Nov. 21
VIETNAM: Glitter may face death penalty in sex case DISGRACED rock star Gary Glitter could face death by firing squad after he was accused of having sex with a girl aged 12, police said today. Sex with a 12-year-old is considered as rape under Vietnamese law, with a maximum penalty of death by firing squad. The revelations come after two girls, aged 12 and 18, told police they had sex with the former singer - real name Paul Gadd - at his rented home in the resort of Vung Tau in Vietnam. Glitter, 61, was arrested on Saturday at Ho Chi Minh City airport as he tried to flee the country. He has not been charged with any crime but is in custody at a jail outside Vung Tau. Reports said the 2 girls were invited to Glitter's home, where he paid them for sex. The 12-year-old allegedly told police she had sex three times with Glitter, who paid her 5.50 each time. (source: The Evening Star) CHINA: In China, cop-killer on death row generates a surprising wave of sympathy One night earlier this year, two men on a motorcycle pulled alongside the unmarked sedan of police Officer Long Jiefeng. One of the riders fired a Remington firearm through the open driver's window, slaying Long with 3 shots. If that kind of gangland-style execution is rare in China, what happened next is even more unusual: This small southern city erupted in joy. Townspeople lit fireworks. Bars and nightclubs handed out free drinks. "People were celebrating. Everyone said Long deserved to die. People said he should have been killed earlier," said Chen Zhaozhi, a retired deputy director of a local cable-television station. Many townspeople knew that Long, whose nickname was "Hurricane," ran a large triad, or criminal group, that operated gambling dens, loan-sharking networks and protection rackets for local businesses. His underlings regularly bullied their enemies, sometimes beating them to death. The unusual events in Sihui, which is in the prosperous Pearl River Delta region of southern China's Guangdong province, have gathered the attention of China's leaders, who seek to halt social unrest even as the nation grows more prosperous. It's one of many provincial brushfires that threaten to erode support for the one-party communist rule. Local party leaders are implicated in the case: It turns out that Long mounted his criminal empire under the wing of an uncle, a former party chief in Sihui, according to many residents. Long's murder was solved hastily. Authorities pinned the slaying on Liang Jinguo, a 22-year-old construction worker who'd tangled with the triad, which was called the Rising Dragon Society. Liang confessed. The outpouring of sympathy for him is the latest sign of the simmering problems in Sihui, a city of 400,000. More than 10,000 people signed petitions calling for leniency for the murderer. The signatures did little good. The Zhaoqing Intermediate People's Court handed down a death sentence Oct. 19 for the Feb. 24 slaying. "I argued that by killing Long, (he) made a big contribution to society. Liang committed a crime. He should be punished. But I don't think he should be put to death," said his lawyer, Shao Shuqiang. The judge rejected the argument. If Liang loses an appeal, he'll be executed. On the streets of Sihui (pronounced Sir-whey), one finds few people wondering how a major mafia operated out of the local public-security bureau. Instead, one simply finds mistrust and suspicion of authorities. Some 30 members of the Rising Dragon Society have been arrested, but Long's criminal enterprise may not be fully extinguished, some fearful residents said. Here's an account, based on China's state-controlled news media and residents: The 28-year-old Long operated a large criminal gang. Although he was a low-level cop, he had at least 150 people under him, and enjoyed the cooperation of at least 2 high-ranking active police. A deputy chief and a department director were among those implicated, according to a legal newspaper and Shao, the lawyer. Long began his triad in 1999. Some 30 gambling dens prospered, and the flow of protection money appeared to be large, residents said. "All of Sihui City was under Long's control. When Long's men were caught by the police, leaders at the police bureau would free them," said Liang Faming, the killer's father. Injustices mounted, and residents and business owners fumed. For months, local officials tried to cover up the fact that the triad leader was also a police officer. It wasn't until early September that a journalist from the powerful state news agency, Xinhua, saw a file on the case noting Long's workplace that media reported that he was an active-duty police officer entrusted with investigating business crimes. Still, China's media have treated the case carefully, omitting any reference to Long's uncle, Long Honghui, the former party secretary in Sihui, or supreme boss, who was quietly moved to a party desk job in Guangzhou. Liang Faming holds out hope that an appeal may pull his son off death row. "Most people in Sihui believe that my son did a heroic act," he said. Liang Jinguo had served a three-year jail term for the 2001 beating of a member of the Rising Dragon Society who apparently had insulted him. Once Liang was out of jail, triad members began harassing him, and spread the word that Long wanted him dead by the Lunar New Year, in early February. Liang holed up at his father's home, growing desperate, pondering whether his fate was to kill or be killed. "He felt he had no choice. He had no way to report the situation to the authorities," Shao said. At first, the Sihui public-security bureau planned to give Long a public funeral, dressing his corpse in a police uniform and covering his casket with a red party flag. But later, higher level officials nixed the plan and told all police to attend services without their uniforms. (source: Knight Ridder) SINGAPORE: Singapore Will Stick to Hanging Singapore will stick to hanging as its method of execution, the government said on Monday, less than 2 weeks before the planned hanging of an Australian drug smuggler. Lawyers for Nguyen Tuong Van -- who is due to be hanged on December 2 following his conviction for drug smuggling -- earlier on Monday asked the Australian government to take the case to the United Nations International Court of Justice in a last-ditch bid to stop the execution. "We had previously studied the different methods of execution and found no reason to change from the current method used, i.e., by hanging," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng said in reply to a question in parliament. Laws enacted in 1975 prescribe death by hanging for anyone aged 18 or over who is convicted of carrying more than 15 grams (0.5 ounce) of heroin, 30 grams (1.1 ounces) of cocaine, 500 grams (17.6 ounces) of cannabis or 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of methamphetamines. Nguyen, 25, was arrested at Singapore's Changi airport in December 2002 while trying to smuggle 400 grams (0.9 lb) of heroin while in transit for Australia. (source: Reuters) ***************** U.N. effort to spare condemned man The United Nations has joined the Australian government and human rights groups in a last-ditch effort to save an Australian man sentenced to death in Singapore for drug trafficking. Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, will be hanged at dawn on December 2 unless Singapore bends to growing calls to spare his life. On Monday, Canberra said it was considering taking Singapore to the International Court of Justice. "It is important that, despite Singapore's relentless use of the death penalty, we show that we will persist until this cruel and ineffective punishment is abolished," said London-based rights group Amnesty International in a statement Saturday. Singapore says it considers all aspects when an appeal is put forth, but clemency pleas have seldom worked in the city-state, especially for death-row convicts -- only 6 have been spared from execution since Singapore's independence in 1965. Amnesty says around 420 people have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, giving the Southeast Asian nation of 4 million the distinction of having the highest per capita execution rate in the world -- ahead of countries like China and Saudi Arabia. Nguyen was arrested at Singapore's Changi Airport in 2002 while flying from Cambodia to the southern Australian city of Melbourne with 396 grams (14 ounces) of heroin strapped to his back and in his carry-on luggage. He maintains he did it to help his twin brother pay debts. Under Singapore law, anyone possessing more than 15 grams (0.53 ounces) of heroin is presumed to be trafficking and faces death if found guilty. Singapore says it must deal harshly with drug offenders to protect society. Appeal hearings are usually over in minutes, with judges routinely giving their verdict before disappearing into their chambers. Lawyers would then have to refer to their written judgment to take further action. Letters to relatives informing them of the execution date are extremely simple, and contain just a few paragraphs. Humans rights advocates call the penalty excessive. "The adoption of such a black-and-white approach is entirely inappropriate where the life of the accused is at stake," said Philip Alston, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions for the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. "Once the sentence has been carried out it is irreversible," he said last week. Yet Singapore refuses to compromise on what it says in an internal matter. "Singapore maintains that capital punishment is a criminal justice issue. It is the sovereign right of every country," Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in reply to Alston. In 1994, American teenager Michael Fay was caned for spray-painting cars, despite objections from then-U.S. President Bill Clinton. This year, an appeal to save Singapore drug courier Shanmugam Murugesu in May by his now-orphaned 14-year-old twin sons failed despite his admission of guilt and cooperation with authorities. "Those implementing the laws here seem to be in a rush to win the cases and close their files," said Sinapan Samydorai, a spokesman from local civic rights group Think Center. "The government here seems to be unnecessarily cruel without any mercy given to those who have made an honest mistake. Why not give the person a second chance?" (source: Associated Press)
