Indonesia plans to execute five people before the end of this year, including a Nigerian convicted of drug offences.
According to a report by The Jakarta Post, assistant attorney general for general crimes Abdul Hakim Ritonga said the remaining four were Indonesians.
The newspaper said the executions would be carried out on Nusakambangan Island
Five executions have been carried out on the island since June, with two Nigerians shot for drug trafficking and three Indonesians for terrorism offences.
Assistant attorney general for general crimes Abdul Hakim Ritonga said on 14 November that there were 92 prisoners on death row in Indonesia, although they were at varying stages of their appeals and applications for presidential clemency.
Some 14 had appealed to the president for clemency, 38 had filed judicial reviews and the rest were undecided about their next courses of action.
"The death sentences of the 92 convicts have been declared legally binding and are pending administrative procedures [before they are carried out]," he said.
Bonaventura Daulat Nainggolansaid, a spokesman for the attorney general, said in August that 39 convicted drug traffickers would be executed by the end of 2009, including foreign nationals.
"The president has rejected clemency for 39 people, so the next stage for them is execution," said Indradi Thanos, head of the national police drugs unit, according to a Reuters report.
Related stories:
Indonesia executes Islamist terrorists -- 9 November 2008
Firing squad: Seven minutes to die -- 26 August 2008
Indonesia: More to die for drugs -- 12 August 2008
Indonesia: Record number executed in four weeks -- 20 July 2008
Indonesia: Drug offenders executed, more to come -- 29 June 2008
Drug penalty violates international law -- 06 May 2007
Showing posts with label Nigerians on death row. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nigerians on death row. Show all posts
Monday, 24 November 2008
Sunday, 29 June 2008
Indonesia: Drug offenders executed, more to come
Indonesia shot two Nigerian men for drug offences late on Thursday night, and drug officials hope more executions will soon be carried out.
Samuel Iwachekawu Okoye and Hansen Anthony Nwaoysa were executed before midnight on Thursday (26 June) on Nusakambangan prison island, off the coast of central Java.
According to a Reuters report, the head of the Central Java mobile brigade police, Dicky Atotoy, said the two Nigerians were tied to two wooden poles with their heads covered, and shot by two teams of police snipers.
"The doctor declared the two convicts dead at 00.00 following the firing squads' duty to execute them," Atatoy said.
Reuters said Indonesian prosecutors were also now preparing to execute the three men sentenced to death for their role in the October 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.
AAP reported that 40 year-old Nwaoysa was sentenced to death for attempting to smuggle 600 grams of heroin in 43 capsules, which he swallowed before flying from Pakistan to Jakarta in January 2001. (AAP story also here.)
The report said Okoye was caught at Jakarta airport with 3.8 kilograms of heroin hidden in the lining of his luggage after flying in from India. He said he was to pass it on to an Australian by the name of "Ron".
The two were sentenced to death in 2001 and their final appeals for clemency were rejected in July 2004.
More drug executions to come?
The head of Indonesia's leading anti-drugs body said in a speech during the day on Thursday that drug offenders should be executed more quickly.
"To give them a lesson, drug traffickers must be executed immediately," said General Sutanto, who is the National Police Chief and Chairman of the National Anti-Narcotic Body (BNN).
"For this purpose, BNN is coordinating closely with the Attorney General`s Office as the agency responsible for carrying out executions," he told a function at the State Palace for the International Day against Drugs Abuse and Trafficking.
He said prison didn't deter drug traffickers, and claimed international drug syndicates were being run from jails.
Attorney General Hendarman Supandji reportedly said at the same function his office would speed up the execution of the 57 drug offenders on death row.
Move towards greater secrecy
Before the latest executions, comments by one government minister reported by the Antara newsagency suggested Indonesia was planning to carry out the executions in secret to prevent any public protests.
"The date of the execution is not to be made public to prevent public controversy," said Monang Pardede, assistant deputy to the General Crimes chief of the Central Java higher prosecutor's office, on Tuesday.
He reportedly said the executions would not be publicised until after they were carried out, in order to prevent what Antara described as "undue public reactions".
"We are afraid we will face difficulties if they are announced beforehand," he said.
These comments are a worrying sign that Indonesia may be moving towards the secrecy that stifles open and informed debate across much of Asia about the use of the death penalty.
No to drugs, no to drug executions
Amnesty International condemned the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences.
"Experts in international law, including the top UN officials, have confirmed that applying the death penalty for drug-related offences is a breach of international law," a spokesperson for the organisation said.
The last executions for drug offences in Indonesia were carried out in October 2004, when two Thai nationals were shot for attempting to smuggle 12.19 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia.
Their co-accused, a 65 year-old Indian man, was executed in August of the same year.
Related stories:
Drug penalty violates international law -- 06 May 2007
Executions in Indonesia since 1995 -- 26 September 2006
Samuel Iwachekawu Okoye and Hansen Anthony Nwaoysa were executed before midnight on Thursday (26 June) on Nusakambangan prison island, off the coast of central Java.
According to a Reuters report, the head of the Central Java mobile brigade police, Dicky Atotoy, said the two Nigerians were tied to two wooden poles with their heads covered, and shot by two teams of police snipers.
"The doctor declared the two convicts dead at 00.00 following the firing squads' duty to execute them," Atatoy said.
Reuters said Indonesian prosecutors were also now preparing to execute the three men sentenced to death for their role in the October 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.
AAP reported that 40 year-old Nwaoysa was sentenced to death for attempting to smuggle 600 grams of heroin in 43 capsules, which he swallowed before flying from Pakistan to Jakarta in January 2001. (AAP story also here.)
The report said Okoye was caught at Jakarta airport with 3.8 kilograms of heroin hidden in the lining of his luggage after flying in from India. He said he was to pass it on to an Australian by the name of "Ron".
The two were sentenced to death in 2001 and their final appeals for clemency were rejected in July 2004.
More drug executions to come?
The head of Indonesia's leading anti-drugs body said in a speech during the day on Thursday that drug offenders should be executed more quickly.
"To give them a lesson, drug traffickers must be executed immediately," said General Sutanto, who is the National Police Chief and Chairman of the National Anti-Narcotic Body (BNN).
"For this purpose, BNN is coordinating closely with the Attorney General`s Office as the agency responsible for carrying out executions," he told a function at the State Palace for the International Day against Drugs Abuse and Trafficking.
He said prison didn't deter drug traffickers, and claimed international drug syndicates were being run from jails.
Attorney General Hendarman Supandji reportedly said at the same function his office would speed up the execution of the 57 drug offenders on death row.
Move towards greater secrecy
Before the latest executions, comments by one government minister reported by the Antara newsagency suggested Indonesia was planning to carry out the executions in secret to prevent any public protests.
"The date of the execution is not to be made public to prevent public controversy," said Monang Pardede, assistant deputy to the General Crimes chief of the Central Java higher prosecutor's office, on Tuesday.
He reportedly said the executions would not be publicised until after they were carried out, in order to prevent what Antara described as "undue public reactions".
"We are afraid we will face difficulties if they are announced beforehand," he said.
These comments are a worrying sign that Indonesia may be moving towards the secrecy that stifles open and informed debate across much of Asia about the use of the death penalty.
No to drugs, no to drug executions
Amnesty International condemned the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences.
"Experts in international law, including the top UN officials, have confirmed that applying the death penalty for drug-related offences is a breach of international law," a spokesperson for the organisation said.
The last executions for drug offences in Indonesia were carried out in October 2004, when two Thai nationals were shot for attempting to smuggle 12.19 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia.
Their co-accused, a 65 year-old Indian man, was executed in August of the same year.
Related stories:
Drug penalty violates international law -- 06 May 2007
Executions in Indonesia since 1995 -- 26 September 2006
Saturday, 26 January 2008
Tochi in Singapore: "the burden thus shifted"
This post was originally written for the excellent historical blog Executed Today.
On this day one year ago, a promising young Nigerian soccer player was taken from his cell in Singapore's Changi Prison. It was dawn on a Friday morning, execution time in a country that has come to be known for its uncompromising use of the death penalty.
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, 21, and his co-accused Okele Nelson Malachy, 35, were hanged one after the other in the prison's death chamber. Tochi's lawyers had been informed he would die that morning, but it had not been announced that Malachy would also hang.
Later that day the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), Singapore's "primary drug enforcement agency", issued a 138 word statement. With the terse formality that is common to statements by Singapore's criminal justice authorities, it noted:
Tochi was arrested at Changi Airport on 28 November 2004, in possession of 100 capsules of diamorphine, or 727.02g of high grade heroin, which the CNB claimed was worth "about $1.5 million". He said in a later interview that he had arrived in the country expecting to be met by an African man named Mr Marshall.
He did not have enough money to clear immigration, and an airport hotel called the police when he attempted to take a room. Malachy was identified as his contact after flying in from Indonesia, although he strenuously denied any connection with the drugs.
Tochi claimed he was carrying the package for a man named Mr Smith, who had befriended him at Sunday services at St Andrew's Church in Islamabad, Pakistan. He had become stranded in Pakistan while attempting to travel to Dubai, where he hoped to play soccer professionally. As a boy, he represented Nigeria in soccer tournaments, travelling to Senegal when he was 14 to play in a West African youth Championship.
According to Tochi, Mr Smith asked him to take a package of herbs to a sick friend in Singapore, saying he could then apply to play for Singapore soccer clubs. He agreed, and was given a ticket and $200 in cash.
'No direct evidence': none needed
Many sites on the web have quoted the trial judge's acknowledgement that there was no proof that Tochi knew he was carrying heroin:
But the prosecution didn't have to prove Tochi knew; it was up to him to prove that he didn't know what was in the capsules. If he couldn't prove his ignorance of that fact -- a challenging philosophical notion in itself -- then the law would presume he knew, and therefore convict him of drug trafficking. Under section 18(2) of Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act:
The Misuse of Drugs Act reverses many principles that are taken as central to a fair trial, including the burden of proof and the idea that a court should consider the facts of the case before deciding a penalty.
Amnesty International reports that the Act contains a series of presumptions that:
Possession of relatively small amounts of drugs -- by the standards of many countries -- is classed as "trafficking" in that drug. Trafficking in that drug carries a mandatory death penalty. Courts have no power to consider the individual circumstances of the case.
Death for drugs
Famously described as "Disneyland with the death penalty" by novelist William Gibson, Singapore brings together a record of social order and strict political control, and an unwavering use of the death penalty, particularly for drug-related offences.
No surprises then that Tochi was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death in December 2005. His appeal was rejected in March 2006, with the judge pausing only to note that the accused had to prove he didn't know what was in the bag:
Seven months before Tochi's execution, his brother Uzonna told a reporter from IPS News he had not told their parents that their son, who once supported the family, was now on death row.
"My poor parents will die if they hear that a child who has worked so hard to sustain them is facing a death sentence," he said.
Tochi was hanged in the face of widespread international protest: legal efforts and a presidential appeal in Nigeria, urgent global appeals from Amnesty International activists, intervention from a United Nations human rights expert, and discreet but unequivocal opposition from a small group of human rights activists within Singapore itself.
Reflecting the colonial origins of the country's modern death penalty, Tochi was "hanged by the neck till he [was] dead", in the words of Singapore's Criminal Procedure Code. The same British legal phrase was taken with the empire to, among other countries, the United States, India, Pakistan, Brunei and Malaysia.
Mr Smith has not been found.
On this day one year ago, a promising young Nigerian soccer player was taken from his cell in Singapore's Changi Prison. It was dawn on a Friday morning, execution time in a country that has come to be known for its uncompromising use of the death penalty.
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, 21, and his co-accused Okele Nelson Malachy, 35, were hanged one after the other in the prison's death chamber. Tochi's lawyers had been informed he would die that morning, but it had not been announced that Malachy would also hang.
Later that day the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), Singapore's "primary drug enforcement agency", issued a 138 word statement. With the terse formality that is common to statements by Singapore's criminal justice authorities, it noted:
The appeals of both Tochi and Malachy to the Court of Appeal and to the President for clemency have been turned down. Their sentences were carried out this morning at Changi Prison.Waiting for Mr Marshall
Tochi was arrested at Changi Airport on 28 November 2004, in possession of 100 capsules of diamorphine, or 727.02g of high grade heroin, which the CNB claimed was worth "about $1.5 million". He said in a later interview that he had arrived in the country expecting to be met by an African man named Mr Marshall.
He did not have enough money to clear immigration, and an airport hotel called the police when he attempted to take a room. Malachy was identified as his contact after flying in from Indonesia, although he strenuously denied any connection with the drugs.
Tochi claimed he was carrying the package for a man named Mr Smith, who had befriended him at Sunday services at St Andrew's Church in Islamabad, Pakistan. He had become stranded in Pakistan while attempting to travel to Dubai, where he hoped to play soccer professionally. As a boy, he represented Nigeria in soccer tournaments, travelling to Senegal when he was 14 to play in a West African youth Championship.
According to Tochi, Mr Smith asked him to take a package of herbs to a sick friend in Singapore, saying he could then apply to play for Singapore soccer clubs. He agreed, and was given a ticket and $200 in cash.
'No direct evidence': none needed
Many sites on the web have quoted the trial judge's acknowledgement that there was no proof that Tochi knew he was carrying heroin:
There was no direct evidence that he knew the capsules contained diamorphine. There was nothing to suggest that Smith had told him they contained diamorphine, or that he had found that out on his own.The trial judge was clearly suspicious of Tochi's knowledge. Nevertheless, he found the defendant had "wilfully turned a blind eye on the contents of the capsules because he was tempted" by what police claimed was an offer of US$2000 in payment.
But the prosecution didn't have to prove Tochi knew; it was up to him to prove that he didn't know what was in the capsules. If he couldn't prove his ignorance of that fact -- a challenging philosophical notion in itself -- then the law would presume he knew, and therefore convict him of drug trafficking. Under section 18(2) of Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act:
Any person who is proved or presumed to have had a controlled drug in hispossession shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have known the nature of that drug.An Act of reversal
The Misuse of Drugs Act reverses many principles that are taken as central to a fair trial, including the burden of proof and the idea that a court should consider the facts of the case before deciding a penalty.
Amnesty International reports that the Act contains a series of presumptions that:
shift the burden of proof from the prosecution to the accused. This conflicts with the universally guaranteed right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Amnesty International is gravely concerned that such presumptions erode the right to a fair trial, increasing the risk that an innocent person may be executed...The Act applies a mandatory death penalty for a wide range of drug offences, including for importing more than 15 grams of diamorphine or pure heroin.
Possession of relatively small amounts of drugs -- by the standards of many countries -- is classed as "trafficking" in that drug. Trafficking in that drug carries a mandatory death penalty. Courts have no power to consider the individual circumstances of the case.
Death for drugs
Famously described as "Disneyland with the death penalty" by novelist William Gibson, Singapore brings together a record of social order and strict political control, and an unwavering use of the death penalty, particularly for drug-related offences.
No surprises then that Tochi was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death in December 2005. His appeal was rejected in March 2006, with the judge pausing only to note that the accused had to prove he didn't know what was in the bag:
Under s 18(2) of the Act, the first appellant was presumed to know the nature of the drugs in his possession. The burden thus shifted to him to persuade the court on a balance of probabilities that he did not know that he was carrying drugs or that what he was carrying were drugs.The appeal court judge acknowledged Tochi's claim that he didn’t know, but agreed that he hadn't proven his ignorance.
Seven months before Tochi's execution, his brother Uzonna told a reporter from IPS News he had not told their parents that their son, who once supported the family, was now on death row.
"My poor parents will die if they hear that a child who has worked so hard to sustain them is facing a death sentence," he said.
Tochi was hanged in the face of widespread international protest: legal efforts and a presidential appeal in Nigeria, urgent global appeals from Amnesty International activists, intervention from a United Nations human rights expert, and discreet but unequivocal opposition from a small group of human rights activists within Singapore itself.
Reflecting the colonial origins of the country's modern death penalty, Tochi was "hanged by the neck till he [was] dead", in the words of Singapore's Criminal Procedure Code. The same British legal phrase was taken with the empire to, among other countries, the United States, India, Pakistan, Brunei and Malaysia.
Mr Smith has not been found.
Friday, 26 January 2007
Singapore hangs two for drugs
Singapore this morning executed two Africans for alleged drug smuggling offences.
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, a 21-year-old professional footballer from Nigeria, and Okeke Nelson Malachy, a 35-year-old reportedly from South Africa, were hanged today after their appeals for presidential clemency were turned down.
The executions were confirmed in a statement issued by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
The statement, typical of the cold formality of official information about Singapore's death penalty system, notes: "Their sentences were carried out this morning at Changi Prison."
The CNB said Tochi had "unlawfully brought into Singapore 727.02g of high grade pure heroin worth about $1.5 million".
Both men were charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with Tochi convicted of importing a controlled drug into Singapore and Malachy with abetting the offence.
The Misuse of Drugs Act specifies a mandatory death penalty for importing more than 15 grams of diamorphine or pure heroin.
Under Singapore's secretive death penalty system, execution dates are not normally announced. Tochi's execution date was made public by his lawyers, but it was not known Malachy was set to be executed on the same day.
Singapore human rights activists and Amnesty International this week condemned plans to execute Tochi, particularly since the trial judge accepted there was "no direct evidence that he knew the capsules contained diamorphine".
According to Amnesty International, Singapore is believed to have the highest per capita execution rate in the world. With a population of just over four million, it has executed more than 420 people since 1991, "the majority for drug trafficking".
'Violation of international standards'
A United Nations (UN) human rights expert yesterday made a last-ditch appeal to the Singapore government not to executeTochi, saying it would violate international legal standards.
Philip Alston, the UN's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said Singapore appeared to have reversed the burden of proof, requiring the accused to prove they did not know they were carrying drugs.
"It is a fundamental human right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty," he said.
"The standard accepted by the international community is that capital punishment may be imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts."
Professor Alston said these rights were recognised in international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty.
He said the execution of Tochi would violate international legal standards relating to the imposition of the death penalty, and there were similar "grave issues" at stake in Malachy's case.
"One of the tasks given to me by the UN Human Rights Council is to monitor states' respect for those safeguards in order to protect the human rights of those facing the death penalty," Professor Alston said.
"In the case of Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, the Government of Singapore has failed to ensure respect for the relevant legal safeguards. Under the circumstances, the execution should not proceed."
He also said Singapore's mandatory death penalty law was inconsistent with international human rights standards.
"Singapore's decision to make the death penalty mandatory keeps judges from considering all of the factors relevant to determining whether a death sentence would be permissible in a capital case," he said.
Related stories:
Tochi: Nigerian appeals ignored -- 25 January, 2007
Singapore activists: Rethink death penalty -- 23 January, 2007
Singapore to hang Tochi next week -- 18 January, 2007
Nigeria won't act to save man in Singapore -- 01 September, 2006
Singapore forum against death penalty -- 21 August , 2006
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, a 21-year-old professional footballer from Nigeria, and Okeke Nelson Malachy, a 35-year-old reportedly from South Africa, were hanged today after their appeals for presidential clemency were turned down.
The executions were confirmed in a statement issued by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
The statement, typical of the cold formality of official information about Singapore's death penalty system, notes: "Their sentences were carried out this morning at Changi Prison."
The CNB said Tochi had "unlawfully brought into Singapore 727.02g of high grade pure heroin worth about $1.5 million".
Both men were charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with Tochi convicted of importing a controlled drug into Singapore and Malachy with abetting the offence.
The Misuse of Drugs Act specifies a mandatory death penalty for importing more than 15 grams of diamorphine or pure heroin.
Under Singapore's secretive death penalty system, execution dates are not normally announced. Tochi's execution date was made public by his lawyers, but it was not known Malachy was set to be executed on the same day.
Singapore human rights activists and Amnesty International this week condemned plans to execute Tochi, particularly since the trial judge accepted there was "no direct evidence that he knew the capsules contained diamorphine".
According to Amnesty International, Singapore is believed to have the highest per capita execution rate in the world. With a population of just over four million, it has executed more than 420 people since 1991, "the majority for drug trafficking".
'Violation of international standards'
A United Nations (UN) human rights expert yesterday made a last-ditch appeal to the Singapore government not to executeTochi, saying it would violate international legal standards.
Philip Alston, the UN's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said Singapore appeared to have reversed the burden of proof, requiring the accused to prove they did not know they were carrying drugs.
"It is a fundamental human right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty," he said.
"The standard accepted by the international community is that capital punishment may be imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts."
Professor Alston said these rights were recognised in international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty.
He said the execution of Tochi would violate international legal standards relating to the imposition of the death penalty, and there were similar "grave issues" at stake in Malachy's case.
"One of the tasks given to me by the UN Human Rights Council is to monitor states' respect for those safeguards in order to protect the human rights of those facing the death penalty," Professor Alston said.
"In the case of Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, the Government of Singapore has failed to ensure respect for the relevant legal safeguards. Under the circumstances, the execution should not proceed."
He also said Singapore's mandatory death penalty law was inconsistent with international human rights standards.
"Singapore's decision to make the death penalty mandatory keeps judges from considering all of the factors relevant to determining whether a death sentence would be permissible in a capital case," he said.
Related stories:
Tochi: Nigerian appeals ignored -- 25 January, 2007
Singapore activists: Rethink death penalty -- 23 January, 2007
Singapore to hang Tochi next week -- 18 January, 2007
Nigeria won't act to save man in Singapore -- 01 September, 2006
Singapore forum against death penalty -- 21 August , 2006
Thursday, 25 January 2007
Tochi: Nigerian appeals ignored
The Singapore Government has brushed aside appeals from Nigeria's President and Parliament to spare a Nigerian footballer from execution.
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, 21, is set to be hanged in Changi jail at dawn on 26 January for trafficking heroin into Singapore in 2004.
Appeals from Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo and House of Representatives have failed to move the Singapore government from its plans to carry out the execution.
'Strong signals' not rehabilitation
Yesterday African newspaper This Day Online reported Singapore's prisons department had defended the death penalty for drug offences.
The Singapore Prisons Department, whose website features the slogan "REHAB * RENEW * RESTART", said in a statement: "The death penalty is imposed for the most serious of crimes, which sends a strong signal to would-be offenders to deter them from committing such crimes as drug trafficking, murder and use of firearms.
"We weigh the right to life of the convicted against the rights of victims and the right of the community to live and work in peace and security," the statement said.
'Earnest' appeals
This Day Online reported on 23 January that President Olusegun Obasanjo had asked Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to personally intervene in the case.
The report said the President wrote to Prime Minister Loong appealing for presidential clemency to save Tochi, citing the "excellent relationship" that existed between the two countries.
"It is for the reason of obtaining your kind pardon and clemency for the convicted Nigerian that I write this letter to you, conscious of the excellent relations that exist between our two countries, to earnestly urge you to reconsider the conviction of the Singaporean Court of Appeal and to commute the death sentence to imprisonment," the President wrote in his letter.
The same day, a House of Representatives plenary held to discuss the case urged President Obasanjo to do everything within his power to intervene in the case.
A motion sponsored by Hon. Halims Agoda urged members of the House and the government to act on the case.
Agoda said: "We as a people and parliament must defend the right of our people in and outside the country. If South African president could rise to the aid of its citizen [Okele Nelson Malachy] who was also convicted with Tochi and his sentence was deferred, the Nigerian government should also do what is right for its citizen."
After the plenary discussion, House Speaker Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari said he would personally convey the message from the House to the President.
In August 2006, Nigeria's parliament rejected a call from the House Committee on Human Rights for it to intervene in the case.
Related stories:
Singapore activists: Rethink death penalty -- 23 January, 2007
Singapore to hang Tochi next week -- 18 January, 2007
Nigeria won't act to save man in Singapore -- 01 September, 2006
Singapore forum against death penalty -- 21 August , 2006
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, 21, is set to be hanged in Changi jail at dawn on 26 January for trafficking heroin into Singapore in 2004.
Appeals from Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo and House of Representatives have failed to move the Singapore government from its plans to carry out the execution.
'Strong signals' not rehabilitation
Yesterday African newspaper This Day Online reported Singapore's prisons department had defended the death penalty for drug offences.
The Singapore Prisons Department, whose website features the slogan "REHAB * RENEW * RESTART", said in a statement: "The death penalty is imposed for the most serious of crimes, which sends a strong signal to would-be offenders to deter them from committing such crimes as drug trafficking, murder and use of firearms.
"We weigh the right to life of the convicted against the rights of victims and the right of the community to live and work in peace and security," the statement said.
'Earnest' appeals
This Day Online reported on 23 January that President Olusegun Obasanjo had asked Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to personally intervene in the case.
The report said the President wrote to Prime Minister Loong appealing for presidential clemency to save Tochi, citing the "excellent relationship" that existed between the two countries.
"It is for the reason of obtaining your kind pardon and clemency for the convicted Nigerian that I write this letter to you, conscious of the excellent relations that exist between our two countries, to earnestly urge you to reconsider the conviction of the Singaporean Court of Appeal and to commute the death sentence to imprisonment," the President wrote in his letter.
The same day, a House of Representatives plenary held to discuss the case urged President Obasanjo to do everything within his power to intervene in the case.
A motion sponsored by Hon. Halims Agoda urged members of the House and the government to act on the case.
Agoda said: "We as a people and parliament must defend the right of our people in and outside the country. If South African president could rise to the aid of its citizen [Okele Nelson Malachy] who was also convicted with Tochi and his sentence was deferred, the Nigerian government should also do what is right for its citizen."
After the plenary discussion, House Speaker Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari said he would personally convey the message from the House to the President.
In August 2006, Nigeria's parliament rejected a call from the House Committee on Human Rights for it to intervene in the case.
Related stories:
Singapore activists: Rethink death penalty -- 23 January, 2007
Singapore to hang Tochi next week -- 18 January, 2007
Nigeria won't act to save man in Singapore -- 01 September, 2006
Singapore forum against death penalty -- 21 August , 2006
Tuesday, 23 January 2007
Singapore activists: Rethink death penalty
Activists in Singapore have condemned this Friday's planned execution of Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, and called for a rethink on the country's use of the death penalty.
Tochi is due to hang at dawn for allegedly trafficking heroin into Singapore on 27 November 2004. He claimed he thought he was carrying a package of herbal medicine for a 'Mr Smith'.
The Singapore Anti Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) said the impending execution was "particularly disturbing", since the trial judge had acknowledged there were reasonable doubts as to whether Tochi knew he was carrying drugs.
The SADPC said trial judge Mr Kan Ting Chiu made the following finding: "There was no direct evidence that he knew the capsules contained diamorphine. There was nothing to suggest that Smith had told him they contained diamorphine, or that he had found that out of his own." (Paragraph 42 of the judgment [2005] SGHC 233).
The campaign group pointed to a seeming contradiction in Singapore between the death penalty and a prison system increasingly focused on rehabilition.
"At a time when the Singapore prison system has a renewed emphasis upon rehabilitation, and when the Yellow Ribbon campaign asks us to give even seasoned criminals a second chance, can we not find it in our hearts to extend this to a person who--if he indeed is guilty--made a desperate mistake at the age of 19?" an SADPC statement said.
They also highlighted the country's rigid mandatory death penalty for drug offences.
"The death sentence for drug trafficking in Singapore continues to be "mandatory", which means that judges are not able to take into significance and mitigating circumstances (such as the age and general naivity of the accused) when passing their verdict.
"And at a time when even the hangings of persons responsible for mass killings and genocide, such as Saddam Hussein and his cronies are being regarded with disgust by the world at large; are seen as reproducing the criminal cruelty of the original perpetrators, is it not time that we in Singapore reconsider our stance on the repeated, mandatory hanging of small-fry drug mules?" SADPC said.
The SADPC describes itself as "a concerned group of Singaporeans from diverse backgrounds who have come together over the issue of the Death Penalty". It organises debates and other events "to foster a public debate on the practice of capital punishment in Singapore and throughout the world".
In August 2006, the group organised a forum to discuss the case of Tochi and his co-accused Okele Nelson Malachy, who had also received a death sentence.
Related stories:
Singapore to hang Tochi next week -- 18 January, 2007
Nigeria won't act to save man in Singapore -- 01 September, 2006
Singapore forum against death penalty -- 21 August , 2006
Tochi is due to hang at dawn for allegedly trafficking heroin into Singapore on 27 November 2004. He claimed he thought he was carrying a package of herbal medicine for a 'Mr Smith'.
The Singapore Anti Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) said the impending execution was "particularly disturbing", since the trial judge had acknowledged there were reasonable doubts as to whether Tochi knew he was carrying drugs.
The SADPC said trial judge Mr Kan Ting Chiu made the following finding: "There was no direct evidence that he knew the capsules contained diamorphine. There was nothing to suggest that Smith had told him they contained diamorphine, or that he had found that out of his own." (Paragraph 42 of the judgment [2005] SGHC 233).
The campaign group pointed to a seeming contradiction in Singapore between the death penalty and a prison system increasingly focused on rehabilition.
"At a time when the Singapore prison system has a renewed emphasis upon rehabilitation, and when the Yellow Ribbon campaign asks us to give even seasoned criminals a second chance, can we not find it in our hearts to extend this to a person who--if he indeed is guilty--made a desperate mistake at the age of 19?" an SADPC statement said.
They also highlighted the country's rigid mandatory death penalty for drug offences.
"The death sentence for drug trafficking in Singapore continues to be "mandatory", which means that judges are not able to take into significance and mitigating circumstances (such as the age and general naivity of the accused) when passing their verdict.
"And at a time when even the hangings of persons responsible for mass killings and genocide, such as Saddam Hussein and his cronies are being regarded with disgust by the world at large; are seen as reproducing the criminal cruelty of the original perpetrators, is it not time that we in Singapore reconsider our stance on the repeated, mandatory hanging of small-fry drug mules?" SADPC said.
The SADPC describes itself as "a concerned group of Singaporeans from diverse backgrounds who have come together over the issue of the Death Penalty". It organises debates and other events "to foster a public debate on the practice of capital punishment in Singapore and throughout the world".
In August 2006, the group organised a forum to discuss the case of Tochi and his co-accused Okele Nelson Malachy, who had also received a death sentence.
Related stories:
Singapore to hang Tochi next week -- 18 January, 2007
Nigeria won't act to save man in Singapore -- 01 September, 2006
Singapore forum against death penalty -- 21 August , 2006
Thursday, 18 January 2007
Singapore to hang Tochi next week
Singapore's Ministry of Home affairs has informed lawyers for a 19 year-old Nigerian that he would be executed on Friday 26 January.
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi was arrested at Changi Airport on 27 November 2004 allegedly in possession of heroin. He was sentenced to death along with Okele Nelson Malachy, 33, whose nationality cannot be confirmed.
They were convicted under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act, which specifies a mandatory death sentence for anyone found guilty of trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin.
Action in Nigeria
On 15 December 2006, Nigeria's largest human rights organisation, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), announced it would launch legal action to compel the Nigerian Government to intervene in the case.
A CLO statement said it would take action in the federal high court in an attempt to force the government to file a complaint against Singapore in the International Court of Justice. In August, the Nigerian Parliament voted down a motion calling on the government to appeal for clemency in the case.
CLO said the trial judge found Tochi innocent on the facts of the case, and yet "went on to find Tochi guilty, in contradiction to his own findings of fact".
It said there was also "a clear case of racial discrimination against African nationals", with lawyers from the organisation refused access to the prisoner, despite acting under instructions from his family.
The statement said the "Singaporean authority could not have done this to an American or a German national".
Related stories:
Nigeria won't act to save man in Singapore -- 01 September, 2006
Singapore forum against death penalty -- 21 August , 2006
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi was arrested at Changi Airport on 27 November 2004 allegedly in possession of heroin. He was sentenced to death along with Okele Nelson Malachy, 33, whose nationality cannot be confirmed.
They were convicted under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act, which specifies a mandatory death sentence for anyone found guilty of trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin.
Action in Nigeria
On 15 December 2006, Nigeria's largest human rights organisation, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), announced it would launch legal action to compel the Nigerian Government to intervene in the case.
A CLO statement said it would take action in the federal high court in an attempt to force the government to file a complaint against Singapore in the International Court of Justice. In August, the Nigerian Parliament voted down a motion calling on the government to appeal for clemency in the case.
CLO said the trial judge found Tochi innocent on the facts of the case, and yet "went on to find Tochi guilty, in contradiction to his own findings of fact".
It said there was also "a clear case of racial discrimination against African nationals", with lawyers from the organisation refused access to the prisoner, despite acting under instructions from his family.
The statement said the "Singaporean authority could not have done this to an American or a German national".
Related stories:
Nigeria won't act to save man in Singapore -- 01 September, 2006
Singapore forum against death penalty -- 21 August , 2006
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