[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 30 INDONESIA: Indonesia prepares to execute up to 13 prisoners, including many foreigners Exactly a year after Indonesia sent the 'Bali 9' drug convicts to the firing squad inviting harsh censure from the world for the mass killing, Jakarta has said it's preparing to execute up to 13 prisoners in the next few days. Indonesian Attorney General M. Prasetyo said on Friday preparations are underway to carry out the execution of several death row prisoners. The executions could take place as early as next week and the attorney general's office is coordinating with the appropriate institutions, Prasetyo said, according to the Jakarta Globe newspaper. The executions are likely to take place at the same Nusakambangan prison island where 8 drug convicts belonging to the so-called Bali 9 trafficking ring, including 2 Australians, were shot dead on April 29 last year. The report says up to 13 convicts will be executed and this includes between 7 and 10 foreign nationals. The identities of the death row inmates to be executed imminently were, however, not released as yet. The date for the executions is not deiced yet, Prasetyo said, but local reports claimed the chatter in the administrative circles hinted that the executions will take place on May 7. The official added that Nusakambangan prison off the coast of Cilacap, Central Java, would be "the ideal place." "We will see later, when [the executions] will take place," Prasetyo was quoted as saying by Tempo.co, the Post said. Indonesia has harsh laws in place that make it easy to award death penalty for an array of crimes, especially drug related crimes. President Joko Widodo declared a "drug emergency" in the country after coming to power, speeding up a process to carry out a large number of pending executions in mainly drug offences. Before the execution of 8 convicts on the same day on April 29 last year, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Jakarta sent to death 6 prisoners in January. At a recent UN conference on narcotics, Indonesia defended its wide use of the death penalty in drug trafficking cases. "Indonesia and like-minded countries ... face diverse challenges in handling drugs and the death penalty is 1 of the options based on sovereignty of the law in each country," a foreign ministry statement said. (source: IB Times) CHINA: China's 'Valentine's Day' killer acquitted of 1998 murder A Chinese man sentenced to death for the Valentine's Day murder of his girlfriend 18 years ago has been acquitted, a court said, the latest wrongful conviction overturned in the country. Liu Jiqiang, 52, was found guilty of strangling and stabbing his lover on February 14, 1998, earning him the notorious nickname "Valentine's Day killer" in the Chinese press. But after spending nearly 2 decades on death row, the Higher People's Court of Jilin province in northeast China dismissed his conviction citing insufficient evidence, the court said Friday on its official Sina Weibo microblog. Liu initially admitted to the killing, but his lawyers said his confession was obtained as a result of torture and illegal questioning, according to Xinhua news agency. He was handed the death penalty in December 1999 with a 2-year reprieve which in China often means life in prison. He unsuccessfully appealed his guilty verdict twice, in 2002 and 2003, according to Xinhua. China's courts are tightly controlled by the ruling Communist party, which has vowed to overturn mistaken verdicts in the face of widespread public anger. Liu's case is the latest to highlight miscarriages of justice in the country, where forced confessions are widespread and more than 99 % of criminal defendants are found guilty. \ In February, the high court in eastern Zheijiang ordered the release of Chen Man who had been jailed for more than two decades on murder charges. Of those exonerated in recent years, Chen had spent the longest time in prison, 23 years, state media said. In 2014, a court in the Inner Mongolia region cleared a man who was convicted, sentenced and executed for rape and murder in 1996 at the age of 18. The reversal of the verdict came 9 years after another man confessed to the crime. (source: Agence France-Presse) TAIWAN: Chang Ho-ling escapes execution The High Court yesterday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence handed down to Chang Ho-ling, who was convicted of the murder of his wife and 2 daughters in a case that has wound through the courts for 10 years. The ruling has sparked controversy and protests from the victims' relatives and the judiciary, along with members of the public, who believe life imprisonment is too lenient. Chang, now 49, was found guilty of using ether to asphyxiate his wife, Tsai Ting-yu, and their 2 young daughters at their home in New Taipei City in 2006, then tampering with the crime scene to make it look like
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., CALIF.
April 30 TEXAS: Death penalty diminishes our humanity, undermines mercyBishop says God's gift of life is sacred, abandon culture of death Recently, Pope Francis captured international headlines by appealing to Christians - and particularly Catholic governmental officials - to take the "courageous and exemplary act" of ending the death penalty during the Holy Year of Mercy. The pontiff's plea reaffirmed Catholic doctrine that views capital punishment as a cruel and inhumane offense to the dignity of human life. What was noteworthy was Francis' call for Christian political leaders - especially those who profess a commitment to protecting and preserving human life - to acknowledge that commitment is not limited solely to birth, but throughout our entire lives until natural death. Francis' statement merely echoed the teachings of his predecessors. In particular, St. John Paul II's encyclical letter the Gospel of Life (1995) strongly emphasized that modern societies have the capacity to punish and isolate violent offenders by non-lethal means without resorting to killing them and denying them any hope of repentance. He argued that the instances where the use of the death penalty are justified "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent." In opposing capital punishment, neither the pope, nor the church, are oblivious to the suffering of the victims of heinous crimes. Nor do we dismiss the grief and anguish of their families. The deep pain, grief and suffering of those who have lost loved ones to violence cry out for our care and attention. They deserve our support, our deepest compassion and our voices in the call for justice. However, more killing is not the answer. The death penalty does not provide true healing for those who mourn, nor does it restore the loss of a loved one. It does not honor the victim's memory, nor does it provide justice or redeem our suffering. It is not justice nor is it redemptive. Instead, the death penalty only further erodes our society's respect for the sanctity of life. It coarsens our culture. It diminishes our humanity. It undermines our mercy. Our moral condemnation of capital punishment - along with abortion, war, euthanasia and human trafficking - are drawn from the single core tenet of our faith: that God's gift of life is sacred. That faith is not conditional, it is not what is merely politically expedient. Jesus - who was himself executed as a criminal by the state - taught us that life is sacred, and that all of us can pray for mercy and redemption for our sin through the promise of the Holy Spirit. We live in an age in which we are constantly confronted with the atrocity of suffering and violence - often against those of faith. Our moral opposition to evil in the world, and our credibility as witnesses to the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person, is demonstrated when we unite our voices in rejecting the use of the execution. This is especially critical in Texas, which is recognized around the world for the frequency at which we resort to capital punishment. So far this year the state has put 4 inmates to death. While we may be psychologically able to distance ourselves personally from the act of execution, we cannot escape that truth that in a democracy those executions are performed in our name. By ending the use of the death penalty we would urge Christian leaders - especially those who are guided by their faith - to heed Francis' call to abandon the culture of death in this state and embrace the culture of life. (source: The Most Rev. Placido Rodriguez, CMF, is the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lubbock and leader of 135,894 Roman Catholics in the areaLubbock Avalanche-Journal) *** Appeals court lowers bail for capital murder defendant An intermediate appellate court in Waco has reduced the bail for an Arlington man charged in the July shooting death of a Crawford woman, ruling that a judge abused his discretion by setting bail at $5 million and refusing to reduce it. Attorneys for James Ray Brossett appealed his bail amount set by 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson and the judge's decision not to reduce it at a hearing in November. In a ruling made public Friday, Waco's 10th Court of Appeals reduced Brossett???s bond to $1 million and sent the matter back to Johnson's court so he can place terms and conditions on the bond should Brossett be able to secure his release from the McLennan County Jail. "We are pleased that the court of appeals granted our request and reduced our client's bond to a reasonable amount similar to the amounts set in other similar cases of accused people in similar circumstances," said Waco attorney Michelle Tuegel, who represents Brossett with attorney Walter M. Reaves Jr. Tuegel said that despite the court's ruling, she doubts Brossett will be able to post bail because he has been in jail for 8
