Feb. 13
MALAYSIA:
5 charged with alleged kidnapping of 5-year-old boy
5 people were charged at the Klang Magistrate's Court Tuesday for the alleged
kidnapping of a 5-year-old buy from his Taman Maznah home near here on Jan 22.
2 out of the 5 accused were underaged.
The others were Mohammad Norhafizie Abdullah, 18, Mohammad Faiderus Suhaini,
32, and Nashamizie Shahidan, 19.
They were charged under Section 3(1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961 and can be
punished under the same section, read together with Section 34 of the Penal
Code.
If found guilty, they face the death penalty or life imprisonment, and if the
death penalty is not imposed, they can also be whipped.
The accused were not granted bail.
Magistrate Nur Asma Ahmad fixed March 27 for the case to be mentioned.
(source: The Star)
CHINA:
A Chinese judge's life-or-death struggle
Lu Jianping lives with a constant "torture of the soul".
As a law professor at Beijing Normal University, he believes the death penalty
should be abolished. But as a death penalty case reviewer of the Supreme
People's Court, he must often sign "Approved" - leading to someone's execution.
In 1979, then 16-year-old Lu went to Beijing's Renmin University from hometown
Zhejiang Province. He majored in law, but never dreamed of working in a core
position in China's judicial system.
As an intern at the procuratorate before graduation, he supervised the
implementation of the death penalty with colleagues. According to Portrait
Magazine, they witnessed events at Tianjin's Yangliuqing execution ground in
1983 when the government was cracking down hard on serious crimes.
"I saw convicts shot in the head and fall at my feet," Lu recalled. "The mud,
brains and blood splashed on my pants."
The memories are indelible: "Some of them were not killed instantly and they
struggled desperately, their arms and legs twitching on the grass."
After that, he wished for an end to the death penalty one day.
Lu has been a college professor and a part-time lawyer. From 2008, he served as
deputy chief procurator for 3 years in Beijing' s Haidian District
Procuratorate.
"Although I support repeal of the death penalty, I am also a deputy chief judge
of the Supreme People's Court, appointed by the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress in 2012, and I must conduct cases involving the 55
capital offenses under the Criminal Law."
The job includes case instruction and inspection, judicial interpretation, and
death penalty case reviews.
He first signed "Approved" in 2013. He had nightmares for a long time
afterwards: "The accused walked outside the files in my dreams."
He clearly remembers a handsome Yi nationality youth whose photo stared at him
from 1 case file. "He had more than 1,700 grams of drugs with him when the
police caught him," Lu said. "He had the minimum amount with the biggest risk."
Colleagues encouraged Lu to be more detached in his job, but 1 case from
Jiangxi Province reached the Supreme People's Court in 2013 - and caused him to
question himself.
"The murderer dismembered the bodies of two girls aged 14 and 11 years," Lu
recalled. The victims' photos were not included in the case files, "but 2 young
and pretty faces emerged in my mind." Lu did not hesitate to write "Approved"
as the case files had clear facts and indisputable evidence. "I felt angry
about the crime and thought I had got rid of an evil person - I felt a
release."
But back in the academic environment of the university, his doubts returned.
"Are you a scholar who wants to abolish the death penalty?" he asked himself
repeatedly. "Why did you vent your own emotions by approving the death penalty,
event though the crime was extreme?
"Finally I realized that I am a human being who has real emotions," he
admitted.
Each day, Lu and his colleagues face dozens of case files. Some are eventually
tagged "Not Approved".
A jobless woman brutally killed her husband in Sichuan Province. "The victim's
body was dismembered and boiled," Lu read. The Supreme People's Court
overturned her execution after considering her husband's long history of
violent abuse.
"Looked at from the legal and criminological perspectives, the victim had
'obvious fault'," Lu told Xinhua. The woman's crime could be explained as
"emotional provocation".
The Supreme People's Court announced it would review all death penalty rulings
by lower courts from 2007, ending the 24-year authority of lower courts to
issue death sentences and execute criminals without oversight.
Since then, the number of executions has fallen. But Lu refuses to release the
detailed figures, saying only that 95 of the cases he handled himself were
approved.
Lu has also been involved in case risk evaluation, which examines the
possibility of mediation. The judges in charge of death penalty case reviews
speak to the victim's relatives, local government, public security bureaus, and
sub-district offices.
Only if the case was not a violent crime seriously endangering public security,
such as robbery, rape and homicide, and only if there was any mediation
possibility, would they examine the possibility of avoiding an execution.
"If any case were mediated successfully, the judges would be immensely happy,"
Lu said. "A life could go on."
He has never had the opportunity to see a case to mediation - and his
self-doubt continues day and night: "We get up at 6 a.m. and cross the city to
sit here - just to ratify the death penalty?"
At the court affairs committee every Wednesday, the judges discuss the hard
cases to help the presiding judge's work. "The debate sometimes is much more
heated than people imagination as the judges still waver between the law and
human emotions," Lu said.
China's authorities have long considered abolishing the death penalty.
In 1956, the political report of the 8th National Congress of the Communist
Party of China noted that the gradual abolition of the death penalty would help
the socialist construction.
And on January 22 this year, the Supreme People's Court reiterated the criteria
for capital punishment should be strictly observed so as to ensure "the penalty
is only used on an extremely few convicts whose crimes are extremely serious,"
as part of an initiative to adopt a more prudent attitude toward executions.
"I believe the death penalty will be abolished in China in the near future," Lu
said.
(source: Xinhua News Agency)
***************************
Death penalty for China insurance cheat
One of China's highest-profile fugitives - the former general manager of an
insurance intermediary, who was dubbed the "runaway beauty boss" - was given
the death penalty with a 2-year reprieve on Wednesday for illegally raising
more than one billion yuan (S$218 million).
Chen Yi, who controlled Shanghai Fanxin Insurance Agency, also had all of her
personal wealth confiscated by the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.
Her death sentence will be commuted to life in prison if she is credited with
good behaviour.
Fanxin's former senior consultant, Jiang Jie, was given a life sentence and had
all of his property confiscated.
Chen and Jiang sold fake insurance products to more than 4,400 customers in
Shanghai and the neighbouring province of Zhejiang, collecting over 1 billion
yuan in premiums, according to the court, Agence France-Presse reported.
The 2 fled China in July 2013 with more than 830,000 euros (S$1.3 million) in
cash and goods, after transferring nearly HK$50 million (S$77 million) from the
company to Hong Kong, it said. The authorities brought the pair back from Fiji
with that country's cooperation in August 2013.
The Shanghai court said it will continue to track down their illegal gains from
investors and order them to pay compensation.
"The sentence is heavier than I expected," said Dang Jiangzhou, a shareholding
partner of Shanghai's Ganus Law Firm, who represented more than 70 victims in
the case.
In a related development, United States and Chinese officials will meet in
August with anti-corruption Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation officials to
discuss the possibility of repatriating Chinese officials hiding in the US,
according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.
(source: Asia One)
GLOBAL:
Countries that support the death penalty
As 2 Australians face the death penalty in Indonesia, there has been renewed
public discussion of capital punishment in Australia.Andrew Chan and Myuran
Sukumaran have both been convicted of drug trafficking offences in Indonesia,
and it's increasingly likely they may be put to death by firing squad in coming
weeks or days.
The Australian government continues to lobby Indonesia to show mercy, and grant
clemency for the pair.Australia is among many countries worldwide that oppose
the death penalty.But Indonesia is far from the only country where the death
penalty is considered a legitimate punishment for criminal behaviour. THE DEATH
PENALTY WORLDWIDE:
58 nations enforce the death penalty, including 3 of Australia's biggest
trading partners and allies, The United States, China and Japan.
Countries that impose the death penalty: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, The
Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Chad, China,
Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial
Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran,
Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia,
Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saint Kitts
and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and
Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Vietnam, Yemen
and Zimbabwe.
At least 778 people were executed worldwide in 2013, excluding China.
China keeps its executions secret. Amnesty International estimates 'thousands'.
A report by US human rights group the Dui Hua Foundation estimates 2400
executions took place in China in 2013.
The US executed 39 people.
Iran executed at least 369 people in 2013, Iraq at least 169, and Saudi Arabia
79.
In 2012, 111 nations voted in favour of a United Nations moratorium on the use
of the death penalty in which 41 nations voted against and 34 abstained.
(source: Sky News)
PAKISTAN----executions
2 executions for non-terrorism offences a 'disturbing and dangerous' escalation
-- Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions on 17 December 2014 on prisoners
convicted of "terrorism" offences in Anti-Terror Courts. Pakistan lifted a
moratorium on executions on 17 December 2014 on prisoners convicted of
"terrorism" offences in Anti-Terror Courts.
The execution of 2 men convicted of non-terrorism-related offences marks a
disturbing and dangerous escalation in Pakistan's use of the death penalty
since a moratorium was lifted in December last year, Amnesty International
said.
Muhammad Riaz and Muhammad Fiaz were hanged this morning in Mirpur Central
Prison in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir region. The 2 men were convicted of
murdering the son of the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association in
2004, and given death sentences in 2005.
Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions on 17 December 2014 - in the wake of
the Peshawar school massacre - on prisoners convicted of "terrorism" offences
in Anti-Terror Courts. However, today's hangings mark the 1st executions of
prisoners convicted by ordinary courts.
"Today's executions mark a disturbing and dangerous escalation of Pakistan's
use of the death penalty since a moratorium was lifted. The government has
apparently gone against its own stated policy of only executing those convicted
on terrorism charges," said David Griffiths, Amnesty International's Deputy
Asia Pacific Director.
"24 people have now been put to death by the government since December last
year. This spate of killings must end immediately - the government should
re-impose a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its eventual
abolition. Pakistan has one of the world's largest death row populations, and
more than 8,000 people's lives are at risk."
Muhammad Riaz and Muhammad Fiaz received an unfair trial. Their appeal before
the Supreme Court in was dismissed in 2006 on a technical ground as no lawyer
was willing to represent or appear on behalf of the 2 men, for fear of being
disbarred or a backlash from the Supreme Court Bar Association.
"Pakistan's judicial system is seriously flawed. Frequent use of torture to
extract 'confessions', a lack of access to legal counsel, and long periods of
detention without charge are just some of our concerns. The death penalty is
always a human rights violation, but the serious fair trial concerns in
Pakistan makes its use even more troubling," said David Griffiths. Amnesty
International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any
circumstances, regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of
the offender, or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. The
organization considers the death penalty a violation of the right to life as
recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ultimate cruel,
inhuman and degrading punishment.
(source: Amnesty International)
***************
Appeal dismissed: Death sentence upheld
A division bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed an appeal against the
award of a death penalty to a man convicted of burning his wife and injuring
his daughter. The counsel for Zafar Iqbal, the convict, said he had been
implicated in the case at the behest of his in-laws. He said an anti-terrorism
court had awarded him the death penalty despite feeble prosecution and
evidence. The counsel urged the court to set the sentence aside and acquit
Iqbal. A deputy prosecutor told the court that the convict had doused Sobia,
his wife, with kerosene oil and set her ablaze. He said Kashaf, his daughter,
was also injured in the episode. The counsel said the verdict of the
anti-terrorism court was based on tangible evidence and witnesses' statements.
The court dismissed the appeal and upheld the sentence after listening to the
arguments.
(source: The Express Tribune)
IRAN:
Iran drug abuse rising despite death penalty----Meth labs rampant as users hope
to work longer.
Officials say methamphetamine production and abuse of hard drugs are
skyrocketing in the country, despite potentially lethal criminal penalties for
users if they are caught. The increase is partly because Iran is the main
gateway for the region's top drug exporter, Afghanistan - and partly because
Iranian dealers are profiting so handsomely.
Ghazal Tolouian, a psychologist who treats dozens of meth addicts at a therapy
camp in a mountain village northwest of Tehran, says most of her clients fall
into 2 categories: students "who want to pass university entrance exams
successfully," and "people who have to work a 2nd and 3rd shift to make ends
meet and earn more money."
Antinarcotics and medical officials say more than 2.2 million of Iran's 80
million citizens already are addicted to illegal drugs, including 1.3 million
on registered treatment programs. They say the numbers keep rising annually,
even though use of the death penalty against convicted smugglers has increased,
too, and now accounts for more than nine of every 10 executions.
Parviz Afshar, an antinarcotics official, said that for every meth lab they
detect, 2 more might spring up, often involving small-scale "cooks" operating
in residences where production is particularly hard to detect.
He said police found and destroyed at least 416 meth labs in the 12-month
period up to March, up from 350 in the previous 12 months.
Iran's Health Ministry was slow to finance rehabilitation clinics nationwide,
but a growing network of private camps has sprung up that partly receive state
financing. Some of the camps are run by former or recovering users of the
highly addictive drug, which was depicted in the popular U.S. television show
Breaking Bad.
"When I set up this shelter, authorities didn't support me. But after several
years of hard work, they were convinced that it's better to provide care and
shelter to addicts," said Majid Mirzaei, manager of a Tehran shelter for drug
addicts and a recovering addict himself. His facility provides free food,
syringes, condoms, medical care, and a place to sleep to addicts in a crowded
neighborhood in south Tehran.
"Drug addiction is a fact" Mirzaei said. "It can't be eliminated, but you can
manage it correctly."
Officials say Iran's taste for illegal narcotics is certain to expand into
greater abuse of heroin, because Iran is the main route for exports from
next-door Afghanistan, maker of 3/4 of the world supply.
Abbas Deilamzadeh, whose Rebirth Society runs dozens of rehab centers, predicts
that more people experimenting with meth soon will be using heroin, already one
of the most widely used drugs in Iran.
Those at the clinics tell tales of their profoundly misguided notions about
taking meth, specifically that it wouldn't become addictive.
Javad said he used meth for 6 years in hopes of earning more money by working
longer hours. But last year, he collapsed on a train midway through one night's
work and was fired. For the last 4 months, he's been getting help at a Tehran
clinic.
Javad says he had no idea how bad his life would become as an addict. "At
first," he said, "it was a lot of fun to use."
(source: Associated Press)
ISRAEL:
Judaism: A Painless Death----This week's Dvar Torah is by Rabbi Gideon Weitzman
- Former Rosh Kollel in Kansas City, now head of the English Speaking Section
of the "Puah" Institute.
"Whoever curses his father and mother shall be put to death" and "whoever
steals shall be put to death" as well as "the witch shall not live". In fact
this week's parshah is full of crimes for which the punishment is capital
punishment, ranging from the most severe crimes of murder to ones which appear
to be less serious.
There has been a lot of talk recently about murder and killing carried out in
the name of religion and the debate has raged as to whether radical Islam is an
unusual case or whether in fact many religions and all of the major Western
religions embraced murder, pillage and destruction at some point in their
history.
The list of crimes for which we are instructed to inflict capital punishment
that appears in Mishpatim seems to clearly indicate that Judaism was no
different than other religions. The Torah appears to dish out the death penalty
to a lot of people.
How are we different from the other religions, or are we just the same?
Some would answer that it is all a matter of historical perspective, that
indeed at one point we were more murderous and did put people to death in the
legal process of the courts. However today we have matured and now we have no
more capital punishment.
The Mishnah (Sotah 9:9) says something similar but gives this an educational
twist. "When murderers multiplied the ceremony of breaking the calf's neck was
discontinued." When the number of murderers increased then the Rabbis stopped
the ceremony in which a calf's neck was broken when a murdered corpse was
found.
The reason for this ceremony was to impress upon the population of the
surrounding villages that murder was despicable. However, when murder became a
common occurrence then this ceremony was less effective. People were not
perturbed by murder as they had been initially and the ceremony was less
meaningful and was therefore discontinued.
The punishment must awaken people to improve their ways and when this did not
happen then there was no reason to exact such a severe punishment to a living
thing.
Another Mishnah (Makkot 1:10) suggests a different reason "if the Sanhedrin
killed someone once every seven years they were considered murderous. Rabbi
Elazar said 'Once every seventy years'. Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva said 'If
we would have been in the Sanhedrin no one would ever be put to death'."
While the Torah presents the death penalty for many crimes in reality the
number of people put to death was extremely small. The Talmud adds so many
conditions for a person to receive capital punishment that it hardly ever
happened.
Let us consider one example; the Torah assigns the death penalty for breaking
Shabbat. But the Talmud explains that the person has to break Shabbat
intentionally, before two kosher witnesses. If this was not enough, they need
to warn him that if he breaks Shabbat by doing a particular act and breaking a
particular law he will be put to death. He must then reply that he knows that
this is the case and still he willingly is breaking Shabbat. If the witnesses
accuse him of breaking Shabbat by ploughing but in fact he is sowing seeds
which are not the same act then he cannot receive the death penalty.
If so, why does the Torah state that such a person is liable to receive capital
punishment? The Mishnah continues "Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said 'They
increased the spilling of blood'." Those Sages who limited the death penalty to
once every seventy years, or even less, increased murder by removing the
deterrent to killing others. The Torah presents the severity of such sins even
though it is just a threat and a warning to make us think about good and evil,
right and wrong.
One last answer, the Gemara (Sanhedrin 52b) gives a novel interpretation of the
verse "love your neighbor as your friend" (Vayikra 19:18). Rabba bar Avuah
taught that this verse means that we should choose a nice death for him. This
seems like an oxymoron, how can death be nice, and how is this loving our
fellow?
Even in the rare cases that a person does receive the death penalty we are
still to love him and treat him as a human being, we cannot show anger or
vengeance to him or his family. We must choose the most painless death that we
can find.
The Torah wants us to be merciful and kind, to do so we need to preserve all of
society and sometimes this entails delivering severe punishment in order to
keep law and order. But even then, or maybe specifically in such cases, we are
to preserve a sense of humanity, mercy and empathy. We are to choose the most
humane death that we can to limit the suffering even of the accused murderer.
The world around us has much to learn about a true system of justice and we
have much to teach.
(soure: Israel National News)
FIJI:
Army death penalty out
Despite strong opposing statements by Opposition on the amendment of the Death
Penalty provision - part of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Act -
Parliament passed the Bill on Tuesday.
This after the Bill was put to the vote following comments and submissions by
members of the Opposition.
The Bill was then reported and passed after 29 voted for, 1 voted against, nine
abstained and 11 did not vote.
Opposition member Tupou Draunidalo said the amendment had special
considerations and while the RFMF was a state-funded institution, it had taken
hundreds of millions of dollars away from schools and hospitals in this
country, and through its coup culture take away billions.
"We have all suffered through this culture, which we are trying to eradicate,"
Ms Draunidalo said.
On Monday, Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum tabled a Bill seeking to remove
the death penalty provision within the RFMF Act.
He told Parliament there was a growing international trend to remove the use of
capital punishment from all laws, and also referred to Fiji's Constitution that
every person had the right to life and must not be deprived of it.
He said in 2002, Fiji took the initiative to remove the death penalty in its
penal code and that had been carried on to the Crimes Decree, however, the only
remaining reference to the death penalty existed in the RFMF Act.
(source: Fiji Times)
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