[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Nov. 21 BANGLADESH: N'ganj murders: prosecution seeks death for all charged The 2 cases filed over the sensational murders from 2014 reached final stage of hearing at the court of District and Sessions Judge Syed Enayet Hossain. Public prosecutor Wazed Ali Khokon presented arguments from 9am to 1pm on Monday. Defence lawyers for 15 of the accused, after presenting counter arguments, sought acquittal for their clients. Arguments for 20 more charged in the cases will be heard on Tuesday. The court will schedule the verdict after both sides finish their statements. The prosecution has successfully proven all charges including planning, abduction, murder and attempts made to hide the bodies, said prosecutor Wazed. "The prosecution has sought maximum penalty for the accused. We pleaded for their execution by hanging," he said. But defence lawyer Md Sultanuzzaman said: "The prosecution can seek the death penalty because the law allows it. But we will present our arguments and plead for acquittal." Narayanganj City Corporation Councillor Nazrul Islam, advocate Chandan Kumar Sarkar and 5 others were abducted on Apr 27, 2014 from Lamaparha on the Dhaka-Narayanganj link road. 3 days later, their bodies were found in the Shitalakkhya River. After investigation, police submitted chargesheets in 2 cases filed over the murders, accusing former city councillor Nur Hossain and 34 others, including former RAB personnel. (source: bdnews24.com) THAILAND: Only 3 5 of people support death penalty for buying and selling of official positions Over 90 % of respondents in a poll agree with life imprisonment for people who buy or sell positions in government services and more than 1/2 of them support police reforms, according to results of the Super Poll research office. The poll was conducted during October 15-19 among 440 samples who are police officers attached to police stations. They were asked about, among others, how they feel about police reforms and about a recent proposal that people who buy or sell official positions should face the maximum penalty of death instead of life imprisonment. The poll shows only 3.3 % of the respondents agree with death penalty for those who buy or sell official positions and 96.7 % prefer life imprisonment as the maximum penalty. 30.9 % say it is not yet time for police reforms while 69.1 % want the police organization to be reformed. Regarding police reforms, 36.1 % of the respondents want to see reform in public safety aspect, 30.6 % want police reshuffle to be reformed, 18.2 % want legal reforms and 8.2 % want the laws governing police performance to be reformed. (source: pattayamail.com) MAURITANIA: Muslim clerics urge for blogger's death penalty to be applied The blogger's post on Islam and racial discrimination was said to have provoked many in a country where the caste system remains a sensitive subject. He was sentenced to death in 2014 for apostasy. According to a protester, his post was act of indignity. "We are here in the front of the court supreme, all the people of Mauritania. Our demand, our first demand to execute this criminal. The prophet Mohammed is our honour, nobody has right to talk about him. He is our prophet from our religion Islam. We are demanding his execution", she stressed. Mauritania has not applied a death penalty since 1987 but on Sunday, the influential Forum of Imams and Ulemas issued an Islamic decree, calling for Mkhaitir's death sentence. "The government has to stop people like this and those who do similar things. They need to be punished according to sharia law without reservations. This apostasy case has been one of the biggest we have seen in the last few years" says the president of National Union of Imams of Mauritania, Mohamed Lemine. Amnesty International and Reporters without Borders have campaigned for Mkhaitir's pardon and release. (source: allafricanews.com) UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Dubai security chief reveals anti-drug officer plan for schools All Dubai schools are to have an anti-drug officer by the end of the year as part of efforts to prevent the spread of narcotics, the emirate's security chief has said. Lt General Dahi Khalfan bin Tamim, Head of General Security in Dubai, revealed the plans to a narcotics conference yesterday. He also called for the death penalty to be pursued against all drug suppliers and dealers. At present, Dubai prosecutors do not usually request the death penalty, although the request to the judge is common in Abu Dhabi courts. He said: "Police and the anti-narcotics department are cooperating to arrest all suspects wanted for drug-related crimes. Until now police have arrested 78 % of suspects wanted for drug trafficking crimes." Dubai Police chief Tamim said that the department of anti-narcotics in Dubai targets arresting all drug traffickers and dealers by the end of this year. He added: "
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, IOWA, OKLA., ORE., USA
Nov. 21 OHIO: Victim's mother reacts to death sentence in Warrensville barbershop slayings A jury sentenced convicted murder Douglas Shine Jr. to death for killing 3 men at a Warrensville Heights barbershop in February of 2015. All 6 counts were unanimous, death for the 21-year-old. Who did not flinch as he learned his fate. Shine killed William Gonzalez, Walter Barfield and Brandon White at Chalk Linez barbershop last year. White's mother Angela Ladson was in the courtroom. "I'm satisfied," said Ladson. "It's hard not to have emotions when someone says death. It's been 3 months it's been hard." Shine's family members stormed out of the courtroom before the judge finished reading the verdict on all 6 counts. Prosecutors say Shine was a member of the Heartless Felons gang and that an argument with a rival gang led to the shooting that killed 3 men and wounded 3 others. Ladson says moving on will be difficult. She lost 2 sons to Shine's violence. "Now we can get a little closure but I have to start all over next year for my second son," said Ladson. "It's hard emotion right now it really is, it really is. Aaron Ladson was a witness who prosecutors say identified Shine as the shooter. Aaron was shot and killed four months after his brother Brandon, in the driveway of his grandmother's home. Jurors convicted Shine of organizing the murder from his cell. Fox 8 asked Ladson if death for Shine was the punishment she wanted to hear in the case. "It didn't matter if it was life or death but I am shocked," said Ladson. "I'm okay, It doesn't bring my sons back but I'm okay." A source inside the courtroom says the enormity of the situation weighed heavily on jurors who all wanted to make sure they did the right thing. (source: Fox News) It's time to pay attention to mental illness when it comes to capital punishment Mentally ill individuals shouldn???t receive the death penalty according to Senate Bill 162, it is not acceptable 3 people were murdered on Cleveland State University???s campus in February of 1982. Frank Spisak, a proclaimed Nazi supporter, shot the Rev. Horace Rickerson, CSU employee Timothy Sheehan and CSU student Brian Warford. Spisak also attempted to kill factory worker John Hardaway and CSU employee Coletta Dartt. Later, he was apprehended by law enforcement, arrested and convicted. It took 14 years after Spisak's trial to diagnose him with severe bipolar disorder and to properly medicate him because there was little awareness about the disorder before. Dr. Chester Schmidt, an expert in bipolar disorder from Johns Hopkins University determined that Spisak suffered from Bipolar Disorder I and leading up to the crime, he said Spisak was intoxicated, manic, mentally unstable, under psycho-social stress and being manipulated by a man named Ronald Reddish. Reddish was a member of an organization that supported Nazis and was the accomplice to Spisak's "hunting parties." 30 years after his conviction, Spisak was executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. No court ever considered the severity of his mental illness, and by the time he was properly diagnosed and medicated by the state prison system, there was no legal opportunity to argue for it. This is one of many examples of the government failing to recognize mental illness in a capital case - violating the Constitution and international law. What Spisak did was horrible, and there is no way to condone his crime - it was premeditated on the basis of race and ethnicity. But, at the same time, we can't take serious mental illness or Spisak's circumstances lightly. This is a complicated issue, and especially because of my Christian faith, I want to respond to it in the most compassionate way possible. Firstly, crimes like Spisak???s needed to be punished for life for the sake of the victim, their loved ones, and the safety of society as a whole. Even Dr. Schmidt stated that Spisak was too ill to return to society, so he recommended a life sentence at the prison's mental health ward for the safety of himself and others. On the other hand, the amount of proof that Spisak's mental illness made him unable to understand his actions is overwhelming. He had never received proper treatment for his illness, and his "friend" Reddish took advantage of his mental and emotional situation and manipulated him with Nazi propaganda. Later, Spisak proclaimed that he wanted his hate crimes to start a "race war" in Cleveland - an idea utterly ignorant of the true consequences and completely out of touch with reality. In our society, we are against an underage person receiving the death penalty, because a juvenile is more susceptible to manipulation and doesn't have the same ability to make decisions and understand consequences as an adult. For the same reasons, mentally ill individuals should be exempt from the death penalty. My heart goes out t
