July 29
PAKISTAN:
SC forms larger bench to determine the span of life imprisonment sentence
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the formation of a larger bench to
determine the exact length for a life sentence.
A 3-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, took notice of the
issue while hearing a petition to reduce a convict's life sentence into half.
Haroonul Rashid was sentenced to life imprisonment 12 times in 12 different
cases of murder. He has been in jail since 1997 and has served a 22-year
sentence, Rashid's lawyer told the court while adding that the court had
allowed for the 12 sentences to be served concurrently.
"Is it not a misconception that a life sentence spans over 25 years?" the chief
justice asked.
"When we don't know how long a person is going to live, how can we halve a life
sentence," he added.
"I had been waiting for a long time for a case where we could determine the
span of a life sentence. In a jail sentence, days and nights are both counted.
In this manner, a convict comes out within 5 years.
"It is time that we clear up these major misconceptions and figure out the span
of a life sentence. It is a matter of public interest."
The court issued notices to the attorney general, provincial advocate generals
and prosecutor general. The court also ordered for the registrar office to fix
the matter for hearing in the 1st week of October.
Last month, the chief justice had showed his intent reexamining the life
imprisonment law "at an appropriate time".
This is not the 1st time that the judiciary has made such observations. In
2004, a 5-member bench heard as many as 62 appeals that urged the apex court to
reinstate death penalty for convicts whose capital punishments were commuted
into life imprisonment leading to their release on the basis of remission in
their imprisonment periods.
Section 57 of the Pakistan Penal Code, Fractions of terms of punishment, says:
"In calculating fractions of terms of punishment, imprisonment for life shall
be reckoned as equivalent to imprisonment for 25 years."
The Supreme Court, however, had observed in 2004 that the provisions of the
aforementioned section, which reckon 25-year imprisonment as transportation for
life, only stipulate the calculation of the punishment term which is necessary
because certain offences are a fraction of the term of imprisonment prescribed
for other offences.
(source: dawn.com)
INDIA:
Pune BPO employee rape and murder case: Bombay HC commutes death penalty of 2
convicts to life imprisonment
The Bombay High Court on Monday commuted the death penalty of 2 convicts in the
2007 Pune BPO gang-rape and murder case to life imprisonment on the ground that
there had been an inordinate delay in executing them.
The convicts, Purushottam Borate and Pradeep Kokade, were to be executed on 24
June, but the high court had said on 21 June that the execution should not take
place as scheduled until further orders.
A division bench of Justices B P Dharmadhikari and Swapna Joshi allowed the
petitions filed by the convicts seeking a stay on the execution of their death
warrant.
"Their sentences are commuted," the court said.
The lawyer for the convicts, Yug Chaudhary, told reporters the court had said
in the judgement that the duo should be in prison for a period of 35 years
after taking into account the time already spent and remission.
The 2 were convicted and awarded the death penalty by a trial court in 2012 for
kidnapping, raping and murdering a BPO employee in Pune in 2007.
In the petitions filed in May, the duo sought a stay on the ground that there
had been an inordinate delay in deciding their mercy petitions by the
Maharashtra governor and the President, and also in the issuance of the
warrants for the execution of the death penalty.
They also sought the death penalty to be commuted to life imprisonment.
(source: firstpost.com)
INDONESIA:
2 Ways Corruption Convicts Can be Sentenced to Death: KPK
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Deputy Basaria Panjaitan recalled the 2
reasons a corruption convict could be charged with the 2 most severe punishment
regulated under the Corruption Law; life sentence and death penalty.
According to him, corruptors are eligible to be handed the punishments for
corruption in a time of a natural disaster or committing repeated acts of
corruption.
“In the situation of a natural disaster for instance, and then when the act was
committed repeatedly,” said Basaria in South Jakarta on Sunday.
A recent case considered eligible is a case of corruption KPK is currently
handling, which involves a repeated act of corruption by Kudus Regent M.
Tamzil. Back in 2004, the regent was also involved in a graft on an education
fund for the district and was found guilty in February 2015 punished to 22
months in prison.
Tamzil was named a suspect once again by the KPK for a graft case within the
Kudus administration and allegedly received a bribe in the millions from
multiple sources. Basaria said investigators recommend Tamzil to be handed the
maximum punishment but will wait for further investigation.
Throughout its tenure, KPK has yet charged a suspect of corruption with the
death penalty but has once charged life imprisonment for former Constitution
Court Judge Akil Mochtar.
*********
Amnesty International Defies Death Penalty for Corruption Convict
Amnesty International Indonesia affirms that they are against the idea of
handing death penalty to the repeat offender of corruption, Kudus Regent M.
Tamzil.
The corruption eradication commission (KPK) previously talked about the
possibility of charging Tamzil with the death penalty as the regent has been
arrested twice for committing graft.
“We strongly reject any form of death penalties in any type of cases,” said
Amnesty Internasional Indonesia Director Usman Hamid as Tempo reached him on
Monday, July 29.
The death penalty, he says, is a cruel punishment, inhumane, demeaning, and
clearly violates the basic human right to live, which he said the state is
obliged to provide for its citizens.
Although against the death penalty, Usman asserts his organization continues to
support severe punishments to be enforced upon those proven guilty of
corruption.
“What we are against is the use of the death penalty, whatever the crime may
be,” said Usman.
Back in 2004, M. Tamzil was also involved in a graft case on education funds
allocated for the district and was found guilty in February 2015 punished to 22
months in prison.
Tamzil was named a suspect once again by the KPK for a graft case within the
Kudus administration and allegedly received a bribe in the millions from
multiple sources.
(source for both: tempo.co.)
SINGAPORE:
'Bloodbath': lawyer warns of looming executions in Singapore
The affluent city-state of Singapore is preparing to execute as many as 13
people, including 4 Malaysian nationals, according to lawyers and human
rights groups. The Singaporean government is notoriously tight-lipped about
executions before they are carried out, preferring to avoid public scrutiny,
and did not respond to questions.
Executions are carried out by hanging and can be applied in murder, treason,
kidnapping and drug cases. Their number has risen in recent years - from 4 in
2016, to 8 in 2017 and 13 in 2018 - according to statistics buried in the
Singapore Prison Service's annual report.
There are reportedly more than 40 prisoners on death row in Singapore,
according to Amnesty International.
Australian man Nguyen Tuong Van was executed by Singapore back in 2005.
According to N Surendran, a lawyer and co-founder of the Malaysian campaign
group Lawyers for Liberty, who is acting for some of the condemned men, a
"bloodbath" is looming in Singapore's Changi prison.
“We at Lawyers for Liberty believe that more than 13 people have had their
applications for clemency rejected. Our earlier estimate was 10 people. This
means that the sword of Damocles is hanging over the heads of all these people
and their families," he said.
"We could be facing nothing less than a bloodbath soon, a factory-style hanging
of up to 13 people at one time, which hasn’t happened since the 1960s or
1970s."
"Up until now, though, no date has been set."
N Surendran is representing four death row Malaysian nationals - Nagenndaran
Dharmalingam, Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, Gobi Avedian and Datchinamurthy
Kataiah. All four men committed drug offences.
"Nagenndaran Dharmalingam's case is the most serious, he has an IQ of 69. An
eminent psychiatrist in Singapore has confirmed he has a mental disability and
all the previous lawyers have argued that he be spared because of the
disability," he said.
Dharmalingam's clemency bid had not been rejected yet, he added, but the
clemency bids for the other 3 men have been rejected. Pannir's was rejected
back in May, while Avedian and Kataiah had had theirs rejected in the last
couple of weeks.
"Singapore is clearly dismissing clemency petitions as a matter of policy,
which is unlawful and in breach of international legal norms," N Surendran
said.
The deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Asia, Phil Robertson, said the
looming mass executions demonstrated "the true face of the rights-abusing
Singapore, that tries to hide its true nature behind the flashy montage of
regional business conferences, Hollywood movies, fancy downtown skyscrapers,
and high-end casinos.
“This case once again points out that Singapore should reform its death penalty
appeals procedures to give the President full and independent authority to
commute death sentences," he said of President Halimah Yacob.
"It’s frankly absurd to say the President has independent authority when she
must seek the advice of the cabinet that has already decided to proceed with
these sentences.”
In a statement released on Monday, Eric Paulsen, Malaysia's representative on
the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, also called on the
Singaporean government to not carry out the executions.
"While the destructive effects of hard drugs on society are undeniable, these
prisoners are drug mules who were tricked or pressured by drug syndicates who
remain untouched by the law," he said.
The number of recorded executions carried out across the globe fell to 690 in
2018, the lowest in a decade, according to a recent Amnesty International
report, though this figure does not include China - which is believed to carry
out more than any other nation - but which does not release statistics.
Vietnam killed more than 85 people in 2018, more than any other country in
south-east Asia, and has more than 600 people on death row. Thailand killed one
person and has an estimated 551 people facing the death penalty.
Malaysia has 1275 people on death row, according to Amnesty's report, but has
been debating the abolition of the penalty, while Indonesia has more than 300
people on death row. Neither country executed anyone in 2018.
(source: Sydney Morning Herald)
MALAYSIA:
Police seize RM1.75 million worth of drugs in Muar, 9 men arrested
Johor police seized a total of 30.2 kilogramme of various types of drugs, with
a street value of about RM1.75 million, following 4 separate raids conducted in
the northern region of Muar last week.
The raids, held from Tuesday to Saturday, saw police seize mainly amphetamine
and methamphetamine as well as psychotropic drugs that can feed about 72,098
addicts.
Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said the 1st raid took place at
the Parit Sakai Laut fishing jetty in Muar, between 11am and 1.30pm on Tuesday.
He said during the raid police arrested a 37-year-old local man and seized
10,800 ecstasy pills, 4,970 Eramin 5 pills and 8.17kg syabu with a total value
of RM753,250.
“Following that, police also conducted another raid on the 2nd day from 11am to
1.30pm in Taman Melati in Muar where 2 local men and Indonesians, aged between
44 and 46, were nabbed.
“In that raid, police seized 10,962 ecstasy pills, 11 grammes of syabu and also
confiscated a Proton Iswara car with a total value of RM275,150,” said
Kamarudin at the Johor police media centre at the state police contingent
headquarters here today.
Kamarudin said the 3rd raid was on Saturday at Setia Tropika in Kempas here
where police arrested 5 men, aged between 20 and 28, and seized 3.09kg of syabu
valued at RM154,000.
He said police also raided a home in Adda Heights on the same day where police
arrested a 27-year-old man and seized 11.4kg of syabu valued at RM570,000.
“The suspects have been remanded pending investigations,” said Kamarudin.
Police have classified the case under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act
1952, which carries a mandatory death penalty, upon conviction.
From January 1 to July 27 this year, the police have arrested a total of 11,572
individuals for various drug offenses and seized 2,719kg of drugs worth
RM127.51 million.
(source: malaymail.com)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Death penalty for expat who killed man inside UAE mosque----Officers said the
man had stalked the victim from his house, stood near the door of the mosque,
and waited until the victim was left alone.
A resident who shot a man dead inside a mosque in Al Ain in 2017 has been
sentenced to death.
The Abu Dhabi Cassation Court has upheld the earlier rulings of the lower
courts, which found the 30-year-old GCC national guilty of premeditated murder,
among other charges.
It was an incident that shocked Al Ain city in March 2017, court records show.
The victim was reportedly seated inside the mosque near his home when the man
shot him several times, leading to his death.
Officers said the man had stalked the victim from his house, stood near the
door of the mosque, and waited until the victim was left alone.
"He walked towards the victim from behind, and then shot him in the head and
other body parts," they said.
? After killing the man, the convict ran away but later surrendered at a police
station in Al Ain city.
Investigations suggested that the motive was revenge, triggered by previous
family issues. He obtained the gun illegally for the purpose of killing the
victim.
During interrogations, he confessed to the crime, which eyewitnesses had also
confirmed.
Prosecutors had charged the Arab man with premeditated murder, illegal
possession of firearm, and possession and abuse of psychotropic substances. He
was also charged with abuse of Islamic rituals and places of worship.
Both Al Ain Criminal Court of First Instance and the Appeals Court found the
GCC national guilty on all counts.
(source: Khaleej Times)
MOROCCO:
La Creme Case: Dutch Official Says Netherlands Is Against Capital Punishment
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesperson Annelijn van den Broek said
that his country’s embassy in Morocco is in “direct contact with the [defense]
lawyer” of the perpetrators of theLa Creme shooting.
On July 26, the Court of Appeal in Marrakech sentenced the main defendants in
the shooting to death.
A young medical student died in the shooting, and one of his classmates was
seriously injured.
The spokesperson of the Dutch ministry said that it is up to the people
concerned to “use the possibility of appeal.”
He added that “all Dutch people have the right to consular assistance,”
according to AFP.
Broek added that the Netherlands stands against the death penalty.
Moroccan police linked the crime to the settling of accounts between drug
cartels and drug traffickers working between Morocco and the Netherlands.
The death penalty was abolished in the Netherlands in 1870. While capital
punishment remains legal in Morocco, no executions have been carried out since
1993.
Moroccoo, however, handed death sentences to 3 individuals directly involved in
the death of 2 Scandinavian tourists in the Atlas Mountains in December 2018.
(source: moroccoworldnews.com)
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