April 17
INDONESIA:
UK surfer faces death penalty in Bali for medicinal cannabis possession
A British man has revealed the sheer terror of facing time inside one of the
world‘s most notorious prisons and the death penalty after his arrest in Bali
last week.
Pip Holmes, a 45-year-old father from Cornwall in England‘s southwest, was
arrested on December 3 as he went to pick up a package sent from Thailand which
contained bottles of cannabis oil.
Indonesian police said he received nearly 31g of cannabis oil in the mail and
could face the death penalty if convicted. Indonesia has strict drug laws and
dozens of convicted smugglers are on death row.
Mr Holmes, who describes himself as an artist and surfer, claims he was caught
with just a tiny amount — around 3g — of medicinal THC oil, which he uses to
treat his arthritis.
“Marijuana makes a considerable difference to the pain — it‘s not a leisure
activity for me,” he told the .
“I knew what I was getting into … I knew there were very strict laws, but I
chose to come here anyway because the surf is the best in the world.
“It feels like a great injustice, but I‘m not in the UK, I‘m in Bali, so it‘s
my own fault … I‘m afraid because I don‘t know how long it‘s going to be before
I can hug my children again. They are the only thing keeping me going right
now.”
Pip Holmes said he went to Bali 2 months ago for the surf.
Mr Holmes was 1 of 5 detained foreigners paraded by officials at a news
conference in Denpasar, Indonesia last week.
In a written statement, Mr Holmes said he had already been moved from a cramped
police cell in Bali to a rehabilitation centre. He told supporters that “for
the last few days, each morning I have woken up in a terrible nightmare” and
asked for them to donate money to cover his legal fees.
“I still can‘t believe that I‘m here and I feel sick with fear,” he wrote.
“As it stands, I don‘t know if I‘m about to spend a few months in a
rehabilitation or if I‘m about to face 5 to 15 years in Kerobokan — one of the
toughest prisons on earth.”
Pip Holmes was arrested on December 3
He said he wants to be able to hug his children for their future birthdays and
Christmases
In his desperate plea for help, Mr Holmes said he had been “very stupid” and
that he “knew what (he) was getting into”.
“This is Asia, it‘s not like the west. I am guilty under Indonesian law of
possession of narcotics, there‘s no denying that,” he wrote.
“Even though medicinal THC is something so widely accepted elsewhere and it was
such a small amount, I foolishly crossed the line in a very strict country.
“The only way now to ensure my sentence is something I will survive is to
invest in the right legal representation and rehabilitation.”
Mr Holmes said he was hoping to serve a short sentence in rehabilitation before
being deported to the UK.
Pip Holmes‘ full statement
Thank you for taking time away from Christmas shopping and making plans for the
holidays.
I so wish I could spend this Christmas exchanging gifts and pulling crackers
with my loved ones too but as I write these words, I have recently been moved
from a cramped Balinese police cell to a rehab facility and although things are
looking up, I have no idea what is going to happen to me next.
My children have been sending me pictures and voice messages telling me about
all the things they want to us do for their birthdays next spring.
My family, friends and loved ones are constantly telling me that everything is
going to be OK and that they‘re going to get me the help I need.
They keep on saying I‘m the strongest person they know and I can get through
this.
But the truth is, I‘m afraid. I‘ve never been so afraid. It‘s hard to be strong
when you read the words “death penalty” in the paper in relation to your story.
I‘m also afraid because I don‘t know how long it‘s going to be before I can hug
my children again.
They are the only thing keeping me going right now.
What I‘d give to read them a story.
To surf … to paint … or even just to be able to have a shower.
For the last few days, each morning I have woken up in a terrible nightmare. I
still can‘t believe that I‘m here and I feel sick with fear.
(source: clarksburgcaller.com)
SRI LANKA:
13 prisoners at risk of 'imminent execution' in Sri Lanka warns Amnesty
International
At least 13 prisoners in Sri Lankan prisoners are “at risk of imminent
execution” warned Amnesty International, as they launched an urgent action
appeal this week.
“After 43 years without using the death penalty, the President of Sri Lanka,
Maithripala Sirisena, is reportedly planning to execute prisoners on death
row,” said Amnesty.
“There is completely secrecy around the dates identities of the prisoners who
are expected to be imminently executed. No information about their case
histories has been shared. It is unknown whether the individuals had fair
trials, access to lawyers or whether they were able to engage in a meaningful
clemency process. The last execution in Sri Lanka was in 1976. 2019 cannot be
the year that we see this this progress reversed.
No details have been released about the prisoners thus far.
Earlier this month Amnesty International found that “people who are from less
advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, or belonging to racial, ethnic or
religious minorities, are disproportionately vulnerable to being sentenced to
death”.
(source: Tamil Guardian)
SAUDI ARABIA----executions
Saudis beheaded 2 Punjabis on February 28
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has confirmed that two persons from
Punjab, Satwinder Kumar of Hoshiarpur and Harjeet Singh of Ludhiana, have been
beheaded in Saudi Arabia. The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia, however, was not
informed by the authorities before their execution.
The families of the both the deceased, who had gone to Saudi Arabia on work
permits in 2013, may not get their bodies because of restrictions in place in
that country. The MEA, however, expected to get their death certificates by the
end of April.
These details were revealed by MEA after a petition was filed by Satwinder's
wife Seema Rani of Safdarpur Kullian village in Hoshiarpur district to get
information on the whereabouts of her husband. In a letter, from the MEA to
Seema on Monday evening, it was revealed that Satwinder and Harjeet, a native
of Machhiwara village in Ludhiana, were arrested on December 9, 2015 in
connection with murder of Arif Imamuddin, another Indian national.
‘Executed without informing embassy’
According to the ministry, Harjeet and Satwinder were arrested and kept in
Dammam jail for drinking liquor and fighting, but on completion of their
sentences in the liquor case and during deportation formalities that involved
fingerprinting for final exit from Saudi Arabia, they were found to be linked
to the murder of Imamuddin.
“They were, therefore, shifted to Riyadh jail for trial of the murder case and
during investigation both of them confessed to their crime. The hearing of
their case on May 31, 2017 was attended by an embassy official. At that time,
the case file was transferred to an appeal court adding an additional charge of
‘hirabha (highway robbery that also invites capital punishment)’,” according to
the MEA communication.
The letter, signed by Prakash Chand, director (consular), added that embassy
officials used to visit the jail where the two Punjabi men were confined to
follow up about the status of their trial.
“However, both were executed on February 28, 2019 without informing the
embassy. Several communications were made to ministry of foreign affairs, Saudi
Arabia to get the mortal remains but it has been learnt that the Saudi system
does not permit handing over the bodies of those executed, to the embassy or
families of the deceased,” the MEA claimed in the letter to Satwinder’s wife.
Reacting to the MEA letter, lawyer of deceased Satwinder's family, advocate
Vinod Kumar said it was shocking that the embassy was not informed about the
execution. He also claimed that residents of Satwinder’s village are in shock
as they could not believe that Satwinder could be involved in so many criminal
activities, as claimed by the MEA.
Satwinder had gone to Saudi Arabia in 2013 as a truck driver for a company
called Al-Majid.
*************************
2 Indians executed for murder in Saudi Arabia
The foreign ministry has confirmed that 2 Indians, Satwinder Kumar of
Hoshiarpur and Harjeet Singh of Ludhiana, have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia on
charges of murdering a fellow Indian. The 2 were executed on February 28 this
year.
The Indian embassy in Riyadh, however, was not informed by the Saudi
authorities before the executions. The families of the deceased may not get the
bodies because of rules against it.
Harjeet and Satwinder killed Imamuddin after a scuffle broke out between them
over distribution of some money they had looted. A few days later, the two were
arrested for drinking liquor and fighting. While deportation formalities were
being completed, they were found to be linked to the murder.
Indian duo were shifted to Riyadh jail for their trial
The details of the fate of Satwinder Kumar and Harjeet Singh were revealed by
the foreign ministry after a petition was filed by Satwinder’s wife Seema Rani.
In the letter, delivered to Seema on Monday, it was revealed that Satwinder and
Harjeet were arrested on December 9, 2015 for allegedly killing Arif Imamuddin.
“They were shifted to Riyadh jail for trial and they confessed to their crime.
The hearing of their case on May 31, 2017 was attended by an embassy official.
At that time, the case file was transferred to an appeals court, with an
additional charge of ‘hirabha (highway robbery that also invites capital
punishment)’,” according to the MEA communication.
The letter, signed by Prakash Chand, director (consular), added that embassy
officials used to visit the jail to know about the status of their trial. “But,
both were executed on February 28, 2019 without informing the embassy. Several
communications were made to the ministry of foreign affairs, Saudi Arabia, to
get the mortal remains but Saudi system does not permit handing over the bodies
of those executed to the embassy,” the letter said.
(source: timesofindia.com)
BRUNEI:
Stoned to death for being gay? Americans immune to cruelty must wake up and
speak out----Americans should condemn a penal code that sentences gays to death
by stoning in the tiny nation of Brunei instead of immunizing ourselves to
cruelty.
Like many Americans, my first exposure to death by stoning came from reading
Shirley Jackson’s short story, "The Lottery," in high school. First published
in 1948 in The New Yorker, the story is the tale of a fictional New England
town where one very unlucky resident is chosen by chance — to be killed. The
magazine responded to outraged readers by explaining that Jackson had chosen “a
nameless little village to show, in microcosm, how the forces of belligerence,
persecution, and vindictiveness are, in mankind, endless and traditional and
that their targets are chosen without reason.”
I’ve been thinking about "The Lottery" since I read that Brunei — a tiny
monarchy in Southeast Asia ruled by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, one of the world’s
wealthiest people — had enacted a new penal code that includes death by
stoning. Crimes that warrant this penalty include adultery, and consensual sex
between men. (The punishment for theft is amputation of limbs, for abortion it
is flogging.) Sadly, the sultan’s decision to enact such horrific penalties
echoes Jackson’s point about the persistence of persecution and vindictiveness.
Brunei joins a handful of other countries that call for death by stoning based
on a draconian interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. But as Melody Moezzi,
a Muslim-American attorney and author, told me, “There is no one such thing as
Sharia. Islamic law is all about interpretation, and there are as many
interpretations as there are individual Muslims.” “Death by stoning,” she adds,
“is antithetical to the highest tenets of Islam, chiefly that of a most
compassionate and most merciful Creator.”
Why should Americans care about a brutal law in a tiny nation on the other side
of the globe? After all, human rights abuses and hate crimes are taking place
much closer to home, including here in the U.S.
Why should Americans care about Brunei?
I can think of 2 reasons, starting with a personal example. On a flight to
Southeast Asia earlier this year I had a brief layover in Dubai, part of the
United Arab Emirates, half a world closer to Brunei. The UAE also calls for
death by stoning for “crimes” that include sex between men. Waiting at the
airport I looked at my Facebook feed, and then out of curiosity and boredom,
opened a gay dating app. I found dozens of guys, with profile photos, seeking
everything from “right now” sex to a partner or husband.
After being cleared through 2 security checkpoints, a guard pulled me out of
line for “a random search.” “No problem,” I thought, until the officer demanded
my iPhone, which still displayed profiles and photos of the gay Dubai locals. I
froze. I imagined these men hunted down and charged with breaking Sharia law,
and feared the same for myself.
Fortunately, the officer merely confiscated my cup of coffee, and then told me
to put the phone away. My relief was immense, palpable. Still, I understood in
a flash how these laws “create a culture of fear,” which is what a group of 115
civil society organizations in South East Asia asserted in an open letter to
Brunei’s sultan. Even for those who don’t travel frequently, or who aren’t
LGBT, any spread of this climate of fear should be cause for concern.
The second reason is more fundamental. “People anywhere should care when
others’ human rights are being abused,” Neela Ghoshal, senior researcher in the
LGBT Rights program at Human Rights Watch, a nongovernmental organization, told
me. Is that harder these days when acts of incivility and hate crimes are
front-page news stories? Are we becoming immune to cruelty?
I fear the answer is, “yes.”
We have to speak out for human rights
I did some research on death by stoning and discovered "The Stoning of Soraya
M.,” a film based on the true story of the execution of an Iranian woman in the
1980s. Soraya Manutchehri had been falsely accused and convicted of adultery by
a Sharia court; death by stoning was her punishment. The film’s narrator
explains how Manutchehri is buried to her waist as villagers, including her
sons, throw rocks at her “until there is nothing left but a bloody stump." You
would need to see it for yourself to fully appreciate the horror. (I had to
turn the sound off, even cover my eyes.)
Some nations and organizations have spoken out strongly against the sultan’s
decision. The Canadian government raised its “concerns directly with Brunei,”
urging the sultan “to suspend the implementation of its new penal code.” Human
rights groups called the laws “barbaric to the core” and “cruel and inhuman.”
The U.S. State Department was tepid in a statement that said it “opposes
violence, criminalization, and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups,”
including LGBTQ people.
We can do more. Ghoshal, from Human Rights Watch, seeks a travel ban on
Brunei’s leaders and a freeze on the government’s financial assets. Celebrities
like George Clooney have called for a boycott of the luxury hotels owned by the
sultan. President Trump, a seeming friend of dictators and despots around the
globe, should have taken a much stronger response. After all, this is a horror
that requires our outrage — and action.
We have other tools at our disposal as well. “This is an appeal to the basic
humanity of people in the United States,” Ghoshal added. We have to speak out.
We must acknowledge that “the forces of belligerence, persecution, and
vindictiveness” may indeed be traditional, but they need not be endless.
(source: Steven Petrow, Opinion Columnist, USA Today)
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