June 12
IRAN:
Iranian Kurdish Dissident Facing Execution Suffers Legal Blow
A lawyer for an Iranian Kurdish man sentenced to death for belonging to a
Kurdish nationalist group says his client has suffered a major legal setback in
a bid to escape execution.
Speaking to VOA Persian by phone Monday from Tehran, lawyer Hossein Ahmadiniaz
said Iran's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal to spare the life of his
client, Ramin Hossein Panahi.
"By law, the Supreme Court should have responded to my request for an appeal by
stopping the [death penalty] from proceeding and reviewing the case in its
entirety," Ahmadiniaz said. "Unfortunately, they did not do that for my client
- they just skimmed through the case."
Ahmadiniaz said he will file a 2nd appeal against Panahi's sentence, but did
not explain how that will proceed. "I will do my utmost to use all legal
procedures to get justice for my client," Ahmadiniaz said.
Panahi, who is in his 20s, was arrested in June 2017 for allegedly belonging to
Kurdish nationalist group Komala and drawing a weapon against Iranian security
forces who were carrying out a raid in the region. An Iranian court sentenced
him to death in January. Since then, Panahi has been imprisoned in the
northwestern city of Sanandaj.
A U.N. human rights expert issued a call last month for Iran to immediately
halt and annul Panahi's death sentence. In a May 2 statement, Agnes Callamard,
the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions,
said her office was concerned about allegations that Panahi had not received a
fair trial and was mistreated and tortured in detention.
In a report published Sunday, Iranian state-run news site ISNA acknowledged
Callamard's concerns, saying no evidence linking Panahi to any "intentional
killing" was presented at his trial.
A Europe-based brother of Panahi told VOA Persian last month that authorities
took Panahi from Sanandaj prison to an unknown location on May 1, prompting
concerns of an imminent execution. But the brother said authorities returned
Panahi to Sanandaj the next day and placed him in the prison's public ward
rather than death row, where he had been kept previously.
Panahi's return to the Sanandaj prison coincided with Callamard's appeal for an
annulment of his death sentence and a social media campaign by his supporters
also seeking clemency for him.
Social media users concerned that Panahi still could be executed after the
Islamic holy month of Ramadan ends this week have intensified their campaign in
recent days. Twitter users posted at least 53,000 tweets with the hashtag
#SOSRamin from Saturday into Sunday. SOS is an international code used to warn
of extreme distress.
(source: voanews.com)
BANGLADESH:
2 heroin peddlers get death penalty
terday sentenced 2 drug paddlers to death.
The court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mujibur Rahman Bhuiyan also fined
Hossain Ahmed Manik and Parvez Alam Sumon Tk 1 lakh each, said Additional
Public Prosecutor Mofur Ali.
They are from Beanibazar upazila. Parvez is in Sylhet Central Jail and Manik on
the run. According to the prosecution, a parcel was received at Sylhet Post
Office from Pakistan on March 9, 2014.
When postal supervisor inspected it, he found 8.025 grammes of heroin in it.
The postal department filed a case with Daksin Surma Police Station.
Police found the drug peddler through the phone number mentioned on the parcel.
****************************
New law to ensure capital punishment for drug kingpins
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday told the parliament that the
government has drafted a new law to ensure capital punishment for masterminds,
godfathers and patrons of illegal drug trading.
In reply to lawmakers' queries, the minister also informed the parliament that
there is no visible progress in stopping yaba smuggling in Bangladesh from
Myanmar due to lack of good intentions of Myanmar authorities.
On bringing godfathers of drug trade to book, Kamal said in the existing
Narcotics Control Act 1990, there is a provision for capital punishment for
drug criminals. But according to the law, there is no option of taking actions
if drug is not found in someone's possession. That's how masterminds escape the
law easily.
In a bid to take tougher actions against patrons and godfathers of drug trade,
the government has drafted Narcotics Control Act 2018 keeping the provision for
death penalty against them, Kamal said.
Besides, the home minister also said officials of the respective directorate
who investigate money laundering related crimes will be empowered to bring drug
kingpins to book.
About the ongoing drive against drugs, the minister said it is going on
according to the list of drug traders to bring drug patrons and godfathers
under the purview of the law.
In response to another query, Kamal informed the House that Bangladesh and
India so far held 5 director general level meetings to stop illegal transport
of drugs from India to Bangladesh which were effective.
On stopping yaba being smuggled from Myanmar, the minister said Bangladesh and
Myanmar so far held 3 bilateral meetings on preventing yaba smuggling.
"In every meeting, we have exchanged intelligence reports on yaba manufacturing
factories in Myanmar, requesting them to stop production and supply of yaba in
Bangladesh," Kamal said.
"But there is no visible progress in this regard," he added.
On the anti-narcotics drive, he said a total of 35,112 accused drug traders
were arrested from January to March in 2018 in connection with 27, 340 cases.
Over 3.28 crore pieces of yaba were recovered during the time, said the
minister.
(source for both: The Daily Star)
PAKISTAN:
Pak SC rejects appeal of convict for raping and killing 6-year-old girl
Pakistan Supreme Court today rejected an appeal of a convict for raping and
killing a 6-year-old girl and upheld his death sentence in a crime that drew
nationwide condemnation and led to widespread protests across the country,
according to a media report.
A 3-judge bench at the Lahore registry, comprising Justices Asif Saeed Khosa,
Manzoor Ahmed Malik and Mansoor Ali Shah, rejected convict Imran Ali's appeal,
upholding the death penalty handed to him by an anti-terrorism court (ATC),
Dawn News reported.
The ATC gave him 4 counts of the death penalty, 1 life term, a 7-year jail term
and Rs 41 lakh in fines.
The 4 death penalties were for kidnapping, raping and murdering the 6-year-old
girl, and for committing an act of terrorism.
Ali faces further charges in the cases of at least 7 other children he attacked
5 of whom were murdered in a spate of assaults that had stoked fears a serial
child killer was on the loose, the report said.
He had appealed to the Lahore High Court against the sentence but his appeal
was dismissed.
The 6-year-old girl went missing on January 4 and was found dead in a trash
heap in Kasur on January 9. Her rape and murder had sparked outrage and
protests across the country.
The heinous nature of the crime had seen immediate riots break out in Kasur in
which two people were killed while the incident became a rallying cry for an
end to violence against children.
(source: business-standard.com)
MALAYSIA:
Drugs: Trio may face death
3 suspects may face the death penalty if found guilty after police found them
with 1.9kg of cannabis believed obtained from a supplier in Kuala Lumpur via
WeChat.
An operation carried out near a hotel at Bundusan at about 6pm last Friday saw
a man and woman being nabbed with 6gm of the drug in their car.
District Police Chief DSP Mohd Haris Ibrahim said another suspect believed to
be the supplier, who was walking towards the vehicle, tried to flee upon
noticing police presence.
"He threw away a Poslaju package while trying to flee," Haris told a press
conference at IPD Penampang, Monday.
He said the suspects allegedly received their supply from a dealer in Chow Kit,
Kuala Lumpur.
After making an arrangement via WeChat, the drug is sent over through Poslaju.
He added that the drug seized was worth about RM5,000. The case is being
investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which could lead
to the death penalty and under Section 6 of the same Act which leads to a fine
or jail, or both.
In another drug case, police arrested 2 men believed to be in their 20s, one of
them a local, in a bust at a house at Kampung Luyang Baru, here, at about
1.30pm on the same day.
The suspects attempted to evade arrest which led to 1 of them sustaining
injuries on his face, back and legs from falling.
Further investigations led to the discovery of a packet of Syabu weighing
5.01gm from the suspect.
The case is being investigated under Section 39A(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act
1952.
(source: Daily Express)
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