Nov. 8
SINGAPORE:
Pakistani duo on trial for murdering compatriot, dismembering his body
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for 2 Pakistani men accused of
murdering their compatriot and dismembering his body in a gruesome case in
2014.
Muhammad Noor's torso was found in a suitcase dripping with blood along Syed
Alwi Road on Jun 11, 2014. His legs, which had been sawn off at the thigh, were
found in another suitcase at Jalan Kubor Muslim cemetery the next day.
Muhammad's roommate Rasheed Muhammad, 45, and his friend Ramzan Rizwan, 27,
were arrested on Jun 12 at a lodging house at 6 Rowell Road, where the men
lived - and where Muhammad, 59, died.
At the opening of Rasheed and Ramzan's trial on Tuesday (Nov 8), Deputy Public
Prosecutor Ong Luan Tze said the men decided to murder Muhammad to recover
monies they had lost to him while gambling.
At midnight on Jun 11, Rasheed and Ramzan crept into Room 44 where Muhammad
slept. Ramzan covered Muhammad's face with a shirt, smothering him, while
Rasheed wrapped a string made with cloth around his neck and pulled, DPP Ong
said.
When Muhammad was dead, the men pocketed S$6,000 in cash they found in the
room.
In the morning, Rasheed and Ramzan made 2 trips to Mustafa Centre at about 9am
and again at 11.45am, where they bought 2 suitcases, an electric saw, a bow saw
and trash bags, DPP Ong said.
It is the prosecution's case that back in Room 44, the pair sawed off
Muhammad's legs and wrapped them in trash bags. They then packed the torso in 1
suitcase and the legs in the other, before cleaning the room with soap powder.
At about 12.25pm, Ramzan left the black suitcase containing Muhammad's legs at
Jalan Kubor Muslim cemetery. He went back to help Rasheed, who was struggling
with a grey suitcase containing Muhammad's torso.
They decided to abandon the bag along Syed Alwi Road en route to the cemetery,
after 1 of its wheels broke and blood began to seep out of the bag, DPP Ong
said.
An 81-year-old man found the suitcase hours later. Assisted by several
passers-by, he tried to push the suitcase to the police station, but when they
made the gruesome discovery of a dead body in the bag, they immediately called
the police.
The trial continues.
If found guilty of murder, both men will face the death penalty.
(source: channelnewsasia.com)
SIERRA LEONE:
Sierra Leone to bring back death penalty
For almost 20 years, Sierra Leone has avoided using the death penalty. But
spurred by public outrage over ritual murders and gang violence, the government
is moving once again to hang offenders.
The legal community believes one sensational case in particular has driven the
government to consider resorting again to capital punishment, a case they say
was marred by police incompetence and a poorly handled trial.
On the last night of his life in May 2015, a slight young musician known as DJ
Clef played a raucous set at the home of a faith healer known for his
high-society connections and the tattooed faces of demons covering his body.
Clef - born Sydney David Buckle - was later found, with his organs and genitals
missing, by the road leading to a military cemetery on the outskirts of the
capital, Freetown.
His death sickened a country where a civil war and more recently Ebola have
ravaged society and the economy, firing up a huge Freetown fan base who adored
his laid-back demeanour and Afrobeat mixes.
A drive for swift justice was led by Milton Coker, the president of the All
Stars music collective to which Clef belonged.
"People who kill should be killed," Coker said flatly in a recent interview
with AFP. "It will deter others."
Baimba Moi Foray, an influential "ju-ju man", or witch doctor, and an
accomplice were duly convicted of his murder and sentenced to hang for their
crimes in September.
If an appeal is unsuccessful, they could become the 1st since 1998 to face the
gallows.
Bungled case?
Death row lawyer Simitie Lavaly told AFP that because of the media buzz around
the celebrities involved, police felt pressure to find a perpetrator fast, and
bungled the case.
"The police did not do a thorough job and the only reason why they are
convicted is the media around the case," she told AFP.
Lurid local stories speculated over Foray's methods and the fate of Buckle's
body parts, heightened by the witch doctor's alleged connections to influential
figures in Sierra Leone and even an African president.
"It was a prejudiced judge and jury," Lavaly said, who were presented with
"hardly any" substantial evidence.
Despite such claims, senior officials say a new bill is already being drafted
to harden up the current legislation on violent crime, spurred by a wave of
popular support.
Interior Minister Palo Conteh did not pull his punches in a recent interview
with AFP.
"I've instructed the Director General of the Male Correctional Facility to
ensure that the gallows are oiled, cleaned and ready to be used," Conteh said.
"We have not been executing convicts due to a presidential moratorium but
considering the increased lawlessness and violence in society we have to kill
as prescribed by law," Conteh added.
Root causes
Rights groups say the government's populist turn avoids tackling the root
problems that fuel violence in Sierra Leone: poverty, unemployment and
corruption.
A 2004 truth and reconciliation commission said the central cause of Sierra
Leone's horrific 1991-2002 civil war was "endemic greed, corruption and
nepotism that deprived the nation of its dignity and reduced most people into a
state of poverty."
The commission recommended abolishing the death penalty as an "important and
symbolic departure from the past", as successive governments abused capital
punishment to target their enemies.
More recently, Ebola ravaged the fragile nation's health system but also
wrecked its economy, leaving many young people jobless, homeless and fending
for themselves.
The US State Department has monitored a "steady increase in the number of gangs
and cliques in Freetown over the past 5 years" by unemployed young people who
form entourages around local hip-hop artists.
The gangs "increased criminality and anti-social behaviour", including murders,
make the pages of Sierra Leone's newspapers every day.
A government decision to ban motorbike taxis in downtown Freetown in May
removed a rare source of casual work to the the city's youth.
"Governments are often relying on the death penalty rather than doing the very
hard work of working out the causes of crime," said Amnesty International's
West Africa Researcher Sabrina Mahtani.
"A lot of public opinion is based on very erroneous beliefs around the death
penalty," she added. "People believe the death penalty is a deterrent - it's
not," Mahtani added.
For now, there are only a handful of people on death row in Sierra Leone.
Presidential pardons have seen the vast majority of death sentences commuted to
life in prison.
But the public no longer seemed to be behind moves to repeal the death penalty,
said Attorney General and Minister of Justice Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, adding
it was "high time" to reconfigure the way Sierra Leone dealt with violent
crime.
"One thing that strikes deep in my heart is the escalation of the murder rate,"
he said. "Every other day a murder file will come across my desk and that is a
real serious concern."
(source: cctv-america.com)
IRAN----executions
2 Prisoners Hanged For Drug Charges
2 prisoners were hanged in Mahabad Central Prison (western Iran) early Monday
morning November 7. According to Iran Human Rights (IHR) sources, the prisoners
were identified as "Rahim Mohammad-Pour" and "Mehdi" (surname not known).
Both the prisoners were sentences to death for drug-related charges,
The official Iranian media have not announced the executions yet.
*******************
2 Prisoners At Imminent Danger Of Execution In Western Iran
2 prisoners are scheduled to be executed in the coming days at Qorve prison in
the Iranian Kurdistan province. The prisoners have met with their families for
the last time and have been transferred to solitary confinement prior to the
execution, according to reports by Iran Human Rights (IHR) sources.
The prisoners are identified as Mohammad Rasoul Heydari, from Qorveh, charged
with murder, and Babak Hassan Zadeh, from Sardasht, charged with possession and
trafficking of 350 grams of the narcotic drug crystall.
According to close sources Heydari was arrested 4 years and 8 months ago and
Hassan Zadeh 4 years ago. Both the prisoners had been kept in Hamadan Prison
and were transferred to Qorveh 20 days ago.
10 executions are scheduled for the coming days.
(source for both: Iran Human Rights)
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