Oct. 13
EGYPT:
Egypt sentences 6 to death over attack on Haram hotel
The Giza Criminal Court on Saturday sentenced 6 out of 26 defendants to the
death penalty over a 2016 terrorist attack on a hotel in Giza.
The court also sentenced 8 defendants to 25 years in prison, while 12 others
received 10 years in prison each.
The defendants, 3 of which were tried in absentia, are charged with attacking
the Three Pyramids Hotel in Haram street in Giza in 2016, which was receiving a
bus transporting around 40 Arab Israeli tourists.
The attack left no casualties.
The Interior Ministry said that the gunmen fired birdshot and fireworks at
security personnel guarding the scene, and at a tourist bus present in front of
the hotel at the time of the attack.
The Islamic State-affiliated “Sinai Province” claimed responsibility for the
attack, while also claiming the attack resulted in deaths and injuries among
the security personnel.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office accused the defendants of leading a group
established against the law, arming themselves with firearms, vandalism,
attacking the Three Pyramids Hotel, and using force against the police.
The presiding judge Mohamed Nagy Shehata said that the defendants were
sentenced after reviewing the opinion of the Grand Mufti, the articles of the
law, and hearing the prosecution and defense.
He added that the defendants terrorized the people, sought to spread terror and
targeted visitors to the country, harming Egypt’s safe image and thereby
damaging tourism and the economy.
“The court ruled penalties commensurate with the age of some of the defendants,
and the role of each of them in the attack, to punish each accused by the
crime,” Shehata said.
(source: Egypt Independent)
SRI LANKA:
Sajith not against death penalty for drug lords
Presidential candidate of New Democratic Front led by the United National Party
Minister Sajith Premadasa says he is not against the death penalty for drug
kingpins, who continue to conduct their businesses even from prison cells.
Speaking during an event in Colombo, the Presidential candidate said the
proliferation of drug usage is one of the main challenges the society face and
prison sentences do not make the drug traffickers to stop their trade.
"What I have observed is when the major culprits are brought to book and given
prison sentences, what happens is that the businesses conducted outdoors keep
on flourishing indoors inside the 4 walls of the prisons. So What I am trying
to elaborate is the drug trade and the drug business does not stop, it keeps
getting multiplied."
He stressed that women and children in the society have to be given protection
and if the present system of justice is incapable of preventing the drug lords
from conducting their businesses, there has to be a change in the
administration of justice.
"In other words, I would not hesitate to activate the death penalty against
major drug business persons," Minister Premadasa stressed adding that it should
be the last course of action..
"Having said that, I for one do not believe in taking life. I think the lives
are sacred and we have to protect lives, so when I say that as a last resort,
if all other avenues and measures are exhausted in trying to address this
problem and do not achieve its particular task, I wouldn't have any hesitation
in giving death penalty."
However, the Minister said it has to be ensured that the judicial processes
that are in place for administration of justice have to be transparent, fair,
and free from any interference.
Premadasa pointed out that because of personal enmities or other manipulations
an innocent person can be sent to the gallows if the judicial system is not
fair or transparent.
"Procedure through which you administer justice has to be transparent, fair and
free from interferences. Under those conditions, I have to say I agree with the
death penalty as the last course of action."
"We have to eradicate the drug menace, in order to protect the children,
especially, the school-going children and the mothers in our society. We shall
take the maximum possible steps in order to eradicate this humongous problem
that our society faces," the presidential candidate pledged.
(source: colombopage.com)
RUSSIA:
Return of Death Penalty in Russia Not on Agenda - Kremlin Spokesman on Saratov
Incident
The possibility of capital punishment to be restored in Russia is not currently
being discussed in any way, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik on
Saturday amid Russia-wide tumultuous public debate on appropriate punishment
for child homicide.
"This issue is not being discussed in any way at the moment," Peskov said.
The issue of reinstating the death sentence in Russia has surfaced after the
murder of a nine-year-old girl in the southern Russian city of Saratov.
She left home for school on Wednesday morning but never got there. She was
later found dead in an abandoned garage. The suspect, a 35-year-old local male,
has confessed to the murder and reportedly has standing convictions for rape,
robbery, and sexual harassment.
Russia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in 1996. Following the Saratov
incident, the Russian parliament's lower house has published a survey on its
VK, also known as Vkontakte, account as to whether the death penalty in Russia
should be brought back or not.
(source: urdupoint.ccom)
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