Nov. 3
IRAN:
A Female Prisoner Sentenced to Death for Adultery
A female prisoner detained in Khoy Prison, who was arrested on November 2016,
was accused of adultery (sex outside marriage) after being sued by her husband
and has been sentenced to death by the Criminal Court (Branch 1).
This prisoner has been identified as Zahra Derakhshani, born in 1982, married
and a resident of Khoy. She was arrested with another citizen from Khoy on
November 2016, on charges of adultery.
An informed source has told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that the
husband of this prisoner, a veteran and a member of the Basij, has been present
at the court hearing as a private plaintiff in the case. However, despite the
fact that neither of the above 2 people have accepted the adultery charge and
the Forensic Medicine Bureau has also rejected any sexual relationship between
them, Judge Ali Hassanzadeh (the head of the Criminal Court/branch 1, who is
also the chairman of the justice of the city of Khoy) has found them guilty of
adultery solely based on what he has called as “Judge’s knowledge” and
sentenced the female prisoner to death after she has spent a year in prison.
The source further said that the man arrested along with Zahra Derakhshani was
later released on bail and the Derakhshani case was referred to the Supreme
Court after her lawyer appealed. However, the Supreme Court has not issued a
verdict yet.
It is worth mentioning that Derakhshani is currently imprisoned in women’s ward
of Khoy prison.
(source: kurdistanhumanrights.net)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Saudi execution spotlights domestic workers' vulnerable lives
Saudi Arabia's decision to execute an Indonesian domestic worker has triggered
a diplomatic row between the 2 nations. The maid's case highlights the dangers
faced by foreign workers in Saudi households.
The execution of an Indonesian domestic worker by Saudi authorities this week
without even informing her family and consular staff drew strong condemnation
from Indonesian officials.
Tuti Tursilawati was executed on Monday in the city of Thaif, Indonesia's
Foreign Ministry announced, seven years after she was sentenced to death in
connection with a murder.
News agencies Reuters and AFP reported that Tursilawati was found guilty of
killing her employer in June 2011. Indonesian advocacy group Migrant Care was
quoted as saying in September that Tursilawati had been defending herself from
being raped.
But the director for overseas citizen protection at Indonesia's foreign
ministry, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying that
Tursilawati did not commit the murder in self-defense against attempted rape.
"It is true that Tuti had been harassed, but not when she committed the
murder," Iqbal said. After the incident, she ran away from her employer but was
raped by nine Saudi men before the police took her into custody. All of her
rapists were processed separately, the newspaper reported.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as "Jokowi," on Wednesday
criticized the Saudi decision to carry out the death penalty. He said the
government had done everything it could to prevent the execution.
"We have many times [requested to be notified about executions] directly to
King Salman [bin Abdulaziz Al Saud] and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as
well as Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir," The Jakarta Post
reported Jokowi as saying. "I have said it over and over again. Do not think
that we are not taking political steps."
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also called her Saudi counterpart to
express disapproval. "Tuti's execution was carried out without [prior
notification]. I also summoned the Saudi ambassador [Usamah Muhammad Al
Syuaiby] in Jakarta to meet me in Bali," she said.
This is not the 1st time, however, that Indonesian citizens faced capital
punishment in Saudi Arabia. In March, the Saudi authorities beheaded Indonesian
national M. Zaini Misrin for murder despite Jokowi's repeated pleas to grant
clemency.
At the time, Saudi Arabia did not notify the Indonesian government beforehand
about the execution.
Between 2011 and 2018, 102 Indonesians faced death row in Saudi Arabia. Three
were executed, 79 were freed from the execution, and 20 are still locked in a
legal process for clemency.
Observers say Indonesia would appear hypocritical if it criticized Saudi Arabia
for carrying out the execution as the Southeast Asian country also has capital
punishment on its books and implements it for certain crimes.
Under Jokowi, Indonesia has executed 18 death row inmates convicted of
drug-related offenses, including foreigners, since 2015.
Jakarta's protests were based on the lack of consular notification before
executing Tursilawati, rather than complaining about the execution.
Wahyu Susilo, director of Migrant Care, criticized the Indonesian government's
failure to stop the execution. "Our diplomacy is weak," he told DW. "The Saudi
government has also been uncooperative when it comes to upholding human
rights," he added.
(source: Deutsche Welle)
SINGAPORE:
Prabu’s photoshoot was done at his request, says Singapore High Commission
The Singapore High Commission today clarified that the photoshoot involving
convicted drug trafficker Prabu N. Pathmanathan in the week before his
execution was done at his request.
In a statement, the Singapore High Commission said that the photos were given
only to Prabu’s family.
The commission denied earlier claims by lawyer N. Surendran who criticised the
Singapore government for conducting a photoshoot the week before Prabu’s
execution.
“There have been media reports on the photoshoot of Mr Prabu. The High
Commission would like to clarify that the photoshoot was carried out only upon
Mr Prabu’s request and only Mr Prabu’s family was given the photos,” read the
6-paragraph statement.
On October 26, Surendran slammed the Singapore government for taking Malaysian
citizen Prabu to a photoshoot the week before the latter’s execution.
He said the practice was “macabre”, and did not absolve Singapore from carrying
out the capital punishment despite pleas for leniency.
The Singapore High Commission’s statement also addressed an October 26
statement by the Malaysian Foreign Affairs Ministry that Prabu’s family and a
Malaysian High Commission representative bore witness to the execution.
“The (Singapore) High Commission would like to clarify that, in accordance with
standard procedures, no family members or representatives of the High
Commission of Malaysia in Singapore were present during the execution,” it
said.
The statement also touched on the media issue of Prabu’s clemency petition,
saying he was accorded full due process under the law, and was given access to
legal counsel throughout the process.
“There is no international consensus against the use of the death penalty when
it is imposed according to due process of law.
“The issue of capital punishment is a question that every State has the
sovereign right to decide for itself, taking into account its own
circumstances.
“Singapore respects the sovereign right of other States to determine their own
legal systems and expects the same in return,” read the statement.
Prabu, a convicted Malaysian drug trafficker, was executed on October 26 and
the episode sparked fresh calls to scrap the death penalty, a legacy of British
colonial rule.
Last month, the Cabinet decided to abolish the death penalty.
It was reported on October 24 that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department
Datuk Liew Vui Keong had planned to write a letter to the Singapore government
to urge it to commute Prabu’s death sentence to life imprisonment.
Prabu was sentenced to hang for committing several acts preparatory to and for
the purposes of trafficking in 227.82g of diamorphine or heroin into the island
state on December 31, 2014.
(source: malaymail.com)
MALAYSIA:
Malaysian Court Releases Indonesian Worker from Death Penalty
Shah Alam High Court, Malaysia released an Indonesian migrant worker named
Mattari from the death penalty in the trial on Friday, Nov. 2.
Mattari, a 40-year-old man from Sampang, Madura, worked in the neighboring
country as a construction worker. He was nabbed on December 14, 2016, in Kuala
Lagat Selangor for allegedly killed a Bangladeshis near his workplace.
Police suspected the murder was due to Mattari’s jealousy over his wife. He was
charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code on the death sentence.
After undergoing 6 trials within two years, the judge decided Mattari be
released from death penalty and imprisonment.
Read: Many Indonesian Citizens in Malaysia Face Death Sentence
“Alhamdulillah, I can be free. Thank you for the government who has fought
justice for me. Thank you,” said Mattari with teary eyes when arriving at the
Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) in Kuala Lumpur, as quoted from a press release of
the Foreign Affairs Ministry's director for protection of Indonesians, Lalu M.
Iqbal, on Saturday, Nov 3.
During the trial, the attorneys of KBRI Kuala Lumpur from GooI & Azzura Law
Firm requested for Dismissed Amount to Acquittal, considering lack of witness
and evidence submitted by the public persecutor.
Mattari then rushed to the Embassy by the protection team of the Indonesians
migrants in Kuala Lumpur. He had yet decided to return to their homeland or
stay in Malaysia.
According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, throughout 2011-2018, a total of 437
Indonesian workers were threatened with the death penalty. As many as 301 of
them were released, in 2018 itself there we 18 people. To date, a total of 136
migrant workers were threatened with the death penalty.
(source: tempo.co)
PAKISTAN:
Asia Bibi: Lawyer flees Pakistan in fear of his life
The lawyer representing a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after 8 years
on death row has fled Pakistan in fear for his life.
Saif Mulook told news agency AFP he had to leave so he could continue to
represent Asia Bibi, whose conviction was overturned by judges on Wednesday.
Officials have since agreed to bar Ms Bibi from leaving Pakistan in order to
end violent protests over the ruling.
Campaigners blasted the deal as akin to signing her "death warrant".
Asia Bibi was convicted in 2010 of insulting the Prophet Muhammad during a row
with neighbours, and many are calling for the reinstatement of the death
penalty following her acquittal.
Mr Mulook told the BBC earlier this week she would need to move to a Western
country for her own safety. A number of attempts have previously been made on
her life.
Several countries have offered her asylum.
Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry defended the government against
allegations that a deal reached with an Islamist party was capitulating to
extremists.
He said the government would "take all steps necessary" to ensure Asia Bibi's
safety.
Mr Mulook, however, called the agreement "painful".
"They cannot even implement an order of the country's highest court," he told
AFP before he boarded the plane to Europe.
Mr Mulook said he had decided to leave as it was "not possible" to continue
living in Pakistan, adding: "I need to stay alive as I still have to fight the
legal battle for Asia Bibi."
He told Pakistan's Express Tribune he would return to the country to defend his
client - but needed the government to provide security.
The protests were led by the Tehreek-i-Labaik (TLP) party.
As party of its deal with the TLP, the government said it would not oppose
petitions filed against the Supreme Court's verdict.
What else is in the deal?
All protesters arrested since Asia Bibi's acquittal will be released, and any
violence towards them will be investigated.
The government will also start legal proceedings to put Ms Bibi on a list which
would ban her from leaving Pakistan.
In return, the TLP is asking its supporters to stop the protests and disperse
peacefully.
The authorities earlier said that Ms Bibi was scheduled for release later this
week.
What was she accused of?
The trial stems from an argument Ms Bibi, whose full name is Asia Noreen, had
with a group of women in June 2009.
They were harvesting fruit when a row broke out about a bucket of water. The
women said that because she had used a cup, they could no longer touch it, as
her faith had made it unclean.
Prosecutors alleged that in the row which followed, the women said Asia Bibi
should convert to Islam and that she made offensive comments about the Prophet
Muhammad in response.
She was later beaten up at her home, during which her accusers say she
confessed to blasphemy. She was arrested after a police investigation.
In Wednesday's ruling, the Supreme Court said that the case was based on flimsy
evidence and her confession was delivered in front of a crowd "threatening to
kill her".
Why is this case so divisive?
Islam is Pakistan's national religion and underpins its legal system. Public
support for the strict blasphemy laws is strong.
Hard-line politicians have often backed severe punishments, partly as a way of
shoring up their support base.
But critics say the laws have often been used to get revenge after personal
disputes, and that convictions are based on thin evidence.
The vast majority of those convicted are Muslims or members of the Ahmadi
community, but since the 1990s, scores of Christians have been convicted. They
make up just 1.6% of the population.
The Christian community has been targeted by numerous attacks in recent years,
leaving many feeling vulnerable to a climate of intolerance.
Since 1990, at least 65 people have reportedly been killed in Pakistan over
claims of blasphemy.
(source: BBC News)
INDIA:
2 months after Mandsaur rape, 2 accused awarded death sentence
2 months after an 8-year-old girl was raped in Madhya Pradesh‘s Madsaur, a
special court on Tuesday awarded death sentence to 2 men for the crime saying
they deserved no leniency.
The girl was abducted and later gangraped on June 26, an incident which had
triggered widespread outrage and led to protests for several days with demands
for capital punishment for the culprits.
In what could possibly be one of the speediest trials in such crimes,
Additional District and Sessions Judge Nisha Gupta today convicted Irfan Mewati
alias Bhaiyu (20) and Asif Mewati (24) and sentenced them to death, saying the
case fell under the “rarest of the rare” category.
“The act of the 2 accused was of cruel and gruesome nature. The duo raped a
hapless girl who was anxious to return home after her school was over,” the
judge was quoted as saying by assistant district prosecution officer Nitesh
Krishnan.
The court noted that the convicts savagely attacked the minor girl and the
victim could not defend herself as she was a minor.
“The accused not only raped her, but they attacked and injured her private
parts and other delicate body parts with a knife,” the special judge observed,
the prosecutor said.
“So, they do not deserve leniency. Therefore, treating the incident as rarest
of the rare case, as pleaded by the prosecution, death was only way out to
punish them under section 376DB of the IPC,” the judge remarked, Krishnan
added.
The newly-introduced section deals with cases where femles under 12 years of
age is raped by 1 or more persons.
The girl was abducted while she was waiting for her father outside her school
in Mandsaur and was later gangraped.
The rapists had also tried to kill her by slitting her throat.
The girl had suffered severe injuries on her neck, face, head and private parts
in the incident and is undergoing treatment in Indore.
The district remained on the boil for many days and protests were organised in
several parts of western Madhya Pradesh, demanding capital punishment for the
culprits.
Judge Gupta also awarded life imprisonment to the 2 under section 307 (attempt
to murder), 10 years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000 and 7 years
imprisonment and fine of Rs 10,000 under sections 366 (kidnapping to rape) and
363 (kidnapping) of the IPC, Deputy Director of Prosecution B S Thakur said.
After the pronouncement of the judgement, 1 of the convicts, Asif Mewati, was
slapped by an unidentified man while he was being taken out of the court on
Tuesday.
Earlier, Thakur and Krishnan pleaded with the court that the accused be given
capital punishment taking into account the seriousness of the crime they have
committed.
The defence pleaded for leniency, saying the convicts should not be hanged as
they were in their 20s.
Countering the defence argument, the prosecution said the crime committed by
the duo was so grave and cruel that the girl has still not overcome the trauma.
The prosecutors told the court the girl‘s throat was slit to kill her. In fact,
the accused left the spot after being convinced that she was dead.
The duo inflicted such serious injuries to her that she regained consciousness
after 18 hours, they told the court.
Thakur and Krishnan cited a Supreme Court ruling contending that only death
would deliver justice in the case.
The Judge delivered the verdict after examining 37 witnesses, 195 documents and
50 articles connected to the crime.
The prosecution also placed on record the positive DNA report of the girl‘s
blood stain on the vest and shirt of Irfan Mewati. It also submitted the DNA
report of hair of the two convicts recovered from the crime spot.
With this, 14 rapists, most of them who committed the crime against girls below
12, have been awarded capital punishment in MP in the last six months.
Madhya Pradesh was the 1st state to enact a law in December last year providing
for death penalty for rapists of minor girls below 12.
The Centre brought an amendment in the IPC to punish the rapists of minor girls
below 12 with death on April 21.
Madhya Pradesh accounted for the highest 4,882 rape cases, out of the 38,947
recorded across the country in 2016, according to the National Crime Record
Bureau (NCRB)‘s last report.
The state recorded 2,479 rape cases of minor girls, followed by Maharashtra and
Uttar Pradesh with 2,310 and 2,115 such cases respectively, the NCRB report
said.
Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of rape cases (4,391) in 2015 too,
according to the report.
Rajendra Kumar, director of prosecution, in a press release, said both the
public prosecutors in the case will be felicitated.
‘Happy that justice is delivered‘
The father of the Mandsaur gangrape victim expressed satisfaction over the
special court‘s verdict.
He hoped that the verdict would send a strong message and act as a deterrent.
The man, a resident of Mandsaur, is currently staying in Indore, as the victim
is undergoing treatment at a city hospital.
“My daughter and my family have been under stress since the past 2 months.
Since the beginning, we wanted them to be hanged. Finally, justice has been
delivered today,” he said.
He said the verdict was delivered in time because the trial was conducted in a
fast track court.
“The court judgement would send a strong message in the society and (hopefully)
such crimes against minors would be reduced,” he said.
The man, around 45 years of age, said his daughter underwent a surgery at the
Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Hospital (MYH) in Indore for the 2nd time recently and is
doing well.
She was admitted in the MYH here, about 200 kms from Mandsaur, on the night of
June 27, a day after the incident.
“Doctors told me that they would consider discharging my daughter from the
hospital after her injuries get healed,” he said.
(source: osburnoracle.com)
**************
Hearing on death sentence in Yug case deferred
The High Court on Friday deferred the hearing on death sentence reference sent
by the Sessions Judge, Shimla, for the confirmation of the jail term awarded by
him to 3 accused in the Yug murder case to December 18.
The convicts have also filed an appeal before High Court, challenging the
death penalty awarded to them by the Sessions Judge, Shimla, in the murder
case.
On Friday, both petitions were listed before a division bench comprising
Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary and Justice Sandeep Sharma and after hearing the
matter for some time, the court listed the same for further hearing on December
18.
Section 366 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides that when a Sessions Court
passes a death sentence, the proceedings must be submitted to the High Court
and the ntence cannot be executed unless it is confirmed by the High Court. As
per the whenever such a case is submitted to the High Court, it may, confirm
the sentence, or pass any other sentence warranted by law.
Virender Singh, Session Judge, Shimla, had awarded the death penalty to three
persons on September 5 for kidnapping and murdering a 4-year-old boy for
ransom. The District and Sessions Court had held Chander Sharma, Tajender Singh
and Vikrant Bakshi guilty under Sections 302, 347 and 201 IPC.
(source: tribuneindia.com)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Tory MP asks government to consider bringing back death penalty
Former minister John Hayes urges justice secretary to consider ‘potential
merits’ of hanging violent criminals
A Conservative MP has called on the government to reintroduce hanging for
people who commit violent crimes.
John Hayes, MP for South Holland and the Deepings, and a former minister, asked
justice secretary David Gauke to consider the “potential merits” of the death
penalty.
The option of capital punishment “should be available to the courts” in cases
such as that of Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood, he said.
Masood was shot dead by armed officers after mowing down pedestrians and
fatally stabbing PC Keith Palmer in March 2017, but Mr Hayes suggested that had
Masood survived it would have been “appropriate” for him to be hanged.
In a written parliamentary question, the MP, who served as a minister in
various departments between 2010 and 2018, asked the justice secretary to “make
an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals
to reintroduce the death penalty to tackle violent crime”.
Responding, justice minister Edward Argar said the government “opposes the use
of the death penalty in all circumstances and has no plans to reintroduce it”.
Pointing out that the UK is campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty
globally, he said: “There is no evidence that capital punishment acts as a
deterrent to violent crime. Furthermore, the reintroduction of the death
penalty would bring with it the very real risk that some innocent people would
die.”
But Mr Hayes told Lincolnshire Live: “We have got an issue in Britain with very
serious crime.
“We have had a number of serious crimes, the murder rates increase and barely a
week goes by without hearing about some horrific child murder or old people
being attacked and killed.
Many of my constituents say that’s partly because we don’t respond
appropriately.
“It seems to me there really needs to be a fitting punishment.”
He added: “I say capital punishment should be a sentence available to the
courts but the death penalty should not be mandatory – that’s always been my
position.
“If you look at the Westminster Bridge attacker, he was shot in cold blood
after someone had taken a proper decision to stop him.
“If he had survived, I think most of the British public would have been OK if
he had received a fair trial and been hanged – most people would deem that
appropriate.”
Mr Hayes also suggested that serial killers Fred West and Harold Shipman could
have received the death penalty, saying both had killed themselves “almost as
if they knew that was the right thing for them to do”.
Capital punishment ended in the UK in 1965. The last people to be hanged were
Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans, who were executed for the murder of John West in
Seaton, Cumberland.
The option of the death penalty remained in UK law until 1998 when it was
completely abolished.
(source: The Independent)
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