January 10
SRI LANKA:
1,299 on death-row in SL prisons
A total of 1,299 death row inmates, including inmates who had appealed against
their sentence, have been detained in Sri Lankan prisons as of December 31 last
year, the Ministry of Justice and Prisons Reforms said yesterday.
It said 1,215 male inmates and 84 female inmates were among them. “Among the
1,299 convicts, 789 male and 34 female convicts had appealed against their
sentences,” the Ministry said.
The Ministry said death sentences of approximately 426 male convicts and 50
female convicts have been confirmed.
There have been no executions in the country since 23 June 1976, although death
sentences were handed down continuously by the High Court and Supreme Courts
for murder and drug trafficking convictions.
However, President Maithripala Sirisena had proposed the implementation of the
death penalty on drug traffickers last year.
(source: dailymirror.lk)
INDIA:
Supreme Court commutes Santosh Mane’s death sentence to life term
The Supreme Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentence awarded to Santosh
Mane, convicted of mowing down and killing nine persons in Pune in 2012, to
life imprisonment. Mane had been awarded the death sentence by a sessions court
in 2013, which had said the crime fell in the rarest of rare’ category. A year
later, the Bombay High Court had upheld the death penalty. It had rejected the
plea by the defence, which had argued that Mane should be acquitted of the
murder charges as he had committed the crime while he was ‘mentally unsound’.
On January 25, 2012, Mane, then 41 years old, had hijacked a state transport
bus and mowed down 9 persons with it. Mane, who was a state transport bus
driver, had reported to work around 7 am at the Swargate bus depot, instead of
his scheduled time of 10.30 am.
He had taken out a bus from the depot using a master key and then gone on a
rampage, knocking down many 2-wheelers, 4-wheelers and pedestrians on the
route, before he was stopped by local residents and police. By that time, Mane
had traversed 15 km, across Golibar Maidan, Bhavani Peth, Gultekdi, Satara Road
and Sinhagad Road. As many as 37 persons were injured in the incident.
Amol Chitale, who represented Mane in the Supreme Court, told The Indian
Express over the phone, “Since the beginning, the defence’s plea was that at
the time of committing the offence, Mane was not mentally stable and so Section
84 of the Indian Penal Code should have been applied. However, the trial court
and the High Court had rejected this plea and had awarded the death penalty to
him.”
IPC’s Section 84 states that ‘nothing is an offence which is done by a person
who, at the time of doing it, by reason of unsoundness of mind, is incapable of
knowing the nature of the act, or that he is doing what is either wrong or
contrary to law.’
Chitale added, “In the Supreme Court, we continued our defence on the same
tenet, that at the time of the offence, he was mentally unsound… this was
brought to light from observations when he was under psychiatric evaluation for
some days after the incident. Today, the Supreme Court has commuted his death
sentence to life imprisonment. The detailed judgement is yet to come.” Nishant
Katneshwarkar, the standing counsel for the state of Maharashtra in the Supreme
Court, said, “In our submission, we had opposed the defence’s plea of insanity.
We argued that both the trial court and the High Court had considered the
documents pertaining to the case and had rejected the plea that he was
unstable.”
Advocate Dhananjay Mane from Solapur, who represented Mane in the trial court
and also in the High Court, said, “It has been a long battle to prove that at
the time of the incident, he was not in a sound state of mind. Police have
tried all the ways to prove that he was not unstable. We welcome the Supreme
Court’s verdict and will comment further after the detailed order.”
What Happened That Day
On the morning of January 25, 2012, some time after 7 am, Mane started the
MSRTC bus using a ‘master key’. Then he started driving the bus on the wrong
side of Shankar Sheth Road, towards Hotel Seven Loves, where he knocked down a
vehicle. A local resident, who saw the incident, contacted the police control
room at 8.05 am. Soon, 2 policemen on a motorcycle started chasing the bus.
However, Mane continued to drive the bus at a high speed, and on the wrong side
of the road in some stretches. He travelled about 15 km via Golibar Maidan,
Bhavani Peth, Gultekdi, Maharashi Nagar, Satara Road, Mitramandal Chowk,
Sarasbag, Sinhagad Road, knocking down 2-wheelers, cars and pedestrians on the
route.
To stop the bus, Police Constable Deepak Kakade fired 10 rounds from his 9-mm
carbine gun, but Mane did not stop. However, he was forced to slow down after
the bus collided with 2 cars on Sinhagad Road. This helped local residents and
police, who had given him chase, to overtake the vehicle and pull Mane out of
the bus, at around 8.45 pm. Mane was taken into police custody and his victims
were rushed to different hospitals in the city for treatment.
Mane’s ‘History of Illness’
While MSRTC officials claimed that Mane, a bus driver with the state transport
service, was normal and had no history of medical problems, his wife and doctor
had claimed that he was under stress and suffering from mental illness for the
last 2 years. Mane was being treated by Dr Dilip Burate, a psychiatrist in
Solapur.
Speaking to the The Indian Express over the phone at the time, Burate had said,
“Mane had come to me with complaints of hallucinations and was also saying many
irrelevant things, as I remember the case and based on the documents that I
have. He had come to me for a month… and I had given him medications. After
that, he didn’t come.” When The Indian Express contacted Burate on Wednesday,
he expressed his unwillingness to comment on the issue. Mane’s wife Sonali had
said at the time of the incident, he was under severe stress due to work. “He
had repeatedly requested the MSRTC not to give him driving duty on long routes.
But he was forced to drive buses on long routes. He had faced problems earlier
also due to work-related stress. So, he had also taken a month-long leave for
treatment,” she had said at the time. Mane’s family members could not be
reached for comment on Wednesday.
(source: indianexpress.com)
MALAYSIA:
Liew: ‘Green light’ still on for death penalty repeal
The federal government still intends to abolish the mandatory capital
punishment through a new law expected to be tabled this year, Datuk Liew Vui
Keong said today.
When asked about the status of proposed repeal, the legal affairs minister told
reporters it was “still in the process, still on the go, still at the green
light stage”.
In a speech earlier today, Liew said the government’s studies on the abolition
of the death penalty involves 33 related legal provisions.
“In this matter, the proposal to abolish the mandatory death penalty is being
carried out through a comprehensive by taking into account the views of all
stakeholders, as the issue is complex and sensitive, before the abolition of
death penalty Bill is proposed to be brought and tabled in the Dewan Rakyat
session this year,” he said to the staff of the Legal Affairs Division in the
Prime Minister’s Department.
(source: malaymail.com)
**********************
Metal workshop owner escapes gallows, acquitted of drug trafficking charge
A metal workshop owner escaped the gallows today when the Ayer Keroh High Court
acquitted him of a drug trafficking charge.
Judge Datuk Siti Khadijah S. Hassan Badjenid in her judgment said the
prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Hemy Faizal Mohtar,
36.
For the 1st charge, Hemy was accused of trafficking 87.95g of methamphetamine
at a metal workshop in Kampung Sungai Putat at 3am on June 25, 2016.
He was charged under Section 39(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and
punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same Act which carries the mandatory
death penalty.
For the 2nd offence, he was charged with trafficking 3.65g heroin under Section
12(2) of the same Act which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years’ jail and 9
strokes of rotan.
For the 3rd charge, Hemy was accused of possessing 0.16g of Monoacetyl
Morphines under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 punishable under
Section 12(3) of the same Act which carries a maximum penalty of RM100,000 fine
and 5 years’ jail.
He was allegedly committed the offence for the 2nd and 3rd charge at the same
time, date and location.
For the 4th charge, Hemy was accused of possessing 1.3g of Methamphetamine at a
house in Jalan Tembusu, Taman Merdeka, at 2.15am on June 25, 2016.
The charge was framed under Section 12(2)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952
and punishable under Section 12(3) of the same Act.
For the last offence, the court ordered he accused to pay RM30,000 fine in
default 18 months’ jail.
The court also sentenced the accused to a 3-year jail term from the date of
arrest on June 25, 2016.
Siti Khadijah said the defence had succeeded in raising reasonable doubts
against the prosecution’s case.
“However, the accused has failed to do so for the 4th charge.
“The court hereby grants discharge not amounting to acquittal to the accused
who was found guilty of the 4th offence,” she said.
A total of 13 witnesses were called to testify in the trial which commenced in
December 2016.
Prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Muzila Mohamed Arsad
while the accused was represented by lawyer Haslinda Abu Bakar.
The accused’s family members, including his wife and two children aged 5 and 6
were also present at the court.
(source: nst.com.my)
SOUTH AFRICA:
‘Only Africans will be killed’ if death penalty is reinstated – Ndlozi; EFF
spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi on Morning Live speaking about attacks on
journalists----He was responding to ATM’s advocacy for reinstating capital
punishment as a way of curbing crime.
The national spokesperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Mbuyiseni
Ndlozi has blasted the proposed policy of the African Transformation Movement
(ATM) to reinstitute capital punishment in South Africa.
Following the announcement on Wednesday that former president Jacob Zuma’s
loyalist Mzwanele Manyi – the former owner of the Gupta family’s media empire
that included news channel ANN7 and The New Age newspaper – is leaving the
governing African National Congress (ANC) to head up ATM’s policy and strategy
division.
The party’s president Vuyolwethu Zungula said ATM was advocating for the death
penalty.
“The first thing that we are working for, that we want as a party, we want to
reinstate the capital punishment,” Zungula said.
ATM’s president said reasons that necessitate for reinstating the death penalty
in South Africa include how taking a life in the country has been normalised,
with its citizenry accepting and being “okay” with the statistic of 57 people
dying on a daily basis and that the country has become the rape capital of the
world.
“There is so much going wrong in terms of how we deal with the crime in the
country and if you check, we have had prayers, we have had marches, we have had
even the 16 days of activism [for no violence against women and children] but
nothing is changing. Rather than the criminals having fear, it is the ordinary,
peaceful South Africans who are having fear each and every day.
“Therefore, we are calling for the reinstatement of the capital punishment to
deal with crime cases,” Zungula said.
Ndlozi took to Twitter on Thursday calling ATM’s position on reinstating the
death penalty “madness”.
“In the racist SA bourgeois criminal justice system, only Africans will be
killed,” Ndlozi tweeted.
Another policy position highlighted by Zungula on Wednesday is that the party
wants to enforce a labour convict prison system.
“We are aware that as we are outside, living our lives, working, our taxes fund
the education, the food, and everything that the inmates do. Now it does not
make sense that we, as a people who are law-abiding citizens are funding the
people who have wronged us as a society,” Zungula said.
He questioned what the inmates are doing to earn back their place in society,
saying that this was the reason why all imprisoned criminals should work for
the state.
“Because now is the time for all of us to build the country. It can’t be that
when you are going to prison it is as if you are going to a hotel, because we
need to send a message to young people and everyone that crime does not pay,”
Zungula said.
ATM also wants to decolonise the country’s economy to give South Africa clout
in international trade and increase its exports of finished products.
“We also want a legislative reform in the country because everything that
should happen in the country should be in the ambit of the law because we want
South Africa to be a law-abiding [country].”
(source: citizen.co.za)
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Pakistani national executed in Dammam for beating to death a Saudi man----The
accused was found guilty of hitting the victim on the head with an iron pipe
and killing him
A Pakistani national has been execuetd in Saudi Arabia’s Dammam for beating to
death a Saudi national.
Mohammed Bilal allegedly killed Abdullah bin Ali bin Eid al-Harbi by hitting
him on his head with an iron pipe following a disagreement between them, the
Saudi Press Agency reported.
Security authorities arrested the accused, and following an investigation, he
was charged with the crime and referred to the general court.
The weapon he used was also produced in court as evidence and, after he was
found guilty of the charges, he was sentenced to death.
The verdict upheld by the appeals court and Supreme Court and a royal order was
issued to enforce the death sentence.
The execution was carried out on Wednesday in Dammam, in the eastern Province,
the SPA report said.
The interior ministry asserted the keenness of the government “to maintain
security and achieve justice” and punish violators of such heinous crimes.
Saudi Arabia uses the death penalty for several offences including murder,
drug-related crimes and terrorism.
Last week, a Saudi national was executed in Madinah for stabbing a man to
death, while a Pakistani national and two Egyptians were executed for smuggling
drugs.
In November last year, a Saudi national was executed in the country for
shooting to death another citizen, while another Saudi national was executed in
October for shooting and killing a man in the region of Asir.
3 Saudi nationals were also executed in the kingdom’s Qatif region for robbing
and killing 5 Indian nationals in October.
(source: gulfbusiness.com)
BELARUS:
Belarus court passes death sentence on murderer of 2 girls----36-year-old
Alyaksandr Asipovich has been sentenced to death on January, 9.
Last summer the brutal murder of 2 girls in Babruysk shocked the whole country.
On July 20, a girl contacted the police shouting that they were being killed:
“He is killing us! We have locked ourselves in the bathroom! He has an axe! My
God, he will destroy everything! I’m covered with blood!” the victim screamed.
Then the phone went dead.
The girls did not know the attacker’s address, and the police was not able to
immediately identify it.
According to prosecutors, Asipovich, a resident of Babruysk, brutally killed
the 2 girls. The man met them in a cafe, where they had some drinks, and then
the trio headed to his place. Asipovich stabbed and hammered them to death.
Their bodies bearing multiple cuts and injuries were found in the bathroom.
The defendant fully realized what was happening at the moment of the murder; he
even tried to cover up the crime, state prosecutor Volha Ivanova said. His
turning himself to the police cannot be a mitigating factor, she stressed.
The judicial board inflicted the supreme penalty (execution) on the defendant.
In addition, he will also have to pay 100,000 Belarusian rubles to the mother
of one of the victims for moral loss, as well as all the costs of funerals and
legal fees. The judge informed the convict of his right to appeal against the
verdict and ask for pardon.
Nina Klimava, victim’s mother
Belarus remains the only country in Europe that still applies capital
punishment. The West has repeatedly called on the Belarusian authorities to
join a global moratorium as a 1st step towards the abolition of the death
penalty.
The exact number of executions in Belarus is unknown, but local human rights
defenders and journalists have worked tirelessly to uncover some information
about death sentences and executions. According to the Ministry of Justice of
Belarus, 245 people were sentenced to death from 1994 to 2014. Human rights
NGOs believe that around 400 people have been executed since the country gained
its independence in 1991; president Alyaksandr Lukashenka granted a pardon to
only 1 convict.
(source: belsat.eu)
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