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Japan | Hakamada found religion, but then felt under attack by ‘the devil’

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Editor's note: This is the last in a four-part series on letters that Iwao Hakamada wrote while on death row. About a decade after cursing God, Iwao Hakamada was baptized Catholic at the Tokyo Detention House on Dec. 24, 1984. “Since I have been given the Christian name Paul, I am keenly feeling that I should be aware of the greatness of Paul.” (June 1985)

Pakistan: First inmate executed after death penalty moratorium completely ended

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March 12, 2015: A man convicted of a triple murder – Mohammad Siddique – was hanged at the District Jail in the city of Toba Tek Singh in the Pakistani province of Punjab. 

He became the first person executed after Pakistan completely ended a moratorium on the death penalty.

The death penalty had been partially re-introduced in December only for armed groups convicted of terrorism but Pakistani provinces were officially notified on 3 March about the death penalty being reintroduced for other crimes, including murder, rape and kidnap.

Siddique, who was a security guard of a cinema in Kamalia, shot dead three men – Nadeem Abbas, Muhammad Nadeem and Muhammad Rafi – for hooting during a dance performance in a 2004 stage show.

Judge Chaudhry Muhammed Yousuf Ojla of Faisalabad’s anti-terrorism court awarded Siddique death sentence six times on 16 May 2005. 

His subsequent mercy appeals were rejected by the Lahore High Court, Supreme Court and President of Pakistan. 

After the execution, the jail officials handed his body to his brother. 

Source: worldbulletin.net, SAMAA, Hands Off Cain, March 12, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
Location: Pakistan
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