British govt opposes Briton’s death sentence threat
~Indra Harsaputra

Architects HOK have released images of their design
for a new British Embassy building in Jakarta,
Indonesia.

October 02, 2013: The British government has requested that Indonesian prosecutors reconsider the death sentence they have requested for 43-year-old British national Andrea Ruth Waldeck.

Waldeck, an ex-police community supporter officer from the English county of Gloucestershire, is being tried at Surabaya State District court in connection with narcotics distribution offences.

“We have received an official letter from the British Embassy in Jakarta requesting prosecutors reconsider the death penalty request for Andrea. Further, in order to strengthen the argument, the embassy will send an official to testify in Andrea’s favor,” Andrea’s lawyer Oktavianto Prasongko told The Jakarta Post after the court session on Tuesday.

He said the embassy would present the facts regarding Andrea’s role as a community police officer and social worker who dealt with drug addicts while serving in the UK.

“Most important is the fact she has never been involved with any crime while serving and living in her country,” Oktavianto said.

Besides Waldeck, the police also arrested two other people in this case, Bayu Pracaka and Hendrik Lesmana. Prosecutor Deddy Agus Oktavianto said the prosecutors would also seek death sentences for both of them in the next court session.

To date, the police are still pursuing Ari Wahyudi and Joe, Waldeck’s Nigerian boyfriend, who are still at large. According to Waldeck, Joe gave her the drugs.

Waldeck was arrested by officers from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) with 1.4 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine worth more than U$20,000 at a hotel in Surabaya, after she passed through airport screenings. (dic). 

Courtesy: Jakarta Post

Ohio Clears Specialty Drug-Makers in Executions

COLUMBUS, Ohio October 4, 2013:  Ohio could begin executing inmates with doses of a lethal injection drug prepared by specialized pharmacies under a change in its execution process prompted by difficulties securing the powerful sedative last used by the state.

New Ohio prisons department execution rules allowing compounding pharmacies were filed in federal court Friday, just days after the state's last supplies of pentobarbital expired. Such businesses custom-make drugs but aren't subject to federal scrutiny.

The new policy also establishes an alternative intravenous drug combination — the sedative midazolam with the opiate hydromorphone — if expired pentobarbital is deemed unusable or if new supplies of the drug are unavailable.

Ohio's last dose of unexpired pentobarbital was used to put Harry Mitts to death Sept. 25 for fatally shooting two people, including a suburban Cleveland police officer.

The process of relying on compounding pharmacies for future pentobarbital supplies may require legislation to protect those pharmacies from lawsuits by capital punishment opponents.

Federal public defender Allen Bohnert said he was reviewing the new drug protocol's potential role in federal litigation challenging Ohio's execution procedures. The policy is in effect for the scheduled November execution of Ronald Phillips, sentenced to die for raping and killing his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter in Akron in 1993.

"We're disappointed that Ohio has chosen to turn to these unregulated and questionable sources for their official execution drug," said Bohnert, who doesn't represent Phillips. A federal judge has indicated he would review the new policy.

The original manufacturer of pentobarbital, Denmark-based Lundbeck Inc., in 2011 put the drug off-limits for executions and required that prohibition remain when it sold the product to Lake Forest, Ill.-based Akorn Inc.

As a result, supplies had dried up in Ohio and around the country. Texas, the nation's busiest death-penalty state, disclosed in records released this week that it has turned to a compounding pharmacy to replenish its pentobarbital supply.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers products from compounding pharmacies unapproved drugs and doesn't vouch for their safety or effectiveness. The businesses came under new scrutiny after last year's deadly meningitis outbreak was linked to contaminated injections made by a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts.

Ohio's announcement Friday marks the third time the state has made a change related to the drug it uses in lethal injection.

In 2009, Ohio switched from a three-drug cocktail to a single dose of sodium thiopental. In 2011, it switched to pentobarbital when the manufacturer of sodium thiopental also restricted its distribution.

Bohnert said rules revised so often raise questions about the process.

"The fact that they need to change the protocol so frequently suggests that perhaps there should be a serious discussion about whether to have the death penalty in Ohio at all," he said.

Among other states struggling to find alternatives are Georgia, Missouri and Arkansas. A legal challenge has placed Missouri's proposal to use propofol on hold, and anesthesiologists are asking the state to reconsider out of fear it could lead to restrictions of the drug needed for hospital use.

Arkansas' governor has held off scheduling executions as the state's Department of Correction plans to rewrite its lethal injection procedure to include a different drug or drugs and as prisoners continue to challenge the state's new execution law in court.

In Georgia, after the state's supply of pentobarbital expired in March, it acquired the drug from a compounding pharmacy. A lawsuit is challenging the state's decision to shield the pharmacy and contends the drug could be unsafe.

Ohio already had a backup method that involved injecting midazolam and hydromorphone into muscles. That method has never been used.

Courtesy: ABC News

 Lesbian couples twice as likely as gay men to end civil partnership as 'divorces' up by 20%

8 October, 2013: Lesbian couples are nearly twice as likely as gay men to end a civil partnership, according to the latest government figures.

The number of same-sex couples ending their civil unions leapt by 20 per cent last year, seven years after their introduction in 2005. Overall there were 794 dissolutions in 2012, almost 60 per cent of which were female couples, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

In the seven years since gay couples were able to have civil partnerships, 3.2 per cent of male unions ended in dissolution, compared to 6.1 per cent of female couples.

Sociologists believe the lower rates of ‘divorces’ among gay men may reflect a trend of women committing sooner and having higher expectations for a relationship. Women in civil partnerships tie the knot at an average age of 37.6, compared to men, for whom the average age is 40. Erzsebet Bukodim, sociologist at the University of Oxford, said: “In heterosexual marriage the divorce rate is higher if you enter marriage at a very young age. That might be one of the reasons we’re seeing this [high dissolution rate for women] in civil partnerships.”

Gunnar Andersson, professor of demography at Stockholm University, has found in successive studies that women in Norway, Sweden and Denmark are twice as likely to dissolve their civil partnerships than men. He said: “This reflects trends in a heterosexual marriage because women are more prone to say they want to marry - but they’re also more likely to initiate a divorce. Women usually have higher demands on relationship quality, that’s often been said in studies. Even if you control for age there is still a trend of more women ending partnerships than men.”

Previous figures show British women in heterosexual relationships are more likely to file for divorce than men. Women initiated the divorce in two thirds of cases in the UK in 2011.

Jane Czyzselska, editor of the lesbian magazine, DIVA, said: “Culturally women have been more conditioned to be focused on marriage than men. The stereotype of the lesbian couple who take a U-Haul on their second date, move in and get cats is there for a reason. Because of the cultural conditioning that we have, women do seem to be committing faster.”

Civil partnerships were up 3.6 per cent in 2012, with 7,037 taking place. The biggest increase was in Northern Ireland, where 13 per cent more took place, with 101 ceremonies.

By the end of last year there were 120,908 people in a same sex union, which is already “much higher” than the Government Equalities Office originally predicted. They thought there would be between 11,000 and 22,000 civil partners in Britain by 2010, but there were already more than 79,000 at the start of that year - and are now ten times as many.

A quarter of all civil partnerships still happen in London and Westminster was the local authority with the most civil partnerships in 2012. Brighton and Hove saw the most female same sex couples entering civil unions, with 101 partnerships registered.

Courtesy: The Independent

Pakistani Taliban vow to attack Malala Yousafzai again

[Editor: It seems that some news portals like the Times of India and Aaj Tak are very fond of writing, whatever they like when it comes to Taliban and Rape (of women). Now tell me what is "Pakistani Taliban"? It literally means "Pakistani Student/s" of an Islamic School anywhere in the world.....isn't it? So, what has "Pakistani Taliban" to do with attacking Malala Yousafzai....? On the contrary it is actually Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) an umbrella group who is rumored to be making preparations to kill her. But Alas our (Indian) journalists friends has a tendency to make a mess when they write something, which involves these topics.....!! Kindly stop this kind of misinterpretations of Arabic words. These kinds of things are actually sending wrong information to the world community]

Photo: National Counterterrorism Centre

Oct 7, 2013; SWAT: The Pakistani Taliban on Monday said schoolgirl campaigner Malala Yousafzai had "no courage" and vowed to attack her again if they got the chance.

Gunmen sent by the Taliban tried to kill Malala on her school bus on October 9 last year.

She amazingly survived being shot in the head and has become a global ambassador for the right of all children — girls as well as boys — to go to school.

Having spread a message of "education for all" across the globe, the 16-year-old is now among the favourites for the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be awarded on Friday.

But Shahidullah Shahid, spokesman for the main Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) umbrella group, slammed Malala and said they would try again to kill her.

"She is not a brave girl and has no courage. We will target her again and attack whenever we have a chance," Shahid told AFP.

In an interview with the BBC, Malala dismissed the threats against her life and repeated her desire to return to Pakistan from Britain, where she was flown for treatment after the attack and where she now goes to school.

She first rose to prominence during the Taliban's 2007-09 rule in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley with a blog post for the BBC Urdu service chronicling the rigours of daily life under the Islamists.

"She even used a fake name of Gul Makai to write a diary. We attacked Malala because she was used to speak against Taliban and Islam and not because she was going to school," Shahid said.

While she has been feted by celebrities and world leaders across the West, in deeply conservative Swat, Malala's achievements are eyed with suspicion by some.

Courtesy: The Times of India

I am… K. Balu, an artisan
~~LIZA GEORGE

K. Balu. Photo: Liza George

Occupation – Artisan who paints idols

''Our work is such that one does not have the luxury of taking a day off. I don’t mind it though, as I love my job''

K. Balu’s paint brush moves effortlessly as he fills in the colours on a statue of the goddess Saraswathy. “The only time I have to really concentrate is when I paint the face, especially around the eyes; the slightest of mistake will ruin the bhava of the idol. It is the same for all idols,” says the 45-year-old.

Navaratri is a busy time of the year for Balu. He’s neck-deep in getting kolu dolls ready in time for the festival. “This year, we have Dasavatharam kolu sets and Ashtalakshmi sets to name a few. While these are always popular, it’s the one which depicts a traditional Brahmin wedding that is fast moving.”

According to Balu, statues of Ganesha are also quite popular for kolus. The deity comes in various forms. “There are ‘Musical Ganapathy’, ‘Pancha Ganapathy’, ‘Playing Ganapathy’... Children who come with their parents to shop for kolus ask for the ‘Playing Ganapathy’, which has the deity in cricket gear!”

And while kolus are traditionally put up in houses during the Navaratri fete, these days some schools also put up kolus. “A couple of schools in and around Manacaud have set up kolus on campus. This is to create awareness on kolus, its history, tradition, and so on amongst the students. We are also completing the finishing touches for statues of Saraswathy, Lekshmi and Ganapathy for various temples in and around the city in connection with Navaratri.”

The shop in Karamana in which the artisan works not only makes and sells idols, figurines, statues and the like for customers in the city, but also caters to customers in Kollam, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil.

“Actually, we are busy throughout the year as there is always a demand for statues during most festivals. We make the statues out of a mix of fibre and Plaster of Paris.” Garden figurines such as dwarfs, birds and lions, which were once popular in the olden days, are making a comeback and are gracing gardens, he says.

Till a couple of years ago orders of busts or statues of Mahatma Gandhi were in high during Gandhi Jayanthi, says Balu. “The last statue I did of Gandhiji was for Cotton Hill Girls High School; I think it was two years ago.”

Balu, who completed his class 10, has been working at Mani Chettiar and his son, Saju N.’s shop for 20 years now. “When I was a child studying at Karamana Government High School, I would pass by Paladesam Chettiar, Mani sir’s father’s workshop and watch the artisans at work. I used to help out occasionally and it gradually turned into a passion.”

Balu does help make idols, but his speciality lies in painting the statues. “You need a steady hand and an attention to detail,” says Balu who starts his day at work by 8 a.m. and ends it by 6 p.m. everyday.

“Our work is such that one does not have the luxury of taking a day off. I don’t mind it though, as I love my job. Per day we mould around 20 to 30 statues and paint around 100 statues, if they are small sized ones, and around 30 statues, if they are large.”

Balu’s wife, Reena, works as an attendant at PRS Hospital. “These days, both the spouses need to be employed if one wants to make ends meet.”

His children, Kiran and Anjana, are still in school and show no interest in their father’s field. “I hope they do well in their studies and get jobs that will ensure them a comfy life,” says Balu as he continues with his work.

(A weekly column on the men and women who make Thiruvananthapuram what it is) 

Courtesy: The Hindu

Brahmins flay URA's statement on meat eating

Dr. U.R Ananthamurthy

MANGALORE, Oct 2, 2013: Brahmin Federation president S Pradeep Kumar Kalkura has condemned the statement of thinker U R Ananthamurthy, who said in a recent media interaction that Brahmins in the past ate cow meat.

"The observation of Ananthamurthy, who is a noted litterateur, Jnanpith awardee and a towering personality, is uncalled for, and derogatory. It does not bring glory to his personality. There is no such reference in Mahabharata," Kalkura said.

 Kalkura, who is also the president of Dakshina Kannada District Kannada Sahitya Parishat, said that Ananthamurthy's assertion has hurt the sentiments of Brahmin fraternity. "Ananthamurthy should apologise for his controversial statements," he urged.

Federation members too have condemned the statement of Ananthamurthy.

Courtesy: The Times of India

Gods forbid: India's temples guard their gold from government

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 30, 2013: India's Hindu temples are resisting divulging their gold holdings - perhaps nearly half the amount held in Fort Knox - amid mistrust of the motives of authorities who are trying to cut a hefty import bill that is hurting the economy.

The central bank, which has already taken steps that have slowed to a trickle the incoming supplies that have exacerbated India's current account deficit, has sent letters to some of the country's richest temples asking for details of their gold. It says the inquiries are simply data collection, but Hindu groups are up in arms.

"The gold stored in temples was contributed by devotees over thousands of years and we will not allow anyone to usurp it," said V Mohanan, secretary of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad organization in Kerala state, in a statement.

Indians buy as much as 2.3 tonnes of gold, on average, every day - the weight of a small elephant - and what they don't give to the gods is mostly hoarded. Jewellery is handed down as heirlooms and stored away with bars and coins as a hedge against inflation or a source of quick funds in an emergency.

That is costing the economy dear. Gold imports totaled $54 billion in the year ending March 31, 2013, the biggest non-essential item shipped in from overseas and a major factor in swelling the current account deficit to a record in 2012/13.

Guruvayur temple, in Kerala, one of the most sacred in India and boasting a 33.5-metre (110-ft) gold-plated flagstaff, has already told the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) it won't divulge any details.

"The gold we have is mostly offered by the devotees. They would not like the details to be shared with anybody," said V M Gopala Menon, commissioner of the temple's administrative board.

The World Gold Council estimates there are about 2,000 tonnes of gold locked away in temples - worth about $84 billion at current prices - which Indian devotees have offered in the form of jewelry, bars, coins and even replicas of body parts, in the hope of winning favors from the gods or in thanks for blessings received and health restored.

Curbing gold imports and getting the gold squirreled away back into circulation has become a priority for the government and RBI this year. Import duty is at a record 10 percent and the latest new rule - that 20 percent of all imports must leave the country as jewelry exports - caused confusion that dried up buying for two months.

The head of the Hindu nationalist main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala state, V Muralidharan, said the RBI wanted to "take possession" of the gold and maybe sell it for dollars.

Data collection?

The central bank said there was "no proposal under its consideration to convert idle gold into bullion at this juncture".

But its letters, sent to leading temple trusts in Kerala, were prompted by a report looking at "issues related to gold imports" and loans outside the banking system in February, which zeroed in on temples and domestic hoards for fresh supplies.

Under the heading "supply-related measures", the report looks at recycling domestic gold and notes: "Temples in India hold large quantities of gold jewelry offered by devotees to the deities."

Subha Unnikrishnan, a clothes shop owner worshipping at one of the temples in Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram, said whatever had been given to the temple should stay there. "We have given it to the god with a purpose," he said. "Nobody can take them away."

Of the three major temple boards in Kerala, which administer more than 2,800 temples, Cochin board has also decided against providing details of its gold, while another has yet to decide and a third says it has not yet received a letter from the RBI.

Some of them cite security reasons for their reticence - and the wealthiest temples do have tight controls and metal detectors at gates to keep their assets safe.

There has been no inquiry from the RBI yet at the centuries-old Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, where two years ago treasure then estimated to be worth over $20 billion - more than India's education budget - was discovered in secret subterranean vaults. But its hoard is already being checked by the Supreme Court to make sure it is adequately protected.

There are some, for sure, who feel the temples should divulge their centuries of gold offerings.

"Everything the temple gets should be known to the devotees," said Shankaram Kutty, head of an advertising firm based in Cochin, who goes at least once a year to Guruvayur with an offering. "I feel every temple should declare their assets."

Mumbai's Shree Siddhivinayak Ganpati temple, often visited by Bollywood celebrities, had already put 10 kg (22 lbs) of its gold into a bank deposit scheme. It still has 140 kg in its vault.

"The gold we have is the nation's property, we will be proud if the nation can benefit from it," said Subhash Vitthal Mayekar, chairman of the temple's administrative trust. He has not yet received an inquiry from the RBI.

It is not alone. The Tirupati temple in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, considered one of India's richest, has lodged 2,250 kg of gold with the State Bank of India, which pays it interest.

As the central bank ponders its options, it could take heart that the temples themselves are already doing their bit to circulate the gold.

"We use some of it for making gold lockets that we sell in our temple counter. For making the lockets, we send some gold to the Mumbai mint through the State Bank of India, which is one of our bankers," said a source at the Guruvayur temple's administration.

Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle

Prabowo Stepping Up to Help Maid Facing Death Row in Malaysia

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto of the Gerindra party gestures during a speech to members of the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club, in Jakarta September 25, 2013. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

September 30, 2013: Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) party chief patron Prabowo Subianto said that he is hiring a top Malaysian lawyer to save an Indonesian maid from a death sentence.

Prabowo said he has met with Wilfrida, the Indonesian maid who is on trial for the 2010 murder of 60-year-old Yeap Seok Pen in her Kampung Lubok, Pasir Mas, home.

Wilfrida has been working since she was 12 and is said to be a victim of human trafficking.

The Malaysian woman allegedly accused the young maid of sleeping with her husband in an argument that turned physical, according to reports in Malaysian media.

Prabowo described Wilfrida’s situation as reprehensible, saying she did not get enough legal help and that he had tried to contact the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur via telephone but had not received a response.

Prabowo said the lawyer appointed by the Indonesian embassy to assist her in the death trial only met her a few hours before the trial and therefore he has now hired one of Malaysia’s top lawyers, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee, in the hope that she can avoid the death penalty.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar flew to Malaysia on Thursday to meet with Malaysian officials as the maid’s trial drew to a close.

“The government is doing everything it can to save Wilfrida,” Muhaimin said. “Besides giving a maximum [amount of] legal support, we are also taking a bilateral diplomatic approach to freeing her.”

The ministry coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian embassy to secure a team of attorneys to represent Wilfrida, Muhaimin said.

“The team of attorneys will assist her and observe her trial,” he said. “They are working hard to find strong legal evidence to break the case and free Wilfrida from the death penalty.”

Wilfrida’s trial is scheduled to conclude today when the court issues a verdict. If declared guilty, the woman faces a maximum sentence of death under Malaysia’s criminal code.

Wifrida’s actual age at the time of her arrest is a key point in the government’s defense. Wilfrida was either 21 years old or 17 years old when she was charged with murder.

The woman’s passport carried a birthdate of June 8, 1989, but her christening letter from a Catholic church in Indonesia read Oct. 12, 1993, according to Indonesian news portal Tempo.co.

Courtesy: Jakarta Globe

Tennessee switches to single-drug execution protocol

NASHVILLE (WATE), Monday 30 September 2013: The Tennessee Department of Correction issued a revised protocol Friday for court ordered executions.
 

The department will now use a single drug instead of the previous three-drug method. The new protocol allows sole use of the sedative pentobarbital.
 

The department says the drug has been upheld in court challenges and used in other states.

Pentobarbital is a barbiturate used for medical purposes as a sedative and anesthetic.
 

The last major revision to the state's execution protocols came in 2007, when then-Gov. Phil Bredesen issued an executive order to review the policies and procedures and ordered a moratorium on executions.

Courtesy: Institute of American Studies

Dubai maid who stabbed co-worker escapes death penalty

Sentence reduced to life in jail after appeal court judges fail to reach decision

Dubai, September 30, 2013:  A woman who stabbed her co-worker to death because she called her crazy — and then stabbed herself in the neck with a meat skewer — has escaped the death sentence after appeal court judges failed to reach a decision. Her sentence was reduced to life imprisonment.

Prosecutors accused the 28-year-old Ethiopian housemaid of stabbing her countrywoman co-worker, H.S., 35 times before trying to slit her own throat with a meat skewer.

Prosecution records said F.Y. stabbed H.S. repeatedly with a kitchen knife following a brawl, the reasons for which remain unclear.

The attack happened inside the laundry room of a villa in the Al Bida’a area on July 9.

Courtesy: Gulf News

Arturo Diaz, South Texas man, executed for 1999 slaying

 Arturo Diaz. Diaz, 37

HUNTSVILLE, Texas, September 27, 2013 - A South Texas man was put to death Thursday for a slaying 14 years ago in which the victim was bound with shoelaces and strips of bedding, stabbed 94 times and robbed of $50.

The execution of Arturo Diaz, 37, was carried out after the U.S. Supreme Court refused a last-ditch appeal to block his death by lethal injection. It was the 13th execution this year in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state.

Diaz smiled and blew a kiss to several witnesses watching through a window, including his mother and grandmother.

He then turned to the father of his victim, watching through an adjacent window to the death chamber. "I hope this can bring some relief for you and your family," he told him.

He spoke in Spanish to his own friends and relatives, telling them: "I am with God."

He also added that he hoped his fate "serves as an example for some youngsters. ... Think about it before you do drugs."

He was pronounced dead 17 minutes later, at 6:30 p.m. CDT.

"It was way too easy," Forrest Nichols, whose son was murdered in 1999, said as he stood watching Diaz.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials have used pentobarbital as the single execution drug for more than a year, but Diaz became the first in the state given the sedative procured from a vendor or manufacturer the prison agency has declined to identify.

Diaz's reaction to the drug was similar to other Texas inmates who have been executed with pentobarbital. He took several deep breaths, began snoring and ceased movement in less than a minute.

The expiration date of the department's existing inventory passed this month, possibly diluting its potency. Like other death penalty states, Texas officials needed to go to nontraditional sources because the usual suppliers bowed to pressure from capital punishment opponents and refused to make their product available.

In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Diaz's attorney, James Terry Jr., argued recent high court rulings allowed another look at previously unsuccessful appeals where inmates had shoddy legal help. Diaz had deficient counsel at his 2000 trial in Hidalgo County and early in the appeals process, his attorney said.

Diaz, from Las Milpas, a small town between McAllen and the Mexican border, was convicted of the April 1999 slaying of Michael Nichols, 25, at Nichols' apartment in McAllen. Diaz also was given two life terms for attempted capital murder and aggravated robbery of another man who survived.

Cregg Thompson, the lead prosecutor at Diaz's murder trial, said evidence showed Diaz tried to steal Nichols' pickup truck but couldn't open a locked gate at the apartment complex. His shoe print was found on the keypad box at the gate, and his DNA was found on a beer bottle at Nichols' apartment.

Diaz said he was high on drugs and alcohol during the attack on Nichols. He also confessed to a slaying that took place a month earlier. In that case, the victim's head was stomped and face beaten with a hammer. Diaz also received a 94-year prison term for aggravated sexual assault for raping a jail inmate.

"You know it's going to take some time for all the appeals and everything to go through," Thompson said this week of Diaz's execution. "But when you say 14 years, that sounds like an awful long time."

Courtesy: CBSNews

Day of judgement: Inside a Gaza murder trial

 Human rights groups have condemned the use of the death penalty under Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip. This week, BBC Arabic's Shahdi Alkashif obtained rare access to a murder trial where three defendants faced death sentences.

Defendant Fathi Ashram was allowed to hug his
son during the trial

26 September 2013: In a small room in the basement of a court building in Gaza City, three members of the same family were on trial, accused of killing a relative in December 2010.

Two young men and one man in his fifties stood in a black metal cage in a corner of the room as prosecutors accused them of shooting 28-year-old Mohammed Ashram, who was an official in the Hamas government in Gaza, during an argument over money.

The cage was surrounded by security guards with long beards, and on the back wall there was a plaque bearing words from the Koran: "When you judge between men, you judge with justice."

The judge, a man in his forties also with a long beard, was seated opposite, with advisers to his right and left, as well as a young woman wearing a veil who recorded proceedings.

Also crammed into the room were the prosecution and defence teams, the victim's brothers and several members of the defendants' families, and a number of other lawyers who were waiting for the judge to hear six other cases after the murder trial had ended.

The judge listened to the defence's argument in the Ashram case, but did not appear to find it very convincing. He also heard a prosecutor demand the death penalty.

"The penalty for murder at the Day of Judgement is to be thrown into the fires of Hell," he said. "An innocent young man lost his life, leaving behind a widow and children, and depriving his parents of their son."

After deliberating with his advisers in an adjacent room, the judge emerged to give his verdict.

Those in the courtroom were asked to stand, before the judge found the eldest defendant, Fathi Ashram, guilty and sentenced him to death by hanging.

He then sentenced one of the other defendants to prison and acquitted the third.

The verdicts prompted expressions of both satisfaction and anger from the members of the public in the courtroom. There were cries of "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) and also claims that there had been a "great injustice".

Afterwards, the judge told the BBC that the authorities in neighbouring Egypt had "assisted" the investigation into Ashram's murder, with one of their forensic laboratories "proving" the involvement of the man who was sentenced to death.

The trial had been held in accordance with Palestinian law, he added.
 

Public 'very satisfied'

However, such assertions have been challenged by international human rights activists.

Last month, Human Rights Watch demanded that the Hamas authorities halt all planned executions, alleging that Gaza's justice system was deeply flawed.

"The convictions included cases of prolonged arbitrary detention, credible allegations of torture, and convictions based primarily on coerced confessions," it said.

Sixteen prisoners have been executed since 2010, most of them after being convicted of killings or spying for Israel, while another 16 prisoners are awaiting execution, the group said in its report.

The Independent Commission for Human Rights, the official Palestinian rights ombudsman, said a total of 36 people had been sentenced to death in Gaza between February 2010 and June 2013.

Of this number, the authorities had executed at least six men, while another five were sentenced by military courts in absentia, the ICHR added.

Gaza's attorney general, Ismail Jabir, was quoted by the interior ministry's website as saying: "The law will take its course and no criminal will escape punishment."

He claimed that "the public is very satisfied" with the application of the death penalty, and that "the only complaints come from some human rights organisations".

The authorities would "not pay attention" to them, because "our religious tradition" required capital punishment as a deterrent, Mr Jabir insisted.

Courtesy: BBC

The federal government is calling the release of an Iranian-Canadian man who had been facing death row in Tehran a welcomed symbolic step from Iran

Tuesday, September 24, 2013: Hamid Ghassemi-Shall was arrested in 2008 by Iranian police and charged with espionage. He was sentenced to death in 2009.

"We are obviously pleased that he has been able to be back with his family,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told reporters in Montreal on Tuesday. “We want to encourage him obviously to return to Canada immediately before the situation changes."

 But Baird warned that there is still a long way to go in order to improve Iranian relations.

"We want to see meaningful progress on human rights. It has an abysmal human rights record and that matters. We also want to see it take back steps from supporting terrorism," he said.

On Monday, Ghassemi-Shall's wife, Antonella Mega said she spoke with her husband after his release, but did not know when he would be leaving Iran.

"He sounds OK," Mega told CTV's News Channel. "He's still in the state of not really believing that he has seen the light and that he's breathing the fresh air. I think he's still exhilarated and a little bit out of sorts but extremely happy and delighted."

Mega said she has always been convinced of her husband's innocence and believes that the Iranian government knew this as well.

"I'm thankful that Iranian authorities released Hamid. We haven't given up on exculpating him and we've kept working throughout these years," Mega said.

Ghassemi-Shall, a Toronto shoe salesman, emigrated to Canada from Iran after the 1979 Iranian revolution. He had made several trips back to visit family without incident prior to 2008 when he was arrested.

Ghassemi-Shall was one of 80 prisoners released in Iran just hours after Iranian President Hasan Rouhani's departed to attend the annual UN General Assembly in New York. The unexpected, mass release is seen by some as an attempt to bridge relations between Iran and Western countries.

While in New York, Rouhani is expected to ask to restart stalled negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. The country has repeatedly denied charges that they are seeking to build a nuclear weapon and maintains that their nuclear program is for energy and cancer treatment.

Prior to leaving Iran, Rouhani urged Western leaders to roll back sanctions and move toward greater dialogue and negotiations.

During his address to the UN General Assembly, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with the Iranian leader.

"We are encouraged that President Rouhani has received from the Iranian people a mandate to be a more moderate force," Obama said in his address to the UN.

Rouhini was elected in June, replacing outspoken and often antagonistic Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press.

Courtesy: CTV News

Iran lawmakers pass bill allowing men to marry adopted daughters

Human rights activists say approved bill, making girls vulnerable to the ruling from age 13, 'legalises paedophilia'

[Editor: Now we need to define who is a child before accusing Iranian government of promoting pedophilia. In many health care institutions in India, sick children up to 12 or 13 years are registered under Pediatric service and older children under adult Medicine service. This age cut-off has been traditional. So, if we consider this clause then any person above the age of 13 years does not come under the category of Child. Isn't it?]

Young girls in Chah Bahar, Iran. Iran's body of clerics
and jurists has not yet vetted the new legislation on
child marriage. Photograph: Jamshid Bairami/EPA

Thursday 26 September 2013: Parliamentarians in Iran have passed a bill to protect the rights of children which includes a clause that allows a man to marry his adopted daughter and while she is as young as 13 years.

Activists have expressed alarm that the bill, approved by parliament on Sunday, opens the door for the caretaker of a family to marry his or her adopted child if a court rules it is in the interests of the individual child.

Iran's Guardian Council, a body of clerics and jurists which vets all parliamentary bills before the constitution and the Islamic law, has yet to issue its verdict on the controversial legislation.

To the dismay of rights campaigners, girls in the Islamic republic can marry as young as 13 provided they have the permission of their father. Boys can marry after the age of 15.

In Iran, a girl under the age of 13 can still marry, but needs the permission of a judge. At present, however, marrying stepchildren is forbidden under any circumstances.

As many as 42,000 children aged between 10 and 14 were married in 2010, according to the Iranian news website Tabnak. At least 75 children under the age of 10 were wed in Tehran alone.

Shadi Sadr, a human rights lawyer with the London-based group Justice for Iran, told the Guardian she feared the council would feel safe to put its stamp of approval on the bill while Iran's moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, draws the attention of the press during his UN visit to New York.

"This bill is legalising paedophilia," she warned. "It's not part of the Iranian culture to marry your adopted child. Obviously incest exists in Iran more or less as it happens in other countries across the world, but this bill is legalising paedophilia and is endangering our children and normalising this crime in our culture."

She added: "You should not be able to marry your adopted children, full stop. If a father marries his adopted daughter who is a minor and has sex, that's rape."

According to Sadr, officials in Iran have tried to play down the sexual part of such marriages, saying it is in the bill to solve the issue of hijab [head scarf] complications when a child is adopted.

An adopted daughter is expected to wear the hijab in front of her father, and a mother should wear it in front of her adopted son if he is old enough, Sadr said.

"With this bill, you can be a paedophile and get your bait in the pretext of adopting children," Sadr said. Some experts believe the new bill is contradictory to Islamic beliefs and would not pass the Guardian Council.

An initial draft of the bill, which had completely banned marriage with adopted children, was not approved by the council and it is feared that MPs introduced the condition for marriage to satisfy the jurists and clergymen. This is why Sadr fears it can pass the council this time.

The bill has prompted backlash in Iran with the reformist newspaper, Shargh, publishing an article warning about its consequences. "How can someone be looking after you and at the same time be your husband?" the article asked.

Shiva Dolatabadi, head of Iran's society for protecting children's rights, has also warned that the bill implies that the parliament is legalising incest. "You cannot open a way in which the role of a father or a mother can be mixed with that of an spouse," she said, according to Shargh. "Children can't be safe in such a family."

Execution of juvenile offenders in Iran has also been in spotlight in recent years amid confusion between the age of majority – when minors cease to be legally considered children – and the minimum age of criminal responsibility, which is 15 for boys and nine for girls under Iranian law.

Courtesy: The Guardian

Ohio executes racist killer, 61, with its last dose of lethal drug after he eats final meal of steak, french fries, peach pie and ice cream

• Harry Mitts Jr. shouted racial slurs before shooting dead his neighbor's black boyfriend, John Bryant, in 1994
• He then opened fire on responding officers, killing Sgt. Dennis Glivar
• Mitts, who admitted to the crimes, asked for his victims' families' forgiveness before he was put to death on Wednesday morning
• It was Ohio's last use of pentobarbital as manufacturer is putting it off limits to states for executions; a new method will be announced soon.

25 September 2013: A white man who yelled racial slurs before fatally shooting a black man and a police officer in a 1994 rampage was today executed with the state's last use of its execution drug.

Harry Mitts Jr ate a last meal of steak with sauteed mushrooms, Caesar salad with ranch dressing, Italian bread, french fries, peach pie, butter pecan ice cream and Dr Pepper before asking his victims' families to forgive him, saying he had carried the burden of his crimes with him for 19 years.

'I had no business doing what I did,' he said in a last statement to six witnesses representing his victims. Two clergy members and a friend were also in attendance.

Mitts Jr., 61, was pronounced dead at 10.39am by lethal injection of the powerful sedative pentobarbital at the state prison in Lucasville after years of acknowledging his crimes and repenting.

The state's supply of pentobarbital is expiring, and a new execution method will be announced later

Mitts was convicted of aggravated murder and attempted murder in the August 1994 rampage against random neighbors and responding police officers at his apartment complex in a Cleveland suburb.

Wielding a gun with a laser sight and later other weapons, Mitts first shouted racial epithets and killed a neighbor's black boyfriend, John Bryant, and then shot and killed white Garfield Heights police Sgt. Dennis Glivar as he responded to the scene. Mitts also shot and wounded two other police officers.

The Ohio Parole Board and Republican Gov. John Kasich had denied Mitts' pleas for mercy.

Mitts, at his clemency hearing, had pointed to a virtually clean record before and after the day of the shootings and said he had found God in prison.

After his conviction, he spoke of receiving a Bible from Glivar's mother and sister and a letter expressing their forgiveness and urging him to seek repentance.

Lock up: He was put to death at the Southern
Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville on
Wednesday morning

Mitts told the Ohio Parole Board he had drunk heavily because he was distraught over his divorce and had likely shot Bryant to draw police to his home in hopes they would shoot and kill him.

He said he wasn't a racist and didn't remember directing racial slurs at Bryant before shooting him
.

He said he couldn't say why he didn't shoot two white neighbors he encountered ahead of Bryant.

Prosecutors argued that, with the murders, multiple shootings and additional death threats carried out that day, Mitts 'exhibited complete disregard for the lives of officers and innocent bystanders at the scene'.

'That further tragedy did not result from the bedlam that Mitts created on August 14, 1994, is in many respects a miracle,' a clemency report said.

With Ohio's supply of pentobarbital expiring, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has said it expects to announce its new execution method by Oct. 4.

Pentobarbital is no longer available because its manufacturer has put it off limits to states for executions.

Courtesy: Mail Online 

China executes former street vendor, provokes outcry

September 25, 2013: China today executed a street food vendor who drew widespread sympathy after fatally stabbing two "heavy-handed" security officials, provoking outraged webusers to denounce his death penalty as unjust.

China's Supreme Court upheld a death sentence against Xia Junfeng, who murdered two officials after a dispute over his streetside stall in 2009, the Shenyang Intermediate People's court in northeast China said in a verified social media account.

Xia had appealed his sentence on the grounds he killed the two officers in self-defence when they savagely attacked him and others in the city of Shenyang as he barbecued food on the street.

Xia's case drew widespread sympathy amid regular reports of abuses by China's quasi-police city management officials.

The officials, known as chengguan, "have earned a reputation for brutality and impunity... They are now synonymous for many Chinese citizens with physical violence, illegal detention, and theft," a spokeswoman for advocacy group Human Rights Watch said last year.

Hundreds of people rioted in southwest China in 2011 after chengguan reportedly beat a disabled street vendor to death, while the alleged murder of a street vendor in southern China in July provoked a nationwide outcry.

Xia's death sentence was the most discussed topic on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter, today, where many expressed sympathy for him and called the verdict unjust.

"This was a normal act of self-defence, how can you give the death penalty?" commentator Wei Zhuang wrote.

"This is a father who killed to retain his dignity... At the time (of the murders) shouldn't it be the street, the city and the country who feel guilty?" author Li Chengpeng wrote.

Others questioned the equality of China's legal system, referring ot the high-profile case of Gu Kailai, the wife of former top-ranked politician Bo Xilai, who was sentenced to a suspended death sentence -- usually commuted to life in prison -- last year for the murder of a British businessman.

"Gu Kailai didn't get death sentence for killing. Why did Xia Junfeng get the death sentence for self defence," one Sina Weibo user wrote.

One of Xia's lawyers, Chen Youxi, wrote on Sina Weibo that the court invited Xia's wife to meet her husband ahead of the execution.

"After two and a half years of struggle, we are finally powerless," he added.

Xia's family were reportedly ordered to pay the victims USD 106,000 in compensation, and were raising money by selling paintings by Xia's son.

Courtesy: Business Standard

British ex-PCSO faces death penalty for 'drug trafficking in Indonesia after £3k of crystal meth was found in her underwear'

• Andrea Ruth Waldeck, 43, was arrested in April after tip off to police
• Trial began on Monday and prosecutors say she faces firing squad if guilty
• Worked for Gloucestershire Police until February last year 

25 September 2013: A former police community support officer is facing the death penalty after allegedly smuggling drugs into Indonesia in her underwear.

Andrea Waldeck (right) appears
at court in Indonesia

Andrea Waldeck, 43, was arrested by detectives who searched her hotel room and found crystal methamphetamine worth £3,000 taped to her stomach.

After leaving her job as a PCSO last year, Waldeck crossed the globe to become part of an ‘evil conspiracy’ involving an Indonesian drug-smuggling gang, according to prosecutors.

If found guilty, she will become the second British woman facing the firing squad in Indonesia for drug-smuggling. 

Grandmother Lindsay Sandiford was sentenced to death in January after cocaine worth an estimated £1.6millon was found in the lining of her suitcase.

Andrea Waldeck worked as a PCSO
for Gloucestershire Constabulary
until she left the force
in February 2012

Waldeck has told authorities that she was ordered to deliver 3lb (1.47kg) of the highly addictive drug, known as crystal meth, to Indonesia by her boyfriend.

She is thought to have been living with the man, whose nationality is not known, in Dongguan in China before flying to Indonesia to meet drug-dealing gangsters.

Waldeck, who was declared bankrupt in 2009 with debts of more than £120,000, had previously lived  and worked in Cheltenham. She left Gloucestershire Police in February last year.

Prosecutors say she initially evaded customs officials at Juanda Airport while hiding four packets of drugs in her underwear. 

She was arrested in April at her hotel room in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, after police received a tip-off. 

Officers raided her room after she rang an associate in China to arrange for someone to pick up the crystal meth, it is alleged.

On a Facebook profile, which appears to have been set up by Waldeck in July, she apologised to family and friends: ‘I’m so very sorry I’ve disappointed you all’.

Prosecutor Deddy Agus Aktavianto said Waldeck will face execution by firing squad if convicted, due to the quantity of drugs she was allegedly carrying and the likelihood of trafficking.

Her trial began this week at Surabaya district court and Waldeck is expected to give a statement next Monday, he said.

Her brother Mark Waldeck, of Brecon, Powys, said yesterday: ‘We don’t want to talk about it until the trial is over.’ He said his sister is being assisted by London-based legal charity Reprieve.

The British Embassy has been aware of Waldeck’s case since shortly after her arrest and has provided consular assistance.

Courtesy: Mail Online 

Four prisoners hanged in southeastern Iran - Three prisoners to be hanged Tomorrow

Iran Human Rights, September 24: Four prisoners were hanged in Kerman Prison (southeastern Iran) on September 24, reported state run Iranian news agencies.

The prisoners— identified as "Farzad T.", "Masoud Kh.", "Meysam S." and "Ali M."— were reportedly charged with rape, immoral relationship, kidnapping and robbery.

According to reliable sources from Iran, three prisoners are scheduled for execution in Rajai Shahr Prison tomorrow morning. The prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement earlier today.

Courtesy: Iran Human Rights

Execution of Juvenile Offender Mohammad (Maher) Ayashi Postponed- Remains in Danger of Execution

Iran Human Rights, September 24: The execution of juvenile offender, Mohammad (Maher) Ayashi, scheduled for this morning, was postponed indefinitely.

According to reports from Iran, Mr. Ayashi’s execution has been postponed, but may be carried out in the coming days.

Last week another juvenile offender was executed in Kazeroun, convicted of a murder that he allegedly committed at the age of 14.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) emphasizes that Mohammad Ayashi is still in danger of execution; the international community must continue with efforts to save his life.

Courtesy: Iran Human Rights

Death sentence for UAE maid who killed baby to spite nanny

~~Ayesha Al Khoori

Abu Dhabi, Sep 23, 2013: A maid who murdered a baby to spite the child’s nanny has been sentenced to death.

ST, from Indonesia, smashed the 4-month-old girl’s head on a wooden table, causing her skull to fracture and brain to haemorrhage. She then placed the baby back in her crib and left the room as she waited for the nanny to discover the body.

At the Criminal Court she confessed to murder, saying she was driven by her hatred of the nanny, whom she had a rivalry with.

The maid’s defence lawyer Ali Al Abadi claimed the maid was not mentally fit to stand trial, but the court rejected the argument, finding she did not suffer any medical or mental issues.

The child died on April 28 this year.

All death sentences are automatically appealed at both the Appeals Court and Cassation Court before being forwarded to the Ruler for final approval. If the verdict is upheld by all, the maid will face a firing squad.

Courtesy: The National