April 28
IRAN----executions
9 Prisoners Were Executed in Shiraz
9 death row prisoners were hanged in Adel Abad prison in Shiraz on Wednesday
April 22.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), among
these 9 prisoners, three were charged with murder and 6 others were charged
with drug related crimes, three of whom were the citizens of Afghanistan.
There is no information regarding the identity of these prisoners by the time
this report is being edited and official authorities have not publicized
anything regarding their identity, charges and execution of the sentences.
(source: Human Rights Activists New Agency)
INDONESIA----executions
'Bali 9' pair among 8 executed for drug offences in Indonesia----Australians
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumuran among 8 executed as high-level campaign for
clemency failed to sway Indonesian president
The Indonesian government has executed 8 people for drug offences, including 2
Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumuran, who were the subject of a
years-long campaign for clemency.
The development marks the end of years of campaigning to spare the men, who
were sentenced to death in 2006 for their part in the "Bali 9" heroin-smuggling
ring.
Also executed were 4 Nigerians, a Brazilian and an Indonesian. All had been
convicted of drug crimes.
A 9th prisoner scheduled to face the firing squad, Philippines woman Mary Jane
Veloso, received a last-minute temporary reprieve.
Hundreds had gathered at the port of Cilacap on Tuesday to watch lawyers and
families make their final visits to the prisoners.
Police were forced to use dogs to clear the heavy media pack when Chan's and
Sukumaran's visibly distressed relatives arrived. Sukumaran's sister, Brintha,
collapsed in the melee and had to be carried into the port office by her
father, Sam.
Speaking after their visit, Sukumaran's brother, Chinthu, again urged Indonesia
to show mercy. "Please don't let my mum and my sister have to bury my brother,"
he said. Through tears, his mother, Raji, said: "I won't see my son again and
they are going to take him tonight and shoot him and he is healthy and he is
beautiful and he has a lot of compassion for other people.
"Please president, please don't kill him today. Please don't. Call off the
execution. Please don't kill my son. Please don't."
Chan's brother, Andrew, said the family had gone through "torture". "I saw
today something that no other family should ever have to go to. 9 families
inside a prison saying goodbye to their loved ones," he said. "There has to be
a moratorium on the death penalty, no family should endure it. Because now the
family is going to have a grieving process for the rest of their life."
Angela Muxfeldt, cousin of the Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, said in the hours
before his execution the 42-year-old was the calmest she had seen him in 3
months. "He is calm. He doesn't want I cry and doesn't believe execution will
happen," she said, visibly emotional.
Lawyers for Gularte were still lodging an appeal on Tuesday, claiming he
suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and had been unfit to stand
trial when sentenced to death for cocaine smuggling in 2005.
Chan and Sukumaran, too, have outstanding legal challenges, including a 12 May
constitutional appeal on 12 May to a presidential decision in January to deny
the men clemency, reportedly made without having even reviewed their files.
The others to be executed who were executed were Raheem Agbaje Salami (also
known as Jamiu Owolabi Abashin), Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Martin Anderson and
Okwuduli Oyatanze.
Veloso, who was arrested in Yogyakarta in 2010 with 2.6kg of heroin in her
suitcase, was granted a stay of execution, after the woman she claims set her
up "voluntarily surrendered" to police on Tuesday.
Maria Kristina Sergio, who was wanted for human trafficking and illegal
recruitment in relation to the Veloso case, handed herself into police in the
Philippines province of Nueva Ecija on Tuesday morning.
Veloso claims that Sergio enticed her to Malaysia with a job offer, where an
associate known as "Ike" bought her a new suitcase and instructed her to run an
"errand" to Indonesia, where police found the heroin stitched into the lining
of her bag.
Sergio has consistently denied Veloso's account. A police inspector quoted by
Indonesian media said Sergio had surrendered to "seek assistance for reason
that she has been receiving death threats".
The other 8 were tied to wooden stakes and shot by 12 marksmen, 3 of whom
carried live rounds. They aimed at crosses marked over the prisoners' hearts.
Months of high-level diplomatic representations and high-profile campaigns
failed to sway the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, who has described
narcotics as a "national emergency" and pledged to clear the country's death
row of drug offenders.
6 people, 5 of them foreigners, were shot in a 1st round of executions in
January. Official figures are unreliable, but following these most recent
killings, it is estimated around 33 foreigners remain on death row in Indonesia
for drug crimes.
Speaking hours before the executions, Australia's foreign minister, Julie
Bishop, said she was "deeply disturbed" by Indonesia's handling of the matter
and warned there "will have to be consequences".
Australia has never withdrawn diplomatic staff over an execution of a citizen
abroad, but is reportedly considering all options. The human rights lawyer,
Geoffrey Robertson, QC, called on Tuesday for some of the $600m Australia
directs to Indonesia each year in foreign aid to be redirected to Nepal.
Brazil and the Netherlands withdrew their ambassadors following the January
round of executions, which included their citizens, and Brazil has refused to
accept the credentials of the new Indonesian ambassador.
Plans for Wednesday's executions attracted international condemnation,
including from the UN secretary- general, Ban Ki-Moon, who called on Widodo to
"urgently consider declaring a moratorium on capital punishment in Indonesia,
with a view toward abolition".
The Council of Europe secretary- general, Thorbj???rn Jagland, had also asked
Indonesia to refrain, calling the death penalty "a terrible injustice which can
never be put right".
On Tuesday, Australia, the European Union and France issued a joint statement
asking Indonesia to "reflect on the impact [of the executions] on Indonesia's
position in a globalised world and an international reputation".
"We support Indonesia's efforts to obtain forgiveness for its citizens abroad.
Stopping this execution will help those efforts," the statement said.
Vigils were held across Australia for Chan, 31, and Sukumuran, 34, whose cause
had been embraced by the country in their final months. Tarred as thugs for
years after their capture, on death row the pair underwent sincere
transformations, Chan converting to Christianity and Sukumaran emerging as an
accomplished artist.
After earlier denying the pair their choice of spiritual counsellors,
Indonesian authorities relented late on Tuesday, allowing pastors Christie
Buckingham and David Soper to attend to the men in the final hours.
Sukumaran continued to paint up until his last day, producing a rendering of
human heart signed by each nine of the prisoners who were scheduled to be shot
in the early hours of Wednesday. It was titled, "1 heart, 1 feeling in love".
(source: The Guardian)
***************
'Miracles are real': Veloso spared from execution
Convicted Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso was not among those executed by
firing squad in Indonesia early Wednesday (Manila time).
The Jakarta Globe reported that Veloso was given a last-minute reprieve even as
she was scheduled to face death penalty along with eight other inmates after
midnight.
Among those executed were Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, three
Nigerians, a Brazilianm a Ghanaian and an Indonesian.
Veloso's loved ones were elated upon news of what they deemed a "miracle."
"Totoo pong may himala na dumating sa buhay ng anak ko," Celia, Veloso's
mother, said in an interview with dzMM.
"Hindi ako makapaniwala. Ang alam nga po namin kanina wala na talaga," Celia
added.
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose faced members of media
around 2:30 a.m. to confirm the news.
Veloso, 30, was sentenced to death by an Indonesian court in 2010 for drug
trafficking.
The Filipino worker was consistent in claiming that she was innocent and that
her recruiter framed her.
Alleged recruiter Maria Cristina Sergio voluntarily surrendered at the Nueva
Ecija Provincial Police Office on Tuesday morning, hours before the expiration
of Indonesia's 72-hour execution notice.
The National Bureau of Investigation earlier filed charges against Sergio and
two other for drug trafficking and illegal recruitment.
(source: Philippine Star)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
