[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
September 5 MALAYSIA: 2 African men sent to gallows for drug trafficking 2 Africans have been sentenced to death for trafficking 2,083g of methamphetamine. In passing judgment, High Court Judicial Commissioner Muhammad Jamil Hussin said the prosecution had proven its case against Nigerian Chikanso Ansalem Okoli, 29, and Ghanaian Desmond Owusu, 25, beyond a reasonable doubt. The duo had committed the offence at 11.05am at a car park in Nilai Square on March 15, 2016. Okoli was then working at a restaurant in Nilai, while Owusu was a student at a private college in Perak. They were charged under Section 39B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which is punishable under Section 39B (2) of the same Act, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code. Those convicted of the offence face the mandatory death penalty. Both the accused were represented by Datuk Haniff Hassan and Abdul Aziz Hamzah, while Hazeelia Muhammad prosecuted. (source: thestar.com.my) JORDAN: Death penalty for man who killed autistic son, set body ablaze The Court of Cassation has upheld a March Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to death after convicting him of murdering his son who suffered from autism in Amman. The court declared the defendant guilty of murdering his eight-year-old son then setting his body ablaze in Amman on March 8, 2015, and handed him the capital punishment. Court papers said that the defendant was separated from his 1st wife and had not seen his son, the victim, and daughter for over 2 years. One day before the murder, the defendant's brother-in-law called him and asked him to "divorce his sister and to take his children because his sister was no longer capable of supporting them", court documents said, adding "The defendant agreed and took the children to his house but realised that the victim could not talk and needed a lot of attention because of his medical situation so he decided to kill him to get rid of the responsibility." The following day, the court maintained, the defendant bought kerosene and took his son to "a deserted building in Amman where he pushed him from the 4th-storey". "The defendant then went down, made sure that his son was dead, poured kerosene on his body and set it ablaze to conceal the murder," according to court transcripts. The defendant contested the Criminal Court's ruling charging that there were inconsistencies with the witnesses' testimonies during the trial. However, the higher court ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant and he deserved the verdict he received. The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Yassin Abdullat, Bassim Mubeidin and Hamad Ghzawi. (source: Jordan Times) IRANexecutions Balochistan: Iranian authorities executed 3 Baloch prisoners The Iranian authorities have executed Baloch political prisoners at the dawn of Monday morning (3rd September) at Zahedan prison. According to the Baloch Activists Campaign, 3 political prisoners detained in Zahedan prison were transferred to solitary confinement on Saturday morning, September 1st, 2018 and executed on Monday 3rd September. The Iranian authorities informed the prisoners of their death sentence and execution only 1 day after a recent clash between the armed opposition groups in Balochistan and Iranian security forces. The revenge executions of political prisoners in Balochistan are not new, in 2013 at least a 16 Baloch prisoners were executed. According to Mohammad Marzieh, the Attorney General Zahedan at that time said, 'these people were executed in response to an attack on Iranian border forces near Saravan.' The identity of the Baloch prisoners executed on Monday has been confirmed as Dur Mohammad Shahbakhsh, 21, from Zahedan, Ismail Shahbakhsh, 23 and Hayatullah Noteizahi also known as Akbar 24-years-old. The detainees were arrested July 7, 2015, on charges spreading mischief in the country, cooperating with the opposition groups and participation in an armed conflict against the law enforcement force and murder of an official of border security forces. However, all 3 of them denied the murder and other charges against them. It should be noted that at the time of arrest Ismail Shahbakhsh and Hayatullah Noteiyazhei were shot and wounded. It is worth mentioning that these people had previously referred to the inhuman treatment of interrogators by writing an open letter to detail the torture techniques during detention. In that letter, it was pointed out to the defendants were beaten and subjected to various forms of torture including sprinkling salt and pepper on their wounds and pinching their private parts to coerce them into false confession. Sources informed Balochwara news that the Iranian authorities have not handed over the dead bodies of the victims to their relatives. The relatives have been
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., S.C., ALA., OHIO, ARK., NEV., CALIF., USA
Sept. 5 NORTH CAROLINA: Family failed him first; then the System did I watched him die 15 years ago, and I still talk to him sometimes. I talked to him a lot in the weeks after he was killed and thought maybe I was going a little crazy. And then I thought, it's probably normal to go a little crazy when you see somebody killed 10 feet in front of you, somebody you knew really well and cared about and tried so hard to save. I'm talking about my client, Quentin Jones, who was executed at 2 a.m. on Aug. 22, 2003. Quentin was 18, homeless, and addicted to drugs in 1987, when he robbed a convenience store with an Uzi 9 mm pistol. The store camera caught most of the crime on tape. You can't see Quentin shooting Edward Peebles, who had stopped in for coffee after playing music with his friends, but you can hear it. Like Quentin, Peebles had a young daughter. During Quentin's capital sentencing hearing, the 2 toddlers played together in the back of the courtroom. At the execution, Peebles's daughter sat behind me, softly crying. Her grandfather, Peebles's father, sat next to me in a 3-piece, blue-striped suit. On my other side were Quentin's uncle and younger brother. While Quentin lay on the gurney waiting to be poisoned, his brother signed to him. As children, they'd learned sign language because they had a cousin who couldn't hear. Quentin mouthed his love for us and an apology to Peebles's family. This wasn't new. Quentin had confessed and pleaded guilty. He told the police and the jury he was sorry. In my meetings with him, he frequently and consistently expressed his regret and sorrow for the deep pain he had caused the Peebles family. He never tried to evade responsibility for what he did. Quentin also had extraordinary insight about his life and compassion for those who failed him: a mother who struggled with drug addiction and a father who faced his own demons. Quentin was the oldest son and, to help his family, he turned to the crack-infested streets of Baltimore, joined a gang and entered the drug trade. Despite a diagnosis of PTSD rooted in his experience of childhood trauma, Quentin grew up during 16 years on death row. He never finished high school, but in prison he read and studied. He wrote poetry and embraced spirituality, becoming a devout Muslim. He maintained relationships with his family, despite distance and poverty that made it difficult for them to visit. A psychologist was so touched by his work with Quentin that he came to the prison the day of the execution to say goodbye, and ended up staying through to the bitter end. Every lawyer who ever represented Quentin urged the governor to commute the death sentence. Over the 9 years I represented Quentin, I came to know his family, and they were at the prison all day and into the night of the execution. On that terrible day, the worst moment was telling Quentin's family that the governor had denied clemency, there was nothing left, their son and brother would be killed in 90 minutes. A social worker and I then went to give Quentin the news. When we told him, and started sobbing, he gathered us into his arms and comforted us. Quentin was so much more than the worst thing he'd done. I often wondered, as I have with other clients, what he might have accomplished if someone had taken the time to see his potential as a child and to rescue him from the violence that surrounded him. In the weeks after the execution, I thought of little else. I wished so much then and still wish now that I'd been able to convey Quentin's humanity to the judges who ruled in his case and the governor who decided against commutation. Perhaps they, and the jurors who sentenced Quentin to death, thought they were rooting out evil, teaching a lesson, meting out justice. What I saw was another killing that perpetuated a cycle of violence and trauma that continues to play out in many lives, including mine. (source: Gretchen Engel is executive director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. She has received the Paul Green Award from the NC-ACLU Legal Foundation for her work against the death penaltyRichmond County Daily Journal) SOUTH CAROLINAfemale may face death penalty York County woman charged with poisoning husband could face death penalty The York County wife charged with murder in the death of her husband could face a death penalty trial because she allegedly used poison in the killing. Lana Sue Clayton initially lied to police, telling them her husband had an illness after he was found dead, according to a July 21 police incident report. Then she confessed after lab tests showed that Steven Clayton died from poisoning. Sabrina Gast, York County's Coroner, told The Herald her office has ruled that Steven Clayton's death is a homicide, with poison being the cause. It has not been decided whether prosecutors will seek capital punishment against Lana Sue
