June 25
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Saudi beheads citizen for murder----40 executions in kingdom so far this year
Saudi authorities beheaded on Monday one of its citizens after he was convicted
of shooting dead 2 fellow Saudis, the interior ministry announced in a
statement carried by state news agency SPA.
Musfer Bin Atallah Al Jaeed shot dead Ahmad Bin Mayud Al Sawat and Fares Bin
Masud Al Sawat after a dispute, the ministry said.
Al Jaeed was beheaded in the the western province of Taef.
His beheading brings to 40 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia so far
this year, according to an AFP tally based on official reports.
Under the AFP count, at least 76 people were beheaded in 2011, while rights
group Amnesty International put the number of executions last year at 79.
The death penalty in Saudi Arabia applies to a wide range of offences including
rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking, as well as murder, as
stipulated by Sharia law.
(source: Gulf News)
IRAN:
Iranian pair face death penalty after 3rd alcohol offence--2 people previously
lashed 160 times for consuming alcohol, which is forbidden under Islamic Sharia
law
2 Iranians have been sentenced to death for persistent consumption of alcohol
under the country's Islamic Sharia law, which forbids the use, manufacturing
and trading of all types of alcoholic drinks.
The 2, who have not been named by the authorities, have each previously been
lashed 160 times after twice being arrested for consuming alcohol. Being
convicted for the 3rd time makes them liable for the death penalty.
The head of the judiciary Seyed Hasan Shariati, based in Iran's north-eastern
province of Khorasan Razavi, told the semi-official Isna news agency that the
supreme court had upheld their death sentences and that officials were
preparing for their execution.
"2 people who committed the offence of consuming alcohol for the 3rd time have
been sentenced to be executed. The verdict has been confirmed by the supreme
court and we are preparing to administer it," he said.
Under Iranian Sharia law, certain crimes such as sodomy, rape, theft,
fornication, apostasy and consumption of alcohol for the third time are
considered to be "claims of God" and therefore have mandatory death sentences.
Sentences for such crimes, which are called Hodud in the Islamic terminology,
are not at the discretion of the judge but are defined by Sharia law.
For some of these crimes, including theft and lesbianism, the death penalty is
only handed down if the convict is a re-offender who has already been punished
3 times for the same crime in the past. In the case of alcohol, the death
penalty comes on the 3rd offence.
According to Shadi Sadr, an Iranian lawyer based in London, a decision on
whether such a punishment can be issued depends on the judge's knowledge – a
loophole which allows for subjective judicial rulings where no conclusive
evidence is presented.
"Prostitutes are often victims of such punishment and can be given a death
sentence," Sadr said. "Because having illicit sexual relationships is their job
and they often get caught by the police it's very likely that they will have
committed the crime 3 times in the past."
In crimes related to alcohol consumption, Shariati warned: "We will show no
mercy in finding, trying and punishing those breaking the law and we will
punish them to the highest extent."
Despite the ban, many people in Iran drink alcohol, usually a homemade liquor
called araq, which contains 45% pure ethanol. It is usually mixed before
consumption and can be dangerous because of the ethanol used in its
distillation.
Hosts who throw parties call an alcohol vendor who delivers it to the door.
Western alcohol is smuggled to Iran and can be found in underground markets but
can be costly. People who belong to non-Muslim minorities such as Christians
and Armenians, which are recognised by the authorities, are allowed to produce
and consume alcohol in the country.
In a rare acknowledgement of Iran's hidden alcohol consumption, which has
become - as Golnaz Esfandiari of Persian Letters puts it in her blog - a "means
of escape" for the young from state restrictions, a senior official in the
country's health ministry warned recently against reports of an increase in its
use.
(source: The Guardian)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
UAE Cabinet to consider 'Wadiyma's Law'
A draft law is due to be submitted to the UAE Cabinet that lays out strict
penalties for child abuse and negligence.
National news agency WAM said the Technical Committee for Legislations at the
Ministry of Social Affairs debated the law, which will be forwarded to the
Cabinet. The law includes instructions from Vice President and Prime Minister
of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who
wants strict penalties to prevent negligence or injury to children in light of
the case of 8-year-old physically abused girl Wadiyma.
The ministry said the law is drawn from the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a human rights treaty setting out the civil,
political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children, which the
UAE ratified in 1995.
The tougher penalties and other proposed amendments will be discussed by the
Ministry of Interior during this week before the draft law is sent to the
Cabinet.
Wadiyma’s decomposed body was found buried in the desert last month. Dubai
Police believe it had been there for 3 months.
Her father and his lover have been arrested on suspicion of torturing her to
death and also abusing her 7-year-old sister, Meyra.
Last week, Dubai's most senior prosecutor, Eissam Issa Al Humaidan, the
Attorney General, has called on the courts to hand down the death sentence on
Wadiyma’s father, Hamad Saod Juma Al Sherawi, 29.
Al Sherawi and his 27-year-old lover Al Anood Mohammad Al Ameri are accused of
pouring boiling water over the girls and burning them with a clothes iron, as
well as beating them.
Al Sherawi allegedly told the police he did it to discipline them. Meyra told
police that Wadiyma collapsed as they were torturing her in March and died.
Al Sherawi and Al Ameri are accused of burying her body in the desert to hide
their crime.
No date has yet been set for their trial.
(source: 7daysindubai.com)
****************
Drug Briton faces death penalty
A British man is facing the death penalty in the United Arab Emirates, the
Foreign Office has confirmed.
A local news report claimed the unnamed Briton is a 21-year-old, who was
sentenced in Abu Dhabi alongside a 19-year-old Syrian man for selling an
undercover police officer 20g (0.7oz) of cannabis worth 1,500 UAE Dirhams
(£262).
The Foreign Office was unable to confirm the details of the case, but a
spokesman confirmed that it had been contacted.
He said: "I can confirm that a British national is facing death penalty in the
UAE.
"We remain in close contact with the British national and his legal team and
continue to provide consular assistance."
UAE newspaper the National reported that the man's mother collapsed outside the
court after the sentence was passed.
It said a Sudanese co-defendant was jailed for a year for taking cannabis,
while a 17-year-old Emirati was ordered to undergo rehabilitation.
The UAE's ministry of justice was unavailable for comment.
(source: Press Association)
CHINA:
Chinese court upholds death penalty for man behind deadly bank blast
A higher people's court on Monday upheld the death penalty for a man convicted
of causing a blast that killed 2 people and injured 15 others in central
China's Hubei province.
Wang Haijian, 25, was sentenced to death on May 14 by the Wuhan Municipal
Intermediate People's Court after he detonated a homemade bomb in front of a
bank in the provincial capital Wuhan in a robbery attempt late last year.
Wang's accomplices Wang Wei and Wang An'an were given jail terms of 10 and 6
years, respectively, at the intermediate court.
The 3 appealed their sentences a few days later.
However, the Hubei Provincial Higher People's Court on Monday rejected their
appeals and upheld the previous sentences.
Wang Haijian began learning to make explosives in October 2010 and later tested
his homemade bombs with Wang Wei and Wang An'an. The three had been plotting to
rob a bank before Wang Wei and Wang An'an were deterred by the threat of being
caught and punished, and they pulled out of the scheme in August 2011.
The bomb went off in front of a China Construction Bank branch on Dec. 1, 2011,
when clerks were about to load money into a vehicle. Wang Haijian fled the
scene on a motorcycle after the robbery attempt failed.
The blast killed 2 passersby, left 15 people with minor injuries and resulted
in financial losses of about 127,000 yuan (20,320 U.S. dollars).
Wang Haijian's death penalty is still subject to review by the Supreme People's
Court.
(source: Xinhua News)
JAPAN:
Former Supreme Court Justice Dando dies at 98
Former Supreme Court Justice Shigemitsu Dando, one of the nation's leading
liberal law scholars and death penalty opponents, died of old age Monday, the
top court said. He was 98.
Dando graduated from Tokyo Imperial University, the predecessor of the
University of Tokyo, in 1935 and participated in the preparation of new laws
under the postwar Constitution, playing a leading role in drafting the Code of
Criminal Procedure.
Dando became a professor at the university in 1947, when it was renamed the
University of Tokyo.
In October 1974, Dando who was from Okayama Prefecture, became the first
scholar of criminal law to serve as a Supreme Court justice. He was reputedly a
dovish justice who gave priority to respect for human rights.
After leaving the Supreme Court in November 1983, Dando served as adviser to
the Imperial Household Agency.
(source: Japan Times)
JORDAN:
Death sentence issued in robbery-murder
The Criminal Court has sentenced 1 man to death and another to 10 years in
prison for robbing and murdering a Syrian man in a neighbourhood near the
University of Jordan (UJ) last September.
The court found A.T., 20, guilty of robbing and murdering Mahmoud Fadel, 17,
and handed him the death penalty.
The court also found A.A., also 20, guilty of complicity in Fadel's murder and
handed him a 10-year prison term.
Court papers said the 2 men, along with a 3rd defendant who was acquitted by
the court for lack of evidence, decided on September 2 to rob a random victim
because they needed money.
"The 3 men cruised the streets late at night in a pickup truck in the
University of Jordan area and spotted the victim who was walking back to his
house," the court said.
The 2 convicted defendants walked towards Fadel, and A.T. threatened him with a
switchblade, demanding his mobile phone and money.
"The victim resisted at first, then when he felt they were serious he handed
them the mobile, his belt and a takeaway meal he had bought that night," the
court added.
While the 2 men were attempting to leave the area, the victim screamed for
help, so A.T. stabbed him once in the thigh and left, according to the court.
"The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival
due to heavy blood loss," the court transcripts stated.
The following day, the court maintained, the defendants sold the victim's
mobile for JD30.
The defendants had pled not guilty to the charges at the opening of their trial
earlier this year.
The tribunal comprised judges Hayel Amr, Talal Akrabawi and Ayman Ghzawi.
The Cassation Court has begun reviewing the verdicts, which were issued at the
end of May.
(source: Jordan Times)
CHINA:
Chinese court upholds death penalty for man behind deadly bank blast
A higher people's court on Monday upheld the death penalty for a man convicted
of causing a blast that killed 2 people and injured 15 others in central
China's Hubei province.
Wang Haijian, 25, was sentenced to death on May 14 by the Wuhan Municipal
Intermediate People's Court after he detonated a homemade bomb in front of a
bank in the provincial capital Wuhan in a robbery attempt late last year.
Wang's accomplices Wang Wei and Wang An'an were given jail terms of 10 and 6
years, respectively, at the intermediate court.
The 3 appealed their sentences a few days later.
However, the Hubei Provincial Higher People's Court on Monday rejected their
appeals and upheld the previous sentences.
Wang Haijian began learning to make explosives in October 2010 and later tested
his homemade bombs with Wang Wei and Wang An'an. The three had been plotting to
rob a bank before Wang Wei and Wang An'an were deterred by the threat of being
caught and punished, and they pulled out of the scheme in August 2011.
The bomb went off in front of a China Construction Bank branch on Dec. 1, 2011,
when clerks were about to load money into a vehicle. Wang Haijian fled the
scene on a motorcycle after the robbery attempt failed.
The blast killed 2 passersby, left 15 people with minor injuries and resulted
in financial losses of about 127,000 yuan (20,320 U.S. dollars).
Wang Haijian's death penalty is still subject to review by the Supreme People's
Court.
(source: Xinhua News)
JAPAN:
Former Supreme Court Justice Dando dies at 98
Former Supreme Court Justice Shigemitsu Dando, one of the nation's leading
liberal law scholars and death penalty opponents, died of old age Monday, the
top court said. He was 98.
Dando graduated from Tokyo Imperial University, the predecessor of the
University of Tokyo, in 1935 and participated in the preparation of new laws
under the postwar Constitution, playing a leading role in drafting the Code of
Criminal Procedure.
Dando became a professor at the university in 1947, when it was renamed the
University of Tokyo.
In October 1974, Dando who was from Okayama Prefecture, became the first
scholar of criminal law to serve as a Supreme Court justice. He was reputedly a
dovish justice who gave priority to respect for human rights.
After leaving the Supreme Court in November 1983, Dando served as adviser to
the Imperial Household Agency.
(source: Japan Times)
JORDAN:
Death sentence issued in robbery-murder
The Criminal Court has sentenced 1 man to death and another to 10 years in
prison for robbing and murdering a Syrian man in a neighbourhood near the
University of Jordan (UJ) last September.
The court found A.T., 20, guilty of robbing and murdering Mahmoud Fadel, 17,
and handed him the death penalty.
The court also found A.A., also 20, guilty of complicity in Fadel's murder and
handed him a 10-year prison term.
Court papers said the 2 men, along with a 3rd defendant who was acquitted by
the court for lack of evidence, decided on September 2 to rob a random victim
because they needed money.
"The 3 men cruised the streets late at night in a pickup truck in the
University of Jordan area and spotted the victim who was walking back to his
house," the court said.
The 2 convicted defendants walked towards Fadel, and A.T. threatened him with a
switchblade, demanding his mobile phone and money.
"The victim resisted at first, then when he felt they were serious he handed
them the mobile, his belt and a takeaway meal he had bought that night," the
court added.
While the 2 men were attempting to leave the area, the victim screamed for
help, so A.T. stabbed him once in the thigh and left, according to the court.
"The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival
due to heavy blood loss," the court transcripts stated.
The following day, the court maintained, the defendants sold the victim's
mobile for JD30.
The defendants had pled not guilty to the charges at the opening of their trial
earlier this year.
The tribunal comprised judges Hayel Amr, Talal Akrabawi and Ayman Ghzawi.
The Cassation Court has begun reviewing the verdicts, which were issued at the
end of May.
(soure: Jordan Times)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
