August 29
THAILAND:
Myanmar workers facing death penalty for British tourist murders to seek Thai
pardon
2 migrant workers from Myanmar will seek a royal pardon from Thailand’s king
after its Supreme Court on Thursday upheld their death sentences for the murder
of 2 British backpackers that drew world attention to the tourist island of Koh
Tao.
The defense lawyer said he would seek a royal pardon in the Sept. 2014 case,
which sparked outrage among rights groups who say the men were scapegoated and
coerced into confessing by police seeking a quick arrest.
“We will petition for royal pardon within 60 days so they would not be
executed,” Nakhon Chompuchart told reporters.
Thai law allows 60 days for those sentenced to death to seek a pardon, but if
the request is dismissed an execution can go ahead.
The workers, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, were sentenced to death for the murder
of David Miller, 24, and the murder and rape of Hannah Witheridge, 23, whose
bodies were discovered on a beach in the diving haven of Koh Tao.
Police said Witheridge had been raped and bludgeoned to death and Miller had
suffered blows to his head.
Tourism accounts for about 1/10 of the Thai economy.
Earlier, a panel of 2 Supreme Court judges upheld decisions by lower courts,
saying the men had been found guilty of murder and rape on the basis of
evidence and forensic results.
The men displayed no emotion as they listened intently to a translator while
the verdict was read at a court in the province of Nonthaburi, just north of
Bangkok, the capital.
“Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun said afterwards that they are sad and worried by the
verdict, because they said they did not commit the crime,” the court
translator, Aye Mar Cho, told Reuters.
The men were convicted and sentenced to death in 2015, a verdict upheld by an
appeal court in 2017.
A pro-bono legal team defending the men has said evidence collected by police
was substandard. The lawyers have also said they were tortured and coerced into
making confessions they later retracted.
“DNA and forensics evidence ... was in my opinion fundamentally flawed and
should always have been considered unreliable, when considered against
international standards,” said labour activist Andy Hall.
The Supreme Court rejected accusations of torture and ruled that DNA evidence
linked the workers to the crime.
All death sentences in Thailand had been commuted by royal pardon for the 9
years before a murder convict was executed in June last year by lethal
injection.
(source: Reuters)
PHILIPPINES:
Thelma Chiong: Chiong 7, who were on death row, should not be eligible for GCTA
“What has happened to our justice system?”
This was the question of Thelma Chiong who was reacting to the possibility that
the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA), which provides for the early release
for prisoners based on their attitude inside penitentiaries, might also aid in
the freeing of the seven men convicted of abducting, raping and the killing of
her two daughters in July 1997.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier confirmed that the seven persons
convicted in the abduction, rape-slay of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong
might benefit from the increased GCTA.
“We feel so much injustice right now. It is as if my daughters died again. It
has been 22 years, but how can we move on when the accused in their death may
be freed soon?” Chiong said.
Chiong granted an interview on Thursday, August 29, in front of Marijoy’s tomb
at the columbary of the Alliance of Two Hearts Parish in Barangay Guadalupe,
Cebu City.
The body believed to be that of Marijoy’s was found dumped at a cliff in Carcar
City days after they went missing on July 16, 1997. Jaqueline’s body was never
found.
Convicted in the abduction and alleged rape-slay of the sisters were Francisco
Juan “Paco” Larrañaga, Jozman Aznar, Rowen Wesley Adlawan, Alberto Allan
“Pahak” Caño, Ariel Balansag, James Andrew “MM” Uy and James Anthony Uy,
collectively known as the Chiong 7.
The Chiong 7 was earlier sentenced to death through lethal injection by the
Supreme Court in 2004 but were saved when the death penalty was abolished in
2006 upon the signing of Republic Act 9346.
Mrs. Chiong told CDN Digital that the Chiong 7 should not benefit from the GCTA
as assured in the provision of the law abolishing capital punishment.
“(A) Person convicted of offenses punished with Reclusion Perpetua, or whose
sentences will be reduced to Reclusion Perpetua, by reason of this Act, shall
not be eligible for parole under Act No. 4180, otherwise known as the
Indeterminate Sentence Law, as amended,” reads Section 3 of RA 9346 or An Act
Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines.
“That was made clear that they (Chiong 7) should not be given parole. Only a
presidential pardon can release them,” Mrs. Chiong said.
Mrs. Chiong said she would be willing to write or seek an audience to anyone,
including President Rodrigo Duterte, in an attempt to bar the persons accused
to be responsible for her daughters’ death from being released.
Mrs. Chiong added that GCTA should especially not include Larrañaga, who is
serving his sentence in Spain being a dual citizen.
Larrañaga has been serving his prison term in Spain since 2009 through the 2007
RP-Spain Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement (TSPA).
But Guevarra earlier said that because Larrañaga was tried and sentenced under
Philippine laws, he would still be eligible for the GCTA.
(source: Cebu Daily News)
CHINA:
'Please help me': detained Australian Yang Hengjun pleads with Scott Morrison
---- The writer, who is potentially facing the death penalty on a spying charge
in China, thanks Australia for support
The detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun – potentially facing the death
penalty on charges of espionage in China – has pleaded with the prime minister,
Scott Morrison, to “please help me go home as soon as possible”.
In a message relayed through an Australian consular official, Yang thanked
supporters for their assistance, and said he was indebted to the Australian
embassy for continuing to visit him and advocate on his behalf.
“A [Ministry of State Security] investigation officer told me that Australia
was small and wouldn’t care about me. He said Australia was dependent on China
for its trade and economy, and Canberra wouldn’t help me, let alone rescue me.
“He said Australia wouldn’t help because I am not white.
“This is nonsense. He was wrong. I am extremely grateful to the Australian
prime minister, foreign minister and members of parliament, the embassy team,
and the ambassador for their help.”
Held for seven months, largely in solitary confinement, by Beijing’s Ministry
of State Security, Yang was last week informed he was being formally arrested
and would be charged with a single count of espionage. He has not been given
any detail about his alleged offence.
There are a range of espionage charges under Chinese law, carrying penalties
from 3 years imprisonment to execution.
The 54-year-old Yang, an author, blogger and and pro-democracy campaigner,
relayed his message through an Australian consular official on Tuesday.
He is allowed one half-hour meeting with Australian embassy staff each month,
but he has not been allowed to meet with his lawyers, or with his family
members. His wife, an Australian permanent resident, has been banned from
leaving China.
Yang said he had devoted 15 years to writing for China, for Chinese people and
for reform of the country’s political system. He said he had worked to improve
China’s relations with the US and Australia. He said he did not deserve the
kind of treatment he had experienced.
Yang’s detention in January and now formal arrest has strained relations
between Beijing and Canberra, already laboured over a range of issues: Chinese
telco Huawei’s 5G ban by Australia’s foreign investment review board;
allegations of Chinese espionage in Australia; Chinese influence in Australian
education and political systems; and Beijing’s military expansionism in the
South China Sea.
The Australian government has repeatedly denied Yang was a spy working on its
behalf. “There is no basis for that allegation,” the foreign minister, Marise
Payne, said.
“We are seeking for Dr Yang’s detention, obviously for him to be released in
the first instance, particularly if he is only being held for his political
beliefs.
“But … if he is to be detained, that he is detained in accordance with the
expectations afforded to him through conventions and international law and they
include access to lawyers, and they include appropriate conditions of
detention.”
In response, the Chinese government warned Australia against advocating on
Yang’s behalf.
“China deplores the Australian statement on this case,” the foreign ministry
spokesman Geng Shuang said. “I would like to reiterate that China is a country
with rule of law. Australia should respect China’s judicial sovereignty and not
interfere in any way in China’s lawful handling of the case.”
Geng insisted Yang was being afforded due process.
“The national security organ handles the case in accordance with law and fully
guarantees Yang’s rights. He is in good physical condition.”
Yang was formerly a diplomat for China’s ministry of foreign affairs, before
working in the private sector in Hong Kong and moving to Australia, where he
took out citizenship, then the US. A novelist under the nom de plume Wei Shi,
he has been a popular blogger, political commentator and agitator for
democratic reforms in China for more than a decade.
Yang, who became an Australian citizen in 2002, had been living in the United
States, where he was a visiting scholar at Columbia University, before flying
to Guangzhou with his family in January. His wife and child were able to enter
China, but authorities escorted Yang from the plane into detention.
The Chinese government has made politically motivated arrests in the past,
detaining foreign nationals either as retribution for an act or perceived
slight, or as leverage – a bargaining chip – in diplomatic negotiations.
The Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained in December,
arrests described by Beijing’s ambassador to Canada as “retaliation” for the
arrest in Canada of a senior executive from Chinese technology company Huawei.
Sources have told the Guardian there is concern in some circles that Yang’s
arrest marks a further escalation in this “hostage diplomacy” tactic.
But Payne said she did not believe Yang’s arrest was an example of hostage
diplomacy.
“We have no reason to think it [Yang’s arrest] is connected to other issues,”
she said.
Others have said the decision to arrest Yang was a reflection of his latent
influence as a pro-democracy campaigner. While he has softened his political
commentary in recent years, Yang remains globally influential and with a
massive online audience, numbering in the millions.
(source: The Guardian)
SRI LANKA:
MP Bandarigoda urges prison reforms while opposing death penalty
Parliamentarian Bandula Lal Bandarigoda today (Aug 28) urged for prison reforms
citing the implementation of the death penalty as an implausible deterrent in
reducing crime rates.
Addressing a media conference, the United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian
voiced opposition against the President's decision to re-introduce judicial
hangings in a bid to solve the narcotic menace.
"This problem cannot be solved without resolving the loopholes in the law,
transforming prisons into rehabilitation Centres, and introducing a mechanism
to prevent drug smuggling," MP Bandarigoda said.
He emphasized that most of the people are tempted to commit wrong deeds due to
the socio-economic problems faced by them and that such issues faced must be
resolved first.
Commenting on his bill to abolish the death penalty, which is yet to be taken
up for a vote in Parliament, Bandarigoda refuted claims that he is trying to
protect criminals.
"We must control crimes. But is it reasonable to implement such a punishment
without resolving the flaws in the entire system?" he queried.
The parliamentarian questioned the accuracy and independence of law enforcement
agencies by recalling instances where people had been imprisoned only to be
found innocent afterwards.
He also said that it would be unfair to hang only drug convicts who are on a
death row while other inmates serving a similar sentence for different offences
are exempted from the same punishment.
"There is no method to distinguish who should be receiving the death penalty.
If a person is sentenced to death the punishment must be common irrespective of
the offence," Bandarigoda urged.
However, he stated that such punishments have not assisted in curbing crime
rates in any country.
(source: sundaytimes.lk)
INDIA:
Odisha youth gets death penalty for raping, murdering minor girl in 2018
The Baripada Additional District and Sessions Judge court today awarded death
penalty to a youth accused of raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in
Betnoti area in Mayurbhanj district in 2018.
The court pronounced the death sentence for the accused, Jaminikanta Mahanta on
the basis of the testimony of 27 witnesses and medical reports.
According to reports, on June 16, 2018, Jaminikanta of Gaudabasa village lured
the victim on the pretext of teaching her cycling and taking her to a swing
festival. Locals said the accused took the victim to a nearby forest and raped
her. He later murdered the girl to eliminate evidence.
Police arrested Jaminikanta and filed a chargesheet in the court within 17 days
on the basis of a scientific report, DNA report and circumstantial evidences.
Government counsel Abhimanyu Patnaik said, “Based on the testimony of witnesses
and medical reports, the court has pronounced the verdict.”
Lawyer of the accused, Ranjit Kumar Das said his client would move the higher
court against the order of the ADJ court.
(source: odishatv.in)
IRAN----executions
Iran Collectively Executes 8 inmates in Raja’i Shahr Prison
8 inmates were collectively executed on August 29, in Raja’i Shahr Prison in
the city of Karaj, near the capital, Tehran.
The victims were identified as: Manouchehr Dehghani, Alireza Behrad, Ebrahim
Yarmout Oghli, Ahmad Gharebalaei, Reza Mousavi Baraghani, Alireza Araei,
Siavosh Inanlou and Mirzaei.
All of them were transferred to solitary confinement on August 26 to be
prepared for execution.
In other news on Wednesday morning, Iranian authorities executed Hamidreza
Derakhshandeh, a man who had killed Mohammad Khorsand, the regime’s notorious
Friday Prayer Leader in Kazerun.
Authorities in the city of Babol in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, also
hanged a man in public during the early morning hours of Monday, August 26, the
state media reported.
This horrific execution of a 25-year old man identified only as “H” was carried
in the city’s Babolkenar Park.
On the same day Iranian regime authorities also executed a woman in Mashhad
prison. This is the 94th woman executed during the tenure of Iranian regime
President Hassan Rouhani.
The Iranian regime is the record holder of executions per capita. More than
3,800 people have been executed during the tenure of Iranian regime president
Hassan Rouhani.
In a report to the General Assembly circulated in Augst 2019 the U.N. expert on
human rights in Iran Javaid Rehman said “the number of executions remains one
of the highest in the world.”
Rehman expressed concern that Iran has more than 80 offenses punishable by the
death penalty, including adultery, homosexuality, drug possession, “waging war
against God, corruption on Earth, blasphemy and insult of the Prophet”
Muhammad. He said many of the offenses are not considered serious crimes under
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Iran deploys the death penalty as a tool for maintaining its grab on power and
for silencing a disgruntled populace the majority of whom live under the
poverty line, while unemployment is rampant in the country and there is no
freedom of speech.
(source: Iran Human Rights Monitor)
MOROCCO:
Imlil Murders: Sale Court of Appeal Postpones Suspects Hearing to September
11----The families want to confirm that the defendants involved in the murder
will serve the initial sentences they received from the court of appeal on July
18.
Sale’s Appeals Court has postponed the appeal process of the 24 suspects
involved in the killing of 2 Scandinavian tourists in the Atlas Mountains. The
process due to begin today, August 28 will now take place on September 11.
Danish Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and Norwegian victim Maren Ueland,
28,were beheaded in December 2018 when they were bivouacking at mount Toubkal
in the Imlil region, 80 kilometers from Marrakech.
On July 18, the same court sentenced the 3 main perpetrators of the heinous
crime to the death penalty.
Abdessamad El Joud, a 25-year-old street vendor confessed having to beheaded
one of the victims with Younes Ouziad, a 27-year-old carpenter who killed the
other girl, while Rachid Afatii, 33, was filming the scene.
A fourth individual, Abderrahim Khayali, who was filmed with the 3 main
suspects pledging allegiance ISIS was sentenced to life imprisonment. The video
was recorded three weeks before the crime.
While the defense lawyers are asking for light sentences for the perpetrators,
civil party lawyers are asking for confirmation of the preliminary verdicts.
Hafida Mkasaoui, one of the defense lawyers, told Morocco World News on August
28 that the families of the victims appealed the court’s decision on
compensation.
The court ruled on July 18 that the claim for compensation from the state for
the families of the victims is inadmissible. The court, however, asked for the
4 main defendants to pay MAD 2 million to the families jointly.
Maksaoui said that the appeal request will revive the case.
“As a defense team we also requested an appeal,” Maksaoui said.
The defense team are asking for lighter sentences for the suspects. Asked
whether they think the court will accept their request, Maksaoui said that it
is a “possibility.”
(source: Morocco World News)
TURKEY:
Turkey’s Erdogan supports death sentence for femicide
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that he supported
execution for men who kill women, columnist Hilal Kaplan wrote on Thursday in
pro-government daily Sabah.
Returning from his 1-day visit to Moscow, Erdogan answered reporters’ questions
about the murder of Emine Bulut, which prompted an outcry among Turks last week
after she was killed by her ex-husband in front of their daughter.
“I say openly and straightly that my party's and my feelings are in favour of
the death sentence on this issue. You’re killing a woman by stabbing her in
front of your daughter,” Kaplan quoted Erdogan as saying.
Turkey eliminated the death penalty in 2004 as part of negotiations for
accession to the European Union. But many on Turkish social media last week
called on the government to bring the punishment back for men who kill women.
Others objected, saying execution is against human rights and the struggle to
stop violence against women requires effective implementation of existing laws
rather than harsher punishments. Erdogan criticised that perspective.
“First of all you should show here how you value people. Then one should go and
ask all human rights defenders this question: go and stop wars then, let’s see
if you can do it,” the president said, according to Kaplan.
“I will absolutely approve if the parliament negotiates, discusses, and agrees
on that,” he said in relation to the death sentence. “I believe the voice of my
conscience about this issue.”
Nearly 40 % of Turkish women have experienced physical or sexual violence from
a partner, according to the United Nations. Some 409 Turkish women were
murdered by a partner or family member in 2017, a 75 % increase from 2013,
according to watchdog group We Will Stop Femicide.
So far this year the femicide death toll in Turkey is 245.
(source: ahvalnews.com)
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