Feb. 23
KENYA:
Death-Row Prisoners Plead for Pardon
Death-row convicts at the Kamiti Maximum Prison yesterday appealed to the
Government to be considered for pardon in the recently proposed plan to
decongest jails.
The prisoners, who were speaking to the Nation at the prison grounds, said
they should be given a chance to prove that they have reformed.
One of the inmates of "Condemned A", a cell that houses death-row convicts
said: "Here at 'condemned' we wait for only 2 things; for the President to
pardon us, or for him to order that we be executed."
"Already being on death row and serving over 10 years in jail is enough
punishment. Unless you go through what we have gone through while on
death-row, you can never say you have trurly reformed," said Francis
Ferdinand wa Kamwere, a self-appointed spokesman of the inmates.
Inmates at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison read the Daily Nation, keen
to find out more about the possibility of 20,000 convicts in for petty
offences being freed. Photo by Stephen Mudiari.
Earlier this week, police chiefs expressed their concern over a plan to
free 20,000 convicts from the country's crowded prisons, currently housing
between 45,000 to 50,000 inmates.
The plan by Vice-President Moody Awori is to target petty offenders who
are serving three years or less. The move is aimed at halving the number
of prisoners, which is currently double the holding capacity of the jails.
Revelations of Mr Awori's plan have drawn sharp criticism from the police
who argue that releasing such a huge number of convicts would be a drastic
blow to the fight against crime.
The public has also criticised the move saying they fear being left in the
hands of "convicts".
According to the inmates, there is a big difference between prisoners on
death-row and those jailed for petty offences. By the time they are taken
to "Condemned A", the inmates have exhausted all chances of appeal and
their fate is sealed. This, they said, is the main difference between a
prisoner staring death in the face and the other who knows he or she has a
chance of walking away free after 6 months or 2 years.
"A prisoner who has only stayed in jail for 6 months or even only a year,
has not had enough time to rethink his life and reflect on what brought
him to jail in the first place. This is why it is easy for them to become
jail birds who are repeat offenders as opposed to us who have been here
for years and have had time to thoroughly reform and re-think why we came
to jail in the first place," added another inmate John Ndegwa Njuguna who
has served nine years at "condemned A".
He added: "If the public find it hard to have us released, then we should
be set free and be placed under surveillance to monitor our every move so
that we can prove to them that we have truly reformed".
Most of the inmates at "Condemned A" were hard-core prisoners convicted
for serious crimes like murder and robbery with violence.
The cell, which is designed to hold only 50 inmates, now has 102
prisoners.
In 2003, the Government freed 28 death row inmates and transferred 195
from death-row to life imprisonement under presidential pardon.
The inmates claimed that none of the 28 have been re-arrested and thrown
back to jail since their release.
Convicts while away the time at Kamiti. They have urged the President to
release them on the grounds that they are now reformed. Photo by Stephen
Mudiari.
"This is to show that we at "Condemned A" value what comes with liberty
and we would not dare go back to committing the same crime that made us
stare death in the face!" said another inmate Hassan Saidi Aoko.
The prisoners lamented the psychological torture of being held in a cell
next to the execution chambers and the nerve-wracking torment of wondering
whether they would see the next day or they would be dragged to the
gallows.
Charles T. Muraya, the officer commanding Kamiti Maximum Prisons, agrees
that the institution has a serious congestion problem which needs to be
addressed immediately.
Kamiti has a capacity for 1,500 inmates but today holds 3,885 prisoners.
"And the number keeps rising because every day we do not know how many
will be referred here from the courts without a thought of how we are
going to handle it".
Mr Muraya emphasizes the need to reduce the number of remandees who are
more than the convicts.
"Our biggest problem lies with remandees. Currently only 1, 270 inmates at
Kamiti are convicted prisoners, the remaining 2,600 are all remandees and
there is nothing we can do about it because their cases are still pending
in court".
Mr Muraya said: "They sit here and do nothing as the days go by.
Because the prosecution of cases is slow prisons have no choice but to
hold all suspects until their cases are concluded.
Kenya has a total of 90 prisons, 2 borstal institutions for young
offenders and one corrective training centre for the youth, with a
capacity of approximatly 20,000 inmates. The number has since more than
double.
(source: The Nation)
SRI LANKA:
Conviction, death sentence set aside
The Court of Appeal set aside the conviction and death sentence imposed by
the Colombo High Court on an accused who had been found guilty of
attacking an army camp at Karainagar along with a group of 500 LTTE cadres
with the intention of killing Army personnel.
The Bench comprised Justices Gamini Abeyratne and S.I. Imam. Dr. Ranjit
Fernando for accused-appellant Shanmugasunderam Ragupathy submitted that
the trial-judge had failed to consider the evidence of the prosecution had
not supported the particulars of the charge resulting in the
non-compliance of the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act.
The counsel submitted that although the Superintendent of Police who had
recorded the confession had stated in his evidence that the accused had
confessed attacking an Army camp at Karainagar during this particular
period, he had not checked the veracity of the confession with regard to
the attack.
Senior State Counsel Buvaneka Aluvihare submitted that he was unable to
support the conviction.
Dr. Ranjit Fernando with S. Vinayagamoorthi and Amitha Amarasena appeared
for the accused-appellant.
Senior State Counsel Buwaneka Aluvihare appeared for the Attorney General.
(source: The Daily Times)
SAUDI ARABIA----executions
Saudi Arabia conducts twin beheadings
Saudi Arabia publicly beheaded a Saudi killer and an Indian smuggler
Tuesday in line with Sharia or Islamic law.
An Interior Ministry statement said the Saudi national was convicted of
killing a compatriot by stabbing him several times in the back.
The Indian was found guilty of smuggling heroin into the oil-rich kingdom
and was sentenced to death by a Sharia, or Islamic, court.
The twin executions were held in public in the city of Damam in eastern
Saudi Arabia and in Riyadh.
On Monday a Pakistani national was executed in the Red Sea port city of
Jeddah for smuggling heroin.
The statement said the ministry was announcing the executions because the
Saudi government wants to show it is serious about fighting crime and
drugs and "to warn that whoever carries out such acts will have the same
punishment according to God's laws."
Tuesday's twin executions brought to 19 the number of people beheaded in
the Saudi kingdom since the beginning of 2005.
Saudi authorities beheaded 35 people last year and 52 in 2003.
(source: United Press International)
