Feb. 12
IRAN:
Awaiting my execution: A letter from Iran
Saman Naseem, a member of Iran's Kurdish minority, is to be hung at dawn next
Thursday, 19 February. We have just days to demand the Iranian government stops
his execution.
Saman was only 17 when he was arrested, and his 'confession' followed an
extended period of torture. He was sentenced to death after an unfair trial for
allegedly taking part in armed activities against the state. Saman describes
what happened to him:
Torture started as soon as I entered the cell. The cell itself had been
designed with the sole aim of inflicting psychological torture: it was just two
metres long and 50 cm wide, with a toilet. I could only lie down in it
horizontally. There was a camera over my head which recorded all my movements,
even when I was using the toilet.
That was the start of 97 days of torture and suffering. During those first
days, the level of torture was so high that I was left unable to walk. My
entire body was black and blue. They hung me from my hands and feet for hours.
I was blindfolded the whole time. I could not see the interrogators and
torturers.
They used all kinds of inhumane and illegal methods to try and extract
confessions from me. They repeatedly told me that they had arrested members of
my family including my father, my mother, and my brother.
They told me that they would bury me with a digger. They told me that they
would kill me right there and would cover my grave with cement.
When I wanted to sleep at night, they would not let me rest. They would make
noises in different ways, including by constantly banging on the door. I was
between madness and consciousness. All 97 days passed like this. I was 17 years
old.
I was not allowed any contact with my family during this time. In an utterly
inhumane act, they filmed my interrogations, when I was hanging between life
and death, under pressure and the risk of torture. I can say now that those
interviews are absolute lies and I deny their content. Later, a news report was
released on state TV that implied I had been freed and had gone home. I was
actually being sentenced to death, based on a 'confession' that had been
pre-written.
My trial was a show ... I was not given any opportunity to defend myself. The
judge threatened to beat me a number of times and my lawyers were removed under
pressure ... I could be executed at any moment.
Saman could be executed as early as 19 February 2015 for crimes allegedly
committed when he was 17 years old. He was sentenced to death after an unfair
trial. Help us save Saman by tweeting the Supreme Leader of Iran @khamenei_ir
urging him to stop the execution, which is unlawful under international law,
given Saman's age when he was arrested.
Suggested tweet:
#Iran must halt #SamanNaseem's execution & end #DeathPenalty for juvenile
offenders #SaveSaman #StopTorture http://bit.ly/1M8U9jQ @khamenei_ir
(source: Amnesty International)
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Saudi beheads Pakistani heroin trafficker
Saudi Arabia on Thursday beheaded a convicted Pakistani drug smuggler, bringing
to 29 the number of executions in the first 6 weeks of the year.
Babir Hussein Mohammed Ishaq was found guilty of transporting heroin which he
had ingested, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official
Saudi Press Agency.
His case brings to 29 the number of Saudis and foreigners executed in the
kingdom this year, according to an AFP tally.
The government says it is determined to combat narcotics but it has faced
international criticism over its human rights record, including the use of the
death penalty.
Drug trafficking, rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are all punishable
by death under the kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law.
The Gulf nation executed 87 people last year, up from 78 in 2013.
(source: The Peninsula)
TUNISIA:
A Moroccan Sentenced to Death for the Murder of a Child
A Moroccan living in Tunisia will face the death penalty after he was convicted
of killing a child.
The court of first instance in the Tunisian city of Bizerte sentenced a
Moroccan to death for the murder of 10-year-old Rabii Neffati back in December,
2010.
4 accomplices were also sentenced to death by the same court. Among the accused
are the 2 aunts of the victim, the husband of 1 of them and his son.
The court also fined the defendants 100,000 Tunisian Dinars each.
(source: Morocco World News)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistani Christian, sentenced to death, denied family hug
The family of a Pakistani Christian woman who is facing the death penalty for
blasphemy is experiencing threats as they await her fate by a court.
Asia Bibi, the 1st woman in Pakistan ever to be sentenced to death under the
blasphemy law, was sentenced for insulting the prophet Muhammad, a charge she
has denied. Her appeals case is pending before the highest court in Pakistan.
Tiffany Barrans, international legal director at the American Center for Law
and Justice, says the last several years in prison haven't been easy for Bibi
or for her husband and kids, who have been without the mother and wife for 5
years.
"She has very limited access to her family in large part because her family has
been threatened," Barrans tells OneNewsNow.
Barrans recounts a recent visitation: "And on their recent visit, they even
asked the warden would they allow her - what we would call an in-person
visitation - would they allow her to come out from behind the bars, so that
they could embrace her. And the warden refused. And they said that she tried to
love on them from the distance of the bars and with the bars between them."
ACLJ is not directly representing Bibi but is working as an advocate for her,
including a petition that anyone can sign on her behalf. It has more than
254,000 names so far.
(source: onenewsnow.com)
INDIA:
2 given death penalty for killing 5 persons in 2006
A court here has awarded death sentence to 2 persons for "remorselessly"
killing 5 people including a local businessman, his wife and daughter in 2006,
noting the case falls under the rarest of the rare category.
Principal and Sessions judge Jammu, R S Jain, awarded death penalty to Sangram
Pardhi and Nanju yesterday and directed that the sentence of conviction imposed
upon the accused be submitted to the High Court.
Death penalty by a local court is subject to the confirmation of High Court.
On the intervening night of September 17 and 18 in 2006, 5 people including the
cement tycoon Rajinder Bhushan Chopra, his wife Madhu Chopra, daughter Saloni,
driver Jagan and helper Sonu were murdered in what was believed to be a case of
business rivalry.
The court observed that defence's argument that the accused had no prior
conviction carried no weight.
"There is another significant aggravating factor. The accused killed vulnerable
persons including a housewife and young girl. The counsel for accused has
referred to mitigating factors. One of the mitigating factors is that the
accused have no previous convictions. That is a little weight in a murder of
this gravity. The horror of what happened is all too apparent," the order read.
The court observed that the murders were premeditated and an extensive planning
was done before the crime.
"There is extensive premeditation and planning of both of them that they
entered the house of the deceased Rajinder Bhushan Chopra when there was no
reason for them to do so.
On February 2, the court had acquitted 4 other accused including a former
Member of Legislative Council (MLC) of National Conference (NC) in the case.
Former MLC Tarlochan Singh Wazir, his brother Ajaib Singh, Nagar Singh and Raju
Simblia were let off by the court.
"Having done so, both the accused either by themselves or with unknown persons
tortured the inmates of the house which included a house wife namely Madhu
Chopra and her younger daughter in a cruel and horrific manner," Judge R S Jain
wrote in the judgement yesterday.
The judge said that the accused killed the 5 persons "in one go and
remorselessly" which reflected their "maniacal nature and disregard for human
life.
(source: Press Trust of India)
BANGLADESH:
5 JMB militants get death penalty
A trial court in Jhalakathi has sentenced to death 5 militants of banned
Islamist outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) for killing district
public prosecutor Haider Hossain 8 years ago.
Muhammad Abdul Halim, the additional district and sessions judge of Jhalakathi,
handed down the verdict yesterday in presence of three JMB men. 2 other
convicts are on the run.
The convicts are Billal Hossain (absconding) and Abu Shahadat Md Tanvir alias
Mehedi Hasan alias Mushfique of Barguna; Murad Hossain of Khulna; and Sagir
Hossain Bhuiyan (absconding) and Amirul Islam alias Amir alias Halkhat alias
Hiron alias Milad of Dhaka.
Haider was shot dead in the night of April 11, 2007 near his house while
returning home after offering prayers at the adjacent graveyard mosque - 13
days after the execution of 6 top JMB leaders including its chief Shayakh Abdur
Rahman and Siddiqur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai.
Haider had led the prosecution in the trial against 7 topmost JMB leaders for
the killing of 2 district judges - Jagonnath Parey and Shahid Sohel Ahmed - on
November 14, 2005.
Of the 7, 6 were executed on March 29, 2007 in 4 prisons of the country -
Kashimpur, Comilla, Mymensingh and Pabna - under tight security and secrecy.
The 5 others are Ataur Rahman Sunny, Abdul Awal Molla alias Omar alias Shakil
Ahmed, Amjad Hossain alias Khalid Saifullah, Iftekhar Hassan Al Mamun and
absconding Asadul Islam alias Arif
After the executions, the JMB militants threatened to kill Haider within 1
month.
Tarek Ibne Haider, the only son of prosecutor Haider, filed the murder case on
April 12, 2007 with the Jhalakathi sadar police against unknown persons.
CID inspector Mosharraf Hossain, the 5th investigation officer, submitted
charge sheet against the 5 JMB men on January 17, 2010 - around 39 months after
the killing. The charge sheet was prepared based on the confessional statement
of 1 of the convicts Murad and other evidence.
None of the family members of the victim was present in the court during
pronouncement of the verdict yesterday.
Contacted over the phone, Tarek said they were happy with the verdict. He
demanded quick execution of the verdict and erecting a memorial at the spot
where his father had been killed.
M Alam Khan Kamal, additional public prosecutor of Jhalakathi, pleaded for the
state. Lutfar Rahman represented the 3 convicts now under custody while Manjur
Rahman stood for the 2 fugitives as state defence counsel.
Kamal said after the indictment, the case was sent to Barisal Speedy Trial
Tribunal on November 30, 2010 which recorded the testimonies of 55 out of 57
witnesses. It was sent to the Jhalakathi District Judge's Court on June 26,
2011 since the 135-day timeframe of the tribunal ended by then.
The Jhalakathi First Additional District Judge's Court resumed the trial on
July 12, 2011 and recorded statement of another witness before delivery of the
verdict.
(source: Dhaka Tribune)
TAIWAN:
Mama Mouth Cafe convict's death sentence overturned----The Supreme Court said
capital punishment might not be appropriate in the case after Taiwan signed
human rights covenants
The Supreme Court overturned the death sentences handed down in both the 1st
and 2nd trials for Hsieh Yi-han when she was convicted of 2 murders, and
remanded the case to the Taiwan High Court for review.
Hsieh, manager of the Mama Mouth Cafe in New Taipei City's Bali District, was
convicted of drugging and murdering Chen Chin-fu and Chang Tsui-ping in
February 2013 and dumping their corpses in the Tamsui River.
Hsieh stole NT$350,000 from Chen and attempted to withdraw more money from his
wife's bank account by disguising herself as the murdered woman. The couple had
considered Hsieh a god-daughter and entrusted her with their personal chops.
Prior to the Supreme Court's decision, the lawyer for the victims' families,
Wei Yi-lung, said that no matter what the ruling was, the loss of the 2 was an
inconsolable blow to their families.
The Supreme Court returned the case to the lower court after questioning
whether it was appropriate after Taiwan signed into law the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Clause 2 of Article 6 of the ICCPR stipulates: "In countries which have not
abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most
serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the
commission of the crime and not contrary to the provisions of the present
Covenant and to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide. This penalty can only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement
rendered by a competent court."
(source: Taipei Times)
KENYA:
Millom man could face death penalty after being charged with girlfriend's
murder in Kenya
A Millom man could face the death penalty in Kenya after being charged with the
murder of his girlfriend.
Carl Singleton, 41, of Market Street, could be hanged according to Kenyan law
if he is found guilty of the murder of 22-year-old student Peris Ashley Agumbi
on November 19, 2014, at Neptune Estate in Gachie, Nairobi.
Singleton appeared before the High Court in Nairobi today where he pleaded not
guilty to murder and was remanded in custody.
He first appeared in court in December last year but was released after police
indicated they would open an inquest file into Miss Agumbi's death.
However Kenya's Director of Public Prosecutions, Keriako Tobiko, revisited the
file and decided to charge Singleton with murder.
He was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as he attempted to
travel back to the UK on February 5.
Justice Roseline Korir told the court: "The accused will be remanded at
Industrial Area Prison and be escorted for medical assessment at Mathare Mental
Hospital, and the medical report will be presented to court on February 19."
Prosecutor Alloys Kemu said the state has lined up a total of 15 witnesses for
a 2-day trial scheduled for November 4 and 5.
Singleton met Miss Agumbi online through Facebook two years ago, before flying
out with a tourist visa to meet her 6 months ago.
(source: North-West Evening Mail)
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