei Intermediate People's Court and the Lufeng People's Court
handed out sentences on Saturday for 18 people, the report said, without giving
the names of the accused or details of the charges.
5 were given suspended sentences. Of the 13 sentenced to death, 8 were executed
immediately after the trial.
China's synthetic drug problem growing, government says
The city of Lufeng, which is administered by Shanwei, is notorious for making
and trafficking drugs. In 2014 more than 3,000 paramilitary personnel, police
and border guards from Guangdong raided a village near Lufeng and seized 3
tonnes of crystal meth. Nearly 200 people from the village, which has a
population of 14,000, were detained at the time.
The Lufeng court heard 234 cases involving drugs last year and sentenced 107
people to prison terms of at least 5 years.
China fast becoming Europe's drug wholesaler, report warns
A similar public trial was held in 2015 in Lufeng, with 5 people sentenced to
death and executed immediately and another 8 given suspended death penalties. A
further 25 people were sentenced to at least 10 years in jail each.
(source: South China Morning Post)
CZECH REPUBLIC:
"Last Address" project commemorates victims who were executed or whose deaths
were hastened by Communist regime
The country's Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes on Tuesday
launched a new project to commemorate victims of former Czechoslovakia's
communist regime. Called "Last Address", the idea was inspired by similar
initiatives in Russia. Within the project, plaques will be installed at
victims' final addresses - recalling their lives and what they stood for, for
which they died.
Tuesday is the 67th anniversary of the execution of Milada Horakova a member of
parliament and democrat found guilty in a notorious show trial in 1950 staged
by Czechoslovakia's Communist regime. The death penalty was carried out in
spite of last minute pleas for clemency from the likes of Albert Einstein and
the Pope. The day has seen a number of commemorative events honouring her
memory but also that of others who suffered and perished as enemies of the
regime. "Last Address" focusses on those who never came back.
Michaela Stoilova, the main organizer of the project at the Institute for the
Study of Totalitarian Regimes, told Czech Radio more:
"The project marks the last address of people who were arrested for political
reasons and never returned. That means either people who were sentenced to
death or whose deaths were hastened by the regime ... It was inspired by an
organization called gulag.cz ... After a pilot program, we decided to focus
primarily on victims of the Czechoslovak regime, as opposed to victims of
Soviet repression in general."
1 of 4 plaques to go up on Tuesday is at the Swedish Embassy in Prague,
honouring the memory of Veleslav Wahl, a zoologist executed in 1950. A total of
4 plaques around Prague have already been approved while a 5th is pending.
Michaela Stoilova again:
"We were interested in the fate of Veleslav Wahl; as it happens Josef Ruzicka,
the father of his wife who was also a political prisoner, also lived at the
address. But that is a coincidence. We highlighted the fact in the materials
but the primary focus here is on the on lives destroyed for political reasons.
How the information is used, or used comparatively, is up to others to assess."
If you'd like to see the exact addresses of the plaques which went up on
Tuesday, please visit http://www.posledniadresa.cz
(source: radio.cz)
IRAN:
Juvenile Offender Faces Execution in Iran
According to the Iranian state-run news agency, Rokna, a juvenile offender
identified as Farshid, 22, is facing execution after he was sentenced to death
at the age of 16 for the charge of murder. There is no information available at
this time regarding where Farshid is detained.
Farshid reportedly told the judge that he was a child when he committed the
crime and that he has since changed for the better and realized the huge
mistake he made.
According to reports, the names of Farshid's parents are not listed in his case
file, only his lawyer is representing him. In a court sesson, his lawyer
reportedly requested for Article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code to be implemented
in client's case, however, the Judge did not agree and sentenced Farshid to
death.
According to Article 91 of Iran's revised Islamic Penal Code, it is up to the
presiding judge's discretion to deem the juvenile mature enough to understand
the nature of the offense: "In the cases of offenses punishable by hadd or
qisas, if mature people under 18 years do not realize the nature of the crime
committed or its prohibition, or of there is uncertainty about their full
mental development, according to their age, they shall be sentenced to the
punishments prescribed in this chapter." The Islamic Penal Code puts the age of
criminal responsibility for males at 15 and 9 for females.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran is a
signatory to, the Iranian authorities have an obligation to not issue the death
penalty sentence for offenses committed under the age of 18.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
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