[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
August 29 INDIA: Man gets death penalty for murdering 4 of family The CBI court here on Tuesday awarded death penalty to Khushwinder Singh (45), who had murdered four members of a Fatehgarh Sahib family 14 years ago. Khushwinder, a resident of Suhavi village in Fatehgarh Sahib district, had pushed Kulwant Singh (45), latter's wife Harjit Kaur (40), daughter Ramandeep Kaur (17) and son Arvinder Singh (14) into the Sirhind canal on June 4, 2004. Only the bodies of Kulwant and Ramandeep were found. The judge handed out the death sentence under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict. The court also awarded life imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 5,000, under Section 364 (kidnapping or abduction in order to murder) of the IPC and 4-year rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence). Khushwinder had also murdered 6 members of another Fatehgarh Sahib family, who were close relatives of his wife Manjit Kaur, in the same manner in 2012. He is already on death row in that case. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had confirmed the death penalty. His appeal is pending in the Supreme Court. The CBI's public prosecutor, Kumar Rajat, said Khushwinder's elder brother Kulwinder Singh worked as an accountant for Kulwant Singh, who owned a rice mill. "Khushwinder came to know that Kulwant had sold his land and received around Rs 21 lakh. He convinced Kulwant and his family that he could solve their problems by performing religious ceremonies with a godman's help. Later, he pushed them into the canal," the CBI public prosecutor said. The case was handed over to the CBI in 2007 by the High Court following a petition filed by Kulwant's relative Kultar Singh. Khushwinder, who worked as a typist and ran a photostat shop in Fatehgarh Sahib, was nabbed after the 2012 murders came to light. In this case, the victims were his wife's uncle and retired cop Gurmail Singh (70), Gurmail's wife Paramjit Kaur (60), son Gurinder Singh (30), son-in-law Rupinder Singh, grandson Jaskirat Singh and granddaughter Prabhsimran Singh. One member of the family, Jasmine, had survived. Her testimony helped the police solve the 2004 and 2012 murder cases. (source: tribuneindia.com) *** Hindalga may witness South India's 1st hanging since 1983In all, 21 prisoners including Reddy and Natekar who are facing capital punishment are languishing in Hindalga central prison of Belagavi for the last several years. For the 1st time since 1983, Karnataka is getting ready to witness hanging of a death convict. The stay issued by the HC on the execution of rapist and murderer Umesh Reddy and another notorious criminal Saibanna Natekar will end on September 2. According to highly-placed prison sources, the court is unlikely to extend their stay further this time. This means the duo may become the first ones to be hanged after 35 years not only in the state, but also in South India. In all, 21 prisoners including Reddy and Natekar who are facing capital punishment are languishing in Hindalga central prison of Belagavi for the last several years. After the SC sentenced both of them to death in 2005, the 2 filed mercy petitions with the President of India. After sometime, their mercy petitions were rejected by the President in 2013. When the Prison Department was completing formalities for their hanging, the 2 were able to get the execution stayed through the state HC in 2016. (source: The New Indian Express) VIETNAM: SA drug mule sentenced to death in Vietnam A court in southern Vietnam has sentenced a South African man to death after finding him guilty of trafficking nearly 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of cocaine. The Ho Chi Minh City Law newspaper said Tyron Lee Coetzee was convicted in a half-day trial Tuesday. It said Lee was arrested in June 2016 upon arriving at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat international airport after officials found the drug in his bag. The newspaper quoted Coetzee as telling investigators that he was hired by a Nigerian man to transport the drug for $3,500 which would be paid after his arrival in Vietnam. Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Trafficking 100 grams or more of heroin or cocaine is punishable by death. South Africa's Department of International Relations and Co-operation he is yet to comment on the sentence. (source: iol.co.za) IRAN: Kurdish Death Row Inmate Sews Lips Shut in Hunger Strike Against Denial of Rights Ramin Hossein Panahi, a Kurdish man in danger of imminent execution in Iran, has sewn his lips shut to protest the denial of his rights by prison authorities. "Unfortunately, our client has sewn his lips ... and started a hunger strike for the following reasons," said a statement dated August 27, 2018, by defense attorneys Maziar Tataei, Hossein
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, OHIO, NEB.
August 29 TEXAS: Harris County D.A. to seek death penalty against 2nd alleged MS-13 gang member in informant slaying Douglas Alexander Herrera-Hernandez, 20, is charged with capital murder in Fort Bend and Harris counties. His nickname was Terror and his alleged crime was brutal. But now the MS-13 gang member could be headed for death row after District Attorney Kim Ogg formally gave notice that her office has decided to seek a death sentence against a Salvadoran immigrant accused in the retaliatory group killing of a teenage Houston police informant. In an expansive case with seven men charged, Douglas Alexander Herrera-Hernandez is now the 2nd person facing the possibility of the state's harshest punishment for the 2016 murder in a Fort Bend park. "We will not tolerate this behavior," said prosecutor Lisa Collins, who is handling all 7 of the capital murder cases connected to the teen's death. "The criminal element has to take prosecution seriously and I think that's what we do by being consistent and making sure that each case is held to the highest standards." The decision comes amid a changing landscape for capital punishment in the place historically most fond of it. Though earlier this month Harris County sent its 1st man to death row in 4 years, Ogg has overseen taking 4 killers off the row and decided to stop seeking the ultimate punishment in a handful of cases once possibly headed there. "Part of it is an indication that her administration is taking a more progressive view of criminal justice issues," said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, "but part of it is a significant national decline and whatever administration was in would be pursuing the death penalty less frequently and settling more cases." The accused killer's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. On the night of June 13, 2016, Herrera-Hernandez and four of his associates allegedly lured 16-year-old Estuar Quinonez to Buffalo Run Park in Missouri City. Some of the men hid in the bushes, lying in wait as the others led the teen down a gravel trail. Estuar and one of his eventual killers were sitting on a bench trying to smoke pot out of a plastic bottle around 11 p.m. when another member of the crew fired the 1st shot, according to court records. One by one, they all shot the teen, continuing to fire until he stopped moving, records show. The next morning, a jogger was the first to spot the boy's body, lying in the trail. Initially, she thought he'd collapsed from the heat - and then she saw the puddle of blood around his head. Police quickly realized the teen might be a gang member, and a few calls later they found his contact at Houston police, a sergeant who showed up and identified Estuar as an informant. The killing, the sergeant said according to court filings, looked like a hit in retaliation for helping police with an MS-13 case. A suspected local gang leader, Omar Torres, had allegedly ordered the murder from inside the county jail - where he was facing another murder charge for the brutal killing of Noe Mendez 4 months earlier. After the hit on the teen, Torres was facing another charge: capital murder. 6 others were targeted with the same charge, including 5 men who are accused of shooting the teen, and one accused of delivering the deadly orders. When police began making arrests, most of charges were brought in Fort Bend County. There, prosecutors had not yet decided whether to seek death sentences when they opted to transfer the proceedings to Harris County in the interest of continuity. By trying the cases in the same county, 1 prosecutor could handle them all. "It was just about efficiency and consolidation," said Fort Bend County prosecutor Matt Banister. After the switch to Harris, a committee of prosecutors here decided to seek a death sentence against Torres. "He was already in jail for murdering a guy; it was an MS-13 gang shooting," Assistant District Attorney Colleen Barnett said in May. "He arranged to have that witness killed and we believe that was just a really bad act that he committed." A few weeks later, the district attorney's office decided to seek the same punishment for Herrera-Hernandez, who was also accused in another killing. It was the additional murders that made those 2 cases stand out; it's less likely prosecutors will seek death sentences for the others accused in Estuar's killing, Collins said. 2 of the others charged aren't eligible for capital punishment because they were under 18 at the time of the crime. Though the committee's decision in Herrera-Hernandez's case marks the district attorney's 2nd move to seek the death penalty in a new case this year, Ogg's record on capital punishment is more mixed. In the 20 months she's been in office, the state has taken 4 killers - Duane Buck, Calvin Hunter, Michael Norris, and Robert Campbell- off
