July 28
SAUDI ARABIA:
Amnesty: Saudi cleric Ouda faces possible death penalty for peaceful activism
Amnesty International is calling on Saudi Arabia to drop plans to seek the
execution of cleric Salman Al-Ouda and release him without condition.
In a press release issued yesterday, Amnesty International revealed that
Al-Ouda will probably be handed a death sentence tomorrow.
Reporting CNN, Amnesty International said Sheikh Al-Ouda once advised the
country’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman on possible reforms in Saudi Arabia.
The 61-year-old was subsequently arrested in 2017 and is currently facing
numerous charges connected to his peaceful activism, Amnesty said.
Amnesty added: “He is on trial at Saudi Arabia’s notorious anti-terrorism
Specialised Criminal Court, and the Saudi Public Prosecutor recently called for
the cleric to be sentenced to death.”
Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director, said: “We
are gravely concerned that Sheikh Salman al-Awda could be sentenced to death
and executed.”
“Since his arrest almost 2 years ago, Sheikh al-Awda has gone through a
terrible ordeal, including prolonged pre-trial detention, months of solitary
confinement, incommunicado detention and other ill-treatment – all flagrant
violations to his right to a fair trial.”
“The Saudi authorities continue to claim that they are fighting ‘terrorism’
when this trial – as well as those of other activists, including the 37 men who
were executed in April – are clearly politically-motivated and meant to silence
independent voices in the country.”
“Sheikh al-Awda has been calling for a more inclusive society that would end
the marginalisation of Saudi Shia citizens. For this, he is being punished.”
“Instead of moving ahead with this sham trial, they must immediately and
unconditionally release Sheikh al-Awda and drop all charges against him.”
(source: Middle East Monitor)
BAHRAIN----executions
Bahrain executes 3 men the day after US reinstates federal death
penalty----Human rights groups have condemned the execution of 3 men in Bahrain
on Saturday.
3 men were executed by firing squad in Bahrain on Saturday morning, according
to the kingdom's state news agency.
The move came days after the United States announced it would be reinstating
the federal death penalty for the 1st time in nearly 2 decades.
The executions were confirmed by Bahrain's Advocate General and chief of
anti-crime prosecution, Ahmed al Hammadi, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said.
The men were convicted in 2 separate cases by the High Criminal Court after
each investigation from Bahrain's Public Prosecutor called for them to receive
the maximum sentence, BNA said.
Bahrain's Public Prosecutor said that 2 of the executed men were convicted of
"joining a terrorist group, committing murders, and possessing explosives and
firearms to carry out terror acts."
There were 58 other individuals accused in the case, 19 of whom were sentenced
to life in prison, according to BNA. 2 were acquitted, it said.
2 of the men, Ali al-Arab and Ahmed al-Malali were sentenced to death by the
court and the rulings were upheld by the Court of Appeals and the Court of
Cessation.
In February 2017, the pair were arrested and sentenced "in a mass trial marred
by allegations of torture and serious due process violations," according to a
Human Rights Watch report.
For months, human rights groups have called for an examination of the
circumstances around the men's sentencing and for the Bahrain government to
halt al-Arab and al-Malali's executions.
In May, a group of United Nations human rights experts said there were "serious
concerns" that the pair were "coerced into making confessions through torture
and did not receive a fair trial."
During the arrest, al-Malali was reportedly shot in his hand. Two bullets were
allegedly only removed from his hand 23 days later, according to the UN
statement.
Before the conviction, al-Arab was "reportedly forcibly disappeared for a
month," the UN statement said.
Al-Malali was charged with "possession of firearms, membership in a terrorist
cell and the alleged killing of a security officer," according to the UN
statement.
Al-Arab was charged with "killing a police officer, firing on a security patrol
and injuring one of its officers, assisting in an attempted prison escape, and
possession of firearms," the UN statement said.
The men were "allegedly prevented from attending their trial, sentenced to the
death penalty in absentia and stripped of their nationality, which was later
reinstated," according to the UN statement.
They were both were reportedly tortured and forced to sign confessions of their
crimes it said.
"The 2 individuals should have never been convicted on the basis of what
appears to be seriously flawed trials. Executions in these conditions would
amount to arbitrary executions," the UN experts said.
On Friday, Agnes Callamard, the UN's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions issued a last-minute push to halt their
executions.
"I remind Bahrain that the only thing that distinguishes capital punishment
from an arbitrary execution is full respect for the most stringent due process
and fair trial guarantees," Callamard said in a statement.
The third man executed on Saturday had been convicted of killing and
dismembering an imam and subsequently sentenced to death in a unanimous
decision by the court, according to BNA.
A 'green light'
Prominent Bahraini human rights defender Maryam al-Khawaja told CNN on Saturday
that Bahrain's "justice system -- if you can call it that -- is a main tool of
silencing dissent."
Rights groups and human rights defenders like al-Kahwaja have long criticized
Bahrain for its crackdown on anti-government protests and dissent.
Al-Khawaja added that it's no coincidence that Bahrain's move to execute the
men came shortly after the US announced it would bring back the federal death
penalty.
A statement from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Washington D.C. on
Friday read: "Just as capital punishment is permitted in the United States, the
Kingdom of Bahrain allows judges to impose death sentences in cases of serious
crimes..."
Al-Khawaja said, "We have seen this before."
"A lot of times you will see that Bahrain likes to feel they are safe when they
are about to commit violations. So they look to their allies to make sure they
aren't going to be held accountable," she said.
"When one country commits a human rights violation, and if they don't face
international consequences, then you see another country doing the same," she
added, saying that Bahrain saw the US' announcement as a "green light."
(source: CNN)
************************************
Bahrain executes 2 in 'terror' case despite rights groups' pleas----Bahrain's
public prosecutor announces executions hours after UN envoy Agnes Callamard
appealed to stop them.
Bahrain has executed 2 people convicted on terror charges, the public
prosecutor has said, despite international appeals for clemency amid concerns
the pair did not receive a fair trial and were coerced into making confessions
through torture.
Attorney General Ahmed al-Hammadi said in a statement on Saturday that the men,
who were not identified, were involved in "terrorist" operations that killed a
security officer, among other charges. They were put to death by firing squad.
Rights groups identified the pair as Ali al-Arab, 25, and Ahmad al-Malali, 24.
The 2 men, who were arrested separately in February 2017, were convicted in
January 2018 in a mass trial involving some 60 people. Both were allegedly
subjected to torture, as well as prevented from attending their trial and
sentenced to death in absentia.
The executions came hours after Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special
rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, appealed to Bahrain's government to stop
the executions of al-Arab and al-Malali.
"The authorities in Bahrain must immediately halt any plans to execute these
men, annul the death sentences against them and ensure they are retried in
accordance with international law and standards," Callamard said in a statement
on Friday.
"Capital punishment may only be carried out for the most serious crimes and
after a legal process which has included all possible safeguards aimed at
ensuring a fair trial."
Rights groups had also called for the halting of the executions.
"If the Bahraini authorities go through with these executions it would be an
utterly shameful show of contempt for human rights," Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty
International's Middle East research director, said on Friday.
"[The death penalty's] use is appalling in all circumstances, but it is all the
more shocking when it is imposed after an unfair trial in which the defendants
were tortured to 'confess'."
3rd man executed
Speaking to Al Jazeera shortly before the executions, Bahraini human-rights
activist Maryam Alkhawaja said she did not believe it was a coincidence that
the decision to execute the men came as the United States reinstated a
long-dormant policy allowing the federal government's use of capital
punishment.
"Gulf States always feel they need a green light to commit the violence they
commit. If the US is going to start federal executions again, the Bahrain
government feels it has the green light to do the same."
A 3rd man, convicted for killing an imam last year, was also executed,
according to the public prosecutor's statement.
Bahrain was the only Gulf state to witness street protests during the Arab
Spring in 2011, when crowds gathered to demand a democratically elected
government, the end of sectarian rule and a redistribution of wealth and power.
The monarchy requested military assistance from neighbouring allies Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to assist its security forces, who together
violently crushed the protest camp built at the capital Manama's Pearl
Roundabout.
At least 35 people were killed and many of those arrested were tortured during
detention, human rights groups claim.
The uprising continued into 2012, with tens of thousands attending weekly
rallies, but continued police crackdowns killed dozens more civilians and led
to the arrest of thousands.
(sources: Al Jazeera and news agencies)
MOROCCO:
Marrakech Court Sentences 2 Café ‘La Crème’ Shooting Suspects to Death----The
Marrakech Court of Appeal sentenced to death the 2 Dutch nationals involved in
the shooting at La Crème café in Marrakech.
On July 26, the Court of Appeal in Marrakech sentenced to death the main
suspect Gabriel Edwin, from the Republic of Suriname, and his Dominican
accomplice. Both defendants have Dutch nationality.
The case goes back to November 2017 when the two defendants, on a large
motorcycle, opened fire at café “La Crème.” The shooting caused the death of a
young medical student and seriously injured his female classmate.
The 2 Dutch defendants faced several charges. They were convicted of
intentional premeditated homicide, participation in an attempted homicide,
criminal gang formation, damage to public property, as well as drug production
and trafficking.
The owner of the café and his cousin were sentenced, respectively, to 15 and 8
years in prison. Both were convicted of involvement in drug trafficking
operations which led to the shooting.
2 further suspects were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, and a 3rd was
handed a suspended sentence of 2 to 3 months.
Judicial Police in Marrakech, in coordination with the services of the
Directorate-General for the Surveillance of National Territory (DGST), carried
out an investigation into the shooting. The investigation led to the arrest of
the two Dutch nationals in August 2018.
DGSN reported that the defendants already had criminal records. They were
directly linked to cases of international drug trafficking, abduction, taking
hostages, armed robbery, and attempted murder.
Moroccan police linked the crime to the settling of accounts between drug
cartels and drug traffickers working between Morocco and the Netherlands.
In recent weeks, Sale’s Court of Appeal had announced similar verdicts in the
Imlil murder case in which 2 Scandinavian female tourists were killed by
extremist terrorists in December 2018.
The 3 main defendants were also sentenced to death. However, the death penalty
has not been carried out in Morocco since 1993.
(source: Morocco World News)
PHILIPPINES:
Duterte wants death penalty by hanging for criminals
Use a rope to hang them and avoid wasting the people’s money, President Rodrigo
Duterte said Thursday night in pitching for the restoration of the death
penalty by hanging.
If he could have his way, Duterte said he wanted ropes to be used instead of
buying bullets for the firing squad to execute criminals.
Duterte declared he is supporting the proposal of his former aide, Sen.
Christopher “Bong” Go, to include plunder as a capital offence.
“Bong said he wants death penalty for plunder. I am for it,” Duterte said at
the inauguration of the Candon City bypass road in Ilocos Sur.
He said hanging is a cheaper method to execute criminals instead of the
proposals to use a firing squad or lethal injection.
Go had lamented there seems to be no clear support from his colleagues in the
Senate for including the offence of plunder as punishable by death.
Duterte said there is no reason for any lawmaker or government official to
reject Go’s proposal if they are not engaged in corrupt activities, Duterte
said.
Duterte said he is not in favour of lowering the threshold for plunder from P50
million to P10 million.
Last Tuesday, Malacañang said it would support the death penalty by hanging or
through lethal injection for crimes committed under the influence of drugs and
plunder.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte supports the death penalty
which would cover only heinous crimes committed under the influence of drugs
and plunder.
If he had his way, Panelo said he would rather hang those convicted of heinous
crimes, which he described as a cheaper alternative.
If he had his way also, the Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) wants
lethal injection for persons convicted of drug trafficking, terrorism and other
heinous crimes.
PNP Chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde voiced his support for the revival of the death
penalty law, saying he wanted lethal injection as the method to execute persons
convicted of heinous crimes.
Albayalde went against the wishes of his predecessor Sen. Ronald dela Rosa who
wanted to revive capital punishment through musketry, or firing squad.
“It doesn’t matter probably but we are civilised people here, probably lethal
injection would suffice,” Albayalde said.
Albayalde said death penalty would “probably” be a deterrent to drug peddlers
and financiers, but stressed a more vigorous enforcement of the law is still
the best means.
He said the imposition of the death penalty should be dependent on the volume
of drugs seized from the person convicted of the crime.
Albayalde said the death penalty should be imposed on those who traffic kilos
of illegal drugs and those who maintain and operate drug dens and laboratories.
Albayalde said the death penalty is not anti-poor, saying capital punishment
should be meted to high value drug dealers.
Another former top cop, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, wants to impose capital punishment
on lawmen found guilty of planting evidence.
Lacson, however, clarified that he is looking into 100 kilos as the threshold
quantity for an individual to be meted capital punishment. He noted the effort
of planting 100 kilos of drugs is a difficult task.
“But if the policemen planted 100 kilos or more of the drugs, automatically it
is under death penalty. They (policemen) are the drug lords themselves,” he
said.
Lacson also wants the offencee of plunder to be included in the crimes
punishable by death.
The proposal to revive the death penalty has been gaining support from a
majority of the senators.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the revival of the death penalty can
move faster if the proposed legislation is carried out only against high-level
drug traffickers.
(source: Daily Express)
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