Feb. 20
VIETNAM:
Laotian drug smugglers arrested after knife battle in northern Vietnam----The 2
men may face the death penalty for smuggling heroin.
Police in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien arrested 2 Laotian
nationals in possession of 3.5 kilograms of heroin on Sunday.
Vang A Chua, 23, and Thao So Po, 29, both resisted arrest and fought back at
police with knives until they were finally captured, VietnamPlus reported.
Further investigations are under way.
Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Those convicted of
possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5
kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty.
The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal
narcotics is also punishable by death.
Although the laws are strictly enforced, drug running continues in border
areas.
(source: vnexpress.net)
IRAN----executions
4 Prisoners Hanged on Drug Charges
On Wednesday February 15, 4 prisoners were reportedly hanged in 3 different
Iranian prisons on drug related charges.
Prisoner Executed in Minab (Hormozgan province, southern Iran)
According to close sources, a prisoner identified as Abdolhakim Kuhkan was
executed at Minab Central Prison on drug related charges. Mr. Kuhkan was
reportedly sentenced to death on the charge of trafficking 2 kilograms and 200
grams of heroin. This prisoner was reportedly transferred from his prison cell
to solitary confinement on Monday in preparation for his execution.
2 Prisoners Executed in Semnan (Semnan province, northern Iran)
According to the human rights news agency, HRANA, 2 prisoners were hanged at
Semnan Central Prison on drug related charges. 1 of the prisoners has been
identified as Javad Avakhtizadeh, while the identity of the other prisoner is
not known at this time. Information about the drug charges issued to these two
prisoners is not known at this time.
Prisoner Executed in Zahedan (Sistan & Baluchestan province, eastern Iran)
According to the human rights news agency, Baloch Activists Campaign, a
prisoner identified as Mostafa Abadi was hanged at Zahedan Central Prison on
drug related charges. Mr. Abadi was reportedly held in prison for 9 years
before his execution. The report says 2 unidentified prisoners were also
scheduled to be executed, but their death sentences were postponed for unknown
reasons.
Iranian Authorities Are Silent
Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have not
announced any of these executions.
(source: iranhr.net)
**************************
300,000 Dollars Prize for the Execution of Salman Rushdie by IRGC Affiliated
Companies and Other Regime Institutions
According to the terrorist Quds Force Tasnim news agency on February 19,
participants in the fourth exhibition called digital media of the Islamic
Revolution, on the occasion of the anniversary of Khomeini's apostasy verdict
against Salman Rushdie, determined the award of more than 1 billion Toman for
his death.
Tasnim further reminded a quote from Khomeini in this regard who at the time
said: "I fear 10 years from now, some analysts want to question this verdict
against diplomatic principles." So to prevent disremembering of that verdict
was the main reason that participants in this exhibition determined the one
billion Toman award for anyone who kills Rushdie.
The prize of 1 billion and 81 million Toman ( almost 300,000 dollars) is funded
by by more than 40 governmental and non-governmental institutions.
It is noteworthy that last year also the Iranian regime's state media had
reported that 40 state-run media outlets have jointly offered a new $600,000
bounty for the head of British author Salman Rushdie. The announcement was made
to coincide with the anniversary of the fatwa issued by Ruhollah Khomeini, the
founder of the Islamic Republic.
Mansour Amini, the head of the Saraj Cyberspace Organization and the Secretary
of the Third Exhibition of Islamic Revolution's Digital Medias announced on
February 17, 2016 the names of the outlets that contributed money to the fund.
The state-run Fars News Agency, which is closely affiliated to the Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was among the largest contributors. Amini
said that Fars has devoted 1 billion Rials, or nearly $30,000.
Cyberban also allocated 1 billion Rials, while Tehran Press News allocated 300
million, or nearly $10,000 and Saraj Cyberspace Organization and the
Headquarters for Advocating Virtue each allocated 500 million Rials for the
potential assassination.
Shahin Gobadi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) stated:
"This once again clearly shows that terrorism is intertwined with the very
existence of this regime as one of the pillars of its survival.
The mere fact that even the so-called media in this regime allocate a budget
for terror manifests that all of the regime's institutions are geared toward
its ominous objectives. It's simply ludicrous to think that one can reach out
to some parts of the ruling theocracy to bring about moderation."
Khomeini issued the fatwa against Rushdie on charges of blasphemy on February
15, 1989 to cover up the defeat of his goals in the Iran-Iraq war and in order
to create crisis to divert attention from the regime's problems and people's
demands following the Iran-Iraq war.
The regime's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other officials have reiterated
this fatwa on a number of occasions over the past 27 years. Khamenei
underscored its validity on October 20, 2015.
(source: NCR-Iran)
EGYPT:
Egypt court uphold death sentences over football riot----An Egyptian court
upheld Monday death sentences against 10 people convicted over rioting that
claimed 74 lives at a stadium in Port Said in 2012, judicial and security
officials said.
An Egyptian court upheld Monday death sentences against 10 people convicted
over rioting that claimed 74 lives at a stadium in Port Said in 2012, judicial
and security officials said. The ruling by the Court of Cassation, which is
final, excluded an 11th defendant who remains at large after his death penalty
was also confirmed in June 2015 by another court.
The ruling by the Court of Cassation, which is final, excluded an 11th
defendant who remains at large after his death penalty was also confirmed in
June 2015 by another court.
The court also upheld sentences of life imprisonment for 10 people and 5 years
for 12 others, including Port Said's security chief at the time, said the
officials who requested anonymity as they are unauthorised to speak to the
media.
Monday's ruling was welcomed by relatives of those who died in the rioting, who
celebrated outside the court in Cairo.
The riot, the country's deadliest sports-related violence, broke out when fans
of home team Al-Masry and Cairo's Al-Ahly clashed after a premier league match
between the 2 clubs.
Ultras -- hardcore football supporters usually blamed by the authorities for
violence -- were at the forefront of the 2011 uprising that unseated longtime
president Hosni Mubarak.
(source: al-monitor.com)
PHILIPPINES:
House debate on death penalty bill ends Feb 28----The majority in the House
moves the deadline a week earlier after the minority bloc kept bringing up the
question of quorum every time a lawmaker speaks
"They will always say the things that they want, but in the end, it is the will
of the majority that decides."
Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas said on Monday, February 20, that
administration-allied congressmen have agreed to terminate the plenary debate
on the controversial death penalty measure by February 28.
This is a week earlier than the original deadline set by Speaker Pantaleon
Alvarez.
The decision, agreed upon during a majority caucus, came after the anti-death
penalty lawmakers??? insistence that there should always be a quorum every time
a congressman speaks for or against House Bill (HB) 4727 on the floor.
Section 75 of the Rules of the House of Representatives states that congressmen
cannot transact business without the presence of a majority during the session.
"While a member has the right to speak on the floor, he does not have the right
to require that majority of all the members are there to listen to him. Because
if his arguments or what he's saying is not interesting, the members will
rather go somewhere else, right?" said Farinas.
"So we will advance the voting to February 28, Tuesday. So I give them until
Tuesday to maintain quorum to listen to them," he added.
This means that the House will only be debating on HB 4727 for less than a
month, since justice panel chairperson Reynaldo Umali sponsored the measure for
2nd reading on February 7.
In the course of the death penalty debate so far, there was a quorum whenever
the roll call of members was made at the start of every session.
But several congressmen would later leave the session hall, prompting
opposition lawmakers to always question if there is still enough attendance to
continue.
For Farinas, the burden of ensuring the quorum during the death penalty debate
now rests on the opposition bloc.
"They are the ones speaking against the bill. The sponsors are done. The ones
in favor of the bill are done speaking. They are the ones who claim they want
to interpellate because they are against the bill, so they should maintain
that," said Farinas.
"How can I force people to listen to their points if the people already made up
their minds [that] they want to vote on it?" he added.
The House majority bloc has also agreed to water down HB 4727 to just include 9
crimes - plunder, treason, and 7 drug-related offenses.
(source: rappler.com)
************
House decides today on passing or debating the death penalty bill
The House leadership is set to decide today whether or not it would end the
plenary debates to pave way for the early voting of the measure seeking to
reimpose the death penalty on heinous crimes.
Likewise, lawmakers will seek to finalize whether or not it would include
plunder in the list of crimes that would deserve capital punishment.
House Majority Floor Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo "Rudy" Farinas,
chairman of the House Committee on Rules, said they will not allow the
oppositors of House Bill (HB) 4727 to delay the passage of President Duterte's
priority measure by questioning the quorum.
"As chairman of the [House] committee on rules, we will now force to vote on
this measure and we will now close the period of debates," he said.
AKO Bicol Party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe, president of the 44-strong Party List
Coalition (PLC), said they are also set to decide if plunder will be included
in the list of crimes that will be covered by the death penalty, as some
lawmakers are opposing it because they face plunder complaints before the
Office of the Ombudsman.
"We will finalize the inclusion and exclusion of the list of crimes on the
death penalty bill, especially plunder," he said.
Sources said some lawmakers who were facing plunder complaints at the
anti-graft court in connection with the anomalous use of their pork barrel or
priority development assistance funds (PDAP) sought the exclusion of the
plunder in the list of crimes that will be slapped with death.
Batocabe said his group will rally behind the death penalty bill.
"We have already agreed to vote on the measure by March," he said.
A week ago, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House
Committee on Justice, confirmed that HB 4727 will be put to vote on 2nd reading
by March 8 and on 3rd reading on March 15, 2017.
Deputy Speaker and Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro, one of the principal sponsors of
the death penalty bill, expressed confidence that at least 220 lawmakers will
vote for their proposal seeking to reinstate the punishment of death for
heinous crimes.
He said it will likely be decided that the plenary debates will continue and
that the Lower Chamber's voting on House Bill 4727 will be on March 8 for 2nd
reading and March 15 for 3rd reading as earlier scheduled.
"If the total number of House members is 293, the lawmakers opposing the bill
is 60 plus or 70 plus versus 200 plus of the majority," Castro said in a radio
interview.
The House leader enthused that more than 200 lawmakers from the super majority
will "certainly" vote for the bill.
He expressed belief that since the super majority already mustered the
much-needed support for the bill, the plenary debates on the bill will not be
immediately terminated.
"My gut feel is that the plenary debates will continue in the next few days,"
Castro said. "There will be no termination (of the debates), that is my gut
feel."
He noted that even during the 1st caucus, they already got the "comfortable
margin" to push for the passage of the bill.
Deputy Speaker and Marikina City Rep. Miro Quimbo, who decided to vote for the
death penalty provided that it will not be a mandatory imposition, said the
members of the Liberal Party (LP) will take a conscience vote as agreed during
the LP-caucus last Wednesday night.
"The party members agreed that we will vote on the basis of our long held
individual values as well as the sentiments of our district constituents. And
that we will not vote on the basis of protecting our respective positions," he
said.
He noted that "a great majority of us are opposed to the version reported out
by the justice committee which contains along list of crimes mandatorily
covered by the mandatory death penalty."
"Unless this list is reduced, and the mandatory imposition of the death penalty
is not made discretionary, many will continue to oppose it," Quimbo said.
The deputy speaker said plunder should not be scrapped from the list of crimes
punishable by death penalty.
He is joined in this opinion by Paranaque City lone district Rep. Gus
Tambunting who said yesterday that the crime of plunder "can cause people's
deaths; thus, those who commit it deserve the death penalty."
"Plunder can kill! It should be included in the list of crimes punishable by
the death penalty," said Tambunting, who chairs the House Committee on Games
and Amusements.
The opposition-led Magnificent 7 of Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and Ifugao Rep.
Teddy Baguilat will stick to their position of taking a conscience vote on the
HB 4727.
"It will be undemocratic if they will just terminate the debates. These debates
are for the people to inform them and to let them understand what the
government is pushing for," Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Party-list
Rep. Antonio Tinio, a member of the Makabayan Bloc and chairman of the House
committee on public information.
Only 4 out of 50 lawmakers who wanted to interpellate were given the
opportunity to debate on the bill in the plenary.
(source: Manila Bulletin)
******************************
Death penalty bill draws line between rich and poor - Atienza
The House majority has clearly drawn the line between rich and poor offenders,
with moneyed defendants likely to receive mere prison terms, if they get
convicted at all, while the destitute are bound to draw death sentences,
according to House senior deputy minority leader and Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza.
"Death for the poor, lavish lives in prison for the rich. This is apparently
what our colleagues in the majority want," said Buhay party-list Rep. Atienza
on Sunday.
Atienza was responding to the House majority's last-minute decision to abandon
mandatory executions, in favor of giving trial judges the leeway to hand out
either the lighter sentence of reclusion perpetua, or the heavier punishment of
death, to those found guilty of heinous crimes. While seemingly a concession to
death-penalty opposers, the flexibility could in fact work even more against
poor litigants, said the lawmaker.
Reclusion perpetua means 30 years in prison, with the convict becoming eligible
for possible conditional early release after serving just half of the term, or
after 15 to 20 years.
"The death penalty is a travesty. Only indigent citizens inadequately
represented at trial will receive it. Wealthy defendants who are able to retain
the best criminal defense lawyers will always escape conviction, or get the
lesser punishment," Atienza said.
"If their expensive lawyers are not enough, the rich will simply buy their way
out of death sentences, or even out of prison, by bribing corrupt prosecutors
and judges," he said.
"If they can't buy their way out of incarceration, they will surely buy
themselves extravagant lives in detention, as we've clearly seen in the cases
of convicted big-time drug traffickers having the time of their lives at the
New Bilibid Prisons," Atienza said.
The House is set to advance the voting on the controversial bill reviving the
death penalty.
House majority leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Farinas has called for a
majority caucus Monday (Feb. 20) to discuss the possible early voting on the
bill.
"We will now force a vote on this measure, and we will now close the period for
debates," Farinas said earlier, though some House leaders told radio reporters
Sunday they were reconsidering this decision and could allow for a final
session for debates.
Atienza and other colleagues opposed to the death penalty have been trying to
stall the passage of the bill by repeatedly questioning the lack of quorum
during sessions.
Last week, Farinas, irked by the questions of quorum - as many colleagues
continued to stay from the session - threatened to stop altogether all further
deliberations and call for a vote, blaming the death-penalty critics for
effectively preventing further discussions on the highly divisive issue.
Though House leaders flaunt a supermajority that they say will support death
penalty revival, the Senate is deeply divided on the matter. Senate President
Koko Pimentel said Sunday he saw a 10-14 vote "either way" or even a "12-12"
split down the middle of the 24-man chamber.
President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to kill many convicts once Congress
reinstates the death penalty.
(source: intneraksyon.com)
GAZA:
Gaza court sentences to death 6 Palestinians accused of collaborating with
Israel
A military court in the besieged Gaza Strip sentenced 6 Palestinians to death
on Sunday after they were found guilty of collaborating with Israel.
The Gaza Ministry of Interior said in a statement that a Gaza City court upheld
the death sentences of 3 defendants, rejecting a final appeal, while 3 other
defendants also found guilty of collaboration could still appeal their death
penalty.
7 other defendants were handed down prison sentences of up to 17 years with
hard labor.
Under Palestinian law, willful premeditated murder, treason, and collaboration
with the enemy -- usually Israel -- are punishable by death. However, all death
sentences must be ratified by the Palestinian president before they can be
carried out.
Despite this, Hamas' de facto administration in Gaza has carried out executions
periodically without receiving approval from President Mahmoud Abbas since
2010.
Following a decision by Gaza-based legislators last year which made death
sentences "obligatory after all possible appeals against them are completed"
and reportedly to be held in public, human rights group Amnesty International,
EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah, and the UN all admonished the practice
of the death penalty and urged the the legislators to reverse the decision.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov said
at the time that "Palestine is one and Gaza and the West Bank are its 2
integral parts. I urge Hamas not to carry out these executions and I call on
President Abbas to establish a moratorium on the implementation of the death
penalty."
Hamas officials maintain that due to the indefinite postponement of
presidential and parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territory, and the
failure of the Palestinian Authority to assume most of its functions in the
besieged coastal enclave, authority for ratifying death sentences lies with the
legislative council in Gaza.
(source: Ma'an News Agency)
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