September 17
INDONESIA:
Death penalty demanded for West Jakarta drug dealer
Prosecutors in West Jakarta District Court have demanded the death penalty for
drug-dealing suspect Samsul Anwar, 32.
"The demand was the death penalty," West Jakarta District Court intelligence
division head Edy Subhan confirmed on Monday, as reported by tempo.co.
He said the demand was read out in the court last Wednesday, when prosecutors
accused Samsul of selling 13 kilograms of liquid meth at the MG International
Club in Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta.
Samsul's case began when the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and police raided
the club on Dec. 17 last year where they arrested 5 suspects namely Wastam, 43,
Ferdiansyah, 23, Dedi Wahyudi, 40, Mislah, 45, and Fadly, 40, as well as Samsul
- the suspected coordinator of the group.
The club's owner Agung Ashari, alias Rudi, is still on the run.
Authorities also seized several unlabeled, empty 330ml water bottles, suspected
of being drug containers and found 3 rooms on the 4th floor believed to be used
for drug production. Each bottle was sold for around Rp 400,000 (US$27).
The suspects were charged under Article 114(2) and Article 112(2) of Law No.
35/2009 Law on narcotics, which carries the maximum penalty of death.
(source: The Jakarta Post)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Saudi Court Sentences 7 Men For Shooting Officer 30 Times In Police Car
The Specialized Criminal Court on Sunday issued a preliminary sentence against
7 Saudis following the killing of a police officer.
One of the Saudis was found guilty of shooting the officer in his car 30 times,
while the rest did not report him and misled investigators.
The shooting was in response to Daesh instructions to target military
personnel, pledge allegiance to its leader and adopt its extremist ideology.
The court ruled that the shooter should face the death penalty and then be
crucified. The other 6 Saudis were given prison sentences.
(source: albawaba.com)
MALAYSIA:
Nurul Izzah to appeal to AG to pardon medical marijuana distributor on death
row
Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar will be writing an appeal to Attorney
General Tommy Thomas seeking a pardon for Muhammad Lukman, who was recently
sentenced to death for possessing, processing and distributing medical
marijuana (cannabis oil).
"Yes, we are following up. Personally speaking, I am writing an appeal to the
AG - first and foremost to secure a pardon based on the merits of his case and
predicament.
"And secondly, to eventually decriminalise the use of cannabis oil for medical
reasons," she told The Star Online on Monday (Sept 17).
Nurul Izzah labelled Lukman's death sentence, which was meted down to him
earlier this month, as a miscarriage of justice.
Lukman, a 29-year-old father of one, was arrested in Dec 2015 for the
possession of 3.1 litres of cannabis oil, 279 grams of compressed cannabis,
1.4kg of substance containing tetrahydrocan nabinol (THC).
He was nabbed by the police along with his 5-month pregnant wife, who was freed
later, during a raid at his home. He was handed a death sentence by the Shah
Alam High Court on Aug 30.
Meanwhile, a petition calling for the release of Lukman is now making rounds in
social media with 41,137 signatures as of Monday.
The petition was started after a column by the Star news editor Martin
Vengadesan on Sept 9 highlighted Lukman's case.
"For those who were never exposed to the cannabis world, we treat it as a taboo
topic.
"While at the same time, cannabis is becoming increasingly accepted in many
countries as a plant with various benefits, particularly the treatment of
various chronic diseases," wrote the authors of the petition.
"It's time for us to review the definition of what distinguishes an individual,
a distributor, an addict, or a genuine patient that needs cannabis for
treatment."
On Sept 9, his lawyer Farhan Maaruf told The Star that Lukman only wanted to
assist patients who are suffering from ailments that can be treated by THC, an
active ingredient in cannabis.
Lukman had no intention whatsoever to distribute or "push" cannabis on the
streets, his lawyer Farhan said.
Lukman's case is not the only one of its kind as Amiruddin @ Nadarajan
Abdullah, who is known as Dr Ganja, is facing 36 charges and the death sentence
for similar offences. His advocates claim he has helped treat more than 800
people.
Under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, individuals caught
possessing 200 grams or more of cannabis, will be charged under drug
trafficking, which carries the death penalty.
However, in many developed countries, the trend is to decriminalise and even
legalise marijuana, particularly for medical purposes.
Apart from the Netherlands, on October 17, 2018, Canada will legalise
recreational marijuana in full.
In Argentina, the government has been providing medical marijuana since March
2017 while it has been legal in Australia for the last 2 years. In Uruguay, you
can buy it from regular pharmacies.
Switzerland and Russia have also decriminalised marijuana in small amounts.
Similarly, laws on it have been relaxed in 17 US states, including California,
Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Washington.
(sourice: thestar.com.my)
ZIMBABWE:
'No one wants Zimbabwe hangman's job'
Despite government's frantic efforts to recruit a hangman, Zimbabweans have
frowned upon the job offer even though unemployment is above 90 %.
In this Question & Answer with the Daily News' Tendayi Madhomu, the minister of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi speaks on this and
other issues.
Q: How far is the Constitution alignment process from completion?
A: We have some outstanding Acts and the Attorney General is coordinating the
process.
Home Affairs have not aligned any Acts in the past 5 years; the Citizens Act,
the Immigration Act all need to be aligned with the new Constitution.
The ministry of Information also has some outstanding Acts, like Aippa.
This 9th Parliament will have to do a clean-up of the work that is remaining.
We have our vision that we need to follow; of improved governance and respect
for human and property rights.
The Marriage Act also needs to be amended.
The Constitution says one may get married at the age of 18, but other laws are
saying 16 years; the marriages Acts need to be revamped.
Q: What improved measure has your ministry taken in the fight against
corruption at the courts?
A: The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has moved magistrates to alternative
stations as a way of curbing corruption.
Magistrates have also been trained to deal with corruption cases
comprehensively.
It is part of our Vision 2030 to be able to fight corruption with a strong arm.
We want to adopt an electronic management system to track processes; this makes
it easy to fight corruption.
In fact, we want this system to be adopted in all sectors of the economy, so
that we are able to meet the 2030 vision of becoming a middle-income economy.
Q: The ministry has been recruiting magistrates, court interpreters etc this
year; has this improved the efficiency in your ministry?
A: Yes, we have been recruiting since January this year, after being granted
permission by treasury.
Of course we haven't reached the numbers we had wished for, due to budget
limitations but right now the JSC has finished training of new magistrates.
Q: President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently signed a Prisoners Exchange Programme
deal with President Xi Ping of China, what does it entail?
A: I will not say much about this, since the Commissioner-General of prisons,
Major General Paradzai Zimondi is still in China. When he comes back he will be
able to answer all your questions.
Q: Have we had such programmes before?
A: It is not new, we have such a programme already running with Botswana, and
we hope to have the same with all our surrounding countries.
Q: How many Zimbabwean prisoners do we have in China?
A: I don't have the exact numbers, but we do have our prisoners in China and we
also have Chinese in the local prisons.
Q: Does such a programme not infringe on the rights of prisoners?
A: No, it does not infringe on prisoners' rights, it simply involves exchange
or movement of imprisoned nationals to their countries of origin.
Q: Turning to the issue of the death penalty, how many inmates are currently
awaiting the hangman's noose?
A: I don't have the exact number of inmates awaiting execution. We have not
been executing for a while. Under section 48 - Right to life, our Constitution
does allow for the death penalty, depending on the circumstances.
A court may permit the death penalty to be imposed only on a person convicted
of murder in aggravated circumstances. Of course, the sentence cannot be
imposed on women, persons who are aged less than 21 or older than 70 years.
Q: But the president strongly despises the death sentence?
A: The death penalty stands, as long as it is in the Zimbabwean Constitution,
despite our president's feelings towards this.
Q: Does the country have a hang man at present?
A: The hangman has not been found. No one has appetite for the job.
(source: bulawayo24.com)
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