[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Nov. 26 SOUTH KOREA: South Korean bishops to campaign against capital punishment The Catholic bishops' conference of South Korea, is renewing its opposition to the death penalty with an awareness-raising campaign utilizing media, education and cultural events. The Subcommittee for the Abolition of Capital Punishment held its annual plenary and talked about how to further promote the church's stance on the death penalty to Korean society. The subcommittee will campaign against capital punishment by publishing op-eds and articles by respected individuals from the church and other organizations including secular ones. Along with this, they plan to produce education material targeting middle and high school students by the end of this year. They will also design a special performance on the occasion of the World Day Against the Death Penalty on Nov. 30. The bishops' committee will aid the campaign by holding a discussion and concert on Dec. 18 in Chucheon, Gangwon province. The Catholic Church in Korea has long been trying to get capital punishment abolished even though the country has not carried out an execution since 1997. (source: radiovaticana.va) SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka sentences 18 to death in US tea firm case A court in Sri Lanka has given death sentences to 18 men over murdering a US tea company executive in the capital Colombo 3 years ago, the largest group to be condemned in a single trial in the South Asian country. The High Court of Sri Lanka on Friday found the men, who were members of a criminal gang, guilty of hacking and beating Nihal Perera to death, in Deraniyagala, a township on the outskirts of the capital, in July 2013. The 71-year-old victim, a Sri Lankan national, was the superintendent of the Noori Estate tea plantation run by Texas-based firm Walters Bay, and his tragic death caused a massive public outcry against the police at the time. The protesters accused the police of incapability to deal with criminal gangs allegedly led by members of the country's former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's party. 21 men were arrested at the time on homicide charges and trial commenced in February 2015, with around 20 witnesses giving testimonies. On Friday, however, 3 of the suspects were acquitted. "Among the men condemned today is a politician (from Rajapaksa's party) who headed a local government council in the area," AFP quoted an unnamed court official as saying, adding that the "victim had been hacked to death because he stood up to the criminal activities of the gang." The accused were also found guilty of inflicting grievous hurt upon 3 employees of the tea firm at the time. Sri Lankan courts usually give death sentences for rape, homicide and drug-related crimes, but the verdicts are regularly commuted to life sentences because of an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty. (source: presstv.ir) TURKEY: Erdogan warns EU he will sign death penalty law if MPs approve Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday warned the European Union he would sign a law bringing back the death penalty if it was approved by parliament. "Democracy, it's respecting the people's will," Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul. "If the people say 'we want the death penalty'... and this goes to parliament and parliament passes it and it comes to me, I declare I will approve this," he added. Erdogan was speaking hours after he had rattled Europe by threatening to open Turkey's borders to allow migrants to reach the EU, in a move that would tear up a landmark deal signed in March that has reduced the refugee flow. He made his remarks in response to the cheering crowds' chants of "we want the death penalty", an oft-repeated call during his rallies since the July 15 failed coup. "When you want the death penalty, the gentlemen are uncomfortable," he said, apparently referring to EU officials. Erdogan said that if he signed the death penalty back into law, it would likely be blocked by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), but this did not concern him. "I say, it doesn't bother me. Because the European Court of Human Rights gives a lot of decisions, we know it very well... this people's will, yes this is a will that must be respected by everyone." EU officials have repeatedly made clear that bringing back the death penalty would end Turkey's bid for membership, which sets abolishing capital punishment as a condition. Turkey completely abolished the death penalty in 2004 as part of its accession process. The move meant the 1999 death sentence for Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan was commuted to life behind bars. No judicial executions have taken place in the country since left-wing militant Hidir Aslan was hanged on October 25, 1984 in the wake of the 1980 military coup. (source: digitaljournal.com) EGYPT: Irish student facing death penalty in Egypt after Ireland's appeal
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., ALA., USA
Nov. 26 GEORGIAimpending execution Lawyers hope new find saves inmate from execution Lawyers for the next inmate on Georgia's death row says a juror was biased against William Sallie. They're trying to keep their client from execution. The convicted murderer is scheduled to be put to death in less than 2 weeks. He's already been convicted and sentenced to death twice. It was a particularly gruesome crime. According to court documents, Sallie's ex-wife left him because he was abusive. In 1990 she was living with her parents in Bacon County. One night, William Sallie cut the phone cords, pried open the back door and snuck into his in-law's bedroom, according to records. It only gets worse from there. Sallie was convicted of shooting John and Linda Moore, killing his father-in-law. When his wife and her 17-year-old sister begged to call 911, Sallie abducted and raped both of them. He let them go the next day, only after asking that they don't press charges. A jury sentenced him to death. But that was overthrown because Sallie argued his 1st lawyer had a conflict of interest. The lawyer was also serving as a clerk of court. Sallie was tried again and sentenced to death for a 2nd time in 2002. All of his appeals ran out, but now his lawyers are arguing that a juror who sentenced him lied about a "messy divorce" and "ugly" custody fight. They say that made her biased against Sallie. But a federal court said these new arguments were too late. Sallie is scheduled for execution on December 6th. He will be the 9th person put to death in Georgia in 2016. That would be the most in the country. Georgia has no equal in 2016. Aside from Texas, no other state has more than 1 execution in 2016. "It seems like nationwide, jurors are more hesitant to apply the death penalty when they have something else to fall back on, say life without parole," said 11Alive legal analyst Phil Holloway. That's been true in Georgia. While it's the leading state this year, that's likely to be the only time. There are only about 60 men on Georgia death row. Texas has about 4 times that number. And there were no death penalty convictions in 2015. (source: WXIA news) ALABAMAimpending execution Alabama Probably Won't Be Trying A Never-Before-Used Single-Drug Lethal InjectionAlabama offered to execute inmate Ronald Bert Smith next month with a sedative that's never before been used as the sole drug in an execution. But the talks fell through this past week. It appears unlikely that Alabama will try out a new single-drug lethal injection method next month, after the attorney general's office and death row inmate Ronald Bert Smith have been unable to reach an agreement. Smith, along with other Alabama death row inmates, have challenged the state's lethal injection method, which uses a sedative similar to valium followed by a paralytic and then a painful drug that stops the heart. Instead, the inmates requested to be executed only using a single large dose of the sedative, midazolam. The talks between the state and the inmate fell through over disagreements over how much of the drug to use and what the legal ramifications of doing so would be. Alabama agreed that the inmates' request was feasible, and this month, U.S. District Court Judge Keith Watkins ordered the state to produce a 1-drug execution plan of how it would use only midazolam. Watkins also asked inmate Smith to show cause of why he shouldn't be executed with the single drug as he had requested. Last week, Smith responded that he would consent to being executed with a large 2,500 milligram injection of midazolam. Smith had requested a 500 milligram dose in his original complaint, but his attorneys say it was a typo. His own expert had said that a 2,500 milligram dose would be preferable. Although the state said the 500 milligram dose was feasible and agreed to try it out, Attorney General Luther Strange???s Office balked at the request for a higher dose. "The ADOC does not have an unlimited supply of midazolam," Deputy Attorney General Thomas R. Govan, Jr. responded. "Given the uncertainty in Smith's unspecified protocol, particularly where Smith cannot even state how much midazolam would be needed [if the original dose doesn't kill him], it is uncertain whether the ADOC could carry out Smith's execution based on his current stance." The state did not disclose how much midazolam it has on hand, and states have closely guarded any information about their execution drugs. The inmates also said they would only agree to the single-drug execution if their side was held to have won the case - meaning the 3-drug protocol would be ruled unconstitutional. Under current US Supreme Court precedent, death row inmates challenging a state's chosen method of execution must propose an alternative method. On Friday, Judge Watkins dismissed Smith's lawsuit and criticized the
