[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 14 TURKEY: Turkey Will Try to Return the Death Penalty After the Referendum, Erdogan Promised The Turkish President Redzhep Tayip Erdogan said the government should propose a bill to return the death penalty if the constitutional changes to move to a presidential republic are approved on the referendum on Sunday. At a rally in the eastern province of Erzurum, he said he would approve such a project if it passes in parliament but is ready to start a new consultation if it encounters resistance from lawmakers. "For the return of the death penalty requires a constitutional amendment, but if parliament does not approve, I will turn it to a public referendum, as we did on April 16. Let the public decide," Erdogan said, quoted by "Hurriyet". "The day, which will be decided this would be April 16th ," he stressed the President and added that he would need a consensus from all parties to embark on the return of the death penalty. "Mr. Kilicdaroglu [the leader of the largest opposition Republican People's Party] says he would approve it. I hope that will not be denied when the time comes for it," Erdogan said. (source: novinite.com) JAPAN: Top court upholds death penalty for woman for killing 3 men The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the death sentence given to a 42-year-old woman for killing 3 men she met through an online dating service in the Tokyo area in 2009. Although Kanae Kijima had pleaded not guilty to the murders, the top court ruled she killed all 3 -- Takao Terada 53, Kenzo Ando, 80, and Yoshiyuki Oide, 41 -- between January and August of 2009. Lower courts recognized Kijima, who has changed her surname to Doi while on death row, as the perpetrator, mainly based on circumstantial evidence, while rejecting the defense counsel's argument that the victims may have committed suicide or died by accident. The cause of death in each case was carbon monoxide poisoning. In March 2012, the Saitama District Court found her guilty of murder and sentenced her to death as demanded by the prosecution, saying she bought coal briquettes and sleeping pills, prepared stoves and then stayed with each man until just before he died. In March 2014, the Tokyo High Court upheld the death sentence, saying she committed the crimes to maintain a luxurious lifestyle. (source: The Mainichi) BANGLADESH: EU calls on Bangladesh to abolish death sentence The European Union delegation in Dhaka has urged the Bangladeshi authorities to introduce a moratorium on executions as the "1st step towards definitive abolition of capital punishment". In a statement on Thursday, the EU's Dhaka office said capital punishment is "not a deterrent against crime and renders miscarriages of justice irreversible". "The European Union universally opposes the use of capital punishment." The call came following the execution of 3 militants for the 2004 grenade attack on a Sylhet shrine gathering, targeting the then British high commissioner Anwar Choudhury. Three people, including 2 policemen, were killed in the attack. The envoy sustained injuries along with nearly 40 employees of the Sylhet district administration, including its chief. Banned radical outfit Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami leader Abdul Hannan aka Mufti Hannan and his accomplices Sharif Shahedul alias Bipul and Delwar Hossain Ripon were executed on Wednesday night after completing a long trial process. The British High Commission in Dhaka earlier told bdnews24.com that bringing the perpetrators to justice was "right", but reiterated the UK's opposition to death penalty in all circumstances. (source: bdnews24.com) PAKISTAN: Pak Army says 'no compromise' on Jadhav's death sentence The Pakistan Army said Thursday there will be 'no compromise' on the issue of death sentence awarded to alleged Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav by a military court. The remark comes as Pakistan faces hostile backlash from India over the death penalty to Jadhav. In a Corps Commanders' Conference presided by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, "The forum was also briefed about Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav. It was concluded that no compromise shall be made on such anti state acts," according to an ISPR statement. The statement said that the forum also reviewed national security environment and recent developments in the region. "Forum reviewed progress of operation Radd-ul-Fasaad and provision of support to ongoing National Housing and Population census. COAS appreciated formations, intelligence agencies and Law Enforcement Agencies for successful execution of operations," the statement added. Jadhav was awarded the death penalty on April 10 in an unprecedented decision that sparked a diplomatic spat between the 2 hostile neighbours. Pakistan media reported yesterday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and General Bajwa have agreed not to come under pressure from India over the issue.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARK., NEB., CALIF., USA
April 14 ARKANSASimpending execution 7 Executions in 11 Days: EU Calls on the US to Stop Death Penalty The European Union has criticized the US state of Arkansas for scheduled executions for the period between 17 April and 27 April on the grounds that it de-facto breaks the moratorium on capital punishment observed by Arkansas since November 2005. The southern US state bordering the Mississippi River would become the 1st state in the country to conduct 7 executions over an 11-day period since the resumption of the use of death penalty in 1977 in the United States. Capital punishment is illegal in the 19 out of the 50 US states and the District of Columbia. In 2016, the United States did not rank among the world's 5 biggest executioners for the 1st time since 2006 and only the 2nd time since 1991. Amnesty International reports that only 5 US states executed people in 2016: Alabama (2), Florida (1), Georgia (9), Missouri (1), Texas (7), with Texas and Georgia, accounting for 80% of the country's executions in 2016. The number of executions (20) has fallen to the record low in any year since 1991 and the number of executions has fallen every year since 2009 (except for 2012 when it stayed the same). According to the EU, the executions in Arkansas, if carried out as planned, would be a serious setback in this overall development. Europe has long advocated that while capital punishment fails to act as a deterrent to crime, it represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity and cannot be justified under any circumstances. More than 140 countries in the world are now abolitionist in law or practice. The EU has called on the Governor of Arkansas to commute the sentences and grant the convicts relief from the death penalty. (source: eubulletin.com) * Arkansas death penalty opponents want mass protest before 'execution assembly line' begins Death penalty opponents hope to build on strong social media momentum and attract hundreds of protestors to the Arkansas state capital on Good Friday in a show of force against the slew of upcoming executions slated to take place between Monday, April 17 and Thursday April 27. In what the convicted inmates' defense attorneys have decried as an "execution assembly line," Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson scheduled 7 executions to take place over 11 days - 3 nights of double executions and 1 single one. Last week, a judged stopped a planned 8th execution. Of the original eight death row inmates, 7 are currently set to be executed by lethal injection before the end of April. Furonda Brasfield, executive director of Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, hopes that hundreds of demonstrators will descend on Little Rock on Good Friday. "Arkansas is known across the world for the Little Rock 9 and all of that atrocity," Furonda said, referencing the landmark 1957 battle to desegregate the state's high schools. "And now it's the Little Rock 8 in 10, and it paints our state in such a horrible light." (source: Deutsche Welle) *** The Legal Battle Over Arkansas' Plan to Execute 7 Men in 10 Days Arkansas has scheduled executions of 7 inmates in quick succession because the state's supply of midazolam, 1 of the drugs used in its procedure, is set to expire at the end of April. Hearings ended on Thursday in a lawsuit arguing that the pace of the executions and the use of midazolam are unconstitutional. A decision is expected before the 1st scheduled execution on Monday. An Unprecedented Schedule Since 1976, the year the death penalty was reinstated nationally, multiple executions in one state on a single day have occurred only 10 times. The last time was 17 years ago in Texas. Arkansas conducted double executions nearly a year before that. Arkansas is planning to carry out 7 executions in 10 days. No state has tried to execute so many people in such a short period. Virginia is the only other state with an execution scheduled this month. The last attempt to carry out 2 executions in a day resulted in chaos. In April 2014 in Oklahoma, the inmate Clayton Lockett was awake and writhed in pain during the administration of the lethal drugs, even though earlier a doctor had announced that Mr. Lockett was unconscious. The state canceled a second execution originally scheduled on that day. The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety later recommended that executions be at least 7 days apart, citing the botched execution and saying it was partly a result of "extra stress" from having 2 executions planned on the same day. The Missouri Supreme Court adopted a rule in 2016 that limited executions to 1 per month. "Corrections officers are not hired executioners," states the Arkansas inmates' federal complaint. It argues that the emotional toll of the job and the rushed schedule greatly increase the risks of causing unnecessary pain and suffering
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ALA., MISS., OHIO
April 14 TEXAS: Court grants Duane Buck relief that could remove him from Texas death row The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted Texas death-row inmate Duane Buck the right to pursue his claims of ineffective counsel and relief under a rule that covers mistakes and neglect - a move that could spare him from execution. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race improperly tainted inmate Buck's death sentence and remanded the case to the lower court for a new hearing. In a two-page ruling filed Thursday, the federal appeals court also ordered him released unless the state initiates proceedings for a new trial for punishment within six months or "elects not to seek the death penalty and accedes to a life sentence." Buck was convicted in Houston 20 years ago for the killings of his girlfriend, Debra Gardner, and her friend, Kenneth Butler. He was sentenced to death after a psychologist testified he would be a continuing threat to society because he is black. The case, which has made national headlines for years, could be a harbinger of how the country's highest court deals with death penalty cases with racial overtones, experts have said. After February's decision, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said her office would review Buck's case, including speaking with the victims' families and looking over mitigation evidence, before deciding how to proceed. "Racially charged evidence has no place in any courtroom, and this administration will not tolerate its presence," she said. "We remain committed to seeking justice for the victims of Duane Buck's heinous criminal acts and will do so without what Chief Justice Roberts described as the 'strain of racial prejudice' present at the 1997 trial in which Buck was convicted." [see: http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/14/14-70030-CV0.pdf] (source: Houston Chronicle) VIRGINIAimpending execution 3 Reasons Why Virginia May Execute an Innocent Man In 2006, a jury convicted Ivan Teleguz of hiring someone to kill Stephanie Sipe, his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child. Now, more than a decade later, Virginia is scheduled to execute Teleguz on April 25, 2017, and there is substantial evidence suggesting that Teleguz is innocent. How is that possible in the United States - the land of the free, where a poor person is entitled to legal counsel and a criminal defendant has numerous chances to be heard in court? Actually, it happens with some ease, and in part, it happens because of conscious choices we have made about our legal system. There are at least 3 reasons for this counter-intuitive reality. 1. Prosecutors, Not Judges or Juries, Resolve Most Criminal Cases in America When most people think of criminal cases, they have visions of Atticus Finch and dramatic closing arguments before juries. In fact, 97 % of federal cases and 94 % of state cases are resolved through plea-bargaining. The prosecutor determines what charges to bring against a defendant, offers him a lesser sentence if he accepts the deal in lieu of a trial, and often plays one defendant off of another in the process. In most cases, criminal defendants accept a plea rather than insisting upon their day in court because the penalty and risk associated with going to trial is simply too high. Teleguz's case demonstrates this phenomenon well. There was no physical evidence connecting him to the murder of Ms. Sipe; the prosecution's case was based on the testimony of three witnesses. Since his trial, 2 of those witnesses have recanted their testimony and have admitted that they lied when they implicated Teleguz in exchange for favorable treatment from the government. The Commonwealth repeatedly told the 3rd witness, Ms. Sipe's actual killer, that he would face the death penalty unless he "cooperated" with them by agreeing to testify against Teleguz in Ms. Sipe's murder and sticking to that story. Not surprisingly, he did just that and he is serving out a life sentence while Teleguz faces imminent death. 2. The Myth of the Right to Counsel Speaking of Atticus Finch, why didn't Teleguz's lawyer prevent this outcome? Indeed, the United States Supreme Court has held time and again that "[t]he right of one charged with crime to counsel may not be deemed fundamental and essential to fair trials in some countries, but it is in ours."[1] There is a huge divide, though, between the right and the reality. Like Teleguz, 80 % of criminal defendants are poor, and they are entitled to a lawyer at the state's expense. Those lawyers are overworked, underpaid and operate without anything close to what the government has in the way of investigative and expert resources. For these reasons, while in office, Attorney General Eric Holder regularly described indigent defense systems nationwide as "unjust," "morally untenable," "economically unsustainable," and "unworthy of a legal system that stands as an
