[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
June 11 BANGLADESH: ‘Enemies of the nation’: Bangladesh considers death penalty, life imprisonment for food adulterators Bangladesh is considering implementation of the death penalty or life imprisonment as a punishment for food adulterators in the country. In a press conference, Bangladesh Minister of Food Shadhon Chandra Majumder said that the government has adopted a ‘zero-tolerance policy’ towards food adulteration, deeming these perpetrators to be ‘enemies of the nation’. “The level of punishment will be increased to stop food adulteration. If needed, we will make provisions for capital punishment or life imprisonment by amending the present Food Safety Act, 2013,” said Majumder to The Independent. Describing food adulteration as a ‘crime against humanity’, he added that the Ministry of Food was holding hearings via mobile courts with regard to the issue. “The number of mobile courts will be increased to stop food adulteration,” he said. The ministry’s suggestion on increasing punishments for adulterators received support from former Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Mohammed Nasim, who called for the capital punishment during an iftar (fast-breaking) event. According to Dhaka Tribune, Nasim said: “Those who push the countrymen to death by adulterating food, are enemies of the country as well as the nation. Capital punishment should be executed against them.” This is not the 1st time that more serious punishment has been considered for food adulteration in the region. In November last year, the state of Maharashtra in India also said that life imprisonment would be implemented? for such offenses. Many laws, little progress At present, some 15 food safety laws have been established in Bangladesh to guide and enforce food safety in the country – but the wide variety and high frequency of food adulteration has painted a picture of limited success. Known adulterants include arsenic, formalin, dyes, fertilizer, metals, poor quality raw ingredients and more applied across a near-unlimited range of food items including fish products, fruits, dairy, soups, beverages, biscuits. Earlier this month, 52 food products were banned in the country after the Bangladesh Testing and Standards Institution (BSTI) had identified these to be adulterated or substandard. New Age Bangladesh said that when the BSTI released its report revealing the 52 compromised food items earlier this month, the Conscious Consumer Society (CCS) had sent a legal notice to various governmental agencies on May 6 urging immediate action but received no response. This was later brought to the attention of the High Court, which summoned BSTI and BFSA officers for explanation and culminating in the banning of the compromised food products. Dairy adulteration Milk and milk product adulteration in particular has been exceptionally rampant in the country. In February this year, national food safety authorities including the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) and BSTI were ordered by the High Court to submit a report on the milk adulteration situation locally. They were also ordered to explain ‘why their inaction and failure in preventing adulteration and taking appropriate legal steps against it should not be declared illegal’ The submitted report was found to not contain any identification of the adulterators, and the High Court ordered for a more detailed report to be submitted by latest June 23. According to Dhaka Tribune, head of the National Food Safety Laboratory (NFSL) Dr Shahnila Ferdous, the individual who first revealed the lab’s findings on high levels of contamination in the country’s dairy, submitted a report listing the relevant adulterators to the High Court on May 21. In the report, 30 curd-producing companies, 30 fodder companies, 31 packet milk companies, 96 raw cow milk producers, and several individuals were named. BSTI and BFSA were purportedly berated by the court for not being able to do the same sooner. “If the NFSL could do it, why couldn't you? [You] are not conducting any research,” said the bench. (source: foodnavigator-asia.com) VIETNAM: A U.S. Citizen Detained in Vietnam Could Face the Death Penalty for Subversion A U.S. citizen, detained in Vietnam on charges of “attempting to overthrow the state,” is expected to face trial at the end of this month and could be sentenced to death if found guilty, Agence France-Press (AFP) reports. Michael Nguyen has been held in Vietnam since July last year. He was traveling with 2 activists, both of whom were also arrested. His family, who live in the U.S., say Nguyen is innocent and not involved with any dissident groups. The father of four daughters left Vietnam in 1975 during the communist takeover and fled to the U.S. “He is severely disadvantaged and unable to properly defend against any accusations against him,” said a family statement cited by AFP.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ARIZ., USA
June 11 TEXAS: Complaint Alleges that Prosecutor in Alfred Dewayne Brown’s Case Knowingly Hid Evidence of Innocence A special prosecutor in Harris County, Texas, has filed a complaint with the Texas State Bar Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel against former Assistant District Attorney Daniel Rizzo, alleging that Rizzo intentionally concealed exculpatory evidence crucial to the exoneration of former death-row prisoner Alfred Dewayne Brown (pictured). Brown was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in 2005 for a robbery murder in which a store clerk and responding police officer were shot to death. Brown claimed that phone records would show he was at his girlfriend’s apartment at the time of the murder. Rizzo withheld the records from the defense, then abused grand jury proceedings to jail Brown’s girlfriend until she agreed to implicate Brown. Brown was exonerated in 2015 after the phone records came to light. An investigation by Special Prosecutor John Raley later led to an official declaration that Brown is “actually innocent.” In early June 2019, Raley filed what the Houston Chronicle described as a “scathing grievance” with the Texas state bar alleging that “Rizzo was aware of exculpatory evidence and chose not to produce it to the defense and the court.“ He accused Rizzo of engaging in “significant misconduct” by “withhold[ing] from the court and defense counsel evidence likely to acquit Brown and then press[ing] forward in seeking the death penalty.” Raley said “Mr. Rizzo’s misconduct in the Brown case raises substantial questions regarding his honesty, trustworthiness, and fitness to be a lawyer. ... Mr. Brown, an innocent man, spent nearly 12 years on death row because of the misconduct of Daniel Rizzo.” As Special Prosecutor, Raley issued a report — commissioned by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office —advocating for Brown’s exoneration. The report, issued in March 2019 after more than 1,000 hours of investigation into Brown’s case, found “[b]y clear and convincing evidence, [that] no reasonable juror would fail to have a reasonable doubt about whether Brown is guilty of murder. Therefore his case meets the legal definition of ‘actual innocence.’” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg and Harris County District Court Judge George Powell subsequently made official declarations of Brown’s “actual innocence,” paving the way for Brown to receive state compensation for the years in which he was wrongfully imprisoned. Raley’s report documented that Rizzo concealed “crucial evidence” of phone records that supported Brown’s alibi that he had been at his girlfriend’s apartment at the time of his alleged crime. A copy of the records were discovered by police officer Breck McDaniel in his garage during Brown’s appeals. In 2003, in preparation for Brown’s trial, Officer McDaniel obtained the phone records for Brown’s girlfriend’s apartment in an effort to disprove Brown’s alibi. Instead, the records showed that Brown had, as he claimed, called his girlfriend at work at a time that made it impossible for him to have been involved in the murder of Houston Police Officer Charles Clark. McDaniel sent an email to Rizzo informing him of the phone records. When that email was uncovered in 2018, District Attorney Kim Ogg filed a Bar complaint against Rizzo. Rizzo claimed he never read the email and had not been aware of the records. Raley’s complaint rejected Rizzo’s version of events, explaining that, while Rizzo had not replied to the email, he made a change to a subpoena that McDaniel had requested, demonstrating that he in fact read the email. Rizzo has denied concealing the evidence. His lawyer, Chris Tritico, wrote, “There is more credible evidence that supports that Breck McDaniel suppressed what he clearly thought was exculpatory evidence, but did not understand was inculpatory evidence, after all it was in HIS GARAGE. If the District Attorney wants to set a cop killer free they can do so without laying it on the back of a 27-year public servant.” “For Rizzo to call Brown a ‘cop killer’ at this stage reveals both his desperation and his bias,” Raley replied. “Rizzo was fully aware of the existence of the exculpatory evidence, decided not to produce it, and pretended that it did not exist.” In the complaint, Raley wrote that he “cannot imagine anything in the practice of law more horrible than executing an innocent man.” “Rizzo’s unethical and illegal actions resulted in an innocent man being sent to death row,” he said. “Fortunately, an extra copy of the records was found and produced before Brown was executed. If our justice system is to work properly, the State Bar of Texas must hold prosecutors who hide evidence of innocence accountable for their conduct.” (source: Death Penalty Information Center) FLORIDA: Injustice of Central Park Five should give Florida pauseM There are 340 people on
