April 28
CHINA:
Of life and death: Xiao Yang, former head of China’s Supreme People’s Court,
dies at 80
Legal scholars and lawyers have been mourning the death of Xiao Yang, the
former president of China’s Supreme People’s Court who is best remembered for
his reforms on capital punishment and efforts to increase transparency within
the judiciary.
The country’s top judge for a decade until 2008, Xiao died on April 19 at the
age of 80 after a period of illness. A photograph shared on social media of him
laughing at the 2008 National People’s Congress in Beijing – China’s
rubber-stamp parliament and an event not normally associated with joviality –
has provided a backdrop for people to pay their last respects.
“[Xiao] was fairly open-minded and well recognised by people inside and outside
the government,” said Xu Xin, a law professor at the Beijing Institute of
Technology, who represents people involved in politically sensitive legal
cases.
“His efforts to reform the death penalty system saved numerous lives and his
push for judicial openness is still being implemented … [His work] has become
part of the basis for building a fairer judicial system.”
Xiao initiated a series of reforms while head of the top court, the most
significant being the restoration of its right of review cases where the
sentence is capital punishment. He also openly slammed the decades-long
tradition of holding trials in secret, effectively paving the way for public
access to almost all courtrooms.
As the first formally trained judge to hold the most senior position in China’s
judicial system, Xiao pushed to have the entry requirements for judges raised –
as many incumbents had little or no professional education – and called for
greater independence for the judiciary.
In another, symbolic, move in 2000 he introduced black robes as the official
garb for all Chinese judges, replacing their former military-style outfits.
China risks ‘legitimacy of Party’s regime’ without changes
While the boldness of Xiao’s reforms is noted to this day, the fact he was able
to make them reflects the political situation at the time, according to Jerome
Cohen, a professor at New York University and an expert in Chinese law.
“Xiao Yang’s era allowed him more scope than in the current, Zhou Qiang, era,”
he said, referring to the Supreme People’s Court incumbent president who worked
under Xiao.
“In both cases, statutory, institutional and procedural reforms always have to
be cloaked in obeisance to the [Communist] party line and, more sinisterly,
adherence to the line in handling concrete cases,” he said.
Zhou, who has been China’s top judge since 2013, sparked huge controversy with
his rejection of the Western model of judicial independence and constitutional
democracy. Criticism of him peaked in 2017, when dozens of Chinese law scholars
and lawyers called for his resignation.
Despite their protests, in its annual work report for that year, the top court
actually boasted how it had upheld China’s national security with the jailing
of rights activists and the lawyers who represented them.
Tian Feilong, a law professor at Beijing’s Beihang University, said that while
most of the reforms initiated by Xiao more than a decade ago were still being
implemented, their impact had been lessened by greater party controls on the
judiciary.
“The things he started haven’t been put on hold, but they are under greater
scrutiny by the political system and look less convincing … the party plays a
bigger role in all aspects of public life now, not just the legal system,” he
said.
(source: Yahoo News)
PHILIPPINES:
Death for drug pushers – Jinggoy
Drug pushers should be subjected to the death penalty while drug users should
be rehabilitated, according to candidate for senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada.
“If the death penalty will be a deterrent, I am 100 % in favor of the death
penalty, but it should only be for drug traffickers. Don’t include drug users,”
he said at the Kapihan sa Quezon City on Saturday.
Estrada added that there was still hope for drug pushers to stay away from
drugs and change their lives.
On the other hand, he said drug pushers could not be reformed anymore because
they were driven by money.
“Those drug users, they can still be reformed… Some underwent rehabilitation
and now, they have jobs,” Estrada added.
He said, “Drug Traffickers? How can you reform drug traffickers?… They are
driven by money. For me, drug users can still change while it is impossible for
drug pushers.”
He is part of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HnP) slate for the Senate.
The HnP is a group of candidates for senator who are in favor of President
Rodrigo Duterte’s policies and programs.
One of President Rodrigo Duterte’s programs was the crackdown on drugs that saw
the death of more than 5,000 alleged drug users and drug pushers.
Despite insisting that there were no extrajudicial killings in the campaign,
Duterte said many times that anyone involved in illegal drugs should be killed.
Based on the latest update of RealNumbers PH, a total of 357,994 drug users and
pushers were already rehabilitated through the government’s recovery and
wellness program.
Estrada attributed to the Aquino administration the failure of Duterte to
fulfill his promise of eliminating drugs in the country in 3 to 6 months.
“Maybe the President was not able to fulfill his promise of 3 to 6 months of
eliminating drugs because the drug problem was not addressed properly by the
previous administration that it became so big for the President to handle,” he
said.
“As far as I’m concerned, we just need to help President Duterte,” Estrada
added.
Besides drug traffickers, he said the death penalty should be brought back for
people who commit rape, murder and other heinous crimes.
Estrada also previously expressed his wish for plunderers to be meted out
capital punishment.
He and fellow candidates for senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce
Enrile were charged with plunder for their alleged involvement in a P10-billion
“pork barrel” scam.
Estrada had posted bail for plunder and 15 counts of graft.
He, however, insisted on his innocence and said they were victims of selective
justice.
Based on a recent Pulse Asia survey, Estrada ranks 10th to 16th in the race to
the Senate.
(source: The Manila Times)
************************
4 Senate bets bat for death penalty, but for which crimes?
4 Senate bets are for the reimposition of the death penalty, each with their
own different condition.
Senatorial candidates backed by the President Rodrigo Duterte — Rafael Alunan,
Ronald Dela Rosa and JV Ejercito — were all for the reimposition of death
penalty for drug trafficking.
Dela Rosa, who was police chief during the implementation of the controversial
Oplan Tokhang in 2016, said that it was a matter of choosing who lives or who
dies.
"We are now at the crossroads of making the right decision kung kaninong buhay
ang dapat i-salba, yung Chinese druglord o yung libo-libong batang Pilipino na
nasisira ang buhay dahil sa droga," Dela Rosa said.
[Translation: We are now at the crossroads of making the right decision on
whose lives should be saved, the Chinese druglords or the thousands of Filipino
children whose lives are destroyed by drugs.]
Ejercito said that he is for death penalty, but hinted at a limited period of
time.
"I consider death penalty only for high level drug trafficking until
mag-normalize ang situation (until the situation returns to normal)," the
re-electionist senator said.
On the other hand, Alunan wants the death penalty imposed not only for drug
traffcking but for other crimes.
"I’m in favor of reimposition of death penalty for drugs and other crimes
against humanity — murder, corruption. Criminals operate here freely without
any fear," the former Interior Secretary said.
But there's a caveat, the justice system also has to be reformed.
"At the same time, we have to reform our justice system," he added.
Chong, who is not endorsed by Duterte, also wants the death penalty for
election sabotage.
"I reserve my support for death penalty only for plunder, election sabotage,
heinous crimes committed by persons in authority, and for drug trafficking," he
added.
Chong is a critic of the automated elections system used in the 2016 elections,
and of Vice President leni Robredo.
Opposition candidates who took part in the debate -- Otso-Diretso bets Chel
Diokno, Gary Alejano, Florin Hilbay, Samira Gutoc, Erin Taada, Romulo
Macalintal and Makabayan's Neri Colmenares-- are against the reimposition of
death penalty.
(source: CCN Philippines)
IRAN/SAUDI ARABIA:
Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi slams int’l circles’ silence on Saudi mass execution
Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi deplored the
international organizations’ silence on the mass execution of 37 political
prisoners in Saudi Arabia.
Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi deplored the
international organizations’ silence on the mass execution of 37 political
prisoners in Saudi Arabia.
“A number of Muslims in Saudi Arabia, including pure Shiites, have been
mercilessly martyred by the Al Saud regime without any trial and special
reason,” Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi said in a speech in the central city of Qom
on Saturday.
This mass execution is only a small part of the Saudi regime's crimes against
humanity, the cleric added.
He further decried the international organizations’ silence on the issue and
said if one of the 37 executions had occurred in Iran, all the global circles
would have raised a hue and cry.
Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry said it executed 37 people, mostly Shiites, in
connection with “terrorism” crimes, a report said.
The death penalty was implemented... on a number of culprits for adopting
extremist terrorist ideologies and forming terrorist cells to corrupt and
disrupt security as well as spread chaos and provoke sectarian strife,” the
official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Tuesday citing a statement issued by
the ministry.
A media report also said on Friday that some victims of the Saudi mass
execution made impassioned pleas to the courts that their confessions were
false and obtained under torture in a bid to save their lives but were still
beheaded.
Many said they were totally innocent, that their confessions had been written
by the same people who had tortured them. Some claimed to have evidence of
their abuse at the hands of their interrogators.
(source: AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA) )
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