July 7
CHINA:
Chinese court upholds death penalty for 5 people in plot to kill miners and
claim compensation----Schemers were able to claim $300,000 in compensation due
to lax safety regulation
A court in eastern China upheld death sentences for 5 people who conspired to
kill miners in what they claimed were mine accidents and then posed as
relatives to claim $300,000 in compensation.
The Hebei Higher People's Court delivered the verdict Friday for 5 defendants
who were convicted in August 2014. They were among a group of 21 people in the
scheme, which targeted migrant workers and took advantage of lax safety and
loose regulation of mines.
Members of the group first hatched the plan in July 2011 when they met a
migrant worker from southern China who came to Hebei seeking employment, the
China News Service said in a report
Fellow miners killed him while he worked underground at an iron mine in October
of that year and then reported a cave-in. 2 members of the group posed as his
widow and surviving son, in order to claim about $100,000 in compensation.
The group continued the pattern in 3 other murders through February 2012 until
staff at 1 of the mines became suspicious and reported the incident to police,
the report said.
In all, the group had claimed about $300,000 in compensation. The report gave
no details of how the murders were carried out or how they were made to look
like mine accidents.
(source: Associated Press)
INDIA:
Prosecution pushes for confirmation of death sentence for Kalamboli orphanage
founder----Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian on Monday sought
confirmation of punishment of a man who was sent to the gallows in 2013 for
raping and killing deaf and mute orphaned girls in a shelter home he founded.
Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian on Monday sought confirmation of
punishment of a man who was sent to the gallows in 2013 for raping and killing
deaf and mute orphaned girls in a shelter home he founded.
Escorted by a police constable, Ramachandra Karanjule was present in the
courtroom of Justices Ranjit More and Anuja Prabhudessai. While Salian put
forth her arguments, trying to build a foundation for the case, Karanjule
seated on the last bench of the courtroom, looked on without expression.
Karanjule, who founded the Kalyani Mahila Bal Kalyan Seva Sanstha (KMBKSS) in
Kalamboli, had moved the High Court challenging his conviction and seeking
acquittal.
Salian tried sketching the whole case again. Karanjule founded the orphanage
for mentally challenged women and children in Panvel. But in the garb of a
noble act, he exploited them sexually and mentally. She showed the judges
pictures of the victims, allegedly abused, physically and sexually. The senior
prosecutor said Karanjule and his accomplices, in an inebriated condition,
would gag, rape and torture the girls.
Salian read the compilation of evidences, statements of witnesses and girls -
who testified with interpreters using gestures. Psychiatrists, members of a
High Court appointed committee, state's Child Welfare Committee, inspected the
shelter home and found out that the girls were victims of sexual torture.
The court had found him guilty of murdering a deaf-mute girl, gangraping 5
minors and sexually assaulting 6 at the shelter home.
Karanjule, who was called "papa" by the victims, beat them up, forced them
consume alcohol and raped them, said Salian. "The girls called him 'papa' and
'papa' did all these horrible things with the daughters by forgetting all
morality and rules of society and the dharma," the trial court had observed
during its sentencing. The trial court had even termed the acts of Ramachandra
Karanjule and his accomplices as "diabolical" while observing he was not worth
of any leniency.
On the contrary, Karanjule in his appeal questioned testimonies of witnesses
including the victims,and the psychiatrist and interpreters who interacted with
them. Karanjule said there was no independent interpreter and the girls could
have been tutored.
(source: Indian Express)
THAILAND:
Controversial trial of alleged killers of British backpackers to start in
Thailand----2 Burmese men accused of killing Hannah Witheridge and David Miller
on Koh Tao last September go on trial on Wednesday, amid controversy over their
treatment by Thai police
The parents of 2 British backpackers murdered in Thailand last September flew
into the island of Koh Samui on Tuesday morning for the trial of the alleged
killers.
But while the families of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller are hoping to see
justice done, the start of the court case on Wednesday seems likely to generate
more controversy, as doubts continue to swirl over whether the right people are
on trial for the horrific crime.
Miss Witheridge, 23, and Mr Miller, 24, were killed in a vicious attack late at
night on the neighbouring island of Koh Tao. The murders dented Thailand's
reputation as a tropical paradise that draws close to 1 million British
visitors every year.
Last seen leaving a bar, their battered bodies were discovered on Sairee Beach
early on the morning of September 15. Miss Witheridge, from Hemsby, Norfolk,
died of severe head injuries inflicted by a garden hoe. Mr Miller, from Jersey,
drowned after receiving blows to his head.
A fortnight later, 2 Burmese migrant workers were arrested. Zaw Lin and Wai
Phyo, both 21, confessed to sexually assaulting Miss Witheridge, before killing
her and leaving Mr Miller to drown. But subsequently, the pair retracted their
confessions saying the police had tortured them into admitting the crime.
"They slapped me first, then they put 3 plastic bags over my head. They started
punching me in the face and chest, shouting that we had killed them," Zaw Lin
told the Telegraph at the Samui District Prison, where he and Wai Phyo are
being held because Koh Tao is too small to have either a jail or a court.
"I was so hot and I couldn't breathe well. I was very afraid, so I said, 'Yes,
I did it'. I only said it because I was so scared."
Small, slight and baby-faced, neither Zaw Lin nor Wai Phyo look like killers.
But the Thai Police insist that they have the evidence to prove they are and
both men could face the death penalty if found guilty.
"We managed to collect cigarette butts, condoms and the weapons they used in
the crime. And we have DNA from the body of Miss Witheridge," said Colonel
Kissana Phathanacharoen, the deputy chief spokesman of the Royal Thai Police.
Yet, none of that evidence has been made available to the defence lawyers.
"It's unbelievable that we haven't seen the forensic evidence and I will tell
the judge that," said Nakhon Chompuchat, the lead defence lawyer.
Human rights groups, meanwhile, have attacked the police for their alleged
mistreatment of the defendants, something Colonel Kissana denies. "We had the
defendants checked physically because we knew they would allege the confessions
were forced," he said.
Burmese officials have questioned why the police focused their search for the
culprits on Koh Tao's large community of migrant workers from Burma. There have
been persistent rumours in Thailand that the killers had links to a small
circle of powerful families on Koh Tao said to control the local economy.
Britain was so concerned over the lack of transparency in the case that David
Cameron intervened personally in October, speaking to Prayuth Chan-ocha, the
Thai prime minister. That resulted in a team of Scotland Yard detectives being
sent to Thailand to observe the investigation.
"I think overall they were satisfied with the enquiry," said Colonel Kissana.
"But this isn't their jurisdiction."
But with the trial set to last until late September and the verdict not
expected till October, further questions over the case seem certain to arise.
(source: The Telegraph)
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