Jan. 11
BAHRAIN:
Urgent Action----3 Men Face Imminent Execution
January 11, 2017
On 9 January the Court of Cassation in Bahrain upheld death sentences against
three Bahraini men. It also upheld life sentences against 7 others and the
revocation of the nationality of 8 of them. All 10 men were convicted following
an unfair trial in relation to the March 2014 killing of 3 policemen.
On 9 January the Bahraini Court of Cassation upheld death sentences for Ali
Abdulshaheed al-Sankis, Sami Mirza Mshaima' and Abbas Jamil Taher Mhammad
al-Samea. The court also upheld the life sentences of 7 other men and the
revocation of the nationality of 8 of them. The 10 men were convicted on 26
February 2015 by the Criminal Court of offences that included "organizing,
running and financing a terrorist group (Al-Ashtar Brigade) with the aim of
carrying out terrorist attacks"; "possession and planting of explosives with
the intention to kill security forces and causing disorder"; and the "killing
of 3 police officers and attempted killing of others". The Appeal Court upheld
the convictions on 31 May 2016 and on 17 October 2016 the Court of Cassation
overturned them and ordered a retrial by the same Appeal Court, which
subsequently upheld the sentences again on 4 December 2016. The convictions
will now go to the King for ratification.
According to the statement made by some of the men, during 3 weeks of
interrogation at the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID), the 10 men had
no access to their families or lawyers, and were tortured. Sami Mshaima' and
Abbas al-Samea later told their families that they were given electric shocks,
beaten, burnt with cigarettes, deprived of sleep, and sexually assaulted. All
10 men are currently held in Jaw prison, south of Manama.
TAKE ACTION
Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
-- Urging the Bahraini authorities not to execute the 3 men and to order a
full retrial of all 10 men that fully complies with international fair trial
standards, excludes evidence obtained under torture and without recourse to the
death penalty; and to carry out an independent and impartial investigation into
their allegations of torture;
-- Acknowledging the authorities' duty to prevent crime and bring those
responsible to justice, but insisting that this should always be done in
accordance with international law and Bahrain's international human rights
obligations;
-- Urging them to commute all death sentences to terms of imprisonment and
immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to
abolishing the death penalty.
Contact these 2 officials by 21 February, 2017:
King Shaikh Hamad bin 'Issa Al Khalifa
Office of His Majesty the King
P.O. Box 555
Rifa'a Palace, al-Manama
Bahrain
Fax: +973 1766 4587
Salutation: Your Majesty
**
H.E. Ambassador Shaikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Khalifa
Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain
3502 International Dr. NW, Washington DC 20008
Phone: 1 202 342 1111 // Fax: 1 202 362 2192
Email: ambsecret...@bahrainembassy.org
(source: Amnesty International USA)
IRAN:
Child bride faces execution by hanging
Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran comes from a poor, conservative Iranian-Kurdish
family, and ran away from home at 15 to marry Hossein Sarmadi in the hope for a
better life.
Soon after the wedding, Hossein started beating Zeinab - she asked for a
divorce, but he refused. She told police, but they ignored her. She ran away,
but her family disowned her.
She was 17 when her husband died. Zeinab was arrested and "confessed" that she
killed her husband after he'd abused her for months and refused her requests
for divorce.
She was then held at the police station for the next 20 days and repeatedly
tortured by police officers.
After a grossly unfair trial, in which she was denied access to a lawyer during
her entire pre-trial detention, Zeinab was sentenced to death by hanging.
Execution delayed during pregnancy
In 2015, Zeinab married a fellow prisoner in Oroumieh Central Prison and became
pregnant.
Her execution was delayed while Zeinab was expecting. Last month she gave birth
to a stillborn baby, and is now at risk of execution.
Doctors said her baby died in her womb 2 days earlier due to shock, around the
same time her cell mate and friend was executed on 28 September. She was
returned from hospital to the prison the very next day - denied any postnatal
support or care since.
Raped by her brother-in-law
Zainab only met her state-appointed lawyer for the first time at her final
trial session. It was then that she retracted confessions made when she'd had
no access to a lawyer.
She told the court that her husband's brother, who she said had raped her
several times, was responsible for the murder and had coerced her into
confessing, promising he would pardon her (under Islamic law, murder victims'
relatives have the power to pardon the offender and accept financial
compensation instead).
This statement was ignored by the court, which instead relied heavily on her
old "confessions" to reach its verdict.
A child at the time of the crime
Zainab was just 17 at the time of the crime she is accused of. The courts
completely failed to apply juvenile sentencing from Iran's Islamic penal code
in her case.
They also failed to tell her that she could submit an application for retrial.
Iran's penal code falls woefully short of what's required for juvenile
offenders under international human rights law, and even the limited safeguards
that do exist are not adhered to by the authorities.
The use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people under 18 is also
completely prohibited under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which
Iran has signed up to.
Thank you
More than 80,000 of you signed our petition urging the Iranian authorities to
halt Zeinab's execution and throw out her death sentence. Her execution, which
was scheduled to go ahead as early as 13 October 2016 is no longer imminent.
Zeinab now has a new lawyer working on her case. Together they will submit an
application for a retrial - which is Zeinab's right under Article 91 of
Iran???s Islamic Penal Code.
While this is extremely good news, her death sentence remains in place until a
retrial is granted by the authorities.
Unfortunately, Zeinab's case is not an isolated case in Iran. We have recorded
at least 74 executions of juvenile offenders between 2005 and 2016 in Iran.
Scores of young people in Iran remain on death row for crimes committed when
they were under 18.
(source: amnesty.org.uk)
SINGAPORE:
Mother of man set to hang in Singapore urges PM to intercede
A woman today pleaded with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to intercede
on behalf of her son, Prabagaran Srivijayan, who was convicted of drug
trafficking in Singapore and sentenced to die.
V. Eswary, 54, said in an open letter to the PM that she was told her
29-year-old son received an "unfair trial".
She said that the car he drove when he was arrested did not belong to him, but
to a friend who lent it to Prabagaran. Prabagaran only used the car as he was
afraid his motorcycle would be repossessed due to delinquent payments.
"Prabagaran was caught by the police because there was 'stuff' in the car,"
Eswary said in the letter read out by a representative at a press conference
here.
"I was told by the lawyers that the proceedings and trial in Prabagaran's case
were unfair. All his cases in the Singapore courts were rejected," she said.
Eswary said she last met her son on Monday, when he broke down and maintained
his innocence.
"He's always cries, saying he didn't do it and said he is being forced to
admit," Eswary added.
According to the Berita Daily news portal, Prabagaran was arrested in 2012
after 22.24g of diamorphine, a banned opiate was discovered wrapped in 2
bundles in the centre console of the car he drove at the Woodlands Checkpoint.
He was convicted in 2014 and given the death sentence that is mandated by the
republic's drug laws.
Concerns about possible unfairness in the trial arose when it emerged that the
conviction was secured without the testimony of 2 purportedly key witnesses.
Prabagaran has exhausted all legal avenues to appeal his conviction in
Singapore.
His case was taken up by M. Ravi who professed to be an international human
rights advocate and established the Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign.
Ravi is working with Malaysian lawyers Latheefa Koya and N. Surendran to urge
Putrajaya to try and stop Prabagaran's execution.
At the press conference, Ravi said that he submitted a memorandum to the
Malaysian government via its consulate in Singapore on December 22, but has not
received any response despite being promised one.
The memorandum was in relation Singapore's obligation to uphold the right to a
fair trial.
He said that the Malaysian government could file an immediate complaint with
the International Court of Justice on Prabagaran's case.
"I think Singapore, in my respectful opinion, will abide by the decision," he
said.
Ravi later told Malay Mail Online that he was a former lawyer who had
previously represented Prabagaran in the Singapore courts.
(source: themalaymailonline.com)
MALAYSIA:
2 drug pushers sentenced to death
The High Court here sentenced 2 men to death for trafficking 745.6gm and 52.1gm
of syabu respectively on Wednesday.
High Court Judge Datuk Nurchaya Arshad delivered the sentence on Andy Majudil,
35, a local, and Mohd Noor Jumat, 38, a Brunei national after finding that the
prosecution had proven its case.
They appeared calm upon hearing the verdict.
Andy and Noor were found guilty of committing the offence at a house in Taman
Nelly, Inanam at 9.30pm on Nov 19, 2013.
They were convicted under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act which
carries the death penalty upon conviction.
Andy and Mohd Noor had on Nov 29, last year, respectively gave unsworn
statements in their defence.
They were represented by counsel Ram Singh and Datuk Seri Rakhbir Singh
respectively, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Farah Farriza Wan Ghazali
appeared for the prosecution.
(source: thestar.com.my)
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