[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
July 16 CZECH REPUBLIC/CHINA: MOFA lauds Czech Republic's protection of 8 Taiwanese wanted by China The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Tuesday lauded the Czech government's decision to provide "subsidiary protection" to eight Taiwanese fraud suspects detained in its capital Prague rather than extradite them to China as requested by Beijing. Subsidiary protection is an international protection given to a non-EU national or a stateless person who does not qualify as a refugee and would face the risk of suffering serious harm if returned to his or her country of origin, according to the website of European Union (EU). "We commend and appreciate the position of the Czech government, which showed moral courage and pragmatism in protecting the human rights of these Taiwanese and refusing China's request (for extradition)," MOFA spokesman Andrew Lee said at a press conference Tuesday. It is MOFA's obligation to protect the basic human and legal rights of Taiwanese when they get in trouble outside the country, and the government will do all it can to help the eight Taiwanese and have them deported back to Taiwan for legal proceedings. The eight Taiwanese were arrested in Prague by police in that country in January 2018 on the basis of a red alert notice issued by Interpol. They were accused by the Chinese government of posing as Chinese police officers and prosecutors to defraud Chinese nationals in their home country by phone. A court in the Czech Republic agreed to extradite these Taiwanese to China in autumn 2018, believing China's claim that they would be entitled to a fair trial and not be given the death penalty. Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamacek announced via twitter on Monday, however, that the eight Taiwanese will receive subsidiary protection, although he did not provide any further details, citing administrative reasons. According to a report by the Czech News Agency (CTK), the Czech government feared for the safety of the Taiwanese because of concerns they could face inhumane treatment and even capital punishment if they were extradited to China. The EU is a strong advocate of abolishing of death penalty. Beijing has for many years requested countries in which Taiwanese fraud suspects were apprehended in cases with Chinese nationals as victims to extradite them to China, citing investigative and judicial procedures because the victims were in China. Some also see the requests as Beijing's way of enforcing its so-called "one China principle" to diminish Taiwan's sovereignty. According to the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), at least 650 Taiwanese crime suspects apprehended in a third country have been deported or extradited to China by host governments since 2016. Such cases have happened as far back as 2011, however, when 14 Taiwanese were deported to China from the Philippines. (source: focustaiwan.tw) VIETNAM: Vietnamese heroin trafficker arrested Police of Vietnam's northern Dien Bien province on Monday arrested a local drug trafficker, confiscating 3.4 kg of heroin, the Vietnam News Agency reported. Phan Van Pao, a 33-year-old man from northern Lai Chau province, was detained when transporting 10 cakes of heroin weighing 3.4 kg in Dien Bien's Muong Nhe district. According to the Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces death penalty. (source: xinhuanet.com) INDIA: Church opposes execution of India's child sex offendersLife is 'a gift from God' and should be protected, says bishop as death sentence is introduced for most heinous crimes Catholic leaders say the Church cannot support the Indian government’s decision to amend its child protection law and include the option of imposing the death sentence for child sex offenders. The federal cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 10 approved amendments to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) legislation that will allow courts to hand down stricter sentences for a range of child sex offences. The amendments, described by the cabinet as an “historic decision,” are aimed at deterring “the trend of child sexual abuse” and to ensure the “safety and dignity” of children. It also “aimed to establish clarity regarding the aspects of child abuse and punishment,” the official statement said. The gender-neutral POCSO Act 2012 sought to protect children below the age of 12 from all sexual crimes and to ensure their healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and social development. The latest move follows India’s introduction of a criminal law in July 2018 allowing for the death penalty for rapes against girls under 12 in a bid to curb increased sexual violence against young girls across the country. That law replaced an
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., KY., KAN., N.MEX., ARIZ., NEV., USA
July 16 TEXAS: State files a motion to set Rodney Reed’s execution for November The state has filed a motion to schedule an execution date for death-row inmate Rodney Reed, calling for him to be put to death on Nov. 20, 2019. Reed’s attorney, Bryce Benjet, then filed a motion of his own Monday afternoon opposing the state and asking a Bastrop District Court judge to dismiss or strike the state’s request to schedule the execution. Benjet argues the state has retaliated against Reed and his family for exercising their First Amendment rights. He also argues that the state falsely implied the execution date would not interfere with litigation in the case. “The timing of the filing alone presents strong circumstantial evidence that the motion was filed in response to Mr. Reed and his family’s exercise of First Amendment rights, and not in a legitimate effort to enforce the judgment in this case,” Benjet wrote in the motion. His family members were joined by anti-death penalty activists to protest on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied his most recent appeal. Reed’s family believes he was wrongfully convicted and intended to plead with the Supreme Court to overturn his conviction. “Being black and considered poor, they didn’t anticipate on us being in Washington,” said Sandra Reed, Rodney’s mother. The state’s motion asks the court to deny Reed a hearing. If the court does allow Reed a hearing, the state asks that it happen as soon as possible because the order would need to be entered by Aug. 21, 2019, in order to set Reed’s execution on Nov. 20. Reed’s legal team has fought for years to overturn Reed’s conviction and get him a new trial. He was scheduled to be put to death in March 2015, but the execution was paused just days beforehand. He was first sentenced to death in May of 1998. “This trial has been a Jim Crow trial from the beginning, from the very beginning and we are outraged by that,” said Roderick Reed, Rodney’s brother. Reed was convicted of killing Stacey Stites and dumping her body on a rural Bastrop County road in 1996. DNA from the Stites case matched Reed, but Reed said he had a consensual and secretive relationship with her. Stites was set to marry Jimmy Fennell, a Georgetown police officer, at the time of her murder. Fennell was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for an unrelated crime. He was accused of raping a woman in his custody but pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Reed’s attorney believes new evidence shows Fennell was the actual killer. Reed’s case has garnered national attention as his defense team — led by Benjet — has uncovered new evidence, found new witnesses and cast doubt on the state’s case and critical forensic evidence used at trial. Reed had applied for relief from his 1997 murder conviction on the grounds that scientific expert opinions used at trial were false and have since changed. But on June 26, the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed that application for relief. The appeals court also denied Reed relief he sought in 2017 that included new testimony and evidence the defense presented. Reed has unsuccessfully pushed to get pieces of evidence tested for DNA, including the belt used to strangle Stites. “Our family has done nothing but asked for a fair trial from the beginning, to present all the evidence from the beginning,” Roderick Reed said. (source: KXAN news) * "I'm not sorry": A quarter century later, Eddie Bernice Johnson stands by her crime bill voteJohnson is the only Texan remaining in Congress who voted for the bill, which has become deeply unpopular among Democrats and is a contentious issue in the 2020 presidential primary. On the afternoon of August 18, 1994, Eddie Bernice Johnson, a barrier-breaking freshman congresswoman from Dallas, stood on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and stumped for the most infamous legislation of that decade. “Every day, most of the headlines have to do with crime,” she said, describing a desperate state of affairs in her home district. “School has been open less than two weeks now and already teachers have had guns in their faces. They found a gun arsenal underside of the building. It is overwhelming, but we must do something about it." Johnson was slated to speak that morning about health care, but she held off for 10 minutes to weigh in on President Bill Clinton's crime bill, which looked to be in jeopardy despite Democratic control of both chambers of Congress. "I cannot understand why there is so much opposition and so much rhetoric and so much demagoguery surrounding the bill that will address these issues," she said. 3 days after Johnson's speech, the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act — better known today as the 1994 crime bill — passed the House. The next month, Clinton signed it into law. 2 1/2 decades later, Clinton’s
