April 16
MALAYSIA:
Hotel manager gets death sentence for drug trafficking
A hotel manager was sent to the gallows by the Magistrate's Court here today
after he found guilty of trafficking 82.38 gm of heroin last year.
Judicial Commissioner Muhammad Jamil Hussin passed the death sentence to
Muhammad Firdaus Abdullah, 29, after the defence failed to raise a reasonable
doubt on the prosecution's case.
The father of one was found guilty of committing the offence at 9.30am at the
Machap rest and service area (north-bound) in Kluang on Jan 4 last year. The
offence under Section 39B(1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 provides for
mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
In his judgment, Muhammad Jamil said the accused's defence was a mere denial
and fabricated.
According to the facts of the case, a team of policemen spotted the accused
carrying a suspicious package towards a white Honda car parked by the roadside.
Upon inspection, four small packs of heroin weighing a total of 82.38gm, were
found in the package.
Deputy public prosecutor Rasyidah Murni Adzmi prosecuted, while the accused was
represented by lawyer Chandran Singh.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution and defence each called 6 witnesses.
Muhammad Firdaus appeared calm when the court passed the sentence, while his
family members broke down in tears.
(source: themalaymailonline.com)
EGYPT:
Child Rapists Should be Executed: Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh's Deputy
Dr Abbas Shuman, the Deputy of Al-Azhar's Grand Sheikh, has called for the
death penalty to be imposed on anyone found guilty of raping a child, reported
Al-Ahram.
"The rape of children is terrorism punishable by execution," said Dr Shuman,
adding that such crimes are alien to Egypt's society and culture and represent
terrorism in its worst form.
Dr Shuman added that the raping of children is no less dangerous than bombings
and other violence.
In the past few years, there have been several notable cases of child rape that
have been widely reported in Egyptian media. In 2014, 2 teenagers were
sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted of raping and killing a
5-year-old child in Port Said before throwing her off an 11-story building.
Most recently, a 20-month-old girl was raped by a 35-year-old man in
Al-Daqahliyah Government, leading to many in Egypt to call for greater
punishment for child rapists.
(source: egyptianstreets.com)
NORTH KOREA:
North Korean soldiers who compared Kim Jong-un to a mentally ill child in
extremely unwise joke are arrested and face death penalty
North Korean soldiers are facing the death penalty after spreading a joke
comparing Kim Jong-un to a kindergartner.
Officers and soldiers from the 2nd army corps have been placed under arrest for
mocking the North Korean leader, and are under investigation, a source has told
Radio Free Asia.
The source said: 'News of cadres of the second army corps slandering Kim
Jong-un reached all the way to the People's Army's General Political Bureau,
and the arrested cadres are to be severely punished.'
According to UPI, other soldiers have referred to him as a mentally ill
patient.
It comes as Kim Jong-un threatened nuclear justice during the Day of the Sun
parades in the secretive state.
Kim, wearing a Western-style suit at Kim Il-sung Square, saluted formations of
soldiers who yelled out 'long live' to celebrate the 105th anniversary of his
grandfather's birth.
The dictator has accused President Donald Trump of provoking his nation towards
armed conflict with a series of increasingly aggressive moves, including
sending the USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula.
Kim is said to be losing popularity with North Koreans, and is already
unpopular with the country's soldiers.
US officials feared Kim Jong-un would mark the national holiday by launching
North Korea's 6th nuclear weapons test, since the country has used previous
holidays to showcase its military prowess.
The despot, who did not speak during the annual parade, flaunted prototypes of
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), which experts fear could one day be
capable of striking mainland America.
One of Kim's top officials, Choe Ryong Hae, today vowed North Korea would 'beat
down enemies with the power of nuclear justice'.
He told the packed-out square: 'If the United States wages reckless provocation
against us, our revolutionary power will instantly counter with annihilating
strike, and we will respond to full-out war with full-out war and to nuclear
war with our style of nuclear strike warfare.'
(source: dailymail.co.uk)
PHILIPPINES:
Extended prison terms in lieu of death penalty eyed
Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza has asked Congress to consider increasing the
prison terms and scrapping parole privilege for persons convicted of heinous
crimes, which are more acceptable alternatives to the death penalty.
Daza filed House Bill 4872 to increase the duration and effect of penalties of
reclusion temporal and reclusion perpetua even as the House of Representatives
unanimously approved the death penalty measure.
In his proposal, Daza called for amendments to the Revised Penal Code by
increasing the prison term for reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment from
maximum of 20 years to minimum of 30 years and maximum of 40 years.
Under the bill, persons convicted of reclusion perpetua shall not be eligible
for parole under the Indeterminate Sentence Law.
HB 4872 also seeks to adjust prison sentences for crimes punishable with
reclusion temporal from 12 years and 1 day to 30 years.
Maximum prison term for reclusion temporal is currently set at 20 years.
Daza was among the 52 lawmakers who thumbed down the death penalty bill that
was presented for 3rd and final reading last month.
"While our country needs strong and effective deterrents against criminality,
especially the scourge of illicit drugs, the death penalty has been empirically
shown to be an ineffective one," he explained.
The veteran lawmaker said stiff penalties outside death for drug related and
heinous crimes "is imperative both as a deterrent and for the effective
dispensation of justice."
HB 4872 remained pending before the House Committee on Justice, which strongly
recommended approval of the death penalty measure.
The death penalty proposal is expected to face rough sailing in the Senate
which will debate on the measure starting next month.
Daza's no parole proposal may yet see the light only if senators reject the
death penalty bill.
(source: Manila Bulletin)
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