Mar. 2
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Death for man who murdered wife and unborn child----Defendant fled the country
after stealing his brother-in-law's vehicle
An Arab man has been sentenced to death for murdering his wife and her unborn
child, the Court of Cassation ruled today.
The defendant is also required to pay Dh10,000 to his wife's family in blood
money for the child.
Upon being asked by the judge responsible for ruling on inheritance money
whether he had committed the crime, the defendant confessed to the murder. This
exempts him from receiving any of his wife's money.
The Court of Appeals had previously sentenced the man to 10 years in prison but
the Court of Cassation overruled the verdict.
The death penalty was also given because the deceased's family insisted on
punishment for the husband and not blood money or forgiveness.
The incident took place when an argument broke out between the couple over
whether the defendant was the child's biological father and his wife's refusal
to abort the foetus.
The suspect's brother-in-law was called from abroad to resolve the dispute but
the victim insisted on keeping the child and asked for a divorce.
On the day of the crime, the defendant stabbed his wife to death and stole his
brother-in-law's mobile phone and vehicle before heading to the airport.
The man abandoned the vehicle in Bani Yas and took a taxi to the airport and
left the country.
After the victim's body was found by her brother, the defendant was apprehended
at the Bahrain airport and charged.
(source: Gulf News)
INDONESIA:
Bali 9 execution move edges nearer
Bali's chief prosecutor has told reporters that Bali 9 ringleaders Andrew Chan
and Myuran Sukumaran will be transferred to the island this week where they
will be executed.
Authorities are discussing plans to move the pair within days, despite attempts
by lawyers appealing the result of a legal challenge against the executions.
Bali's prosecutor says he is only waiting on word from Jakarta to start them on
their journey to the firing squad.
Momock Bambang Samiarso told reporters he was yet to set 'D-day' - the day for
transfer - but was ready to do it this week.
'I haven't set the D-day yet,' he said.
'Still waiting for ... Jakarta.'
He was among the officials who visited Kerobokan jail on Monday afternoon, but
afterwards denied they were meeting about transferring the Bali 9 pair.
More co-ordination meetings were scheduled for Tuesday morning.
In Jakarta, Attorney-General HM Prasetyo was not giving anything away about a
date for the move to Nusakambangan, saying only that the executions would be
this month.
The penal island in Central Java, and other preparations, were '95 %' ready, he
said, rejecting the idea they should be delayed for drug offenders such as Chan
and Sukumaran who have legal appeals.
'If there's already clemency (rejected), there should be no more other legal
challenges submitted,' he told reporters on Monday.
'What else? They have admitted they're guilty, they have accepted the sentence,
and then they asked for forgiveness.
'Then the forgiveness is not given: that's the last decision.'
Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran were on Monday lodging an appeal against their
latest court loss in the administrative court.Some of the other eight to
executed also have future court dates.
Chan and Sukumaran's barrister Julian McMahon warned that sending them for
execution before the appeals could jeopardise Indonesia's reputation as a
law-respecting democracy.
'It's unthinkable that people who are having their right to life litigated in a
court could at the same time be taken away from that court by powerful people,
but the executive, and simply executed,' he said.
But President Joko Widodo believes executing drug offenders is important for
national sovereignty.
'Don't let anyone try to intervene in our sovereign law,' he said before an
audience of school students at the presidential palace on Monday. 'About the
executions of drug offenders, this is our sovereign law.'
The timeframe for moving the men has shifted several times, as Indonesia
prepares to execute 10 drug offenders - the most it has ever executed at one
time.
The president has been contacted by leaders of various nations, including
Australia, France, the Netherlands and Brazil, but has not been swayed.
(source: Sky News)
PAKISTAN:
LHC upholds death sentence of convict in 7 people murder
A Lahore High Court division bench on Monday upheld death sentence of a convict
involved in killing of 7 people in Jaranwala area.
The 2 member bench dismissed appeal of convict Ali Muhammad while upholding the
sentence awarded by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in 2013. During the hearing,
the defence counsel pleaded the court to set aside the conviction as the ATC
convicted the accused despite lack of evidence.
He submitted that the convict was implicated in the case due to personal
enmity. However, a deputy additional prosecutor opposed the request and
submitted that the convict was awarded punishment on basis of available
evidence whereas he was also found guilty during the investigation.
The bench after hearing arguments of parties upheld the sentence and dismissed
the appeal. A Faisalabad ATC awarded death penalty on 8 counts to Ali Muhammad
for murdering 7 people. Ali Muhammad, a resident of Chak 356-GB, had shot dead
his relatives, Imam Ali and Umar Hayat on August 1, 1999. Later, he also killed
Ali's 5 family members.
(source: Daily Times)
***********
TWO MEN FACE EXECUTION, ONE CONVICTED AT 16
Two men are due to be executed in Karachi Central Prison on 7 March. One of the
men was aged 16 when
he was sentenced to death in 1999. Unless halted, this will take the number of
executions to 26
since the moratorium was lifted in December 2014.
View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample
messages, here.
Death row prisoners, Muhammad Afzal and Muhammed Faisal are set to be executed
on 7 March. Their
death warrants were issued by the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on 23 February.
They are currently in
Sukkur Jail, Sindh province and will be moved to Karachi Central Jail where
preparations for the
executions are underway.
Muhammad Afzal and Muhammed Faisal were sentenced to death by the ATC in 1999
for armed robbery and
murder, offenses not related to terrorism. Muhammad Afzal was sixteen years old
at the time of his
trial, which was not taken into consideration during the trial. Both of them
spent several months in
a juvenile prison before being sent to an adult prison. Their current lawyers
have expressed serious
concerns regarding violations of their rights to a fair trial and protection
from torture or other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Muhammad Afzal's trial records show that
his allegations of
police torture were never addressed during his trial. Their sentences were
confirmed upon appeal by
the Sindh High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1999 and 2001
respectively. The panel of
three Supreme Court judges that rejected their appeal included the same judge
who sentenced them to
death in the ATC.
The Pakistan government has publicly stated that its policy to lift the
moratorium on executions
extends only to those prisoners convicted by the ATC of the most heinous acts
of terrorism and with
links to proscribed terrorist organizations. These executions would violate
current government
policy on the moratorium as Muhammad Afzal and Muhammed Faisal have neither
been convicted of a
terrorism-related offense or for any alleged links to terrorist organizations.
Muhammad Afzal’s
execution would violate the prohibition under international law against the
execution of anyone
below the age of 18 at the time of the offense.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any
circumstances, regardless
of the nature of the crime.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Following the 16 December 2014 Pakistani Taliban attack on the army-run school
in Peshawar, Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the six year moratorium on executions. Since then,
24 prisoners have
been executed and the Pakistan government has threatened to send to the gallows
around 500 death row
prisoners convicted on terrorism-related charges. At least 6,353 prisoners are
on Pakistan’s death
row.
View the full Urgent Action here.
Name: Muhammad Afzal (m), Muhammed Faisal (m)
Issues: Death penalty, Imminent execution, Legal concern UA: 50/15
Issue Date: 2 March 2015
Country: Pakistan
Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact!
EITHER send a short email to u...@aiusa.org with "UA 50/15" in the subject line,
and include in the
body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent.
OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action.
Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office
if sending appeals
after the below date. If you receive a response from a government official,
please forward it to us
at u...@aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Please write immediately in Urdu, English or your own language:
* Urging the authorities to halt the execution of Muhammad Afzal and Muhammed
Faisal immediately,
and re-establish the official moratorium on all executions in the country
as a first step
towards the abolition of the death penalty, in line with five UN General
Assembly resolutions
adopted since 2007;
* Calling on them to review all cases of people under sentence of death with
a view to their
commutation and ensuring that no one who was under 18 years of age at the
time of the crime is
sentenced of death;
* Calling on them to ensure that any measures taken to combat crime do not
violate Pakistan's
obligations under international human rights law and that all safeguards
guaranteeing the rights
of those facing the death penalty are respected.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 13 APRIL 2015 TO:
President of Pakistan
Honorable Mr Mamnoon Hussain
President's Secretariat
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: 011 92 51 920 8479 Twitter: @Mamnoon_hussain
Salutation: Your Excellency
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister House
Secretariat, Constitution Avenue
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: 011 92 519 220 404 (PM Secretariat)
Twitter: @PMNawazSharif
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
Home Secretary Sindh
Abdul Kabir Kazi
Karachi, Sindh
Pakistan
Fax: 011 92 21 992 11549
Salutation: Dear Mr. Kazi
Also send copies to:
H.E. Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani, Embassy of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan
3517 International Ct NW, Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 686 1534 I Phone: 1 202 243 6500 I Email:
i...@embassyofpakistanusa.org
Please share widely with your networks: http://bit.ly/1K90z4a
We encourage you to share Urgent Actions with your friends and colleagues! When
you share with your
networks, instead of forwarding the original email, please use the "Forward
this email to a friend"
link found at the very bottom of this email. Thank you for your activism!
UA Network Office AIUSA │600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003
T. 202.509.8193 │ F. 202.509.8193 │E. u...@aiusa.org │amnestyusa.org/urgent
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