Sept. 9
ICELAND:
Iceland gripped as infamous 1828 murders head for 'retrial'----Deaths of 2 men
to be re-examined under modern court rules.
It was on 14 March, 1828 when residents on Iceland's remote farm of Stapakot
were awoken by a maid from a neighbouring property, who burst in to tell them 2
men were trapped in a fire.
But the men were already dead - clubbed with a hammer and stabbed 12 times
before the house was set ablaze with shark oil.
Despite taking place almost 190 years ago, it's a crime that Icelanders have
never forgotten, since the convicted killers were the last people ever executed
in the country.
On Saturday (9 September), the case is set to grip Iceland once more as it is
re-analysed by a mock court, Associated Press reports.
The retrial, conducted under modern rules before a 3-judge panel, may shed
light on the motivation for the slayings, the fairness of the original
proceeding, and whether the 2 maids - Agnes Magnusdottir and Sigridur
Gudmundsdottir - had been abused by the men they eventually killed.
The case has sparked endless speculation, a feature film and a pop song. The
tenth book in Icelandic about the murders is set to be published and a
documentary is in production. Seats for the retrial have long been sold out.
It will be held at the community center in Hvammstangi, a northwestern village
near the murder scene, and will use handwritten court records from the 1828
case, which have been preserved in the National Library.
One of the judges - David Thor, a former judge at the European Court of Human
Rights - told Associated Press that the original trial nearly 200 years ago did
not address the motivation for the killings. It's not clear why Natan
Ketilsson, a self-taught doctor, and his guest were killed.
"No one cared about the motivation behind the murders - that wouldn't happen in
a modern court," he said.
"Today we would try to understand the motivation behind the murders and
particularly how the 2 women, who had no other place to live, were treated by
their master."
The 2 maids said the act was masterminded by Fridrik Sigurdsson, a 17-year-old
who held a grudge against Ketilsson. He and Magnusdottir, 32, were put to death
for their role in the killings. The other maid, a 16-year-old, was sentenced to
life in prison in Denmark.
The case highlights differing attitudes toward capital punishment. In modern
Iceland, the usual prison sentence for murder is 16 years or less. But in 1828,
officials successfully argued for the death penalty, which had not been imposed
in decades.
An axe was imported from Denmark to carry out the penalty and the brother of 1
of the victims was chosen as executioner.
Every farm was instructed to send a male representative to witness the event
and afterward the decapitated heads were jammed onto a stick for public
viewing.
Author Hannah Kent achieved international success with her novel "Burial
Rites," which depicts the crime through the eyes of Magnusdottir, who was
convicted of killing the 2 men and burning their bodies.
Kent, who said the case is still constantly in her thoughts, hopes the retrial
may provide some insight.
"If the murders really were premeditated, I would want to know if something
went wrong or if maybe this all happened more in the moment," she said.
"Because to me, it has always seemed like a particularly clumsy murder."
She said readers have often asked her what the outcome of the case would be if
it were tried under today's rules.
"I have never really been able to give them an answer until now," she said.
(source: Associated Press)
INDIA:
Around 50 face death sentence in Maharashtra
With 2 former aides of Karachi-based underworld don Dawood Ibrahim getting
death sentences in the 12 March 1993 serial blasts case, the list of the
convicted criminals facing death sentences in Maharashtra is around 50.
Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Kasab and Mumbai resident Yakub Memon are the
two persons from Maharashtra who had been hanged to death in the last 2
decades.
Kasab was among the group of 10 Pakistanis and the only one to the caught alive
during the 26-29 November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. His clemency plea was
rejected by the President. He was hanged to death at the Yerawada jail in Pune
on 21 November 2012.
Yakub Memon, who played a key role inthe March 12, 1993, serial blasts in
Mumbai, was hanged to death in the Nagpur prison, on 30 July 2015.
According to Prison Statistics 2014 brought out by the National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB), there are a total of 318 persons including 8 women on death row
across the country of which 36 including 3 women are from Maharashtra.
However, between 2015-17, capital punishments have been given to convicts -
which include the accused of the Shakti Mill rape incidents and the 7/11 serial
train bombing.
In April 2014, 3 youth Vijay Jadhav, Mohammad Qasim Shaikh and Salim Ansari -
were sentenced to death for repeating the crime. They were involved in the rape
of a photojournalist and telephone operator at the Shakti Mill.
In September 2015, a trial court in Mumbai sentenced 5 persons to death in the
7/11 train blasts case. They are Kamal Ansari, Faisal Shaikh, Estesham
Siddiqui, Naveed Khan and Asif Bashir Khan.
Among others on death row in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra are 3
Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives including a 43-year-old mother of 2, who were
awarded capital punishment for their involvement in the August 25, 2003,
explosions at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar. These convicts are Ashrat
Ansari, his aide Hanif Sayed Anees and Hanif's wife Fehmida Sayed. They too
have appealed to the Supreme Court.
2 sisters, Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit too are facing capital punishment, in
what is known as the Anjanabai Gavit case. The case involves a series of
kidnappings and murders. They have been accused of kidnapping and killing a
dozen children in the nineties in Kolhapur, Pune and Nashik.
4 years ago, the Bombay High Court confirmed the death penalty of Purushottam
Borate and Pradeep Kokade, who were convicted kidnapping, raping and murdering
a 22-year-old BPO employee Jyotikumari Chaudhary in Pune in 2007.
(source: Deccan Herald)
IRAQ:
Iraq sentences Islamic State's "chemical emir" to death
Iraq's Central Criminal Court sentenced Sunday a prominent Islamic State
chemical warfare developer to death, convicting him of developing some of the
group's deadliest weapons.
In a statement on Sunday, Abdul-Sattar Beraqdar, a spokesman of the Supreme
Judicial Council, said Zeyad Tarek, who hd joined militant activity in 2003,
was sentenced to death based on the Iraqi counter-terrorism law.
He said the convict had confessed to developing toxic weapons for the Islamic
State, and had admitted using a chicken coop he owned for the purpose of
manufacturing the weapons.
Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council had previously published an interview with
Tarek, in which it revealed that the convict was arrested in Lebanon after an
intelligence operation that succeeded in retaking him back to Iraq. He was
ambushed outside an embassy in Lebanon where he was applying for asylum.
Tarek, who the militants had nicknamed the "chemicals emir", said that one of
the rockets he had developed could fire for a 20-kilometer range. The council's
paper said several militants arrested for manufacturing chemical weapons and
booby-traps had pointed during interrogations to Tarek's facility.
Iraqi and international agencies had occasionally reported suspected chemical
attacks by IS militants during the government's U.S.-backed military campaign
against the group in Mosul, its former capital which Iraqi forces recaptured
early July.
(source: iraqinews.com)
PAKISTAN:
COAS confirms death sentence of 4 hardcore terrorists
Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa has confirmed death sentences of
another 4 hardcore terrorists.
According to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement the deaths
sentences were given by the military courts.
The convicts were involved in offences of terrorism, including killing of
innocent civilians, attacking law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and armed forces
of Pakistan. On the whole, they were involved in the killing of 16 persons and
injuring 8 others. Arms were also recovered from their possession.
Around 23 convicts were also given imprisonment of various duration by the
military courts. The details of terrorists given death penalty are as under:
Raiz Ahmed son of (s/o) Ghularam Khan: The convict was a member of proscribed
organization. He was involved in attacking law enforcement agencies and armed
forces of Pakistan, which resulted in death of eight officials of police and
Frontier Constabulary and injuries to 5 police officials.
He was also involved in destruction of Government Middle School, Aligrama. He
was found in possession of fire-arm. The convict admitted his offences before
the magistrate and the trial court.
Hafeez ur Rehman s/o Habib ur Rehman: The convict was a member of proscribed
organization. He was involved in killing of 3 innocent civilians.
The convict admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court.
Muhammad Saleem s/o Muslim Khan: The convict was a member of proscribed
organization. He was involved in attacking LEAs and armed forces of Pakistan,
which resulted in death of 4 soldiers and injuries to another soldier. He was
found in possession of fire-arm.
The convict admitted his offences before the magistrate and trial court. He was
given death sentence.
Kifayat Ullah s/o Dilresh: The convict was a member of proscribed organization.
He was involved in attacking armed forces of Pakistan, which resulted in death
of a soldier and injuries to 2 other soldiers.
He was found in possession of fire-arm. The convict had admitted his offences
before the magistrate and trial court.
(source: brecorder.com)
EGYPT:
Court set to sentence Giza Terrorist Cell members to death penalty
Giza Criminal Court referred the papers of 11 defendants in the case known as
Giza Terrorist Cell on Saturday to Grand Mufti Shawky Allam, before sentencing
them to the death penalty.
The court set October 22 as the final verdict date for the 26 defendants.
A referral to the mufti is a step that must be taken within Egypt's court
system ahead of death sentencing, even though the mufti's opinion is advisory
and not binding.
The defendants face charges of establishing an illegal group, intended to
disrupt the provisions of the Constitution and the law, preventing state
institutions from carrying out their actions, and attacks on personal and
public freedom.
They are also being charged with participating in gatherings intended to commit
a murder, destroying public property, the attempted killing of 2 police
officers, destroying a police vehicle, stealing police weapons, and making high
explosive devices.
(source: Egypt Independent)
*******************
Egypt court sentences 11 to death over violence
An Egyptian court on Saturday has sentenced 11 people to death over charges of
attempted murder and violence, official news agency MENA reported.
The defendants were convicted of militant gathering for terrorist purposes,
making explosives, assaulting a government institution and setting it ablaze,
Jeopardizing personal freedoms, harming national unity and social peace, and
providing funds and weapons to militants.
The court referred the sentence to Grand Mufti, the country's highest Islamic
official who will give the religious judgment of all preliminary death
sentences.
The Mufti's opinion is non-binding as it is usually considered a formality, but
his final opinion could reduce the penalty.
The court will give its final sentence against other 26 accused with the same
charges in October 22.
The case dated back to August 2013 when the Brotherhood members took into
streets, broke into some police stations, killing security men in retaliation
for the police's harsh crackdown on the supporters of the Islamist president
Mohamed Morsi who was ousted by the army in response to mass protest against
him.
Morsi along with prominent figures of his Brotherhood group were sentenced to
death over killing protesters, spying for foreign countries amid other charges.
However, all the charges are still appealable.
(source: xinhuanet.com)
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