[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 15



SOUTH AFRICA:

'Bring back the death penalty'


About 50 people gathered outside the Krugersdorp Magistrate's Court on
Tuesday to protest against the "inexcusable" murder of conservationist
Frans Richter.

Protesters, singing and dancing to the beat of drums, held placards, some
reading: 'Bring back the death penalty' and 'No bail!!! Give the murderers
to us!!!'

A woman and 4 men were expected to appear in court for the murder of
Richter, who was shot at his farm, the Heia Safari Lodge, late last year.

Richter's daughter Gaby Bergner, organiser of the protest, said her
father's murder had affected tourism in a big way.

She said the recent murders of KwaZulu-Natal birder Robin Guy and a
KwaZulu-Natal chef were inexcusable.

"The government needs to look after us. It is our constitutional right to
be looked after in our country," Bergner said.

(source: News24)






CHINA:

Top Chinese official gets death sentence for graft--media


A top official in a leading Chinese city has been sentenced to death for
graft, while an ongoing anti-corruption drive has ensnared other regional
leaders, state press said Tuesday.

Wang Zheng, the former top official of southwest Chongqing municipality,
was convicted of accepting over 2.23 million yuan in bribes, the Chongqing
Evening News said.

Wang, the former vice head of Chongqing's prosperous Yuzhong district, was
sentenced to death and given a 2-year reprieve on December 31, meaning the
punishment is likely to be commuted to life in prison.

The trial of his wife, Luo Jinghong, also a top city official, on graft
charges began on Monday, the paper said.

In a separate case, Yu Guohua, vice mayor of Jilin city in northeast
China, was ousted from the ruling Communist Party and stripped of his post
for "serious violations of discipline," the Jilin Daily reported.

"Yu Guohua used his position to receive and solicit a large amount of
bribes, illegally possessed firearms, held corrupt morals and maintained a
mistress," the paper said. "His case is serious and its influence on the
public is bad."

Party disciplinarian officials have handed the case over for prosecution
in the legal system, it added.

Meanwhile, Cui Baohong, the former head of Heshun county in northern
Shanxi province, was jailed for 20 years for graft amounting to 9.42
million yuan, the China Youth Daily said.

Cui was convicted by an intermediate court on Monday of extorting 2.45
million yuan, misappropriating 3.9 million yuan and accepting 3 million
yuan in bribes.

Heshun is one of China's most impoverished counties, the paper said.

When arrested, the former county head maintained four apartments in the
provincial capital of Taiyuan, owned 18 cars and possessed 4.11 million
yuan in cash, it said.

(source: Agence France Presse)






IRAN:

Amnesty urges Iran to stop stoning executions


Amnesty International on Tuesday called on Iran to abolish the "grotesque
and horrific" practice of stoning people to death.

Amnesty, which opposes the death penalty under any circumstances, said an
Iranian man had been stoned to death in July last year for committing
adultery, despite a moratorium being imposed on such executions in 2002.

The woman he was convicted of committing adultery with still faces the
threat of being stoned, a practice that involves the woman being buried up
to her breasts in sand and then pelted with stones until she dies.

"Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian government to abolish
immediately and totally execution by stoning and to impose a moratorium on
the death penalty," the rights group said in a 30-page report on the
practice.

"Iranian law prescribes that the stones are deliberately chosen to be
large enough to cause pain, but not so large as to kill the victim
immediately ... It is a particularly grotesque and horrific practice."

While stoning is used relatively seldom in Iran, it is the favoured form
of execution in cases involving adultery and has a disproportionate impact
on women, according to Amnesty.

Iran has one of the highest rates of execution in the world. In 2006, 177
people were put to death, mostly by hanging. Last year, that number was
expected to be exceeded, with 124 people executed in the first 7 months of
the year.

As well as calling for the abolition of stoning and a moratorium on the
death penalty, Amnesty also urged the Iranian government to decriminalise
adultery, which is not illegal in the majority of countries.

(source: Reuters)