June 24
NEW ZEALAND:
Execute Chinese drug dealers - Harawira
Mana leader Hone Harawira has called for capital punishment for Chinese people
who import methamphetamine into New Zealand.
Appearing on The Nation on Saturday, the former MP said it's time to take the
fight against meth seriously by targeting what he says is its source - China.
"We can pass a law to say any Chinese who bring meth or its precursors into
this country is either going to jail forever, is going to get sent back and
never be allowed here again, or is going to get executed," he told host Lisa
Owen.
"We need to send a message this is unacceptable."
Asked if his execution policy extended to gangs, Mr Harawira said "even the
police will admit the gangs don't actually do all the meth here".
He said the policy could eventually cover other nationalities, but "you've got
to start somewhere".
He denied the policy was racist.
"You want to know what's racist? Maori are in the bottom of New Zealand society
in terms of housing, employment, education, health and justice. Now that's what
I call racist, in this country."
Labour MP Chris Hipkins wasted no time, slamming Mr Harawira on Twitter as the
interview was still on air.
"Even Donald Trump at the height of his anti-China narrative didn't suggest an
ethnically targeted death penalty," Mr Hipkins said.
(source: newshub.co.nz)
IRAN:
Iranian Metal Band Confess No Longer Facing Execution for Blasphemy, Attempting
to Appeal Current Sentence
You may remember the story of Iranian metal band Confess from 2016. The
musicians were arrested the previous year for blasphemy and other reasons, and
were potentially facing execution. Thankfully, Confess have confirmed they're
safe from the death penalty in a new interview with Metal Injection.
The formal charges against Confess included "blasphemy; advertising against the
system; forming and running an illegal and underground label in the satanic
metal and rock style; writing anti-religious, atheistic, political and
anarchistic lyrics; and interviewing with forbidden radio stations." The 2
members of Confess, Nikan 'Siyanor' Khosravi and Arash 'Chemical' Ilkhani, paid
approximately $30,000 each to make bail and laid low since.
When Khosravi was asked by Metal Injection if he was safe, the Confess member
replied, "If by being safe you mean not worried about losing your life, yes we
are safe. We are with our families and our loved ones living day by day. But if
being safe is having peace of mind, then no, we are not. We don't know what is
going to happen to us, as human beings and as artists."
After going to district court on 2 occasions, Khosravi and Ilkhani were
sentenced for the apparent crimes and the result sounds disturbing. "The
sentence is not good at all," Khosravi says. "We objected and are waiting for
an appeals court date. We still have hope that everything will be resolved with
our new lawyers."
Once again, Confess are not facing execution, but Khosravi declined to
elaborate on the sentence, fearful it would affect the appeals process.
Adding some levity to the conversation, Khosravi spoke of the various metal
musicians who've reached out during this difficult time. They include Corey
Taylor, Marty Friedman, Alissa White-Gluz, Randy Blythe, Stone Sour drummer Roy
Mayorga, All That Remains' Phil Labonte and Gojira's Mario Duplantier. Khosravi
says he's even talked with Eminem since Confess' story was made public.
If you'd like to keep up with Confess, you can follow the Instagram accounts of
the band, Khosravi and Arash.
(source: louodwire.com)
INDIA:
Orissa HC commutes death penalty to 35 years of imprisonment
Orissa high court on Friday provided relief to 5 persons, who were convicted in
rape and murder of a minor girl in Keonjhar, by commuting death penalty of 2 of
the convicts to 35 years of imprisonment and acquitting the remaining 3.
As per the case details, a minor girl in Beklundi village in Keonjhar district
was allegedly raped and murdered in 2012. The deceased, a class VIII student,
had gone for her tuitions and did not return home following which her family
members launched a frantic search and found her body with injury marks about
one kilometer from the village.
A case was registered against Mata Munda Mangul Purti and Harjit Singh and
investigation was made. Subsequently, the trial court additional district and
sessions court at Champua had awarded death sentence to the 5 accused in 2015.
As all the 5 accused were poor they had filed criminal appeal against the death
sentence from jail and accordingly high court had engaged 2 lawyers to deal
their cases.
While Mata and Jiten have been awarded 35 years of rigorous imprisonment in
jail for the crime, the remaining 3 Biswanath, Mangul and Harjit have been
acquitted on ground that there was no concrete evidence against them.
"There was absolutely no evidence against my 3 clients in the case.
"Police had no material against them to prove them guilty. Even in the trial
court, the lawyers had not cross examined the witnesses properly. Taking all
this into consideration, the high court acquitted them," said lawyer Debi
Prasad Dhal, who was representing Biswanath, Mangul and Harjit in the case.
(source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
EGYPT:
UN EXPERTS URGE EGYPT TO HALT EXECUTIONS AFTER 'FLAWED TRIALS'
A group of U.N. human rights experts demanded that Egypt halt the planned
executions of 6 men sentenced to death on the basis of forced confessions.
The 6 men, who were convicted in 2015 of terrorism-related charges linked to
the killing of a police officer a year earlier, saw their death sentences
upheld by Egypt's highest criminal court on June 7.
The men -- Basem Mohsen Elkhorieby, Khaled Askar, Mahmoud Mamhouh Wahba,
Ibrahim Yahia Azab, Abd Elrahman Attia and Ahmed al-Waleed al-Shal -- have all
reported being tortured and forced to confess, the U.N. rights office said in a
statement.
3 of the men were forced to confess on national television, it added.
"To proceed with the executions of the 6 men on the basis of these flawed
trials would violate international human rights law and constitute arbitrary
executions," the experts said.
"It is extremely worrying that while all 6 men recanted their forced
confessions in court and indicated that they had been obtained under torture,
these were still used as the basis for their convictions."
The experts also stressed that evidence used against the men, including
testimonies from members of the state security forces showed "major
inconsistencies".
Some witness statements for instance did not match video footage of the alleged
crime scene, they said.
The experts pointed out that capital punishment is only permitted under
international law if there is "full respect for stringent due process
guarantees."
"The government must halt these executions and ensure a retrial in compliance
with international law and standards," they insisted.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
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