July 18
SAUDI ARABIA----executions
Saudi Arabia executes 7 people in 1 day----Death row inmates had been convicted
of murder and drug trafficking, according to state media
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed 7 death row inmates who had been convicted of
murder and drug trafficking, state media reported.
The ultra-conservative kingdom has one of the world's highest rates of
execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery
and drug trafficking facing the death penalty.
2 Saudi Arabian citizens and 3 nationals of Chad were executed after being
sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of a Pakistani security guard,
with the alleged intent of robbing the warehouse he was guarding, according to
the state-run SPA agency.
Another Saudi Arabian was executed for murder after setting a man on fire, SPA
reported.
A Lebanese national was executed for attempting to smuggle captagon into the
kingdom, SPA said. Captagon, a drug popular among fighters in war zones,
usually blends amphetamines, caffeine and other substances in pill form.
Tuesday's executions bring to 73 the total number of people put to death in the
kingdom this year, according to a tally by AFP.
Saudi Arabia had the 3rd highest execution rate in the world in 2017, after
China and Iran, according to Amnesty International.
Rights experts have repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of trials in
the kingdom, governed under a strict form of Islamic law. The government says
the death penalty is a deterrent for further crime.
In April, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, next in line to the throne,
suggested the kingdom would consider changing the penalty from death to life in
certain cases except murder, in an interview with Time Magazine.
(source: arabianbusiness.com)
INDIA:
HC upholds death sentence to Rohtak girl who killed 7 of her family----On the
night of September 14, 2009, Sonam mixed some sedative in the dinner ('rotis')
and milk of her family members and strangled them with rope with the help of
Navin after they fell unconscious.
Terming them "monsters", a Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday upheld the
death sentence of a teenage girl and her boyfriend, who killed 7 members of her
family at Kabpulpur village in Rohtak in September 2009.
The convicts are Sonam Dagar, now 27, and Navin Dagar, 28, both hailing from
the same village.
Sonam and Navin who belonged to the same clan were having an affair. They were
studying at Rohtak town and started liking each other. When Sonam's parents got
to know of their affair, they asked her to discontinue studies and restricted
her to home.
Apprehending that her family will not accept their relationship, the duo
eliminated Sonam's parents (Surender, 45, and Promila, 40), brother Arvind ,
15, grandmother Bhuro Devi, 70, and 3 cousins Vishal, 10, Sonika, 12, and
Monica, 14.
Marriage within the same clan is considered a taboo in the rural Haryana.
On the night of September 14, 2009, Sonam mixed some sedative in the dinner
('rotis') and milk of her family members and strangled them with rope with the
help of Navin after they fell unconscious.
To avoid suspicion on her, Sonam lay down in the bathroom pretending to be in
an unconscious state and tried to portray the incident a result of property
dispute or loot.
Police had solved the case after tracking the call details of Sonam and Navin.
Sonam and Navin were convicted under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and were
awarded death sentence by the Rohtak district and sessions court on March 4,
2014.
"The murders were committed one by one. The conscience of both accused was not
shaken even after committing the 1st murder. Accused Sonam was given birth and
brought up by her parents. A woman by its very nature is merciful. From
childhood, all necessary facilities were extended to her by her parents," the
division bench of justice AB Chaudhari and justice Kuldip Singh said, while
justifying the death sentence.
"After committing murder of Bhuri (grandmother), both of them committed sexual
intercourse on the bed where dead body of Bhuri was lying. The grisly act and
the manner of commission of crime shows that both accused are monsters," the
division bench added.
The court further observed that the collective conscience of the community is
shocked with the present case. "...Death penalty in present case is desirable
and is only punishment, which could be awarded. The murders show deplorability.
The murders were committed in cold blood," the bench added.
(source: Hindustan Times)
********************
1-eyed molester faces death penalty
Ayaz Mohammed Ansari, the 1-eyed serial child molester, faces the death penalty
after he was convicted of raping and performing unnatural sex on a 13-yearold
girl. This was the 3rd conviction for Ansari, who has at least 11 more cases
against him.
Soon after he was convicted by special POCSO judge M A Baraliya on Friday, the
special public prosecutor filed an application for the death penalty to be
applied against him. The court will take a decision on Wednesday.
According to the police, Ansari, 33, confessed to molesting 24 minors from the
western suburbs. On Tuesday, he was held guilty of rape, unnatural sex and
grievous hurt under sections of the Indian Penal Code as well as the Protection
of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
In this incident, which occurred in 2015, the prosecution, led by Special
Public Prosecutor Geeta Sharma, said that a drunk Ansari raped the girl, who
was returning home alone after an exam, after pretending to be her father's
friend. He stopped only after a watchman spotted him and informed her father.
Earlier convictions
In a case registered in January 2013, the victim, who lived in Juhu, deposed
before the court that she was returning home from tuition when Ansari
approached her. He introduced himself as Rakesh and said he wanted to give a
number to her father for some official work. The girl told him that she was
getting late and that he should call up her father instead. But Ansari insisted
that it would only take 5 minutes and asked her to follow him. He took her to a
secluded floor of a nearby building, where he held her hand, flashed his
private parts and started masturbating. He also threatened her that if she
screamed, he would take a knife from his pocket and slash her.
The girl said that he then began removing her clothes when they heard some
voices. The girl ran out and called her father, who filed a police complaint.
In another case, registered at Amboli police station on March 9, 2013, Ansari
accosted a 10-year old girl, when she was out to eat panipuri in her
neighbourhood. Ansari told her that he is her father's friend and that her
mother was with him. He asked her to accompany her, but the girl refused. He
then forcefully picked her up and assaulted her.
(source: Mumbai Mirror)
SRI LANKA:
EU warns Sri Lanka over death penalty
EU ambassadors warned Sri Lanka on Monday against ending its 42-year moratorium
on capital punishment and said the island risked losing trade concessions if it
went ahead.
Last week President Maithripala Sirisena said repeat drug offenders would be
hanged as part of his administration's new crackdown on narcotics.
"The diplomatic missions have requested the President to maintain the
moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty and to uphold Sri Lanka's
tradition of opposition to capital punishment," the EU ambassadors said in a
joint statement.
The communique was supported by their colleagues from Canada and Norway.
Police believe the Indian Ocean island is being used as a transit point by drug
traffickers. More than a tonne of cocaine seized in recent years was destroyed
by police in January.
The main Welikada prison said it was advertising this week for 2 hangmen to
carry out the 1st execution in 42 years after refurbishing the gallows.
Diplomats said they expected Sirisena to roll back the decision, but should the
island go ahead it would loose preferential access for its exports to the
28-member EU bloc.
"If Sri Lanka resumes capital punishment, Colombo will immediately lose the
GSP-Plus status," an EU diplomatic source told AFP.
This refers to its generalised system of preferences (GSP Plus) - a favourable
tariff scheme to encourage developing nations to respect human rights -
restored by the EU in May 2017 after a 7-year hiatus.
Sri Lanka was denied GSP Plus status in 2010 after failing to meet its rights
obligations. The Sirisena administration reapplied after coming to power in
2015.
EU diplomats have estimated that Sri Lanka gains an estimated $350 million
advantage annually thanks to the GSP-Plus system.
Prison spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya said there were 373 convicts on death row
in Sri Lanka, including 18 for serious drug crimes.
Death sentences are still handed down for crimes including murder, rape and
drug-related crimes, but the last execution was in 1976.
Nearly 900 people are currently in prison after been sentenced to death,
although many have had their sentences commuted to life or are appealing.
(source: Dhaka Tribune)
JAPAN:
Death penalty sought for man over 2014 deaths of 2 people who were buried alive
in Saga
Prosecutors on Tuesday demanded the death penalty for a man who allegedly
murdered a man and a woman by burying them alive in the city of Saga in 2014 in
an attempt to avoid paying back a debt.
Teruyoshi Oho, 69, is alleged to have suffocated Ra Si Chan, a 76-year-old
South Korean national, and his associate Chie Matsushiro, 48, by burying them
in their car in a hole 5 meters deep, according to the indictment. Oho's
defense team reiterated that he is innocent of the charges.
Oho, a former president of a soil treatment company, had been urged by Chan to
pay back some Y40 million ($356,000) he had borrowed from him, the prosecutors
said in their closing argument at the Saga District Court.
"It was a well-planned crime based on a strong intention to kill him," the
prosecutors said, pointing to the fact that Oho had asked his employees to dig
the hole before the alleged murders in August 2014. There is no special
circumstance that should allow him to avoid capital punishment, they added.
Oho has kept silent since his arrest in September 2015, including during his
trial that began last month. His defense lawyers pleaded not guilty on his
behalf.
"The hole was for dumping industrial waste. His debt was not a valid reason for
the killings while the cause of death is not known," they said.
The district court is scheduled to hand down its ruling on Aug. 6.
(source: The Japan Times)
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