August 24
CANADA:
New exhibit explores history of the death penalty in Quebec
A new exhibit in Quebec City aims to educate people about the history of the
death penalty in Quebec. An immersive experience at the Morrin Centre
transports visitors back in time and into the middle of a real trial.
The Morrin Centre is now Quebec City’s English cultural hub, but it has a much
darker history.
“Public executions have long been linked with this building,” said Barry
McCullough, the executive director of the Morrin Centre.
“The Quebec Common Jail was housed in the Morrin Centre from 1812 until 1867
and during that time there were 16 hangings, 8 of which were for theft and the
other 8 of which were for murder,” he explained.
The new exhibit explores this history through the real life story of one
convicted murderer, William Pounden.
“It takes us through the crime, the accusation, the trial, and ultimately the
hanging,” McCullough said.
Pounden, an Irishman who worked as a labourer in Quebec City was accused of
violently killing his mother-in-law. He spent 133 days imprisoned in the Quebec
common jail. After lengthy deliberation, the jury found him guilty and he was
hanged on October 18, 1823.
“As many as 8000 people came to watch that,” said Philippe Martin, the Morrin
Centre heritage coordinator.
As surprising as it might seem, Martin said public executions always drew big
crowds. He explained that executions began after the British Conquest and 300
people, including eight women were given the death penalty in Quebec.
“The last execution in Canada was in 1962 and the last in the province of
Quebec was in 1960,” he said.
Capital punishment was officially abolished in Canada in 1976.
(source: globalnews.ca)
SCOTLAND:
Scottish Conservatives want to bring in the ‘death penalty’
THE Scottish Tories have been accused of trying to bring in the death penalty
in all but name.
Plans to keep Scotland’s worst offenders in jail for the whole of their lives
have been described as regressive and problematic by two of the country’s
leading criminologists.
Dr Hannah Graham and Professor Fergus McNeill from the Scottish Centre for
Crime and Justice Research say Liam Kerr’s Whole Life Custody (Scotland) Bill
risks undermining the distinction between justice and vengeance.
Holyrood is currently holding a consultation into the proposed legislation.
Kerr says it will bring the law into line with England and Wales, as well as
making sure the punishment fits the crime, guarantee public safety, and bolster
public confidence in criminal justice.
While Scottish courts can sentence offenders to life, all prisoners are
automatically eligible for parole once the “punishment part” of their sentence
has passed.
The proposal is to bring in lifelong jail terms for the very worst murderers,
including those convicted of killing two or more persons, or a child, or a
police or prison officer in the course of their duty.
Kerr’s consultation also floats the possibility of bringing in whole-life
sentences for people who have raped two or more persons or a young child.
In their response, Graham and McNeill say existing arrangements in Scotland
“for dealing with those convicted of very serious and harmful crimes are more
than adequate”.
The National:
They say the Parole Board for Scotland and Scottish Ministers are “already
empowered to prevent the release – until death if necessary – of life sentence
prisoners considered to be a continuing risk to the public, and to recall to
custody anyone who has been released under lifelong conditions whose behaviour
or even attitude causes concern”.
The academics cite experts in the UK and US who categorise whole-life sentences
as equivalent to the death penalty.
Graham and McNeill write: “Like other forms of killing, sentencing people to
die in custody denies and ultimately extinguishes human dignity.
“Upholding the principle of human dignity – for everyone, for all human life –
even and especially in the wake of profound wrongs, harms and tragedies, is
integral to justice and what it means to be a progressive, rights-respecting
nation.
“It is part of what distinguishes justice from vengeance. Liam Kerr’s
whole-life custody proposal risks undermining that principle and that
distinction.
“The worst act of an individual should not bring out the worst in us as a
nation.
McNeill continued: “Escalations of vengeance in the wake of distressing crimes
with tragic consequences won’t produce fairness nor bring back what was lost.
Kerr said the status quo was letting victims down: “This bill gives judges the
power to keep the very worst offenders in prison for the rest of their lives.
“Too often victims tell us about their frustration and confusion over short
sentences, early release and parole hearings that fail to take their suffering
into account.
“The worst offenders should be in no doubt that they face the severest
consequences for their actions – jail for the rest of their lives.
“The SNP’s soft touch justice agenda has been letting down victims for too
long.Giving judges this option will keep the public safer and give victims the
justice they deserve.”
MSPs rejected the plans back in June when they were discussed during an
opposition day debate at Holyrood.
(source: thenational.scot)
SINGAPORE:
Inmate on death row did not pen articles in Malaysian media: Singapore Prison
Service
The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) will investigate a number of articles
published by the Malaysian media that were purportedly penned by a Malaysian
drug mule on death row here, after the inmate in question, Pannir Selvam A/L
Pranthaman, told SPS that he did not write them.
In a statement on Friday night (Aug 23), SPS said the articles had been written
in Pannir's name by someone else.
"This appears to be part of an orchestrated campaign to put pressure on the
Singapore Government," SPS said.
"SPS will investigate further the circumstances relating to this matter," it
added.
Pannir is fighting the rejection of his clemency plea by President Halimah
Yacob.
Malaysian news site Malay Mail had published on Aug 19 a 1st-person account of
life in prison said to be written by Pannir. It claimed that he was subjected
to "psychological torture," locked up in a very hot room with the lights on for
2 weeks.
In the article, the author described being denied the right to be baptised, and
said the treatment in prison reminded him of stories that he had read of Nazi
concentration camps.
The same newspaper had published another letter purportedly written by Pannir
on Aug 15, detailing his thoughts and goals while in prison.
Pannir was convicted of importing 51.84g of heroin in 2017, and was due to be
hanged in May this year.
His clemency petition to President Halimah Yacob was rejected in the same
month, but he received a stay of execution after he declared his intention to
mount a legal challenge against the decision.
Subsequently, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam revealed that his
Malaysian counterpart had written to the Singapore Government over the case.
Mr Shanmugam said it was one of three requests made by the Pakatan Harapan
government to stop the execution of Malaysians in Singapore since it took power
after the election in May last year.
But Singapore cannot make exceptions for Malaysians who have been sentenced to
death as it would undermine the rule of law here, Mr Shanmugam explained.
The Singapore Government will not intervene when the courts have already
imposed a sentence and there are no legal reasons to do so, he added.
"It is not tenable to give a special moratorium to Malaysians, and impose it on
everyone else, including Singaporeans who commit offences which carry the death
penalty," said Mr Shanmugam.
As at end July, Pannir's application for permission to start judicial review
proceedings is pending before the High Court.
(source: The Straits Times)
INDIA:
Punjab and Haryana HC declines to entertain clemency plea of 2 death row
convicts -- 2 death row inmates who earlier before a single bench had
unsuccessfully contended that they deserve the relief as the there was an
alleged delay in disposal of their mercy petitions and on the ground of their
long period of incarceration.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has declined to entertain the appeals for
clemency by 2 death row inmates who earlier before a single bench had
unsuccessfully contended that they deserve the relief as the there was an
alleged delay in disposal of their mercy petitions and on the ground of their
long period of incarceration.
A 16-year-old boy Abhi Verma alias Harry, a student of DAV School Hoshiarpur,
was kidnapped in February 2005 and a ransom call for Rs 50 lakh for his release
was received. Harry was found dead the next day and three accused Vikram Singh,
Jasvir Singh and Jasvir’s wife Sonia were arrested. They were awarded death
sentence in 2006.
The High Court confirmed the death sentences in 2008 but the Supreme Court in
2010 commuted Sonia’s sentence to life while upholding the death penalty
awarded to Vikram and Jasvir. In 2015, their mercy petitions were rejected by
Punjab Governor and the same were also rejected by the President of India in
2016. A single bench on July 26 had dismissed the writ petitions seeking
setting aside of the death penalty and subsequent orders confirming it.
The division bench of Chief Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Arun Palli after
hearing the Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) against the single bench’s decision
said, “On an application of the principles set out by the Hon’ble Apex Court in
the case of Ram Kishan Fauji, where the main relief claimed in the petition is
in respect of commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment, merely
because orders rejecting the mercy petition by the Hon’ble Governor and the
Hon’ble President of India are also under challenge, will not convert it into
civil proceeding, as invocation of jurisdiction by the appellant/petitioner was
that of criminal jurisdiction of this court”.
The single bench verdict pronounced last month held that even if there is some
delay in executing the judgments or orders of the competent courts, the same
cannot negate the consequences of the trial. “The court feels that it is under
obligation not only to protect the rights of the petitioners alone but is under
bounden duty to protect the rights of all, particularly the victim,” Justice
Jitendra Chauhan had said in the verdict on July 26.
The single bench had further ruled that there is no time limit prescribed for
the Executive to decide the mercy petition preferred by a condemned prisoner
and nor is there any straitjacket formula to determine the delay in such cases
and each case has to be considered in the light of own facts and circumstances.
“All the three accused committed offence of murder in a pre-planned manner by
injecting chloroform and fortwin in heavy doses to the victim after tying both
his hands and legs and sealing his mouth with a tape to prevent the detection
of offence; all the three remained closely associated with the pre-planning
till recovery of the dead body of the helpless child, whose life was put to an
end on coming to know that the police has been contacted and that the
petitioners would not be able to obtain the ransom amount,” the order of the
single bench read.
With the dismissal of LPA by the division bench for it not being maintainable,
the convicts can now only approach Supreme Court against the single bench
decision with their prayers, which include mandamus for commutation of death
sentence to life, setting aside the order of Governor and communication of
rejection of mercy petition by the President and quashing of the death warrants
already issued by the Sessions Judge on September 26, 2016.
(source: indianexpress.com)
NIGERIA:
Coalition seeks action on death row inmates
A coalition of international organisations including the Community of
Sant’Egidio, the World Coalition for the Abolition of Death Penalty (WCADP) and
Life Wire International Foundation (LWIF), have called for action on the over
2,000 people, who they said were on death row in Nigeria as at the end of 2018.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, a leader of Sant’Egidio and
Theology and Religious Studies expert, Prof. Jan De Volder, expressed concern
for the continuing flaws in the system.
He also said prison congestion was due to the presence of abnormally high
number of non-convicted inmates awaiting trial.
The organisations however commended the federal government on the recent
adoption of the bill on prison reform, changing the name of the Nigerian
Prisons Service (NPS) to Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS).
He told stakeholders that it should not just be a name change and
window-dressing, but the start of real shift of mindset to make the system more
humane and effective.
Ms. Annemarie Pieters of the World Coalition for the Abolition of Death
Penalty, said they welcomed the fact that the new law provides the possibility
to change capital punishment to life imprisonment after 10 years.
(source: dailytrust.com.ng)
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