[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Jan. 20 MALAYSIA: Minister's delay led to judge having no choice but to sentence A Sargunan, 4 others to death All section 39B (drug trafficking) trials should be suspended until the amended drugs law comes into force, says Charles Hector. The Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) is appalled by the delay in the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 2017 coming into force. This will mean that those now being convicted by the courts for drug trafficking will still be subjected to the mandatory death penalty and not enjoy the possibility of avoiding the death penalty. The proposed amendment to the law, when it comes into force, will only apply to cases where those facing trial have not yet been convicted. Therefore, it is only just that all drug trafficking case trials must not continue until the new law comes into force. The minister's delay has already cost at least 5 individuals to be convicted to death. On 17 January 2018, it was reported that Malaysian A Sargunan, 42, and 4 Indian nationals - Sumesh Sudhakaran, Alex Aby Jacob Alexander, Renjith Raveendran and Sajith Sadanandan - were convicted and sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court that day for drug trafficking under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (The Star, 17 January 2018). The Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2017 was passed by Parliament on 30 November 2017, and by the Senate on 14 December 2017. Royal assent was received on 27 December 2017, making this now an act of Parliament. But sadly, it only will come into operation on a date to be appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette. A perusal of the official e-Federal Gazette website on 19 January 2018, revealed that some other laws that obtained royal assent on the same day as the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 2017 or subsequently have already come into force - but not this act which will have the effect of restoring judicial discretion to impose a sentence for drug trafficking other than the death penalty, ie life imprisonment with whipping of not less than 15 strokes for the offence of drug trafficking. Because of the minister's delay, A Sargunan and the 4 Indian nationals have now been convicted and sentenced to death, as section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 still provides for the mandatory death penalty. Section 3(2) of the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 2017 states: (2) Any proceedings against any person who has been charged, whether or not trial has commenced or has been completed, and has not been convicted under section 39b of the principal Act by a competent Court before the appointed date, shall on the appointed date be dealt with by the competent Court and be continued under the provisions of the principal Act as amended by this Act. This means that any person even already on trial for drug trafficking (section 39B), so long as they have not yet been convicted, can still enjoy the benefits of the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 2017. But until the minister does what is required to ensure this law comes into force, judges will continue to have no discretion but to impose the mandatory death penalty. The new law, sadly, does not provide any remedy to those already convicted or for the 800 or more currently on death row after having been convicted for drug trafficking. As such, in fairness, all their death sentences should be commuted to imprisonment. Alternatively, a new law is needed that allows for a review of their current sentences. Reasonably, given the large numbers involved and other reasons, it would be best that all their death sentences be commuted. Malaysia must be complemented for this major long overdue step to abolish the mandatory death penalty for the offence of drug trafficking, and return discretion to judges when it comes to sentencing. It is noted that there are still flaws in this new law which have been raised by the Malaysian Bar, among others, including the fact that the judges, in exercising their discretion, are currently limited to just certain limited considerations. There is also now an unjust mandatory requirement before the exercise of the judge's discretion - the judge's assessment of the convicted person's ability or willingness to assist in disrupting drug trafficking activities. There are many reasons why those convicted person may not be able to provide this assistance including possible retaliation by kingpins and others on them or their families. The Malaysian Bar in their statement on 5 December 2017 stated: We are concerned that judges are being limited in their consideration of the mitigating factors and circumstances that surround each case, before sentencing. Such mitigating factors can include, and are not limited to, the offender's age, rehabilitation goals, past criminal record, role played in the offence, mental capacity, reparations made, fear of another person, use of
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Jan 20 UGANDA: President's misguided death penalty vow threatens a decade of progress Responding to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's threat to "hang" death row prisoners as a crime deterrent after more than a decade without an execution in the country, Amnesty International's Death Penalty Adviser Oluwatosin Popola said: "President Museveni's threat to resume executions to 'prevent crime' is misguided since there is no credible evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime. Rather, it is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and a violation of the right to life. "While the backlog of criminal cases in Uganda is something that needs to be addressed and expedited, resorting to the death penalty as some kind of 'quick-fix' is not the answer. "Uganda's refusal to carry out executions in recent years has been a credit to President Museveni, but resuming them now would destroy more than a decade of progress, not to mention buck the global trend towards abolition. "Rather than talking of hanging criminals, the President must instead lead Uganda to fully abolishing the death penalty, just as 19 other African countries have done." Background President Museveni tweeted that "being lenient is causing people to think they can cause harm and get away with it". He was also quoted as saying, "Criminals think they have a right to kill people and keep their heads ... I think I am going to revise [my position] a bit and hang a few ... If you see how they kill people, they deserve to be killed." Amnesty International opposes the death penalty at all times - regardless of who is accused, the crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution. (source: Amnesty International) GAZA: Gaza family executes own member for collaborating with IsraelGazan family says it killed a relative after being told by Hamas he had helped Israel track down and kill 3 senior Hamas members. A Gazan family said on Friday it had killed 1 of its relatives, claiming he had helped Israel track down and kill 3 senior Hamas terrorists, including 1 of the man's own kinsmen. In a statement quoted by Yediot Aharonot, the family of Ahmed Barhoum said it had shot him in the city of Rafah after they were told by Hamas that he had provided information to Israel. This, the statement said, guided an Israeli air strike during the 2014 Gaza war that targeted the Hamas terrorists. "In light of our religious and moral commitment we have executed the collaborator Ahmed Barhoum after he was handed over by the resistance factions," the statement said. The family said they had listened to their relative's confession and saw the evidence against him. The Barhoums are one of Rafah's largest families and well known for their closeness to Palestinian Arab terrorist groups. Hamas issued a statement praising the Barhoum family's action as illustrating "its nobleness and deep affiliation with the (anti-Israel) resistance", according to Yediot Aharonot. The Israeli military declined to comment. Israel killed the 3 Hamas' senior commanders - Rafah Division commander Raed al-Attar, Southern Division commander Mohammed Abu Shmallah and Rafah Division senior commander Mohammed Barhoum - in an air strike in August of 2014. The targeted killing was a joint operation of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the IDF. While it is unusual to hear of a family executing their own member over alleged "collaboration" with Israel, it is not unusual that such "spies" are executed in Gaza. Hamas regularly claims to have captured "Israeli spies", and many times it tries them and sentences them to death. In theory all execution orders in the Palestinian Authority's (PA) territories must be approved by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in Ramallah and who imposed a moratorium on executions several years ago. Hamas no longer recognizes Abbas's legitimacy, and has in the past emphatically declared that the death penalty in Gaza can be carried out without his consent. In April, the group hanged 3 men accused of collaborating with Israel in the killing of senior Hamas commander Mazen Faqha. (source: Israel National News) IRANexecutions Execution of 5 Young Prisoners and Hand Amputation of Another in 3 Days During the nationwide uprising of the Iranian people against the detested rule of Velayat-e faqih, the regime's judiciary executed5 young prisoners from January 15 to 17. On January 17, a brutal sentence to amputate a young man's hand for stealing several sheeps was carried out in Mashhad Prison. 2 prisoners of 30 and 33 years old were hanged on January 17, 2018 in the Karaj Central Prison. The day before, 2 other young people who 19 and 20 at the time of their arrest were executed in Mashhad. On Monday, January 15, a 27-year-old prisoner was hanged in Babol prison. Meanwhile, Abolfazl Chezani, who was arrested at age 15, is now
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., ILL., IOWA, NEB., UTAH
Jan. 20 TENNESSEE: Tennessee warned about use of controversial drug combination for lethal injections As of January 2017, there were 63 inmates on death row in Tennessee. Executions have been on hold pending a challenge by inmates to the single-dose drug protocol. The drugs are supposed to put a death row inmate to sleep before stopping the inmate's lungs and heart. However, controversies around the country show a 3-drug combination Tennessee is prepared to use as it resumes executions in 2018 may leave witnesses scarred and death row offenders in pain - and alive. Documents obtained by the USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee show the state has a new protocol for what drugs it will use to put inmates to death. A supplier of those drugs also warned the state they may not actually stop inmates from feeling pain before they die, according to emails also obtained. The issues already prompted a legal challenge and will likely spur death penalty critics to characterize use of the drugs as unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. Lethal injection is the primary means of carrying out the death penalty in Tennessee, although the electric chair is also legal. The state had used pentobarbital, a barbituate, but manufacturers have largely stopped selling the drug to anyone using it for executions. In 2017, the general counsel for the Tennessee Department of Correction said the state did not have the drugs needed to carry out an execution but could get them if they needed. On Thursday, after the Tennessee Supreme Court announced it had scheduled three executions, the department said it has the necessary drugs. The documents and emails point to the department's inability to find pentobarbital. It is instead relying on the easier-to-obtain but far more controversial 3-drug mixture used in other states. The 1st drug, midazolam, is supposed to put an inmate in a state akin to sleep. The 2nd, vercuronium bromide, stops the inmate's lungs. The 3rd, potassium chloride, stops the heart. The problem in executions carried out in Oklahoma, Arizona, Ohio and elsewhere is the midazolam in some cases has failed to put the inmate to sleep or stop them from feeling pain. A legal filing from attorneys defending death row inmates pointed to the emails and new lethal injection protocol as a reason the state supreme court should delay any executions. "Tennessee deliberately chose to revise its execution protocol to include as the 1st drug, midazolam, despite knowledge of the substantial harm that drug will cause. It is the most controversial protocol ever adopted by the state," the legal filing states. As noted in the legal filing, a supplier pointed out these problems to Tennessee prison officials in September. "Here is my concern with midazolam...it does not elicit strong analgesic effects. The subjects may be able to feel pain from the administration of the 2nd and 3rd drugs. Potassium chloride especially," wrote the supplier in an email. "It may not be a huge concern but can open the door to some scrutiny on your end." A department spokeswoman did not immediately answers questions Friday about the protocol. James Hawkins, a 41-year-old Shelby County man convicted in 2011 of killing the mother of his 3 children, is scheduled to die May 9. Billy Ray Irick, a 59-year-old Knox County man convicted of the 1985 rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl is set to be executed Aug. 9. Sedrick Clayton, a 34-year-old Shelby County man convicted of a triple murder in 2014, is scheduled to die Nov. 28. Hawkins and Clayton have yet to exhaust their legal appeals, so it's likely their executions will be delayed. Irick, who's been on death row in Nashville for more than 3 decades, has fewer legal options. (source: The Tennessean) ILLINOIS: Former Medill Innocence Project private investigator files defamation lawsuit A 2nd lawsuit has been filed after investigations into a high-profile murder case led to 2 exonerations, the repeal of the death penalty in Illinois and the fall of one of Northwestern's most distinguished professors. Paul Ciolino, a private investigator who obtained a video confession of Alstory Simon for a 1982 double homicide, is defending his reputation - and that of Northwestern and former Medill Prof. David Protess - in a defamation lawsuit filed earlier this month. The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges nine defendants engaged in a "conspiracy" to discredit the work of Ciolino, Protess and the then-Medill Innocence Project, since renamed the Medill Justice Project. The suit, filed Jan. 2, claims Simon's lawyers and the 2 investigators they hired made false claims in an effort to defame and discredit Ciolino's investigation, despite continued confessions of murder by their client. "Together they conceived a plan to ruin the reputations of Northwestern University, David Protess and Plaintiff Ciolino,"
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., S.C., FLA., ALA.
Jan. 20 TEXAS: Anthony Graves turns jailhouse writing into book, 'Infinite Hope' He started on a typewriter, click-clacking away into the night in the quiet of a prison cell. That was sometime around 2000, when Anthony Graves didn't know if he'd see the light of day again - back when the state still planned to execute him for a crime he didn't commit. In the nearly 2 decades he spent on Texas' death row, the wrongfully convicted Brenham man faced 2 execution dates. His 3 sons grew up without him. The world moved on, but he kept writing, typing, recording his thoughts. And then, there was hope. First, his co-defendant recanted. Then in 2006, a federal appeals court set aside his conviction and sentence. Finally, in 2010, prosecutors dropped the charges against him, and he walked out of prison a free man. Author appearance When: 7 p.m. Monday Where: Brazos Bookstore, 2421 Bissonnet Information: Free; 713-523-0701, brazosbookstore.com Now, all the labor of those late nights on a jailhouse typewriter has come to fruition. The exonerated man's 1st book - "Infinite Hope" - was released last week. In anticipation of his Monday appearance at Brazos Bookstore, Graves talked about his journey and his hopes for the future. Q: So, first of all, it looks like you haven't been in the news that much in the past couple of years - what have you been keeping busy with? A: I've been doing everything! I've been traveling around the world sharing my message about criminal justice reform, and also I spent a lot of time writing my book, as well as teaming up with the ACLU to be part of their Smart Justice initiative. And I'm also still on the board of the Houston Forensic Science Center. Q: Did you always know you would write a book about this someday? A: Yes - I knew that the story needed to be told. This story is to be shared with the rest of the world to awaken some people with the reality of the death penalty, not the theory. Q: Before all this, what was your take on the death penalty? A: I had no position on it - I just believed if you did the crime you did the time. I never thought about the death penalty itself ... In a perfect world, it could probably work, but we don't live in a perfect world. Q: Do you stay in touch with any of the men you did time with? A: Somewhat - but Texas executed most of the guys that I knew. I try to stay focused on the bigger picture. You try to eliminate the death penalty in the name of those people who were wrongfully executed. I was there when we were executing guilty people - but also when we were executing innocent people. Q: Do you think any of the guys who are still in there will read your book? A: They're anticipating it. As well as the criminal justice world - I think this book is going to be huge. Q: Is your book on the banned-books list? A: I hope that Texas prisons let it in! There's nothing in it that shouldn't let it in. Q: Did you write it that way intentionally, so guys in prison could read it? A: Yes. I wanted to make sure that those I was trying to reach out to and give hope to could actually receive this book. Q: Were you a writer before this? A: I wrote a lot of letters to people around the world asking them to save my life - maybe that turned me into a writer. Q: Do you ever wonder what your life would be like otherwise? A: No, I don't. I don't feel like I missed something - I feel like I was prepared for something. Because of what happened to me, I have a story to tell that changes people's lives, that gives people hope. Had this story not happened to me, I would not be able to give it to other people. I would just be the guy working and making babies. So in hindsight, this gave my life a lot of purpose that I didn't even know existed within me. Q: Are there any ways in which it's changed you for the better? Any positive takeaways from a really dark time? A: It has allowed me to put things and life in the proper perspective. It has taught me that what seems to be too big is not too big. It has given me a better appreciation for life every day. There is not a day in my life right now that I feel is too overwhelming, that I have problems. I'm happy to have whatever problems I have. I know that God is still being good to me if I can wake up and say that I'm still alive. Every day is a blessing, not just some days. That's what this whole experience has taught me. Be happy that you have the problems that you complain about. Q: So it's been, what, seven years now? Does it ever still feel weird being out after so many years in isolation? A: No. I deserved to be here. So it never felt weird. The thing with me that separated me from most is I never thought about dying - I always thought about living. So I lived on death row. Q: And when you had 2 execution dates? A: I never stopped living. When you're no longer afraid of death, you can't scare me with it. When I got a
