[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide-----S. AFR., EGYPT, IRAN, THAI., PAKIS., BOTS.
JULY 2 SOUTH AFRICA: Some Members Of The ANC Women's League Want The Death Penalty BackSome members of the league felt the death sentence should be returned because of the high levels of violence against women. Some members of the ANC Women's League are pushing for the return of the death penalty, in a desperate attempt to stop the murder of women. League president Bathabile Dlamini told News24 on the sidelines of the ANC's 5th national policy conference on Friday that capital punishment was one of the topics brought up for discussion. "What I have noticed is that women are feeling aggrieved a lot, especially young women that are calling on the death sentence," said Dlamini. The death penalty was used against freedom fighters during the apartheid era. It was declared unconstitutional in June 1995 in the famous Constitutional Court judgment, State vs Makwanyane. In the unanimous ruling, the court held that the death penalty violated the right to life contained in the Bill of Rights. Dlamini said some members of the league felt the death sentence should be returned because of the high levels of violence against women. There was a general feeling that those who committed the crimes often got away with murder. "Our view, because of our experience, is that you can't allow the state to kill. As time goes on there will be recklessness, especially with our past experience and what's happening in other countries," said Dlamini. "The state cannot be given the licence to kill." She said there was also an idea that, instead of demanding the return of a law that is unconstitutional, current legislation could be strengthened to empower young women to confront the challenges facing them. Dlamini said she personally felt a call for the death penalty was the wrong move because of South Africa's tragic past and how the gallows were used against those who took a political stand against the apartheid government. "[This] doesn't mean I don't feel for our young women that have been killed. It doesn't mean I don't understand the issues of life," she said. (source: huffingtonpost.co.za) EGYPT: 20 defendants sentenced to death in Kerdasa massacre re-trialCourt also orders life imprisonment for 80, 15-year term for 34, 10 years for minor and acquits 21 The Cairo Criminal court sentenced on Sunday 20 defendants to death during their retrial in the case known as "Kerdasa massacre", according to local media. The death penalty had already been issued in April but ordered the referral of the papers of those sentenced to death to the Grand Mufti for consultation. According to state-owned media Al-Ahram, the court sentenced on Sunday 80 other defendants to life in prison, another 34 defendants to 15 years, a minor to 10 years, while it acquitted 21 defendants. The case includes 156 defendants, whom in the 1st trial had received either death or imprisonment sentences on charges of storming in Kerdasa police station in Giza, killing 12 police officers, initiation of killing 10 others, destroying the police office and burning a number of police vehicles in August 2013. After the 1st trial, the Appeal Court had refuted 14 death sentences in the same case and revoked a 10-year prison sentence for another defendant, thus ordering a re-trial. The storming of the station took place shortly after the dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in by the armed forces in August 2013, following the ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Hundreds of defendants are being legally persecuted in Egyptian courts on charges of committing violence after Morsi was ousted, including Morsi himself and members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group. Since 2013, a militant campaign targeting police and army has escalated since the ouster of Morsi, killing several security forces in the Sinai Peninsula, Cairo, and the Nile Delta. (source: Daiy News Egypt) IRANexecution Prisoner Hanged on Drug Charges On Sunday July 2, a prisoner was reportedly hanged at Zanjan Prison on drug related charges. Close sources have identified the prisoner as Abbas Savaghi, 38 years of age, arrested in 2015 on drug related charges. "Abbas was married and worked as a taxi driver. They had found some crystal meth in his car," an informed source tells Iran Human Rights. "Executions in Zanjan Prison are normally carried out on Tuesdays, but they carried out Abbas's execution on Sunday." Iran Human Rights had published a report warning about the imminent execution of Abbas Savaghi and 16 others. Iranian parliament members had formerly requested from the Judiciary to stop drug related executions for at least 5,000 prisoners pending further investigation. However, the request has not stopped the Judiciary from carrying out death sentences for prisoners with drug related charges. According to experts, those who are executed in Iran on drug related charges
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., USA
JULY 2 TEXAS: Appeals court to review case of Argentine on Texas death row A federal court has agreed to review the appeal of an Argentine man who is on death row in Texas for a 1995 killing. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday it will examine whether Victor Saldano, 44, was competent to stand trial and whether his lawyers were deficient for not requesting a competency hearing before he was resentenced to death years after the initial trial. Saldano, who was in the U.S. illegally, was sentenced to death for the killing of 46-year-old Paul King, who was abducted from a Plano supermarket, robbed and shot. His case has drawn the attention of Pope Francis, who is also Argentine and has met at least twice with the inmate's mother. The Catholic Church opposes capital punishment. Saldano was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die in 1996, but a judge later threw out the original sentence because a psychologist improperly testified that Saldano's Hispanic background made him likely to be a future danger, which Texas juries factor into death penalty decisions. The trial's punishment phase was repeated in 2004 and Saldano was again sentenced to die. In its decision to consider the case, the appeals court wrote that "ample evidence supports an inference of incompetency" and pointed to "numerous instances" of Saldano's incoherent and strange behavior around the time the punishment phase was repeated. Physicians offered various explanations for Saldana's behavior, including his isolation on death row and that he was faking his condition to get drugs. Lower courts have ruled that the trial court had no obligation to hold a competency hearing. The appeals court record showed both the trial judge and Saldano's lawyers had concerns about his mental state, but the court's record includes no results of any examinations of Saldano. Defense attorneys never requested a competency hearing and the judge indicated he "had no reason to believe Saldano was legally incompetent," the 5th Circuit wrote. Defense lawyers, meanwhile, made a strategic decision at the resentencing phase to not introduce evidence of Saldano's mental condition. Instead, they stressed that Saldana didn't have a prior criminal record, that he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and that it was a companion, Jorge Chavez, who came up with the idea to commit the crime. Chavez is serving a life prison term. The appeals court has given Saldano's attorneys 30 days to present written arguments. State attorneys then will have 15 days to respond. (source: Associated Press) VIRGINIAimpending execution An execution will not equal justice On July 6, Virginia is scheduled to carry out its 3rd execution under Gov. Terry McAuliffe, D, and 113th since 1976. The inmate, William C. Morva, was convicted of fatally shooting 2 men - a deputy sheriff and a hospital security guard - in 2006. His guilt is not in question. What is less clear is if jurors would have sentenced him to death had they been aware of the true extent of his mental illness. At varying points, Morva reportedly believed that he was meant to lead a distant indigenous tribe; that he was gifted with special powers to carry out an unidentified quest; that he was unjustly persecuted by local officials and the administration of President George W. Bush; and that his real name was Nemo, which is Latin for "nobody." These are not signs of a rational mind, but rather one afflicted with debilitating mental illness. A mental-health expert who assessed him after his conviction diagnosed him with delusional disorder, a serious psychotic condition similar to schizophrenia. We have previously written that capital punishment is dehumanizing. But the execution of a man suffering from severe mental illness is an act of particular barbarism - especially if his condition may have been misdiagnosed in trial. According to Morva's attorneys, the mental-health experts who provided statements to the jury did not receive his full case history and diagnosed him with a personality disorder rather than psychosis. Despite his personal opposition to the death penalty, McAuliffe is committed to upholding Virginia law, a stance we understand and respect. He commuted a death sentence in April, however, after he found flaws in the sentencing process of Ivar Teleguz. His predecessors - then-Gov. James Gilmore, R, and now-Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. - had granted clemency on grounds of mental illness. Morva's case raises many of the same questions and adds fodder to the national effort to abolish capital punishment for people with serious mental illnesses. McAuliffe should look favorably on the petition for clemency before him and commute Morva's sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He should also ensure that Morva receives the mental-health treatment he so obviously needs. The killing of
