April 28
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Saudi Executed for Murder
Saudi Arabia beheaded a citizen on Tuesday after convicting him of murdering a
compatriot, the interior ministry said.
Faris al-Qahtani was found guilty of shooting dead Hadi al-Yami and stealing
his money and car, the ministry said in a statement carried by official Saudi
Press Agency.
His execution in the southwestern province of Abha was the 69th in the kingdom
so far this year.
That compares with 87 in the whole of 2014 in what Amnesty International has
called a "macabre spike" in the kingdom's use of the death penalty.
The London-based human rights group ranked Saudi Arabia among the top 3
executioners in the world last year.
Drug trafficking, rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are all punishable
by death under the kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law.
(source: Naharnet.com)
SOUTH KOREA:
South Korean ferry captain's sentence revised to life in prison for homicide
---- Revised sentence follows November verdict of 36 years for captain of
Sewol, which sank last year with the deaths of more than 300 people
A South Korean appeals court has handed down a toughened sentence of life in
prison to the captain of the Sewol ferry which sank last year with the deaths
of more than 300 people.
The revised sentence follows a November verdict by a district court that
sentenced Lee Joon-seok to 36 years in prison for negligence and abandoning
passengers in need. Victims??? relatives criticised that sentence at the time,
saying it was too lenient. Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for Lee.
Lee's sentence was increased on Tuesday because the Gwangju high court
convicted him on homicide charges, according to court spokesman Jeon Ilho. In
the November ruling Lee was acquitted of homicide.
The appellate court sentenced 14 other navigation crew members to 18 months to
12 years in prison, Jeon said. In November they had received sentences of 5 to
30 years in prison.
Jeon said both prosecutors and the crew members would have one week to appeal
the verdicts.
Most of the victims were teenagers traveling to a southern island for a school
trip. A total of 295 bodies have been retrieved but 9 others are missing.
Many student survivors have said they were repeatedly ordered over a
loudspeaker to stay on the sinking ship and that they didn't remember there any
evacuation orders made by crewmembers before they helped each other to flee the
ship. Lee has said he issued an evacuation order.
A year after the April 2014 sinking, the South Korean government is still
reeling from lingering public criticism of its handling of the incident, the
country's deadliest maritime disaster in decades. Violence occurred during a
Seoul rally led by relatives and their supporters earlier this month, leaving
dozens of people injured.
Last week South Korea formally announced it would salvage the ship from the
ocean floor off the country's south-west coast, in an operation estimated by
experts to cost US$91m-137m and take 12 to 18 months.
Authorities blame excessive cargo, improper storage, botched negligence and
other negligence for the sinking, and have arrested about 140 people. Critics
say higher-level officials have not been made accountable.
(source: The Guardian)
HUNGARY:
Hungary's Orban Revives Debate on Death Penalty After Murder
Hungary should have a debate about the introduction of the death penalty, Prime
Minister Viktor Orban said, echoing the radical nationalist Jobbik party whose
popularity has surged at the expense of Orban's Fidesz.
Hungary should "keep the death penalty on the agenda" as life sentences and the
introduction of a "3-strikes" rule are proving to be insufficient deterrents,
Orban told a news conference on Tuesday. He was responding to a question about
the April 22 murder of a tobacco shop saleswoman, which local media covered
extensively.
Orban's embrace of a debate about capital punishment, which is illegal in the
28-member European Union, is the latest move embracing some of Jobbik's agenda
to arrest its momentum, according to analyst Attila Juhasz of Political
Capital. The premier has also advocated the use of the military to control
immigration and denounced what he described as attempts by the EU's executive
in Brussels to "colonize" Hungary.
"These sorts of moves are counter-productive because they only legitimize
Jobbik's agenda for the mainstream," Juhasz, a Budapest-based analyst at the
research institute, said by phone. "Orban is latching on to an issue most
Hungarians may support and hoping that this will boost his party's popularity."
Support for Orban's party has declined since it won its 2nd 2/3 parliamentary
majority in 4 years and triumphed in municipal and European Parliament
elections last year. Fidesz has slid in polls as the government battled
corruption allegations, faced street protests against a spate of new taxes and
endured criticism over an energy deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Jobbik Surge
Jobbik, which is trying to shed its neo-Nazi image among voters, has been the
main beneficiary from Fidesz's weaker poll results. Jobbik won a by-election
for a parliamentary seat on April 12, the party's 1st outright win in a
constituency.
A day after, Gabor Vona, Jobbik's leader, said the result vindicated his
attempt to move the party toward the mainstream. The shift, trying to distance
the group from earlier anti-Semitic and anti-Roma remarks by its lawmakers,
placed it on track to be the main challenger of Orban's Fidesz in 2018
elections, according to Vona.
Orban, who's argued that he's the best bulwark against Jobbik gaining power,
has chosen to integrate Jobbik's proposals in his rhetoric, including most
recently by launching a "national consultation" to promote the government's
campaign against economic migrants who "abuse" European asylum rules.
Since 2010, Jobbik proposals that became policy under Orban have included the
nationalization of mandatory private pension funds, forcing losses on the
banking industry to pay for the costs of foreign-currency lending and drawing
the country closer to eastern governments such as Russia and Turkey. Orban also
openly challenged the EU's embrace of liberal democracy.
"Soon the roles between Fidesz and Jobbik will be interchangeable," Juhasz
said. "Jobbik is heading toward the center while Fidesz is going toward the
fringe."
(source: Bloomberg News)
INDIA:
SC stays death for killer ST driver Santosh Mane
In a significant twist in the tale, a 3-judge bench of the Supreme Court of
India last week put a stay on the execution of death penalty against State
Transport driver Santosh Mane, who had mowed down 9 people and injured 37
others near Swargate, in the morning of January 25, 2012.
The SC surprisingly allowed the Condonation of Delay (allowing the delay in
filing the appeal), affidavit filed by Mane's lawyer, Dhananjay Mane, and
allowed the appeal, claiming that since the driver was 'insane' his death
sentence needed to be revoked.
In September last year, the Bombay High Court upheld the death punishment and
the state was under the process to execute the punishment. With this stay now,
the execution is postponed for an indefinite period.
Mane, through his lawyers Jaydeep Mane, Amol Chitale and advocate Dhananjay
Mane, had filed the appeal before the bench of Chief Justice of India H L
Dattu, Justice R K Agarwal and Justice Arun Mishra.
The bench has stated that till any further order, there should be no execution
of death sentences, further asking the government to furnish details of the
case and evidences. Time is also allowed for translation of documents in
English, since most of the evidences of the case are written in Marathi. The
next hearing is scheduled in May.
Speaking to Pune Mirror, advocate Dhananjay Mane said, "The bench of SC has
considered the appeal plea, stating that the police and investigating agencies
had issued wrong evidences against Mane and neglected to focus on vital medical
evidences of Mane's psychiatric treatment. Besides this, the role of MSRTC
authorities were also ignored while the hearing was on at both the Pune
sessions court as well as Bombay HC."
Mane said the delay of completion of formalities was caused by
"miscommunication while sourcing a certificate from Yerwada jail confirming his
formal presence there for 3 years. The delay was caused despite filing the
application well within the time frame".
This, said the advocate, has been conveyed to the SC bench, and extra time
sought to translate voluminous documents from Marathi to English.
Regarding this development, an official from the district government pleader's
office, said, on condition of anonymity, "The applicant has the responsibility
to prove his innocence by describing the loopholes in the case. Subsequently,
the state will submit its side since this was an exceptional case where the
crime was so cruel, diabolical and revolting, that it shook the collective
conscience of the society."
Janak Mane, Santosh Mane's older brother, refused to comment on this
development, choosing to hold his words till the final judgment.
On that fateful day of January 2012, Mane was denied a change from night duty
to day duty by his superiors at Maharashtra State Transport Corporation.
Heckled, he hijacked the bus from the Swargate depot and drove wildly on the
wrong side of the road and on one-way routes for 16 kms, killing and injuring
many.
WHAT WAS SUBMITTED BEFORE SC
Advocate Mane said, "There is no doubt that Santosh Mane was insane and we are
going to submit the same thing before the SC, as the prosecution has failed to
prove that Santosh had any intention of going on a killing spree."
Quoting Section 84 (acts of a person of an unsound mind) of the IPC, the lawyer
claimed that his client should get the benefit of insanity. Since he had no
enmity with the deceased and others injured in the mishap, a case of murder
cannot be established.
The bench of SC has considered the appeal plea, stating that the police and
investigating agencies had issued wrong evidences against Mane and neglected to
focus on vital medical evidences of his psychiatric treatment.
(source: punemirror.in)
PAKISTAN----execution
Pakistan reaches dubious milestone of 100 executions since lifting moratorium
Pakistan has today reached the mark of 100th execution since a moratorium on
executions was lifted in December 2014, human rights group Amnesty
International said in a statement on Tuesday.
Pakistan lifted the moratorium on 17 December 2014 in the wake of the Taliban
attack on Army Public School in Peshawar, which claimed around 150 lives, most
of them schoolchildren.
Munir Hussain, sentenced to death for murder, was hanged in Vehari district
jail of Punjab early morning today. He was convicted of killing his nephew and
niece over a property dispute back in Year 2000.
The moratorium, in force since 2008, was initially lifted only in terrorism
cases. But the government extended the order in March, directing the provincial
governments to proceed with hangings for all death row prisoners who have
exhausted their appeals and clemency petitions.
The government of Pakistan believes that the lifting of ban on executions will
help the country in its counter terrorism drive against militants of various
hues including the Taliban insurgency in the South Asian country.
Pakistan has suffered the brunt of terrorism attacks and militancy in various
parts of the country resulting in thousand civilian and military deaths in the
country.
The country's military has launched an offensive against militants in North
Waziristan tribal region and Khyber Agency, which deemed as the bastions of
militancy in Pakistan.
Amnestry International campaigning against executions in the world has
criticized the rapidly soaring number of executions in Pakistan.
".... reaching the mark of 100 executions in just over 4 months, the Pakistani
authorities are showing total disregard for human life. Our concerns are
heightened by manifestly unfair trials in many cases that fall well below
minimum standards set by international law. This conveyor belt of killing will
do nothing to address the root causes of crime and terrorism, and must end
immediately," said David Griffiths, Amnesty International's Deputy Asia Pacific
Director.
"Executions in Pakistan have picked up pace alarmingly in recent weeks, and are
now an almost daily occurrence. If the government does not immediately
re-impose a moratorium on executions, there is no telling how many more lives
will be lost this year," the statement said.
"Serious crimes like murder and acts of terrorism are utterly reprehensible but
killing people in the name of justice is not a particular deterrent. Those who
carry out crimes must be prosecuted in fair trials, but without resort to the
death penalty," the rights group demanded.
Amongst thousands at risk is Shafqat Hussain, whose lawyers say he was a
juvenile at the time of his trial during which evidence obtained as a result of
torture was used against him.
In the world today, 140 countries have abolished executions in law or practice.
Amnesty International is campaigning to abolish the death penalty throughout
the world.
******************
Pakistan executes death row convict in Punjab
A convicted prisoner on death row has been hanged to death in Vehari district
of Punjab early Tuesday morning, ARY News reported.
Muneer Hussain, a death row convict was executed in Vehari District Jail. He
was convicted of killing his nephew and niece over a property dispute back in
2000.
Pakistan lifted the moratorium on death penalty on Dec. 17, a day after
Pakistani Taliban gunmen attacked Army Public School in Peshawar and killed 134
students and 19 adults.
The moratorium, in force since 2008, was initially lifted only in terrorism
cases. But the government extended the order in March, directing provincial
governments to proceed with hangings for all death row prisoners who have
exhausted their appeals and clemency petitions.
(source for both: arynews.tv)
VIETNAM:
Vietnam might let rich convicts buy their way off death row
Here's some good news for death row inmates in Vietnam. Give back half of your
ill-gotten gains and the government might not kill you.
Vietnam's communist party is fairly unabashed about its steely treatment of
those convicted of crimes. Even non-violent offenders - from heroin traffickers
to corrupt bankers - have found themselves tied to a post in front of a firing
squad.
But soon there might be a way out - at least for the rich. If a proposed law
passes, convicts could reduce their death sentences to life imprisonment if
they give back "half the money or property they gained from their offenses,"
according to Vietnam's Thanh Nien newspaper.
This isn't a done deal. So far, it???s just a proposal within Vietnam's
powerful National Assembly, which is looking at ways to "express the Vietnamese
government's humanity."
Some judges and lawyers, however are already resisting the idea. According to
Transparency International, Vietnam is somewhere between Russia and Mexico on
the corruption scale - which means it's an entrenched and debilitating problem.
Some warn of a twisted scenario where hyper-corrupt officials, having robbed
taxpayers, could then use that same cash to evade the ultimate penalty. As one
lawyer told the outlet Tuoi Tre, it's using "money in exchange for life ...
many death row inmates have a lot of cash and they will try to duck the death
penalty at any cost."
In recent years, Vietnam has seen high-profile trials in which corrupt bankers
are sentenced to death. This can be interpreted as a not-so-subtle message to
citizens: we know you're fed up with corruption and this is what we're doing
about it.
But will giving them an out, one that is potentially lucrative for the
government, sit well with a Vietnamese public that is already weary of seeing
wealthy elites behave with impunity?
(source: Global Post)
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