April 9
SEYCHELLES/EGYPT:
Seychelles asks for reconsideration following sentencing of 3 Seychellois
nationals to death for drug trafficking
Following information that 3 Seychellois nationals convicted on charges of drug
trafficking in Egypt yesterday have been sentenced to death by execution, the
government of Seychelles has appealed to the government of Egypt to commute
their sentences to life imprisonment, this in a strong condemnation of the
death penalty.
The island's Home Affairs and Transport Minister, Joel Morgan, has stated that
the government and people of Seychelles are shocked and dismayed by the court
decision and that the government has asked the Seychelles' Foreign Affairs
Minister, Jean-Paul Adam, currently attending an African Union Ministerial
meeting in Addis Ababa, to meet with his Egyptian counter-part to make an
appeal for clemency.
"The death sentence has long been abolished from our laws, and we are
respectfully appealing to the Egyptian government to allow the men in question
to serve out their time in prison. We, as a nation are strongly opposed to
capital punishment," said Minister Morgan.
"The Seychelles government respects the rule of law and legal prerogatives of
Egypt, as well as the sovereignty of their nation, but we have humbly asked
that the sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. We have made a case to the
Egyptian government," explained Minister Adam.
Minister Adam added that the Seychelles Foreign Ministry would continue to be
available to the men and their families for consular assistance where possible.
The Seychellois convicted were part of a crew onboard a ship that was detained
and apprehended on April 22, 2011 after it, according to reports, entered
Egyptian waters illegally. Acting on information that the ship was bringing in
an amount of illicit drugs from Pakistan, the ship was monitored and stopped.
It is understood that the conviction will be appealed through the Egyptian
legal system, this while the Seychelles government also undertakes diplomatic
efforts for clemency for the 3 Seychellois.
(source: forimmediaterelease.net)
PHILIPPINES:
PNoy bet concerned with Filipino drug trafficking in Hong Kong
Team PNoy's re-electionist Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano expressed concern that drug
trafficking remains a "problem" among the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in
the Chinese Special Administrative Region.
A day after his campaign rally along Chater Road where he was warmly welcomed
by the OFWs, Cayetano visited the Philippine Consulate here where he was told
that there was apparent snowballing cases of Filipino drug mules.
"Pumunta ko sa Consulate natin at nananatili pa rin na problema 'yung drugs,
'yung mga Pinoy na ginagamit as drug couriers," he said in an interview.
However, he did not mention how many Filipino workers were facing drug charges
in this administrative region.
It would be recalled that after the execution of three Filipino drug mules in
China in 2011, Consul Noel Novicio disclosed that a Filipino was sentenced to
death without reprieve.
Despite the government's last ditch effort to spare them from lethal injection,
drug mules Sally Villanueva, Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain were executed
after they were slapped with death penalty for smuggling drugs to China in
2008.
In its 495-page report in 2011, the Department of Foreign Affairs said 576
Filipinos were facing drug charges in 32 countries. Of this figure, a total of
207 Filipinos were involved in drug-related cases in China. In that report, 20
OFWs were facing drug charges in Hong Kong.
Cayetano also took opportunity to praise the Consulate for its uninterrupted
service for Filipino workers, which really shows the Aquino government's
steadfast efforts to promote the welfare of the OFWs.
"Dire- diretso ang service nila. They work overtime," he said, citing how hard-
working the Consulate is, which is headed by Consul General Noel Servigon.
Less than a week before the overseas absentee voting, Cayetano held his
campaign rally last Sunday in Hong Kong, which is a home to 150,000 Filipino
migrants and has been the top post for overseas absentee voting.
He vowed to personally attend issues hounding and affecting the modern- day
heroes of the land.
(source: Manila Bulletin)
DENMARK:
Denmark ends Iranian drug crime support
Amnesty International are elated that Denmark will no longer be indirectly
contributing to the execution of drug traffickers
The development minister, Christian Friis Bach (Radikale), has decided to cease
providing financial support to a United Nations anti-drug programme due to
revelations that Iran has been using the programme to execute hundreds of
criminals every year.
"It's a signal to Iran that the implementation of the death penalty is
unacceptable and not something we can be involved with," Bach told Politiken
newspaper.
Via the Foreign Ministry's aid organisation, Danida, Denmark has contributed 5
million kroner annually over the past 2 years to the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which among other tasks battles the drug trade in
Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. But with the news that the Iranian government
has been executing hundreds of criminals as a result of the anti-drug
programme, human rights organisations such as Amnesty International accused
Denmark and other donor countries for indirectly sponsoring the death penalty
in Iran.
Denmark had been expected to contribute a further 7 million kroner over the
next two years but an evaluation of the project last Friday prompted Bach to
pull the plug on Danish assistance.
"As the evaluation indicates, the donations are leading to executions. The
efforts are leading to more prisoners and I don't feel confident that this
programme can adequately guarantee the strengthening of human rights in Iran,"
Bach explained to Politiken.
The latest UN statistics provided by special observers in Iran showed that the
number of executions there has more than quadrupled to an average of 500 a year
over the past 3 years, the majority of which involve drug criminals.
Friis Bach has decided that Denmark will divert its financial support to other
UNODC projects in the region, a move that garnered support from Amnesty
International.
"It's essential that one doesn't take on crime-fighting efforts that lead to
the systematic violation of human rights," Trine Christensen, policy director
at Amnesty International, told Politiken. "The situation in Iran is serious
with hundreds of people being executed due to drug crimes. The extent of the
problem makes it necessary to step in."
Amnesty International estimates that around 260,000 people were arrested in
2011 for drug-related offences. Of the 488 people executed by Iran in 2011,
about 3/4 were for drug-related offences.
(source: The Copenhagen Post)
IRAN:
Death verdict of 3 accused of stick-up is confirmed
The death verdict of three prisoners who are accused of stick-up is confirmed
by the supreme court.
According to Mehr News report, death verdict of 3 prisoners who did stick-up in
Tafihan and Mahmoud Abad villages close-by Fars province, is confirmed by the
supreme court.
3 of them accused to a murder during the stick-ups and harassing people.
Related to this case Fars province police had arrested 4 guys whose names are
Alireza, Mojtaba, Ayoub and Ebrahim.
After forming the dossiers and indictments their case was sent to Shiraz
revolutionary court.
In the trial session the envoy of judge explained the indictment as "In this
dossier Alireza and Mojtaba based on enmity against the God through 1 stick-up
with harassing the victim Jamal and killing him, and involvement in 9 more
stick-ups and faced to the complaint of 48 people, 2 stick-ups which the
victims were Afghani, intimidating people by weapon and involvement in
abductions, also keeping weapon, rape by using weapon, disobeying the police
forces warns and destroying the car of the traffic police purposely."
Also Ibrahim and Ayoub accused to enmity against the God through involvement in
2 times stick-up with harassing people which faced them complaint of 7 people,
intimidating people by weapons, involvement in abduction and illegal weapon
dealings.
The judge sentenced Alireza, Mojtaba and Ibrahim to death and Ayoub to exile
for 15 years in Sistan and Balouchestan according to article 183, article 185
part A, article 189 including its B part, and articles 190, 194 and 120 of
Islamic rules.
"The accused men objected the verdict and their dossier was sent to the supreme
court for more investigation. The supreme court's judges confirmed the verdicts
according to the dossiers, issued verdicts and defence statements", Judge
Emrani, the head of supreme court office says.
(source: HRANA News Agency)
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