May 14
PAKISTAN:
Murder convict gets death penalty
A sessions court awarded death sentence to an accused for his involvement in a
murder case in Jampur. The judgment was announced by Additional Sessions Judge
Muhammad Rizwan Arif.
The prosecution told the court that accused Pervez and his accomplices had
stabbed to death Kashif Saleem over an old enmity. The local police registered
a case against the accused and presented the challan before the court.
After hearing the arguments, the judge handed down death sentence to Pervez
along with a fine of Rs0.1 million which would be paid to the legal heirs of
the deceased. The convict will have to undergo an additional imprisonment of 6
months if he failed to pay fine amount.
Meanwhile, the court acquitted the other co-accused in the case giving them the
benefit of doubt.
Earlier, a court awarded death sentence to an accused for his involvement in a
murder case in Sargodha.
(source: The Express Tribune)
INDONESIA:
Women drug mules arrested by Indonesian authorities
Despite the risk of facing a death penalty, women are still willing to be a
mule to smuggle drugs into Indonesia to earn easy money.
In the latest case, a 21-year-old Malaysian woman was arrested by the
Indonesian authorities after she was found smuggling methamphetamine into the
republic.
The woman was detained by the authorities on Thursday at Jalan Tien Soeharto,
Nunukan regency in North Kalimantan.
A source said she was arrested at about 8pm when police received tip-off on her
suspicious activities.
"Police found methamphetamine and tool to consume the drugs on the woman who
hails from Tawau, Sabah."
In a separate case, a 25-year-old woman was nabbed after being suspected of
trafficking methamphetamine.
"The Indonesian woman flew from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and was
immediately arrested when she touched down at Bandung Husein Sastranegara
International Airport.
"She attempted to bring in the drugs by strapping the substance onto her
thighs.
"During interrogation, she claimed that her African friend, whom she met in
Kuala Lumpur, had paid her to transport the 665g of methamphetamine," the
source said.
Meanwhile, Federal police Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department deputy
director Datuk Kang Chez Chiang said money remained the main factor why women
were willing to become drug mules.
"All drug mules are paid upon delivery of the drugs to the receiver
(syndicate). All transportation and accommodation are taken care of with pocket
money given to the drug mules.
"Other factors are paying off debts or financial problems. There are also some
women who are willing to do it for the love of their boyfriend or husband who
are mostly foreigners," he said.
Under Indonesian strict drug laws, the maximum punishment for importing more
than 5 grammes of illegal narcotics into the country is death penalty.
It is learnt that a kilogramme of methamphetamine worth between RM80,000 and
RM100,000 in Malaysia, is valued at 3 times higher the prices in Indonesia.
(source: nst.com.my)
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Gang used firearms to scare staff, rob banks
Saudi Arabia has executed a Saudi man over armed attacks on banks in the Red
Sea city of Jeddah 16 years ago.
The interior ministry said that Jameel Bin Mohammad Al Aseeri had 3
accomplices, 2 Saudi nationals and 1 foreigner, during the attacks.
The 4 gangsters covered their faces and stormed Al Rajhi Bank, fired in the air
to scare the customers and staff. They dragged the manager out of his office
and forced him and the tellers to give them the cash they had.
According to the case documents, they left the bank with SR85,000 (Dh82,243)
and $4,000 (Dh14,690).
In the 2nd attack, they raided another bank, fired in the air and made away
with SR190,000, Saudi daily Okaz reported on Monday.
In his confession, the ring leader said he had provided his accomplices with
guns after they agreed to storm the 1st bank.
He said he was the one who fired bullets to scare the staff and the customers
and that his accomplices took the money from the tellers.
Police said the main suspect had criminal precedents, unlike his accomplices.
The 1st court to review their cases sentenced all 4 defendants to death, but
the verdict was challenged and another court decided the death sentence for the
ring leader and 25 years in prison for the others.
However, the verdict was appealed a 2nd time and the court ruled 25 years for
the ring leader and 20 for the accomplices.
The case was taken to the high court and the judges ruled the death penalty for
the leader and 25 years for the others.
Al Aseeri was executed on Sunday after all legal avenues were exhausted.
(source: Gulf News)
SUDAN:
Sudan urged to pardon teenager facing death for killing husband who raped
her----UN and rights groups lead campaign for 19-year-old given death penalty
for stabbing man she was forced to marry as he assaulted her
The UN and international rights groups are calling on Sudan to pardon a
19-year-old woman sentenced to death after she killed her husband as he tried
to rape her.
Noura Hussein, who was compelled by her family to marry when she was 16, is
facing death by hanging after a sharia court, which follows Islamic religious
laws, found her guilty of premeditated murder for stabbing her husband, who she
says had previously raped her with the assistance of his family.
On Thursday, the court sentenced her to death after her husband's family
rejected the alternative of receiving financial compensation.
Hussein's case has become a cause celebre in the week since her sentencing
after it was highlighted by the Guardian and other media, prompting a worldwide
campaign to secure clemency.
2 UN agencies - UN Women and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) - as well as the UN
office of the special advisor on Africa on Sunday appealed to President Omar
Hassan al-Bashir's government for clemency for Hussein.
"Reports indicate that she was forced against her will into marriage at the age
of 16. She was raped by her husband while his 3 male relatives held her down,"
said a joint statement.
"Speaking as the voices of women and girls of the world, we plead with the
government of Sudan to save the life of Hussein."
A Change.org petition has been signed by more than 300,000 people, while
Amnesty has also launched a letter-writing campaign on the teenager's behalf.
"The courts are saying Noura is guilty of premeditated murder - even though she
was defending herself from being raped by a man she was forced to marry when
she was just a young teenager," the organisation said in a statement.
Hussein said her father made her contractually marry her cousin when she was
16, but she refused to accept the marriage and sought refuge with a relative
for 3 years.
She returned to her family home on the outskirts of the capital, Khartoum, in
April after her father said the marriage was cancelled, but found that she had
been duped and preparations for her wedding ceremony were under way.
Hussein said she refused to have sex with her husband after the ceremony, but
on the 6th day, he raped her as 3 of his male relatives restrained her.
The following day, he attempted to rape her again and as she struggled to stop
him, she stabbed him.
Campaigners said Hussein sought help from her family, but fearing reprisals
from her dead husband's relatives, her father handed her over to the police.
Hussein's lawyers said they have until 25 May to appeal against the court's
decision.
Sudan is ranked 165 out of 188 countries on the UN's Gender Inequality Index,
which measures women's access to health, education and employment and their
political participation compared with men.
UN Women says violence against women and girls is prevalent in Sudan.
About 1 in 3 girls are married in Sudan before they are 18 and marital rape is
not considered a crime in the predominantly Muslim African nation.
(source: The Guardian)
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