May 8
INDONESIA:
3 Taiwanese get death for smuggling 1 ton of crystal meth
3 Taiwanese get death for smuggling 1 ton of crystal meth Taiwanese defendants
sit in a hearing in South Jakarta District Court on April 26 for alleged drug
smuggling. 3 of them have been found guilty and sentenced to death.
A panel of judges at the South Jakarta District court handed down the death
penalty on Thursday to 3 Taiwanese standing trial for their roles in smuggling
crystal methamphetamine in July last year.
The 3 were identified as Liao Guan Yu, Chen Wei Cyuan and Hsu Yung Li.
"The defendants have been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," presiding
judge Efendi Mukhtar read out the verdict.
While there was no mitigating factor to hand down a lighter sentence, the judge
said the crime had contravened government efforts to fight illegal drugs and
could harm the country's future generations.
According to a statement in the previous hearing, the 3 men were waiting in
Anyer Beach in the province of Banten for the 5 other suspects to offload the
amphetamines from a Taiwanese yacht. The police said the drugs weighed 1 metric
ton and were worth Rp 2 trillion (US$143.9 million).
The 3 remained silent when a translator delivered the judge's verdict.
The court will issue another verdict to the other 5 in a separate hearing on
Thursday.
*******************
Antigraft activist Abraham Samad demands death sentence for corruption convicts
Former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Abraham Samad called
for the implementation of the death penalty for corruption convicts during a
speech in which he declared his intention to run as a presidential candidate,
in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Monday.
"Corruptors must be given a severe punishment [...] and their assets must be
confiscated by the state. Implement the death penalty for corruptors, if
necessary. This can provide legal certainty," said Abraham.
He further said corruption had damaged the country and led to poverty, causing
the state to lose its authority.
"How can we get out of this slump? The only answer is by combating corruption.
Whatever the way is, no matter how scary the risk is, we must fight against
corruption," he said.
The Eastern Indonesian People's Coalition declared its support for Abraham
Samad to run as a presidential candidate at Losari Beach in Makassar on Monday
afternoon.
The coalition said Indonesia needed a tough and brave leader with integrity and
a strong commitment to combating corruption. Abraham was a figure with all of
those leadership qualities, it stated.
During his speech, Abraham also said politics must bring the nation to
prosperity. Politics that only cared about money must be banished since it
would only fool and mislead the people, he said.
In 2015, Abraham and former KPK commissioner Bambang Widjajanto, along with KPK
investigator Novel Baswedan, were arrested by the police over suspected law
violations. Human rights organizations called the police???s move an effort to
criminalize the KPK leaders.
(source for both: The Jakarta Post)
BANGLADESH:
2 get death for killing A-level student in Dhaka
The High Court today handed down death penalty to 2 people and life-term jail
to 2 others for the killing Ashikur Rahman Khan Apu, an A-level student, in
Dhaka's Wari area in 2008.
The HC bench of Justice Md Ruhul Quddus and Justice Bhishma Dev Chakrabortty
came up with the verdict after hearing the death reference of the case and the
appeals filed by the convicted accused challenging the trial verdict on them.
Deputy Attorney General Moniruzzaman Rubel said the HC upheld the death penalty
of Monjurul Abedin Russell and Nawshad Hossain Mollah alias Robin as they were
directly involved in the killing and the allegations brought against them were
proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Apu was shot dead and his 2 brothers Arifur Rahman Khan Setu and Atikur Rahman
Khan Bappy were injured in a gun attack in front of their house at Wari
locality on May 23, 2008.
The lower court rewarded life imprisonment to Mahbub and Biplob and it will
remain in force, DAG Moniruzzaman said. (source: The Daily Star)
INDIA:
Death penalty for culprits in rape cases not a solution
If and when crime takes place the conviction rate should go up and the current
pendency of cases in the courts should be brought down.
An ordinance passed on April 21, 2018 allowing courts to pronounce death
penalty for those convicted of raping children below the age of 12 years raises
many questions about protection of children against sexual assault and of
whether if what law prescribes is the actual reality of justice given to the
assaulted.
Will this demand for extreme punishment be able to safeguard the female sex
from sexual atrocities, especially when such crimes are under reported and the
victim fearful of the case going public? In addition is the unfortunate reality
of the offenders being known to the victims in majority of the cases and at
times is a close relative or a friend. Further is the question that even if the
law is made stringent, will it be able to cover the loopholes which generally
come in the way of legal recourse in seeking justice in our country. Many
experts against death penalty also argue that such an ordinance will encourage
rapists to become murderers as leaving no trace behind would be better than
allowing the victim to live. Above all we are faced with the grim reality of
whether the kind of measures we adopt to protect the victims and provide
justice can become part of the much needed support system for the victim to get
back to normal life.
Evidence from many parts of the world indicate that increasing the severity of
punishment for rape perpetrators is not a solution in the interest of the
victim nor the society as a whole. Convictions take a long time and the process
of seeking justice not only has adverse impact on the victim but generally is
devoid of any support to the rape victim nor lessens the trauma experienced as
part of the incident and thereafter in getting the perpetrator taken to task.
The process of filing a complaint, dealing with police investigations, medical
examinations and appearing in courts many times, going through the legal
interrogations are a daunting experience for the victim which needs to be
tackled more than having a provision for death penalty for the perpetrators.
Rape survivors express the need for sensitivity, compassion, being treated with
dignity and respect along with quick punishment for the perpetrator which may
be brings repentance.
The abysmally low conviction rate of sexual assaulters in our country should
make us reflect on solutions going beyond the sanctioning of the death sentence
on the perpetrator of the rape. Should we not think of ways of overhauling the
legal enforcement system including the police forces and the judicial machinery
for prompt, sensitive responses to give justice to rape victims and bring down
their trauma and humiliating experience so that the rapist is put to shame
rather than the victim being made to feel guilty. Isn't it more appropriate to
focus on mechanisms to protect the victims and more significantly to provide
safer environment for girls and women and bring down incidences of rape.
We urgently need to reform the criminal justice system and focus more on root
causes of crime than increasing the severity of punishments and create other
kinds of problems for our girls and women. Till the ordinance for death penalty
is ratified by the parliament in the next few weeks let us not divert our
attention from finding solutions to better investigations, improving the
functioning of the criminal justice system, increasing provisions for crime
prevention, safeguarding the rights of the victims of rape and critically
reviewing the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences
(POCSO) Act, which as many jurists, social activists and rights based
individuals point out is stringent, proportionate and sufficient.
Should the amendments to POCSO Act be in the form of introducing the death
penalty to the convicts of child rapes or should we think of other effective
ways to address sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children. The focus
should be on making the criminal justice system efficient with more manpower
conversant and receptive to the needs of sexual violence victims and bringing
confidence in the citizens especially among the vulnerable population for safer
and abuse free lives. If and when crime takes place the conviction rate should
go up and the current pendency of cases in the courts should be brought down.
While fast track courts do help matters but till the number of cases is not
brought down and trails resulting in convictions not given adequate attention,
the fight against the menace of sexual violence particularly against
unsuspecting and innocent children will not end. The solutions sought need more
of societal responses than death penalty as punishment. Above all it needs
political will to deal with the concern holistically, integrally with multi
dimensional approach by keeping attention foremost on protection of children in
all respects, and not endangering their lives by adding to another aspect of
crime besides rape. The complexity of the concern with death penalty as
punishment should not be overlooked.
(source: Kapur Shankardass; The writer is associate professor, department of
sociology, Maitreyi College, University of Delhi, with specialisation in
health, gerontology and development studies----The Asian Age)
IRAN:
Kurdish prisoner on death row was unarmed as claimed by Iran
The family and lawyer of Ramin Hossein Panahi, a Kurdish man on death row in
Iran, reject the court verdict that he was armed during his arrest by security
forces lasy year and that he had never shot anyone.
An Iranian court recently defended its decision to uphold the death sentence
against Ramin Hossein Panahi, whose case has drawn international attention,
explaining that the Kurdish man was an armed threat. But the man's lawyer has
countered with a different version of events and further accusations that
authorities tortured Panahi.
Panahi was arrested on June 22, 2017 in Sanandaj, charged with being a member
of the Kurdish opposition party Komala. The court stated that Panahi had
received military training and was carrying a gun and a grenade at the time of
his arrest.
Panahi's brother, Rafiq, confirmed to Rudaw in a recent interview that his
brother is a Komala Peshmerga but that he was in Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan)
to visit family when he was shot and injured by Iranian security forces.
According to Panahi's lawyer, Hossein Ahmadi Niyaz, his client was unarmed and
in the back seat of the vehicle that was "attacked" by Iran's Revolutionary
Guards.
"Ramin neither held a gun nor shot anybody. He was not involved in the armed
dispute," Niyaz said in a recent detailed statement published by the Kurdistan
Human Rights Network (KHRN).
Panahi was wounded and lost consciousness in the attack that killed 3 of his
relatives.
Whether the family members he was travelling with were armed or returned fire
in the incident is not clear, but Niyaz insists "my client was never armed."
The lawyer also notes that no Revolutionary Guards were injured, as per an
official statement from the force, "which shows that the IRGC agents had been
prepared for an armed conflict."
Panahi was taken to hospital in Sanandaj where he underwent surgery and then
was "immediately" transferred to solitary confinement rather than remaining in
hospital to recover, his lawyer stated.
He was also interrogated, despite being in poor health and in the absence of
the presence of a court-appointed lawyer.
Niyaz, retained by Panahi to represent him, attended his first court hearing in
Sanandaj on January 15, 2018. In the private hearing, Panahi said he had been
tortured.
The lawyer said the court ignored a request to deal with this allegation before
proceeding.
Panahi was sentenced to death by hanging on January 25, 2018.
Niyaz appealed. A court decided on the appeal without holding a hearing,
upholding the death sentence a month after the appeal was filed.
According to Niyaz, Panahi was not armed at the time of his wounding and
arrest, nor was he involved in an assassination plan. His punishment,
therefore, "is not in accordance with the principle of proportionality."
"The penalty for membership in the Komala Party and promoting its values is not
death penalty per the Regulations of Islamic Republic of Iran. The penalty for
such charge is only imprisonment and not execution," the lawyer stated.
Komala is a Kurdish opposition group accused by Tehran of carrying out terror
attacks. The party resumed its armed struggle against Iran in 2015.
The court has insisted that Panahi received a fair trial and had confessed to
the crime.
The case drew international condemnation - from UN officials and Amnesty
International.
Panahi's scheduled execution was temporarily stayed last week.
His brother Rafiq told Rudaw that another brother was able to visit Panahi this
weekend. While Panahi and his family are happy about his reprieve, the suicide
of another family member has hit them hard.
Nishtiman, a niece of Panahi, killed herself under the stress of her uncle's
imminent execution and the continued detention of her husband.
The whole family is "a revolutionary family and we have martyrs" who have given
their lives for the Kurdish cause, said Rafiq. "Therefore, the state executes
Ramin in a bid to retaliate and scare Rojhelat youth."
He believes the temporary stay of execution was because of the international
pressure and because authorities feared widespread protests if Panahi was
killed so soon after his niece's suicide.
"My mother and extended family have told Iran that Ramin is a red line for us.
They will face a widespread protest if they execute him," Rafiq said.
The lawyer Niyaz agrees: "My young client is completely innocent and the people
of Kurdistan and Iran know that killing an innocent person is like killing the
whole nation. The government should practice tolerance and patience instead of
attempting to eliminate problems by killing innocent people."
Panahi's mother has endured a lot over the years - another of her sons, Anwar,
was sentenced to death 6 years ago, but his sentence was converted to prison
time and he was released after 8 years. Another son was killed and 1 more is in
jail, serving years. But Rafiq described his mother's morale as "still high."
(source: rudaw.net)
BAHRAIN:
Ministry plea to reconsider capital punishment ruling
Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al
Khalifa, has requested the Court of Cassation to reconsider death sentence
ruling in the murder of a police officer and attempted murder of other officers
in a terrorist bombing.
Justice Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa on Monday said that the
decision to apply for a reconsideration of the verdict was taken following a
proposal presented by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to the ministry.
"A decision was made to apply to the President of the Court of Cassation to
reconsider the death sentences. The decision is subject to the privileges
granted under the Court of Cassation Law that allow the Minister of Justice to
request a reconsideration of sentences under certain circumstances," the
minister said.
Shaikh Khalid pointed out that such an application is made under the authority
vested in the Minister of Justice to ensure that justice is served after
exhausting all legal avenues to the maximum extent possible in order to uncover
the truth, subject to Court of Cassation Law.
He said that the decision was within the privileges granted under the Court of
Cassation Law that allow the Minister of Justice to request the reconsideration
of sentences under certain circumstances.
"The Court of Cassation has absolute discretion, based on the investigations
carried out by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and the new documents filed
in respect of evidence in the case against the convicts," he said.
The minister underscored Bahrain's deep commitment to safeguarding the legal
rights guaranteed by its legislature to ensure that justice is served to the
fullest extent of the law.
The request to reconsider the ruling was prompted by the findings of the
Ministry of Interior Ombudsman as he reviewed the case.
The Ministry of Interior Ombudsman had reviewed the case and notified the SIU
of their findings.
The SIU had in turn investigated the case and proposed a reconsideration of the
sentences against the two convicts in light of uncovering new documents which
were not presented to the Court that issued the sentences.
In March, Advocate General Ali Al Buainain said that he received a note from
the SIU suggesting a retrial of the 2 defendants.
The SIU said that it was in possession of medical reports by Ministry of
Interior doctors that were not available during the initial investigation of
the defendants and throughout the stages of the trial.
The SIU said that, given the new documents and for the sake of full justice, it
asked the justice minister to ask the Court of Cassation to reconsider its
verdict.
(source: DT News Network/Gulf News)
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