July 5
BELARUS:
Belarus Preserving Death Penalty at People's Will - President Lukashenko
The Belarusian president, at the same time, expressed confidence that his
country would gradually come to the solution of this issue.
"We are called to abolish the death penalty. We are hearing the proposals. But
not a single country can oppose the people's will, the overwhelming part of
which voted at the referendum for its application," Lukashenko said at the
official opening of the annual session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Minsk.
Belarus is the only country in Europe where the capital punishment is applied.
In 1996, the issue of death penalty abolition was put in Belarus to a national
referendum, and almost 80.5 percent of its participants voted for its
preservation. The existence of the death penalty is called the main obstacle to
the restoration of Belarus in the status of a special guest in Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
(source: Sputnik News)
MONGOLIA:
Death penalty confined to history as new Criminal Code comes into effect
Amnesty International welcomes the coming into force of the new Criminal Code
and Code of Criminal Procedure in Mongolia as an historic milestone in the
country's journey towards full enjoyment and protection of human rights. The
new Criminal Code, which abolishes the death penalty for all crimes, became
effective on 1 July 2017 after it was adopted by the Mongolian Parliament on 3
December 2015. Today Mongolia becomes the 105th country to have freed itself
from the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
(source: Amnesty International)
BANGLADESH:
3 to die for killing auto-rickshaw driver in Gazipur
A Gazipur court has awarded death penalties to 3 persons, including 2 brothers,
for murdering an auto-rickshaw driver in Kaliakoir upazila in 2013.
Gazipur District and Session Judge AKM Enamul Haque passed the order on
Wednesday, reports BSS.
The convicts are Mehedi Hassan alias Babu, Md Alomgir Hossein and Delowar
Hossein. Of the convicts, Delowar Hossein is still at large.
According to the case, auto-rickshaw driver Hider Ali, an inhabitant of
Lalmonirhat district used to live in Kaliakoir upazila. He went missing in the
afternoon of December 26, 2013. Police recovered his body from Ratonpur area of
the upazila on the following day.
Hider's elder brother Shafiqul Islam had filed a murder case with Kaliakoir
police station.
(source: Dhaka Tribune)
EGYPT:
Egypt's Attorney General refers 41 suspects in organ trafficking network to
criminal court
Egypt's Attorney General Nabil Sadek referred on Tuesday 41 defendants involved
in an organ transplant and trafficking network to the criminal court, state
news agency MENA reported.
Investigations in the case found that the defendants had performed illegal
operations between January 2011 and December 2016 as an organised criminal
group, exploiting poor Egyptians in need of money by paying for and removing
their organs, mainly kidneys, and transplanting them into foreign recipients.
These operations violate medical laws and were performed in unauthorized
places.
The prosecution charged the network members with profiteering, bribery, money
laundering, dereliction of duty and causing permanent disabilities.
The group's illegal operations resulted in the death of one of the victims and
permanent disabilities in others, according to investigations.
The suspects accused of running the illegal network -- including Egyptians and
foreigners -- were arrested in December 2016.
According to an official statement issued by the Ministry of Health, the
network included university professors, doctors, nurses, medical centre owners
and brokers involved in illegal organ trafficking.
Organ trafficking is explicitly forbidden in Egypt according to article 60 of
the country's 2014 constitution.
Egyptian law incriminates the trade of organs and penalises traffickers with up
to 7 years in jail.
In March, the Egyptian State Council approved a draft law to further regulate
organ transplant operations, which includes harsher sentences up to and
including the death penalty if an illegal or forced operation resulted in the
death of the victim.
The Egyptian parliament is set to vote on the draft law.
(source: ahram.org.eg)
SRI LANKA:
Death sentence handed in for journalist's murder
A 39 year old suspect was found guilty over killing of journalist Mel
Gunasekara and handed in death sentence by Colombo High Court today. High Court
Judge Piyasena Ranasinghe held that the crime committed by the suspect who was
employed as plumber was proven during the trial.
In addition to the death penalty, the suspect was sentenced 30 years
imprisonment for stealing victim's belongings after the murder. Late Ms
Gunasekara was stabbed to death at her residence in Battramulla on February 2,
2014.
(source: sundaytimes.lk)
BENIN:
Amnesty International petitions authorities to commute the sentence of 14 men
on death row
Authorities in Benin must commute the death sentences hanging over 14 men
following a 2016 Constitutional Court judgement that effectively abolished the
death penalty for all crimes in the country, Amnesty International said today
on the 5th anniversary of Benin's accession to the UN treaty aiming at
abolishing the death penalty.
The organization is also calling on the authorities to provide the death row
prisoners with adequate food and medical care, and ensure that national
legislation is reviewed and reformed in order to remove all provisions
pertaining to the death penalty in all relevant laws, for all crimes.
"The judgment of the Constitutional Court last year which effectively abolished
the death penalty for all crimes in Benin is remarkable and progressive.
Despite this the status of 14 men who have been on death row in grim conditions
for nearly 2 decades has not changed," said Oluwatosin Popoola, Amnesty
International's Adviser on the death penalty.
"The authorities cannot continue to keep the men on death row when the court
has abolished the death penalty, the uncertainty that hangs over the men needs
to be resolved urgently through the commutation of their death sentences".
The 14 men are the last prisoners on death row in Benin. They have all been in
prison for between 18 to 20 years. Benin's government says it will not execute
them, yet it has not commuted their death sentences. Conditions for them on
death row are harsh as they are isolated from other prisoners and all share 1
cell. The last known execution in Benin was carried out in 1987.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception,
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or
other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to
carry out the execution. The death penalty is a violation of the right to life
and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
(source: amnesty.org)
IRAN----executions
3 Prisoners Hanged on Murder Charges
A prisoner was reportedly hanged at Kerman Central Prison, and 2 prisoners were
reportedly hanged at Urmia's central prison. All 3 prisoners were reportedly
sentenced to death on murder charges. The state-run news agency Fars, quoting
the press department of the Kerman Judiciary, identified the prisoner who was
executed at Kerman Central Prison by the initials M.Gh. According to the Kerman
Judiciary, the pirsoner was hanged on Monday July 3 for a murder crime he
allegedly committed in 2013 at the age of 20.
The human rights news agency, HRANA, reported on the execution of 2 prisoners
at Urmia Central Prison. The report identifies the prisoners as Alireza Karimi
and Firouz Eskandari, hanged on Tuesday July 4. Iranian official sources,
including the Judiciary and the media, have not announced these 2 executions.
There are currently at least 11 prisoners sentenced to death on murder charges
who are in imminent danger of execution in Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison. On
Sunday July 2, they were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for
their executions.
***********************
2 Prisoners Hanged in Public
2 prisoners were hanged in public on rape charges.
The hangings were carried out in the city of Torbat-e Heydarieh (Razavi
Khorasan province) on the sidelines of a sports complex.
According to a report by the state-run news agency, Jam News, the public
executions were carried out on Tuesday July 4 on Abshar Street. The report
identifies the prisoners' ages as 26 and 30.
According to the local state-run news site, Taban Torbat, the executions were
carried out by Judicial and security forces.
There are many cases in Iran of public executions carried out in sports
stadiums. Human rights groups and sports federations have repeatedly objected
to these executions. Photos from this execution have not been released to the
public.
(source for both: Iran Human Rights)
INDIA:
1993 Mumbai blasts case: CBI seeks life for Abu Salem
After seeking capital punishment for four convicts, which included Mustafa
Dossa who died of cardiac attack last week, the prosecution on Tuesday sought
life imprisonment for extradited gangster Abu Salem and Riyaz
Salvi accused Salem of being a 'habitual offender' and that the Indian
government had submitted a list of his crimes to the Portugal government while
taking his custody in 2005(HT).
The prosecution on Tuesday concluded the arguments on quantum of sentence
against 6 convicts in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.
After seeking capital punishment for 4 convicts, which included Mustafa Dossa
who died of cardiac attack last week, the prosecution on Tuesday sought life
imprisonment for extradited gangster Abu Salem and Riyaz Siddique. Apart from
Dossa, the prosecution has sought death penalty for Firoz Khan, Karimmulla Khan
and Tahir Merchant.
While seeking life imprisonment for Salem, special CBI counsel Deepak Salvi
said that Salem deserved nothing but death penalty for his role of
'transporting a car full of ammunition from Bharuch to Mumbai'.
Salvi termed Salem as one of the conspirators of the 1993 blasts. "In 1993,
Salem was a member of Dawood and Anees Ibrahim's gang and held a position of
authority," he said.
He argued that Salem had 2 passports which he used to escape.
Salvi accused Salem of being a 'habitual offender' and that the Indian
government had submitted a list of his crimes to the Portugal government while
taking his custody in 2005. Salem was brought to be tried in 9 cases. He was
sentenced to life imprisonment in extortion and murder of builder Pradeep Jain
last year.
However, Salvi said that he was constrained by section 34(c) of the Indian
Extradition Act. Under this, Salem cannot be sentenced to death or for more
than 25 years of imprisonment. However, Salvi urged the court to mention that
Salem deserves nothing but death penalty. On a question by judge GA Sanap on
such a demand, Salvi said the 'country should know the serious offences Salem
had committed.'
The defence lawyers will begin their arguments on the quantum of sentence on
Wednesday.
(source: hindustantimes.com)
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