[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 24


BOTSWANA:

They must hang - Nasha


She was debating the State of the Nation Address by President Festus
Mogae. Although she did not mention any names, Nasha said it is unfair for
some people to be paid for speaking for the rights of murderers, under the
guise of Ditshwanelo, while they forget about the rights of the dead.

"The rights of the dead are the same as those of the living," she said.
Nasha said that many people have lost lives to merciless criminals. She,
however, appreciated that the judicial system did not sentence to death
any person who kills by mistake.

She stated that any person who commits a premeditated murder should not be
forgiven, citing the Molepolole murder in which the man confessed to the
High Court in Lobatse on how they executed the woman and removed her
private parts for ritual purposes. The court has since sentenced the man
to death.

Nasha emphasised that Botswana made theright decision to maintain the
death penalty and that some countries in the region regret abolishing it.

The death penalty should be implemented irrespective of gender, Nasha
said. She said that Botswana should not be pressurised by any organisation
to abolish the death penalty.

"We can't make laws in order to please the international community or
whoever," she said.

Nasha defended President Mogae's silent diplomacy on Zimbabwe saying that
shouting at President Robert Mugabe would not achieve any positive
results.

She cited the Lesotho conflict in 1998 in which Botswana Defence Force
(BDF) soldiers and their South African counterparts calmed the situation.

She said that she travelled with Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation to Lesotho knowing that they could be shot and
killed.

"We held closed door meetings with conflicting parties and the situation
was brought under control," Nasha said. The minister said that media in
Botswana is doing their job professionally except for a few individuals
who do not abide by the ethics. She said that it would not be fair to
paint all media houses with the same brush.

(source: Mmegi, Botswana)






SLOVAKIA/RUSSIA:

Slovak police detain 2 Chechen terrorists


Slovak police have arrested 2 alleged Chechen terrorists suspected of an
attack in which 2 Russian officers were killed in Grozny 5 years ago,
local media reported on Friday.

Anzor Shadidovich Chentiev, 23, and Ali Nuridinovich Ibragimov, 29, have
been prosecuted in Russia for banditry and attack on military officers.

"In 2001 they and their accomplices killed 2 members of the Interior
Ministry staff in Grozny. They probably operated as part of a criminal
gang," the report said.

The 2 alleged terrorists, wanted under an international arrest warrant,
entered Slovakia illegally across its eastern border.

The Russian General Prosecutor's Office has asked Slovakia to extradite
the 2, who allegedly face death penalty in Russia.

"Ibragimov was arrested in April...and the regional court in Kosice, east
Slovakia, ordered that he be taken into custody," Judita Gulbisova from
the Kosice Regional Prosecutor's Office is quoted as saying.

Chentiev originally applied for asylum in Slovakia and was placed in a
refugee center, but the court later remanded him in custody as well.

(source: Xinhua News)