Sept. 7
INDIA:
Indian court pronounces death penalty to 2, lifer to 2 in 1993 Mumbai blasts
case
A court in India's western state of Maharashtra Thursday pronounced death
sentences to 2 people and life imprisonment to two others in 1993 Mumbai serial
blasts case that killed 257 people, officials said.
The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activity (TADA) court handed over death
penalty to Tahir Merchant and Feroz Khan, while as prominent gangster Abu Salem
and another person Karimullah Khan was given a life sentence.
The 15th convict Riaz Siddiqui has been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment,
while as the 6th person Mustafa Dossa had died ahead of sentence.
Salem, who was a prime suspect in the 1993 Mumbai bombings, was arrested in
Portugal in 2002.
He was extradited to India in 2005 and has been in prison since then.
The court in June this year found 6 individuals guilty in the serial blasts
that rocked India's financial capital in 1993, killing 257 and wounding over
700.
In 2006, the special anti-terror court convicted 100 people for the blasts. 12
were given the death penalty and 20 others sentenced for life.
India's prominent film actor Sanjay Dutt was the most high-profile among the
convicts.
(source: globaltimes.cn)
*******************
Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam explains
A special TADA court in Mumbai today today sentenced Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan
and Tahir Merchant to death in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. Abu Salem
and Karimullah Khan were given life in prison while Riaz Siddiqui was sentenced
to 10 years in jail.
Senior public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam confirms that the prosecution could not
have asked for the death penalty for Abu Salem due to India's extradition
agreement with Portugal.
Salem, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Khan and Merchant were earlier convicted for
conspiring to carry out the dastardly 1993 serial blasts, which killed more
than 250 people. Mustafa Dossa was convicted as well, but he died of natural
causes before today's sentencing. Riaz Siddiqui was convicted of lesser
charges.
Earlier, Abu Salem, along with Mustafa Dossa, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Tahir
Merchant and Karimullah Khan, were convicted in June for conspiring to commit
the dastardly Mumbai serial blasts, which killed over 250 people.
(source: indiatoday.in)
MALAYSIA:
Death penalty: Wrongful convictions and unfair sentencing in Malaysia----Of
over 1,100 currently on death row, many have not been afforded their right to
representation and a fair trial.
While the death penalty in Malaysia is an issue that divides the nation and
continues to be a hot topic in parliament, there is a group of people whose
voices never enter the debate. They are the silent victims of this colonial-era
law and the ones that pay the ultimate price for the errors of others - the
wrongfully convicted.
Splitting public opinion pretty much down the middle, the death penalty in
Malaysia is a hangover from British rule and is still the mandatory punishment
for murder, drug trafficking, treason, and waging war against the King.
Last year, Malaysia executed 9 people - up from 1 the previous year - and
handed down 36 death sentences. In its latest report on the issue, rights group
Amnesty International ranked Malaysia 10th in the use of the death penalty
among 23 countries where executions were recorded.
Human rights charities have repeatedly called on the country to abolish the
practice altogether. Despite a years-long debate over amendments to the
Dangerous Drugs Act of 1952 aimed at allowing judges to exercise discretion in
sentencing for trafficking offences, little has been done.
In a statement in August following the most recent proposal to amend the laws,
Legal Advisor at Human Rights Watch, Linda Lakhdhir called for decisive action
from parliament.
"The Malaysian government should stop playing games, and firmly commit now to
introduce legislation in the next sitting of Parliament to eliminate the
mandatory death penalty for all drug offenses - not just some drug offenses,"
she said.
"And while it is making changes to its policies on the death penalty, the
government should also impose a moratorium on executions, and move swiftly to
full abolition of the death penalty. Talk is cheap. It is time for action."
Despite mounting appeals, the punishment continues to be popular in a country
that values the premise of "an eye for an eye". But of the over 1,100 currently
on death row, many of them have not been afforded their right to representation
and a fair trial, according to prominent defence lawyer at the National Legal
Aid Foundation, Samantha Chong Yin Xin.
Speaking at the Freedom Film Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Chong explained how many
of those convicted do not understand their rights and, in some cases, don't
even know what they are being arrested for.
"Many people on death row do not have good legal representation," Chong
explains. "Around 50 % of them are migrants which raises immediate issues with
language. In a lot of cases, defendants don't even know what is happening when
they are arrested and are not allowed to see a lawyer until sometimes 6 of 7
months after arrest."
While some cases of wrongful or unfair conviction may receive media attention,
the voice of this "silent group", as Chong calls them, are kept in the shadows,
often left alone to fight the ultimate David vs Goliath battle against the
police.
"In about 5 % of death penalty cases the witnesses are the police," Chong said.
"In many cases we see policemen with zero principles but if the courts only
have the word of the police against the word of the suspect, who are they going
to believe? They will only reject police evidence if it's 'cow over the moon'
type stuff."
This leaves many suspects in an impossible position; deprived of quality
representation, not understanding the proceedings or their rights, and locked
in a your-word-against-mine situation with the police.
Chong cites a case of a young Thai woman to demonstrate how common this
treatment is.
When stopped on a bus on her way into the country, the young woman was asked by
police officers if she owned the bag on the seat next to her. She said, no.
Despite her denial, she was arrested and charged with drug trafficking after
the bag was found to contain heroin.
After conviction, she found out that her statement had been falsified by police
to say she claimed ownership of the bag. And the lawyer that defended her did
not speak to her before the trial. Through incompetence and language barrier,
she was not involved in the case at all, only to find later she was convicted
and sentenced to death.
Stories like that of this woman are not uncommon says Chong, and once a person
has been convicted at the High Court level, there is little recourse. In
Malaysia, appeals are made in Federal Court but, as Chong explains, the
likelihood of the original conviction being overturned are incredibly slim.
"If you are convicted at High Court, your fate is sealed," Chong said. "The
(Federal) Court's judgement is simple, 'You should have presented this (new
argument) at High Court' and they will disallow it. I have never seen a
successful case at Federal Court."
While some may look on death penalty cases with the attitude of "if you don't
want to face the consequences, don't do the crime" or think the idea of a
wrongful conviction is a nightmare that could never happen to them, Abdul
Rashid Ismail, former president of the Malaysian Human Rights Society and
solicitor, has a stark warning for all.
"We live in a system that's not perfect; witnesses make mistakes, police can be
dishonest, judges are human beings, so mistakes can happen," he said.
"It can be any of us; your friend, your family, it could be you who is in the
wrong place at the wrong time. It's that simple."
(source: asiancorrespondent.com)
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