Nov. 11
MAURITANIA:
Mauritanian prosecutors appeal sentence against 'blasphemy' blogger
Mauritanian prosecutors on Friday said they had appealed against a 2-year
prison term served on a blogger who had earlier received a death sentence for
blasphemy.
Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould Mkheitir was given the 2-year term on Thursday by an
appeals court in the northwest town of Nouadhibou.
"The prosecutors immediately filed an appeal to the Supreme Court" to ensure "a
sound and rigorous application of the law," prosecutors there said in a
statement.
Mkheitir has been in custody since January 2014 and thus was eligible for
immediate release after Thursday's ruling. He was also fined $169. His
whereabouts are not known.
A Muslim in his thirties, Mkheitir was sentenced to death in December 2014 over
a blog which questioned decisions taken by the Prophet Mohammed and his
companions during holy wars in the 7th century.
He also attacked the mistreatment of Mauritania's black population, blasting
"an iniquitous social order" with an underclass that was "marginalised and
discriminated against from birth."
His case has sparked outrage from rights activists but also fuelled demands for
the death sentence to be carried out in the deeply conservative Muslim country.
On April 21 2016, the court of appeal confirmed the death penalty, but
reclassified the crime from blasphemy to "unbelieving," for which the
punishment is less if the defendant repents.
The case was then sent to the Supreme Court, which on January 31 this year sent
it back to the appeals court "in order to correct mistakes made," without
elaboration.
Thursday's decision in favour of a jail term sparked scenes of outrage in court
and fresh demands for the blogger to be executed.
Appeals were launched on social media for Friday to be observed as a "day of
anger."
Security was beefed up in sensitive areas in the capital Nouakchott after
weekly Friday afternoon prayers.
Capital punishment in Mauritania, a vast, mainly desert state in west Africa,
is usually reserved for murder and acts of terrorism.
According to Amnesty, Mauritania last executed a prisoner in 1987.
Mkheitir on Wednesday told judges that he had "uncovered mistakes in his
article" which he "immediately corrected in another article.
He also expressed "every repentance and apologies" and assured the court of his
"faith in Allah and his prophet".
(source: news24.com)
EGYPT:
British tourist facing the death penalty for smuggling prescription pain
killers into Egypt is in 'good spirits' as 'crucial new evidence' is uncovered
that could help her be freed
Jailed holidaymaker Laura Plummer is in 'good spirits' as she awaits to find
out if she will continue to be locked up on drug smuggling charges in Egypt.
The 33 year old - who has been held for over a month in a hellhole jail - was
due to appear before a judge to find out if she would get bail or face being
locked up for another 15 days.
But amid much confusion her lawyer said she would not be brought to the court
today - although the judge could decide to review her case in her absence.
Ms Plummer, of Hull, east Yorkshire, claims she was bringing the 290 Tramadol
painkillers - which are banned in Egypt - into the country for her 'husband'
Omar Caboo, who suffers from chronic back pain.
New evidence submitted by Mr Caboo claim to prove his medical condition and
need for the pills. It is hoped that this evidence will be enough for an
Egyptian court to grant Ms Plummer her freedom.
The documents include X-rays, medical records and a marriage certificate -
crucial evidence because authorities believed her to be a smuggle with a
made-up spouse.
The shop girl, 33, has been locked up for a month after being arrested at
Hurghada International Airport when she was stopped by customs officers and
found with almost 300 of the powerful pain killers.
Egyptian Caboo, a hotel activities organiser, had requested them to relieve his
back pain.
Tramadol is on a list of banned drugs in Egypt as it is widely used by junkies
as a heroin substitute because it is so powerful.
Ms Plummer's worried relatives saw her as jail bosses mocked her complaints
about the 'hellhole' conditions, telling her: 'You're not staying in the
Sheraton!'
She has endured an ordeal of sharing a 15ft x 15ft cell with 25 other women in
sweltering heat and no air conditioning.
This afternoon her mother Roberta, sister Jayne Sinclair and brother Kirk were
pictured went to the prison for an hour long visit.
Staff at the prison on the outskirts of the city of Hurgharda showed little
sympathy for what the Egyptian media have called the 'Tramadol Tourist'.
Meanwhile, Ms Plummer was able to speak briefly to her mother Roberta today.
As she waited in the entrance hall of the chaotic Red Sea court her lawyer
handed her a mobile phone and told her Ms Plummer wanted to speak with her.
The mother's face lit up and she hurried off into a corner to speak with her
daughter.
Roberta later told MailOnline: 'She is much better today. Her spirits are
good'.
Roberta then booked herself a flight home on Sunday in the hope her daughter
might be granted bail in her court appearance.
She was due to fly back to the UK on Saturday night, but on the advice of her
daughter???s lawyer cancelled the flight to remain in Egypt.
Laura Plummer had been expected to appear at the court with her lawyer Mohamed
Osman presenting evidence that she was not a drug smuggler.
Her husband Mr Caboo, who fled Hurghada after she was arrested on October 9th,
came out of hiding to hand over medical evidence to prove he suffered chronic
back pain.
Another of her lawyers Tasha Shokry told MailOnline they had presented the
medical evidence to the prosecutor in the hope he will not object to a bail
application.
Osman said he had explained to Ms Plummer she might have to spend a further 15
days in jail while the judge decided what to do.
He said:' I have explained to Ms Plummer the procedure. She is still under
criminal investigation and until that has been completed she faces staying in
jail.
'The judge can extend her to stay for another 15 days or he can make it 30
days. The maximum she can be held is 3 months or it has to go to trial.'
Police at the court had been preparing for Ms Plummer's arrival today with a
dozen gun toting men standing guard at the rear entrance where prisoners in
shackles are brought.
But after two hours when it became apparent Ms Plummer was not being driven the
five miles from the police detention centre to the court they were stood down.
Osman said Ms Plummer could still be brought to the court on Sunday but there
was no certainty the judge would request her presence.
Her family are pinning their hopes on the shop worker from Hull being granted
bail.
Her Mum Roberta, sister Jayne and brother Kirk flew to Egypt in the hope of
seeing her released.
Her case was postponed on Thursday and Kirk and Jayne flew back to the U.K. on
Friday night.
Her mum is due to fly home tonight but made a last minute dash to the prison to
take her food and say an emotional farewell.
Her lawyer Mohamed Osman has warned that she could still be locked up for seven
years even if she is cleared of any crime.
And she faces the death penalty if court rules that she was trying to sell the
drugs.
A legal source said she was being treated as an 'international drug smuggler.'
(source: dailymail.co.uk)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan allows Indian spy's wife to meet with him
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry says Islamabad on "humanitarian grounds" has
allowed the wife of an Indian naval officer who faces death penalty for
espionage and sabotage to meet with him.
In a statement late Friday, the ministry said Pakistan has informed the Indian
High Commission about its decision.
The development came months after the wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav requested
Pakistan to allow her to meet with him.
Jadhav was arrested in March 2016 and has been convicted and sentenced to death
by a military tribunal.
Pakistan says Jadhav was working for the Indian spy agency, called RAW.
Jadhav in a mercy petition has asked Pakistan to spare his life, but
authorities have not taken any final decision yet.
(source: Associated Press)
INDIA:
Ahmednagar Court awards death sentence to 3 in rape & murder case
A local court in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra on Friday awarded the death
sentence to 3 men convicts of the tragic 2014 Loni Mawala gang rape and murder
case.
On 22nd august 2014, a 15 year old girl was gangraped and brutually murdered by
3 men in Lonimawala area of the district.
3 years after the barbaric lonimawala rape and murder case, Ahmednagar district
and sessions court judge Suwarn Kewale has awarded death penalty to the 3 main
accused, Santosh Lonkar, Mangesh Lonkar and Datta Shinde.
Public prosecutor said that the investigation was able to furnish
incontrovertible evidence and along with the 3 main accused, their 3
accomplices were awarded life imprisonment for attempt to destroy the evidence.
The state had appointed noted criminal lawyer Ujjwal Nikam to argue the case.
The parents of the child are happy that justice has been done.
On August 22, 2014 a teenage girl was abducted, raped and brutally tortured to
death in lonimawala village in Ahmednagar district while she was going back to
home after school.
The savagery with the victim created an uproar in the state with many sections
of the society demanding stringent punishment for the accused.
Though the sessions court has delivered its judgement, the accused can move
high court against the verdict.
(source: ddinews.gov.in)
******************
SC gives time to Centre to reply to plea against hanging
The Supreme Court today granted 6 weeks to the Centre to file its response to a
plea which seeks to set aside the legal provision that a death row convict
would only be hanged to death.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D
Y Chandrachud allowed more time to the Centre on the PIL, which also refers to
the 187th Report of the Law Commission advocating removal of the present mode
of execution from the statute.
The apex court had earlier termed the Constitution as a "compassionate" and
"organic" guiding book and said the legislature could think of changing the law
so that a convict, facing death penalty, dies "in peace and not in pain".
On October 6, the apex court sought the Centre's response on the plea filed in
personal capacity by lawyer Rishi Malhotra which referred to Article 21 (Right
to Life) of the Constitution and said it also included the right of a condemned
prisoner to have a dignified mode of execution so that death becomes less
painful.
The plea said the Law Commission report had noted a significant increase in the
number of countries where hanging has been abolished and substituted by
electrocution, shooting or lethal injection as methods of execution.
The lawyer also referred to various apex court judgements in which the practise
of hanging a death row convict has been assailed.
The plea said "dying with dignity is part of right to life" and the present
practice of executing a death row convict by hanging involves "prolonged pain
and suffering".
The present procedure can be replaced with intravenous lethal injection,
shooting, electrocution or gas chamber in which death is just a matter of
minutes, it said.
The PIL sought quashing of section 354(5) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which
states that when a person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that
he be hanged by the neck till he is dead.
It said execution was not only "barbaric, inhuman and cruel", but also against
the resolutions adopted by the United Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC).
The plea also said that execution should be as quick and as simple as possible
and free from anything that unnecessarily sharpened the poignancy of the
prisoner's apprehension.
It sought to declare "right to die by a dignified procedure of death as a
fundamental right as defined under Article 21 of the Constitution".
"This also includes the right to a dignified life up to the point of death
including a dignified procedure of death.
In other words, this may include the right of a dying man to also die with
dignity when his life is ebbing out," it added.
Drawing a comparison, the petition said that while in hanging, the entire
execution process takes over 40 minutes to declare prisoner dead, the shooting
process involves not more than a few minutes. In case of intravenous lethal
injection, it is all over in 5 minutes.
"The Act of the execution should produce immediate unconsciousness passing
quickly into the death. It should be decent. It should not involve mutilation,"
the plea added.
(source: Press Trust of India)
TAIWAN:
Waking from a Nightmare, 16 Years on Death Row in Taiwan
As a Taiwanese man wrongly held for murder readjusts to society, he has been
awarded a record settlement by the courts.
Hsu Tzu-chiang, held for the kidnap and murder of a businessman for 16 years,
was awarded a record settlement by a judicial review panel on Nov. 9, 2017. The
compensation totals NT$28.12 million (US$932,072) - NT$5000 for each day he was
jailed.
Below is an interview The News Lens conducted with Hsu late last year:
There was a time when Hsu Tzu-chiang woke up, quietly put on his best suit, and
then sat by himself for hours, waiting to be executed.
After the "normal" period when someone was likely taken to be killed passed, he
would return to his cell, slowly remove the clothing, carefully fold it, and
put it back under his bed, ready for the next day.
"How long exactly? I can't remember, but this lasted for a couple of months,"
Hsu, 48, told The News Lens International in Taipei.
It was during the early years of a 16-year stretch on death row, when he was
"numb," when he thought "sooner or later" he would be executed. And in Taiwan,
the condemned are allowed to wear their best clothing on their execution day.
Hsu, along with 2 others, was sentenced to death for the September 1995 kidnap
and murder of businessman Huang Chun-shu. No material evidence was found
connecting Hsu to the murder, but the confession of a codefendant - thought by
some to be extracted during torture by the police - implicated Hsu. Fearing
torture, Hsu went into hiding for months before he turned himself in, in June
1996.
Hsu, who has always maintained his innocence, is very lucky his execution was
never carried out; more than 150 people were executed in Taiwan during the time
he was in prison. While his case was eventually championed by lawyers and
activists, and become synonymous with human rights and legal reform in Taiwan,
for the 1st 5 years of his sentence he was just another man on death row.
The nightmare
Hsu's case, as the Judicial Reform Foundation puts it, "repeatedly bounced back
and forth" between the High Court and Supreme Court. In his 1st 6 trials, he
was found guilty and given the death sentence.
Hsu says he reached his "lowest point" after the guilty verdict was first
handed down.
"One part of me was saying 'come and kill me now,' another was saying, 'maybe
take me tomorrow, maybe I can see my family again,'" he says.
Throughout the rest of his time behind bars, seeing his family would continue
to take him back to that nadir, the most painful part of his experience.
"You go to the visiting room with a very happy feeling, but you leave feeling
like that might be the last time you will see your family."
Aside from the very real danger of execution, Hsu's years in the detention
center - where Taiwan's death row prisoners are held - appear to be
characterized by waiting, eating, smoking and waiting. He tried to keep fit,
running on the spot in his cell. If it was not raining, prisoners were allowed
outside for around 30 minutes a day - though he notes at 1 detention center
with no outdoor area he was indoors for 8 months straight.
For the most part, he just waited; waited to eat and waited for his name to be
called - a headcount is taken every time a guards take a break or changes
shift. Some guards would give inmates cigarettes to smoke in their cell, as
long as they did not tell anyone about it.
"Who was I going to tell?"
Some prisoners had mini portable televisions, but the cost of batteries
prohibited most from watching often.
"Everything costs money. Toilet paper too; the government did not provide
that," he says.
Hsu says during the first few years he was locked up, the guards could beat
prisoners with an apparent impunity - when asked what they did to prisoners he
replies, "The question is, what wouldn't they do?"
However, because most of the men in the detention center were "without
tomorrow," disputes between prisoners or with the guards were rare, he says.
"Those people don't really have hope anymore; they don't start fights, they
don't argue as often as in a normal prison," he says.
Medical problems, however, were common and very slow to be resolved. Hsu
recalls toothaches, in particular, as the worst physical torment he suffered.
Prisoners with a health complaint had to first fill out a form and then await
treatment. If their pain was obvious, guards dished out a few painkillers, but
seeing a health professional could be weeks away - Hsu knows of an instance
when someone waited 2 months. Unsurprisingly, prisoners took matters into their
own hands. Hsu knocked out 2 of his own teeth during his incarceration.
More than 10 years of cold showers came to an end after Taiwan's former
president Chen Shui-bian - charged with corruption upon leaving office - joined
the men in detention in late 2008.
No light at the end of the tunnel
As the years crawled by - waiting, eating, smoking and waiting - Hsu's case
continued to ping-pong in the courts, with appeal after appeal.
A 2001 report from Taiwan's ombudsman agency - the Control Yuan - found flaws
in the confessions of his codefendants and in the handling of the case,
including the fact authorities had ignored arguments that Hsu was not at the
scene of the murder.
In a 2004 interpretation, the country's constitutional court - also known as
the Council of Grand Justices - ruled the use the confessions of codefendants
alone was not strong enough evidence to incriminate a defendant. Despite what
could be seen as progress - that ruling has had a significant impact on
Taiwan's legal system - Hsu was not confident of ever being freed.
"I was always very confident in my own case, but I was always very disappointed
with the judges. I didn't have any confidence in the judges," he says.
He was right to be wary. The Supreme Court reopened the case in 2005 and sent
it back to the High Court for a 6th retrial. The trial took 4 years and, again,
resulted in the death penalty.
In the early years, Hsu says being inside and innocent, was "very difficult,
very hard, very painful."
"There is no light on the other side of the tunnel. You cannot see hope," he
says. "[In 1996] I turned myself in to explain the case, because I believed in
the courts. Then I went there and realized the reality of the court was not how
I imagined."
Watching his family continue to help pay for the costly legal bills was also
particularly hard.
'I didn't want my family members to pay for something that did not have any
hope of succeeding," he says. "At that time, I just wanted to end the pain."
Despite the positive ombudsman???s findings and the constitutional ruling, Hsu
says he did not feel much in the way of hope. He had for a long time been
moving "one day at a time."
"I didn't really look forward to the result, I had already given up," he says.
"When I went to court the judges would say, 'You have to prove you didn't do
it.' But I can't prove something that I didn't do." In late 2011, Hsu had been
again found guilty of blackmail and kidnapping, but not murder, and was instead
sentenced to life in prison. While the High Court in May 2012 upheld that
sentence, he was released according to a then-new Fair and Speedy Criminal
Trials Act.
In May 2012, Hsu emerged from the detention center into a wet Taipei evening.
Pale and dazed, he fronted media briefly before being whisked away by his
supporters.
In the preceding months and days, even as it looked like a release from prison
may be possible, Hsu, accustomed to disappointment, kept calm and his
expectations low.
"I didn't look forward, I didn't look back," he says. "I was not too
optimistic, nor too upset about it."
Looking back now, Hsu's memory of his first few hours of freedom is "blurry."
"I didn't feel really happy," he says. "I didn't believe I was walking outside
the prison. I remember that there were a lot of people. Other than that, I
don't really remember."
Today, Hsu's friends say he looks like a different person. His face is somewhat
ageless for a lack of facial hair and a healthy tan. His hair is stylishly cut
and he wears tortoise-shell rimmed glasses. On the day of the interview, Hsu is
wearing white K-Swiss shoes, tight-fitting jeans and a casual green shirt with
white trim.
Appearances aside, assimilation into society has not been easy. Hsu says it
took him at least one year before he could really believe he was no longer in
prison.
"When I was inside, I often dreamed of being out, free. Then I would wake up
and still be in prison. When I finally got out, I was reluctant to go to sleep
at night, because I was afraid to dream and wake up back inside the prison," he
says.
Of course, the nightmare did continue. Hsu was out and working at the Judicial
Reform Foundation, but prosecutors continued to pursue his case. In 2015, the
High Court finally found Hsu not guilty. But that decision was appealed. It was
not until Oct. 13 this year, when the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, and the
case against him was finally closed after the 9th retrial.
Hsu has now been out of jail for 4 years, but he continued to have "some
feeling of not being free."
He says it is difficult to describe exactly how he feels now, or whether
anything has changed since that final decision.
"It doesn't really feel that real, yet. It seems like it is over, but I don't
know," he says. "Everything is about the same. But something inside my heart,
something has disappeared. A feeling of bondage or confinement has gone."
Even now, however, he is still adjusting to freedom. He is reluctant to leave
his house alone and does not always feel secure without friends around. It
takes him some time to answer questions; he speaks quietly, chooses words
cautiously and takes long pauses. There remains a sense of bemusement; could he
be the person answering questions about the life of one of Taiwan's most famous
death row inmates?
He has low expectations about the chances of compensation from the state.
"How are they going to compensate? A lot of things, you cannot really
compensate with money."
Hsu will continue to fight for other innocent people behind bars. In this
endeavor, he is, perhaps, motivated by wanting to repay those that helped him
fight, as much as in response to his own desperate frustration with the court
system, and the judges in particular.
He wants to see major judicial reform. He says "the whole structure has
problems," but he stresses, the key problem is "always about the people."
He believes his case should have been easy to deal with, but the judges would
not admit they were wrong.
"I don't want anyone to have to walk the same path as me," he says.
When he is with his family, Hsu says, he does not talk about what they have
gone through in the past. They do not talk about prison.
"We only talk about the future. We look forward. We treasure the moment
together." Special acknowledgment: Yi Pan and the Taiwan Alliance to End the
Death Penalty for translation assistance.
(source: The News Lens)
INDONESIA:
Papua Police Issue Wanted List of 21 Militants
Police on Saturday (11/11) issued a wanted list of 21 people from an armed
group that is besieging 2 villages in Timika, Papua.
The militants have cut access to 1,300 residents of Banti and Kimbely near the
Utikini river in Tembagapura district, next to the Grasberg copper mine
operated by the Indonesian unit of US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan.
"Around 100 people came to the location [the villages]. Those with criminal
record are on the wanted list," Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar
told reporters in a WhatsApp message.
According to Boy, almost all of the militants carry weapons.
"We want to capture them," he said.
The men do not let the villagers out since Tuesday. Among the residents are 300
specialized gold miners.
Police believe the wanted militants are led by Sabinus Waker, who tops the
list. They are accused of murder, shootings and illegal gun ownership, and may
face the death penalty, if convicted.
According to the police, Sabinus and his men attacked policemen and Freeport
Indonesia staff in a series of shootings in October, killing 1 officer.
(source: Jakarta Globe)
TANZANIA:
Tanzania sentences 34 people to death for killing albinos
Tanzania's Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) said on Thursday
at least 34 people have been sentenced to death by hanging during for killing
people with albinism in the country.
Beatrice Mpembo, a state attorney from the DPP, told a two-day consultative
meeting to strategise on countering brutality and killings of people with
albinism that the convictions were from 2006 to 2016.
"Several other cases of people accused of killing people with albinism are
still pending in courts throughout the country," Mpembo said.
She told the meeting organised by Tanzania Commission for Human Rights and Good
Governance in the political capital Dodoma that 67 cases of the killings of
people with albinism were still pending in courts across the country.
Mpembo said her office has been facing difficulties in administering cases
related to the killings of people with albinism and attacks on such people due
to insufficient evidence.
"Most cases related to the killings of people with albinism involve some family
members, as a result it has been difficult to get sufficient evidence due to
lack of cooperation from the relatives thus contributing to delays in
delivering ruling on the cases," Mpembo said.
She said the worst of such killings was recorded in the east African country in
2008 where some 19 people with albinism were killed.
Ralph Meela, a senior police officer in charge of Offences Against Persons and
Traffic Related Offences, said people with albinism or mothers with children
born with the genetic disorder have been denied their rights.
"These people fail to take appropriate action because they lack awareness of
their rights," said Meela.
He said there was need to raise public awareness on the killings of people with
albinism throughout the country because the police could not eliminate the
problem single-handedly.
Killings of albinos have been driven by the belief advanced by some witch
doctors that the body parts of people with albinism have properties that confer
wealth and good luck.
(source: premiumtimesng.com)
ZIMBABWE:
ZPCS sued over death row inmates
A group of lawyers doing public interest litigation for free have taken the
Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) to court challenging its
decision to deny them access to about 90 death row inmates at Harare Remand
Prison who they intend to provide legal counsel in defence of their right to
life.
Tendai Biti Law Firm is currently representing 17 others who are locked up at
Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison pending Constitutional Court challenges but
ZPCS Commissioner-General Retired Major-General Paradzai Zimondi had denied the
lawyers access to those awaiting execution at Harare Remand Prison.
The lawyers argued that Government was finalising the recruitment of a hangman
for the purposes of commencing the execution of the condemned inmates. They
also argued that the recent public call by President Mugabe for the restoration
of the full effects of death penalty, with all its conditions that existed
prior to the adoption of the new Constitution in 2013, was also an indication
that execution was now imminent.
To that end, the lawyers filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court
seeking an order compelling Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS)
to allow them access to their clients and all other inmates awaiting capital
punishment, in defence of their constitutional right to life. In the urgent
chamber application filed on Thursday, the law firm cited ZPCS and its Comm-Gen
Retired Maj-Gen Paradzai Zimondi as respondents.
The lawyers, in the interim, want the court to compel ZPCS to allow them to
visit all the death row inmates, interview them and to inform them of their
rights. They are seeking costs against Comm-Gen Zimondi on a punitive scale
because, according to the lawyers, he has acted in a manner that disrespects
the fundamental rights, freedoms, democratic values and principles as enshrined
in the supreme law of the country.
The law firm, which does public interest litigation for free, has represented
at least 17 prisoners at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison and some of their
challenges are still pending at the Constitutional Court. When the 17 were
represented by the same lawyers years back, Comm-Gen Zimondi granted access and
allowed the law firm to file court applications on the prisoners' behalf.
Tendai Biti Law Firm argued in its papers that the prisons boss was
discriminating against about 90 other prisoners who are locked up at Harare
Central Prison by denying the lawyers access to them.
???We contend that the position taken by first respondent (Comm-Gen Zimondi) is
totally unreasonable, grossly irrational and ridiculous to say the least. For
status, first respondent???s actions discriminate against prisoners at Harare
Remand Prison. At Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, he allowed us access and
we have been able to work with these prisoners.
"He cannot deny the prisoners at Harare Remand Prison the same benefit," reads
the papers.
The lawyers said Comm-Gen Zimondi was breaching the right to equal protection
to death row prisoners at Harare Remand Prison as guaranteed by Section 56 of
the Constitution.
The right to a legal practitioner of their choice was also being violated by
the ZPCS boss' decision.
"Every prisoner enjoys the right to challenge his condition in terms of the
Constitution. The prisoner cannot exercise such right without information and
without legal advice. By denying us the right and opportunity of conversing
with those prisoners, the first respondent is breaching their rights," the
lawyers argued.
Comm-Gen Zimondi, the lawyers argued, has dismally failed to uphold the
Constitution.
"We find it extremely ridiculous that 37 years after independence, a freedom
fighter such as the first respondent can adopt the attitude reflected in his
letter of the 31st of October 2017. He failed and failed dismally to uphold the
Constitution. His conduct is shameful, crass and regrettable and this is why we
seek costs against him in this application to be paid on a scale as between
attorney and client," reads the court papers.
The application is yet to be set down for hearing at the High Court.
(source: herald.co.zw)
_______________________________________________
A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
