July 21
TURKEY:
Experts: Restoring death penalty in Turkey would be risky
Rights groups and legal experts said Wednesday that Turkey would be abandoning
international rights conventions, and reverting to relics of military
dictatorships if it reinstates the death penalty, which was abolished more than
a decade ago.
Since the failed coup, hundreds of protesters have chanted in support of
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and demanded the restoration of the death
penalty.
Erdogan hasn't pushed back against those demands, saying reinstating it is a
constitutional procedure that the parliament has to discuss. If the parliament
approves it, he said, he would back it.
"You cannot put aside the people's demands," Erdogan told hundreds of
supporters late Monday at a rally outside his Istanbul home.
But European leaders say talks on Turkey's bid to join the EU would end if
Ankara restores the death penalty. Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004,
as part of its bid to join the bloc.
Andrew Gardner, Amnesty researcher in Turkey, said it's ironic that the country
has been among the main campaigners in the United Nations for countries to
abolish capital punishment. The last execution carried out in Turkey was in
1984, following the last military coup in 1980.
"The death penalty is a relic of military dictatorship in Turkey," Gardner
said. "By bringing back the death penalty, Turkey would be disregarding its
international commitments, massively complicating their international
relations."
A Turkish criminal lawyer said that even if capital punishment was reintroduced
in Turkey, it couldn't be legally applied to any of the alleged perpetrators of
the coup because it would be violating international rights principles. The
reinstating of the death penalty would require an amendment to the constitution
or a public referendum.
A crime can't be punished retroactively with an amended law, said Vildan
Yirmibesoglu, a criminal and human rights lawyer.
"The suspect is tried with the existing law (at the time of the crime.) It is
not possible to apply a law that has been enacted retroactively to a crime that
has been committed in the past."
(source: Associated Press)
*********
Erdogan: Europe should respect decision to introduce death penalty
Europe will have to respect the choice of Turkish people, if the death penalty
is restored in the country, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
"We have been knocking on the EU door for the past 53 years. They have made us
wait for 53 years. Many countries who came after us are already in. I believe
that this decision is up to the people. If the people say this must be done,
any country that believes in democracy must respect this decision," Sputnik
cited him as saying.
(source: vestnikkavkaza.net)
PHILIPPINES:
On every level, death penalty is wrong
A decade after ending the use of the death penalty and taking a lead role in a
global campaign to abolish capital punishment, the Philippines is again
considering sending prisoners to the gallows. This is deeply concerning on a
number of fronts.
Firstly, capital punishment is, in practice, fundamentally unjust. It
disproportionately affects minorities, the poor, and those with mental
disabilities.
Moreover, by backsliding on this legislation the Philippines will disregard its
international obligations. In November 2007, when the Philippines became a
state party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, the country committed to renouncing capital
punishment forever - a decision bound by international law.
During his inauguration address on June 30, President Duterte vowed that the
Philippines would honor treaties and international obligations. We trust he
remains true to his word.
The President won this year's election on the back of a promise to end crime in
3 to 6 months. The number of killings of suspected drug traffickers by police
and others reported almost daily since the May 9 elections is shocking. I call
on the President to take strong measures to stop this alarming trend.
Exacting retribution against criminals may have popular support among the
general public, but a credible judicial system must be grounded in justice, not
vengeance. Is the death penalty an appropriate or effective response to
narcotics offenses? The International Narcotics Control Board, which monitors
the implementation of the UN drug control conventions, advises against capital
punishment for drug offenses. The board has repeatedly recommended that to be
effective, drug control action must be consistent with international human
rights standards.
More broadly, researchers in various countries have shown there is no
conclusive evidence that use of the death penalty is a greater deterrent to
crime than other methods of punishment. Countries where the death penalty has
been abandoned did not, in general, record a rise in crimes.
The death penalty is also irreversible: You can't un-execute someone. But even
robust justice systems have sentenced innocent people to die. Since 1973, 156
people on death row in the United States have been exonerated, many of them,
through DNA testing, according to the Innocence Project. Is the Philippines
prepared to put to death men and women who may later be found innocent?
Consider the experience of Mongolia, which first abolished the death penalty
for ordinary crimes in the 1950s, then reintroduced it, before deciding, last
December, to once again stop executing people. In reaching the decision,
President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj said the people of Mongolia had suffered enough
from the death penalty. In his words: "Removing the death penalty does not mean
removing punishment. Criminals fear justice, and justice must be imminent and
unavoidable. But we cannot repair one death with another."
Fewer than 40 countries around the world continue to execute people. Around 170
countries have either abolished capital punishment, or have established a
moratorium in law or practice. Will the Philippines move backward?
Fear, despair and frustration clearly prevail among all Filipinos amid a rise
in crime and drug-related offenses. But it is the duty of political leaders to
adopt solutions to the country's challenges in ways that will support the rule
of law and advance the protection of human rights.
I urge the country to consider all these facts with an open mind. The arguments
are convincing and decisive: On every level - from principle to practice - use
of the death penalty is wrong.
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein is the UN high commissioner for human rights.
(source: Opinion, Philippine Inquirer)
*****************
House to pass priority 'Duterte bills' in 1 year - Alvarez
The House of Representatives (HOR) will waste no time in passing the priority
legislation of President Rodrigo Duterte after he delivers his first State of
the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25.
Thus, said presumptive Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as he highlighted the three
measures that the congressmen would focus on.
Up for deliberation in the 17th Congress, are the proposed 2017 national
budget, the joint resolutions for convening a Constitutional Convention
(Con-Con) that will amend the Constitution to pave the way for a shift from the
unitary to a federal system of government, and bills seeking the restoration of
the death penalty and reducing the age of criminal liability of juvenile
offenders from 15 to 9 years old.
The House will try to pass all the proposed bills within a year, Alvarez said.
Crafting the budget is traditionally the Lower Chamber's 1st priority whenever
it begins its sessions.
As for the other 2 measures, these have been aggressively advocated by
President Duterte himself.
Duterte and Alvarez are Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban)
chairman and secretary-general, respectively. Duterte is a former Davao City
mayor while Alvarez is the current Davao del Norte 1st district representative.
(source: mb.com.ph)
SINGAPORE:
Grisly find at Lim Chu Kang: Man charged with murder
A 48-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a woman last seen alive 1
1/2 weeks ago.
Leslie Khoo Kwee Hock is accused of murdering Ms Cui Yajie, 31, on Jul 12 at
Gardens by the Bay (East) - the area off Tanjong Rhu Road. According to the
charge sheet, the murder allegedly took place between 8am and 10.11am.
Ms Cui, an engineer, was last seen at Fusionopolis Walk the night before her
death. She was reported missing on Jul 14 after she stopped reporting to work
on Jul 12.
As there were suspicious circumstances surrounding her disappearance, officers
from Clementi Division worked closely with officers from the Criminal
Investigation Department and Police Intelligence Department to conduct
investigations, and established Khoo's identity.
The 48-year-old was arrested on Wednesday and led officers to the remains at a
deserted road at Lim Chu Kang Lane 8, near the dairy farms in the area. Channel
NewsAsia understands that no weapon has been found.
He arrived at the State Courts on Thursday afternoon in an unmarked police car,
and was cuffed and seated in the back seat flanked by 2 plainclothes officers.
If found guilty of murder, Khoo faces the mandatory death penalty.
Khoo has been remanded 1 week for further investigations. He will next appear
in court on Jul 28.
(source: channelnewsasia.com)
JAPAN:
Top court upholds death penalty for killer Tsutsui
The Supreme court on Thursday rejected an appeal against a lower court decision
to give the death sentence to 31-year-old Gota Tsutsui over the 2011 murder of
2 family members of a former girlfriend.
The defense for Tsutsui, from the city of Kuwana in Mie Prefecture, maintained
his innocence throughout multiple trials. But the top court upheld lower court
rulings, saying that the courts found he had committed the murders based on
objective evidence.
"There is no room for leniency, given his motive of 1-sided obsession to retake
the former girlfriend and of getting rid of her family members that he
considered as an obstacle, even by killing them," presiding Judge Masayuki
Ikegami said at the court's First Petty Bench.
"The result that he took the lives of 2 people who had done nothing wrong was
grave."
According to the Supreme Court ruling, Tsutsui assaulted the former girlfriend
in Chiba Prefecture in 2011. In pursuit of her, the accused then broke into her
family's home in Nagasaki Prefecture and stabbed to death her mother, Mitsuko
Yamashita, 56, and grandmother Hisae, 77.
The incident revealed inappropriate police responses, including a lack of
cooperation among the Chiba, Mie and Nagasaki prefectural police departments,
when the woman consulted with police over the stalking case.
It also found a delay in accepting a complaint from her because an officer in
charge of stalking and other cases went on a trip with co-workers.
(source: Japan Times)
******************
Man sentenced to death for murders of 2 elderly people in Gunma
The Maebashi District Court in Gunma Prefecture on Wednesday sentenced a
27-year-old man to death for the murders of 2 elderly citizens in November and
December 2014.
The court heard that Kazuya Tsuchiya broke into the home of Tanekichi Kawaura,
81, and his 80-year-old wife, on Dec 16, 2014, and stabbed them, Fuji TV
reported. Tanekichi died of his wounds later, while his wife sustained minor
injuries.
Tsuchiya also fatally stabbed Yoshie Kojima, 93, at her home in the same area
in November. He stole 5,000 yen and some food from Kojima's home.
Tsuchiya was arrested on Dec 23, 2014, after breaking into a ramen restaurant.
He admitted to both crimes and told police he desperately needed money.
At the time of his arrest, Tsuchiya only had 100 yen on him and the gas and
electricity to his apartment had been disconnected as he hadn???t paid his
bills in months, police said.
(source: Japan Today)
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Saudi Arabia 'executes 99th person this year' to overtake 2015 rate----'Saudi
Arabia is out of step with a global trend of states moving away from the death
penalty', says Amnesty International
Saudi Arabia has executed its 99th person this year, continuing the trend to
more death penalties yearly in the Kingdom.
The conservative country, which publicly beheads citizens and foreigners for a
variety of crimes, has reportedly executed more people than this time last year
by reaching almost 100 this month.
Accused murderer Hassan bin Mubarak al-Amri was the 99th person to be executed
in the state-sanctioned punishment, which is usually performed with a sword.
Sara Hashah, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa spokesperson,
said Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran were responsible for 90 per cent of all
recorded executions globally and were "out of step" with the rest of the world.
"In Saudi Arabia, where people are routinely sentenced to death after grossly
unfair trials, we have seen a dramatic surge in the number of executions in the
past 2 years which has shown no sign of abating in 2016," she told The
Independent.
"This clearly demonstrates that Saudi Arabia???s authorities are increasingly
out of step with a global trend of states moving away from the death penalty.
"Saudi Arabia's authorities must end their reliance on this cruel, inhuman and
degrading form of punishment immediately."
The number of death sentences in the Kingdom was swelled by the 47 people
executed on January 2 on charges of Al Qaeda-related terrorist activity. The
execution of a Shia cleric among them provoked international condemnation and
the cutting-off of diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Tehran.
Last year was already a record-high for executions in Saudi Arabia, with 158
people sentenced to death in total compared to 90 in 2014.
(source: independent.co.uk)
*************
Saudi blood money
A court in Saudi Arabia has demanded 300,000 riyal (Rs 9 million) in blood
money from a Nepali driver from Kavre accused of killing a Pakistani in a
traffic accident. Ramchandra Timilisina of Kushadevi will have to face the
death penalty if he cannot manage the money.
Timilsina had gone to Saudi Arabia to pay off a Rs 600,000 debt and to educate
his children. He has been in Hayal Central Jail for the past 15 months.
Timilsina has maintained that his truck had been loaded with cement from
Jabirah Hayal Cement Company and was parked within the company's premises when
a vehicle driven by the Pakistani ran into his truck.
"It was their fault, but they planted an alcohol bottle in my truck and got me
arrested," Timilsina told relatives over the phone. In Nepal, Timilsina drove a
minibus on the Panauti-Kathmandu route, and said he is a teetotaler.
The Nepal Embassy in Riyadh has been no help, and Timilsina's family back home
is desperate to raise the money. He has 2 sons 5 and 7 years old. His wife
Sarita has been living in a temporary shelter after the earthquake for which
she borrowed Rs 50,000.
(source: Nepali Times)
INDIA:
India shame: VHP sought death penalty for Akhlaq's family
After registration of an FIR against Mohammad Akhlaq's family in the Dadri
lynching episode, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has demanded death penalty for the
family.
According to a report published in The Hindu, a meeting was held on Monday in
Bishahra, which was attended by Senior VHP functionary Jugal Kishor and other
VHP activist .
Kishor put forward the demand of death penalty of Akhlaq's family after UP
police registered an FIR against them under the U.P. Prevention of Cow
Slaughter Act, 1955, and the Animal Cruelty Act .
"It has been our long-standing demand that those who slaughter cows should be
given the death penalty. We demand the same thing in this case where it is
proven now that a cow was slaughtered by Akhlaq and his family," Mr. Kishor
said.
"We will demand the arrest of Akhlaq's family and will also ask for death
penalty," said a local VHP leader who attend the meeting.
Locals stayed away from the VHP meeting, with the village head even condemning
the "attempts to communally polarise the village."
Kaushalya, the new village head condemned the attempts to disturbed communal
atmosphere in the village. She told The Hindu corespondent that no villager had
invited the VHP leader.
"No villager went to the meeting, which was anyway not a village function. We
strongly condemn the attempt to disturb communal harmony," she said.
Akhlaq was lynched allegedly by his neighbours in Dadri last September over
rumours that he and his family had stored beef.
(source: siasat.com)
************
40-year-old sentenced to death for raping, killing minor in MP
A 40-year-old man -- accused of abducting, raping and killing a 13-year-old
girl in Chichli area of Narsinghpur district in May 2015 -- was given a death
penalty by a Narsinghpur court on Tuesday.
According to prosecution sources, Narsinghpur additional sessions court judge
Pratibha Sathwane held the accused -- Baba alias Ravishankar Vishwakarma --
guilty under different sections of the IPC relating to rape, murder and
abduction and also provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences
Act 2012.
The judge pronounced the death sentence and also slapped Rs 2,100 penalty. The
judge also awarded other punishments under different sections, spanning from 7
years of rigorous imprisonment to life sentence under other sections of the
IPC.
Narsinghpur superintendent of police M Shrivastava said the judge termed the
case as rarest of rare crime.
First death penalty awarded by any court in Narsinghpur since independence
"It is the 1st death penalty awarded by any court in Narsinghpur district since
the country attained independence," claimed Shrivastava.
The 13-year-old girl, a resident of a village in Chichli area, had gone missing
on May 21, 2015 after which her family reported the matter to the police. The
Chichli police recovered the girl's body the next day from a well in the
adjoining Baglai village.
The girl's post mortem examination revealed that she was raped before being
strangled to death.
Investigations led the police to 3 suspects in July 2015. The DNA samples of
the three were matched with the DNA profile of the deceased girl generated from
her vaginal smear. Ravishankar was then detained after which he admitted to
committing the crime.
(source: Hindustan Times)
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