Sept. 19
PAKISTAN:
In Pakistan, a Text Message Can Lead to a Death Sentence----Officials Lean on
Abusive Blasphemy Law to Punish Free Speech
In Pakistan, a poem sent over WhatsApp can prove deadly.
On September 14, a court in Gujrat district, Punjab province sentenced to death
Nadeem James, a 35-year-old Christian, for sending a poem to a friend that was
deemed insulting to Islam. James denies ever having sent the message.
James isn't the only person in Pakistan condemned to death over a post on
social media.
In June, Taimoor Raza, 30, was sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in
Bahawalpur district for allegedly making blasphemous comments during a Facebook
chat with someone who eventually turned out be a counterterrorism agent on the
prowl. In April 2014, a Christian couple were sentenced to death for sending a
blasphemous text message to a local cleric. The couple claimed that they were
illiterate and could not have sent a blasphemous text in English. Junaid
Hafeez, a university professor, has been imprisoned for nearly four years
facing a possible death sentence for accusations of sharing blasphemous
material online. Hafeez's lawyer was murdered in May 2014.
The abusive nature of Pakistan's blasphemy laws is not new. However, the
increasing use of blasphemy provisions to jail and prosecute people for
comments made on social media is a dangerous escalation. Many officials are
using religious rhetoric and whipping up tensions over the issue of blasphemy.
In March, the then-interior minister described blasphemers as "enemies of
humanity" and expressed the intention of taking the matter of blasphemers to a
"logical conclusion." Although no one has yet been executed for the crime,
Pakistan's penal code makes the death penalty mandatory in blasphemy
convictions. At least 19 people remain on death row.
Even accusations of blasphemy can be deadly. Since 1990, at least 60 people
accused of blasphemy have been murdered.
Religious minorities are significantly overrepresented among those facing
blasphemy charges, and are often victimized due to personal disputes. A death
sentence for alleged blasphemy online in a country with low literacy rates and
lack of familiarity with modern technology is an invitation for a witch-hunt.
Pakistan needs to amend and ultimately repeal its blasphemy laws; not extend
their scope to digital speech.
(source: Human Rights Watch)
******************
Death penalty for corrupt people to eliminate corruption: PPP leader
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Khwaja Mohammad Khan Hoti has said the
government should announce death penalty for corrupt people with the aim of
eliminating corruption.
Talking to reporters here on Monday, he said that the economy of Pakistan was
in a poor shape and the national debt was increasing with each passing day.
"The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission set up with the aim to end
accountability has failed," he maintained.
Referring to the ouster of Nawaz Sharif from the office of the prime minister,
he said: "It is only because of the Supreme Court that action was taken against
a big fish but there are many others who looted the public exchequer but no
action has been taken against them.
"The country will become bankrupt if the situation remains the same." Khwaja
Hoti, who had resigned from the federal cabinet to protest corruption in the
government in the past, suggested amendments to the Constitution like that of
China, which hanged the corrupt even if they held high positions.
He felt that across-the-board accountability of corrupt people in every
institution would purge the society of corruption and develop the country. The
PPP leader observed that the rich were getting richer and the poor poorer while
the middle class was vanishing.
He called for bringing back around 200 billion dollars held by Pakistani
nationals in foreign banks to boost the country's economy. He also demanded
investigation into all the mega projects initiated by the Nawaz Sharif-led
government, including the LNG and Nandipur projects.
The PPP leader said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government couldn???t
reduce electricity loadshedding during its 4 1/2 years rule. He said the nation
and rulers should not worry about the threats, including those given by US
President Donald Trump and said the conspirators in the country could create
trouble at home.
"Instead of recognising Pakistan's sacrifices against terrorism, the US
president hurled threats at us. "The superpower should find out a political
solution of the Afghan issue as it cannot be resolved by the use of force," he
stressed.
(source: thenews.com.pk)
MALAYSIA:
Mother of 3 nabbed for drug trafficking less than a year after release from
rehab centre
It must be true what they say, that old habits die hard. But for one
38-year-old woman, it seems these old habits have taken a turn for the worse.
On Thursday, just 8 months after being released from a drug rehabilitation
centre in Batu Gajah, the mother of 3 was arrested by police again, this time
on suspicion of trafficking.
State Narcotics Department chief Assistant Commissioner V.R. Ravi Chandran said
the woman was picked up at 12.10am at a shop lot in Kampar Trading Centre,
where she rented a room on the 3rd floor.
"During the raid, police seized 3.07kg of syabu and 3l of ethanol worth
RM214,770. She also tested positive for methamphetamine abuse and was remanded
for 7 days beginning Thursday," he told reporters at the state police
headquarters today.
Ravi Chandran said the woman had a criminal record with 4 previous drug-related
offences, adding that the last one led to her being sent to the rehabilitation
centre after being picked up in Shah Alam on July 19 last year under the
Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985. She had been released
from the centre on Jan 11.
"(We believe) the woman is active in drug trafficking in Selangor and we are in
the midst of an investigation to find out where she got her supply," said Ravi
Chandran.
In a separate case, he said, police detained 4 men aged between 17 and 23,
including 2 brothers, in possession of drugs at a house in Pokok Assam,
Taiping, on Wednesday.
"During the 5.30pm raid, police seized 218.33g of heroin worth RM5,458 and 2
motorcycles. Further checks revealed that 2 of them had criminal records
involving drugs.
"They were remanded for 7 days until Wednesday to facilitate investigations,"
he said, adding that both cases were being investigated under Section 39B of
the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 which carries the mandatory death penalty upon
conviction.
Ravi Chandran said, until August this year, a total of 5,573 people were
arrested in the state for various drug offences, a 20 % increase compared to
the corresponding period last year.
"During the same period, police seized a total of 79.18kg of syabu, 934.54g of
ketamine, ecstasy (2,480 pills), yaba (180,001 pills) and Eramin-5 (18,098
pills), 76.24kg of ganja and 32.17kg of heroin," he said, adding that the total
drug seizure amounted to RM10.5 million.
(source: nst.com.my)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Urgent Action
JUVENILE OFFENDER AT RISK OF IMMINENT EXECUTION
The family of Abdulkareem al-Hawaj, a Saudi Arabian Shi'a young man sentenced
to death for offences that occurred when he was 16 years old, learned that
their son's sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court on 11 September. He has
exhausted all his appeals and is at risk of imminent execution.
Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
* Urging King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud to halt the execution of
Abdulkareem al-Hawaj and commute his and all other existing death sentences;
* Calling on them to order an independent investigation into his allegation of
torture and other ill-treatment;
* Reminding them that Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, which strictly prohibits the use of the death penalty for
crimes committed by persons below the age of 18.
Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of
forwarding this one!
Contact these 2 officials by 30 October, 2017M
King and Prime Minister
Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
Office of His Majesty the King
Royal Court, Riyadh
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: (via Ministry of Interior)
+966 11 403 3125 (please keep trying)
Twitter: @KingSalman
Salutation: Your Majesty
Ambassador Prince
Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington DC 20037
Phone: 1 202 537 3100
Fax: 1 202 295 3625
Email: i...@saudiembassy.net
Contact Form: https://www.saudiembassy.net/contact
Twitter: @SaudiEmbassyUSA
Salutation: Your Royal Highness
(source: Amnesty International USA)
*********************
Another Saudi young Shia faces execution after unfair trial
Execution of Abdulkareem al-Hawaj, only 16 at time of alleged crime, would be
in clear contravention of international law.
83 already executed this year, with political dissidents and Shia minority
targeted
A young Saudi Arabian Shia man who says he was tortured to "confess" alleged
crimes committed when he was aged 16 faces imminent execution, said Amnesty
International today.
The family of Abdulkareem al-Hawaj, now 21, were yesterday informed that the
country's Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence for his alleged role in
anti-government protests.
Mr Al-Hawaj was sentenced to death in July last year for a range of offences
related to his alleged involvement in anti-government protests in the
Shia-majority Eastern Province in 2012, when he was aged 16. His case is just
one of several death penalty cases involving Shia Muslim men from the Eastern
Province.
Al-Hawaj has now exhausted all his appeals and faces execution as soon as the
Saudi Arabian king - Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - ratifies his sentence,
which could happen at any time. Due to secrecy surrounding the judicial process
in Saudi Arabia, it is unclear when the king will ratify the sentence, while
families are usually not informed about the ratification process or the
scheduled execution of their relatives.
Al-Hawaj's trial was grossly unfair. He had no access to a lawyer during his
pre-trial detention and interrogations, and said he was held in solitary
confinement for the first 5 months following his arrest at a security
checkpoint in 2012. He also says he was beaten and threatened with the death of
his family during interrogations by General Directorate of Investigations
officials. Eventually he wrote and signed a "confession" that appears to be the
sole basis for his conviction. Al-Hawaj denies participating in any of the acts
attributed to him.
At least 85 executions this year, 44 in past 2 months
Amnesty International has recorded a worrying increase in death sentences
against political dissidents in Saudi Arabia since 2013, including among the
Shia Muslim minority. Amnesty has documented the cases of at least 33 members
of Saudi Arabia's Shia community who are currently facing the death penalty.
All were accused of activities deemed a risk to national security. 3 others who
remain on death row awaiting execution, Ali al-Nimr, Abdullah al-Zaher and
Dawood al-Marhoon, were also arrested for alleged offences committed when they
were under 18 and have said that they were tortured to make them "confess".
(source: (AhlulBayt News Agency
EGYPT:
Ibrahim Halawa freed: Irish student facing death penalty in Egypt acquitted
after 4 years----He was detained on a slew of charges, including murder, arson
and illegal possession of weapons
An Irish citizen held for 4 years in Egypt and threatened with the death
penalty has been acquitted of all charges.
Ibrahim Halawa, from Dublin, was 17 when he was arrested during a protest in
Cairo in 2013.
He was detained by the Egyptian army during a demonstration staged by
supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood after their elected leader, Mohamed Morsi,
was ousted from power in a military coup.
Mr Halawa is the son of a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist
group that swept to power in elections after the 2011 uprising, but was later
outlawed as a terrorist organisation.
He was accused along with 500 others, including his 3 sisters, of murders,
bombing, possession of firearms and explosives, arson, violence against police
and desecration of the Al Fatah mosque in Cairo's central Ramses Square.
Mr Halawa's sisters were released three months after their arrest and allowed
to return home to Dublin, but he remained in the Wadi Natrun jail, where he
says he was kept in solitary confinement, often without light or a toilet.
His family said he was beaten and refused treatment for a gunshot wound he
sustained shortly before his arrest.
Mr Halawa was cleared of all charges on Monday - 1 of 52 who were acquitted.
A further 43 defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment - 25 years under
Egyptian law - while 399 defendants were sentenced to between 5 and 15 years.
Mr Halawa, now aged 21, was on a family holiday at the time in his parents'
homeland.
He is unlikely to be released immediately due to delays in the Egyptian
judicial and prison system.
Maya Foa, director of human rights group Reprieve, told The Independent:
"Ibrahim has been repeatedly tortured throughout his detention; he's reported
being beaten with metal chains, stamped in the back, threatened with execution,
and denied medical treatment.
"Today's ruling should be welcomed, but let's be clear - this trial made a
mockery of justice. Protesters should never have been rounded up and threatened
with the death penalty, and the trial should not have dragged on for as long as
it did. The proceedings in this case and other mass trials were always more
about crushing dissent than seeing justice done." Amnesty International, which
called the mass trial "grossly unfair", said all 442 other defendants in the
case should be retried.
The group said there was "no evidence" that Mr Halawa was involved in the
violence, adding that he was "detained solely for peacefully exercising his
rights to freedom of expression and assembly".
"He is a prisoner of conscience who should never have been detained in the
first place," said Najia Bounaim, North Africa research director at Amnesty.
"This trial has been a cruel farce from start to finish. From relying on
questionable testimonies to dismissing key evidence and depriving the
defendants of the proper means of defending themselves, these proceedings
expose the deep flaws in Egypt's notorious criminal justice system."
Amnesty said there was evidence to support the case against just 2 of the
defendants, despite hundreds standing trial.
Lawyers told the charity the trial defendants were held behind a glass screen
preventing them from hearing the proceedings or being able to participate.
Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar welcomed the news of Mr Halawa's acquittal.
The Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, said: "Ibrahim Halawa's name
has been cleared and his innocence is confirmed. I look forward to him being
released from custody without delay."
Nosayba Halawa said her brother would be "very happy and delighted" with the
outcome.
"We couldn't believe [the news] after all the suffering. It is coming to an
end," she said.
(source: independent.co.uk)
******************
Egypt: Irish national acquitted, hundreds sentenced following grossly unfair
mass trial
The acquittal of Irish national Ibrahim Halawa by a Cairo criminal court today,
after a grossly unfair mass trial involving 494 defendants, brings his four
year ordeal to an end said Amnesty International, emphasizing the need for 442
other defendants in the case, who were sentenced to between 5 years and life
imprisonment, to be re-tried in line with international due process standards
or released.
Ibrahim Halawa was arrested aged 17 along with more than 330 others during
protests which erupted into violence on 16 and 17 August 2013 around al-Fath
Mosque in Cairo when at least 97 protesters were killed. There is no evidence
that Ibrahim Halawa was involved in the violence and Amnesty International
believes he was detained solely for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom
of expression and assembly.
"Today's acquittal of Ibrahim Halawa after 4 years in unlawful detention comes
as a welcome relief but is long overdue. He is a prisoner of conscience who
should never have been detained in the first place," said Najia Bounaim, North
Africa Research Director at Amnesty International.
"Ibrahim Halawa's acquittal puts an end to the gross injustice in his case.
However, it is utterly disgraceful that at the same time the Egyptian
authorities have handed out heavy sentences to 442 others after sham
proceedings in a mass trial that flouted the most basic standards of a fair
trial, while security forces who used excessive and lethal force during
protests that day have escaped unpunished."
Amnesty International is calling for any other defendants in the case who were
detained and sentenced for peacefully exercising their legitimate rights to be
immediately released.
The organization analysed the casefile and spoke to at least 5 lawyers working
on the case. It found that the court had relied entirely on unsound reports by
security forces and investigations conducted by the National Security Agency as
a basis for the convictions.
According to an audio-visual evidence report sent by the Ministry of Interior
to the court, out of the 330 defendants who have been detained in the case for
more than 4 years, only 2 of the defendants appear to have evidence against
them.
"This trial has been a cruel farce from start to finish. From relying on
questionable testimonies to dismissing key evidence and depriving the
defendants of the proper means of defending themselves, these proceedings
expose the deep flaws in Egypt's notorious criminal justice system," said Najia
Bounaim.
"All those convicted for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of
expression and assembly must be released immediately. Those against whom there
is sufficient admissible evidence should either be retried in fair proceedings
that meet international fair trials standards and without the possibility of
the death penalty or released."
The trial took place in a courtroom inside Wadi al-Natroun prison around 110Km
North of Cairo. Lawyers told Amnesty International that during the trial
defendants were held behind a glass screen prohibiting them from hearing the
proceedings or being able to participate in the trial. Trying defendants inside
a prison also undermines their presumption of innocence.
Background
The court today sentenced 43 defendants to life imprisonment (25 years under
Egyptian law), 399 defendants were sentenced to between five and 15 years and
52 were acquitted including Ibrahim Halawa. The case involved 494 defendants
among whom 333 were in detention. Those sentenced in absentia can appeal the
verdict and be retried before the same court while those sentenced in their
presence can appeal the decision before the court of Cassation.
(source: Amnesty International)
***************
Were you afraid of sentencing him to death?
Were you afraid of sentencing him to death? Then why did the Court of Cassation
sentence Morsi to lifetime in jail, not death? Wasn't the crime 'conspiring'
and leaking top secret military information? Is it because of political
alignments or international demands? Are there reasons for not sentencing him
to death, so the Brotherhood doesn't revolt? Has the Brotherhood passed the
death penalty time frame and are awaiting the presidential pardon? Does this
mean Egypt has stopped capital punishment?!
I am not criticizing the court here in any way, but I am seeking an explanation
for the ruling.. Why lifetime imprisonment, not death?.. First, cases of
espionage in times of war are different than when it occurs in times of peace..
In other words, conspiring with a foreign state we have waged war on ends with
the death penalty, according to the law. But In the case of Qatar, with which
we are not at war, this ends with prison.. So why was it lifetime imprisonment
for Morsi?.. The answer is because the spy was the 'President' and not just any
citizen!
The question is: Why did the court annul the 15 years imprisonment sentence,
and sentence him to lifetime imprisonment, although he appealed against the
first ruling, shouldn't he get a tougher sentence?.. this is because the
president is not an ordinary citizen. The court didn't find a proper punishment
for the former president, because there is no clause in the law outlining the
punishment for if the president is implicated of espionage. The legislator
originally couldn't imagine that a president may work as a spy, and would leak
confidential information about military formations and bases to any "foreign
party"!
This is unprecedented in history, that the president is the spy and the leader
of the gang. He harmed the national security of his country, and the most
dangerous part is that he leaked documents about secret military communication
codes and documents. This delicate information included base location and
formation positions of armed forces nationwide; As well as detailed information
on the armament, equipment and vehicles forces across the country!
Crucial confidential information like the organizational chart of The Ministry
of Military Production and military factory production was leaked along with
its specialties, means of developing the ministry and its affiliated factories.
In addition to these shared charts was a report on the military mobile network
and ways of securing it; a report on the budget of the General Intelligence
Service; and a memo detailing assessment of the security situation and
proposals to restore it and achieve comprehensive development in Sinai. What a
dark day!
Of course, it was necessary to change all these plans and formations following
the disclosure of the documents. This was not an easy job, but a heroic effort
to rebuild the army systems again. For all of this chaos, Morsi knows deep down
that he deserves death. He and his Guidance Bureau knew he was guilty, and
would have received a harsh verdict. He alone knows that he has been a
'thorough' spy since the 'Black Carbon' incident!
This means that Egypt was not afraid to sentence Morsi to death, nor his
Guidance Bureau, but rather committed itself to following state of law; and
oddly enough the law did not consider that the defendant was the President, so
Morsi was not sentenced to death.
(source: Mohamed Ameen, Egypt Independent)
IRAN:
More Public Executions - Prisoner Hanged While Crowd Watched
A prisoner by the name of Samir Deivband was hanged in public in the city of
Ilam in front of a crowd of people.
According to a report by the state-run media IRIB, the prisoner was sentenced
to death on murder charges and was hanged in public on the morning of Sunday
September 17. The IRIB report only identified the prisoner by the initials
"S.D.", but local sources confirmed the prisoner's name to Iran Human Rights as
Samir Deivband.
The research of Iran Human Rights shows 33 people were hanged in public in Iran
in 2016; and an audience of hundreds of people, including children, were
present for most of these hangings. Human rights activists and informed membes
of civil society have always severely criticized this issue.
********************
13 Prisoners in Imminent Danger of Execution
13 prisoners are scheduled to be executed at Rajai Shahr Prison on Wednesday
September 20.
On Saturday September 16, 13 prisoners in Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison who are on
death row on murder charges were transferred to solitary confinement in
preparation for their executions.
According to close sources, the 13 prisoners are scheduled to be executed on
Wednesday September 20. Iran Human Rights has obtained the names of 4 of these
prisoners: Jafar Zamani, Jamshid Javanbakhsh, Reza Heydari, and Mojtaba
Ghiasvand.
"Mojtaba Ghiasvand was sentenced to death on murder charges, but he had
repeatedly insisted on his innocence," an informed source tells Iran Human
Rights.
(source for both: Iran Human Rights)
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