Jan. 18
IRAN:
Execution of the Juvenile Offender Postponed in Iran
The execution of Abolfazl Chezahi Sharahi, a Juvenile-offender who was in a
death-row to be executed this morning at Qom Central Prison, was delayed for
unknown reasons. A day before, the IHR and other international organizations
called for immediate action of the international community.
According to a close source, authorities had informed Abolfazl Chezahi
Sharahi's family that his execution was scheduled to be carried out on
Wednesday, January 17. However, the execution of this juvenile-offender was
delayed today for unknown reasons. However, he still stays in danger of
execution.
Abolfazl is sentenced to death on the charge of murder during a street fight.
He was born on January 16, 1999, and he was only 15 at the time of committing
the crime on December 26, 2013.
His public defender asked for a checkup by the forensics on July 20, 2014, and
the forensics report states: "The 15-year-old defendant who committed murder
last winter, is mentally mature and aware of his action (murder)."
The juvenile offender is now 19 and is held at Qom Central Prison (Langaroud).
Abolfazl could not afford a lawyer; Therefore, Iran Human Rights (IHR) asks
Human Rights lawyers who have had similar cases before, to handle his case on
the humanitarian basis.
According to the Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 5
juveniles have been executed in 2017. The international laws ban the execution
of juveniles.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
ISRAEL:
Progressively Speaking: Should Israel bring in the death penalty for
terrorists?----Rabbi Rene Pfertzel reflects on a topical issue with a
progressive Jewish response
The State of Israel abolished the death penalty in 1954, except for crimes
against humanity.
To this day, only Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962 has been executed.
An amendment to the penal code brought by Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman
has been given preliminary approval by the Knesset.
If fully accepted - after 3 more readings - it would allow a majority verdict
in a military court to apply the death penalty to those convicted of terrorism.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted for the motion, saying that
while the legislation required deeper discussion "in extreme cases, when
somebody slaughters and laughs (as he kills), he should not spend the rest of
his time in jail and should be executed".
However abolition of the death penalty has been a common trend in most of the
Western democracies.
The reason for this can be found in Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5, which states: "Know
that capital cases are not like monetary ones. In monetary cases, [a false
witness] can return the money and achieve atonement. But in capital cases, the
blood [of the victim] and all his future offspring hang upon you until the end
of time."
Even though Biblical law mandates the death penalty for 36 offences, the rabbis
who contributed to the Talmud created so many barriers that it is almost
impossible to implement it.
Mishnah Makkot 1:10 states: "A Sanhedrin (court) that would execute somebody
once in seven years would be considered destructive.
Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah says, once in 70 years. Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiba
said, if we were on the Sanhedrin, nobody would have ever been executed".
There is another element to consider. This amendment concerns military court.
In any democracy, military justice can only be exceptional. It is even more so
the case about death penalty. If civil courts do not apply death penalty, why
should a military court?
The main purpose of Tsahal (the Israel Defence Forces) is to defend Israel
against its enemies, not to implement a "justice d'exception".
Terrorism is a disease that has to be met with ruthless justice. They threaten
our way of life; they kill blindly; they are the negation of our values. And
they seek martyrdom!
Let us not offer them what they ultimately want, and let them not drag us down
to their level.
(source: Rabbi Rene Pfertzel is rabbi at Kingston Liberal
Synagogue----timesofisrael.com)
SAUDI ARABIIA:
Sorrow stalks Saudi woman who married death row prisoner
The wife of a Saudi death row prisoner, who has been held behind bars for more
than 15 years, has appealed to the supreme authorities for pardoning her
husband of 10 years on humanitarian grounds.
Zahour married her husband Jameel, who is 54 years now, in 2007 at the high
security Briman Prison in Jeddah while he was serving a life sentence following
his conviction in a notorious bank heist in the city.
Jameel and his 3 accomplices were arrested over two bank robberies in March
2003. The General Court in Jeddah found them guilty of robbing SR180,000 from
the branches of Banque Saudi Fransi and Al-Rajhi Bank, and sentenced them to
life imprisonment. However, following an appeal the High Court in Jeddah
changed the life sentence to the death penalty after years of deliberations.
Meanwhile, Zahour had been seeing her husband in the prison taking advantage of
the Shariah provision for privacy for married couples during prison visits. As
a result she became pregnant twice and gave birth to a son and daughter, who
are now 8 and 6 years old.
Zahour was shocked when she learned that her husband's life sentence was
increased to capital punishment following the appeal hearing.
"I have become a widow and a mother of 2 orphans even though my husband is
still alive albeit in prison," said Zahour, who is almost blinded by tears of
sorrow and anguish.
She said her dreams of living with her husband upon his release were dashed
when the appeals court judge handed down the death sentence.
Zahour is calling on the supreme authorities to commute her husband's death
sentence and let him complete his life imprisonment, of which he has already
served 16 years.
"My children and I are appealing to the supreme authorities to pardon Jameel so
that he can come back to his family," she said.
Jameel, the longest serving prisoner in Briman, may be executed any time, but
for intervention by the higher authorities in his case.
Jameel had 3 children from his 1st wife, whom he had divorced. The eldest of
them was a daughter, who is in her 20s now.
Okaz/Saudi Gazette visited Zahour at her home in Jeddah. She lives in a
miserable condition amid poverty and destitution.
She said she lived on assistance from social security, which was far from
enough to meet her rising expenses.
She said her husband lived with one kidney after he donated the other to his
youngest sister 2 years before he went to prison.
Jameel is now the head of the barracks No. 12 in Briman Prison. He starts his
day by waking up his inmates for the Fajr prayer after which he returns to his
routine. He asks his fellow inmates to attend the Qur'an memorization circles
and listen to religious lectures.
2 prominent lawyers said since Jameel's capital punishment was based on a
discretionary court ruling and did not involve any private rights, he could be
pardoned by the ruler.
Lawyer Saad Misfir Al-Maliki said the concept of presidential or royal pardon
existed in the criminal justice systems of all countries and governments at all
times.
According to Al-Maliki, in an Islamic system the ruler reserves the right to
overturn a death sentence and commute it to imprisonment or any other
punishment if the sentence was discretionary and the crime involved only public
rights. However, the ruler cannot pardon sentences based on Hudud laws (a set
of crime and punishments specified in the Qur'an).
Well-known lawyer Majed Garoub agreed. He said the country's ruler reserved the
absolute right to pardon anyone convicted of a crime and serving a
discretionary sentence passed by a court in the public interest.
The ruler can commute the death sentence in view of the humanitarian and social
circumstances of a convicted prisoner, he added.
(source: Saudi Gazette)
BANGLADESH:
HC upholds death penalty of 2 for raping, killing minor
According to the case statement, the convicts killed a 7-year old child,
Alpona, after raping her in a jute field at Mahespur in Jhenaidah in 2008
The High Court on Thursday upheld the death sentence of 2 people for killing a
7-year-old girl in Jhenaidah after raping her in 2008.
The division bench of Justice Md Ruhul Kuddus and Justice Bhasmi Deb
Chakrabarty upheld the trial court verdict after disposing of appeal petition
by the perpetrators.
The death row inmates are Md Saiful Islam and Md Arif Hossain.
According to the case statement, the convicts killed a 7-year old child,
Alpona, after raping her in a jute field at Mahespur in Jhenaidah in 2008.
Later in 2011, a Jhenaidah court sentenced the duo to death over the rape and
murder case.
(source: Dhaka Tribune)
MALAYSIA:
Malaysian, 4 Indian nationals to hang for drug trafficking----The High Court
sentenced 5 men to hang after being found guilty on 2 counts of trafficking
5.8kg of drugs at a house in Semenyih.
A local man and 4 Indian nationals were sent to the gallows by the High Court
here today after being found guilty on 2 counts of trafficking 5.8kg of drugs
at a house which doubled as a drug processing laboratory 5 years ago.
Judge Datuk Ghazali Cha handed down the sentence to A. Sargunan, 42, and four
Indian nationals, namely Sumesh Sudhakaran, 30, Alex Aby Jacob Alexander, 37,
Renjith Raveendran, 28, and Sajith Sadanandan, 29, after finding that the
defence had failed to raise reasonable doubts against the prosecution's case.
A total of 13 prosecution witnesses and 9 defence witnesses were called to
testify in the trial which began on March 1, 2016.
All the men were convicted of trafficking in methamphetamine weighing 4.3kg and
ketamine weighing 1.5kg at the house in Jalan Sungai Lalang, Semenyih, at
around 9am on July 26, 2013.
They were charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952,
which carries a mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
In his judgment, judge Ghazali said after hearing the argument from both sides,
he found that there was an undisputed fact in the case, namely all the accused
were at the scene when arrested.
In addition, he said another undisputed fact was that the premises was indeed
used for processing drugs as the methamphetamine was found exposed on the table
and the ketamin, under the staircase.
"Based on the evidence, the court also found that all DNA profiles taken at the
scene had been linked to all the accused, such as towels, gloves and
toothbrushes. which have been proven by the chemist.
"Apart from that, it also cannot be disputed that the premises was always
locked and the doors shut tightly with all the accused working only at midnight
and early mornings.
"Although the accused said that they were at the premises for cleaning work and
had other work shifts, it was supported by other evidence," he said.
On Sargunan's defence that he worked as a taxi driver and happened to be at the
scene, the judge found his testimony to be a mere fabrication as the man's DNA
profile was found on towels and shirts found at the premises.
He also said that the evidence of all the 4 Indian nationals were unreliable as
it contradicted their previous recorded statements.
"It is impossible that they do not know the house is a drug processing lab.
They all had access to the items in the premises including the drugs.
"Since there is only one sentence provided for under Section 39B of the Act,
the court hereby sentences all the accused to death," he said.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Deepa Nair Thevaharan
while Sargunan was represented by lawyers Datuk N. Sivananthan and Low Huey
Theng.
The 4 Indian nationals were represented by counsel Jayarubbiny Jayaraj.
(source: themalaymailonline.com)
BOTSWANA:
Botswana brushes off calls to scrap death penalty
Botswana on Wednesday brushed off international calls to scrap the death
penalty, saying it is not an abuse of individual human rights.Delegates to the
ongoing 29th session of the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland
Wednesday called on countries exercising the death penalty to abolish it since
it flies in the face of the human rights of individuals concerned.
However, in his response, Botswana's Minister of Nationality, Immigration and
Gender Affairs, Edwin Batshu told delegates that while his country does not
begrudge those who have abolished it or imposed a moratorium on executions, it
equally expects that they too should respect the Southern African nation's
right to determine whether it abolishes or retains it.
"My country's view on the question of death penalty remains unchanged, and it
remains a competent sentence under the laws of Botswana," Batshu added.
He said, Botswana is of the view that the death penalty is not a human rights
violation, or a form of torture, but rather a matter of criminal justice.
"Like every country, we retain the sovereign right to independently decide our
own criminal justice system, including the retention of the death penalty,"
Batshu emphasised.
According to him, the government intends to hold public debates on the death
penalty over the coming period, and Botswana would welcome technical and
financial assistance to carry out such an exercise.
Botswana is one of the few democracies where capital punishment is in force and
is applied under aggravated circumstances through hanging.
The country's last application of the death penalty was in 2016.
(source: journalducameroun.com)
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