June 21
GHANA:
J.B Danquah's 'killer' mentally unstable - Lawyer
Lawyer Yaw Obuor, counsel for Daniel Asiedu one of the suspects standing trial
in the murder of the former MP for Abuakwa North Constituency, Joseph Boakye
Danquah Adu, has said the suspect is a minor and is mentally unstable.
Daniel Asiedu aka Sexy Dondon, on Wednesday, told an Accra District Court that
he was hired by some persons in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to kill the
Legislator and was rather told to mention the opposition National Democratic
Congress (NDC) as his 'contractors' whenever he's questioned about the crime.
According to him, he was promised to be provided with whatever he asks for
after he's been able to carry out the assignment. He added that he's still not
heard from his "contractors".
Daniel Asiedu who was arrested after he stabbed the late MP in his East Legon
home while sleeping on the dawn of Tuesday, February 9, 2016, told the court
that only 1 person from the NPP has visited him since his arrest and is ready
to mention the names of the persons who contracted him if he is asked to.
But the Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, Lawyer Nana Obiri Boahen who has
followed the case in court in an interview with host Akwasi Nsiah on Si Mi So
on Kasapa FM described Daniel Asiedu as a dishonest character whose words
should not be taken seriously.
He said the suspect has not been consistent with his statements about his
involvement in the murder making his not a credible character.
"We need to be serious and not waste our time on such baseless allegations, he
should mention the name of the persons he claims contracted him to commit the
murder. This guy has not been consistent. Initially, when he was caught he told
the police that he knew nothing about the crime, later he said it was the NDC
who contracted him and now he's saying it's the NPP. Can you take such a person
seriously?"
But Daniel Asiedu's Counsel, Lawyer Obuor insists his client is not in the
right state of mind.
"I can tell you and I've said it that he has a mental problem, I applied for
bail for him last week but the bail was refused. He's aware that we were going
to apply for bail for him again, it will be filed early next week." He told Joy
FM.
Meanwhile, Criminal Lawyer, Martin Kpebu has said the suspect's confession is
not enough and expects the case to move to the High Court where the suspect
will face the death penalty if convicted.
(source: ghanaweb.com)
PAKISTAN:
The life of a condemned prisoner
Recently, 17 prisoners were released under Article 45; however, there remain
many more that are waiting to be set free.
During the recent Eid-ul Fitr celebrations, the president of Pakistan announced
his decision to grant remissions to prisoners across the country, under Article
45 of the Constitution. In light of this decision, 17 prisoners were released;
however, there remain many more that are waiting to be set free.
One such example is that of Muhammad Iqbal alias 'Bali', who has been in jail
for 18 years without any respite in sight.
Bali was a juvenile when he committed the offense that landed him in prison,
back in 1999. Despite this, he was sentenced to death by the Special Court
under the Anti Terrorism Act of 1997, and his subsequent appeals to the High
Court, as well as the Supreme Court, were also turned down.
While the co-accused persons in his case were discharged from jail after
completing their sentences, Iqbal has not been offered the same respite, and he
was not even allowed to go to his parent's funerals either, both of them having
died without seeing their son receive the justice he deserved.
Iqbal was set to be sent to the gallows last year, after the dismissal of his
1st mercy petition by the president of Pakistan. His 2nd mercy petition was
filed on humanitarian grounds by a third party, and it was tentatively
acknowledged by the office of the President's Secretariat (Public) in
Islamabad, which forwarded it to the Office of Ministry of Interior for further
follow up. This acknowledgment of his 2nd mercy petition resulted in a
temporary stay in his execution, subject to the result of his clemency plea,
which is currently pending adjudication in the office of the President.
Bali was a juvenile when he committed the offense that landed him in prison,
back in 1999. Despite this, he was sentenced to death by the Special Court
under the Anti Terrorism Act of 1997.
It is disturbing to note that the case of 'Bali' is unfortunately not the only
such case that needs to be highlighted. There are countless other prisoners in
similar situations, including Abdul Basit, a wheelchair bound prisoner
currently housed in Faisalabad Central jail. It is important for the president
of Pakistan to understand that he cannot keep procrastinating over decisions of
such importance, especially when a person's life is on the line.
Even though Article 45 of the Constitution does not specify a specific time
period in which such decisions are to be made, this does not allow the state to
take all the time in the world to come to a final decision. In fact, the Indian
Supreme Court holds that an inordinate delay in deciding a clemency plea is not
only inhumane, but is also reasonable grounds for the condemned prisoners to be
discharged from jail.
Considering the curious case of 'Bali', another point to be considered is that
following the introduction of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) in
2000, the then President of Pakistan issued notification No F.8/41/2001-Ptns,
granting a remission in death sentences to those whose sentence had been
confirmed prior to the enactment of the JJSO.
Thus, it is fair to say that Muhammad Iqbal's death sentence and execution are
in violation of Pakistan's international obligations under the CRC and the
ICCPR, as well as domestic law.
I implore the president of Pakistan to decide the pending mercy petitions as
quickly as possible, and provide these helpless victims of the system, the
respite they so desperately need. The life of a condemned prisoner is one rife
with pain and misery, and it is high time that unfortunate prisoners like
'Bali' receive the attention and consideration they deserve from the people in
power as well.
( source: Sarmad Ali; The writer is an advocate based in Lahore----Daily Times)
THAILAND:
Resuming Death Penalty a Major Setback----Government Executes a Prisoner After
9-Year Moratorium
The Thai government should halt further executions and publicly resume its de
facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty, Human Rights Watch said
today. Thai authorities executed a 26-year-old man by lethal injection on June
18, 2018, the country's 1st execution since August 2009.
"Thailand's resumed use of the death penalty marks a major setback for human
rights," said Brad Adams, Asia director. "The Thai government's many pledges
about moving toward abolishing the death penalty clearly meant nothing."
The Corrections Department stated that the execution of Theerasak Longji, who
was found guilty of aggravated murder 6 years ago, reflected Thailand's
standpoint that "focuses on protecting society, rather than the rights and
freedoms of wrongdoers," and sends a warning message that serious crimes will
be severely punished. The decision reverses a de facto moratorium on executions
that Thailand had adopted over the past 9 years and incorporated into the
national action plan on human rights.
Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all countries and in all
circumstances because of its inherent cruelty.
According to the Corrections Department, as of April, there were 517 prisoners
(415 men and 102 women) on death row in Thailand. Most were convicted of
drug-related offenses. The fate of many of these people, who have sought
commutation of their sentences, is now at risk.
The United Nations General Assembly has continually called on countries to
establish a moratorium on the death penalty, progressively restrict the
practice, and reduce the offenses for which it might be imposed - all with the
view toward its eventual abolition. In addition, the UN Human Rights Committee
and the UN expert on unlawful killings have specifically condemned the use of
the death penalty in drug cases.
"The ineffectiveness of the death penalty in combating crime is evident the
world over, and this cruel practice has no place in modern society," Adams
said. "Thailand should immediately stop all executions and abolish the death
penalty once and for all."
(source: Human Rights Watch)
***************
Polls point to strong backing among Thais for death penalty
Capital punishment, despite growing opposition among international
organisations and other countries, is strongly supported by the majority of
Thai people, according to surveys.
At least 4 online polls were conducted immediately after Thailand's 1st
execution in 9 years took place on Monday. In every one, the majority of
respondents agreed with the death penalty.
The findings came after a convicted murderer, identified only as Thirasak by
the Corrections Department, was killed by lethal injection at Bangkwang Central
Prison, bringing an end to a nine-year hiatus for executions in Thailand. He
was convicted of fatally stabbing his 17-year-old victim 24 times in 2012 and
making away with his cellphone and a small amount of cash.
About 2,300 people voted on Kom Chad Luek's website in response to the
question, "Do you agree with execution?" An overwhelming 92 % said "Yes" while
just 8 % said "No".
Nation TV conducted a similar survey at www.nationtv.tv, garnering more than
20,000 votes. Of them, 95 % said the death penalty should continue to apply on
Thai soil.
A popular Facebook page, Drama-addict, asked whether Thailand should put to
death those convicted of extremely grave crimes. More than 124,900 people have
responded so far, with 96 % or 119,900 of them in no doubt that capital
punishment should be meted out to the worst criminals. The poll is open to
voters for 5 more days.
Thirasak's mother yesterday said her son may have been wrongfully convicted, as
he had always maintained that he had not committed the murder.
"That's why he always refused to plead guilty in court, even though [he knew]
doing so would provide grounds for leniency," she said.
Among those protesting Thailand's resumption of executions was Germany's
Commissioner for Human Rights, Barbel Kofler. "It is impossible to entirely
rule out the possibility of wrongful convictions - with irreparable
consequences if the defendant has been executed," she pointed out, adding that
the death penalty was an inhumane form of punishment.
The European Union, meanwhile, said it was opposed to capital punishment under
all circumstances.
"The death penalty is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a
deterrent and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and
integrity," the EU said.
That sentiment apparently has little support in Thailand, where threat of
execution is often held up as an effective deterrent against committing serious
crimes.
More than 86,000 people responding to a poll at Kapook's Facebook page said
they believed the death penalty reduced crimes. Only 1,451 respondents thought
otherwise.
Maynart Nantakwang, whose popular author-mother was stabbed to death in a
robbery, responded to the aftermath of Monday's execution by lamenting that so
many people were so keen to defend the rights of cold-blooded murderers.
"If laws were more lenient, there would be more innocent victims," she
commented.
(source: nationalmultimedia.com)
*************************
Capital punishment----'Thailand's resumed use of the death penalty marks a
major setback for human rights'
A 26-year-old Thai man has been executed by lethal injection, making it the 1st
case of capital punishment in the country since 2009. Despite the decision
being slammed by international human rights groups, polls have suggested a
majority of Thais support the death penalty.
Theerasak Longji was charged with aggravated murder 6 years ago and despite
repeatedly claiming innocence, was put to death on 18 June. It is the 1st time
in 9 years that a prisoner has been executed in Thailand, breaking a de facto
moratorium on capital punishment that had been incorporated into the national
action plan on human rights.
"Thailand's resumed use of the death penalty marks a major setback for human
rights," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The Thai
government's many pledges about moving toward abolishing the death penalty
clearly meant nothing."
Thailand's Corrections Department stated that the country was focused on
"protecting society, rather than the rights and freedoms of wrongdoers," and
this stance has been backed up by public opinion.
A series of online polls were conducted in the immediate aftermath of the
execution, and in most it was shown that a large majority of Thai citizens
agreed with capital punishment as a form of justice.
In one, conducted by a popular Facebook page called Drama-addict, 96% of nearly
125,000 people stated that they were in favour of Thailand continuing to
execute the worst criminals, the Nation reported.
Longji was convicted of stabbing a 17-year-old 24 times before running off with
the victim's mobile phone and some money. However, Longji???s mother has said
that her son may have been unjustly charged.
"That's why he always refused to plead guilty in court, even though [he knew]
doing so would provide grounds for leniency," she told the Nation.
As of April of this year there were 517 prisoners, of which 102 were women, on
death row in Thailand, according to the Corrections Department. In a statement,
Human Rights Watch decried this form of punishment, citing its "inherent
cruelty".
"The ineffectiveness of the death penalty in combating crime is evident the
world over, and this cruel practice has no place in modern society," Adams
said. "Thailand should immediately stop all executions and abolish the death
penalty once and for all."
(source: Southeast Asia Globe)
SOUTHEAST ASIA:
Capital punishment far from dead in Southeast Asia
In July 2013, then-US president Barack Obama sat down with his Vietnamese
counterpart, Truong Tan Sang, to talk about Thomas Jefferson. It was Jefferson,
Sang said, who had inspired the words of Ho Chi Minh's Proclamation of
Independence, which carried as its opener a passage of America's Declaration of
Independence.
Just 2 weeks after this high-minded discussion on autonomy and liberty, Vietnam
executed a young man named Nguyen Anh Tuan.
It was thought to have been one of the first executions in Vietnam since it
changed to death by lethal injection years earlier. But because Vietnam was
banned from purchasing "authorized" lethal drugs, Tuan was administered with a
home-made concoction that reportedly took 2 hours to kill him.
Between the month of Tuan's death, August 2011, and June 2016, Vietnam executed
439 people, according to one estimate by its Ministry of Public Security, which
normally doesn't publish such lists.
In early 2013, one could have been forgiven for thinking that Southeast Asia
was moving in the right direction on capital punishment. That year, 2 scholars,
David Johnson and Franklin Zimring, described Asia as the "next frontier" in a
global movement against capital punishment, since it is where almost 95% of
such executions take place.
The death penalty was abolished in Cambodia in 1989, in East Timor a decade
later and in the Philippines in 2006. What's more, in countries where capital
punishment was still wielded, moratoriums were in place. No executions took
place in Indonesia between 2008 and 2013, and none in Singapore between 2010
and 2013.
But since 2013, things have deteriorated. The most recent case was in Thailand,
where a convicted murderer was executed by lethal injection on June 18 this
year. It was reportedly the country's 1st use of capital punishment since 2009.
"The Thai government's many pledges about moving toward abolishing the death
penalty clearly meant nothing," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights
Watch, in a recent press release.
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has in effect privatized the
state's monopoly on the death penalty by allowing for extrajudicial executions
of alleged drug users and dealers. He also wants to reinstate capital
punishment formally.
Indonesia attracted global headlines when, in 2013, it executed a Malawian
national for drug trafficking. It has continued to use capital punishment
since. In May, an Australian national, Maria Exposto, was sentenced to death
for transporting drugs in Malaysia.
In Vietnam, death sentences have been common in recent years, including for
those convicted of corruption.
When defending the use of capital punishment, Indonesian Attorney General
Muhammad Prasetyo stated in a 2015 interview: "We are fighting a war against
horrible drug crimes that threaten our nation's survival.... I would like to
say that an execution is not a pleasant thing. It is not a fun job. But we must
do it in order to save the nation from the danger of drugs."
Give ear to 2 parts in this statement, which are fairly representative of the
apologia given for the death penalty. First "our nation's survival," and second
"it is not a fun job." The latter is a mere euphemism. No one says executions
are ever fun, but such a statement provides a sense that the government is
forced to commit a "necessary evil," if you will.
But capital punishment is not a necessary evil. It is, in fact, simply a
choice. A simplistic reading is that the death penalty lies somewhere between
laziness and nihilism. It is an admission by the state that some criminals
cannot be reformed or returned to society; worse still, that the state
shouldn't even try reforming offenders. In another sense, it is a purely
utilitarian response that says killing some prisoners frees up space in
Southeast Asia's already overcrowded prisons.
Upon doing away with its peine de mort in 1981, France's minister of justice
and future president Francois Mitterrand correctly rationalized that capital
punishment - represented by the imposing symbolism of the guillotine, the
"national razor" - had come to embody "a totalitarian concept of the
relationship between the citizen and the state."
Fine words, though finer were those of the 18th-century Italian philosopher
Cesare Beccaria, who in his distinguished essay Of Crimes and Punishments wrote
of the death penalty as a "war of the whole nation against a citizen whose
destruction they consider necessary."
In short, capital punishment allows a government to pretend that it is
eradicating people considered a risk to a "nation's survival," a necessary act
"in order to save the nation," in the words of the Indonesian attorney general.
Or, in the recent words of the leader of Thailand's military junta, General
Prayut Chan-ocha, "capital punishment exists to guarantee national peace."
But what it's really about is a state's belief that it can make the ultimate
decision on a person's life, that being death. It also allows governments to
define what they think are national menaces.
For Vietnam, this means those who want to end the Communist Party's reign and
install a multi-party system. In the 2000s, Vietnam reduced the number of
crimes that can garner a death sentence, down from 44 to 18. But still on the
list are political offenses. Article 109 of the reformed Criminal Code makes it
a crime, one punishable by death, to try to overthrow the people's
administration - that is, the Communist Party. Article 114 makes it illegal to
weaken the apparatus of the party.
In Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, it means people connected to
the drug trade. Indonesia's National Anti-Narcotics Agency reportedly said last
year that there were nearly 6 million drug users in the country. That's roughly
2% of the population. In 2016, President Joko Widodo asserted that there were
30 to 50 deaths per day because of drugs, using highly questionable statistics.
But even if true, it pales next to the roughly 550 deaths per day in Indonesia
because of tobacco-related illnesses. Yet smoking cigarettes is not considered
a threat to the "nation's survival" - maybe because tobacco firms are among the
biggest taxpayers in Indonesia.
(source: David Hutt is a Cambodia-based political journalist who has been
covering Asian affairs since 2014. He is Southeast Asia columnist for The
Diplomat and a regular contributor to international publications----Asia Times)
IRAN:
The Mullahs and Hanging
"I am innocent and I had to confess under the torture."
These are the last words of Mohammad Salas, who was executed by the Iranian
regime authorities at dawn on June 18, 2018.
Mohammad Salas was a 51-year-old bus driver from one of Iran's largest Sufi
communities, the Nemattolah Gonabadi. He was arrested on February 19, 2018
while taking part in a protest against Sufi repression which turned violent
after regime security forces resorted to beatings and the use of live
ammunition, water cannons, and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Accused of killing 3 policemen during the protests, Mohammad Salas's attorney,
Ms. Zaynab Taheri, stated several times that "We have many documents indicating
Mohammad Salas is innocent."
The sole piece of evidence used to convict him was a "confession" that Mohammad
Salas said was forcibly extracted after he was severely beaten by police
officers. He later retracted his "confession," but the Supreme Court rejected
his request for a judicial review.
In spite of an international campaign by human rights organizations, Amnesty
International in particular, calling for Sala's sentence to be dropped, it
appears that the Iranian authorities have been more interested in vengeance at
any cost than in justice.
Will Ramin Hossein Panahi be the next victim of the Iranian regime killing
machine?
The Iranian regime killing machine continues to take more lives.
Ramin Hossein Panahi's death penalty is politically motivated and he may be
executed at any moment.
Mr. Panahi was arrested in June last year for alleged membership of the Kurdish
nationalist group Komala and was held in solitary confinement until January
2018. His family received no information about his fate or whereabouts for 4
months after his arrest.
Ahmadi Niaz, Panahi's lawyer, stated that the Iranian authorities had
mistreated Panahi in prison after his arrest while injured following
controversial armed clashes last year in Sanandaj, capital of the Kurdistan
province in Iran.
International pressure along with an extensive campaign by Iranian social media
users seem to have been behind the recent delay of his execution, which was
scheduled to take place at Sanandaj prison before dawn on May 3.
Amnesty Press announced on May 5, 2018 that Ramin Hossein Panahi's death
sentence violates international law as there is no evidence linking him to
activities involving intentional killing.
On June 18, 2018 UN human rights experts have made a new call to Iran to annul
the death sentence imposed on Ramin Hossein Panahi.
Ramin Hossein Panahi, has published an open letter to the public regarding the
implementation of the death penalty, drawing on the history of Iran, from
Constitutionalism to today, and stated that various governments regard such a
penalty as "the most fearsome tool for the elimination of dissents."
This letter states:
"Taking the life of human beings by death penalty is one of the most ancient
methods of punishment. Throughout the history of Iran's legitimization, all
central governments including the constitutional government (which could have
ended in a democratic system) have adopted the death penalty as a tool to
eliminate their oppositions."
In the case of the current Iranian regime, execution is used primarily as a
means to an end, to keep the disaffected citizens in check, a sharp reminder
that dissidence and opposition will have dire consequences.
While the regime has tried to sugarcoat their action and sell it to the rest of
the world as religious retribution, on scratching the surface and going a
little deeper, it is clear it is not just a mere form of punishment, but more
an instrument for spreading fear among its citizens.
Even in China, with a population 17 times larger than Iran, and a regime that
is by far the world's leading advocate of the death penalty, there is hardly
any case of public hanging or juvenile execution.
Iran is second only to China in its number of executions, and the majority who
receive death sentences have been convicted of drug-related crimes, or
opposition to the Iranian regime.
Since becoming president, Donald Trump has withdrawn the nuclear agreement
forged in 2015 between Iran and the world powers and repeatedly addressed the
Islamic Republic as the greatest menace facing the Middle East. This is good
news!
Iran's clerical dictatorship is at an impasse, the product of years of
steadfast perseverance of the people of the Iranian diaspora combined with the
new horizon which has emerged through the uprisings in December and January
inside the country. It is these ongoing and widespread protests in cities all
around Iran, which have led to President Trump voicing his support for the
people of Iran and their clear desire for change, that are going to answer the
question of regime change by the Iranian resistance.
(source: americanthinker.com)
******************
Iranian Lawyer Arrested For Asserting Executed Sufi Man's Innocence
Iranian authorities have arrested a lawyer for spreading "lies" after claiming
that a Sufi man executed this week was wrongfully convicted of killing three
police officers, local media report.
The semiofficial Fars news agency said on June 20 that an arrest warrant was
issued against Zeinab Taheri for making "false statements" and because of "her
lies propagated online claiming [Mohammad Salas] was not guilty."
The judiciary chief for Tehran Province, Gholamhossein Esmaili, was quoted as
saying that Taheri was never a lawyer for Salas and did not have reliable
information on the case.
Salas, 51, was hanged near Tehran early on June 18 after being convicted of
killing 3 police officers during clashes involving members of a Sufi order,
despite calls to stop his execution.
Taheri has been a vocal advocate for Salas by publicly denouncing the
unfairness of his trial.
On the day of the execution, posts from a Twitter account bearing Taheri's name
said it would "reveal for public opinion all possible" evidence of his
innocence -- later stating it would not do so over requests from the family,
AFP news agency reported.
In a statement condemning Taheri's arrest, Amnesty International described her
as Salas's lawyer.
"Her arrest exposes yet again the Iranian authorities' relentless persecution
of lawyers who speak out against torture and unfair trials," Philip Luther,
research and advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at the
London-based group, said.
A statement released by Human Rights Watch earlier this week also presented
Taheri as Salas's lawyer.
The statement, which addresses "serious allegations of torture to force
confessions," refers to an interview Taheri gave with another nongovernmental
organization in which the lawyer claims that Salas was violently beaten in
prison.
Salas was sentenced in March following what Amnesty International described as
a "grossly unfair trial."
The man was found guilty of killing three officers who were left dead in Tehran
in February after they were run over by a bus during battles between security
forces and followers of one of Iran's largest Sufi orders, the Nemattolah
Gonabadi order.
Salas's supporters have said he maintained his innocence but claimed he was
tortured into a forced confession.
Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, is not illegal in Iran but rights groups
accuse the Iranian government of harassment and discrimination against their
followers, including the Gonabadis, known as dervishes.
Taheri has also defending Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalili, who was
sentenced to death last year for spying for Israel and is at risk of execution.
(source: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)
CHINA:
Man caught with 5kg of meth gets death sentence
A man who stashed nearly 5 kilograms of drugs in his car door panels has been
sentenced to death with 2-year reprieve, according to Shanghai No. 1
Intermediate People's Court.
The man, surnamed Lu, managed to contact a drug seller on the Internet in April
2017. They reached a deal on 4.93 kilograms of methamphetamine, according to
the court.
On April 5 last year, Lu rented a car from east China's Jiangsu Province and
drove all the way down to south China's Guangdong Province to trade with the
seller. In a lane near the toll gate of the expressway, Lu spent 250,000 yuan
(US$38,632) buying 5 packages of methamphetamine.
Lu wrapped the packaged drugs with tape and towel. He opened the panel of a
front door and a rear door and jammed the drugs in the middle.
When he drove by Shanghai, police stopped and nabbed him. Inside the door
panels, police confiscated the narcotics.
According to China's Criminal Law, punishment ranges from 15 years or more
behind bars to the death penalty for the trafficking of 50 grams or more of
methamphetamine, or 1,000 grams or more of opium or heroin.
Lu was granted a reprieve as he admitted guilt, the court said.
(source: shine.cn)
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