Gambia To Start Executing Criminals And Terrorists

President Jammeh

The Government of the Gambia will from mid-next month start executing terrorists and anyone who is given a death sentence by the country's judiciary.

This was revealed Saturday by the country's president, Yahya Jammeh, during his annual televised Eid-ul Fitr message to the nation.

Mr Jammeh said the executions are necessary to curb crimes and terrorism looming as a threat to the country's stability.

"All punishment prescribed by the law will be maintained in the country to ensure that criminals get what they deserve, that is, those who killed are killed and those who deserve to be put away from the society are put away from the society in accordance with the law," he said.

"There is no way that my government would allow 99 % of the population to be held to ransom by criminals."

Mr Jammeh said he would be boosting and equipping the country's security forces and the judiciary system to ensure that all serious crimes face the full force of law.

He added that the main objective of his government is to create a peaceful, happy and crime free nation, where the standard of living will be excellent for all citizens.

This is not the 1st time Mr Jammeh has vowed to come down heavily on criminals and criminal activities in the country.

In April he told his ministers that he would never be fooled by any western country into repealing repressive Gambian laws such as the death penalty which he said were enacted into law by the Gambian parliament in the interest of Gambians.

Mr Jammeh whose government have been indicted over the years for lack of respect to the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law said the Gambia has a functioning democracy and his government will always act in accordance with laws made by Gambian lawmakers in the National Assembly.

"The laws of the Gambia will be passed by Gambians for the interest of Gambians and no one else, saying how the country enforced its laws or how the judiciary is carried out is nobody's business," he said.

"Today they would tell me the death penalty is inhumane and a degrading treatment but this is based on a judicial process. But what about somebody who sat in his home and decided that he doesn't like another person's face and takes that life off on his own and when this criminal is dealt according to the laws of this country to ensure our safety and every individual including that criminal, they say it is a violation of human rights. But we cannot be fooled."

Meanwhile, a JollofNews online opinion poll has found that a large percentage of readers are in support of the death penalty and do not want it to be abolished.

According to a month-long survey conducted by this online newspaper in which 2,238 readers took part at the time of filling this report, 2022 people representing 90.3 % say they strongly don't want the death penalty to be abolished in the country.

139 people representing 6.2 % say they strongly want the law to be abolished, while 50 people representing 2.2 % say they agree that it should be abolished.

21 people representing 0.9 % say they disagree while 6 people representing 0.3 say they are undecided whether the law should be abolished.

Source: Jollof News, August 19, 2012

Jammeh To Enforce Death Penalty In September!

In a lengthy rant while making a GRTS television appearance marking the Muslim feast Eid Saturday, Gambia's dictator Yaya Jammeh said his Government will enforce the death penalty in September. He said will start publicly executing murder and treason suspects. The statement was meant to intimidate would be coupists. The President said domestic crimes are becoming rampant in the Gambia and therefore he deems it necessary to set a drastic example so that perpetrators will pay a high price for their actions.

The country is faced with economic meltdown and lack of political stability. Jammeh blames the country's underdevelopment to crimes and other social vices, which he said must be stopped any means necessary.

Jammeh's 18 years rule is a failure to Gambians. He has time and time lied to Gambians about bettering their lives only for the nation to find out that he is only to line his pocket with donor funds that are meant for the poor country.

Many are skeptical about Jammeh's claims of enforcing the death penalty. A political commentator said: "Here is a desperate man talking. He has nothing to offer to Gambians. He now resorts issuing threats. Let him start with himself. Jammeh has killed an unimaginable number of Gambians since coming to power. Jammeh is the one killing Gambians and non Gambians. The Gambia cannot be peaceful as long as Jammeh remains as a President."

"He is bent on distracting Gambians by making such cheap claims. There is no doubt Amnesty and other rights groups will be occupied denouncing Jammeh's foolery. He wants to get attention. That's it."

Source: Freedom Newspaper, August 19, 2012

USA | What happens in the final weeks before an execution? These reporters were inside the room.

The journalists behind ‘The Last 12 Weeks’ earned extraordinary access to a death penalty defense team—and faced difficult ethical choices Many defense lawyers are naturally cagey. They work in a pressure cooker, protecting their clients’ rights while fighting for the best possible outcome. And arguably, the stakes can’t get any higher than trying to save a client’s life. So no, defense lawyers don’t usually invite journalists into strategy meetings. But that’s what happened when Marshall Project reporter Maurice Chammah and Serial Productions senior producer Alvin Melathe spent the final few months before a Texas execution embedded with a capital defense team.

Florida | Former warden recalls botched electrocution that left him battling PTSD for 13 years and turned him into an abolitionist

Ron McAndrew anticipated it would be just another standard execution. He had been assigned to carry out the death of Cuban refugee Pedro Medina via electric chair within the confines of Florida State Prison. Fifteen years had passed since Medina's conviction for the murder of 52-year-old Dorothy James, and McAndrew's responsibility was to oversee the administration of lethal electrical currents to his brain. Having already supervised two previous executions using the identical procedure and raised in a community that strongly supported capital punishment, he expected a swift conclusion with justice delivered.

North Korea | 'I was only 9': North Korean defector recalls childhood memory of public execution

Kim Eun-joo was 9 years old when her teacher stopped their lesson and told the class to follow her outside. The children were marched to a public execution ground in North Korea. “I would cry even when our family dog died,” Kim said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. “But the first time I watched humans killing a human, I had no words for what I was feeling. It was the most brutal scene I have ever seen, in any movie or in real life.” The memory has stayed with her ever since. Now a human rights advocate after defecting from North Korea, Kim recently brought that childhood scene to the 9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Paris, where North Korea’s use of public executions and capital punishment was officially placed on the agenda for the first time.

19 July 1943 | Auschwitz's Largest Public Hanging: 12 Polish Prisoners Executed in Escape Reprisal

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Former Florida cop to be executed on same day as 80-year-old Pasco man

In an unprecedented move in the modern history of capital punishment, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday cleared the way for 2 executions to occur on the same day. DeSantis reset the execution of James Duckett, whose execution earlier this year was stayed amid efforts to secure DNA testing and analysis of evidence in his case. Duckett’s execution was reset for July 28. That is the same day previously set for the execution of Dominick Occhicone. Court records indicate that Duckett’s execution is scheduled for noon. Occhicone’s is set to follow at 6 p.m.

Idaho | Death row prisoners sue over state's new firing squad

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Two Executions In Six Hours: Florida Set For Historical Double Execution Tuesday

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Japan: Capital punishment for a minor

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Florida executes Dennis Sochor

Man, 74, becomes oldest inmate executed in Florida in state’s 10th lethal injection this year Florida put to death one of its oldest prisoners in its history on Tuesday, a 74-year-old convicted murderer who was 1 of 3 older inmates scheduled for execution within the span of a month in the nation’s busiest death penalty state. Dennis Sochor was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. following a 3-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, the office of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said. He was convicted of killing a woman on Jan. 1, 1982, just hours after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve party.

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