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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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Malaysia won't interfere in Singapore death row case, envoy says

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S. Prabagaran
S Prabagaran
Malaysia will not interfere in other country's internal affairs, which includes a court case involving a Malaysian death row inmate in Singapore.

"We are aware that there is an effort to put pressure to bring a particular court case here to a higher profile," Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk Ilango Karuppannan told Bernama here.

It was reported that a Malaysian death row inmate S. Prabagaran, aged 30, was making a judicial review application to direct the government to start proceedings against Singapore in the International Court of Justice over his conviction for drug trafficking.

The Foreign Ministry and the Malaysian government were named as respondents in the application which was filed at the Malaysian High Court registry in January this year.

The inmate was sentenced to death in September 2014 and had reportedly exhausted all appeals in the republic.

Asked on how many Malaysians are on death row in Singapore, Ilango declined to reveal the numbers.

In another case on death row related to Malaysians, the Singapore apex court yesterday (Monday) had dismissed an appeal for the 2010 Kallang slashing case involving Michael Garing.

Following a trial, Michael, who was part of a gang of 4 from Sarawak that carried out 4 violent robberies 7 years ago, was sentenced to death.

A 4th suspect who was arrested in Malaysia last month, Donny Meluda, has been charged with murder with his case still before the court, and if convicted, he will also face the death penalty.

Source: themalaymailonline.com, February 28, 2017

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