July 17
TURKEY:
Turkey's Move Toward The Death Penalty May Be A Move Away From The EU
Turkey's president again said he supports reinstating the death penalty, a move
that could further complicate the country's relationship with Europe.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marked the anniversary of a failed coup with a
pair of speeches in which he said Turkey needed to forge its own path.
Turkey was first recognized as a candidate to join the European Union in 1999.
The country has been working to join the union ever since.
But reinstating the death penalty would probably knock Turkey out of
consideration for good.
In fact, the president of the European Commission wrote in a German newspaper
that if Turkey embraced the death penalty, the country "would definitively slam
the door on EU membership."
When Erdogan's AKP party won the country's general election in 2002, he was
seen as having strong European ambitions.
This recent speech suggests he's moving away from those original goals.
Closing the door on the EU might not be a good idea politically, though. A
recent survey found about 76 % of Turkish people still wanted to join the
union.
(source: thedenverchannel.com)
******************
Turkey won't get EU membership if it legalises death penalty:
Juncker----Turkey's 12-year-old EU membership talks have ground to a halt
The head of the European Union's executive body says the EU's hand remains
outstretched to Turkey but is renewing warnings that Ankara will not get EU
membership if reinstates the death penalty.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wrote in Germany's Bild am
Sonntag newspaper that Turkey being democratic, stable and economically
successful is important to the EU. He said Turkey should "move closer to Europe
rather than moving away from us."
Turkey's 12-year-old EU membership talks have ground to a halt.
Juncker stressed the bloc is a "union of values." He added "if Turkey were to
introduce the death penalty, the Turkish government would definitively slam the
door on EU membership."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday he would approve a bill
reinstating the death penalty if parliament proposed it.
(source: business-standard.com)
LEBANON:
Death penalty talk puts spotlight on judiciary
The debate on the functioning of the judiciary was reignited following a spate
of execution-style murders in recent months, which led to a number of political
figures calling for the reinstatement of capital punishment. A group of jurists
and party representatives oppose this solution and blame the problem on the
lack of independence of the judiciary system itself.
Beirut-based NGO The Legal Agenda, the International Commission of Jurists and
the Siracusa International Institute - together with a group of judges and
party representatives - have formed a commission that is currently working on a
new draft law that seeks to reinforce judges' independence from the executive
branch, which they aim to present to Parliament by the end of the year.
Nizar Saghieh, co-founder and executive director of The Legal Agenda, said what
emboldens perpetrators is "a culture of interference in the judiciary" that
creates a sense of impunity.
"The problem is not if the punishment is severe or not ... we are talking about
people who were not really tried," Saghieh told The Daily Star. "According to
us, [this happens because] we don't have an independent judiciary system. The
independence of the judiciary is a necessity for a society to live in a minimum
standard of security."
Said Benarbia, director of the ICJ program in the MENA region, echoed this
sentiment. "Reinforcing the trust of the public in the judiciary is something
that is really needed in the case of Lebanon," Benarbia told The Daily Star,
adding that a number of factors contribute to the erosion of public trust.
The 1st issue identified by the commission is the composition of the Higher
Judicial Council, a body that falls under the organizational structure of the
Justice Ministry that is responsible for the operation of the ordinary courts.
Exclusively judicial in composition, the Higher Judicial Council deals with
judicial appointments, transfers, training and the disciplining of judges.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee had already stated back in 1997 that
the procedures governing the appointment of judges and in particular members of
the Higher Judicial Council were "far from satisfactory."
At present, the Higher Judicial Council is composed of 10 judges, 8 of which
are elected by the executive. This makes the judges servants to the political
party that elected them, the commission claims.
In order for the reform proposal to have realistic chances of being approved in
Parliament, the executive would be granted the power to nominate 1/2 of the
Higher Judicial Council's members. As The Legal Agenda explained, judges would
be able to elect the other 1/2 - in compliance with international standards -
while 1 seat would be reserved for the executive to correct any eventual
sectarian imbalance.
The proposal also introduces the nomination of nonjudicial figures, such as
representatives of the bar association, university professors and other
professionals. "We think that the judiciary is a service provided to others and
it should not only be independent but it should be seen as being independent,"
Benarbia said. "Having members of the civil society [in the Higher Judicial
Council] enhances its accountability and the trust of the public."
Given that this body is responsible for ruling over the careers of the judges,
its composition is seen as a key issue by the commission.
2 judicial sources who accepted to speak to The Daily Star on condition of
anonymity confirmed feeling pressured by political parties through the Higher
Judicial Council.
"If any judge tells you that to [advance] in his career he didn't have to be
aligned [to a political party], it's not true - it's a big, big lie," the 1st
source said, adding that transfers and promotions, which the Higher Judicial
Council is responsible for, are at times used "as a weapon" to guarantee a
judge's compliance to a specific request.
The 2nd source confirmed experiencing retribution after being pressured to
comply with a request. "I was moved from [a city in the north] to Beirut, which
might seem like a promotion but it wasn't because my family is back home," the
source said.
According to The Legal Agenda, public opinion is not fully aware of the
pressures that judges are subject to because of this system. "People think
judges are so bad and that's why the system is bad. And of course politicians
strengthen this perception, because if people believe judges are bad they will
go to them [as] their protectors," Saghieh said.
The Daily Star interviewed a leading lawyer representing the interests of the
state, who refused to be quoted for the purposes of this report. The source
conceded the need for some reform, but said the independence of the judiciary
is enshrined in the constitution. He also denied that nominations by the
executive automatically result in political affiliation and said the
independence of the judiciary mainly depends on the judges' own moral
integrity.
The Beirut Bar Association was contacted but did not respond to The Daily
Star's request for an interview.
Contrary to the lawyer's position, the commission claims the present setup of
the judicial system does not leave room for moral integrity. Similarly to the
Higher Judicial Council, the Judicial Inspection Body ' tasked with the
evaluation of the public service of justice - is also identified as a tool of
the executive to exert pressure on judges.
"The function of the inspection service is opaque. Judges don't have access to
evaluation reports, their case file, they cannot challenge an assessment ...
they cannot have access to all the elements related to the development of their
career," ICJ director Benarbia said.
"The management of the career of a judge - their promotion, transfer, the
disciplinary proceedings, are based on the reports of these inspection
services, so it is important to increase the guarantee of transparency and the
guarantees of effective functioning of these inspection services" he added.
In its proposal, the commission has allocated 3 main roles to the Judicial
Inspection Body and set up more transparent procedures for inquiries.
In addition, the draft law calls for giving judges the right of association,
which they are currently denied. While the constitution regards the Higher
Judicial Council as an associative body, the commission claims its role as a
supervisor differs from that of representation that a syndicate would provide.
"We tried [many times] to form a syndicate, but we have two problems. One is
the prohibition [to do so] by the Higher Judicial Council and the other one is
[the conflict between] judges themselves, because we do not have a common
interest," the 1st judicial source said, adding that some judges would be
reluctant to give up the personal privileges resulting from their political
affiliation.
Saghieh claims those who seek to be independent are forced to comply with a
system that leaves them few choices. "Lots of judges feel criticized by society
and are not given the opportunity to play a role," he added. Saghieh said the
first step toward reform is winning the debate in the public arena. "Our fight
now is not in the Parliament [but] in the public debate. Once we [do so], the
perception of the judiciary will be different," he said.
Some parties, including Future Movement and the PSP, have appointed a
representative to follow all the sessions organized by the commission. "We are
partners in this project because what is certain is that, in order to build a
state, we have to have an independent judiciary system," Lama Hariz, the
representative for the PSP, told The Daily Star. "We need this to be an
independence that truly goes beyond [the will of] the Justice Ministry and the
government."
(source: The Daily Star)
EGYPT:
Pro-democracy demonstrator handed death penalty in Egypt
An Egyptian court yesterday confirmed a death sentence handed to a man after he
was found guilty of violence in a case relating to a protest against the 2013
military coup that ousted former President Mohamed Morsi, the Anadolu Agency
reported citing 2 sources.
A judicial source told journalists that the Janayat Al-Tal Al-Kabir Criminal
Court in the Ismailiya Province, sentenced Osama Gomaa, 32, to death on a
charge of murdering a driver on 13 July 2013 following a quarrel between the 2
during a pro-Morsi protest.
On 17 May, the same court had referred the defendant's file to the Grand Mufti,
the state's top religious authority, indicating that it recommends the death
penalty for the defendant. Yesterday, the court confirmed the decision.
The ruling may still be appealed in the Court of Cassation within 60 days.
The defendant's lawyer, Nabil Abdel Salam, said that he will appeal the ruling,
according to Anadolu.
The charges that the defendant is facing include "murdering a driver who
objected to pro-Morsi chants during a protest supporting the latter". The
charges also include "joining an illegal group" in reference to the now
outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. The defendant denies all charges.
(source: Middle East Monitor)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Student facing beheading in Saudi Arabia was to attend Western Michigan
A Saudi Arabian student who was arrested 5 years ago as he was about to fly to
Michigan to attend college is believed to be facing imminent execution by
beheading, officials say.
Mujtaba Al-Sweikat, who was 17 when he was detained at King Fahd International
Airport in 2012, was moved Friday from detention in Dammam to Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, where executions by beheading customarily take place.
Earlier that year, Al-Sweikat allegedly attended a pro-democracy rally, which
led to his arrest.
Al-Sweikat intended to visit Western Michigan University, where he had applied
as a student, according to Reprieve, an international human rights group that
has offices in New York and London and operates with partners around the world.
He was later accepted by the university as a student. The Free Press has seen a
copy of the acceptance letter from Western.
Western Michigan confirmed Al-Sweikat had been accepted to the university in
2013, but never attended.
"We were stunned to learn, for the first time today, of this situation,"
Western Michigan spokeswoman Cheryl Roland said in a statement to the Free
Press. "It is not unusual for an admitted student to opt out of enrolling at
the last minute, so we had no idea there was such a troubling reason behind
this student's failure to come to campus."
Human rights groups said the execution is troubling.
"The increasingly brutal Saudi Arabian regime has ramped up executions for
protest-related offences in recent days, and this latest move is extremely
worrying," said Maya Foa, director of Reprieve. "Mujtaba was a promising
17-year-old boy on his way to study in Michigan when he was arrested, beaten,
and later sentenced to death on the basis of a 'confession' extracted through
torture. He now faces the imminent threat of beheading along with 14 others,
including at least one other juvenile and a young disabled man.
Foa said the executions would constitute an appalling breach of international
law. Foa urged President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to "use their close ties to Saudi Arabia to make
clear that these egregious abuses must stop - and the imminent executions be
immediately stayed."
The American Federation of Teachers also urged Trump to get involved.
"Saudi Arabia's threat to behead its own citizens for attending an
anti-government protest is an unthinkable and despicable violation of
international law and basic humanity," AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a
statement. "This group includes 2 youths - 1 of whom, Mujtaba'a al-Sweikat, was
at the airport coming to the United States to attend college when he was
arrested - a man with disabilities, and 11 other people. People must have a
right to speak and associate freely. Should these executions occur, Saudi
Arabia should be considered a pariah nation by the world.
"We implore President Trump, as the standard-bearer for our great nation, to do
everything in his power to stop the atrocities that may otherwise take place in
Saudi Arabia."
Western Michigan joined the call for Trump to get involved.
"The AFT information makes it clear that the critical national political
figures with influence in such a situation are informed," Roland said. "We join
the AFT in urging them to use that influence to ask the Saudi government to
exhibit compassion."
Al-Sweikat was not allowed access to a lawyer at any point before or during the
interrogations, according to Reprieve. He was forced to sign a "confession"
document in relation to several alleged offenses, including attendance at
protests. If he refused to admit to any allegations, he was again beaten,
tortured and subjected to verbal abuse.
Initial reports were that Mujtaba was on his way to attend the University of
Michigan. U-M officials spent 18 hours searching records going back several
years at all of its campuses and were unable to locate him as a student -
either one who enrolled or had been accepted, a spokeswoman told the Free
Press.
Mujtaba is part of a group facing execution by beheading for offenses related
to attending protests, Reprieve said. Reprieve obtained information about
Mujtaba and the others from his friends.
They were convicted and sentenced to death by Saudi Arabia's controversial
Specialised Criminal Court, which, although established to hear terrorism
cases, has been used by authorities to silent dissent through the use of the
death penalty, Reprieve said.
All 14 men and boys were transferred recently to Riyadh from Dammam Mabahith
prison in preparation for their execution. However, the current execution
practice is so shrouded in secrecy that not even their families know when they
will be executed; only the King, who issues a decree ordering their execution,
knows, Reprieve said in a briefing shared with the Free Press.
4 others were executed July 12 for similar protest-related charges.
(source: Detroit Free Press)
IRAN----executions
7 Prisoners Including Pakistani Citizens Hanged in Sistan & Baluchestan
In the past few days, 7 prisoners, including 2 Pakistani citizens, were
reportedly hanged at Zahedan Central and Iranshahr prisons.
On the morning of Thursday July 13, a prisoner by the name of Sharif Reigi was
reportedly executed on murder charges at Zahedan Central Prison (Sistan &
Baluchestan province, eastern Iran). According to the Baluch Activists
Campaign, Mr. Reigi was transferred to solitary confinement on Sunday July 9 in
preparation for execution.
On Saturday July 15, 3 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Zahedan Central
Prison on drug related charges. The prisoners have been identified as Sheikh
Mohammad Baluchzehi, 50 years of age, Kabir Dehghanzehi, 21 years of age, and
Dadmohammad Dehghanzehi. These prisoners were reportedly transferred to
solitary confinement on Thursday July 13 in preparation for execution.
Dadmohammad and Kabir were reportedly Pakistani citizens who were arrested 8
years ago. According to a report by the Baluch Activists Campaign, Kabir was 13
years old at the time of his arrest. This report says that Kabir had travelled
to Iran for driving lessons. Iran Human Rights has not been able to confirm
Kabir's exact age at the time of his arrest.
On the morning of Sunday July 16, 2 prisoners were reportedly hanged on murder
charges at Zahedan Central Prison. The prisoners have been identified as Yousef
Bozorgzadeh, 46 years of age, and Ebrahim Damani. Yousef was reportedly
arrested 11 years ago.
Also on Sunday, a prisoner was reportedly executed on drug related charges at
Iranshahr Prison (Sistan & Baluchestan province, southern Iran). The prisoner
has been identified as Abdoljalil Shahli, arrested 7 years ago.
Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the state-run media, have
not announced any of these executions.
***************************
3 Prisoners Hanged on Drug Charges, Iranian Officials Silent
On the morning of Saturday July 15, 3 prisoners were reportedly hanged on drug
related charges at Parsilon, Khorramabad's central prison (Lorestan province,
western Iran).
Iran Human Rights has obtained the identity of 1 of the prisoners: Najmoldin
Safipour, sentenced to death on the charge of 12 kilograms of crystal meth.
According to close sources, Mr. Safipour was a taxi driver. The identities of
the 2 other prisoners are not known at this time.
Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the state-run media, have
not announced these executions.
"They had arrested Najmoldin along with his friend four years ago, but the
drugs they charged him with belonged to an individual whom they executed last
year," an informed source tells Iran Human Rights.
These 3 prisoners were hanged 3 days before a bill to reform the death penalty
for drug related charges is scheduled to be addressed in an open session by the
Iranian Parliament.
************************
2 More Prisoners Hanged on Drug Charges----They were hanged 3 days before a
bill to reform the death penalty for drug related charges is scheduled to be
addressed by the Iranian Parliament.
On Saturday July 15, 2 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Urmia's central
prison on drug related charges. Iran Human Rights has obtained the names of the
prisoners: Mohammad Reza Sadeghi and Mashallah Siadnavin.
Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the state-run media, have
not announced these 2 executions.
Mr. Sadeghi and Mr. Siadnavin were hanged 3 days before a bill to reform the
death penalty for drug related charges is scheduled to be addressed in an open
session by the Iranian Parliament.
(source for all: Iran Human Rights)
*****************
Iranian parliament votes to limit death penalty for drug traffickers
The Iranian parliament approved a bill on Sunday to limit death penalty for
drug offenders.
182 out of 245 MPs present in the parliament voted in favor of the bill.
The bill will be turned into a law when it is studied by parliament's Judicial
Committee and after being confirmed by the Guardian Council.
A lawmaker said that those who committed crimes related to drug trafficking due
to poverty and unemployment will not be sentenced to death.
However those offenders who carry deadly weapons while trafficking drugs as
well as drug lords will get death sentence, he explained.
The bill to limit death penalty for drug offenders was introduced last year.
Reportedly, more than 100 lawmakers have helped draw up the legislation.
(source: tehrantimes.com)
JAPAN:
Japan's death chambers: Inside the secretive world where prisoners are executed
with brutal efficiency----Japanese executions are shrouded in secrecy and
heavily ritualised. The nation has been condemned for retaining the death
penalty when many countries have abolished it
For Masakatsu Nishikawa, death was an efficient affair.
There was a polished floor and tasteful lighting, the soothing calm of a
Buddhist sutra and a last glimpse of art.
Then - with a brutality that no fine furnishings can hide - a noose was put
around his neck and the trapdoor beneath his feet gave way.
He was probably dead within seconds, killed by a state that shrouds its
execution process in such secrecy even the condemned prisoner only knows he is
due to die a handful of hours before.
Japan may be one of the most forward-thinking nations in the world but it shows
little sign of consigning the death penalty to history.
Nishikawa, 61, was no saint. He had been convicted of murdering 4 women in an
horrific killing spree more than 25 years ago.
Koichi Sumida, the 2nd man Japan executed that day, was also guilty of murder -
this time of a female ex colleague.
But opponents of the death penalty remain vociferous in their argument that it
never delivers justice.
"These executions show the Japanese government's wanton disregard for the right
to life," said Hiroka Shoji, East Asia Researcher at Amnesty International.
"The death penalty is the ultimate cruel and inhumane punishment.
"Executions in Japan remain shrouded in secrecy but the government cannot hide
the fact that it is on the wrong side of history, as the majority of the
world's states have turned away from the death penalty."
Notorious death row prisoners' last meals revealed - including fried chicken,
chocolate milkshake and a single olive
Japan has executed 28 of its citizens since 2010. There are thought to be 122
prisoners currently on death row.
They are held in solitary confinement and only allowed to exercise twice a
week.
There is little to relieve a life of queasy boredom with family visits kept to
an absolute minimum.
Most spend at least 5 years awaiting their fate and some - like Nishikawa -
spend decades never knowing quite when death will come.
In a report published in 2008, Amnesty said as a result inmates were being
driven insane and exposed to "cruel, inhuman and degrading" punishment.
There has also been criticism by the UN Committee Against Torture, which
highlighted the secrecy of the execution system and the psychological strain it
puts on inmates and their families.
It is a peculiar position for a nation - the 2nd richest in the world - which
prides itself on advancement and where citizens enjoy an enviable standard of
life well into old age. The only other member of the G8 power group which
retains the death penalty is the US.
Yet capital punishment remains widely supported by the Japanese public and -
with no option for life imprisonment - judges face a choice between prison with
certain release or death for multiple killers.
In 2010, Japanese authorities took the unusual step of allowing journalists
into the Tokyo Detention House.
Pictures show a suite of rooms both mundane and deeply sinister.
Thick carpet, cedar floors and soft lighting evoke a hotel conference centre.
Not so the hooks on the walls where inmates are chained or the square trap door
at the centre of the execution chamber.
Red lines mark the spot where convicts stand with the noose around their necks.
The mechanism is triggered by 1 of 3 wall-mounted push buttons in a
neighbouring room all pressed simultaneously by 3 officers.
This is so no one officer knowns if he pressed the deadly button.
It is similar to the method used when capital punishment is carried out by a
firing squad ??? at least one of which will have a blank cartridge instead of a
live round.
The man who fired the fatal shot will never know.
Details of the process emerged in a piece by Charles Lane, who wrote: "At the
press of a button, a trap door directly under the prisoner swings open, and he
drops through a square hole in the cedar, or the carpet.
"The noose at the end of a slender beige rope tightens, the prisoner's neck
snaps, and he stops moving.
"His body dangles in a separate room downstairs, until the time comes for a
doctor to verify that he is dead.
"On this lower level, the environment is unadorned concrete. There is a drain
in the middle of the floor."
In 2013 Masahiko Fujita , 66, who served as an executioner in the 1970s while a
senior officer at the Osaka Detention House, recalled the face of one executed
convict, noting he was pale but "looked very peaceful."
"I'd rather be fishing": Memorable final words uttered by death row inmates
moments before they are executed
He said once the inmate is pronounced dead by a doctor, the rope is loosened
and his corpse is placed in a coffin.
Fujita said the rope is tied so its noose comes to the side of the neck, making
it look as if the condemned is bowing toward witnesses when dropped from the
upper floor.
The prisoner???s hands and legs are bound to prevent them from flailing, he
said.
There is a viewing window where officials can watch the hanging and the law
dictates prosecutors are sometimes required to serve as witnesses.
When a prosecutor returns to his office after an execution, he may find the
floor strewn with salt. It is an act of ritual purification.
On Thursday July 13, Nishikawa woke in his cell in Osaka Detention Centre to be
told his time had come. In Hiroshima, 34-year-old Sumida received the same
news.
There was time for a last meal - but not to say goodbye to their families in
the outside world.
On the way to the execution chamber is a sculpture of Kannon, the Buddhist
goddess of mercy. She was sentenced to death for refusing to marry the husband
her father chose for her - but the executioner's sword broke before he could
harm her.
She will be one of the last faces a condemned prisoner sees. They go blindfold
to the room where the hangman's noose awaits them.
(source: mirror.co.uk)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan hangs 465 people since 2014----Becomes the 5th most prolific
executioner in the world
Even though the death penalty has failed to curb crime, including terrorism, it
is exceedingly used as a political tool, sometimes even as a jail overcrowding
solution in Pakistan, said Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), an organization
working for prisoners' rights. According to its report, the country executed
465 people since the lifting of a moratorium on death penalty in 2014, thus
becoming the "5th most prolific executioner" in the world.
"It is a high number of the executions that made Pakistan 'fifth most prolific
executioner' in the world, following China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq," the
JPP report said.
A data analysis by the organization showed a total of 465 prisoners have been
executed during the last 2 1/2 years since the country lifted moratorium on
executions.
It said that the Pakistani government justifies the lifting of the moratorium
by claiming it is necessary to deter the terrorist threat to the country.
"The government is mostly hanging terrorists through military courts in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and through anti- terrorism courts in Sindh," the report said.
The maximum number of executions were carried out in the eastern Punjab
province which accounts for 83% of total executions, and 89 % of total death
sentences.
JPP Executive Director Sarah Belal said: "Pakistan's troubling and continued
use of the death penalty has continuously fallen short of meeting its
international human rights commitments and fair trial standards, as well as our
own domestic laws."
"The death penalty is not an effective tool to curb militancy and crime," she
said, adding that it is time for the stakeholders to commit to genuine reforms
in the criminal justice system, and until it is done, to restore the moratorium
on the death penalty.
Pakistan lifted a self-imposed moratorium on death penalty in terror related
cases in December 2014 after Taliban militants massacred at least 150 people,
mostly students, at an army-run school in Peshawar.
(source: Taiwan News)
******************
Pak Military Court Rejects Mercy Plea Of Kulbhushan Jadhav, Petition Now With
Army Chief----Military Court has rejected mercy petition of Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Bajwa is now considering the
appeal of former Indian Naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was awarded death
sentence for espionage by its military court.
"The petition of Indian national is now with COAS who'll decide soon. The Army
Chief is looking at each aspect of Jadhav's appeal,analysing the evidence and
will decide on merits",Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General
Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said.
Jadhav's clemency appeal has been rejected by the Military Appellate Court. If
his appeal for clemency is rejected by General Bajwa, he can then file another
mercy petition with President Mamnoon Hussain within 90 days of the Army Chief
deciding on his appeal.
Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that the authorities
are considering the Indian External Affairs Ministry's request of Jadhav's
mother to grant her a visa so that she could visit her son in prison.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, last week, took on Pakistani
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz for not
entertaining the request for visa to the mother of Jadhav, who has been
sentenced to death for alleged espionage.
Jadhav was arrested on March 3 last year from Balochistan allegedly for
espionage attributes. He was later awarded death sentence by a Pakistani
military court.
India had then moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the death
penalty and in its verdict on May 18 had restrained Pakistan from executing
Jadhav.
A leading Pakistani daily has voiced its support in favour of the alleged
Indian spy's mother, saying that she should be granted visa to visit Pakistan
on 'humanitarian grounds as this provides the latest opportunity for India and
Pakistan to back away from an increasingly confrontational stance against each
other.'
(source: outlookindia.com)
ZIMBABWE:
Double killer to hang
Robert Chiguma of Hwedza, who killed 2 people after being confronted over the
theft of a kitchen cabinet, has been sentenced to death.
Chiguma committed the offence on October 21, 2014 amid allegations that he had
stolen a kitchen cabinet from his neighbour.
The 2 victims were killed while trying to investigate the theft at community
level.
After the gruesome murder, Chiguma went on to steal bags of fertiliser and a
pair safety shoes belonging to the deceased.
High Court judge Justice Happias Zhou found Chiguma guilty of murder with
actual intent before slapping him with capital punishment.
The judge said under the circumstances, the death penalty was appropriate.
"While I accept that the Constitution gives the court the discretion as to
whether or not to pass the sentence of death, it would be a seriously improper
exercise of judicial discretion not to impose the death penalty in the
circumstances of this case, unless the accused person can show cause why the
sentence of death should not be passed in respect of each of the two counts of
murder," ruled Justice Zhou.
The court did not find any extenuating circumstances warranting a prison term.
"In the instant case, the court has already found that there are no extenuating
circumstances in respect of both counts," said the judge.
Justice Zhou said Chiguma killed innocent people who were merely accompanying a
neighbour to check on the suspicious kitchen cabinet.
"As regards aggravating circumstances, this court finds it to be more than
serious that the accused person killed the deceased persons for merely
accompanying a person who intended to make a genuine inquiry about a kitchen
cabinet which he believed to be his,"??? he said.
On the eve of the gruesome murder, one Khawun Mpofu was accompanied to
Chiguma's house by the 2 now deceased, Gilbert Maweto and Phineas Chiwande, to
investigate a matter involving the theft of a kitchen unit.
Upon their arrival, Mpofu positively identified his kitchen unit in the absence
of the accused.
The following day, Chiguma learnt that some men had inquired about the kitchen
cabinet and in a rage tracked down Maweto whom he allegedly struck several
times with a log, killing him in the process.
He stuffed the corpse in a fire vault and proceeded to Chiwande's house and
again assaulted him several times with a sharp object killing him before
dumping the body in a pool along a stream.
The 2 deceased's remains were located on October 24 and November 1, 2014.
In his defence, Chiguma argued he was forced to confess to the charges and to
plead guilty against his will.
He argued that he did not kill the duo even though they had problems over the
kitchen cabinet.
(source: The Herald)
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