Sept. 15
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan court upholds death sentence
Pakistan's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence awarded to a convicted
Indian spy, saying there was no scope for leniency given the nature of the
offense.
"The petitioner does not deserve any leniency in the matter of sentence
and we have found no force in the argument of the learned counsel that
conviction on the basis of the sole confessional statement of the
petitioner can be considered as mitigating circumstance for lesser
punishment," the Court ruled, according to The Hindu newspaper Thursday.
Counsel for the convicted spy in a review petition filed in the court said
the death sentence against Sarabjit Singh could be quashed because it was
based solely on a confession statement.
Singh, a native of Bhikhiwind village near the India-Pakistan border
crossed over to Pakistan while drunk in 1990, his family members say. The
Lahore High Court held him responsible for bomb blasts in Lahore and
Multan and sentenced him to death. The apex court upheld the verdict of
the lower court.
India says the case is one of mistake identity and has taken it up with
the highest levels of the Pakistani governments.
"The act of Sarabjit Singh was not only an act of terrorism at the
national level, rather it was an act of international terrorism, the
object of which was to disrupt and destroy the national life of the people
of Pakistan and the petitioner by committing this heinous offence not only
caused loss of life and property of innocent persons but also made an
attempt to damage the national integrity and stability of Pakistan," the
Pakistani court maintained.
(source: United Press International)
IRAQ:
Death Sentences for 41 Iraqis
The general prosecutor in Iraq stated that the criminal courts in Iraqi
cities have issued 41 death sentences against Iraqis convicted of crimes
relating to 'terrorism, murder and kidnapping', until the beginning of
this month.
Last month, Iraq has witnessed the carrying out of death sentences against
three Iraqis, who were convicted of crimes relating to 'terrorism, murder
and kidnapping' after the special criminal court in Al Kut (south of
Baghdad) has issued death sentences against them, for the first time since
the suspension of the death sentence penalty on behalf of the former
American civil governor of Iraq Paul Bremer in 2003.
In a press statement, Ghadanfar Hamad Jassem, general prosecutor, said,
"Iraqi courts in Baghdad and the provinces have issued death sentences
against 41 persons in cases relating to terrorism, murder and kidnapping."
He added, "The court has settled 5000 lawsuits relating to execution, 25
years imprisonment and life imprisonment. On the other hand, 6500 cases
that were committed to criminal courts are being studied and are awaiting
the issue of the judicial judgments."
In Baghdad, the United Nations Office has criticized the reapplication of
the death sentence in the country. Jassem said, "The Iraqi judiciary
council has directed to commit the detainees, with sufficient convicting
evidence, should be committed to courts as soon as possible to receive
their just penalties."
(source: Almendhar News)
SOUTH AFRICA:
Constitutional Court h penalty report
The State has promised to furnish the Constitutional Court with a progress
report by 3pm today on how far it has gone in converting death sentences
to appropriate prison terms for 50 prisoners.
The prisoners are still on death row, despite the fact that the death
penalty was abolished on June 6, 1995. The order of the court follows a
case brought before it by Aaron Sibiya, Purpose Khumalo, Petrus Geldenhuys
and David Nkuna to have their death sentence status converted.
The Constitutional Court has ordered Bridget Mabandla, the minister of
justice and constitutional development to expedite the conversion process
and ordered the state to file a report of progress made in the matter.
(source: SABC News)
