April 30
HUNGARY:
EU Promises "Fight" If Hungary Brings Death Penalty Back
European Union leaders are warning Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban that
he is in for "a fight" if he considers restoring the death penalty, which is
now banned throughout the 28-nation bloc.
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Orban "should immediately make
clear that this is not his intention. Would it be his intention, it would be a
fight."
The head of the EU parliament echoed those comments, saying the legislature's
civil liberties committee would be convened urgently and noting that the EU's
charter of fundamental rights prohibits the death penalty.
The issue was raised by Orban after last week's murder of a 22-year-old tobacco
shop attendant in a southern Hungarian city.
(source: Associated Press)
*******************
DNP not supports 'death penalty'----KDNP not supports 'death penalty'
In line with Christian principles, Hungary's Christian democrats KDNP, which is
the coalition party of ruling Fidesz, rejected the idea of reintroducing death
penalty in Hungary, vice-president Bence Retvari told Hungarian online daily
valasz.hu yesterday.
"A Christian politician does not back capital punishment" Retvari said
following Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's comments at a press
conference in Pecs on Tuesday that a life sentence is not deterrent enough and
as such, the death penalty needs to be kept on the agenda.
On behalf of the party, Retvqri rejected the death penalty in 2012, when the
far-right Jobbik raised the issue, saying that supporting capital punishment
clearly goes against "Christian values".
Orban's speech on the death penalty caused an immediate backlash both in
domestic and international circles, as capital punishment also goes against the
principles of the European Union.
Martin Schulz, the President of the European Parliament, initiated a phone call
with Orban regarding the PM's comment, to which the Press Chief of the Prime
Minister's Office, Bertalan Havasi said that Orban is ready to receive the
president's call as the PM is "at the service of President Schulz, as usual."
(source: Budpest Business Journal)
PAKISTAN:
Sectarian violence: 9 sentenced to death
An anti-terrorism court in Sargodha awarded death penalty to 9 men it convicted
of murder. The court sentenced 4 men to life imprisonment and awarded a 10-year
prison sentence to 1 man.
As many as 179 suspects in the case were acquitted.
According to prosecution, 10 citizens were killed on August 23, 2014 in Kotla
Jam in Bhakkar. Of those, 8 were activists of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat (ASWJ) and
the others members of Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM).
2 FIRs were registered at Saddar police station in Bhakkar. The case was tried
in a special anti-terrorism court in Sargodha.
After hearing witnesses and examining evidence, the court sentenced Rajab Ali,
Haji Sajwal, Niaz Hussain, Arif hussain, Ghulam Qanbar, Imran Shah and Ijaz
Hussain to death. The men were activists of MWM.M
Rana Muhammad tufail and Sheikh Muhammad Iqbal were awarded death sentence in
the 2nd FIR. These were ASWJ activists.
Maulana Abdul Hameed Khalid, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haqqani, Maulana Manzoor
Ahmed Akasha and Sheikh Zubair were awarded life imprisonment. These are
members of ASWJ.
Maulana Abdul Hameed Khaliq is the provincial chief of the ASWJ.
From MWM, Jalees Hussain was awarded the 10-year sentence.
Man awarded death sentence
Jaranwala Additional Sessions Judge Rana Muhammad Saleem on Wednesday awarded
death sentence to a man convicted of murder and sentenced 2 others to life
imprisonment. Prosecution said Shehbaz, a resident of Chak 355-GB, and his 8
including accomplices Saleem, Khalid and 6 others shot dead Shahid Nazir over a
marriage dispute 3 years ago.
After examining evidence and witnesses, the judge awarded capital punishment to
Shehbaz Gelo and life imprisonment to Saleem and Khalid.
The others were acquitted on benefit of doubt.
(source: The Express Tribune)
CHINA:
Death sentence upheld for north China serial killer
The appeal of a serial sex murderer sentenced to death for crimes including a
rape and murder for which an 18-year-old was wrongly executed was rejected by
the higher court in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Thursday.
The court upheld the verdict against Zhao Zhihong, who was given the death
penalty in February after being convicted of crimes including the murder of 10
women.
Zhao was apprehended in 2005 and confessed to a string of rape and murder
cases, including one in Hohhot in 1996 that was pinned on 18-year-old Huugjilt.
Huugjilt was exonerated in December 2014, 18 years after his execution.
According to the court verdict, Zhao committed 21 crimes between 1996 and 2005
in Inner Mongolia's Hohhot and Ulanqab. Besides a series of attacks that left
10 people dead, it is alleged he raped 12 women and girls in the period.
Zhao was also convicted of using violence or threats to appropriate material
property worth 31,400 yuan (about 5,065 U.S.dollars), and stealing a further
3,500 yuan in several burglaries.
The court said Zhao's motives were despicable, his measures cruel and the
consequences serious, thus, it refused to give a lenient punishment despite him
confessing to some of the crimes.
(source: Xinhuanet.com)
INDONESIA:
Brazilian executed unaware what was happening until end: Witness
A Brazilian man executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking who was diagnosed
with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder did not understand what was happening
to him until his final moments, a priest assigned as his spiritual adviser told
Australia's ABC radio on Thursday.
Rodrigo Muxfeldt Gularte was among 8 people convicted of drug offences from
several countries who were executed shortly after midnight on Wednesday
morning.
Brazil had made repeated personal pleas for Indonesia to commute his sentence
on humanitarian grounds, citing his mental illness.
Father Charlie Burrows, a local priest who accompanied Gularte in his final
hours, told ABC he thought he had prepared the Brazilian for the execution.
"I thought I'd got him ready, that he was going to be put in chains, because he
didn't like being touched ... I said to him, well I'm 72, when you get up to
heaven you'll know where I'm going to live, prepare a garden or something,"
Burrows said.
Gularte was calm as he was handcuffed by warders but became agitated when he
was handed over to police outside the jail who put leg chains on him, Burrows
said.
"I thought he'd got the message he was to be executed but ... when the chains
started to go on, he said to me, 'Oh father, am I being executed?'," Burrows
said.
Burrows, who witnessed the execution of another Brazilian prisoner in January,
said Gularte continued to hear voices in his final days telling him everything
would be fine.
"He believes the voices more than he does anybody else," he said.
Gularte was caught entering Indonesia in 2004 with 6 kilograms of cocaine
hidden in surf boards, and was sentenced to death in 2005.
The 42-year-old's family presented several doctors' reports to the Indonesian
authorities attesting to his mental illness, and Brazilian President Dilma
Rousseff had made personal pleas on his behalf. Rousseff recalled Brazil's
ambassador to Jakarta after the 1st execution in January.
Burrows joined other spiritual advisers and family members in a tent near the
field on the prison island of Nusakambangan where the executions took place.
They heard the men singing before shots rang out simultaneously and were
comforted that there were no subsequent single shots that would have indicated
1 of the prisoners needed to be shot in the head.
Burrows said all 8 men refused blindfolds and were handcuffed at the front to
allow them to shake hands with a large number of warders who had gathered
outside.
"They might have seen the executioners in very dark colours; it was a very dark
night," Burrows said. "They only had flashlights on the prisoners, and when we
were going to meet them we were falling over stones because of the dark."
(source: Reuters)
************************
Capital punishment counter-productive for RI's efforts to rescue citizens
abroad: LBH
The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) has said capital punishment is
not beneficial to the government's efforts to save Indonesian people facing
legal problems who are threatened with the death penalty abroad.
LBH Jakarta public attorney Eny Rofiatul said the death penalty imposed on Mary
Jane Fiesta Veloso, a Philippine convict temporarily reprieved from her
execution on Wednesday, was currently affecting hundreds of Indonesian migrant
workers abroad. "Mary Jane is a migrant domestic helper, just like 264
Indonesian migrant workers currently facing the threat of a death sentence in
several countries," she said as quoted by Antara in Jakarta on Thursday.
Eny said the Indonesian government could not make Veloso's case into a criminal
case if it was proven that she was a victim of human trafficking, as what had
often happened to migrant workers.
This matter had been regulated in Article 18 of Law No.21/2007 on the
elimination of human trafficking.
"Without questioning about where they originally come from, migrant workers
have always been circled by poverty, which is structural in nature," said Eny.
The government executed 8 prisoners early on Wednesday on the Nusakambangan
prison island near Cilacap in Central Java.
The 8 were Indonesian Zainal Abidin, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran
Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Nigerians Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise,
Raheem Agbaje Salami and Okwudili Oyatanze and Ghanaian Martin Anderson.
Veloso was spared after a woman who allegedly recruited her to act as a drug
courier gave himself up to police in the Philippines on Tuesday.
LBH Jakarta is calling on the government to give special attention to Veloso's
case. "As an institution based on principles of human rights, LBH Jakarta
considers that the right to life of all people cannot be taken away by anyone
or any party, including the state," said LBH Jakarta director Febi Yonesta.
Therefore, Febi said, President Joko Widodo must ensure that Veloso could
obtain all legal assistance needed to prove that she was not guilty, following
new developments of her case in the Philippines.
"Facts revealed in her trials showed that Mary Jane was always consistent
saying that she was ordered by someone and she was not aware at all of the
narcotics found in her suitcase," said Febi.
(source: The Jakarta Post)
AUSTRALIA:
Abbott government removed death-penalty opposition from AFP's priorities ----
Justice minister Michael Keenan omitted the line when he updated the
ministerial direction to the Australian federal police in May 2014
The Abbott government faces questions over its decision to remove the principle
of opposition to the death penalty from the high-level instructions that apply
to the Australian federal police.
The justice minister, Michael Keenan, omitted the line when he updated the
ministerial direction outlining the AFP's strategic priorities in May 2014.
The previous version of the document approved by Labor's Brendan O'Connor in
2010 said the AFP should "take account of the government's longstanding
opposition to the application of the death penalty, in performing its
international liaison functions".
Keenan accused the Labor party of "incredibly cheap and invalid" politicking by
raising the issue shortly after the execution of 2 Australians in Indonesia.
Despite the amendment to the overarching ministerial instructions, the AFP
still has a specific guideline on how to carry out international
police-to-police assistance in death-penalty situations, which requires senior
AFP managers to weigh up factors including the risk of capital punishment.
The criteria for cooperation with overseas agencies before someone has been
charged include the seriousness of the suspected criminal activity, the
reliability of the information, the age and personal circumstances of the
person involved, Australia's interest in securing cooperation and "the degree
of risk to the person in providing the information, including the likelihood
the death penalty will be imposed".
Ministerial approval is required for the sharing of information in cases where
someone has already been detained, arrested, charged or convicted of an offence
that carries the death penalty.
The AFP's conduct in death-penalty cases has come under fresh scrutiny after
Indonesia executed 2 Australians - Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan - on
Wednesday despite a long campaign by the Australian government for clemency.
The AFP provided information to Indonesian police in 2005 that led to the
arrest of the Bali 9 drug-smuggling group.
Labor's justice spokesman, David Feeney, wrote to Keenan after the executions
on Wednesday to ask about the changes made to the ministerial direction last
year.
In the letter, Feeney said the passage approved by O'Connor in 2010 was "a
critical addition to the AFP's governance framework which sent an important
message that opposing the death penalty was a key priority for the elected
government".
Feeney said the omission of the passage raised concerns that protecting
Australians from the risk of capital punishment was no longer considered a
critical priority. "I would be grateful for your advice as to whether this
omission was deliberate, or whether it was simply an oversight," Feeney said in
the letter to the minister.
"I would also appreciate your position on reincorporating this important
consideration into the Keenan direction, which I believe should occur as a
matter of urgency.
"In light of the devastating loss of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran ... and
the national outpouring of grief which has followed, it is more important than
ever that Australia's political leaders do all we can to protect Australians
from the threat of the death penalty and to campaign for the global abolition
of this cruel punishment."
At a media conference in Tasmania on Thursday, Keenan did not answer a direct
question asking why he had removed the passage from the ministerial direction.
Instead, Keenan pointed to the internal guideline outlining the factors to
weigh up before cooperating with other police forces and said those
arrangements remained in place.
"Those guidelines were updated in 2009 by the then Labor government and they
are the same today," he said.
"I might say that I'm pretty outraged and offended that the Labor party would
use the tragedy of 2 Australians being executed to make what is an incredibly
cheap and invalid point. I think they should take a long hard look at
themselves if they think that this is the sort of time to be politicking in a
way that is completely inaccurate."
When asked whether what happened to the Bali 9 could happen again given similar
information sharing was not explicitly ruled out, Keenan said he did not think
that was the right question.
"I mean, could Australians be subject to the death penalty again if they were
to engage in drug smuggling overseas? Obviously the answer to that is yes,"
Keenan said.
"We don't control law enforcement in other countries, but the way Australia
deals with the information, dealing with countries who do have the death
penalty in place, is governed by very strict guidelines."
The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, said she was "very angry" at the
opposition for "promoting this false line" about the AFP's rules.
"I am shocked that less than 24 hours after the death of 2 young Australians,
the Labor party would seek to politicise this issue," she said in Sydney.
"Shame on them."
When pressed on the difference between the AFP guidelines and the ministerial
directives, Bishop said they were "completely different documents".
"A ministerial directive is an entirely different document that does not
dictate the operational activities of the AFP. I???m not going to answer
another question on that," she said.
The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said Labor did not want to politicise the
issue but was seeking to ensure "that what happened in the early hours of
yesterday morning can't happen again".
"We're willing to work with the government but we do think that the government
need to make sure that they're not putting the police in the middle of all
these issues and that the government needs to explain its actions," Shorten
said.
The agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, muddied the waters on Wednesday when
he suggested there was a need for domestic debate about the death penalty.
"I do get approached by people saying, 'Well, that might be your view, Barnaby,
that you don't support the death penalty, but it's not our view,'" Joyce told
the ABC. "I find that rather startling at times and I think that the discussion
that we're having about others, we should also be carrying out domestically."
But it is understood Joyce's call for a discussion should not be taken as a
sign he was wavering in opposition to the death penalty. He said he did not
believe in the death penalty "in any circumstances in any part of the world"
because a person should not be able to take the life of another human being if
there was no direct or immediate threat to life.
Joyce also said he opposed calls for trade sanctions against Indonesia, arguing
if Australia pursued that course of action it "would have to stop trade to a
whole range of other countries where they have the death penalty such as China
and the United States".
The AFP, which has previously defended its conduct in the Bali 9 case, is
expected to convene a press conference in coming days to answer questions about
the matter.
The independent senator Nick Xenophon called for a parliamentary review to
prevent a repeat of the 2005 circumstances.
"I understand and appreciate the work the AFP does, but I understand that
within the AFP itself - whatever is said publicly - there is extreme unease
about how this unfolded," Xenophon said. "2 men are dead and that needs honest
scrutiny."
The Greens said they would support an independent investigation.
2 lower house MPs, Clive Palmer and Cathy McGowan, said they would present
legislation to parliament to outlaw information-sharing that could lead to the
death penalty being applied in foreign countries.
The AFP provided information that resulted in the arrest of the Bali 9 group
before their departure from Indonesia to Australia with heroin. AFP officials
have previously argued they were operating within protocols in place at the
time, but conceded they were aware that the tip-off could lead to charges
punishable with the death penalty.
(source: The Guardian)
**********************
Australia must lobby Indonesia, US and China to end capital punishment: Supreme
Court judge Lex Lasry
A high profile judge has called on the Federal Government to lobby other
countries to end the use of the death penalty across the world.
Capital punishment is still commonplace in dozens of countries, including in
some parts of the United States, Australia's closest ally.
Victorian Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry QC was the lawyer who represented
Australian drug trafficker Van Nguyen, who was executed in Singapore in 2005.
Justice Lasry has also had some involvement in the cases of Andrew Chan and
Myuran Sukumaran.
The long-time anti-death penalty campaigner said the Australian Government
should form a group of "eminent persons" including lawyers, retired judges and
people with specialist knowledge in the field to provide advice.
"So that the Australian Government can have discussions, make submissions, make
representations to other governments including Indonesia, China, the United
States - or the state governments in the United States - about the death
penalty," Justice Lasry told the ABC's 7.30 program.
He said the discussion was likely to take months or years, and should be held
without the pressure of imminent executions.
"It needs to be a discussion that's intellectual rather than emotional so that
people can be made to understand and be persuaded to the view that capital
punishment is something that we should leave to history."
Justice Lasry said the policy would have to be consistent, including blanket
opposition to the death penalty for all crimes.
"My position and that of many others is that they're against capital punishment
in all circumstances," he said.
Justice Lasry acknowledged there was not the same level of public outcry when
Indonesians convicted of the Bali bombings were put to death.
"So yes, we should be interested in the executions of the Bali bombers and we
should have done more about that at the time," he said.
Bishop vows to advocate for outlawing of death penalty
Speaking to the ABC just hours before the executions, Foreign Minister Julie
Bishop said she would continue to advocate for the death penalty to be outlawed
in the region.
"The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, issued a statement on the weekend
calling on Indonesia to not proceed with these executions," she said.
"We are in a region where a number of countries have the death penalty; it's
not just Indonesia."
She said a number of those countries do not use capital punishment,
particularly for drug offences.
"In my recent visit to Europe I spoke with 2 foreign ministers who have had
either their citizen executed or their citizen is on death row in Indonesia,"
she said.
"We jointly agree that this issue of the death penalty as a way of trying to
resolve the drug trafficking through our region must be a priority."
(source: ABC news)
***********************
At least 17 Australians jailed around the world could face death penalty ----
More than 1/2 thought to be in China but execution also applies in Malaysia,
Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates
As Australia reacts to Indonesia's execution of 2 citizens, Andrew Chan and
Myuran Sukumaran, there are at least 17 other Australians in danger of
receiving the death penalty around the world.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the
number to Guardian Australia, but would not disclose the names or locations.
More than 1/2 of them are thought to have been detained in China; four known
cases involve smuggling methamphetamine, commonly known in Australia as ice. In
2014, China Daily reported that of 63 foreign drug-smuggling suspects detained
by officials in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, 11 were Australian.
Rao Jiyong, a deputy director at the city's anti-smuggling customs bureau, told
the newspaper that drug-smuggling cases involving Australian suspects had
rapidly increased over the past 2 years and cooperation had been strengthened
with Australian federal police and customs officials.
In 2013-14, more than a third of Australians in prison overseas were there
because of drug offences. Countries which apply the death penalty on those
convicted of using, dealing or trafficking drugs include Indonesia, Thailand,
China, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates.
Peter Gardner, 25 (China)
A dual New Zealand/Australian citizen, Gardner was arrested at Guangzhou
airport, China, on 8 November 2014 after customs officials allegedly found 30kg
of methamphetamine in his bags. Gardner's lawyer, Craig Tuck, confirmed with
Guardian Australia his trial would begin on 7 May in Guangzhou's municipal
intermediate court. 'This is considerably earlier than expected," Tuck said. It
is expected to last no more than 2 days.
Bengali Sherrif and Ibrahim Jalloh (China)
Sherrif and Jalloh were arrested by Chinese authorities at Guangzhou airport in
June 2014, the ABC reported. Sherrif was sentenced to a suspended death penalty
for attempting to smuggle methamphetamine from China to Australia, which could
be commuted to life in prison after 2 years of good behaviour. Jalloh is
awaiting trial.
Anthony Roger Bannister, 43 (China)
Australian jockey Bannister was arrested for drug smuggling in Guangzhou on 11
March 2014, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. More than 3kg of crystal
methamphetamine were found in envelopes stuffed into 8 handbags in his luggage.
"I do believe that I have been set up ... in this drug-smuggling scheme,"
Bannister told the court at his October trial. "They've used me as a mule."
Henry Chhin (China)
Chhin, then 35 from Sydney, was detained by police in the southern Chinese city
of Shenzhen on 10 May 2004 for attempting to mail 270g of methamphetamine to
Australia, the Shenzhen Daily reported. The box, which allegedly contained the
drugs and computer software, was intercepted by Shanghai police 2 days before.
Local police said another 700g of the same drug was found in kitchen cabinets
and the sitting room of Chhin???s residence. He was given the death penalty
with a 2-year suspension in March 2005.
A small group of foreign nationals have been executed in China, but none have
been Australian. According to China.org.cn these include five Japanese, four
South Koreans and a Pakistani-British businessman.
Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, 52 (Malaysia)
Exposto, from Melbourne, was arrested on 7 December 2014 after arriving at
Kuala Lumpur airport, en route from Shanghai to Melbourne, with a bag
authorities said contained 1.5kg of crystal methamphetamine. Exposto's lawyer,
Tania Scivetti, confirmed to Guardian Australia that a chemical analysis of the
substance would be submitted to court on Thursday, after which the case would
probably move to the high court for a May hearing.
Malaysian law carries a mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking. 3
Australian nationals have been executed by the state: Michael McAuliffe in
1993, and Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers in 1986.
Pham Trung Dung, 37 (Vietnam)
Dung was arrested in May 2013, when custom officials reportedly found heroin in
his luggage as he boarded a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia, the
Associated Press reported. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said,
"We understand that he has the right of appeal. Whether he decides to do so is
a matter for the man and his lawyers."
Under the Vietnamese penal code, a person caught in possession of heroin can be
sentenced to death. The 5 Australians who have received death penalties for
heroin trafficking in Vietnam have had their sentences commuted to life in
prison, reported the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties.
(source: The Guardian)
MALAYSIA:
Australian mum faces death penalty as Malaysia confirms drug bust
An Australian woman faces a possible death sentence for drug trafficking in
Malaysia after a prosecutor said Thursday a chemist's report confirmed the
substance found in her bag was crystal methamphetamine.
Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, a 52-year-old mother of 4, was arrested on December
7 at Kuala Lumpur airport with 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds) of the drug, also
known as ice, court documents showed.
Prosecutor Hasifulkhair Jamaluddin told the magistrate's court that Exposto had
been trafficking methamphetamine based on the chemist's report.
Magistrate Noor Hafizah Salim then ordered the case to be transferred to the
high court.
Malaysia has a mandatory death penalty by hanging for anyone found guilty of
carrying more than 50 grams of a drug.
Authorities previously said Exposto was trafficking 1.5 kilograms of
methamphetamine.
Exposta, who was wearing a white blouse and black pants, looked nervous when
the amended charge was read to her.
The defence is yet to enter a plea until the case reaches the high court since
the lower magistrate's court has no jurisdiction to hear death penalty cases.
Later as she was being led out of the detention room in handcuffs, the
Australian told AFP that she was innocent and nodded her head 3 times.
"Yes (I am innocent)," she said with a smile.
No date has been set for the high court hearing but defence lawyers said the
trial could begin later this year.
"We are confident that we can show her innocence at the trial," Muhammad Shafee
Abdullah, her counsel, told AFP.
Defence lawyers say Exposto was duped into carrying a bag -- which she believed
contained only clothing -- by a stranger who asked her to take it to Melbourne.
She had travelled to Shanghai after falling for an online romance scam by a
person claiming to be a US serviceman, according to lawyers.
Customs officers discovered the drugs stitched into the compartment of a
backpack.
2 Australians were hanged in 1986 for heroin trafficking -- the 1st Westerners
to be executed in Malaysia.
Few people have been executed in Malaysia in recent years.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
NIGERIA:
FG Condemns Indonesia's Execution of 4 Nigerian Drug Trafficking Convicts |
Demands Repatriation of Corpses
The federal government has condemned the execution of 4 Nigerian drug
trafficking convicts by Indonesian authorities, and has demanded for the
repatriation of their corpses, Punch reports.
The Public Communications Division of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja
yesterday released a statement on the matter:
The Federal Government of Nigeria has received with deep disappointment, news
of the execution of 4 Nigerians, Messrs Martin Anderson, Okwudili Oyatanze,
Jaminu Abashin and Sylvester Obiekwe by the government of Indonesia for
drug-related offences.
These executions have taken place despite spirited pleas for clemency made at
the highest level by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and more recently
Ambassador Aminu Wali, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on April 21, 2015, during
the 10th Anniversary of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership Summit,
which took place in Jakarta, Indonesia,
The Federal Government wishes to express its condolences to the families of the
deceased. It has asked the Indonesian Government for the repatriation of the
remains of the executed persons, so that they can be accorded decent burial in
their various communities.
The Federal Government seizes this opportunity to once again, warn all
Nigerians to desist from drug trafficking and other offences that attract
maximum punishment in several countries of the world. The Federal Government
will continue to promote the welfare and protect the lives of Nigerians abroad,
no matter their circumstances.
Furthermore, government is committed to engage the government of Indonesia and
other friendly countries regarding the conclusion of Prisoner Transfer
Agreements and other bilateral means of safeguarding the interest and welfare
of Nigerians.
(source: bellanaija.com)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA:
PNG still to decide how to implement its reinstated death penalty
The regional furore over the Indonesian Government's executions by firing squad
of 8 convicted drug offenders has turned the spotlight on Papua New Guinea's
plans to reinstate the death penalty there. PNG has not used capital punishment
as a penalty for more than 50 years but it was re-instituted 2 years ago when
the law was amended to include more offences.
There are 13 people on death row at the moment but a lack of infrastructure
means there's no method yet to carry out any executions available to the PNG
government.
Atlhough the PNG government has made its determination clear to enforce capital
punishment, it's still undecided about which method of execution to use.
Politicians, academics and civil activists last met to discuss the options back
in November.
(source: Radio Australia)
BANGLADESH:
SC starts hearing war criminal Mojaheed's appeal against death penalty
The Supreme Court yesterday started hearing the appeal filed by Jamaat-e-Islami
leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed challenging his death sentence for his
crimes against humanity committed during the country's 1971 Liberation War.
After concluding yesterday's proceedings, a 4-member bench of the Appellate
Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha fixed May 4 for resuming
the hearing.
Mojaheed filed his appeal with the SC on August 11, 2013 after the
International Crimes Tribunal-2 had given him death penalty in connection with
three charges on July 17 the same year.
According to the verdict, Mojaheed had led a "death squad" named Al-Badr that
worked as an auxiliary force for the Pakistani army.
Meanwhile, Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury
Manik, who were members of the previous SC benches for hearing 3 other appeals
filed by war criminals Abdul Quader Mollah, Delawar Hossain Sayedee and
Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, were not in the yesterday's bench for hearing the appeal
of Mojaheed.
SC Registrar Syed Aminul Islam told The Daily Star that he did not know
anything about constitutions of SC benches.
(source: The Daily Star)
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