July 16
NIGERIA:
Lawyers advocate capital punishment for kidnapping----The lawyers decried the
increasing cases of kidnapping cases in the country, saying that death sentence
would serve as a deterrent to those who want to venture into the crime
Some Abuja-based lawyers have called on the Federal Government to enact a law
making kidnapping a capital offence punishable with death.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that the law
when enacted should be domesticated by the states and local governments.
The lawyers decried the increasing cases of kidnapping cases in the country,
saying that death sentence would serve as a deterrent to those who want to
venture into the crime.
Mr Maxwell Akoh-Onoja, a lawyer, advocated an amendment to the law as it
relates to kidnapping.
"The current law should be amended, kidnapping is too rampant in the country
now and there should be stiffer punishment for the crime.
"The judiciary cannot act outside what is in the law book," Akoh-Onoja said.
Akoh-Onoja expressed regrets that many convictions had not been secured in
kidnap cases, and called on judges to ensure that such cases were heard
expeditiously in their court.
According to him, kidnapping is one of the signs of a failed state.
Another lawyer, Mr Joe Okete, said that it was the inability of government to
put some things in place that caused the issue of kidnapping.
Okete outlined unemployment and the breakdown of moral instructions as some of
the major causes of kidnapping.
"The only way the judiciary can come in to curb kidnapping is by implementing
the law.
"There should also be stringent legislation against possession of firearms by
the general public.
"Criminals like kidnappers should be given long term jail against capital
punishment if possible," he said.
Okete called on the government to enact a legislation that would empower the
educational system in the area of entrepreneur to give loan to deserving
graduate.
According to Okete, if the education system is empowered in the area of
entrepreneurship with loans, it will reduce the rate of crime.
Also, Mr Boniface Udeh, supported death penalty for any person who found guilty
of kidnapping.
Udeh also advocated for family value, saying that parents should teach their
wards well with the moral laws of the land.
He called on the government to create employment opportunities for the youths
to dissuade them from being targets for recruitment by kidnappers.
(source: pulse.ng)
INDONESIA:
AGO waits for Supreme Court ruling to set date for executions
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is waiting for a Supreme Court ruling to
set the date of the third round of executions of drug convicts, an AGO official
said on Friday.
The Supreme Court will soon announce its decision on a case review and
cassation submitted by a number of death row convicts, Attorney General
Muhammad Prasetyo said.
"We are still coordinating [the details of the executions] and we hope they
will be carried out soon," Prasetyo told journalists.
Despite the public outcry from those opposed to the death penalty, the
government's resolve to execute drug dealers and distributors will not waver,
as they have brought a huge threat to the country, Prasetyo asserted.
He said he hoped convicted drug lord Freddy Budiman, who ran his narcotics
business from behind bars, would be included on the list of death row convicts
that would be executed in the next round.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration has executed 14 death-row
convicts in two rounds both of which were carried out last year.
(source: Jakarta Post)
TURKEY:
Turkey's PM: Constitution Council to consider death penalty after coup attempt
---- 161 died, 1,440 got injured in the military coup attempt in Turkey, the
country's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said
161 died, 1,440 got injured in the military coup attempt in Turkey, let alone
the killed among the plotters, the country's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim
said in an interview with the Haberturk television channel on Saturday.
A group of insurgents staged a military attempt coup in Turkey on the night
from Friday to Saturday. Bombs were dropped on the parliament building and the
presidential palace in Ankara.
More than 2,800 military were detained after the military coup attempt in
Turkey, Binali Yildirim said.
"The total of arrested is 2,839," he said. "Among them are high-ranking
military, officers."
According to Yildirim, Turkey will consider introduction of death penalty after
the attempt of a military coup in the country.
"Death penalty is banned in Turkey," he said. "Today the Constitution Council
will have a meeting to discuss jointly with parties whether it is reasonable to
return to this form of punishment."
A country, sheltering oppositionist Gulen, is not a friend of Turkey, the
country's Prime Minister said.
"Gulen is a leader of a terrorist organization," he said. "I am not looking now
at the country, which shelters him. If this country hides a terrorist, this
country is not a friend of Turkey and it leads a hidden war against Turkey. The
coup attempt's organizer must be punished."
Earlier, the Turkish government said the coup was inspired by supporters of the
Hizmet pro-Islamic movement, opposing Erdogan. The movement is connected with
Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the U.S., and whom Ankara accused of
destabilizing the situation in the republic in summer of 2013 and of other
attempts to undermine the authorities.
Gulen's supporters ruled out accusations they are involved in the events in
Turkey. In a statement they called the accusations "highly irresponsible."
A group of insurgents staged a military attempt coup in Turkey on the night
from Friday to Saturday. Bombs were dropped on the parliament building and the
presidential palace in Ankara.
(source: tass.ru)
*********************
Turkey coup: Erdogan government could restore death penalty, deputy leader
warns
The Turkish government is considering bringing back the death penalty so it can
execute those involved in the attempted military coup against President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
Mehmet Muezzinoglu, the ruling Justice and Development Party's Deputy Leader,
said the government will introduce a bill calling for the execution of rebel
soldiers.
"We will put forward a motion, which will demand the execution of those who
have been involved in the coup attempt," Mr Muezzinoglu wrote on Twitter.
Following his comments, #Idamistiyorum ("I want death penalty") has become the
top trend on Twitter in Turkey. The hashtag has been used more than 23,000
times.
The call for the death penalty came as the government appeared to be regaining
control after a coup which left more than 260 dead and 1,000 wounded.
At one point it looked as if the coup would succeed, with Turkey's military
chief of staff General Hulusi Akar having been taken hostage and a TV news
anchor forced to keep repeating: "The political administration that has lost
all legitimacy and has been forced to withdraw."
President Erdogan appeared to have been caught off guard while on holiday. He
had to resort to giving interviews via mobile phone and FaceTime to insist he
was still in control.
But citizens took to the streets in support of the president, lying down in
front of tanks or climbing on top of them in Istanbul.
Mr Erdogan succeeded in returning to Istanbul, and General Akar was reportedly
rescued after an operation at an air base on the outskirts of the capital
Ankara.
As pictures emerged of soldiers involved in the coup surrendering, while being
punched by civilian supporters of President Erdogan, a senior Turkish official
said 1,563 military personnel were now in custody across the country - awaiting
an increasingly uncertain fate.
(source: The Independent)
GUYANA:
Guyana hosts judicial colloquium on abolishing death penalty
Guyana will next week host a judicial colloquium on the abolition of the death
penalty.
The European Union (EU) Delegation to Guyana is facilitating the July 20th
conference in partnership with the International Commission against the Death
Penalty, the Chancellor of the Judiciary of the Government of Guyana, the
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the
Embassy of the Netherlands in Suriname.
According to a statement issued by the European Union Delegation to Guyana,
Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and current
Commissioner of the International Commission against the Death Penalty, Ivan
Simonovic, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, and Emeritus
Professor Marc Bossuyt, Emeritus President of the Constitutional Court of
Belgium, will participate in the colloquium.
The statement added that the colloquium, which will include members of the
local judiciary, will consider the following subjects: The Role of the United
Nations in the Abolition of the Death Penalty; The Experience of Other
Countries in Abolishing the Death Penalty; The Second Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and The Role of Judges in
Abolishing the Death Penalty.
It noted that the European Union, the International Commission against the
Death Penalty and the United Nations advocate for the universal abolition of
the death penalty. This is based on the fundamental nature of the right to
life; the unacceptable risk of executing innocent people; and the absence of
proof that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to crime. The abolition of
the death penalty is essential for the protection of human dignity, as well as
for the progressive development of human rights, the statement added.
The venue for the colloquium is the Marriott Hotel.
(source: Stabroek News)
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