Nov. 6
SOUTH KOREA:
Over 1/2 of S. Korean people support carrying out death penalty: poll
About 1 out of every 2 South Korean people is in favor of implementing existing
death penalty provision, a poll said Monday, although the country is classified
as a de facto abolitionist country in the international community.
South Korea has executed no one since the end of 1997, when 23 people were put
to death. The moratorium was enacted in February 1998 by then-President Kim
Dae-Jung.
According to the survey of 511 people across the nation conducted by Realmeter
on Friday, 52.8 % were for returning to execution, while 42.8 % were against
it.
Of its opponents, 32.6 % said it is desirable to retain capital punishment but
to not put it into practice, and 9.6 % thought the death penalty itself should
be scrapped, the poll said.
Among those polled who are in favor of resuming executions, people in their 20s
were the most supportive at 62.6 %, trailed by those in their 30s at 59.5 %,
those in their 60s or older at 53.5 % and those in their 40s at 42.9 %.
By ideology, 66.2 % of conservative respondents supported implementing the
death penalty, and 54.2 % of centrist ones did so. On the other hand, only 39.4
% of progressive respondents were in favor.
By region, Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province showed the highest support with
66.8 %, while Gwangju and Jeolla Provinces posted the lowest support with 46.3
%, the poll said.
(source: yonhapnews.co.kr)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Death penalty for killing his wife----The man was accused to beating his wife
to death in Sharjah
A Gulf national has been given death penalty on charges of beating his
25-year-old Arab wife to death.
The verdict was issued by the Sharjah Sharia court on Sunday morning.
The court handed down its verdict after the victim's family refused to pardon
the killer and accept blood money.
The court said the man would be executed in the presence of his wife's family
members, who insisted for 'Qasas' (retributive justice as per Islamic Law) and
refused to pardon him.
According to court record, the case is dated back to January 2016 when a 37-
year-old Gulf national got involved in quarrel with his wife over marital
issues and their discussion turned violent. Then the husband slapped his wife
and left the house. The couple have 1 daughter.
During the police interrogation and court hearing, the accused confessed to the
crime. He said he did not intend to kill his wife and he slapped her after they
got involved in a heated discussion and then he went out of the house. He said
that he found his wife drinking wine when he came back home late at night. He
took the bottle from her hand and tried to take the glass as well but she
refused and resisted. At this, he beat her again and went to sleep.
He said he found his wife was sleeping with high fever but later he discovered
that she was dead. He reported the incident to police operation room and
surrendered himself to police.
(source: gulfnews.com)
IRAN----executions
2 Executions on Murder Charges
1 prisoner was executed at Mashhad Central Prison and 1 at Urmia Central
Prison, both on murder charges.
Execution in Urmia (Northwestern Iran)
According to a report by Kurdistan Human Rights Network which was also
confirmed by Iran Human Rights (IHR), on the morning of Wednesday November 1, a
prisoner was hanged at Urmia Central Prison (Darya) on murder charges. The
prisoner, identified as Tohid Mohammad-Bagherloo, 30, was from Khoy and was in
prison on murder charges for 6 years. He was transferred to solitary
confinement from Ward 1 and 2 of Urmia Central Prison on Tuesday.
The execution of this prisoner has not been announced by the state-run media so
far.
Execution in Mashhad (Northeastern Iran)
According to a report by Khorasan Newspaper, on the morning of Wednesday
November 1, a prisoner was hanged at Mashhad Central Prison (Vakilabad) on
murder charges. The prisoner, identified as M.T., was sentenced to death on
murder charges.
The report stated that the prisoner murdered a 67-year-old man with the help of
his friend in 2011.
According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 142 of the
530 execution sentences in 2016 were implemented due to murder charges. There
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in
issuing death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and
intent.
******************************
Man Executed on Murder Charges
A prisoner was hanged at Maragheh Prison (East Azerbaijan province) on murder
charges.
According to a close source, on the morning of Tuesday October 31, a prisoner
was executed at Maragheh Prison (Northwestern Iran) on murder charges.
The prisoner, identified as Hooshang Delijan, 29, was from Hashtrud. He was
arrested and sentenced to death on the charge of murdering a taxi driver in
Maragheh 4 years ago.
The execution of this prisoner has not been announced by the state-run media so
far.
According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 142 of the
530 execution sentences in 2016 were implemented due to murder charges. There
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in
issuing death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and
intent.
(source for both: Iran Human Rights)
IRAQ:
14 Kurdish MPs facing death sentence threats for referendum
14 Kurdish members of the Iraqi parliament are facing the threat of death
sentences from Baghdad for voting in Kurdistan Region's independence referendum
on September 25.
Dr. Muthana Ameen, an MP from the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), 1 of the MPs
in question, says "They want to try us with Iraq's penal code 156 for voting as
Kurds and in a civil and democratic way for the independence of Kurdistan."
Ameen slammed the parliament's decree saying "We see this decision against us
as political not legal."
The Iraqi Parliament's MPs affairs committee has so far read 3 recommendations
from the parliament against the 14 Kurdish parliamentarians which include
stripping them of immunity, trial and banning them from parliamentary duties
until their cases have been decided on by the court.
Amin wonders why the parliament is only after these 14 MPs when "many others"
voted, too.
"If death sentence is issued for an MP for voting, then 3 million Kurds must be
punished," said Amin.
On suggestions from the Shiite State of Law Coalition nearly 100 MPs submitted
a letter to the Iraqi Federal Court, wanting legal measures taken against the
Kurdish MPs who voted for the independence of Kurdistan from Iraq.
Of the 14 MPs, 10 are from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), 2 from the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the other two from the KIU.
The Federal Court refused to issue any verdicts against them, saying according
to the Iraqi constitution, it was not their business to issue verdicts against
the respective MPs.
On October 10, a temporary committee comprised of the legal and MPs affairs
committees decided to expel the 14 MPs and sent their cases to the court.
Amin Bakir, a Change Movement (Gorran) parliamentarian in Baghdad echoed the
sentiment that stirring the motion against the Kurds in the parliament is more
of "political."
"This question is political and lifting immunity on MPs is not an easy job,"
Bakir, who is also member of the legislature's legal committee, told Rudaw.
He added they "Do not know the opinion of other Kurdish MPs since they have not
returned to Baghdad yet. But this subject is certainly more to do with
political stalemates between Erbil and Baghdad."
In the meantime, the Iraqi parliament is trying to persuade the Kurdish MPs to
return to Baghdad.
According to Renas Jano, 1 of the 14 charged MPs, Salim al-Jabouri, parliament
speaker, had asked several MPs to persuade other Kurdish parliamentarians to
return and attend the sessions.
"But Jabouri has not given any guarantees to the MPs that there will not be any
legal measures against them once they return," he explained.
According to Iraq's penal code 156, a person is sentenced to death who
"intentionally" threatens the sovereignty and unity of the state.
(source: rudaw.net)
**********************
Executions approved by President of Iraq
The Media Office of the Presidency of the Republic announced that on Thursday,
November 2, 2017, Fuad Masoum, the President of the Republic ratified [gave
formal consent to], a number of death sentences, pointing out that those
covered by it were convicted for serious crimes.
The Media Office of the Presidency of the Republic clarified that the signed
decrees have been sent to the respective executive authority for the purpose of
implementing these provisions on those convicted.
Capital punishment was commonly used by the government of Saddam Hussein; and
has been since his removal from office.
After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the U.S. administrator, L. Paul Bremer,
suspended capital punishment on June 10, declaring that "the former regime used
certain provisions of the penal code as a means of oppression, in violation of
internationally acknowledged human rights."
On August 8, 2004, capital punishment was reinstated in Iraq and most recently
in 2016 the country carried out at least 88 formal executions.
After the defeat of ISIS, Iraq has continued to try and sentence groups of
terrorists to death in large numbers, referring them to the office of Fuad
Masoum for final authority. The most recent mass execution was of 42
'terrorists' in September 2017. A move denounced by death penalty and human
rights activists across the region.
(source: nrttv.com)
MYANMAR:
Workshop calls for moratorium on Myanmar death penalty
A gathering of human rights experts and government officials last week ended
with a demand that the Myanmar government implement a moratorium on the death
penalty, pending its abolition.
The Workshop on the Moratorium of the Death Penalty was held at Naypyidaw's
Hotel Max on October 30 and 31 and was organized by the Myanmar National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC) and supported by the Asia Pacific Forum of National
Human Rights Institutions.
The 33 participants in the workshop included MPs, senior government officials,
representatives of civil society organizations, and members of the NHRC.
NHRC chairman Win Mra gave the opening speech at the workshop, according to The
Global New Light of Myanmar. In his speech, the chairman explained to the
participants that although serious criminals are still occasionally sentenced
to death in Myanmar, an execution has not been since 1988, making the death
penalty "abolished in practice."
After his speech, Win Mra invited participants to present their arguments for
an official moratorium on the death penalty.
Dr. Jon Yorke, a professor of human rights at the Birmingham City University
School of Law outlined international perspectives on the death penalty,
including the UN's calls for a global moratorium on the death penalty.
NHRC member Soe Phone Myint gave an explanation of the laws pertaining to the
death penalty in Myanmar. Crimes including corruption, treason, and military
mutiny are technically punishable by death. Murder and drug trafficking carry a
mandatory death sentence.
Khin Maung Lay, another NHRC member, referenced the final resolution of the 6th
World Congress Against the Death Penalty in October 2016, which called on
abolitionist countries to make their cooperation in some multilateral projects
contingent on commitments from other countries to abolish or reduce the
applicability of their death penalties.
In January 2014, then-President Thein Sein commuted all of Myanmar's death
sentences to life imprisonment.
(source: coconuts.co)
BANGLADESH:
Biswajit murder: Pleas seeking stay on acquittal of 4 dropped
The Supreme Court cleared the way for the 4 accused, who were acquitted by the
High Court in the sensational Biswajit murder case, to walk out of jail.
Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division of the SC Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain
dropped 3 petitions filed by the government seeking stay on the acquittal of
the 4 accused from its hearing list.
"SC chamber judge's order means that there is no legal bar for the 4 acquitted
accused to release from jail," Additional Attorney General Momtaz Uddin Fakir
told The Daily Star.
The court also allowed the government to file a leave to appeal petition with
the apex court against the HC order that acquitted the 4 accused, he said.
Among the four, Md Saiful Islam and Qayum Mia Tipu were sentenced to death and
Golam Mostafa and AHM Kibria were sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial
court, he said, adding that the HC has acquitted them of the charges.
Bishwajit Das, a tailor shop employee, was hacked to death in broad daylight in
Dhaka by a group of activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League, a front
organisation of ruling Awami League, during a countrywide road blockade on
December 9, 2012.
On August 6 this year, the HC delivered the verdict on the death reference and
appeals in the murder case.
In the verdict, it upheld death sentences of 2 BCL men, commuted that of 4 to
life term imprisonment and acquitted 2 others. All of the 8 were handed down
capital punishments by a lower court on December 18, 2013.
On November 1, the HC released the full text of judgment of the case, observing
that the rich and the powerful in the society enjoy a type of impunity and they
can easily influence the outcome of an investigation after committing an
offence.
It also said some youths involved in organised criminal activities are
stigmatising student politics.
(source: The Daily Star)
****************
2 get death sentences for 2014 murder of schoolboy in Dhaka
A court in Dhaka has sentenced two people to death in the 2014 abduction and
murder of an 8th-grader.
Md Hasan, who lived in the capital's Demra, went missing on the afternoon of
Jul 10. 2 days later, his parents received a phone call demanding a ransom of
Tk 500,000.
Hasan's father filed a complaint with the police the next day and later paid a
ransom of Tk 50,000, but his son was not relased.
12 days later, the boy's body was found in a sack near his home.
On Sunday, the court of Dhaka's additional metropolitan magistrate convicted
Billal Chaprashi and Md Shahjahan and awarded the death penalty.
The court has also fined them by Tk 25,000 each.
(source: bdnews24.com)
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