Iran: Mullahs axe university Internet ahead of election

Tuesday, 28 May 2013: Paranoid mullahs have ordered the Internet to be cut off at Qazvin's Azad University in fear that students will use it to organise protests during the June election.

The university was scene of widespread anti-regime demonstrations during the 2009 election which were crushed by State Security Forces.

Students at Azad have also reported the presence of security guards in the university's main hall who are carrying out random spot-checks on computers.

A security agent is also stationed at the university’s library and is checking students for anti-regime books and pamphlets. Students' movements and commuting to campus is also under heavy control, it was reported.

The web restrictions would be in place until after the June 14 ballot, students have been told.

Iran's ruling elite have been crippling the Internet, satellite broadcasts and mobile communications ahead of the ballot in three weeks time.

Internet cafés are also being routinely vetted for illegal VPN software and have been ordered to log the online activity of all customers.

Courtesy: National Council of Resistance of Iran

Iranian Resistance Condemns Detention of Christians in Iran

Thursday, 23 May 2013:  The agents of the Iranian regime's Ministry of Intelligence and Security arrested a leader of the Assemblies of God Church in Tehran on Tuesday May 21. The MOIS agents took Pastor Robert Assarian to an undisclosed location and closed down the church.

Meanwhile, prison authorities of in Gohardasht prison have refused to provide medical care to imprisoned pastor Behnam Irani, who has serious health conditions. The prison guards also have raided prison cells collecting the prisoner's TV sets and harassed the prisoners.

In Evin Prison in Tehran, Pastor Saeed Abedini, 36, who had been taken to hospital last month after his condition deteriorated, has been returned to ward 350 of Evin without minimum medical care.

He was arrested in October 2012 for setting up home churches and sentenced to 8 years prison term on the charge of “acting against national security".

In Shiraz, imprisoned Christians in Adel-Abad prison suffer from diseases and poor prison conditions. Christian prisoners Vahid Hakany, needs immediate surgery due to gastrointestinal bleeding, but prison gaurds and mullahs’ Judiciary in Fars province refuse to provide him with medical services.

Vahid Hakany and three other Christians were imprisoned in February 2011 on the charges of participation in home meetings, promoting Christianity, communication with Christian organizations outside Iran, propaganda against the regime and disrupting national security.

The Iranian Resistance calls on all international bodies, human rights advocates particularly the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, to condemn the detention and torture of Christian leaders and followers of various faiths.

The Iranian Resistance urges UN Security Council to take necessary measures to stop persecutions of religious minorities in Iran.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
May 22, 2013

Courtesy: National Council of Resistance of Iran

Zambia: HRC Hails Pardon of Prisoners
~~By Precious Sakala,

Zambia's new president Michael Sata Photo: AFP/GETTY

27 May 2013: THE Human Rights Commission (HRC) has commended President Michael Sata for

HRC acting chairperson Arnold Kapelembi said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that the action by President Sata to release so many prisoners countrywide at a single occasion should be applauded.

Mr Kapelembi said HRC had at every opportunity made its stance known that it did not support the retention of the death penalty and had recommended its abolishment on several occasions.

"The commission is of the view that taking of a person's life under these conditions is torturous, vengeful and not justice.

"In addition, HRC has continually submitted that evidence from around the world shows that the death penalty has no unique deterrent effect on crime. Therefore, this is a step in the right direction," Mr Kapelembi said.

He said the commission was happy with the release of those with minor offences as the move would help to decongest the overcrowded prisons and assist the inmates who were still incarcerated to live in humane conditions.

Mr Kapelembi said HRC had expressed gratitude to President Sata for taking into account the plight of the prisoners.

He appealed to Zambians to help the former prisoners to be integrated into society.

"The commission would also like to thank the Commissioner of Prisons, Percy Chato and the parole board for taking a proactive role in the plight of prisoners," he said.

Mr Kapelembi said the commission pledged to continue advocating the abolishment of the death sentence in the country.

He also said HRC had commenced investigations on the body cavity search of inmates at Mukobeko maximum Prison following media reports that female inmates were concerned about the said search which was allegedly being conducted at the prison.

Courtesy: All Africa

Iran: Woman prisoner lashed and hanged in latest savage execution

Friday, 24 May 2013: A woman prisoner was lashed 100 times until she bled before being hanged in the

Giti Marami, 34 - the mother of one daughter - was whipped then put to death at Varamin Gharechak prison on Wednesday, May 21.

He husband is also on death row after spending 13 years in prison, according to reports.

Six other prisoners have also been hanged between May 18 to 21 - two in the city of Hamedan, two more accused of spying and named as Kourosh and Mohammad Heydari in Tehran's Evin prison, another named as 35-year-old Allahnazar Shibak in south-eastern Iran's Zahedan Central prison, and one in Khorram-abad prison in western Iran.

The spate of state-sponsored killings comes as Fars province State Security commander Sirous Sajjadian announced on May 21 the implementation of the repressive 'Promotion of Public Security Plan' - part of a massive crackdown on civil liberties ahead of the June election.

Sajjadian warned: "Those who threaten public order and security, thugs, drug dealers and improperly veiled women will be harshly dealt with."

Arrests and executions of opponents of the regime on the pretext of being 'thugs' or 'drug dealers' has been commonplace in the dictatorship for more than three decades.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
May 24, 2013

Courtesy: National Council of Resistance of Iran

Darfur: Three men sentenced to death by crucification

May 25, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – A special court in Sudan’s Darfur region has sentenced to death three men

The verdict was delivered on 6 May by Judge Sif Eldien Abdulrhman Ishag of the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur (SCCED) in Al – Daien, East Darfur, ending the five-day trial with four court sessions.

The three convicted men include, Ibrahim Abidein, 30, Edriss Khubub and Al-Sidig Mohamed, 29, all members of the Reizegat tribe from East Darfur state.

The trio men were reportedly convicted of the murder of Ahmed Salim, a prominent community leader and mayor of the Al – Maalia, an Arab ethnic group in East Darfur, on 27 April 2013.

Under Sudanese law, however, the defendants reportedly have the right to two appeals before the SCCED.

At least 13 witnesses were reportedly interviewed during the three sessions of the trial, while the last trial was reserved for defence lawyers of the accused to submit their arguments before the judge.

The three were charged with various crimes, ranging from murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and possession of a weapon without a license, among others. They are accused of violating the Sudanese Penal Code, Weapons and Ammunition Act and Sharia laws.

Article 168 of the Sudanese Penal Code, prescribed capital punishment for armed robbery, or capital punishment followed by crucifixion, if the act results in murder.

Meanwhile, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) has condemned the use of the death penalty in all cases, calling on the Government of Sudan to observe the global trend towards its abolition.

ACJPS, in particular, urged the Sudanese leadership to commute the death sentences, and cease the use of capital and other forms of corporal punishment, bringing Sudanese laws in line with Sudan’s international law commitments to prohibit torture and cruel, inhumane, and degrading punishment.

“ACJPS calls on the Government of Sudan to….hold the right of the accused to receive a fair trial before an independent and impartial court, and guarantee adequate legal representation,” partly reads its statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

23 African states, in December last year, voted in favour of UN General Assembly resolution 67/176 which called for a moratorium on the death penalty.

Also in its Concluding Observations and Recommendations on the 4th and 5th Periodic Report of the Republic of Sudan adopted in 2012, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) reportedly called on Sudan to “observe the moratorium on the death penalty and take measures for its total abolition”.

who are likely to be hanged, their bodies later crucified and publicly displayed, if the court’s decision is implemented.

Courtesy: Sudan Tribune

Physicists suggest possible existence of other kinds of dark matter
~~By Bob Yirka report

May 24, 2013: A team of Harvard University physicists has proposed the possible existence of a type of dark matter not described by current physics models. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the team suggests it's possible that not all dark matter is cold and collision-less.

In the visible universe, galaxies form into a disk shape—the Milky Way is a good example. All of its members align roughly along a single plane, this due to the forces of gravity and spin. Objects form into masses which, over time, spread out into a disk shape. Dark matter, on the other hand, appears to hover around galaxies like a halo, at least according to current models. It's seen as dark, cold and with so little energy that dark matter particles rarely if ever run into one another. The researchers in this new study suggest there may be other types of matter, however, that behaves more like visible matter. And, because of that, they suggest it could bunch up due to dark-matter-type gravity and form disks as well. These disks, which they describe as dark matter component double-disk dark matter, could represent as much as 5 percent of all existing dark matter.
For dark matter to clump, it would need to have other properties similar to visible matter as well. For that reason, the researchers suggest it's possible that there exists dark atoms, dark photons, and likely some form of dark electromagnetic force as well.

Research on dark matter over the years has led to a model that describes dark matter as existing in a ball shape—galaxies sit in the middle of the ball, which would mean observers living in a galaxy would "see" it as existing everywhere around them. But it's possible that other types of shapes exist as well, the researchers suggest, because there are other types of matter in the visible universe. They note that baryonic matter (matter made of strongly acting fermions known as baryons) is believed to make up approximately 5 percent of all matter in the known universe. For that reason, they conclude that it would appear likely that similar differences in dark matter would occur as well, and perhaps in nearly equal proportions.

If true, it would mean there could be whole dark galaxies out there, undetectable, yet as real as those we can see with the naked eye. Much more research will have to be done in this area before adding such types of dark matter to models in general use, of course. Until then, it will remain an abstract theory.

Courtesy: Phys.org

Saudi Arabia warns against Iran's nuclear programme

Jeddah: Saudi Arabia on Saturday warned of the lurking danger of the Iranian nuclear programme to the region's security, saying that Tehran should not threaten its neighbours, who harbour no ill-intentions for it.

"We stress the danger of the Iranian nuclear programme to the security of the whole region," Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said at a joint news conference with External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

To a question on Iran's alleged threat to Bahrain, the Saudi Minister said,"It is very unfortunate for Iran to use" such a language.

"Commonsense says in times of trouble, humans should be a little more smarter and not put fuel on fire," Faisal said.

"We hope Iran will go along....," he added. Iran says it is enriching uranium only for peaceful uses. But the US and its allies fear Tehran may enrich to levels used for nuclear bombs.

The two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria, with Faisal saying,"We reviewed the Syrian crisis in light of latest and international developments as well as the call which was launched for holding an international meeting to discuss full application of the Geneva statement as a part of the international community's efforts of the political solution for the crisis."

"We hope that the conference is to apply an immediate ceasefire and to respond to the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people through a safe transfer of power," the Saudi Foreign Minister said.

 

Courtesy: Zee News

PTI

Unknown Mathematician Proves Elusive Property of Prime Numbers
~~By Erica Klarreich

On April 17, a paper arrived in the inbox of Annals of Mathematics, one of the discipline’s preeminent journals. Written by a mathematician virtually unknown to the experts in his field — a 50-something lecturer at the University of New Hampshire named Yitang Zhang — the paper claimed to have taken a huge step forward in understanding one of mathematics’ oldest problems, the twin primes conjecture.

Editors of prominent mathematics journals are used to fielding grandiose claims from obscure authors, but this paper was different. Written with crystalline clarity and a total command of the topic’s current state of the art, it was evidently a serious piece of work, and the Annals editors decided to put it on the fast track.

Just three weeks later — a blink of an eye compared to the usual pace of mathematics journals — Zhang received the referee report on his paper.

“The main results are of the first rank,” one of the referees wrote. The author had proved “a landmark theorem in the distribution of prime numbers.”

Rumors swept through the mathematics community that a great advance had been made by a researcher no one seemed to know — someone whose talents had been so overlooked after he earned his doctorate in 1991 that he had found it difficult to get an academic job, working for several years as an accountant and even in a Subway sandwich shop.

“Basically, no one knows him,” said Andrew Granville, a number theorist at the Université de Montréal. “Now, suddenly, he has proved one of the great results in the history of number theory.”

Mathematicians at Harvard University hastily arranged for Zhang to present his work to a packed audience there on May 13. As details of his work have emerged, it has become clear that Zhang achieved his result not via a radically new approach to the problem, but by applying existing methods with great perseverance.

“The big experts in the field had already tried to make this approach work,” Granville said. “He’s not a known expert, but he succeeded where all the experts had failed.”

The Problem of Pairs

Prime numbers — those that have no factors other than 1 and themselves — are the atoms of arithmetic and have fascinated mathematicians since the time of Euclid, who proved more than 2,000 years ago that there are infinitely many of them.

Because prime numbers are fundamentally connected with multiplication, understanding their additive properties can be tricky. Some of the oldest unsolved problems in mathematics concern basic questions about primes and addition, such as the twin primes conjecture, which proposes that there are infinitely many pairs of primes that differ by only 2, and the Goldbach conjecture, which proposes that every even number is the sum of two primes. (By an astonishing coincidence, a weaker version of this latter question was settled in a paper posted online by Harald Helfgott of École Normale Supérieure in Paris while Zhang was delivering his Harvard lecture.)

Prime numbers are abundant at the beginning of the number line, but they grow much sparser among large numbers. Of the first 10 numbers, for example, 40 percent are prime — 2, 3, 5 and 7 — but among 10-digit numbers, only about 4 percent are prime. For over a century, mathematicians have understood how the primes taper off on average: Among large numbers, the expected gap between prime numbers is approximately 2.3 times the number of digits; so, for example, among 100-digit numbers, the expected gap between primes is about 230.

Courtesy: Wired

Deadline for death sentence in Fujian murder case extended
~Patrick Boehler

Nian Bin seen in his prison cell in Fujian. Photo: Nian Jianlan

A telephone call on Friday has again delayed a decision in a murder trial in coastal China, which the nation's highest court called flawed, and has exposed the worrying consequences of a hasty high-profile crime investigation.

In the summer of 2008, Nian Bin, then 30, worked as a food stall owner in Woqian village in Pingtan county, an island in Fujian province. On August 1, he was arrested for the murder of two children, who had died after eating rice porridge containing rat poison only six days earlier.

Traces of poison had been found on the door handle of the apartment rented by Nian next door. When interrogated by police, he confessed to the crime.

On Feburary 1, 2008, the Fuzhou Intermediary Court sentenced Nian to death with immediate execution, pending an appeal. He did so, retracted his confession, starting a legal ordeal that has yet to end. His lawyers say he had been tortured into admitting the crime and the evidence was insufficient for his sentence.

"What Nian Bin described to us was what we call geshan daniu," said his lawyer Zhang Yansheng. The technique, sometimes mentioned in martial arts novels, is a method of administering beatings through objects such as bricks or, in this case, books by security officials to prevent open marks of torture.

Fujian police denied such allegations in court.

The Fujian provincial High Court, which handled the appeal, argued that the evidence was insufficient and sent the case back to the Fuzhou Intermediary Court for retrial, which again sentenced Nian to death. This time, when Nian appealed again, the provincial court confirmed the sentence.

In 2010, the Chinese People's Supreme Court, which is tasked with reviewing all death sentences, overturned the death penalty on grounds of "insufficient evidence". Such reversals are rare.

"Based on anecdotal evidence, 10 to 15 per cent [of death sentences] get sent back," said Joshua Rosenzweig, a researcher at the Centre for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "Most then end up with different verdicts."

"I have seen some reversals of rulings by the Supreme Court, but this is the only one in which the court said the circumstances were too unclear to warrant the death penalty," said Nian's lawyer Zhang. The Beijing-based lawyer said she had handled more than 20 cases involving the death penalty in her career.

The Fuzhou court, when again reassigned the case by the Supreme People's Court, decided again to stick to its original verdict and sentence Nian to death in 2011. It was the fourth time the now 37-year-old had been told he would be executed. He again appealed, but the Fujian High Court has since delayed hearing the trial on appeal.
With Friday's phone call, the court informed Nian's family it had decided to postpone the trial by another three months, arguing that the case was "very complicated".

"The problem here was that the case was immediately declared a 'major crime case' by the security organs," said Zhang. "They had to solve it quickly." Now, "they don't want to be confronted with their mistake."

Several recent high-profile cases of wrongful convictions have given Nian's relatives hope the case against him might be dropped, said his sister Nian Jianlan, who has been petitioning for a different verdict.

Earlier this year, two men have been released in Zhejiang after spending 10 years in jail on charges of murder and rape earlier this year. In April, Shen Deyong, the Supreme People's Court's vice president, called on courts to avoid wrongful convictions.

On May 3, Fujian's High Court declared five people wrongfully convicted on bomb charges 12 years ago as innocent, Southern Weekly reported on Saturday.

The new deadline for a hearing is set for August 25. If the Fujian High Court decides to again rule in favour of a death sentence, the Supreme People's Court will again have to review the case.

Courtesy: South China Morning Post

Death sentence decisions take emotional toll on citizen judges

A young man in Kanagawa Prefecture always gets nervous when he sees a headline about an execution in Japan. He fears that Sumitoshi Tsuda has been sent to the gallows.

“I cannot help but look to see if Tsuda-san’s name is there,” the 24-year-old man said. “I find myself relieved if his name is not among those who were executed.”

The Kanagawa man was, in fact, involved in sending Tsuda to death row.

The lay judge system was introduced in May 2009 as part of judiciary reform to reflect a commonsense view of the public in a realm long dominated by professional judges.

Many citizen judges are now struggling to come to terms with their decisions that will ultimately result in the death of a stranger.

One has even sued the government over the acute stress disorder she developed as a result of her lay judge experience.

Government officials, including Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, have noted the emotional impact the experience can have on citizen judges, but there are no plans in place to change the system.

The man in Kanagawa Prefecture was among the citizen and professional judges for the trial of Tsuda at the Yokohama District Court. They found him guilty of murdering three people in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 2009.

A majority opinion sentenced Tsuda to death in June 2011. His sentence was finalized the following month after he withdrew his appeal to a higher court.

Tsuda, 61, could now be executed on any day.

“I will be depressed when he is executed because our collective decision is taking away his life,” said the former citizen judge. “Only lay judges who decided on a death sentence can understand how agonizing it feels.”

In a typical case, six citizens selected by lottery, along with three professional judges, debate if the accused is guilty. They also determine the sentence of those convicted.

Lay judges are selected only for serious criminal cases at the district court level, such as murder and arson, in which the accused could face a life term or death sentence.

A majority, not a unanimous, decision is needed for the verdict and sentence. The weight of each vote is the same, regardless if they are citizen or professional judges.

Since the lay judge system took effect, the death sentence has been handed down in 17 cases.

“To determine if the accused should receive the death penalty or not is just beyond the ability of ordinary people,” said a 62-year-old woman in Fukushima Prefecture.

The woman sued the government on May 7, demanding 2 million yen ($19,700) in damages for the acute stress disorder she developed from her experience serving as a citizen judge at a branch of the Fukushima District Court in March. She said she lost 4 kilograms.

The trial was for a man charged with robbing and murdering a married couple in Fukushima Prefecture last July.

When prosecutors presented evidence against the accused, the woman had to view color photos of the crime scene showing a pool of blood and the bodies with numerous stab wounds. She also had to listen to a tape that recorded the victims’ screams.

She said she couldn’t eat after the first day of the court proceedings. She vomited many times at the court and at home and had trouble sleeping.

A doctor told her she was suffering from acute stress disorder.

“I just wanted the case to be over as soon as possible,” she said. “That is what I have been feeling all along.”

The woman said she believes that she is not the only former lay judge who remains traumatized.

“A recurrence of the experience I went through should not be allowed to happen,” she said.

So far, 171 lay judges have been involved in issuing death sentences under the system, according to the Supreme Court.

To help reduce the shock lay judges may feel, many district courts have used black-and-white photos of crime scenes and victims.

Tanigaki said prosecutors can do more to ease the situation facing lay judges.

“The court cannot discuss a case without (showing photos as) evidence,” he said. “Prosecutors should give consideration to lay judges by alerting them to photos beforehand so that they will be mentally prepared for what is coming or by using black-and-white photos.”

Some members of a Justice Ministry panel tasked with reviewing the system pointed out the emotional burden on lay judges and called for excluding cases that could involve death sentence.

But the panel decided to maintain the current setup, concluding that citizens’ opinions are needed in the judicial process for serious crimes.

Satoru Shinomiya, a law professor at Kokugakuin University’s Law School and an architect of the lay judge system, said more time at trials should be spent on detailing the background of the suspect as a step to lower the stress level of lay judges.

“The current proceedings tend to dwell on arguments trying to establish the crimes and their significance, not fully discussing the accused’s background and the chances for rehabilitation,” he said. “If judges deliver a death sentence without being well informed about those points, it could lead to emotional strain.”

A woman in her 50s who was involved in handing down a death sentence in March 2011 at the Tokyo District Court said the weight of the decision has been overwhelming.

The case is now being heard at the Tokyo High Court.

“I am confident about our conclusion of the death penalty,” she said. “But I need confirmation from professional judges that our conclusion was not wrong.”

Another woman who presided over a murder trial at the Saitama District Court in February 2012 said she is still bothered by the lack of information on the accused’s children.

“Giving a death sentence means that it will take away their father,” she said. “I wonder what will happen to them.”

She tried but failed to locate the children to offer the daily allowances she received as a lay judge. She donated half the money to a children’s home and the rest to a group that supports crime victims.

People who served as lay judges are eligible to five rounds of free counseling at 217 venues commissioned by the Supreme Court.

Shinomiya also said sufficient information should be provided to the public about the treatment of inmates on death row because citizens are now forced to make decisions about their lives.

Tanigaki, however, has expressed reluctance in revealing details about their lives in prison.

 

Courtesy: THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

At a glance: Jayalalithaa – from a gorgeous 'film star' to 'Tamil Nadu CM'

New Delhi, May 25: In politics, the combination of beauty and intelligence is very rare but Jayalalithaa is a perfect combination of the two. She is beautiful as well as knowledgeable.

Women Misuse Rape Law To Force Lovers To Marry Them: Delhi High Court

New Delhi: Penal provisions on rape have been misused by some women who develop consensual physical relationship with their lovers and after the breakup file false rape cases to force them to marry them, the Delhi High Court has said. Justice Kailash Gambhir said rape law was often misused by women as weapon for "vengeance and vendetta" to harass and blackmail their male friends by filing false cases to extort money and to force them to marry them.

"Many of the cases are being reported by those women who have consensual physical relationship with a man but when the relationship breaks due to one reason or the other, the women use the law as a weapon for vengeance and personal vendetta to extort money and sometimes even to force the boy to get married to them," the court said in a recent order.

"Out of anger and frustration, they tend to convert such consensual sex as an incident of rape, defeating the very purpose of the provision," Justice Gambhir said, while hearing a case related to a woman's complaint against her lover in Rani Bagh area on July 13, 2012.

Justice Kailash Gambhir said rape law was often misused by women as weapon for \"vengeance and vendetta\".

The rape complaint was filed against Rohit Chauhan, who was allegedly in a relationship with the woman for three years. The court said that in many cases the woman first agrees to have consensual sex but she files a rape case against her boyfriend when the relationship breaks up in order to "force him to get married, making not only mockery of the marriage but also inflate the statistics of rape cases".

A trial court must cautiously examine the intentions of a complainant girl to find out whether the rape allegation was genuine or had malafide motives. "There is a clear demarcation between rape and consensual sex and in cases where such controversies are involved, the court must very cautiously examine the intentions of both the individuals involved and to check if even the girl, on the other hand, is genuine or had malafide motives."

"Cases like these not only make a mockery of the sacred institution of marriage but also inflate the statistics of rape cases which further deprecates our own society," the court said.

Courtesy: CNN IBN

Man Beaten To Death By Wife, Three In-laws

TARN TARAN: May 24, 2013: A man was tied to an electric pole and beaten to death allegedly by his wife and three in-laws after a tiff in Muradpura area here.

Balkar Singh got married to Rajwinder Kaur around 18 years ago and a few months back they had a tiff leading to which Kaur came to her parent's house, police said.

Yesterday, Singh went to his in-laws house in an inebriated condition and started hurling abuses on them, said Harvinder Singh Sandhu, superintendent of police.

In a fit of rage, Singh's wife, her sister and their two brothers allegedly tied him with an electric pole and thrashed him severely, the SP said.

Singh died in a hospital later. A case against the four persons has been registered, the officer said, adding that they are absconding.

Courtesy: The Times of India

Radical British preacher Anjem Choudary praises London killer Adebolajo
~~Kounteya Sinha

LONDON, May 24, 2013: A radical Islamist preacher who is believed to have brainwashed Britain's most hated man in present day - Michael Adebolajo, has now been identified.

Photographs and videos have been found showing Adebolajo taking part in Islamic rallies by Anjem Choudary, former head of banned Islamist organization Al Muhajiroun.

Adebolajo beheaded British soldier Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich on Wednesday in broad daylight.
After committing the crime, Adebolajo made chilling rants on camera to passerbys watching in horror. He said, "Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers ... Tell them to bring our troops back so you can all live in peace".

On Friday, radical preacher Choudary actually came out to praise Adebolajo's views.

Choudary said he was shocked with the incident, but said, "I think not many Muslims can disagree with".

"I last met Adebolajo two years ago. What he said explains what he did. Not many Muslims will disagree with what he said about British foreign policy. One man killed on the street does not equate to millions killed by British and American forces in Muslin countries everyday," Choudary added.

Choudary admitted that he had encountered Adebolajo at a number of Islamist demonstrations.

Adebolajo's neighbours however described him as "always courteous" and "a nice normal guy" who loved football and was a passionate Manchester United fan.

A neighbour in the Greenwich apartment said, "All of us neighbours are very shocked. His mother is a lovely woman and we feel so sorry for her. The other guy was often around here too. He was very quiet and when I said 'Hello' he hardly acknowledged me ... His mother is such a hard worker — this is terrible."

Adebolajo was devoutly Christian but moved to Lincolnshire because his family feared he was taking too much interest in Islam and may become radicalized since the age of 16.

Meanwhile, another radical cleric banned in UK spoke out in support of Adebolajo.

Omar Bakri Mohammed spoke from Beirut and shockingly said "Under Islam this can be justified, he was not targeting civilians, he was taking on a military man in an operation. To people around here (in the Middle East) he is a hero."

According to the cleric, who now lives in exile in Lebanon, he owned a stall in London which Adebolajo would visit. The pair would talk about the "meaning of life" and Adebolajo began attending open talks and meetings.

In an interview with British media, Bakri said, "God destined for him to carry out the attack and God destined for the British soldier to die for the cause he believed in. Muslims in Lebanon are proud of it." 

Courtesy: The Times of India

A Rejoinder On Curriculum Reform
~~By Asif Haroon Raja

[Editor: Kindly go through the bundle of lies and motivated propaganda unleashed by this retired Brig of Pakistani Army, viz, Asif Haroon Raja, against Hinduism, India and Western World. Also, note how he condemns Indian National Song and even falsifies, when he says, "Abominable Vande Matram, the hymn of Mother India was part of this book which became the National Anthem of Bengali Hindu nationalists. Later it became the national anthem of India". The question is: 1stly, why should a hymn praising mother India should be "Abominable" and 2ndly when did "Vande Mataram" become National Anthem of India?] 

Amidst the hullabaloo of election campaign when all eyes were focused on the outcome of May 11 election results, Dr Fahad Rafique Dogar came out with a bloomer. His article titled 'Curriculum reform' in 'The News' dated May 9, 2013 was out of place with no relevance to the overall environment. However, the message in the article was quite clear and in line with similar articles written on ideology of Pakistan, two-nation theory and secularism. Our electronic media has been holding debates on settled issues to confuse the new generation about the ideals of our founding fathers on the basis of which Pakistan was created.

Quite many secular writers have been writing on Dr Fahad's theme in the past particularly during Gen Musharraf's rule when his concept of enlightened moderation had thrilled the liberals and seculars in Pakistan, India and the West. Under Indo-US-West combined pressure, Musharraf had made quite a few changes in our syllabus of Islamic Studies and history textbooks and deleted some Quranic Suras in Islamiat on the plea that it stimulated hatred in the minds of the youth against India and encouraged Jihad. Other argument put forward was to modernize and to be in step with advanced world. So-called modernization was a step towards secularism. Higher education was to quite an extent secularized. However, seculars in Pakistan want all traces of Islam found in our textbooks to be obliterated.

Fahad objects that our Islamiat focuses more on history of Islam rather than on concepts and teachings. He then cheekily suggests that focus should be on understanding the rationale behind different things rather than ignoring controversial things. What he implies is to re-open settled issues and get involved in unending debates to make them controversial. He castigates blind followers of Islam and the institutions which teach blind obedience to injunctions of Holy Quran and Hadith. Fahad in a roundabout way appreciates those who drag Islamists imbued with total faith in their religion in undesirable and unproductive debates and cornering the ones not well-versed with tenets of Islam. He strongly recommends controversial Javed Ghamdi to be listened to and his secularist thoughts adopted. He also places another highly controversial figure Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy on the higher pedestal, inadvertently missing out Hasan Nisar, which gives a fair idea of the writer's mindset and agenda.

Doctorate degree holder from Carnegie Mellon University Fahad somehow forgets the hate-filled anti-Islamic literature taught in Indian schools. He doesn't take into account persistent anti-Islamic bashing by the West under the flimsy excuse of freedom of speech. This excuse is sheathed when it comes to holocaust of Jews. Caricatures and films ridiculing Holy Prophet (pbuh) and undermining Islam are ignored.

While Musharraf was busy preaching enlightened moderation to show soft face of Pakistan to the West, in USA an anti-Islamic course was being taught at Joint Forces Staff College at military base in Norfolk Virginia from 2004 onwards to senior officers of US military. The course encouraging war against Muslims was prepared by Strategic Engagement Group. Five courses were run each year with 20 officers in each course. The contents taught were objected to by one of the students in April 2012 and the matter came to the notice of Pentagon. The course was immediately discontinued and Lt Col Mathew Dooley conducting the course was removed from teaching staff. By then, in eight years 800 US officers had got indoctrinated in anti-Islam concepts. The course was counter to repeated assertions by American officials that the US is at war against Islamic extremists and not the religion.

The course suggested threatening Saudi Arabia with starvation, reducing Islam to cult status and Mecca, Medina destroyed. It was stressed that radical true Islam professing Shariah was the real threat to USA and the western world and it was strongly recommended to change the barbaric ideology of Islam, or else facilitate self-destruction of USA. The course advocated total war against Muslims suggesting that Geneva Conventions were no longer relevant when fighting against Muslims. Dooley who started teaching this course in 2010 was the chief proponent of the idea of obliterating two Holy cities of Mecca and Medina on the pattern of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or allied firebombing of Dresden without caring for civilian casualties so as to counter Jihad?

Hate against Muslims is becoming endemic in the American culture. One of the presidential candidates Herman Cain had vouched that if elected to power he would not appoint any Muslim in his cabinet. FBI counter terrorism training materials consist of anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim contents. Law enforcement officials across Florida have been taught to malign Prophet Muhammad. Sam Kharoba imparted hate lessons from 2005 onwards to over 20,000 officers.

If Fahad had glanced through Indian history, he would have learnt how crudely it has been altered. Muslim rulers of India suiting Hindu mythology are eulogized and others censured or excluded from history books. Hindu writers in 19th and 20th centuries spat venom against Muslims of India and distorted Muslim history by glorifying Hindu leaders of ancient era as well as Hindu religion and portraying Muslim rulers in poor light. They asserted that ancient period of Ram-Raj was India's Golden Age in which there was 'justice and plenty'. Romesh Chandra Dutt was the architect in germinating pro-Hindu attitudes among school children through his biased write-ups. He said that Hindus spent seven centuries of national lifelessness under the Muslim rule. Narandranath Datta said that Hinduism was the only faith that could save the world.

Bankim Chatterjee's provocative books gave birth to extremist Hindu groups who translated his thoughts into reality. Anadamath written by Chatterjee in 1882 was the first manifestation of militant spirit of Hinduism against Muslims. Abominable Vande Matram, the hymn of Mother India was part of this book which became the national anthem of Bengali Hindu nationalists. Later it became the national anthem of India. Chatterjee's book preached hatred against Muslims of India and instigated the religious sentiments of Hindus to rise against them, terrorize them into submission and merge them in Hinduism or annihilate them. He portrayed them as interlopers in the land of Hindus.

Jadunath Sarkar, author of 'History of Bengal' willfully contorted and defaced facts that his book is retained in Dacca University as the most authentic reference material. Trend of distorting Muslim history and Bengali language continued after 1947 and is prevalent in Bangladesh even today. To get an idea about the widespread misinformation campaign launched by RAW, I recommend the book 'Rape of Bangladesh' written by Zainal Abedin.

I am sure Fahad must be aware of the concerted efforts that had been made by Hindu Yogis and priests to merge Islam in Hinduism. They befriended Muslim mystic Sufis, Saints and Pirs since they found Pirism, and mysticism innovations resembling Hindu customs and traditions. Both believed in saint worship. Their inter-action degenerated Sufism into heterodox mysticism. They yielded to concept of yogism, Bhakti cult and Vaishnavism. Pirism gave birth to ritual of sanctification of graves of Pirs and Sufis. Faraizi movement led by Haji Shariatullah in 19th century was a reformist movement to protect Islam from negative influences and idolatrous customs of Hinduism that had permeated into Muslim culture.

During the two year's draconian rule of Congress from 1937 to 1939, it was made compulsory for all students including Muslims to sing Vande Matarm in schools and to salute the portrait of Mahatama Gandhi. Syllabus of schools was sanskritized and efforts made to undermine Islamic culture and heritage. Constitutional rights were denied to the Muslims. Sensing that another gruesome model of extinction of Muslims of Spain was in the offing, the Muslims under Quaid-e-Azam got together under the banner of All India Muslim League and launched Pakistan movement.

After Partition, war mongering Hindu leaders never reconciled to the existence of Pakistan. They incited animosity instead of friendship. To teach Pakistan a lesson, minds of Muslims of East Bengal were polluted in a systematic manner. Secularism and Hindu culture was promoted under the garb of Bengali culture. Bengali intellectuals, journalists and writers duly cultivated by Indian agencies played a big role in undermining Islam. They urged the youth to liberate themselves from the bondage of joyless Islamic way of life and instead adopt modern Bengali culture espoused by Tagore. The academicians joined by Hindu teachers and professors were instrumental in inculcating hatred in the minds of Bengali youth against West Pakistanis and instilling affectionate feelings for India.

Once the BJP, political face of RSS, assumed power in India, it began to work upon its program of Hindutva in real earnest and incited hatred against Muslims and other minorities in India. In all the states under BJP's rule, Hindutva is in practice and Indian Muslims lead a wretched life. They are told to either get assimilated in Hinduism or quit. Hindu religious extremism has grown into a Frankenstein monster and none in India can dare castigate hate mongering practices and violence against Indian Muslims by armed Hindu extremist groups.

All the hard line Hindu terrorist groups operate under the patronage of BJP. Those working on the agenda of Hindutva are biggest enemies of Pakistan and want its decimation, but the Congress wearing the mask of secularism has all along looked the other way to terrorism of Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, RSS, Durga Vahini, Vishwa Hindu Prashad and dozens of other terrorist groups. In Shiv Sena's philosophy, a good Hindu is the one who hates Muslims and is ever ready to attack them. Late Bal Thackeray, notorious for his revulsion against Muslims and for fomenting communal riots was revered by Hindus. It owes to hate-filled syllabus taught in Indian educational institutions that the whole society start jumping and baying for Pakistan's blood on the slightest provocation.

In Pakistan, 38 religious extremist groups supposedly espousing violence have been banned and their members hounded and persecuted since 2002. In India, no Hindu religious extremist group has been reigned in and no Hindu terrorist indicted and punished. Only suspected Muslims like Maqbool Butt and Afzal Guru are hanged to death. To top it all, the biggest Muslim hater and terrorist Narendra Modi responsible for the slaughter of 3000 Muslims in Ahmadabad in District Gujarat has been tipped by BJP to take over as next PM of India.

While India pursues a belligerent policy against Pakistan, the latter pursues policy of appeasement and is always apologetic and defensive to keep India in good humor. One of the ways suggested by Fahad to please India is to secularize our curriculum. To be in good books of India, Fahad callously suggests that Pakistan spends most of its budget on defence. One can only pity his naivety and poor knowledge. While even worst critics of Pak Army have lauded its conduct, Fahad mocks at the widely held impression that Army is the only honest institution in Pakistan. He also laughs at the idea that India initiated all the wars against Pakistan but doesn't say a word about the bone of contention Kashmir which became the primary cause for 1948 and 1965 wars. I have gone at length to highlight history of the subcontinent to make Fahad and his ilk to see the other side of the picture and then draw their conclusions.

Courtesy: Pakistan News Service

Mishra Asks Brahmins To Unite Behind BSP

JHANSI, May 24, 2013: With an eye on the forthcoming General elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is in a preparation mode. It is once again banking on its old and time-tested social-engineering formula to woo upper caste voters, especially Brahmins.

In a public meeting at Muktakashi Manchi on Thursday, party's senior leader Satish Chandra Mishra urged the Brahmin community to break the shackles and unite as a single strong force to ensure BSP's march to the Centre.

He said that Brahmins accounted for 16% of the total population of the state and in Bundelkhand region they had 25% vote share. Stating that the numbers could make a considerable difference in poll outcome, he said that BSP had always given the community its due by offering plum posts in the cabinet and administration.

Accusing the BJP of cheating the community, he said that the saffron party always played with their sentiments during election time.

"This party (BJP) has even deceived Lord Ram by giving false assurances and commitments in his name. A party that is not loyal to Lord Ram cannot be loyal to his people," he added.

Recalling a similar meeting held in state capital on June 9, 2005, he said that lakhs and lakhs of Brahmins had gathered under the blazing Sun braving a day temperature of 48 degrees Celsius to express their solidarity with the BSP in wake of SP's misrule.

Describing Brahmins as an intellectual class, he said that the community has always been in the forefront, right from the time of freedom movement. He lamented that the community has been cheated by all political parties.

He reassured his party's commitment and said that only Mayawati allocated 21 tickets to Brahmin candidates in UP, including two in Bundelkhand namely Anuradha Sharma for Jhansi Lalitpur constituency and Rakesh Goswami from Hamirpur.

He also alleged that SP government has completed one year and during this period 4,500 murders, 4,200 cases of abduction and 3,800 cases of rape have been officially reported. He added that unofficial figures were quite higher than what the state government claimed.

Courtesy: The Times of India

Brahmin Vote Bank's Growing Relevance In UP Politics
~~Nistula Hebbar, ET Bureau May 23, 2013

Both SP and BSP have been quite vocal in their pursuit of the significant Brahmin vote

NEW DELHI: It seems the climax of two decades of Backward Class politics in Uttar Pradesh is the search for a Brahmin vote bank.

In the last month or so, BSP and SP have been quite vocal in their pursuit of the significant Brahmin vote, said to be 12% of voters in Uttar Pradesh.

"Brahmins have always been important in UP politics, because of numerical strength in at least 20 Lok Sabha seats and important positions held in society.

After reservations democratised this space, Brahmins are being seen as an add-on to a Backward class led coalition," says Dr Badri Narayan, professor at the Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute in Allahabad. He says that this not only means an inversion of the previous Congress combination of Brahmins, Dalits and Muslims but also the marginalisation of Brahmins.

Not many agree with this characterisation. BJP spokesman Sudhanshu Trivedi says, "I wouldn't call that marginalisation but a realisation that a chunk of this vote is required for dominating UP politics."

SP's strategic shift has been most interesting to watch. After co-opting a large part of the Thakur vote in the state, it has set its sights on the Brahmin vote as well.

A stance against reservation in promotions has put it in a position of embarrassing BSP, which is seen as primarily concerned with Dalit vote bank. SP national secretary Rajesh Dixit does not deny that Brahmins have become important especially after the nature of the 2012 mandate.

"SP follows Lohiaite politics, where caste is irrelevant. Therefore, why should we not talk to everyone," he says. UP politics has moved beyond traditional caste alliances and the Mandal-Mandir matrix. A Backward Class led alliance with Brahmins riding tailcoat appears to be the future.

Courtesy: The Economic Times

Teenagers trapped on Yemen’s death row
~~By Krishnan Guru-Murthy

Prisons are packed with children in the Middle Eastern state. But one survivor is fighting for those left behind

Thursday, 23 May 2013 : "My hands were tied. The doctor drew a circle on my back around my heart. I was to lie on the sand for the executioner to shoot me. Then I heard the phone call.” Hafedh Ibrahim’s words trip mechanically off his tongue as he describes being moments from the carrying out of his death sentence. I feel guilty making him relive it for my television camera. Especially because, being television, I make him relive it again “just one more time, please Hafedh, show me where the pile of sand was”.

The memory is clearly painful, more so for all the friends who never got a clemency call from the President’s office. During seven years on death row, Hafedh waited up with prisoners on their last night, sharing their last meal, talking about their lives, refusing to sleep as long as he could so that when the condemned men were led out to the executioner in the morning he’d collapse in tiredness and sleep through the sound of shots.

Hafedh was just 16 when he was put on death row. He says the killing he was blamed for was an accident. Like virtually every boy in rural Yemen, Hafedh was given a gun as a teenager. Carrying it one day, he was mugged, and in the struggle, the gun went off, killing an innocent bystander. “I had no intention of killing him. But the weapon was in my hands. I thought about his family every day and always felt if they wanted to take my life then I could understand that.”

In court, Yemen’s Islamic judges treated Hafedh as an adult, as they traditionally did with anyone over 15, and sentenced him to death. That sentence is illegal for juveniles in Yemen but the Sharia courts are famous for sometimes preferring their own standards. “The main problem”, says Hafedh, “is that they don’t recognise official documents. They don’t accept the killer is a child. The judges try to break law to get the execution verdict.”

In Hafedh’s case, the mercy call came only because his campaigning was noticed by Amnesty International, who took up the case with the former President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was trying to shore up his regime from the threat of al-Qa’ida with Western allies like the US and Britain. That was six years ago. Yet today, post Arab Spring uprising, with Yemen in the middle of a National Dialogue on a democratic future, its prisons are still full of people awaiting execution for crimes committed as children. Two have been shot dead this year despite international human rights campaign.

Hafedh worked hard for his school exams in prison. On being released there was only one place he wanted to go: law school, to fight for those he’d left behind. On getting there he found one of the judges who sentenced him to death was one of the professors. He qualified and went straight to the case of his best friend in prison, Mohammed Hazaa, who was executed in March this year, despite arguing that the murder for which he was convicted took place when he was a juvenile.

In their last conversation, Mohammed told Hafedh of a boy whose case was urgent.

AbduRahman Al Alimi was only 16 when he was arrested after his brother-in-law was killed during a family feud. Mohammed believed the boy’s story that he’d been wrongly blamed and knew he could end up on death row. He made Hafedh promise to save the boy.

That is why Hafedh has come back to his old prison – again. “Mohammed died but AbduRahman will survive”, he says, with a steely determination.

It will not be much easier than saving Mohammed. Vast numbers of Yemenis in poor rural areas don’t know their birthdays and their parents didn’t get birth certificates. Documents are often forged and rarely trusted.

The Yemeni prosecutors get doctors to X-ray suspects and estimate age from the density of the bones. It is regarded as having a margin of error of between a few months and a couple of years. AbduRahman’s test left the doctor saying he was three years older than he claims: old enough to be executed.

That is despite school records and identity papers saying otherwise. Amid the brutalities of the system there are contradictions too. When Hafedh entered the prison to meet AbduRahman he was welcomed as a returning hero. Inmates crowded around, kissing him enthusiastically, shouting out and telling him of cases he should fight. But the prison soldiers seemed just as pleased to see him. The man who would have witnessed his execution gave him a warm embrace and said: “He’s a good man. A very good man.”

Later that week, I followed Hafedh to court as he went to argue AbduRahman’s case . This was to be the day the boys age was settled. A victory would mean he’d be transferred to the juvenile system and there’d be no question of the death penalty. Yemen’s courts are open to the media and we were given permission to film. But once they realised what case and issue we were following, the court was adjourned and everyone sent home.

Speaking alone, the judge asked Hafedh to split whatever money he was being paid for the case. “I’ve always known under the table deals go on but I’ve never been asked so directly for a bribe,” said the young lawyer, anxious that AbduRahman’s case might now depend on corruption.

What is clear is that the post-Arab Spring government does not respond well to outside pressure. In March, Human Rights Watch and other organisations tried to highlight the issue with a campaign.

Within days, Mohammed Hazaa had been executed. And those organisations have still to be given the kind of access given to Channel 4. In two weeks we met dozens of prisoners who claimed their crimes were carried out while they were juveniles. We met several teenagers who said their cases were going back to court as victims’ families tried to argue they were adults eligible for the death penalty.

The fact a television documentary team was allowed into Yemen’s prisons, and given access to controversial cases, suggests the people in charge want change too. Right now, it is left to people like Hafedh to take all those cases on. He does it voluntarily, in the spare time from his government job.

“Having escaped jail are you now trapped by a need to fight these cases?”, I wondered. “Yes”, he replies “now I have a wife and baby I try to get on with my own life too. But I often wake up suddenly in the night thinking of people like AbduRahman in prison, worrying what I must do to stop him being killed.”

‘Unreported World: Death Row Teenagers’ is being broadcast Friday at 7.30pm on Channel 4

Courtesy: The Independent

Death penalty reprieve in Colorado: what it could mean for James Holmes

~~By Ryan Lenora Brown

Colorado Governor Hickenlooper called off the execution of a death row inmate, firing up the death penalty debate and potentially complicating the prosecution of alleged Aurora shooter James Holmes

May 23, 2013: Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has called off the execution of one of the state’s three death row inmates, churning new debate over the wrenching issue of capital punishment as the state prepares for the trial next year of accused Aurora movie theater shooter James Holmes.

“Our system of capital punishment is imperfect,” he told reporters gathered Wednesday outside the state capitol. “There’s inherent inequity at a level of punishment that really does demand perfection.”  

In an executive order granting a “temporary reprieve” to Nathan Dunlap, who was convicted of murdering four people in a suburban Denver restaurant in 1993, the governor wrote that “death is not handed down fairly” in the state and cited national and international trends toward abolition of the practice.

The death penalty is an issue that Governor Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has dodged deftly until now – and with good reason. For a governor who ran as a moderate in 2010, he has already been dragged leftward on a laundry list of social issues: the legalization of marijuana, civil unions, and, most visibly, gun control. That’s caused rising unease in a state that, while recently slanting leftward, retains a strong conservative base.

Now, with Wednesday’s executive order, which will be in force unless revoked by another executive order, the governor has set himself up for an emotional confrontation with conservatives in next year’s gubernatorial race.
Republican Attorney General John Suthers, echoing sentiments expressed by many prominent conservatives in the state, said in a statement that Hickenlooper “has proven to be uncomfortable confronting the perpetrators of evil in our society.”

The governor's announcement also circles back to what has become one of the most unexpected political challenges of his term in office: the aftermath of last summer’s Aurora shooting.

Although his order was specifically targeted at Mr. Dunlap, it will throw a wrench into the prosecution of Mr. Holmes, says Karen Steinhauser, a former prosecutor and Colorado defense attorney. 

“When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, they need to be able to say to the victims and to themselves that there is a real likelihood the execution they’re seeking will take place,” she says. “Now that notion is in limbo.”

Like many states, Colorado balances in a shadowy no-man’s land on the death penalty issue. The practice is technically legal, but has only been used once since 1967. In March, the Colorado House of Representative's Judiciary Committee voted against a repeal of the practice after the governor implied that he would veto the bill.

In granting Dunlap a reprieve, however, Hickenlooper noted that his decision was based on the ethical implications of the death penalty in general.

“My decision to grant a reprieve to Offender No. 89148 is not out of compassion or sympathy for him or any other inmate sentenced to death,” he wrote. “It is a legitimate question about whether we as a state should be taking lives."

The governor also cited the “arbitrary nature” of who receives a death sentence in the state. Of the three men who currently sit on Colorado’s death row, all were convicted of murders in a single Denver suburb, Aurora, which was also the site of Holmes’ alleged rampage last July. 

In many ways, the governor’s reprieve for Mr. Dunlap simply holds the status quo. He is not calling for the abolition of the death penalty, experts note, nor is he even granting Dunlap permanent clemency. If Hickenlooper is ousted from his seat in next year’s election, the next governor is free to reverse his decision on the case.

At the same time, the reprieve will likely be a deterrent to future death penalty prosecutions in the state, says Sam Kamin, a University of Denver law professor who coauthored a study on the death penalty cited by the governor in his executive order.

Hickenlooper’s action, he says, “makes clear that Colorado will not be executing anyone anytime soon.”

Courtesy: The Christian Science Monitor

Jodi Arias Jury Cannot Decide on Death Penalty, Mistrial Declared
~~COLLEEN CURRY

May 23, 2013: Jodi Arias will not be put to death -- at least not yet.

A judge declared a mistrial in the sentencing phase of her murder trial today, after the jury could not agree on whether to sentence Arias to death or to life in prison for murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in 2008.

Arias, 32, was convicted earlier this month of first-degree murder for Alexander's death, and her conviction will stand. Only the death penalty phase of her case can be retried.

It will be up to the prosecutor to decide whether to retry the penalty phase. If he decides to try again for the death penalty, a new jury will be selected and both the prosecution and defense will present evidence and arguments over what sentence Arias should receive.

The retrial would begin July 18, Judge Sherry Stephens announced today. Arias can either be sentenced to death or to life in prison, with or without the possibility of parole.

If the prosecution chooses not to retry the penalty phase, Arias will get life in prison, either with or without parole.

The prosecutor's office has not yet decided what it plans to do.

"We appreciate the jury's work in the guilt and aggravation phases of the trial and now we will assess, based upon available information, what the next steps will be," Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said in a written statement. "As of this point in time, the court has set a status conference for June 20 and we will proceed with the intent to retry the penalty phase. Because, for purposes of a jury determination on punishment, this is still a pending matter, there will be no further comment."

Arias, whose family did not show up for the verdict, cried as the clerk read aloud the jury's inability to come to a unanimous decision.

Alexander's family members also cried as the verdict was read.

One juror mouthed, "I'm so sorry," toward Alexander's family and prosecutors after the verdict was read and before the jury left the courtroom.

The jury has been hearing the Arias case for nearly five months. Jurors declined to be interviewed by the media, their names were sealed, and the court did not say how many jurors wanted to sentence Arias to death and how many wanted to sentence her to life in prison.

It began deliberating the death penalty on Tuesday afternoon, after Arias and her attorneys made a final plea, begging the jury to spare her life.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez argued that because the murder was especially cruel -- involving 27 stab wounds, a slit throat, and a gunshot wound to Alexander's head -- Arias deserved the death penalty.

If the prosecutor's office proceeds, the case will face logistical challenges, including scheduling additional court time with all of the attorneys and the judge, finding an impartial jury in Maricopa County, and presenting enough evidence in the death penalty phase that the new jury would be brought up to speed on the case.

"If state decides to retry with new jury, they get a new chance, but one more chance only to convince jury to impose death sentence," Cobb said.

"The facts and evidence presented in the guilt phase would be brought out and presented to jury, but the jury would be told that the defendant was found guilty and here is the evidence. It would be a shorter version of the original trial," Cobb said.

If a second jury was seated and the death phase retried, that jury would then deliberate whether to give Arias the death penalty or life in prison. If it also reached an impasse, and could not agree, then Arias' life would be saved.

Stephens would then sentence Arias either to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years or natural life without the possibility of parole.

Courtesy: ABC News