Sept. 16
EGYPT:
Egypt court sentences 7 IS affiliates to death
An Egyptian court on Saturday has sentenced 7 members of the Islamic State (IS)
to death over charges of murder and violence, official news agency MENA
reported.
The defendants were accused of joining IS military training camps in Libya and
Syria and the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians working in Libya.
The crime of slaughtering the Egyptian workers was filmed by the group and
released in February 2015.
Explosive devices as well as CDs featuring military training of IS militants
were seized in their possession.
The court has referred the case to Grand Mufti, the country's highest Islamic
official who will give the religious judgment of all preliminary death
sentences.
The Mufti's opinion is non-binding as it is usually considered a formality, but
his final opinion could reduce the penalty.
The court will give its final sentence against another 13 accused with the same
charges in Nov. 25.
Egypt has been battling a wave of terrorist attacks, centered mostly in North
Sinai since the army-led ouster of the Islamic leader Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
The Islamists said the attacks that targeted security men and Coptics were in
revenge of the crackdown against Morsi's supporters and the Christians loyalty
to the army.
(source: xinhuanet.com)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistani Christian sentenced to death for sending Islam-insulting poem via
WhatsApp
A Pakistani Christian has been handed a death sentence for allegedly sending a
poem insulting Islam, in particular Prophet Mohammed, to a Muslim friend via
WhatsApp. The friend reported him to police, annoyed by the Christian man's
affair with a Muslim girl, the defendant's lawyer said.
"[Nadeem] James was handed a death sentence by the court Thursday on blasphemy
charges," James' defence lawyer Anjum Wakeel told AFP Friday. Wakeel said James
will "appeal the sentence in the high court as he has been framed by his friend
[Yasir Bashir] who was annoyed over James' affair with a Muslim girl."
James was held inside the prison for safety reasons as local Muslim clerics
repeatedly threatened his family, the lawyer added.
The story of James from the town of Sarai Alamgir in Punjab province hit the
headlines in summer 2016.
James, 28, is "illiterate and works as a tailor", according to the Rescue
Christians charity group which fights persecution of Christians.
The group said Pakistani police also "intimidated" James's family and arrested
his sisters-in-law. "They were threatened with prosecution if they did not give
up their brother," the group said, adding that the women were later released.
In July 2016, James shared the details of the incident to the Rescue Christians
group.
"... One of my friends sent me a WhatsApp message. I forwarded it to the Muslim
friends as I was not educated and unaware of the contents written in the
messages. [Now] they are after me to kill me as they believe that I have
committed blasphemy against their prophet," he stated.
The victim is believed to have been taken to Lahore for treatment.
The man continued, saying his Muslim friends "wanted to kill him" and sent a
complaint to police who later raided his home and eventually arrested him.
"Nadeem is uneducated and could not have possibly sent that text message. I'm
certain that Yasir Bashir downloaded the supposedly blasphemous text onto
Nadeem's phone and then forwarded it to his cell number to build a case against
my brother," the man's sibling Shahbaz James, told the Morning Star News, an
independent news service focusing on persecution of Christians.
The charge of blasphemy can carry heavy sentences in Pakistan. According to
Amnesty International, "Pakistan's blasphemy laws are often used against
religious minorities."
A 2016 Amnesty report "shows how once a person is accused, they become ensnared
in a system that offers them few protections, presumes them guilty, and fails
to safeguard them against people willing to use violence."
(source: rt.com)
****************************
HR Ministry to prepare proposal for seeking presidential pardon for most
deserving prisoners
Special Assistant to Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Friday directed Ministry of
Human Rights to prepare proposal for seeking presidential pardon on
humanitarian grounds of highly deserving cases, as per law.
He directed this in a consultative meeting chaired by him in the Ministry of
Law & Justice to consider possible legislative reforms in criminal justice
system of Pakistan. The meeting was attended by senior representatives of
Ministry of Interior, Human Rights, Foreign Affairs, Narcotics Control
Division, and Law & Justice, said a press release here on Friday.
The SAPM stated that another proposal should be prepared for the prisoners
involved in minor offences to engage them in community services for their
social reintegration instead of keeping them in Jails. Keeping in view,
Pakistan's international commitments and concluding observations on Pakistan's
obligatory reports, Ministry of Human Rights was directed to conduct thorough
review of laws pertaining to human rights including offences related to death
penalty.
The concerns of international community regarding disabled prisoners who were
on death row were also discussed. Ministry of Human Rights Secretary Ms Rabiya
Javeri Agha proposed to review imposition of death penalty in drug crimes.
Besides, situation with regard to prisoners particularly women, children,
mentally-ill and physically challenged persons was discussed with a view to
protect their rights as guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan. It was
agreed that the detail analysis of each category of the prisoners along with
relevant crimes will be undertaken to comprehensively address the issue.
The meeting noted that in case of any report of death penalty imposed on such
categories of prisoners, the matter would be dealt on humanitarian ground and
presidential pardon under Article 45 of the Constitution would be recommended
subject to certification of the cases by the provincial government.
Furthermore, the issue of persons who were juvenile at the time of offence
before promulgation of Juvenile Justice Ordinance, 2000 and had been awarded
death penalty under the then prevailing law was also discussed.
???The Ministry of Human Rights was of the view that as per Presidential Order
2001, provides commutation of death penalties awarded to juveniles into life
imprisonment, so if there exists any such juvenile who was awarded death
penalty before 2000 should also get benefit from such relief???. Ministry of
Human Rights was directed to review relevant laws of such offences and prepare
proposals for further legislative review, if so required.
(source: Pakistan Today)
INDIA:
Mangaluru: After 3 death sentences, Cyanide Mohan awarded life imprisonment
The 6th additional district court awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs
26,000 to Cyanide Mohan in the rape and murder of a young woman in Puttur
taluk.
Holding Mohan guilty of murder, rape, looting jewelry and destruction of
evidence, Judge DP Putturangaswamy sentenced Mohan to life imprisonment which
gave justice to the family of the woman after 8 long years.
It may be recalled, on September 17, 2009, Mohan had taken the woman to Puttur
Market with gold jewelery and then brought her to Madikeri and had sexual
contact. Later, he had killed her by offering Cyanide at Madikeri bus stop. He
then escaped with her gold jewelry. Mohan had befriended the young woman and
promised to marry her. The police investigated 44 witnesses and produced 60
documents regarding the case.
Public prosecutor Judith Olga Margaret said that the case was 4th and requested
Mohan to be sentenced to death. However, the court sentenced life imprisonment
to Mohan.
Mohan has been accused of murdering 20 women by offering cyanide. Death penalty
has been imposed to him by Mangaluru court in 3 cases. Of the 20 cases, Mohan
has been convicted in 4 now, 5 cases are in the final stages of trial and about
9 cases are being heard.
(source: daijiworld.com)
BAHAMAS:
Restore The Death Penalty
EDITOR, The Tribune.
The recent murder of an 8-month-old infant has horrified and incensed many of
us. But I wonder if we as a nation are sufficiently horrified and incensed to
ensure that all convicted murderers receive the just and fitting punishment for
their crime, which is swift execution by the state.
From the looks of things, it does not appear so. Therefore, the carnage will
continue because we continue to send the message to murderers that they can
take the life of others and the state will spare theirs.
Recently, while speaking about our nation's excessively high crime rate, the
Minister of National Security, the Hon Marvin Dames, said, "We are proponents
of the death penalty, our leader talked about it during the campaign trail and
we have not changed our position on that. We will do what we promised we will
do." I pray that those words will be put into action very soon, but I wonder
what else needs to happen before they are.
I'm eagerly waiting to see if, when, and how Prime Minister Minnis and his
government will seek to enforce the death penalty. And if they do anything
short of giving Bahamian voters the opportunity to amend the constitution in
such a way to ensure that convicted murderers are swiftly executed by the
state, I and others will know they are not serious and are merely engaging in
BTNA (ie, big talk, no action).
The reality is that as long as we have a so-called system of justice where
people can take a person's life and then be rewarded by having theirs spared
(by being sentenced to prison), we will continue to match and break our record
rates of murder, year after year.
Yes, even when convicted murderers are given a sentence of life in prison, it
is more like a reward, because the just and proper sentence for murder is
death. And what is worse is that some convicted murderers are given less than
life sentences.
No doubt, some will chide me for calling for capital punishment. But the
reality is that even though it has been more than seventeen years since the
Bahamian state has executed a convicted murderer, we still have capital
punishment. It's just not in the state's hands; it's in private hands. And we
will continue to have an ever-increasing murder rate and the continuation of
privatised capital punishment if the government refuses to do its job and carry
out state-sanctioned capital punishment.
To be clear, I do not support the death penalty as a reaction to our high rate
of murder (even though I firmly believe that swift and consistent execution of
convicted murderers will reduce our high rate of murder). I support the death
penalty because it is the only just and fitting punishment for the crime of
murder.
PASTOR CEDRIC MOSS
Nassau (source: Letter to the Editor, The Tribune)
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