May 17
SINGAPORE:
Younger Singaporeans' support for capital punishment for drug traffickers below
national average: MHA survey
The majority of younger Singaporeans are supportive of the tough anti-drug
measures the country is taking, but support for capital punishment for drug
traffickers is lower than the national average, according to findings from a
survey by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The survey showed that 52.7 % of those from the 13-30 age group indicated the
death penalty is an appropriate punishment for criminals who traffic a large
amount of drugs, which is lower than the overall population's 69.6 % of people
who support the sentence.
By comparison, 74.6 % in the above-30 camp indicated similar sentiments, it
showed.
Similarly, those in the 13-30 age group indicated strong support for
imprisonment (89.9 %) and caning (77.5 %) for drug traffickers - compared to 93
% and 80.1 %, respectively, for the general population.
In general, though, a majority of Singaporeans have a positive sentiment
towards the country's drug situation and laws.
The survey showed that 80.5 % agree or strongly agree that the drug situation
here is under control, while 89 % indicated the same when asked if Singapore's
laws on drugs are effective in keeping it relatively drug-free.
This is the 1st time a survey was conducted by the MHA to study Singapore
residents' perception of the drug situation in the country and their support
for its anti-drug policies. It polled 2,000 Singapore citizens and permanent
residents aged 13 and above, with face-to-face interviews conducted between
July and October last year.
The sample size was representative of Singapore's resident population by age,
race, gender and citizenship status, it added.
CANNABIS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The survey also captured the sentiments towards cannabis, amid the wider
landscape of countries legalising cannabis use. Thailand, for one, did so in
December last year, becoming the 1st Southeast Asian country to do so.
It was found that most Singaporeans polled agreed or strongly agreed that the
consumption of cannabis is addictive (82.4 per cent), harmful to one's health
(80.2 %), and has a negative impact on society (83.2 %).
Additionally, 87.1 % said they agree or strongly agree that cannabis abuse
should remain illegal in Singapore.
However, when drilling down, it was found that those aged 13 to 30 showed a
lower level of support (79.9 %) compared to those who were older (89.2 %).
MHA said this showed the younger respondents generally hold a more liberal view
on drugs and, in particular, cannabis.
According to statistics released by the Central Narcotics Bureau this February,
there were 1,366 new drug abusers arrested in 2018 and, of these, 64 % are
below 30 years old.
Users of methamphetamine formed the majority of these new drug abusers arrested
at 1,021, and this was followed by cannabis at 172 and new psychoactive
substances (NPS) at 110, the CNB figures showed.
Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam reiterated in the press release
issued Friday that the strong domestic support for Singapore's zero-tolerance
approach towards drugs has helped the country's current situation, and it must
persevere with tough laws and enforcement alongside efforts to educate.
"There is an increasing push internationally for drug liberalisation, driven
also by commercial interests," Mr Shanmugam said. "The stakes are high. If we
let up, there are consequences for the safety and health of our people, our
children and future generations."
(source: channelnewsasia.com)
MOROCCO:
Suspects back in Morocco court over Scandinavian hiker murders
2 dozen jihadist suspects charged over the brutal murder of 2 Scandinavian
women hiking in Morocco appeared in court Thursday with the main accused facing
possible death sentences.
Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren
Ueland had their throats slit while camping in an isolated area of the High
Atlas mountains in December.
The main suspects, who allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS)
group, are all from the Marrakesh region near the site of the killings, which
shocked the North African country.
Abdessamad Ejjoud, a 25-year-old street vendor, is the alleged leader of the
group. He had been jailed for trying to join IS in Syria but was released in
2015.
Younes Ouaziyad, a 27-year-old carpenter, and 33-year-old street vendor Rachid
Afatti have also been named as key suspects.
The defendants were taken from prison to an anti-terrorism court in Sale, near
Rabat, in vans escorted by police on motorcycles for the resumption of their
trial, an AFP reporter said.
They face charges including promoting terrorism, forming a terrorist cell and
premeditated murder.
The families of the accused did not attend the court session.
The main suspects "spontaneously admitted their crime during the investigation,
and today they regret what they did," their lawyer Hafida Mekessaoui told AFP.
An opening hearing was held on May 2 but immediately postponed for 2 weeks
after defence lawyers requested more time to prepare their case.
A Spanish-Swiss convert to Islam is among the suspects on trial, accused of
teaching the main accused how to use encrypted communications and how to fire a
gun.
Nature lovers Jespersen and Ueland shared an apartment and went to Norway's Bo
University where they were studying to be guides.
They had travelled together to Morocco for their Christmas holidays.
Their lives were cut short in the foothills of Toubkal, the highest summit in
North Africa, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the city of Marrakesh, a
tourist magnet.
- 'Enemies of Allah' -
According to the charge sheet, the assailants travelled to the High Atlas
mountains on December 12 on a mission to kill tourists.
Several potential targets were passed over because the foreigners were
accompanied by guides or local residents.
It was 4 days before they selected their targets. 2 of them carried out the
killings while the 3rd filmed them on a telephone, according to the
prosecution.
After the bodies were discovered, the Moroccan authorities were initially
cautious, referring to a "criminal act" and wounds to the victims' necks.
But that all changed when the video surfaced showing a victim being beheaded,
while one of the killers refers to "enemies of Allah" says the attacks were in
revenge for the killings of jihadists in Syria.
A separate video in the initial aftermath of the murders showed the alleged
killers pledging allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Investigators said the "cell" was inspired by IS ideology, but Morocco's
anti-terror chief insisted the accused had no contact with the jihadist group
in conflict zones.
IS has never claimed responsibility for the double-murder.
Police quickly arrested a 1st suspect in the suburbs of Marrakesh, and 3 others
were caught a few days later when they tried to leave the city by bus.
The suspects had recently embraced Salafism, an ultra-conservative branch of
Sunni Islam, according to friends, neighbours and some family members.
A lawyer for one of the victim's families told AFP he would seek the death
penalty for the murders.
A de facto suspension on executions has been in place in Morocco since 1993.
A second Swiss citizen arrested after the double-murder was tried separately
and jailed in mid-April for 10 years on charges including "forming a terrorist
group".
The main trial is expected to run for months before it reaches a verdict.
(source: france24.com)
CHINA:
Canadians detained in China accused of espionage----China has charged Michael
Kovrig and Michael Spavor with stealing state secrets
The 2 Canadian citizens detained in China on espionage allegations have been
formally arrested, in a move likely to further chill relations between the 2
countries.
Chinese officials have accused Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor with stealing
state secrets for a foreign organisation, a serious allegation which in its
most extreme cases can result in the death penalty.
For months, Canada has called for the release of Kovrig and Spavor, decrying
what officials say are flimsy accusations against the 2 men.
Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Spavor, an entrepreneur who frequently led tours
to North Korea, were both detained by Chinese officials in December last year.
For months, the pair have been held in a detention facility without access to a
lawyer and been granted a single consular visit per month. There is no
indication when the two will be formally charged or go on trial.
“Canada strongly condemns their arbitrary arrest as we condemned their
arbitrary detention on December 10,” said Canada’s foreign affairs department
in a statement on Thursday. “We reiterate our demand that China immediately
release Mr Kovrig and Mr Spavor."
The formal arrests of the 2 are widely seen as retaliation for Canada’s
apprehension of Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver airport on 1 December.
The telecoms executive is fighting extradition proceedings to the US, where
American officials allege she committed fraud. China immediately called for her
release following the arrest and closely watched court appearances.
Amid pressure from Beijing, Ottawa has repeatedly stated that Canada’s justice
system is immune from political interference.
On Thursday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman deployed similar language to
rebut Canada’s frustrations over the arrests of Kovrig and Spavor.
“We always act in accordance with the law, and we hope that Canada will not
make irresponsible remarks on China’s legal construction and judicial
handling,” said Lu Kang at a news conference.
The escalation of charges against Spavor and Kovrig are the latest in a growing
list of hostile actions taken by the Chinese government against Canada. Robert
Schellenberg, a Canadian citizen, is facing the death penalty for allegations
of drug smuggling – a charge that was reapplied following the arrest of Meng.
China has also taken aim at Canada’s multibillion-dollar canola industry,
effectively closing off all imports of the Canadian rapeseed oil.
In recent weeks, Canada has increased pressure on its allies to assist the 2
men. On 9 May, Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, spoke with the US
president, Donald Trump, about “relations with China, including the arbitrary
detention of 2 Canadian citizens in China and Canada’s ongoing efforts to
secure their release”, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
The US, however, remained locked in tense negotiations with China. On Wednesday
night, Trump signed an executive order declaring an economic national emergency
– a move that effectively bars Huawei’s telecommunications technology from the
country.
(source: The Guardiani)
INDIA:
On death row for 24 yrs, convict was a juvenile at time of killing 7 people, SC
told
In a bizarre case, a death row convict languishing in jail for 24 years for
killing 7 people including 2 kids should not have been given death penalty as
he was a juvenile at the time of the crime, according to a report filed in the
Supreme Court on Thursday.
"Capital punishment can never be imposed on a juvenile," said the apex court
while perusing the report it had ordered on the issue earlier this year.
The convict was arrested in 1994 and availed almost all his legal remedies
right from the trial court stage to seeking the President's pardon in the past
2 decades. At every stage the concurrence was that he deserved the gallows.
However, it turns out that the man, as per the report of the Principal District
and Sessions Judge, Pune, in pursuance of the direction of the top court, was
12 years of age at the time of the gruesome crime, but could not have been
given death sentence.
Acknowledging the change in fortune of the condemned prisoner, a vacation bench
of Justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna granted seven days parole to the
convict to attend the last rites of his father with the direction that the
juvenility report would be scrutinised by the regular three-judge bench hearing
his review plea in July.
"Prima facie there is a report of the Principal District and Sessions Judge,
Pune to the effect that on August 24, 1994, the age of the
petitioner/applicant... was 12 years and six months. In other words, the
petitioner was a juvenile on the date of the offence alleged," said the bench.
"Capital punishment can never be imposed on a juvenile. However, the issue of
whether the petitioner was a child on the date of the alleged offence has to be
finally decided," it said.
Advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for the petitioner/man said that his father
had passed away on May 10 and his last rites are to be held on the 12th and the
13th day from the date of his death.
"The petitioner shall be released on parole for a period of 7 days to enable
him to attend the last rites of his deceased father on such conditions as the
concerned authorities might deem appropriate.
"The jail/police authorities shall take necessary steps to safeguard the
security of the petitioner and to ensure that the petitioner does not
abscond/escape by providing police escorts/guards to keep watch on the
petitioner," the bench said.
The apex court had on January 29, referred the application of the man raising
the claim of juvenility to the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Pune, to
decide the juvenility under provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection
of Children) Act.
The top court had directed the district judge, Pune to submit the report within
6 weeks.
The case, which has traversed up and down the ladder of judiciary for more than
2 decades came to be re-opened after a constitution bench in 2014 held that
review of death penalty cases will be heard in open court by not less than
3-judges.
On August 24, 1994, five women and 2 kids aged below 3 years were killed in a
flat in Kothrud, a sub-urban town of Pune City.
3 persons were arrested on September 5, 1994, for the gruesome crime and were
charged under various sections of IPC.
One of the person arrested later turned an approver in the case and based on
his testimony apart from other evidences, 2 of them were convicted and
sentenced to death on February 19, 1998, by the Pune court.
On July 22, 1999, the Bombay High Court upheld the trial court order and
confirmed the death sentence.
The apex court dismissed the appeals of the 2 convicts in the case and upheld
the death sentence on September 5, 2000.
The top court dismissed the review petitions on November 24, 2000.
In a landmark verdict on September 2, 2014, the Supreme Court held that review
pleas of death row convicts will be heard in open court of hearing.
In August 2015, the then President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mery petition
of both the convicts.
One of the convicts, the petitioner moved the apex court in 2016, seeking
re-opening of his review petition.
In 2018, the petitioner moved an application claiming that he was a juvenile at
the time of commission of offence and cannot be awarded death sentence.
(source: Press Trust of India)
PHILIPPINES:
New senators urged to shun death penalty revival bid
An official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)
called on the incoming batch of rookie senators not to become mere rubberstamps
of the Duterte administration in its bid to revive the death penalty. In a
statement, CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care (ECPPC) Executive
Secretary Rodolfo Diamante said they are hoping that the new senators will not
automatically agree with the measures being pushed by President Rodrigo
Duterte, such as the death penalty revival.
"The CBCP-ECPPC calls on our new senators not to pass legislations just to
please the President," said Diamante Friday, May 17.
"They have been elected by the people to work for their welfare, not the
President's," he added.
Instead of becoming "rubberstamps," Diamante called on incoming lawmakers to do
their job well by studying the proposed measure.
"We urge them to study the bills thoroughly and determine if they will really
address the problems of our country," he said.
The CBCP official stressed that death penalty can never become a deterrent to
crimes, including heinous ones.
"It is anti-life, anti-poor, and will enhance only the culture of violence that
is now prevailing in our country," he said.
"Don't give our people a quick fix solution to our people's problem. They
deserve something better," added Diamante.
Earlier, Senate President Vicente Sotto III expressed belief that there is now
a better chance for the death penalty law to be passed now that the Senate is
poised to be filled with allies of Duterte.
This as the ongoing official canvassing of votes for senators reveal that at
least eight administration bets are inside the winners circle.
The CBCP has long been against the revival of death penalty in the Philippines.
(source: The SunStar)
VIETNAM:
10 drug smugglers sentenced to death in Vietnam
Vietnam has sentenced 10 people to death for smuggling meth, ketamine and
ecstasy across the country by train, state media reported Friday as the
communist country deepens its crackdown on drugs.
The gang shifted 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of drugs from northern Vietnam to
the southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City between 2015 and 2016, according
to state-run media on Friday.
5 men and 5 women were given the death penalty after the trial this week in
Hanoi, while 2 others got life in prison.
"The 2 ringleaders were paid hundreds thousands of dollars," for trafficking
the drugs, state-run Vietnamnet news site reported.
Court officials could not be reached for comment on Friday.
The trial comes on the heels of several massive drugs busts in Vietnam, which
boasts some of the world's toughest drug laws.
Anyone caught with more than 600 grams (21 ounces) of heroin or more than 2.5
kilograms of methamphetamine can face the death penalty.
Last week police seized 1/2 a ton of ketamine in Ho Chi Minh City and arrested
3 Taiwanese and 1 Chinese citizen in the bust.
That bust came just weeks after a similar haul of one tonne of crystal meth --
or "ice" -- and around 1 ton of ketamine in the city.
Young Vietnamese are increasingly turning to synthetics like ketamine, ecstasy
and meth.
The suspected overdose deaths of 7 youngsters at a music festival in Hanoi last
year stunned the conservative communist capital.
(source: heraldlive.co.za)
PAKISTAN:
Man sentenced to death for raping, killing Karachi girl over marriage refusal
A model court in Karachi on Thursday sentenced a man to death for raping a
woman and killing her along with 3 of her family members for refusing his
marriage proposal in 2010.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Kamran Atta Soomro of the model criminal
trial court (south) pronounced the verdict in the 8-year-old case after a
speedy trial. The judgement was reserved after the court recorded the evidence
and final arguments from both sides.
The judge handed down capital punishment to the convict, identified as Iftikhar
Ahmed alias Badshah, and also ordered him to pay Rs1.2 million in compensation
to the legal heirs of the victims.
According to the prosecution, the bodies of Khalid Haroon along with his wife
Aneela, daughter Maryam and son Danish were found at their flat in the Chapal
Luxury Beach Apartments on September 8, 2010. It informed the court that all
the victims were hit in the head with a blunt instrument.
During the course of the investigation, police arrested Ahmed, who was a friend
of Danish and had been living with the family as an ‘adopted’ child, it added.
State prosecutor Atif Sitai argued that the accused had disclosed that he
wanted to marry Maryam, a student in her early 20s, but the family refused and
also kicked him out of the house.
He further said that Ahmed later apologised and started living with the family
again. However, the convict one day subjected the girl to sexual assault before
killing her along with her parents and brother while they were asleep.
Sitai said some relatives had visited the family to exchange Eid gifts with the
slain girl earlier that evening and Ahmed was also seen living in the house. He
argued that enough evidence was available on record to connect the accused with
the commission of the offences alleged by the prosecution, including rape and
murder of the 4 people, and pleaded the court to punish him strictly in
accordance with the law.
The convict had denied the allegations and claimed his innocence in his
statement recorded under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Defence
counsel Gul Hassan Khaskheli contended that his client had been "framed" in the
case and pleaded the court to acquit him of the charges.
A case was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 397 (robbery or
dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and 376 (punishment for
rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Boat Basin police station on the
complaint of victim Khalid Haroon’s brother, Riaz Mahmood.
(source: dawn.com)
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