September 18
INDIA:
SC Stays Execution of Death Penalty to Convict in Rape & Murder of a 4-Year-Old
Girl
Supreme Court has stayed the execution of death sentence of a convict in rape
and murder of a 4-year-old, according to an ANI report. Madhya Pradesh High
Court's Jabalpur bench in its judgement had sentenced the convict to death.
Earlier last month, Madhya Pradesh High Court had upheld a lower Court's order
awarding death sentence to a man for raping and killing a 4-year-old girl,
observing that "humanity is more in danger in the hands of persons like the
convict". According to the PTI report, the offence was described as an act of
extreme depravity, and this was done taking note of the fact the rising crimes
against minor girls. The Court further highlighted that such punishment could
deter other criminals.
A division bench of Chief Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla
as quoted in the report said, "The extreme judgment conveys a message to these
predators that it is not a soft state where criminals committing such serious
crimes may get a reprieve in the guise of humanity."
(source: latestly.com)
YEMEN:
24 Baha'i people, including a child, facing possible death penalty
Responding to news that 24 Yemenis from the Baha'i faith - including 8 women
and a child - are facing charges that could result in death sentences by the
Huthi-controlled Specialized Criminal Court in Sana'a, Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty
International's Middle East Director of Research, said:
"Once again, we are seeing trumped up charges and flagrantly unfair proceedings
used to persecute Yemeni Baha'is for their faith. And it is particularly
abhorrent that some of these men and women could face the death penalty for
their conscientiously held beliefs and peaceful activities.
"The group, which includes a teenage girl, were charged with various serious
offences including espionage for foreign states, some of which can carry the
death penalty. The Huthi authorities should drop these bogus charges, release
those who are arbitrarily detained and end their abuse of the justice system to
punish freedom of belief and persecute political critics, journalists,
activists, Baha'is and other minorities."
Background
Since 2015, Amnesty International has documented a number of incidents in which
members of the Baha'i community in Yemen were detained by the Huthi
authorities. At the moment, 6 Baha'is are detained by the Huthis in Yemen,
including some who have been subjected to enforced disappearances, torture and
incommunicado detention.
In January 2018, the Huthi authorities sentenced 52-year-old prisoner of
conscience Hamid Haydara to death for allegedly collaborating with Israel and
forging official documents. This sentence came after Hamid Haydara had been
detained since December 2013, and was the result of a fundamentally flawed
process, including trumped up charges, an unfair trial and credible allegations
that he was tortured and ill-treated in custody.
(source: Amnesty International)
MALAYSIA:
Malaysian PM Mahathir urges review of death penalty for man who sold medicinal
cannabis
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday (Sep 18) came to the
defence of a man facing the death penalty for selling cannabis oil to patients,
saying his sentence should be reviewed.
Muhammad Lukman Mohamad, a 29-year-old father of 1, was convicted of
trafficking in cannabis, a crime punishable by death in Malaysia. He was
sentenced to death by hanging on Aug 30 and has filed an appeal, his lawyer
Farhan Maaruf told Reuters.
During the trial, Muhammad Lukman testified that he had only sold cannabis oil
to help patients suffering from illnesses such as cancer and leukemia, Farhan
said.
The case sparked a debate over the use of marijuana for medical purposes, with
many, including some lawmakers, calling for amendments to the country's harsh
drug laws.
A Change.org petition, which urged the attorney-general to free Muhammad
Lukman, has garnered nearly 45,000 signatures.
Asked about the case, Mahathir told reporters it should be reviewed.
"No, I think we should review that," he was quoted as saying in a video
recording of his comments seen by Reuters.
Nurul Izzah Anwar, a member of parliament from Mahathir's coalition, said she
would be writing a letter calling for the attorney-general to reconsider the
conviction and penalty for Muhammad Lukman.
"From the reports, it looks to be a miscarriage of justice," she said.
The attorney-general's office did not immediately respond to a request for
comments.
Malaysia, like other countries in Southeast Asia, imposes harsh penalties for
drug offences. Last year, parliament voted to remove the death penalty as
mandatory punishment for drug trafficking and leave it to the judges'
discretion instead.
Earlier this year, an Australian mother of 3 was sentenced to death for
trafficking more than a kilogram of crystal methamphetamine into Malaysia.
(source: Reuters)
************************************
Dr M: We should review Lukman death penalty for medical marijuana
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir has indicated that the government should review
the case of a man who had been sentenced to death for having medicinal cannabis
oil.
Dr Mahathir said: "I think we should review that," when asked about the case of
Muhammad Lukman, a 29-year-old father of one who was sentenced to death for
possessing, processing and distributing medical marijuana (cannabis oil).
He was arrested in 2015 for the possession of 3.1 litres of cannabis oil, 279
grams of compressed cannabis and 1.4kg of substance containing tetrahydrocan
nabininol (THC). Muhammad Lukman was given the death sentence by the Shah Alam
High Court on Aug 30.
Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar said she will be writing an appeal to the
Attorney-General seeking a pardon for Muhammad Lukman.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad was speaking to the press after his opening address at the
Conference of the Electric Power Supply Industry (CEPSI 2018) on Tuesday.
(source: thestar.com.my)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Saudi Arabia issues death penalty for 3 top Muslim clerics----Dissent dragnet
broadens to include religious figures
3 leading clerics in Saudi Arabia may be executed on charges of promoting an
extremist agenda, rights activists claim, in what amounts to a sea change for
this oil-rich desert state where religious leaders are usually seen as
untouchable.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has unleashed a relentless crackdown on
dissent this year and prosecutors are now reportedly calling for the death
penalty for the 3 men perceived as threats to national security, according to
The Wall Street Journal.
One of them, Salman Al-Odah, has been detained since September 2017 based on
charges related to some of his Twitter posts, the cleric's son, Abdullah,
revealed in a recent tweet, Bloomberg reports.
Al-Odah led an Islamic movement in his younger years that called for political
reform. He is now in his 60s and has denounced the kind of views that saw him
jailed in the 1990s for opposing the government.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said in August that Riyadh was seeking to
behead 6 people including Israa al-Ghomgham, a woman who previously joined
anti-government protests in the eastern part of the country.
As part of the on going crackdown, anyone who posts satirical content online
that threatens religious values or public morals is now subject to punishment.
Those responsible for social media posts containing fake news or "informational
crime" can be jailed for 5 years or fined up to 3 million riyals (US$800,000),
public prosecutors tweeted on Sept. 3.
Dozens of clerics, women's rights activists, writers, academics and businessmen
have been arrested over the last year as part of Prince Mohammed's self-styled
modernizing agenda, the media reports.
(source: international.la-croix.com)
IRAN:
Iran Regime Continues Executions
The Iranian regime is known for its suppression of the people of Iran and its
blatant disregard of human rights.
International human rights organisations have called on the regime to stop its
inhumane treatment of prisoners, its medieval forms of punishment, its
repression, its censorship, and so on.
Human rights activists in the country have shared the reality of life under the
regime by sharing a video of a man being hanged from a crane in front of the
public. The harrowing video has been shared a number of times.
A social media user pointed out that the footage is not of ISIS activity in
Mosul or Syria, rather it is in Iran where people are forced to watch a young
man be executed in public. This is not a one-off or an extreme situation.
The incident is said to have taken place last week in Marvdasht, a city in the
south of the country. The man in the video is said to be a 26-year-old man who
has been imprisoned since the age of only 13.
People in the background can be heard screaming - presumably family members of
the young man.
Executions like this are unfortunately carried out very frequently. Women, men
and young people receive the same treatment and the death penalty is handed out
for minor crimes and drug-related activity.
As well as receiving the death penalty for minor crimes, prisoners have often
been subject to a grossly unfair trial.
Amnesty International, in its latest report, pointed out that the Iranian
regime refuses to bow down to international pressure regarding its execution
rate. The Iranian regime even claims that it is "un-Islamic" to campaign the
death penalty.
Last October, a new law was adopted in Iran with regards to drug-related
sentences resulting in the death penalty. The quantity of drugs allowed for the
dealt penalty was raised. It did, however, retain the death penalty for other
drug-related crimes. And there have also been executions carried out since the
law was passed last year.
Other "crimes" or "offences" that can result in execution in Iran include
"spreading corruption on earth", "insulting the Prophet" and "enmity against
God". Mohammad Ali Taheri, a spiritual leader and founder of the spiritual
group Erfan-e Halgheh, became a prisoner of conscience when he was put in jail
for "spreading corruption on earth". Although the Supreme Court overturned the
death sentence, he remains in jail.
The execution of young people who were under the age of 18 at the time of their
crime is something that happens routinely in the country too. Even if there is
a retrial (because of Article 91 of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code), it has often
resulted in the same outcome. There are dozens of people on death row that
committed a crime as a minor and there are grave concerns that they will be
imminently executed.
Iran is one of the countries with the highest rates of execution per capita in
the world. Death penalty activists have even been imprisoned.
(source: ncr-iran.org)
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