January 8
SOMALIA:
2 Al-Shabaab Assassins Executed For Killing Chief In Somalia
2 al-Shabaab assassins, convicted of killing traditional chief, have been
executed in Somalia on Monday. The 2 were trying to escape from the scene of
the killing of chief Hilowle Heefow Hussein in 2016 when they were nabbed by
police.
25-year-old Hassan Al Hassan, and 22-year-old Abdirahman Isse Ali, were
executed 2 weeks after 41-year-old Abdul Kadir Shaa’ir, described as a Seril
Al-Shabaab bomber, was executed by firing squad. He was convicted of a series
of bombings in 2017.
Activists have challenged the death penalty in Somalia. The country is one of a
few African nations that still apply the capital punishment.
Most African countries usually commute death penalties to life imprisonment.
(source: Africa News Network)
PAKISTAN
Military courts award death penalty to 345 terrorists since their establishment
Since the establishment of military courts, cases of 717 accused terrorists
were sent to them by the federal government and 646 of them have been
finalized.
The swift trial courts were set up through a constitutional amendment for a
period of 2 years in January 2015 to stem the growing tide of militancy and
terrorism. Their term was extended for another 2 years in January 2017, which
has also ended now.
According to the details available with this news agency, out of the 646
finalized cases, 345 terrorists were given death penalty and 296 rigorous
imprisonment of varied durations, ranging from life imprisonment to a minimum
duration of 5 years. 5 accused were also acquitted.
Out of 345 sentenced to death, 56 terrorists have been executed after
completion of legal process beyond military court decisions, which included
their appeal in superior civil courts and rejection of their mercy petition
both by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the President of Pakistan.
Those, who have been given death penalty, included masterminds, executers and
abettors/facilitators.
(source: brecorder.com)
INDIA:
Govt introduces amendments to POCSO Act in Lok Sabha----The Sections 4, 5, 6 of
the Act are proposed to be amended to provide the option of stringent
punishment, including death penalty, for committing aggravated penetrative
sexual assault on a child.
The Government on Tuesday introduced in Lok Sabha amendments to the POCSO Act,
which provides for the death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children,
making it gender neutral and introducing provisions against child pornography
and for enhancing punishment for certain offences. The Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019, seeks to protect children from
offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography and provide for
the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of such offences.
The POCSO Amendment Bill, introduced by Minister of State in Ministry of Women
and Child Development Virendra Kumar, also provides for stringent punishments
for other crimes against those below 18 years of age. “The said Act is gender
neutral and regards the best interests and welfare of the child as matter of
paramount importance at every stage so as to ensure the healthy physical,
emotional, intellectual and social development of the child,” said the
statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill.
The Sections 4, 5, 6 of the Act are proposed to be amended to provide the
option of stringent punishment, including death penalty, for committing
aggravated penetrative sexual assault on a child. The Act defines child as any
person below the age of 18 years and the amendments are aimed at discouraging
the trend of child sexual abuse by acting as a deterrent.
Besides, Section 9 of the Act is being amended to protect children from sexual
offences in times of natural calamities and disasters and in cases where
children are administered any hormone or chemical substance to attain early
sexual maturity for the purpose of penetrative sexual assault.
The Bill proposes a fine of not less than Rs 1,000 for not destroying or
deleting or reporting the pornographic material involving a child. In case of
subsequent offence, the fine would be not less than Rs 5,000 crore. The
offender can be further penalised with 3-year jail term or fine or both for
transmitting, propagating, administrating such material.
“In the recent past incidences of child sexual abuse cases demonstrating the
inhumane mind-set of the abusers who have been barbaric in their approach
towards young victims is rising in the country. Children are becoming easy prey
because of their tender age, physical vulnerabilities and inexperience of life
and society,” the Bill said. It said there is a strong need to take stringent
measures to deter the rising trend of child sex abuse in the country.
The proposed amendments make provisions for enhancement of punishments for
various offences so as to deter the perpetrators and ensure safety, security
and dignified childhood for a child.
BANGLADESH:
Gang rape in Noakhali----Criminals' death penalty demanded
Local people, including the fathers of 2 of the 9 accused in the case for gang
rape of a housewife in Subarnachar upazila, yesterday demanded death penalty to
the culprits.
The demand came at a protest rally organised by NGO Nijera Kori at Pangarbazar
in Subarnachar.
"Not only the rapists, but also the masterminds who incited them, should be
awarded with death penalty," said Baigon Ali, father of an accused Hanif.
Tofail Ahmed, father of another accused Mosharraf, also made the same demand.
Relatives and family members of all the nine prime accused were present at the
rally chaired by Sirajul Islam, president of upazila landless people's
association.
Nijera Kori Coordinator Khushi Kabir and women's rights activist Advocate Salma
Ali attended as chief guest and special guest.
Some Awami League men gang-raped a mother of 4 on December 30, allegedly for
not voting for 'boat' symbol.
The incident sparked huge outrage across the country.
The victim's husband filed a case accusing 9 people. Later, police added 4 more
names after interrogation of some of the accused and 10 people have so far been
arrested in this connection.
******************
Lone accused given death penalty
A Sylhet court yesterday handed down death sentence to a youth for the 2016
murder of college student Tonni Ray in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj.
Rezaul Karim, judge of Speedy Trial Tribunal in Sylhet, delivered the verdict
against the lone accused, Ranu Ray, 25, from the same upazila, said Kishor
Kumar Kar, special public prosecutor.
Tonni's father Bimol Ray expressed satisfaction over the verdict, saying, “I am
pleased with the verdict and hope to see the death sentence carried out as soon
as possible.”
According to the case statement, Tonni, 18, was murdered on September 17, 2016.
Tonni had gone missing the same day after she went out of the house for
computer lessons at a training school in the upazila. After three days of
search, her body was found in a sack in a river in the area.
Her father filed the case with Nabiganj Police Station. Police arrested Ranu
from Brahmanbaria on October 7 that year.
On October 8, Ranu, in a statement given under section 164 before Habiganj
Judicial Magistrate Nishat Sultana, confessed to have committed the murder.
In February last year, the case was sent to the Speedy Trial Tribunal in Sylhet
and the tribunal recorded depositions of 20 witnesses.
(source for both: The Daily Star)
IRAN:
Iran freed the Ukrainian sailor, who was facing the death penalty
In the next few days will be back to Ukraine Odessa Andrew seaman Beginners,
which in Iran threatened the death penalty.
In Iran freed Ukrainian sailor Andrew Novichkova, who was facing the death
penalty. In the coming days he will return Home, reported Tuesday, January 8,
President Petro Poroshenko in Facebook.
“That was liberated by the Ukrainian sailor Beginners. Now Andrew is in the
territory of the Embassy of Ukraine in Iran. Congratulations from Odessa with
the return of our compatriot,” wrote the head of state on the social network.
He also said that reported that to the grandmother of a sailor who was waiting
for the release of his grandson.
As you know, Odessa Andrew seaman Beginners was arrested in early 2017 on
suspicion in murder of Iranian sailors in Iran, he risked the death penalty. In
particular, the Ukrainian sailor was accused that he allegedly threw overboard
the Iranian sailor, but the accused denied it, and witnesses of incident were
not. The Ukrainian government was negotiating for its release.
It was also reported that in Iran, the 33-year-old Ukrainian sailor Andrew
Beginners who contains in prison of Tehran, went on hunger strike because of
the “unjustified arrest”.
(source: micetimes.asia)
BELARUS:
Double homicide: Another death sentence looming in Belarus?
On January 8, a double homicide case is being presented in Babruysk court. The
defendant is an ex-con who served 12 years for previous crimes.
According to the theory of the prosecution, Alyaksandr Asipovich, a 36-year-old
resident of Babruysk, brutally killed two girls on July 20, 2018. The man met
them in a cafe, where they had some drinks, and then the trio headed to the
man’s place. Asipovich stabbed and hammered the girls to death. Their bodies
bearing multiple cuts and injuries were found in the bathroom.
The defendant fully realized what was happening at the moment of the murder; he
even tried to cover up the crime, state prosecutor Volha Ivanova said. His
turning himself to the police cannot be a mitigating factor, she stressed.
The state prosecutor demands the supreme penalty (execution) should be
inflicted on Asipovich.
Belarus remains the only country in Europe that still applies capital
punishment. The West has repeatedly called on the Belarusian authorities to
join a global moratorium as a first step towards the abolition of the death
penalty.
The exact number of executions in Belarus is unknown, but local human rights
defenders and journalists have worked tirelessly to uncover some information
about death sentences and executions. According to the Ministry of Justice of
Belarus, 245 people were sentenced to death from 1994 to 2014. Human rights
NGOs believe that around 400 people have been executed since the country gained
its independence in 1991; president Alyaksandr Lukashenka granted a pardon to
only 1 convict.
(source: belsat.eu)
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