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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 | Planter who killed man who tried to steal bananas from his orchard escapes death penalty

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KUALA TERENGGANU (Bernama): A banana planter on Wednesday (Sept 30), escaped the death penalty after the High Court here amended his murder charge to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed sentenced Ismail Mohd Don, 40, to 14 years in prison from the date of his arrest on Dec 3, 2018, after he was found guilty of causing the death of a man who tried to steal bananas from his orchard.

Wahab meted out the punishment to Ismail under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of 30 years and a fine on conviction.

Previously, Ismail was charged with the murder of Salahuddin Ismail, 46, outside a house in Kampung Tebakang Payong, Marang, at 3.15pm, on Dec 3, 2018.

The charge was framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder which carries a mandatory death sentence, if convicted.

During the judgment, Wahab said that based on the testimony of witnesses and the evidence presented, the victim was found to have provoked Ismail to lose his temper. However, Ismail did not show any intent to kill the victim.

He added that the accused hit the victim only once with an iron rod and a bunch of bananas because he was too angry, that he did not use a sharp weapon despite having one at that time and that the victim was found alive while he was with the accused.

The court also took into account the accused’s defence that he was upset that his source of income, for which he had been waiting almost nine months, had been stolen by the victim.

During the trial, the prosecution called 15 witnesses while the defence presented two witnesses.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Amer Abu Bakar Abdullah and Ahmad Fadhli Mahmud prosecuted while the accused was represented by lawyers Mohd Hayyatuddin Muhamad and Che Amir Che Musa.

Source: thestar.com.my, Staff, September 30, 2020


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia
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