March 23
PHILIPPINES:
Justice for Christine: VACC calls for reimposition of death penalty
Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Raza and Vice Mayor Marcial Ycong joined Oponganons
during the Mass held at noontime today, March 23, at the Sto. Niño de Mactan
Parish in Barangay Mactan.
Members of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) also called for
the reimposition of the death penalty to give justice to Silawan and other
victims of heinous crimes.
(source: Cebu Daily News)
MALAYSIA:
Obey laws when abroad, MP says after Sarawakian executed in Singapore
A Sarawak DAP MP today reminded folks from the state to abide by the laws of
the countries where they reside and work, and to not get involved in any crime.
Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii said the execution of Michael anak Garing in
Singapore this morning is a reminder to all Sarawakians why they must respect
the laws of any foreign country.
“There is nothing wrong to go overseas or a different place for work, but it is
important that we abide by the laws of the country and not be involved in any
crime that will not bring any benefit to ourselves and our family,” he said.
He said he accepted that Michael had committed a serious crime and that he must
face punishment.
The Malaysian High Commission confirmed that Michael was executed at
Singapore’s Changi Prison early this morning.
He had previously been found guilty of a 2010 murder in 2015, which he later
repealed, only to have his conviction confirmed by the courts again in 2017.
Earlier this week, both of Michael’s elderly parents had petitioned for
clemency from the Singapore government, trying to commute his sentence from
death penalty to life imprisonment instead.
In 2010, at the age of 21, Michael took part in a gang robbery on the island’s
Kallang Road. During the incident, a 41-year-old construction worker,
Shanmuganathan Dillidurai was killed, and 3 other individuals were seriously
injured.
His 3 other accomplices were convicted with lighter sentences. Tony Imba
received a life sentence, and 24 strokes of the cane, and Hairee Landak was
given a 33-year prison term, as well as 24 strokes of the cane.
Another man, Donny Meluda went on the run from police, successfully avoiding
them for six years before being caught.
He too was given a 33-year sentence, and 24 strokes.
In a statement, Dr Yii said the Sarawak DAP is in contact with the Malaysian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is arranging the transports of Michael’s
remains.
He said the remains are expected to arrive at Sibu Airport tomorrow before
being brought back to his hometown in Kapit.
He said the DAP state chapter is also in contact with the family and has
offered to cover the expenses of the funeral as the family is from a poorer
background.
“While we do not condone the crime that was committed, but we just want to make
sure that our fellow Sarawakian remains is brought back safe and can be buried
near home and close to his family,” Yii said.
He also sent his deepest condolences to Michael’s family members, especially in
this hard time.
(source: malaymail.com)
IRAN----execution
Man Hanged at Zanjan Prison----
A prisoner was hanged for murder charges at the Iranian city of Zanjan’s
Central Prison last Wednesday.
According to IHR sources, a 34-year old man from Tabriz city of Iran was hanged
on the morning of Wednesday, March 20, 2019. The prisoner, identified as Reza
Akbari, was in prison for 6 years and was transferred to the solitary
confinement 2 days before the execution.
A well-informed source told IHR, “He has been told that he is going to be
transferred to Tabriz Prison. But it was a lie and they took him for execution.
Reza’s friends in prison only came to know about his execution by contacting
his family by phone.”
The aforementioned execution has not been reported by Iranian media so far.
According to the Iran Human Rights statistic department, the majority of
executions in 2017 and 2018 in Iran was for murder charges. At least 188
prisoners were executed for murder charges in 2018. Only 33% of executions were
announced by Iranian authorities in 2018.
There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results
in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and
intent.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
PAKISTAN:
Bhagat Singh’s name was not in FIR that led to his hanging: Case in Lahore
court----Bhagat Singh along with Rajguru and Sukhdev were awarded capital
punishment on March 23, 1931, by the British for allegedly killing Saunders.
The family of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Friday urged to expedite the proceedings in
a 6-year-old case, which was filed in the Lahore High Court to reopen a
9-decade old case pertaining to the murder of the then Assistant Superintendent
of Police John Saunders in Lahore in 1928. The family’s requests comes on the
the eve of the 88th martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh.
Bhagat Singh along with Rajguru and Sukhdev were awarded capital punishment on
March 23, 1931 by the British for allegedly killing Saunders. Bhagat Singh’s
name, it has been alleged, was not there in the FIR registered on December 17,
1928 at Anarkali police station of Lahore.
To prove that Bhagat Singh was not guilty of killing Saunders, advocate Imtiaz
Rashid Qureshi, who heads Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation (BSMF) in Pakistan,
had filed a petition in the Lahore High Court in March 2013. in his petition,
Quershi had sought reopening of the case that led to eventaual hanging of
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. The case was filed after a copy of the FIR,
registered on December 17, 1928, was provided by Pakistan Police.
Abhay Singh Sandhu, the nephew of Bhagat Singh, told The Indian Express that a
three-judge bench had awarded the death sentence to three freedom fighters.
Advocate Qureshi has demanded that a five-judge bench reopen and hear the case.
“The last hearing of the case was in 2016 and now we are waiting for next
hearing. Qureshi has already filed an application for early hearing in the
case. We hope the court will take up it for hearing soon,” Sandhu said.
Earlier, a team led by Qureshi had visited Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village
of Shaheed Bhagat Singh on April 27, 2016. They had also met Bhagat Singh’s
neice Gurjeet Kaur at village Ambala Jattan in Hoshiarpur district.
Qureshi had told the family that he had heard about Bhagat Singh from his
father and later read several books on and about him. During that time he came
to know about the case that decided Bhagat Singh’s fate. He pursued the matter
and managed to get a copy of the 88-year-old FIR.
“It was shocking that his name was not in the FIR and still he was awarded
capital punishment,” Qureshi had said.
He also informed that Pakistan government has renamed Bhagat Singh’s native
village, Banga Chakk number 105, as Bhagatpura. The process of naming Shadman
Chowk (where they were hanged) as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk is under process.
(source: Indian Express)
***************
Man awarded death penalty in murder case
A court sentenced an accused to death and acquitted another in a murder case in
Faisalabad. The judgment was announced by Additional Sessions Judge Zaheer
Iqbal Ranjha.
The prosecution told the court that Amir and Ramzan had gunned down a man named
Abdul Haq over a petty dispute a few months ago.
Police registered a case against the culprits and presented the challan before
the court. After hearing the arguments, the judge handed down a death sentence
to Amir and imposed a fine of Rs0.5 million on the convict.
PTI lawmaker for death sentence of corrupt
Meanwhile, the court acquitted the other co-accused, giving him the benefit of
doubt due to a lack of evidence.
Earlier, a court awarded death sentence to an accused for his involvement in a
murder case in Sargodha. Additional District and Sessions Judge Irfan Ahmed
Shaikh announced the verdict.
Convict Ramzan and his accomplices Zaman and Yar had killed Shahid over a
dispute in 2014. Local police registered a case against the accused and
presented the challan before the court.
After hearing the arguments, the judge handed down death sentence to Ramzan
along with a fine of Rs0.53 million.
(source: The Express Tribune)
*************************
Schizophrenic death row convict Khizar Hayat passes away in Lahore
Khizar Hayat, an ex-policeman and a death row convict suffering from
schizophrenia, has passed away.
He spent the last 16 years of his life on death row waiting for justice. He is
survived by 4 children and his mother.
Khizar, 56, passed away on the night of March 21 at Jinnah hospital in Lahore.
He was hospitalised in critical condition when he stopped taking any food or
medication. The jail authorities reported him to be “severely anaemic and
hypotensive”. He was shifted on a feeding tube by the doctors. His condition
kept deteriorating and he fell unconscious during his final hours, said a
statement released by Justice Project Pakistan.
Hayat was first diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2008 by jail authorities. He
suffered from delusions and had to be heavily medicated. He had no idea how
long he had been in jail, did not know why he was on death row and believed
that the medication he was taking were anti-malarial pills. A court-sanctioned
examination at the Punjab Institute of Mental Health in July 2016 concluded
unanimously that Hayat suffered from ‘psychosis’ and ‘schizophrenia’.
He was sentenced to death in 2003 for fatally shooting a fellow police officer
and spent nearly 16 years on death row. During the course of his incarceration,
he faced numerous severe near-fatal attacks by fellow inmates as a result of
his mental illness. Since 2012, he was kept in solitary confinement.
Just 2 months ago, former chief justice Saqib Nisar ordered the authorities to
suspend Hayat’s execution which was scheduled for January 15, 2019. According
to a statement, the CJP took notice of media reports that a district and
sessions judge had scheduled the execution of a prisoner on January 15 at
Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail.
A public campaign was conducted online and in the media propelled by the civil
society, psychiatrists, artists, and journalists highlighting the plight of the
death row prisoner suffering from a mental health problem. UN experts had also
urged the government to halt the execution.
A 2-member bench referred Khizar’s case to a larger bench of the Supreme Court
which is currently hearing the cases of 2 other schizophrenic death row
prisoners Imdad Ali and Kanizan Bibi.
“This case is likely to set a precedent for mentally-ill death row prisoners in
Pakistan. Unfortunately, Khizar passed away before any progress could be made
in this case. His mercy petition also remained pending before the President of
Pakistan, who has the ultimate authority to pardon death row prisoners under
Article 45 of the Constitution,” says the JPP statement.
JPP’s statement says that Pakistan has signed international treaties, such as
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits the
execution of mentally ill prisoners. Islamic jurisprudence also disallows the
death penalty for the mentally-ill, it says.
“It is immensely tragic that Khizar Hayat left the world waiting for justice,
having remained deprived of any adequate care for too long. Khizar’s case is a
shocking example of why mentally-ill prisoners do not deserve the death
penalty. They require proper attention and belong at mental health facilities,
not strung up on the gallows in horrid confinements of the jails,” said JPP
Executive Director Sarah Belal.
(source: samaa.tv)
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