June 3
SURINAME:
Guyanese suspect charged in high seas mass murder
Using a special clause in Guyanese law allowing prosecutors to indict someone
for a piracy attack in another country, local police have charged a fisherman
with murder committed in the neighboring Caribbean Community nation of Suriname
late last month that killed 15 of 20 crewmen.
Nakool Manohar called "Fyah," 39, is alleged by police to have been the
mastermind of an April 27 murderous attack on boats fishing off the Surinamese
coast as revenge for the murder of one of his brothers in Suriname.
Divisional Commander Lyndon Alves Thursday said Manohar made his 1st court
appearance at a border town magistrate's court near his home late Wednesday and
will return for a 2nd hearing on June 13. He was slapped with 1 count of murder
but was already on remand for 2 alleged high seas piracy attacks near Suriname
in 2015 and 2016. He was not required to enter a plea.
He could get the death penalty on both charges if found guilty.
The men were allegedly attacked by crews under the control of Manohar while
fishing in 5 boats off the Surinamese coast. Not much in terms of fish catch,
engines and equipment were taken from the men, leaving investigators and
prosecutors to think along the lines of murder rather than the normal high seas
pirate attack which is common between CARICOM's 2 largest nations. Dozens of
fishermen have been either killed or robbed in waters between the 2 nations in
recent decades and dozens of attackers are serving extended sentences in both
nations.
Commander Alves said Guyanese police invoked a special clause in "the anti
piracy act to charge him with a crime in another country. All the people we
interviewed pointed a finger at him. All can't simply be wrong and more charges
are coming."
5 of the 20 fishermen either made it to shore or were rescued by passing
vessels.
Some of those rescued named Manohar as the mastermind, as their attackers had
allegedly told them why their boats were being attacked just after dusk on
April 27.
Survivors say some of their colleagues were bound hand and feet with boat
batteries, anchors and other heavy equipment and dumped overboard. Police say
this might well explain why the majority of bodies have not washed ashore in
either of the 2 countries.
Suriname's fishing industry is dominated by crews from Guyana. Most of them
live and work there illegally but talks between the 2 governments in the wake
of the attacks will result in the status of most of them be regularized.
(source: Caribbena Life News)
i
PAKISTAN:
Zulfikar's case
The death on Thursday of Zulfikar Ali, a Pakistani suffering from liver cancer
and diabetes and who had been languishing in Indonesian prisons since 2004,
serves as a reminder of the miscarriage of justice he suffered. Zulfikar was
given the death penalty for drug trafficking even though ample evidence existed
to suggest he was innocent. He was never caught with any drugs and was only
arrested after an Indian national who was found in possession of heroin named
Zulfikar as his accomplice. Later, however, that person claimed a false
confession was beaten out of him by the police. Zulfikar also said that his own
confession was the result of torture and that the police had asked for a bribe
to set him free. Leading up to his trial, Zulfikar was denied consular access
even though this is a bedrock principle of international law; he was not
allowed a lawyer till a month after his arrest. Despite there being more than
enough doubt to make a conviction impossible, Zulfikar was given the death
penalty. Even his terminal illness was not enough to get him mercy. Earlier
this year, Indonesian President Joko Widodo had said during a visit to Pakistan
that he would look into Zulfikar's release on humanitarian grounds but that
never transpired.
There is no reason to doubt the commitment of the then government in Pakistan
to Zulfikar's cause. It did what it could to ensure he had legal representation
and was able to eventually able to get him access to embassy officials. The
government also paid a portion of his medical bills since the Indonesian
government does not pay for the medical treatment of prisoners. But Pakistan
should not give up the fight even now. It is essential that his name be
formally cleared. We may also want to think about the scores of convicts who
are on death row here but whose guilt is in doubt and whose trials did not meet
the minimum standards of justice. There have been horror stories of people on
death row who have been executed by mistake even though they still had appeals
pending. A true commitment to justice requires we call out not just foreign
countries that mistreat our nationals but to examine our own shortcomings as
well.
(source: Editorial, The News)
INDIA:
Prez rejects his 1st mercy plea of convict who burnt to death 7 of family over
buffalo theft case
President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected his 1st mercy petition of a death-row
convict who had burned alive 7 members of a family, including 5 children, over
a case of buffalo theft.
The case pertains to gruesome killing of Vijendra Mahto and 6 of his family
members by Jagat Rai in Raghopur block of Bihar's Vaishali district in 2006.
Mahto had lodged a case of theft of his buffalo in September 2005 in which Rai,
Wazir Rai and Ajay Rai were named as accused.
The accused (now convicts) were pressuring Mahto to withdraw the case.
Rai had set on fire Mahto's house that resulted in the death of latter's wife
and 5 children. Mahto, who had sustained serious burn injuries then, died after
few months.
After being convicted for the crime and being awarded the death penalty by the
local court, the high court and the Supreme Court in 2013 too gave their nod
for the hanging. Rai's mercy plea was then sent to the president's secretariat.
The office of the president had sought the Home Ministry's views which gave its
recommendation on July 12 last year.
The mercy petition (of Mahto) was rejected by the president on April 23, 2018,
according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique.
This is the 1st mercy plea decided by Kovind after he became the president in
July last year.
There is no other mercy petition pending with the president's secretariat.
Under Article 72 of the Constitution, The president shall have the power to
grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend,
remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence where the
sentence is a sentence of death.
(source: indiatoday.in)
******************
Death Penalty for Rape: Criminal Law Ordinance, 2018 challenged in Delhi High
Court
The amendments to Indian Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure introduced
by way of Criminal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 imposing death penalty for
rape of a woman below 12 years of age, have been challenged in the Delhi High
Court.
The petition has been filed by NGO ApneAap Women Worldwide an anti-sex
trafficking organisation working in brothels, Red light districts and
caste-ghettos.
The matter was heard yesterday by a Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal
and Justice C Hari Shankar which issued notice to the Central government.
Advocates Kirti Singh, Tara Narula and Siddharth Mehta appeared in the matter.
The Central government had introduced amendments to Indian Penal Code and Code
of Criminal Procedure after the Kathua and Unnao rapes.
The following amendments, inter alia, have been challenged in the petition:
The increase in mandatory punishment for rape under Section 376 IPC from 7 to
10 years.
The addition of sub-section (3) to Section 376 IPC which distinguishes rape of
a woman under the age of 16 years and prescribes a minimum mandatory sentence
of 20 years for the same.
The insertion of Section 376AB after Section 376A IPC which distinguishes rape
of a woman under the age of 12 years punishable with rigorous imprisonment for
a term not less than 20 years or with death.
The insertion of Section 376DA after Section 376D IPC which prescribes
mandatory imprisonment for life and fine in the case of gang rape of a woman
under the age of 16.
The further insertion of Section 376 DB in IPC which prescribes mandatory
imprisonment for life and fine or death sentence in the case of gang rape of a
woman under the age of 12.
Amendment to Section 173(1A) CrPC which earlier provided that investigation in
relation to rape of a child may be completed within 3 months. After the
amendment, the said period has been shortened to 2 months. The petitioner has
also contended that the amendment has advertently or inadvertently made the
provision gender-specific in that rape of minor males are excluded from the
ambit of the section.
Section 438 of CrPC has been amended to deny the benefit of anticipatory bail
to a person accused of rape/gang rape of woman less than 16 years.
It is the petitioner's contention that the ordinance has been hastily drafted
in the wake of public outrage following Kathua and Unnao rapes.
Rather than addressing the issue at hand, the ordinance has extended death
sentence to cases other than murder. It is the petitioner's case that the
amendments will adversely impact and prejudice victims of rape and are
discriminatory towards boys who are victims of rape.
Further, the petition has submitted that the ordinance carves out distinctions
between classes of rape victims on the basis of age which indicates that it is
knee-jerk reaction since there are other vulnerable categories of persons like
pregnant women, elderly, differently-abled and homeless.
The ordinance is not based on any scientific or empirical research and is a
populist measure that does not address core issues of implementation, speedy
action, protection and rehabilitation of victims, access to justice etc, the
petition states.
The petitioner has also cited the fact that the Justice Verma Commission had,
in 2013, considered and rejected death penalty as deterrent for rape.
"the misplaced reliance on death sentence as deterrent is an example of
oversimplified and draconian approach by this Ordinance, especially when the
same had been considered and rejected by Justice Verma commission in 2013. It
fails to recognise the fact that it is the certainty of punishment and not
severity of punishment which acts as deterrent."
The Court issued notice to the Centre yesterday and posted the matter for
hearing on July 31.
(source: barandbench.com)
NIGERIA:
Illicit drugs: Lecturer suggests death penalty for traffickers
A lecturer, Dr Bala Muhammad, has suggested death penalty for drug traffickers
in the country in order to curb the rising spate of drug addiction among
youths.
Muhammad of the Bayero University, Kano, made this call on Saturday at a
Special Ramadan lecture organised by the Islamic Forum of Nigeria at the
university.
He said drug trade in Nigeria had reached an alarming level, leaving Nigerian
youths more vulnerable to self-destruction.
Muhammad, therefore, suggested that the panacea to deal with the situation was
capital punishment for drug traders.
He urged communities to charge their representatives in the National Assembly
to come up with a legislation that would ensure severe punishment for people
charged with drug offence.
Another lecturer from the university, Bashir Adamu in his presentation, said
drug abuse was caused mainly by the weakness of faith among youths.He also
listed peer pressure as one of the main causes of drug addiction among youths.
According to him, some parents have been contributing to the rise in drug use,
due to negligence and less attention to their families, especially the
children.
Adamu also blamed the increase in drug abuse and addiction by women on domestic
violence.
He, therefore, called for a collective responsibility in the fight against the
menace of drugs.
NAN reports that the special lecture, entitled: "Drug Abuse Menace; Ways Out,"
was organised to address drug trade, addiction and abuse in Nigeria.
(source: New Telegraph)
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