June 24
INDIA:
Mumbai liquor tragedy: CM wants death penalty for Malwani hooch culprits
If the chief minister has his way, those responsible for the 104 deaths in the
Malwani hooch tragedy could pay for the crime with their own lives. In what
could be a strong deterrent for the illicit liquor mafia, CM Devendra Fadnavis
yesterday demanded capital punishment for the culprits, and said he had asked
the city police to make a watertight case.
He added that the culprits' actions amounted to mass homicide, which deserved
nothing but the death sentence. "There could be no harsher sentence than this
(death) for the people who have killed several people by selling them the fatal
liquor," he said, at his Vidhan Bhavan office.
Fadnavis said he had instructed the police to make a case under the Maharashtra
Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA), which acts against organised
crime and terrorism and went on to add, "I'm told there is a provision for
death sentence in the MCOCA, and, hence, we will follow it and file the case
chargesheet under it."
Fadnavis has also appointed a committee under Chief Secretary Swadheen
Kshatriya to probe the Malwani case. The CS, who is on leave, has been asked to
examine who is accountable for the hooch tragedy, and to recommend measures to
prevent such incidents across the state.
The state cabinet, which met yesterday, also discussed the deaths caused by
consumption of spurious liquor and supported a proposal to offer more
assistance to the survivors and families of victims. Convinced that incidents
like the Malwani tragedy occur only due to a nexus between bootleggers and the
local excise/police officers, Fadnavis has issued directives to the heads of
all city and district police units to take up massive drives to destroy
unauthorised breweries.
Mid-day had reported yesterday that the accused in the Malwani case admitted to
the Crime Branch that the local cops would turn a blind eye to their operations
('Senior Malwani cops looked the other way for Rs 600 a month', June 23).
In addition, yesterday's front-page story ('It's business as usual for hooch
units in national park') also detailed how the Malwani hooch deaths had left
hooch manufacturers unfazed, as they continue to brew moonshine in the Sanjay
Gandhi National Park.
"Such a tragic event cannot take place without the connivance of local excise
and police officers. Although action has been initiated in this (Malwani) case,
it requires that an immediate, massive drive across the state is undertaken by
the police commissioners and superintendents of police, with the help of excise
officials," stated the CM's directive.
"If you find the slightest evidence of connivance by police/excise officers,
take immediate strict action, including suspension, by following the procedure
laid down by the law. Such actions should be taken against those found to be
involved or found to be conniving, howsoever senior he or she might be,"
Fadnavis said.
(source: mid-day.com)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Saudi confirms death penalties for murders of 4 French
Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has confirmed death sentences for 2 suspected
Saudi Al-Qaeda members convicted of murdering 4 Frenchmen in 2007, a newspaper
reported on Tuesday.
They had been sentenced by a special "terrorism" tribunal in January of last
year, in verdicts now upheld by the highest court, the Arryadh daily said.
The pair were convicted of shooting dead the French nationals -- 1 of whom was
a teenager -- near the western city of Medina while they were on a desert
excursion from their homes in the capital Riyadh.
Another 12 men convicted of helping the attackers were jailed for between 3 and
23 years.
Police killed the suspected mastermind of the attack, Walid Motlaq al-Raddadi,
a 23-year-old Saudi, in Medina about 2 months after the murders.
Authorities in the kingdom set up specialised courts in 2011 to try dozens of
Saudis and foreigners accused of belonging to Al-Qaeda or of participating in a
wave of attacks that swept the country from 2003.
Those shootings and bombings killed more than 150 Saudis and foreigners.
The kingdom's current Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef oversaw a crackdown on
the militants.
Arryadh also reported that a "terrorism" court in the Red Sea city of Jeddah
sentenced 8 Saudis to between 1 and 17 years for trying to establish an
Al-Qaeda cell to carry out attacks.
It did not indicate when the cell was allegedly active.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
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