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Saudi Arabia 'arrests two human rights activists'

<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi17VPZIY7eGt7MjX2nIL_LwRdI7AbDm7J2_A5cLQyYcmSTaoTGLBxhp9zKFVhhV3RYPCPcc1r3_lsIp7o0Zq_WDBAKg5xz0mygr_F0iLIsAQaxzCo_KDVdSXhYKudWjK6-X_rIDcEeJTY/s1600/hmed+al-Musheikhis+and+Essam+Koshak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak" border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi17VPZIY7eGt7MjX2nIL_LwRdI7AbDm7J2_A5cLQyYcmSTaoTGLBxhp9zKFVhhV3RYPCPcc1r3_lsIp7o0Zq_WDBAKg5xz0mygr_F0iLIsAQaxzCo_KDVdSXhYKudWjK6-X_rIDcEeJTY/s400/hmed+al-Musheikhis+and+Essam+Koshak.jpg" title="Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak</td></tr></tbody></table>The authorities in Saudi Arabia have arrested two human rights activists so far this year, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Essam Koshak and Ahmed al-Musheikhis were summoned for questioning by police in Mecca and Qatif last week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Officials have not disclosed the reasons for the detentions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/11/saudi-arabia-2-rights-advocates-arrested" target="_blank">HRW said</a> they "fit a pattern of ongoing repression" against peaceful advocates and dissidents, at least 25 of whom have been convicted since 2011.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many have been handed sentences as long as 10 or 15 years after being found guilty of charges including "breaking allegiance with the ruler", "sowing discord", "inciting public opinion", "setting up an unlicensed organisation", and violating the cybercrime law.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h3>'Relentless persecution'</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Koshak was detained after being summoned for interrogation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Mecca on 8 January.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 45-year-old was not allowed to appoint a lawyer and was being questioned about his Twitter account, which he mainly used to tweet about human rights issues,<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/01/saudi-arabia-steps-up-ruthless-crackdown-against-human-rights-activists/" target="_blank">according to Amnesty</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musheikhis, a founding member of the unregistered Adala Centre for Human Rights, was telephoned by CID officers and told to report to a police station in Qatif, in Eastern Province, on 5 January. He was subsequently transferred to the city of Dammam, where he remains in custody.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amnesty said the 46-year-old was known for his work including helping relatives of those detained in Eastern Province as part of protests by members of the kingdom's Shia Muslim minority against what they say is discrimination against them by the Sunni-led government.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musheikhis' brother, Yussuf, was <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/5236/2016/en/" target="_blank">sentenced to death</a> in January 2016 after being convicted of offences including "armed rebellion against the ruler". Amnesty said Yussuf al-Musheikhis was convicted after a grossly unfair trial at which he claimed he was tortured into "confessing".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amnesty said another activist, Issa al-Nukheifi, had been detained in Mecca since 18 December after being summoned for questioning about his tweets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Saudi Arabia's relentless persecution of human rights defenders is a blatant campaign aimed at deterring them from speaking about the human rights situation in the country and working on behalf of victims of violations," said Lynn Maalouf of Amnesty's Beirut office.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Saudi government has in the past insisted that its judiciary is independent, and that all trials are transparent and in line with Islamic law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">HRW also reported on Tuesday that the Saudi authorities had recently banned Jamal Khashoggi, one of the country's most prominent journalists, from publishing any of his writings in the country.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38583673" target="_blank">BBC News</a>, January 11, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td>  </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Saudi Arabia 'arrests two human rights activists'

Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak The authorities in Saudi Arabia have arrested two human rights activists so far this year, Human Rights...

4:22 AM

Head of Iran Regime Assembly of Experts: Cyberspace Is More Dangerous Than Drugs

Head of Iran Regime Assembly of Experts: Cyberspace Is More Dangerous Than Drugs

"Cyberspace Is More Dangerous Than Drugs" NCRI - The Iranian regime’s head of the Assembly of Experts, mullah Ahmad Jannati, while...

2:55 AM

Iranian Authorities Carried Out Amputation Sentences On Two Prisoners On Christmas Day

<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0snUwrS9YqjctZDdsbUj3svmlZHTcMO-heLhXRmwpJENfq93cpuRhAmBSycavHdTci19riCDyVTYW6wh2l7_GiV217VhtA0C5vakrH0KaOVLDs4SXBdSxGAwYnwuE0iWGCbhlmIaGSA4/s1600/public+amputation+of+a+hand+IRAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Judicial amputation in Iran: Barbaric and medieval punishments" border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0snUwrS9YqjctZDdsbUj3svmlZHTcMO-heLhXRmwpJENfq93cpuRhAmBSycavHdTci19riCDyVTYW6wh2l7_GiV217VhtA0C5vakrH0KaOVLDs4SXBdSxGAwYnwuE0iWGCbhlmIaGSA4/s400/public+amputation+of+a+hand+IRAN.jpg" title="Judicial amputation in Iran: Barbaric and medieval punishments" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judicial amputation in Iran: Barbaric and medieval punishments</td></tr></tbody></table>Four fingers of the right hand of two prisoners were amputated in an Iranian prison on Christmas day, December 25, 2016.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">IRAN HUMAN RIGHTS (DEC 26, 2016): Amputation verdicts on two prisoners were carried out in the prison of Urmia (Northwestern Iran), Sunday December 25. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to close sources the two prisoners who are brothers, were sentenced to prison and amputation of four fingers of the right hand because of a robbery they allegedly committed in 2011. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The prisoners were identified as Faramarz and Majid Bigham and the amputations were carried out in the yard of Urmia prison.<br /><br />According to sources, the other prisoners were encouraged to watch the amputations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemns the medieval punishments practiced by the Iranian authorities and calls for the international condemnation and ban of such punishments.</div><br />Several weeks ago <a href="https://iranhr.net/en/articles/2698/" target="_blank">a prisoner was blinded in a prison near Tehran</a>. <br /><br />Source: <a href="https://iranhr.net/en/" target="_blank">Iran Human Rights</a>, December 26, 2016<br /><br /><br /><h2>Iran: 40 Girls and Boys Arrested in a Night Party</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">NCRI - In a continuing wave of repression and harassment of people in their private and home parties, on Saturday the Iranian regime’s police chief in Orumiyeh announced that 40 girls and boys were arrested at a night party in Orumiyeh (northwest Iran). In addition, six people were arrested in southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan for cyberspace activity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to state-run Rokna news agency, on December 24, police chief in Orumiyeh said: “After the Police Emergency Center 110 received reports on a night party held in a neighborhood of Orumiyeh, law enforcement officers immediately took action and arrested 40 people.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, police officers and security agents in Sistan and Baluchistan arrested and detained at least six citizens in this province. According to the police, by coordinating with Fata Police (Cyber-Police), the repressive forces arrested these people because of their cyberspace and socials media activities.</div><br /><h3>Party in Tehran Ended up With Arrest of All Participants</h3><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">According to a report by the state-run Fars news agency affiliated to the Iran regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), 25 people including an actor and an author of satirical programs were arrested in Tehran after the police and security forces raided a party in the capital city.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The IRGC news agency wrote in its twitter account: “An actor and a writer of satirical programs identified as ‘A. J.’ were also among the arrestees after the police and law enforcement officers with ‘judicial warrant’ raided the ceremony in Tehran and arrested the participants.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iranian regime's (suppressive) institutions have recently become more sensitive and more attentive to the private lives of actors and athletes following their presence in the social networks and increase in their activities, and the scope of dealing with them has also increased.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For many years, particularly in recent years, numerous instances of the arrest and detention of actors and athletes in Iran for their presence and participation in private parties and ceremonies have been reported.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Wednesday May 4, 2016, state-run Mizan news agency affiliated to the regime’s Judiciary had reported the arrest of seven renowned actors in a “night party.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the same month (May 2016), Abbas Jafari Dowlatâbâdi, Tehran's so-called Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor had warned athletes and artists against their participation in what he called "vulgar meetings that are contrary to the law.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition, Gholam Hossein Esmaili, Judiciary Chief of Tehran Province, said that “Cultural Surveillance” of athletes and artists should be increased and suggested that the deputy of Judiciary’s crime prevention department should enter this field.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://ncr-iran.org/en/" target="_blank">NCRI</a>, December 26-27, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td>  </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Iranian Authorities Carried Out Amputation Sentences On Two Prisoners On Christmas Day

Judicial amputation in Iran: Barbaric and medieval punishments Four fingers of the right hand of two prisoners were amputated in an Iranian ...

2:34 AM

Death penalty looms for Mauritanian blogger accused of insulting Islam

<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SWVHkGe19OxPDBtYUgr36egtzMkLH7eEgdtVTWr8nG93ZujbrZN8YjCc_djxgxEdu6Uun_y7pY-LXAdteWXEBGurpmZsKcMHtb_HvXNmW3lWtuwr5aXAmyG_4pzHrxTQsG282YFfahU/s1600/Mohamed+Ould+Cheikh+Ould+Mkhaitir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir" border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SWVHkGe19OxPDBtYUgr36egtzMkLH7eEgdtVTWr8nG93ZujbrZN8YjCc_djxgxEdu6Uun_y7pY-LXAdteWXEBGurpmZsKcMHtb_HvXNmW3lWtuwr5aXAmyG_4pzHrxTQsG282YFfahU/s400/Mohamed+Ould+Cheikh+Ould+Mkhaitir.jpg" title="Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir is pictured in a courtroom in<br />Nouadhibou, Mauritania, in April in a picture supplied by his sister. </td></tr></tbody></table><b>Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir awaits the final verdict for a blog seen as critical of Mauritania's caste system.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the dusty Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott, thousands of protesters armed with loudspeakers gathered outside the country’s Supreme Court on November 15. Demonstrators held messages of protests on paper, some worn around their heads to keep their hands free, and demanded the court uphold the death sentence against Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir, a Mauritanian blogger imprisoned in January 2014 on charges of apostasy. His alleged crime was to defame the name of the Prophet Muhammad. “Our first demand [is] to execute this criminal. The Prophet Muhammad is our honor, nobody has right to talk about him!” said one unidentified protester outside the court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For Mkhaitir’s sister, the scene was almost too much to bear. “When I saw hundreds of people demanding that my brother must be executed, I felt like I could not breath anymore. I wished to be dead [rather] than to see that,” she tells Newsweek in WhatsApp messages sent to and translated by an intermediary. She requested anonymity since she fears reprisals for being associated with her brother. “I asked myself, ‘How can they be like that? Do they not have sisters or mothers? Do they not understand how we feel?’”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While the court set December 20 as the date for a final decision on Mkhaitir’s case, the 29-year-old blogger languished in a cramped cell 300 miles north of the capital in the city of Nouadhibou, isolated from family and legal counsel. His detention looks set to roll into a third year, as the removal of one of the Supreme Court’s judges means that it will likely be 2017 before the court decides whether Mkhaitir will become the first person in Mauritania to be executed for almost 30 years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bloodthirsty protest in November was the latest instalment in a case that has become a source of national fury in Mauritania, a conservative Islamic republic and one of just eight countries where apostasy is a capital offense. But activists supporting Mkhaitir say that the case is not about Islam, but is rather an example of discrimination. And despite its similarities to more prominent cases—such as that of imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi—Mkhaitir’s supporters say his plight is at risk of being ignored by the international community.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The story goes back to December 2013, when an anonymous article appeared on a Mauritanian news website and circulated via social media. The title of the article was “Religion and Religiosity for Blacksmiths”—the Arabic word <i>maalemine</i>, rendered as blacksmiths, refers in Mauritania to people descended from craftsmen, who are among the lowest in terms of social status. In the article, the author argues that Mauritania’s ruling classes have used incidents from the Prophet Muhammad’s life to justify racial discrimination and slavery.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The article sparked public outcry and Mkhaitir was quickly revealed as its author. Mkhaitir, was by no means a prolific blogger; he worked as an accountant for a loading company in Nouadhibou at the time, according to U.S.-based advocacy group Freedom Now. He turned himself in to police on January 2, 2014, and was charged with apostasy. Eight days later, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz appeared to back calls for Mkhaitir’s execution, telling protesters: “We will apply God’s law on whoever insults the Prophet and whoever publishes such an insult.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mkhaitir was kept in detention for 12 months before his trial commenced in December 2014. Soon after his arrest, he released a public statement repenting of his alleged crime. When his trial finally began in December 2014, Mkhaitir publicly apologized and again repented. Mauritanian law allows for the death sentence to be overturned in the case of a convicted apostate who repents. However, on December 24, 2014, the court sentenced Mkhaitir to death for the crime of zendegha , or “hypocrisy”—according to Mauritanian law, this is the crime of someone committing apostasy and then repenting insincerely. He was sentenced to be executed by firing squad.<br /><br />The blogger appealed and, in April 2016, the Mauritanian court of appeal ruled that the appropriate conviction would have been apostasy, rather than “hypocrisy.” The court of appeal thus transferred the case to the Supreme Court to judge whether Mkhaitir’s repentance was sincere.</div><br /><b><a href="http://europe.newsweek.com/mauritanias-raif-badawi-slips-under-radar-death-penalty-looms-531564" target="_blank">Click here to read the full article</a></b><br /><br />Source: Newsweek, Conor Gaffey, December 19, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td>  </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Death penalty looms for Mauritanian blogger accused of insulting Islam

Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir is pictured in a courtroom in Nouadhibou, Mauritania, in April in a picture supplied by his sister. Mohame...

6:38 AM

How censorship aids China’s execution machine

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihas13R7-iIANQqb209okYppXyjRqSCXazFmhqbbKhI3qfC5f9-Pcgwi_h4ZbMXA3dkunWjNvYx1oJAgCzWPtmomv442lOnQtb1GmBDlr4MhtfPK18ZG_GysU1b0PaQ3eCT1R4nOkOokuM/s1600/execution+china.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A Chinese police officer lights a prisoner's last cigarette, moments before his execution." border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihas13R7-iIANQqb209okYppXyjRqSCXazFmhqbbKhI3qfC5f9-Pcgwi_h4ZbMXA3dkunWjNvYx1oJAgCzWPtmomv442lOnQtb1GmBDlr4MhtfPK18ZG_GysU1b0PaQ3eCT1R4nOkOokuM/s400/execution+china.jpg" title="A Chinese police officer lights a prisoner's last cigarette, moments before his execution." width="258" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Chinese police officer lights a prisoner's last<br />cigarette, moments before his execution.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">The executions of Nie Shubin and Jia Jinglong occurred more than 20 years apart, yet the Chinese authorities have used the plight of both men to send starkly different messages on the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/search/label/Nie%20Shubin" target="_blank">Nie Shubin, who was executed in 1995 for rape and murder</a>, received a <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/12/nie-shubin-china-clears-man-21-years.html" target="_blank">rare posthumous exoneration</a> earlier this month. Officials made much of how this wrongful execution had been corrected and that lessons had been learnt. State media highlighted how the verdict was overturned based on a presumption of innocence, a principle that China’s judicial system has only just started to recognize.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2005, a domestic media outlet revealed that another man, Wang Shujin, confessed to the murder and rape Nie had supposedly committed. The news sent shock waves throughout China, and has created immense public interest and media coverage ever since. It still took more than a decade of persistent campaigning by Nie’s family, lawyers, journalists, and academics to finally clear his name.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This may seem like an advance for justice, but the authorities did not look kindly on another campaign this past month <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/11/outcry-as-china-executes-symbol-of.html" target="_blank">to spare the life of Jia Jinglong</a>. A frantic last-ditch effort on Chinese social media eventually came to nothing. Jia, who killed a local village official, was executed on 15 November.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not only were the authorities intent on ending Jia’s life, they were intent on ending any debate about his plight that –in the view of many- would have warranted some leniency. The same type of activism that brought about a reversal in the verdict for Nie Shubin was not tolerated this time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the day Jia Jinglong was executed, the government’s propaganda machine went into overdrive, with state-media describing the campaign to save his life as “attacking judicial authority.” Social media posts were heavily censored and state-run press published threatening articles to intimidate Jia’s supporters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4Ku_fJ-PFcMx3OI76YsTrDyQvdoddIti3oEB0WPKUDv-1S3v3Nw_xtsMvRAgKNjCJf60T9SAes2LepLXbS-7VMp4Di204dA5EotL3ujI7j7WIHKFEJ7EMYpDyu1nyDX6bsUayEt6s90/s1600/Jia+Jinglong+CHINA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Jia Jinglong" border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4Ku_fJ-PFcMx3OI76YsTrDyQvdoddIti3oEB0WPKUDv-1S3v3Nw_xtsMvRAgKNjCJf60T9SAes2LepLXbS-7VMp4Di204dA5EotL3ujI7j7WIHKFEJ7EMYpDyu1nyDX6bsUayEt6s90/s400/Jia+Jinglong+CHINA.jpg" title="Jia Jinglong" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jia Jinglong</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Jia, a farmer in China’s northern Hebei province, killed a local village chief, He Jianhua, on 19 February 2015 with a modified nail gun.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The village chief had ordered the demolition of Jia’s three-story home, which he had just meticulously decorated to prepare for his upcoming marriage. Following the murder, Jia reportedly attempted to turn himself in. According to supporters, the courts should have considered these potential mitigating factors when deciding whether to execute him.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For Jia’s supporters, China’s default death penalty policy first set out by authorities in 2006 – “killing fewer, killing cautiously” – seemed to hold out a glimmer of hope that the Supreme People’s Court might spare his life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But state censors made sure that those living in mainland China, were not able to read many of the online articles presenting the legal case as to why Jia’s life should be spared.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Twelve of China’s most prominent legal scholars wrote a passionate open letter asking the country’s Supreme People’s Court to grant Jia a reprieve. But their open petition was censored – as were many other posts about Jia Jinglong that were shared on WeChat – China’s main social media platform.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This censorship was accompanied by an ominous editorial in the People’s Daily – the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party – signalling that the online debate had gone too far and that some people could be punished. It said that the scope of freedom of expression extended to people talking about cases in private or over meals, but not on the internet, where they could influence public opinion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The editorial slammed those who spoke out while only “half-understanding” the case, and it warned of consequences for those who harmed the credibility of the legal system or harmed judicial authority by transmitting so-called “untruthful information.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nie Shubin’s case showed that the government is taking some positive moves by redressing emblematic cases of wrongful convictions, but the authorities still control the narrative.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_pyLAj2j3TjT15bH_AC0rJJyg88bfETVTBPVUtQYexhskh6nBNrt28wBCe-BXSlV2DtSeewYxZd26QiatCni_ZFj_FaAnhzEwyFj5AGd3n2wnGqqky4fgNrputJ8br0JLoX05GYzq88/s1600/Nie-Shubin_CHINA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nie Shubin" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_pyLAj2j3TjT15bH_AC0rJJyg88bfETVTBPVUtQYexhskh6nBNrt28wBCe-BXSlV2DtSeewYxZd26QiatCni_ZFj_FaAnhzEwyFj5AGd3n2wnGqqky4fgNrputJ8br0JLoX05GYzq88/s400/Nie-Shubin_CHINA.jpg" title="Nie Shubin" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nie Shubin</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">China remained the world’s top executioner last year. The true extent of the use of the death penalty in the country is unknown as the authorities hide data on death sentences and executions claiming it to be a state secret, manipulate public opinion on specific cases like the Jia Jinglong case, and thereby stymie rigorous debate and empirical analysis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Such censorship is one of the most ironic and tragic aspects of China’s death penalty system. The government demands that people “comprehensively understand” the details of a death penalty case before commenting, and yet the government’s own laws and policies fuel the ignorance it criticizes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is this government secrecy, and not the valiant campaigns that attempt to save people like Jia Jinglong from execution, that cause the real harm to the credibility of China’s legal system.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.atimes.com/censorship-aids-chinas-execution-machine/" target="_blank">Asia Times</a>, William Nee, December 15, 2016. Mr. Nee is the China Researcher at Amnesty International.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td>  </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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How censorship aids China’s execution machine

A Chinese police officer lights a prisoner's last cigarette, moments before his execution. The executions of Nie Shubin and Jia Jinglong...

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How censorship aids China’s execution machine

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