March 30
CHINA:
More corrupt Chinese officials kill themselves than get death penalty
The number of Chinese officials who commit suicide soon after they are placed
under investigation for corruption is increasing - greater than the number who
are ultimately sentenced to death for graft, reports our Chinese-language
sister paper Want Daily.
39 such officials committed suicide in 2014 compared to seven in 2013,
according to the Financial Times, which was quoted in a January 2015 article by
Sound of Hope (SOH), a Chinese-language news website based in San Francisco.
China's non-transparent legal system and governmental pressure given on
officials fingered for graft have contributed to the increasingly high suicide
rate, according to the Financial Times.
From August 2003 to April 2014, the Financial Times counted 112 Chinese
officials who committed suicide in 26 provinces. Over 70% of them were
department chiefs and below. Among these officials, over 20% were allegedly
involved in corruption cases.
In the 39 officials who committed suicide in 2014, 10 were either indicted or
suspected of corruption.
Figures about corrupt officials' suicides have also been concealed by the
authorities because of the potential negative effects on their family members,
according to Financial Times. The official numbers are therefore only a
conservative evaluation, hiding an even larger number of government officials
who committed suicide.
On the other hand, the number of government officials who were sentenced to
death for corruption had on the opposite decreased. China's criminal law
stipulates that an official who makes illegal gains of up to 5,000 yuan
(US$800) would be sentenced to one year in prison, and their sentence would be
increased by a year for each further 10,000 yuan (US$1,600) they pocketed.
Officials who obtained more than 100,000 yuan (US$16,000) through graft may be
subject to a life sentence. Above that and they could potentially face the
death penalty.
SOH reported however that only a very small number of corrupt officials are
sentenced to death - and the death sentence is often commuted to life
imprisonment after 2 years. There were only 15 officials sentenced to death
between 2000 and 2011. Between 2012 and 2014, only one official was executed
for corruption - Zhang Xinhua, a former general manager for Baiyun
Agricultural, Industrial and Commercial United Company in Guangzhou, who
reportedly took 400 million yuan (US$64.4 million) in bribes.
The Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily questioned why so many government
officials would commit suicide when placed under a graft probe. Qian Lieyang, a
lawyer for Liu Zhijun, the former railways minister who was given a death
sentence with reprieve in 2013, said he does not think the death sentence is
enough of a deterrent and the suicide cases are proof that corrupt officials
are not afraid of dying, as that might the best choice for them.
Liu, who oversaw the development of China's high-speed rail network and skimmed
mightily off the top in the process, was sentenced to death with a reprieve on
July 8, 2013. Death sentence with reprieve is a criminal punishment only found
in China, whereby death row inmates have their execution suspended for 2 years
and are only executed if they are found to have intentionally committed further
crimes during that time. The sentence is otherwise automatically reduced to
life imprisonment.
The suicide of officials fingered for corruption is frustrating to legal
investigations due to the loss of testimony from the subject about their crime
and the diminished chance of catching others who may be implicated.
Members of the public are often pleased when officials kill themselves, seeing
it as a natural form of justice that the system cannot pervert, reflecting a
lack of trust in the party's discretion to investigate internally before
handing officials over the courts.
(source: wantchinatimes.com)
BANGLADESH:
7 given death penalty for killing Swechhasebak League's Manir Uddin Manu
A trial court has ordered death sentence for seven accused for the murder of
Swechhasebak League leader Manir Uddin Manu.
In its verdict on Monday, Dhaka's Fourth Speedy Trial Tribunal found 8 people
guilty of the 2006 murder in the capital's Mirpur area. It ordered life
imprisonment for 1 of them.
Those awarded the death penalty are 'Shahadat', Md Mintu, Md Masudur Rahman
Tota alias Totla Masud, Liton Hossain Lotus alias Nuruzzaman, Md Noban Ibne
Bashar alias Babu, Masudur Rahman Sohel and Md Hossaun Sarwar Ziku.
Another 'Jahanara' got life-in-prison.
Sohel and Ziku were present at the court on Monday, while the others are
absconding after securing bail, said Prosecutor Taslima Yasmin Dipa.
Swechhasebak League leader Manu was murdered in front of his home at Mirpur on
Aug 15, 2006.
He was shot 8 times and died on the spot, according to the case details.
Swechhasebak League is the volunteers' front of the ruling Awami League.
(source: bdnews.24.com)
INDONESIA:
UN recommends abolition of death penalty
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for Southeast
Asia has called on countries to reduce or halt capital punishment in their
pursuit of justice.In its latest report, the OHCHR found a declining global
trend in the implementation of the death penalty, but said Southeast Asian
countries faced complex challenges to abolishing the punishment.
Some states, namely Cambodia, the Philippines and Timor Leste, were fully
abolitionist while others, comprising Brunei Darussalam, Laos and Myanmar, were
abolitionist in practice. Thailand had an unofficial moratorium in place.
Malaysia and Singapore are undertaking efforts to reduce executions and
implement other reforms.
Meanwhile, Indonesia and Vietnam still apply the death penalty, but the future
of the policy is uncertain.
"We hope this publication can be a resource for further discussion in the
region and help establish moratoria on the use of the death penalty and
ultimately its abolition," said OHCHR Regional Office for Southeast Asia
representative Matilda Bogner.
(source: Jakarta Post)
***************************
Bali 9: Lawyers in bid against clemency refusal must call expert witness before
court today
Lawyers for Bali 9 death row inmates Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have been
given until today to produce a so-called expert witness as part of the pair's
latest legal challenge.
The 2 men are challenging Indonesian president Joko Widodo's refusal to
consider granting them clemency.
The witness was due to present evidence as part of the bid last week, but
failed to appear in court.
Chan and Sukumaran's lawyers have until today to call the witness before the
court.
The president's lawyers will then get a chance to defend him.
The Australians have been on death row for 10 years after being convicted for
their role in a plot to smuggle heroin into Australia.
The men were originally due to face the firing squad last month but the
Indonesian government put that on hold until the legal challenges of all those
listed in the next round of executions were complete.
They were transferred to the Nusakambangan island prison off Central Java from
their Bali prison in early March in preparation for their executions.
(source: ABC news)
*************************
VP pushes 2nd plea for Pinay in Jakarta
Vice President Jejomar C. Binay on Sunday said the Philippine government will
file a 2nd petition for judicial review of the case of a Filipino who was
sentenced to die by firing squad for smuggling heroin to Indonesia.
In a meeting with the parents of the convict at the Makati City Hall, Binay
assured them the government is exhausting all legal remedies and options to
save their daughter Jane Veloso.
Binay, Presidential Adviser on OFW Concerns, informed Veloso's parents--Celia
and Cesar Veloso -- about the government's next move to spare their daughter
from the death penalty.
During the meeting, Binay called up Assistant Secretary Minda Calaguian-Cruz of
the Department of Foreign Affairs' Office of Asia & Pacific Affairs who told
him about a 2nd petition for judicial review.
"Let us check what we can do. (Veloso) is a 1st time offender and a widow with
2 young children," the Vice President told Calaguian-Cruz.
Jakarta has said it will wait for any outstanding legal appeals to conclude
before executing all 10 drug convicts - including Veloso - at the same time.
Veloso was arrested at Java's Yogyakarta Airport in April 2010 for carrying 2.6
kilograms of heroin in her luggage.
An emotional Celia denied the heroin seized from her daughter's luggage
belonged to her. She stressed it was discreetly placed there by a certain
Christine, who she said, was the wife of her daughter's godbrother.
"My daughter did not know about it. She wasn't aware," the grieving mother told
Binay.
She said her daughter was just carrying 2 small bags. But she said Christine
was indeed clever and tricked her by buying several clothes for her daughter.
When her daughter was about to leave for Indonesia, Christine gaver her a
luggage, where she supposedly placed all the clothes she bought for her.
The victim's parents sought the help of the Vice President after the Indonesian
Supreme Court rejected the Philippine government's request for a judicial
review of Veloso's case.
In an earlier appeal for judicial review, Veloso's lawyers argued the convict
was not provided with a capable translator during her trial.
Binay recently renewed his appeal to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to
commute the death sentence of Veloso.
He also wrote Widodo earlier this month to "convey to him the Filipinos's hope
and prayers that the Indonesia Supreme Court of Indonesia will look kindly and
with compassion on the circumstances surrounding the case of Veloso.
(source: Manila Standard Today)
******************
The Sad Story of 3 Nigerians On Death Row in Indonesia - Ambassador Purwanto
In this interview, the Indonesia Ambassador to Nigeria, Harry Purwanto, shares
the story of Indonesia legislation that recognises capital punishment for
serious crimes.
In your CV, I saw that you were once a Deputy Chief of National Counter
Terrorism Agency. What was your experience like working with the agency?
Terrorism in Indonesia is not a joke, it is really there. We experienced terror
attacks in Indonesia with more than 400 dead. The danger in terrorism actually
is not in the attacks. The danger is in the impact, the population is
intimidated, that is the 1st. The 2nd, they try to destabilize the economy,
offer the people their ideology. Terrorism in Indonesia is mostly
ideological-driven.
Indonesia has suffered from terrorism since independence. This agency is
relatively young; it was established in 2011, it is doing a lot. We apply a
2-pronged approach - the hard approach and the soft approach. On the hard
approach, we try to crush, destroy, decapitate terrorist groups. We are not
only destroying them, we are also bringing them to justice. We have brought
more than 1,000 people to justice and more than 400 are in prison. Some have
been executed, some are to be released because they have fulfilled their terms
of jail.
On the soft approach, we try to empower the society, so the people can have the
confidence to challenge the terrorists who try to influence them. We also try
to give the people counter narrative because, without appropriate counter
narrative, they are easily influenced by extremists. Sometimes people are so
convinced because if you are talking about religion, you are talking about
something that can convince the people. Now we have done the first part. We
have crushed the terrorists cells.
Meanwhile,what they are doing now is trying to use information technology to
spread their lies and also try to make government look bad. And they are also
trying to use the democratic environment in Indonesia, the freedom of press to
disseminate this kind of information and this is a real challenge for us. In
Indonesia, we have so many societies, so many ethnic groups, if we are not
empowering the people, I think we are going to fail again.
There are 3 Nigerians awaiting execution in your country for drag trafficking.
The Federal Government recently wrote a letter of clemency to your government
on the matter. What is the reaction of your government?
There are 9 foreigners on the list including 3 Nigerians. There are 20
Indonesians as well. Indonesia legislation recognises capital punishment for
serious crimes. We apply death sentence in only serious crimes like terrorism
and narcotics.
We remind foreigners going to Indonesia on the flight before they land that
trafficking in Indonesia carries the death penalty, but there are certain
amounts of the narcotic they can be sentenced to capital punishment for. This
is not a government who sentences people to capital punishment. It is done
through due process of law.
When people are apprehended for trafficking, they are tried for the sake of it
in the district court; after that, convicts can go on appeal to the upper
court. If they are not satisfied with the upper court, they can still appeal to
the Supreme Court. After the Supreme Court, there is still 1 more step which is
clemency. So people go through the three steps but the request for clemency now
is being denied by the President because we are on the emergency of the danger
of trafficking.
Under the due process of law, is there no negotiation at all?
Well, actually, the government of Indonesia operates on the basis of separation
of power between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The
executive does not intervene in the affairs of the other arms of government.
Meanwhile, after a person has been tried, the role of the executive comes in at
the end when clemency is required. And of course the President, when giving
clemency, tries to seek advice from the ministries. Negotiation, that is rather
not common in Indonesia. Perhaps, what you do is to ask your legal team or the
embassy to make case for clemency on your behalf. You obviously cannot
intervene in the legal process. I am very sorry that we are facing this kind of
situation where 3 Nigerians are now almost being executed.
Is the Indonesian government looking at prison swap to assist these convicted
Nigerians?
Yes. We are already negotiating with some countries including Nigeria. But the
negotiations are not yet concluded because, in Indonesia, we are rather
hesitant on prisoner swap. When I met the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ministry
Permanent Secretary, I really appreciated his appeal and I have sent his appeal
to Jakarta and, of course, can appeal like this will not be only responded to
by one institution.
There will be inter-agency consultations before you have a response on these
Nigerians who are in Indonesian prisons and a decision can then be taken on
whether or not they can be sent back to Nigeria to serve their sentences. We
are waiting for the response from Jakarta. This issue was raised by your
country previously when we had our bilateral meeting but the response from the
institutions in Indonesia was not so clear.
Has there been records of clemency because this is not the 1st time Nigerians
have been executed?
In January, we had 2. In 2013, we had 1 Nigerian as well.
What are the commonest crimes committed by Nigerians in Indonesia?
Trafficking. Well, not all traffickers are sentenced for capital punishment.
Only those who are drug dealers and producers or brought huge amounts of
narcotic into Indonesia face the death penalty. They are aware of the
consequence that if they do, they will face the death penalty.
What lessons can Nigeria learn from Indonesia in its bid for industrialization?
How we can learn from each other! Indonesians can learn many things from
Nigeria. And we can also share our experiences with Nigeria. In Indonesia, our
import is smaller compared to our export. We are industrializing our country,
we do also invite more direct investment to Indonesia. These help not only to
create jobs but also aid to transfer technology because we have the capacity to
absorb; this makes many foreign companies to rely on Indonesia.
(source: Vanguard)
IRAN:
No Information About 5 Death Row Prisoners After A Month
There is no news about the faith of Saman Nasim and 5 other prisoners of Uremia
prison.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Saman
Nasim, Sirvan Naxhavi, Ibrahim Shapouri, Ali Afshari, Habibolah Afshari and
Younes Aghayan were transferred to an unknown location from ward number 12 of
Uremia prison in order to be executed, during last February.
These prisoners have never had contact with their families and judicial
officials never publicized any news about them.
According to HRANA, the family of Saman Nasim confirmed that they have received
the personal properties of him from prison, but they are still hopeful.
A relative of Saman Nasim told to HRANA's reporter, "all of his personal
properties, including his diary, are delivered to a relative in Uremia and then
posted for us".
Meanwhile unconfirmed news mentioned that these prisoners may have been
transferred to Zanjan prison.
Saman Nasim was a juvenile when he was arrested.
Lack of transparency and response of judiciary has raised many criticism and
concerns regarding this issue.
(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)
SE ASIA:
SE Asia 'moving away' from death penalty: OHCHR
Southeast Asia appears to follow global trends in "moving away" from capital
punishment while facing complex challenges, according to the latest publication
on this matter by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) for Southeast Asia, as reported by The Jakarta Post.
The challenges include the application of the death penalty for drug-related
crimes and pressure to return to executions after a period of moratorium.
"Fundamentally, it is a positive picture of progress and one consistent with
the worldwide trend. The continuation of this trajectory should be encouraged
so this region may eventually be free of capital punishment," William Schabas
said regarding the publication on Friday.
Some states, namely Cambodia, the Philippines and Timor Leste, are fully
abolitionist while others, comprising Brunei Darussalam, Laos and Myanmar, are
abolitionist in practice. Thailand is named as a country with an unofficial
moratorium in place.
Malaysia and Singapore are 2 countries still undertaking efforts to reduce the
numbers of executions and other reforms. Meanwhile, Indonesia and Vietnam are
countries still applying the death penalty whose direction seems more
uncertain.
The report provides an extensive review of global trends in the application of
the death penalty, a summary of the applicable international legal standards,
and the current status of legislative reform related to the death penalty in
the region.
(source: thaivisa.com)
AUSTRALIA:
The fight against the death penalty
Time for a reality check. For all of Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop's lecturing
of the Indonesian government over the planned execution of 2 Australian
citizens, it is worth recalling that, as late as the 1960s, Liberal state
governments in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australian were still
carrying out ghastly executions by hanging.
The death penalty was not abolished in Australia because our rulers were more
civilised or morally superior to their Indonesian equivalents. Determined mass
protests backed up by strikes by workers put an end to the brutality.
Liberal premiers excelled in whipping up law and order hysteria to provoke a
lynch mob atmosphere. The notorious Victorian Liberal premier Henry Bolte,
during his 1962 campaign to hang Robert Tait, who had been convicted of murder,
publicly advocated administering the lash (it was still on the books as a
punishment at the time).
Bolte was not some isolated figure in the Liberal establishment. He had the
unanimous support of the cabinet and party room for hanging Tait.
Nonetheless, a wave of public opposition erupted to oppose the hanging. The
trade unions campaigned against it, and even the murdered woman's son spoke out
against the execution.
When Bolte and his education minister went to open a secondary teachers'
college building next to Melbourne University, he was greeted by defiant
students who let down the tyres of the two ministerial cars and padlocked the
gates so that they could not get out. Famously, a female student managed to
write "Hang Bolte" on the windscreen of his car in coral-pink lipstick.
Despite all this opposition, the Liberal government refused to defer the
execution - even though various legal appeals were still in train. In an
extraordinary step, the High Court intervened to order the government to issue
a stay of execution until the appeals had been heard. Tait was eventually
declared legally insane.
Bolte was incensed that he had been thwarted in his quest for blood. He was
determined to get his revenge and to ensure a hanging was carried out on his
watch in Victoria. In 1967, his victim was to be Ronald Ryan. He had been found
guilty of killing a warder during a prison escape.
The campaign against the Tait hanging had had a significant impact on public
opinion.
A Gallup Poll in February 1966 showed that support for hanging had dropped
dramatically, from 69 % 12 years previously to 42 %. The numerous anti-hanging
petitions that were circulated received a broad response.
The anti-hanging committees formed during the Tait case were quickly
reactivated, and there was a new round of even more militant protests.
Students set up a permanent vigil on the steps of parliament in the lead-up to
Ryan's hanging. Then, on 27 January 1967, 1,000 demonstrators led by
Melbourne's militant waterside workers stormed parliament while chanting "We
want Bolte!" and "Hang Bolte!"
Wharfies carrying a wooden frame on which their union banner was displayed
forced their way through police lines and began beating on the doors. Vicious
fights broke out between workers and police. The following Sunday, 8,000
protesters marched to Pentridge prison carrying placards reading "Hang Bolte"
and "Bolte Murderer".
What particularly provoked workers' anger was that Ryan came from the bottom of
the pile - a very poor Irish Catholic working class family - and thus was the
perfect target for the Liberals' reactionary agenda.
Initially, there were a few waverers in the Liberal cabinet. But they soon fell
into line behind Bolte; the final cabinet decision to reaffirm the hanging was
unanimous. One Liberal backbencher, Brian Dixon, publicly opposed the hanging.
He was ostracised by other party members, and there were moves to expel him.
The night before Ryan was hanged, there was an all-night vigil outside
Pentridge, at which Bolte's effigy was hanged. Well before the execution at 8am
on Tuesday, 3 February, the crowd had swelled to 3,000 booing, chanting, angry
protesters. There were repeated clashes with the 300 police guarding the prison
and more than 90 arrests.
A nationwide 3-minute silence was observed at the exact time Ryan was hanged.
Ryan's fellow prisoners staged their own protest - they refused to get out of
bed, staged a sit-in, refused to work or obey orders. There was an eerie
silence throughout the prison.
Bolte had the grisly execution he had so desired, but it was to be the last in
Australia. The protesters and striking workers had not saved Ryan, but they had
demonstrated to the ruling class that any future state executions would face
resistance.
(source: redflag.org.au)
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