[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
July 10 LUXEMBOURG: Asselborn pursues universal abolition of the death penalty The Minister of Foreign Affairs maintains anti-death penalty stance in response to Christian Social People's Party MP Laurent Mosar. Foreign Affairs Minister Asselborn reaffirmed his ambition concerning the abolition of the death penalty beyond European borders. The issue came up in relation to the fate of Murtaja Qureiris, imprisoned since the age of 13 in Saudi Arabia. "The youngest prisoner in Saudi Arabia" had been facing the death penalty but was eventually sentenced to 12 years in prison for taking part in an anti-government demonstration. However, as deputy Laurent Mosar pointed out, even if Murtaja Qureiris’ life was no longer technically in danger, the problem remained as relevant as ever, with initiatives such as the United Nations Children's Fund regularly denouncing Saudi Arabia’s continued execution of minors. How then, asked Mosar, was the Luxembourgish government going to react? And how, he continued, would they address the case on both European (EU) and international (UN) levels? Jean Asselborn maintained that Luxembourg seized every possible opportunity to underline its unequivocal opposition to the death penalty, especially when in relation to minors. Going beyond the issue at hand, the minister called for the suspension of "all executions" in order to achieve "a complete and universal abolition of the application of the death penalty". Returning to the case of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Asselborn assured that the European Union would not hesitate to raise the subject with the Saudi representatives and insisted that Luxembourg would continue to commit in favour of universal abolition of the death penalty in every way possible. We can only hope that despite a clear risk of a global regression on the issue, Mr Asselborn's appeal will be heard. If the Qureiris case has taught us anything, it is that international pressure can change things. (source: rtl.lu) PAKISTAN: Death penalty in Pakistan: A colonial residueCapital punishment was used extensively in colonial India by the British Empire to control its colonial subjects. The following is an excerpt from Justice Project Pakistan’s (JPP) book, The Death Penalty in Pakistan: A Critical Review, to be launched on July 11, 2019 in Islamabad. A culmination of 10 years of JPP’s work, the book documents the many ways in which Pakistan's application of the death penalty intersects with legal, social and political realities. It focuses on how capital punishment impacts some of the most vulnerable populations: juveniles, the mentally ill, persons with physical disabilities, low-wage migrant workers imprisoned in foreign jails and the working class. Relying on public records for multiple JPP clients sentenced to death, nearly a decade of experience in the field, as well as extensive experience with legislation and advocacy, this book tracks the many junctures at which violations occur, from arrest to sentencing to execution. *** Colonial India (1858-1945) As the Mughal Empire fell, the British took control and established the Indian subcontinent as its colony until both Pakistan and India gained independence in 1947. Most of the laws and structures currently in place in Pakistan including those related to criminal justice and the legal system date to colonial times. While the British altered the modes of carrying out death sentences and made hanging the norm,19 they also made it so that capital punishment was administered more readily and frequently. Whereas the Mughals did not have many formal prison systems, the building of new and improved prisons marked the entry of the British into the Indian subcontinent.20 In her book Prisoner Voices from Death Row, Reena Mary George indicates, ‘Prisons continue to be located and structured more or less as they were in colonial times. Any change that has been made has been incorporated somewhat clumsily into the old system that basically served the triple colonial aims of order, economy and efficiency’.21 The first formal placing of capital punishment in the legal system, though, came when the Governor-General of the India Council enacted the Indian Penal Code in 1860.22 The law, drafted by a group of Britishers making up the Law Commission, did not attempt to integrate any traditional Indian legal systems and instead, as the historian David Skuy notes, ‘the entire codification practice represented the transplantation of English law to India, complete with lawyers and judges’.23 Since English law at the time was not itself uniform, this was a first attempt to create such a standard body of law. The current Code of Criminal Procedure was introduced in 1898 but draws from the very first code of 1861 that followed the 1857 Indian rebellion.24 Its intent was to control Indians. Some of the provisions in these laws are termed as ‘draconian
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----LA., S.DAK., CALIF., ORE., USA
July 10 LOUISIANA: Kevin Daigle guilty of 1st-degree murder of State Trooper Steven Vincent Kevin Daigle is guilty of 1st-degree murder of Louisiana State Trooper Steven Vincent. The 12-person jury went into deliberations at 3:47 p.m. (Tuesday) and returned to court with a verdict at 4:05 p.m. Daigle has been described as pure evil-- and the state successfully portrayed him as such: a mean, heartless, cold- blooded killer who thought nothing of gunning down Trooper Steven Vincent, a peace officer who, ironically, tried to help Daigle who appeared stranded on the side of the road. Calcasieu District Attorney John DeRosier says Vincent’s death has caused such suffering. "He executed that policeman, a very fine young man, a very fine police officer, and look what it's done to his family. It's just devastated them, it's just devastated. He's got a large family, good family man, and there's just no reason for this. And we have to set an example," said DeRosier. The jury began leaving the courtroom at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday and word came of a verdict scarcely 15 minutes later. Prosecutors say the actual time deliberating may have been as few as 3 minutes. “We received the verdict at 4:03 and it took some time to get it to us so, it was a very short time they were out. Three to three and a half minutes,” said DeRosier. Daigle attorneys put on an intoxication defense arguing Daigle was so drunk, he didn’t know or remember what he did. But lead prosecutor Lea Hall said Daigle’s actions showed he knew exactly what he was doing. "You've got it on camera, of him aiming and pointing a weapon at him and connecting on a man fleeing, a man trained on how to defend himself, and was able to score a hit. And further, when he stood over him and tried to rob him of his possessions and of his gun, his handcuffs, his keys, tried to steal a state police unit--that's what lets me know that he meant what he was doing," said Hall. The jury remains sequestered for the penalty phase, when they decide if Daigle should get life in prison or be executed. "I know what they should do, I know what is reasonable and appropriate in this case, even though I don't relish doing it. But I think the death penalty is in fact appropriate in this case," said DeRosier. Defense attorneys declined to be interviewed after the verdict. The penalty phase gets underway Wednesday morning in Lafayette. For Daigle to receive a death sentence all 12 jurors must vote for execution. A non-unanimous vote would result in life in prison. Daigle was on trial for the 2015 shooting death of Vincent, who he killed during a traffic stop near Bell City. The state rested its case Tuesday morning and the defense put on its side, starting with dash cam video and audio from inside the police car where Daigle was put after his arrest. In the video the jurors could not see Daigle for upwards of an hour but could hear him him screaming at the top of his lungs, cursing, crying and pleading that he was hot and hurting and that he had been beaten. Daigle was cuffed and maybe otherwise restrained, repeatedly pounding his fists, feet, or both in tandem, in the police car. There were periods of quiet when Daigle apparently fell asleep. Then he’s heard pleading, “What did I do?” and saying he didn’t do anything. Daigle was eventually transported to a hospital where he was swabbed for DNA and his blood tested to determine his blood alcohol level which, according to testimony, was around 0.2801. (source: KPLC TV news) SOUTH DAKOTA: Brown County native to defend Iowa man against death penalty in federal court A Brown County native is preparing to defend an Iowa man charged with murder and facing the death penalty. Michael Lahammer is the defense attorney for Matthew Robbins, who is accused of fatally shooting a 51-year-old man during a robbery. Lahammer said his client, Robbins, is accused of shooting James Booher while trying to rob him of methamphetamine and money in 2014. Booher went missing May 31, 2014. The trial will be held in federal court. Lahammer previously represented Robbins in a separate case, which is why a judge appointed him to represent him again. "As a service to the court, I agree to take a certain number of court appointments that is less than half of my hourly rate," Lahammer explained. "In this case, I represented Mr. Robbins five years ago on his initial charges — we got a hung jury. We were preparing to retry to the case, and we came to plea terms to a lesser charge, and he's been serving a lesser sentence since that time. " That was in 2014, when Robbins admitted to one count of being a felon and unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm as part of the plea agreement, Lahammer said. The murder charges against Robbins were filed in June. "Because I represented Mr. Robbins previously and we have a good relationship, the court asked if I'd represent
