[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Feb. 11 INDIA: Seminar on capital punishment held in Srinagar People from every nook and corner of the valley, hailing from different walks of life participated in a daylong seminar organized by Awami Ittihaad Party (AIP) in Srinagar on Saturday. Breaking all traditions the seminar was presided by a 90 year brave heart namely Sabaz Ali who had lost his 3 sons and is feeding nearly a dozen orphans. All the speakers mostly heirs of martyrs and victims of violence took the pledge that Kashmiris will never succumb to pressure tactics and use of brutal force by New Delhi as they are seeking resolution to Kashmir dispute through Right to self determination for the larger interests of people of the sub continent. Tears were rolling down from the eyes of the participants when dozens of the parents and others spoke how army and security agencies butchered their near and dear ones during last 30 years but New Delhi not only denied the justice but did everything to prove innocent unarmed civilians as terrorists. Justice Hasnain through his speech send in writing and was readout at the seminar said that death penalty once executed leaves no room for correction of error and undue mistrial. He said severe punishment like death penalty presupposes fair trial. Referring to Afzal Guru's and Maqbool Bhat's hangings Justice Masoodi said "In case of Mohammad Maqbool Bhat and Mohammad Afzal Guru the principles of fair trial are fair execution were never followed. In case of Maqbool Bhat the sentence was imposed in 1968 and executed in 1984 after 16 long years. The Supreme Court has time and again laid down that where for one or the other reason the execution of death penalty gets delayed, it should not be executed as the prisoner in the prison cell dies almost daily. While awaiting the execution and the long delays itself dehu???manizing even long pendency of the punishment and the death sentence should have been commuted. In case of Afzal Guru the execution of death sentence was hurried and though far behind in the queue the sentence was executed that too without information to his family. In both the cases it is highly doubtful whether adequate legal assistance was provided during the trial. None from the legal luminaries came forward to defend them and it was left to the trial court to appoint an amicus curie". Speaking on the occasion Er. Rasheed reiterated that Kashmiris are not enemies of India and they will be the biggest beneficiaries of peace between India and Pakistan. He said "Had hanging been a solution, no one would have dared to take up to arms after Maqbool Bhat's hanging and after Afzal Gurus hanging what happened in Kashmir is ample reason to conclude that death punishment should be abolished" . Er. Rasheed added that while Hurriyat represents sentiments and sacrifices of People of J, the need of the hour is that Hurriyat Leadership should earn well wishers for the movement and not count everyone on the other side. He said the fight is much much bigger as New Delhi is doing everything to divide Kashmiris, creating confusions and avoids a resolution. If Kashmiris are not united and lack a proper workable strategy, masses will just go on sacrificing and leaders will continue to wait for searching opportunities to propagate their agenda whatsoever". Er. Rasheed added that whatsoever valid questions Afal Guru's wife has raised from time to time we all need to introspect and find the answers. Er. Rasheed condemned behavior of the police and civil adminis???tration for cancelling the permission granted for holding seminar in Hotel Lala Rukh and said that party was informed at 11:00 PM in the night about the decision and the act was just yet one more evidence of frustration on part of the Govt. He thanked people from all walks of life for making their presence to the seminar and listening around 35 speakers during the day. Prominent lawyers, political activists and scholars explained in detail how was the capital punishment a disaster throughout the world and a barrier in establishing peace. (source: Kashmir Observer) IRAN: UN Rights Experts Urge Iran to Annul Death Sentence Against Ahmadreza Djalali United Nations human rights experts* have repeated their urgent call to Iran to annul the death sentence against Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali amid reports that his latest legal attempt to challenge the sentence has been rejected. "We urgently call on Iran to lift the death sentence imposed on Dr. Djalali, as the State has apparently not complied with its international obligations to give him a fair trial and the right to appeal," the experts said in a joint statement released in Geneva. "We are deeply disturbed by reports from Dr. Djalali's legal team that his application for judicial review of the death sentence has been dismissed by the Supreme Court, apparently without any review process or explanation. This
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA.
Feb. 11 TEXAS: Willacy to seek ultimate penalty Nearly 1 century has passed since a person convicted and sentenced to death in Willacy County has been executed by the state of Texas. This week, 1 of 2 men accused of shooting and killing an off-duty Border Patrol agent and injuring the man's father in rural Willacy County will stand trial in the 197th state District Court. The Willacy County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty for both men, who are being tried separately and have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Gustavo Tijerina-Sandoval, a La Villa man, is charged with capital murder and attempted capital murder for allegedly shooting and killing Javier Vega Jr. of Kingsville and injuring the agent's father, Javier Vega Sr. of La Feria, in August 2014. Ismael Hernandez-Vallejo of Weslaco faces the same charges. Authorities have said the murder took place while the suspects robbed the Vegas, who were on a fishing excursion with their family. While 86 years have gone by since the last convicted murderer in Willacy County was executed, another 8 decades have passed since the Willacy County District Attorney's Office has secured a death sentence after a murder conviction. According to Texas Department of Criminal Justice online death row records, which date back to 1923, just 2 people from Willacy County have been sentenced to die in Huntsville. Both of those cases date back to the 1930s. Those stories have largely been forgotten, until now. HISTORY UNCOVERED The 3rd floor of the Willacy County Courthouse, which was built in 1922, used to be a jail. Nowadays, the physical memories of that jail remain. There are bars and jail doors, and memories of inmates told through jailhouse graffiti. But these days, instead of prisoners, the jail cells hold court records. In one of those cells, off in a corner of the jail, is a large black file cabinet. That's where staff from the Willacy County District Clerk's Office found the case files for Estanislado Lopez and Pio Quesada. Lopez and Quesada were held on the very same floor and sentenced to death in the courthouse that holds the only records of the cases against the men. Lopez pleaded guilty to murdering Jesus Villareal on Aug. 24, 1931, and was electrocuted less than 1 year later on June 10, 1932. Quesada pleaded guilty Jan. 22, 1937, to killing Fernando Ramirez on Nov. 27, 1936. Unlike Lopez, Quesada's sentence was commuted and he was never executed. Efforts to discover why Quesada's sentence was commuted were not successful. Unlike modern day death penalty cases that can take years to work their way through the courts, Lopez and Quesada were charged, tried and sentenced within 1 week of their arrests. The appeals process was just months-long. And for Lopez, his sentence was carried out less than one year after he pleaded guilty. However, the case files for the men still contain all of the documentation and are in excellent condition. There are indictments, arrest warrants, handwritten notes, Western Union receipts, and even appeals and notices of court-appointed attorneys; all neatly folded handbills reminiscent of the shape and size of a warrant that a proverbial western lawman would pull out of the pocket of their duster. AXE MURDER In July of 1930, Lopez, a San Antonio man who lived at a residence just northeast of downtown in the Alamo City for 8 years, traveled to Raymondville to pick cotton. The details of what transpired next are held in handwritten notes taken by authorities at the Harris County jail from an account given to them by a man named Francisco Moreno and a confession they took from Lopez, which still bears the man???s signature. In a coincidence, Moreno was arrested in Houston and placed in a cell with Lopez. Unfortunately for Lopez, Moreno was 1 of the 7 farm workers staying in a house about 4 miles east of Raymondville, along with Lopez, when the murder occurred. "When I was put in the cell ... Lopez covered up his face and would not let me see him. I told Lopez to take his hands down from his face I want to see who you are," Moreno told authorities in Houston according to the records. Moreno stated that he never saw the murder because they were all asleep, but when they woke up to a dog barking at sunrise and discovered the body, Lopez was long gone. While sharing a cell, Moreno asked Lopez where he went after the killing. "Lopez said he stayed in the brush 3 or 4 days and then went some place around Ft. Worth and then to Waco and then to Bryan, then Lopez said to me not to tell any one about the killing at Raymondville Texas for they will put me in the electric chair, he did not tell me how he killed this man," Moreno said, according to the records. Lopez killed the man by striking him with an axe while he slept. Lopez gave his account of the murder and signed it in the handwritten letter. The night of the murder was
