August 13
PHILIPPINES:
19 Abu Sayyaf rebels get death penalty in the Philippines
A Philippine judge on Friday sentenced to death 19 Muslim Abu Sayyaf
rebels who were among those who kidnapped several people during an attack
on a southern town 3 years ago.
Danilo Bucoy, a regional trial court judge, found the 19 accused guilty of
kidnapping more than a dozen people during the attack on Lamitan town,
Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila, in June 2001.
Among those sentenced to die was a cousin of senior Abu Sayyaf leader
Isnilon Hapilon, one of five rebel leaders wanted by the United States.
Court officials, however, clarified that only 13 of the 19 rebels who were
sentenced to die are in the custody of the government. The others have
escaped or were still at large.
The attack on Lamitan occurred a few days after Abu Sayyaf rebels seized
20 people, including three Americans, from a resort in the western
province of Palawan and brought them to Basilan.
The rebels laid siege on a hospital and a church in the towns centre,
triggering an almost day-long standoff with government soldiers. They were
able to flee the area with more hostages despite being surrounded by
troops.
2 of the 3 American hostages and a Filipino nurse seized in Lamitan were
killed during their captivity, while the other hostages were either freed
after paying ransom or were rescued by the military.
The Abu Sayyaf is the smallest but most violent Muslim rebel group in the
southern Philippines. The US has included the guerrillas in its blacklist
of foreign terrorists due to alleged links to the Al Qaeda international
network.
(source: The Khaleej Times)
MALAWI:
Supreme Court confirms Chief Nyambi death sentence
A panel of 3 Supreme Court of Appeal judges on Thursday upheld a judgement
of the High Court to sentence Chief Nyambi of Machinga and 2 others to
death.
Delivering the unanimous judgement on behalf of Chief Justice Leonard
Unyolo and Justice Anastazia Msosa, Justice Duncan Tambala said the appeal
has failed due to the evidence adduced by the state in the lower court.
"After carefully examining the evidence which was adduced in the court
below, the arguments which the counsel for the appellants and the state
made in the court below and in this court and after considering the
learned Judges' final directions to the jury, we are unable to find any
error of such gravity as can lead us to find the verdict of the jury in
this case unsafe," said Tambala.
"We confirm the verdict of guilty of murder returned by the jury against
each appellant. The sentences and order imposed on the appellants are also
confirmed," added Tambala.
As the judge was pronouncing the judgement, the 3 - Yasin Daiton Ling'omba
who is Chief Nyambi, George Allan and Rashid Willo - looked composed and
were later taken to a waiting vehicle for prison. Willo is a juvenile and
was detained "during the President's pleasure."
Their lawyer Arthur Makhalira said in an interview after the judgement he
would plead for presidential clemency after exhausting all ways of trying
to free his clients through the court process.
Nyambi and the other 2 are accused of killing Patrick Ingolo who is
alleged to have been caught stealing some maize, together with his wife,
in the garden of Margaret Asikimu Kawinga, who is Chief Chamba and wife to
the convicted chief.
Evidence in the lower court was that the late Ingolo's wife, who was
carrying a baby at her back and was pregnant that time was caught and
brought to Chief Nyambi who assaulted her personally before ordering his
chief messenger to lock her up in a cell.
The court also heard that the deceased surrendered himself to Chief
Chambas house and Chief Nyambi ordered that he should be tied with
electrical wire and was subjected to beatings together with his wife until
she lost consciousness.
Witnesses told the High Court that Allan and Willo, assisted by one of
Chief Chamba's watchmen, carried the deceased and his wife in wheelbarrows
to their house and Ingolo is reported to have died a short distance from
Chief Chambas house.
The 3 appellants were contending that Ingolo died as a result of mob
justice but the Supreme Court held a different view.
The clear and overwhelming evidence pointed to the irresistible conclusion
that it was the appellants who severely assaulted and even tortured the
deceased and his wife on February 23, 2002, said Justice Tambala.
They also alleged that the case was as a result of political issues after
Chief Nyambi spoke at a public rally addressed by the former president
Bakili Muluzi that the President had visited the area kumalecheleche (at
the end of his term of office).
But the Supreme Court observed in its ruling that the judge in the lower
court properly directed the jury on the matter.
"It would appear to us that the issue of politics was brought into the
case by the defence in order to improperly deflect the jury from a fair
and careful consideration of evidence and issues relevant to the case,"
said Justice Tambala.
The state was represented by Principal State Advocate Pacharo Kayira.
(source: The Nation)
INDIA----impending execution
Countdown to execution in India
Final preparations are underway in India for the execution of a man
convicted of raping and killing a schoolgirl 14 years ago. Executions are
rare in India - the last one was in 1995.
Dhananjoy Chatterjee lost his final legal battle against his death
sentence on Thursday when the Supreme Court rejected an appeal for
clemency.
The case has gone through a prolonged legal process with President APJ
Kalam turning down a clemency appeal.
Chatterjee will be hanged by an 83-year-old hangman, Nata Mullick, who is
already at the Alipore Central Jail in Calcutta, where the execution will
take place.
His 21-year-old grandson, Prabhat Mallick, will assist him.
"I am not afraid," the grandson told journalists in Calcutta.
Chatterjee's execution is due to take place between 0040-0430 Indian time
on Saturday.
Saturday is also his birthday.
A warrant will be read out to him in his cell
Prison officials will then hand him over to the executioners.
He will be marched to the gallows where he will be hanged in the presence
of witnesses.
A doctor will then issue a death certificate.
Law Minister in the state of West Bengal, Nisith Adhikari, said Chatterjee
had asked for Hindu hymns to be played when he is led to his execution.
He has also asked for his kidneys and eyes to be donated after his death.
"His last wishes will be fulfilled," Mr Adhikari told the AFP news agency.
Suicide threat
A large police team has been deployed in Chatterjee's village, where his
family have threatened to commit mass suicide if he is executed.
Alipore jail, Calcutta, where the execution will take place.
They have also refused to collect his body for cremation.
"We will not be alive to see him dead," his father Bangshidhar Chatterjee
told the BBC.
"We will die before he does."
Dhananjoy Chatterjee's lawyers had argued his conviction was based on
circumstantial evidence and that DNA testing was not carried out.
Most people in West Bengal support the death penalty in this case.
However, some human rights groups had opposed the hanging.
They had said a life sentence would have been a more appropriate
punishment.
Chatterjee was sentenced to death for raping and killing 16-year-old Hetal
Parekh in 1990.
The death penalty is rarely carried out in India. It is usually reserved
for particularly gruesome or politically sensitive cases.
The assassins of India's independence leader, Mahatma Gandhi, and former
prime minister, Indira Gandhi, were among those executed in the past 50
years.
(source: BBC News)
