Oct. 25
INDIA:
Hanging of Abhi's killers put on hold
The Supreme Court today put on hold till further order the execution of Vikram
Singh alias Vicky and Jasbir Singh, both sentenced to death for the kidnapping
and murder of Abhi Verma alias Harry, a student of Hoshiarpur's DAV School, in
February 2005.
A 3-member Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra passed the order after hearing
arguments on fresh petitions by the 2 convicts, contending that the evidence
against them should be re-appreciated in the light of an apex court judgment
allowing admissibility of electronic evidence. The Bench, which included
Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan, reserved its ruling.
Arguing for Vicky, senior counsel KTS Tulsi said a recorded telephonic
conversation pertaining to the ransom demand had confirmed the voice of Jasbir,
not of his client, and as such it could not be used against him. He also
pleaded that Vicky's fingerprints on a car used for kidnapping Abhi should not
be relied upon as it was his car and was supposed to have his fingerprints.
Also, there was confusion over the colour of the car identified by witnesses.
Additional Advocate General V Madhukar and complainant's counsel Abhishek
Singh, however, pleaded that there was no apparent error in the verdicts of the
Supreme Court, High Court and lower courts and even if the 3 objections raised
by the convicts were allowed, other available evidence was sufficient to
justify the death penalty.
The SC had rejected the convicts' appeals, besides their review and curative
petitions. Subsequently, the President rejected their mercy pleas, prompting
them to approach the SC with new reasons. In Patiala, the jail authorities had
made arrangements for executing the death warrants (for October 25) with Meerut
jail hangman Pawan reaching the city a few days ago.
Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana HC has deferred till November 3 hearing on a
petition for commuting the convicts' death sentence.
(source: tribuneindia.com)
PAKISTAN:
Father is sentenced to death in Pakistan after murdering his daughter because
she couldn't bake 'perfect bread'
A father has been sentenced to death in Pakistan after he confessed to killing
his daughter because she wasn't able to bake perfect bread.
Khalid Mehmood admitted murdering his daughter Aneeqa before dumping her body
outside the Mayo Hospital in Lahore.
According to prosecutors, he then told police that the girl was missing and
feared she had been abducted, claiming she had failed to return home after
going out to buy food.
However, according to the Express Tribune, officers later discovered that the
girl was actually killed by her father after she failed to perfect the recipe
for making gol roti.
The bread is a type of chapati that is usually round and flat and eaten
everyday with curries and chutneys.
Police later arrested Mehmood and his son Abuzar when they confessed to killing
Aneeqa by beating her to death.
They also admitted dumping her body as well as filing a false missing persons
report.
A judge at a court in Lahore then awarded Mehmood the death penalty and also
fined him 500,000 Pakistan rupees (4,000 pounds).
The case comes just a week after another man who murdered his daughter and her
boyfriend in a so-called honour killing was allowed to go free after he
pardoned himself and his accomplices.
Faqeer Muhammad was accused of shooting dead his daughter Kiran Bibi and her
alleged lover Ghulam Abbas, 'to save family honour' due to their relationship
in Lahore in 2014.
Muhammad and the daughter's mother Azmat Bibi were the legal heirs to the girl,
meaning they could pardon anyone accused of killing her.
Mrs Bibi and another son then lodged an application to have Muhammad pardoned,
which he agreed to and it was accepted by the court.
(source: Daily Mail)
********************
Pakistan Is Going to Execute a Schizophrenic Man
Imdad Ali is a 50-year-old Pakistani man who was convicted of the 2002 murder
of a religious scholar. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2012, which
under Pakistani law would normally render him ineligible for the death penalty.
Last week, though, the Pakistani Supreme Court found a creative justification
for going ahead and hanging him anyway, the Independent reports:
In 2012, the 50-year-old was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and
psychosis that doctors said impaired Mr Ali's "rational thinking and
decision-making capabilities", and was declared clinically insane in a medical
report the following year.
But he lost his final appeal last year and has since had his execution stayed
by a last-minute appeal lodged by his wife at the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, judges ruled that the execution can go ahead, after finding that
Mr Ali's schizophrenia is not a permanent condition and varies according to the
"level of stress".
Ali could now be executed as early as this week, and naturally the Supreme
Court's decision has caused an uproar. "It is terrifying to think that a
mentally ill man like Imdad Ali could now hang because judges are pretending
that schizophrenia is not a serious condition," Maya Foa, the director of the
human rights group Reprieve, told the Independent.
It would be a mistake to attribute this to some barbaric tendency unique to the
Pakistani justice system, though. In the U.S., the courts have held that it is
unconstitutional to execute convicts who don't meet a certain threshold of
mental competence, but the justice system often doesn't let that get in the way
of carrying out executions of seriously disturbed people.
The Death Penalty Information Center has a long, depressing list of executions
which took place in the U.S. despite serious concerns about the mental health
of the condemned. To take just a few such examples (emphasis in the originals):
Cecil Clayton was executed on March 17, 2015, in Missouri. He was 74, suffered
from dementia, had an IQ of 71, was missing a significant part of his brain due
to an accident. His attorneys insisted he should be spared because he did not
understand the punishment to be carried out. Clayton sustained a brain injury
in a sawmill accident in 1972, requiring removal of about 20% of his frontal
lobe, which is involved in impulse control, problem solving, and social
behavior. After the accident, Clayton began experiencing violent impulses,
schizophrenia, and extreme paranoia, which became so severe that he checked
himself into a mental hospital out of fear he could not control his temper. In
1983, Dr. Douglas Stevens, a psychiatrist, examined Clayton and concluded,
"There is presently no way that this man could be expected to function in the
world of work. Were he pushed to do so he would become a danger both to himself
and to others. He has had both suicidal and homicidal impulses, so far
controlled, though under pressure they would be expected to exacerbate." In the
past decade, 6 psychiatric evaluations have found that Clayton should be exempt
from execution because he does not understand that he will be executed, or the
reasons for his execution. However, since his execution date was set, he did
not have a competency hearing before a judge that could spare him from
execution.
...
Garry Allen was executed in Oklahoma on November 6, 2012. This was the third
date set for him this year. Allen's execution has been stayed repeatedly due to
questions about his mental competence. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia
as well as dementia caused by seizures, drug abuse, and a gunshot wound to his
head sustained during his arrest. In 2008, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board
recommended that his death sentence be commuted by a 4-1 vote. Governor Mary
Fallin granted a stay in order to consider the Board's recommendation, but
denied clemency. Allen murdered his wife 26 years ago, after she had left him
and taken their 2 children.
...
Charles Singleton was executed on January 6, 2004 in Arkansas. Singleton
stopped taking medication in 1997 and became psychotic, believing that his
victim was still alive and that his jail cell was inhabited by demons. He was
then forcibly medicated, prompting a series of appeals that culminated with an
8th Circuit Court ruling that he could be forced to take drugs that made him
sane enough to be executed.
...
James Willie Brown was executed in Georgia on November 4, 2003. Mr. Brown's
schizophrenia cause him to experience hallucinations and believe that voices of
God and demons directed his actions. He was admitted to Central State Hospital
several times, beginning in 1968. After being arrested in 1975 for the murder
of Brenda Watson, Brown was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, and was
treated for 5 years before being ruled competent to stand trial.
Humans have a deep, primal need to punish wrongdoers, and this need can
override our more recently evolved senses of justice and mercy.
(source: Jesse Singal, nymag.com)
CHINA:
Man facing death penalty becomes defiant symbol of China's injustice
In May of 2013, Jia Jinglong had nearly finalized preparations for his wedding.
He wanted to hold it at his family's home, a spacious and bright place where he
had hung the ceremony decorations and prepared a place to live with his bride.
Mr. Jia's village had different plans. It had slated his home for demolition to
make way for new development, and wanted Mr. Jia gone. 18 days before the
wedding, a wrecking crew came to the house and started to tear it down while
Mr. Jia was still inside. He leaped out from a 2nd-storey window and thugs beat
him, leaving him homeless and injured. His fiancee left him.
In the battle between poor homeowner and China's mighty development machine,
another man had lost, a story repeated countless times over the past few
decades.
But Mr. Jia fought back - and now, facing the death penalty for the murderous
retribution he exacted, he has become a symbol of the injustices faced by
China's lower classes, at home and in the country's courts.
2 years after his home was demolished, Mr. Jia used a nail gun to kill the
local village chief, whom he blamed for ordering the forcible demolition. A
Chinese court found Mr. Jia guilty of murder, and sentenced him to death. Last
Tuesday, the Supreme People's Court approved the ruling, concluding a process
that is conducted in secret and cannot be appealed.
Mr. Jia, however, has not silently vanished. Instead, his family and lawyers
have made him the subject of a furious and unusually open fight against capital
punishment.
As the clock ticked toward Mr. Jia's expected death, some of China's most
prominent legal advocates called for authorities to show mercy and spare the
life of a man who has become, in the span of a few short days, the newest
symbol of the country's judicial shortcomings.
The situation has come to "a critical juncture of life or death, and though
things look desperate, [I am] still here calling for the Supreme Court to make
an exception," wrote Xu Xin, a law professor at the Beijing Institute of
Technology, on his public WeChat social media account Monday.
Before killing the village chief, Mr. Jia had prepared a social-media message
saying he would exact payback and then surrender. He never sent it, but he did
travel in the direction of a police station after the killing. His willingness
to admit guilt, and the fact he appears to have been wronged by a village chief
behind the legally questionable demolition of his home, should have been
mitigating factors, his defenders say.
Their appeal for leniency has only a slim chance of success. Mr. Jia killed a
Chinese authority, a serious offence, and the decision of the Supreme People's
Court is final. "The facts are clear, and the evidence sufficient," a lower
court wrote.
But his family had not yet been notified of his death by Monday evening, lawyer
Liu Hong said in an interview. Instead, Supreme Court judges "spent a long time
talking with his sister, Jia Jingyuan, today," Ms. Liu said. "That's a good
sign." It's not yet clear whether the Supreme Court has issued an execution
enforcement order, which would begin a 7-day countdown for Mr. Jia to die,
likely through lethal injection.
Even if he is executed, Mr. Jia's story may resonate beyond the grave, as he
becomes the latest figure to galvanize public opinion against a justice system
often seen as unjust.
In China, "everyone can see themselves as Jia Jinglong," a man driven to
desperation against an unyielding state, said Michelle Miao, an assistant law
professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong who is an expert on the death
penalty in China.
By opening a window into the capital-punishment system, Mr. Jia has also
provided "an opportunity for the public to finally see what is happening within
the courtrooms," Prof. Miao said. "Only these high-profile cases can shine some
light into the actual implementation of the machinery of justice in China."
And those angered by his case don't like what they see. "Corrupt officials who
have done so much damage to society were not killed, so why him?" asked one
person on Chinese social media, where Mr. Jia's story was widely shared, after
it was also reported by state media.
"Why keep giving such serious punishment to citizens who just want to protect
their private rights?" asked another. "Kill him - the attitude among public
servants. Don't kill him - the attitude among ordinary people," commented
another.
China is believed to execute more people than all other countries combined, but
the country does not publish statistics. Human-rights advocates have long
raised China's death penalty as a black mark on its judicial system, with
procedures that violate international norms.
"The Chinese government continues to give the public the impression that the
death penalty is only strictly applied in a limited amount of horrific cases -
such as in the recent spate of cases in which people have killed hospital
staff," said William Nee, China researcher for Amnesty International. Cases
such as Mr. Jia's challenge that line, suggesting China uses execution as a
deterrence tool to maintain social order.
When people find out, they are often unhappy, Mr. Nee said. "They think there
are better ways to tackle the underlying social conflicts," he said.
Chinese legal officials have pledged to limit executions, officially declaring
policies such as "when there is the choice to kill or not to kill, always
choose not to kill." But courts have tended to show greater restraint in cases
of wealthy and powerful officials.
The result has been that "death penalties have mostly been carried out against
ordinary people on the bottom rung of society," said Si Weijiang, a lawyer who
has helped with Mr. Jia's case. "The public can see a sharp contrast," he
added.
The reliance by Chinese courts on evidence supplied by police who rush to
achieve results, sometimes using torture, has created further problems. It is
only in the past few years that such issues have seized public attention, after
a series of high-profile wrongful conviction cases.
Chinese state media have celebrated them as the country's leaders argue that
courts are improving.
In September, the Chinese government released a white paper that claimed "new
progress has been made in human rights protection in the field of justice."
It said courts respect the presumption of innocence, and acquitted 3,369
defendants between 2012 and 2015. That pales next to the 1.2 million people
found guilty last year alone, for a conviction rate of 99.92 %.
Legal experts say China's claims of strengthened legal protections have brought
only modest change in court, where suspects are still commonly treated as if
they are presumed guilty.
In Mr. Jia's case, his father had signed paperwork allowing the village to
demolish the home. But he signed only after officials threatened to cut off
retirement benefits for him and other relatives if he refused, the family
testified in court.
Ms. Liu, the lawyer, acknowledged "it's not so likely" the court will reverse
its decision. But, she said, Mr. Jia's case has underscored broader problems.
"There is too little transparency with execution procedures," she said. "And
very few guarantees of the defendant's rights."
(source: theglobeandmail.com)
KENYA:
Inmates plead with State to abolish death penalty in Kenya
"This offence carries a mandatory sentence. I hereby sentence you to death by
hanging until satisfied dead. You have a right of appeal."
These harsh words still linger in the mind of Morris Kaberia, a former police
officer now awaiting the hangman's noose at Kamiti Maximum Prison.
They were uttered by Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Mutuku after she found
him guilty of robbery with violence in 2009.
He is among convicts facing the gallows as the debate on whether to abolish the
death sentence rages on.
"The sentence was the most cruel thing to have happened to me and I always pray
that it does not happen to anybody. Death is not only torturous but inhuman and
degrading," he said.
Memories of the doors behind him locking as he was escorted by prison warders
to his new home are still fresh in his mind.
"I was stripped naked before changing to the badly smelling prison attire. I
knew that indeed my life had come to an end," he said.
The ex-policeman has since made friends with colleagues at the facility's death
row Ward. They include William Onyango and Wilson Kung'u, who welcomed and
encouraged him to join the prison's academy where he now teaches.
Gabriel Odera Emsa, 58, says he was handed the sentence after he failed to
prove his innocence in a case in which he was accused of stealing 2 loaves of
bread and Sh3,000 from a kiosk in Kibomet, Kitale on January 12, 2000.
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Programme Manager Anita Nyanjong says
Kenya remains a world leader in handing the sentence, terming it a violation of
the right to life.
Kenya has about 4,000 inmates on death row. Many countries have abolished the
death penalty. At least 58 others are still considering the death penalty as a
remedy for such crimes.
(source: standardmedia.co.ke)
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