May 8
HUNGARY:
Hungary's Orban: death penalty should be up to each country
Hungary's prime minister says that each member country of the European Union
should be allowed to decide for itself about the use of the death penalty.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose statement last week that the issue of
capital punishment should be "kept on the agenda" was strongly rejected by EU
officials, said Friday that the EU should follow the example of the United
States, where states decide individually about the issue.
Orban said "there is no reason" for countries in Europe with different crimes
rates and threat levels to think the same about the death penalty.
Orban said on state radio that he was "on the side of life," but that the death
penalty was needed if it was the only way to protect "law-abiding, innocent
people."
(source: Associated Press)
INDONESIA:
Mary Jane's case draws sympathy from Indonesian NGOs
The legal case involving Filipino migrant worker Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso has
drawn significant attention, particularly from Indonesian NGOs and legal
experts, as it helped put the countrys legal enforcement process in the
spotlight.
The execution of Mary Jane on April 29, 2015, was delayed following a new
development in her case in the Philippines that now requires her testimony.
The last-minute reprieve came after Mary Janes recruiters Maria Kristina Sergio
and Julius Lacanilo reportedly surrendered to law enforcement authorities in
the Philippines, admitting they had tricked Mary Jane into being an unwitting
drug mule, resulting in her death penalty.
Moreover, Mary Jane is suspected to be a mere victim of human trafficking in
the Philippines.
The migrant worker claimed to have met Sergio in Petaling Jaya in Malaysia and
was promised a job in the country.
She had been informed to wait in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, before she was assigned
work and was given a bag to carry her clothing.
When she arrived at Yogyakartas Adisutjipto Airport, Mary Jane was caught by
customs officers who found 2.6 kilograms of heroin worth Rp5.5 billion
concealed in her leather bag.
Although the illegal drug did not belong to her, Mary Jane was tried and
sentenced to death in 2010.
Mary Jane later applied for a judicial review after her clemency plea was
declined by the president. In a judicial review court in March 2015, her plea
was also rejected.
Indonesian Attorney General HM Prasetyo on April 29, the day of execution,
stated that Mary Janes status is still that of a convict as her execution was
not cancelled but merely postponed.
If the new case in her home country, the Philippines, could reveal new
evidence, she would be able to apply for a judicial review based on the
Constitutional Courts ruling, stating that the application for a judicial
review could be carried out more than once.
"Although she would indeed be proven as a victim of human trafficking, the fact
remains that she has brought heroin into Indonesia. The fact will not abolish
her responsibility for the crime that Mary has committed," he emphasized.
The attorney general remarked that the Attorney General's Office will wait for
the results of the investigation process into the human trafficking case by the
Philippine government.
He noted that if the Philippine government requires Mary Jane's testimony, they
must come to Indonesia.
"So, till the time she is needed by the Philippine government to unveil the
human trafficking case, Mary Jane will remain in Indonesia," he pointed out.
Minister of Justice of the Philippines Leila de Lima noted that the case will
be investigated on May 8-14.
Former head of Indonesias Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian
Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) Moh. Jumhur Hidayat suspects that Mary Jane is a
victim of human trafficking.
"She could be a victim of human trafficking, trapped in an international drug
syndicate," Hidayat recently informed ANTARA News in a short text message.
He lauded President Joko Widodo's move to postpone her execution.
Hidayat claimed that he had sent a letter to the Indonesian president, seeking
cancellation of Mary Jane's execution.
In the letter, he convinced the Indonesian head of state that sparing the
Filipino national from execution would not undermine his authority.
"On the contrary, the president would receive a lot of support as he would be
viewed as a firm and wise figure," he remarked.
"It is similar to when Indonesia had tried to defend its migrant workers
overseas. I appeal, sir, that you use your power to spare Mary Jane from this
execution," he requested in his letter.
As many as 279 Indonesia migrant workers overseas face the possibility of
execution, 36 of whom are in Saudi Arabia and mostly being convicted of
murders.
Meanwhile, Executive Director of Migrant Care Anis Hidayah is of the viewpoint
that Mary Jane should not be executed if proven to be a victim of human
trafficking.
"The International Convention for Human Trafficking Crimes, or Palermo
Protocol, has clearly said that a victim who is a witness should not be
executed because she has to give a testimony," Hidayah stated in Jakarta
recently.
If she is indeed a human trafficking victim, it could become a new norm to
apply for a judicial review in the Supreme Court (MA) over her capital
punishment.
Migrant Cares activist will go to the Philippines to follow the legal
proceedings of Maria Kristina Sergios case who had recruited Mary Jane.
Based on the findings from the Philippines, the NGO, in coordination with the
National Commission for Women and Mary Janes lawyer, will file a judicial
review in the MA.
"We must follow the legal process in the Philippines to see whether Mary Jane
is indeed a victim of human trafficking" he said.
There are also several Indonesians trapped as illicit drug couriers in the
Philippines, China, and Malaysia, he remarked.
According to the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), the execution of several
death row convicts and the conviction of Mary Jane are counterproductive to the
governments attempts to save Indonesians abroad.
"Mary Jane is a migrant worker, a house maid, similar to 264 Indonesians facing
death sentence in several other countries," LBH public lawyer Eny Rofiatul
noted in a statement.
Eny emphasized that Mary Jane cannot be charged for the crime if it was proved
that she was a victim of human trafficking, which is not rare befalling migrant
workers.
It is regulated in Chapter 18 of Law Number 21 of 2007 on human trafficking
criminal act, she pointed out.
"Regardless of the country of origin, migrant workers are always surrounded by
structural conditions of poverty," she added.
The LBH has urged the government to seriously address the case of Mary Jane.
"As an institution upholding human rights and principles, the Jakarta LBH views
that any individuals right to live cannot be violated by anyone, including the
state," its director Febi Yonesta affirmed.
The institution has, therefore, strongly urged President Joko Widodo to ensure
that Mary Jane is given the necessary legal aid to prove that she is not
guilty.
"The fact at court sessions showed that she had always been consistent in
saying that she was ordered by someone and was not aware that there were drugs
in her bag," Febi remarked.
He said the LBH regretted the fact that the police had failed to provide
sufficient legal aid to Mary Jane during her interrogations, and she was not
given a Tagalog interpreter, including during the court sessions.
Legal aid and interpreter are regulated in the countrys criminal law book, he
pointed out.
The injustice faced by Mary Jane was that she could not defend herself
appropriately, which resulted in her death sentence that almost cost her life
if the real criminal had not surrendered herself in the Philippines.
The decision to delay the migrant workers execution was also hailed by
activists of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Network (JBMI). "My colleagues and
I are very pleased with the temporary decision. Our hard work of visiting
churches, mass organizations, and state institutions and lobbying to push the
government to stop Mary Janes execution did not go in vain," JBMI activist
Iweng Karsiwen noted in Cilacap, Central Java.
"If Kristina and Julius are found guilty of owning those illicit drugs, the
Indonesian government should release her," he stressed.
In the meantime, Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims
of Violence (Kontras) Haris Azhar stated that Mary Janes case should be
expedited to improve the performance of law enforcement agencies in Indonesia.
"Law enforcement officials should be smarter. When you see Mary Janes profile,
you know that she is not a drug dealer," Azhar stated recently.
He pointed out that the initial proceedings related to the Filipino nationals
case were not conducted properly. There was no translator accompanying her.
This indicates that the legal proceedings in Mary Jan's case were not carried
out properly.
In addition, the investigators also never attempted to locate the people
mentioned in her legal proceedings. In fact, she had even identified a person
who had sent her and who had been targeted.
"If they did not find sufficient evidence through investigations, they should
have gone to the Philippines to probe the case properly," he added.
(source: ANTARA news)
IRAN:
15 Executions on Tuesday and Wednesday of This Week in Iran
3 prisoners were executed in the prison of Sari (Northern Iran) on Tuesday
morning May 6, reported the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in
Mazandaran Province. The prisoners who were sentenced to death for drug related
charges, and none of them were identified by name.
The Iranian State media also reported on another execution in the Central
prison of Qazvin on Tuesday. The prisoner who was not identified by name was
convicted of murder, said the report.
According to the sources Iran Human Rights (IHR) has been in contact with, 11
prisoners were executed in the prison of Ghezelhesar (Karaj, west of Tehran) on
Wednesday morning May 7. All the prisoners were convicted of drug related
charges. IHR is investigating about the identities of the prisoners.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
************************
UN rights experts call on Iran to end death penalty
2 United Nations human rights experts have condemned the sharp increase in
executions across Iran in recent weeks, urging the Government in Tehran to heed
the Organization's appeal for an immediate halt on the use of the death
penalty.
"When the Iranian government refuses to even acknowledge the full extent of
executions which have occurred, it shows a callous disregard for both human
dignity and international human rights law," Ahmed Shaheed, the Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, stressed in a press
release issued earlier today.
According to a UN human rights report released last year, the new Islamic Penal
Code that entered into force in 2013 now omits references to apostasy,
witchcraft and heresy, but continues to allow for juvenile executions and
retains the death penalty for activities that do not constitute most serious
crimes in line with the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of
those facing the death penalty such as adultery, repeated alcohol use, and drug
possession and trafficking.
Iran has witnessed a surge in executions over the past 2 years.
At least 852 individuals were executed between July 2013 and June 2014 - the
last reporting period for which data is available - representing an "alarming"
increase in the number of executions in relation to the already-high rates of
previous years, according to UN estimates.
In addition, more than 340 persons, including at least 6 political prisoners
and seven women, were reportedly executed since January 2015.
"We are alarmed by the recent surge in the number of executions, which has
occurred despite serious questions about fair trial standards," added Christof
Heyns, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions. "Many of the
prisoners executed during this period were charged with drug-related offences,
which do not involve intentional killing and hence do not meet the threshold of
the 'most serious crimes'."
Both experts drew particular attention to continued reports of public
executions, noting that 15 such executions were known to have already occurred
in 2015. Public executions, they said, had "a dehumanising effect on both the
victim and those who witness the execution" and ultimately reinforced the
"already cruel, inhuman and degrading nature of the death penalty."
Mr. Shaheed and Mr. Heyns urged the Iranian Government to establish an
immediate moratorium on the death penalty throughout Iran with a view to
abolishing the practice altogether.
(source: UN News Centre)
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