Death Penalty News

Indonesia will soon have a new antiterrorism law to replace the current law, which is widely seen as weak, with deliberations on the antiterrorism bill expected to conclude this May or June. Speaking to The Jakarta Post in an interview on Thursday, Enny Nurbaningsih, head of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo administration's team to deliberate the antiterrorism bill, ensured the new legislation could provide security for Indonesians against deadly terror attacks such as those that had occurred recently in numerous places across Indonesia's most populated island of Java. Calls for the government and the House of Representatives to conclude the long-due deliberation on the bill have mounted after the attacks, which were allegedly conducted by an Islamic State (IS)-linked local jihadist organization known as Jamaah Ansharud Daulah (JAD). Enny, who is also head of the Law and Human Rights Ministry's National Law Development Agency (BPHN), said the governme...

Over 100 death sentences were handed out last year by courts in India which also expanded the scope of capital punishment by enacting new laws against hijacking, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said. In 'The Death Sentences and Executions 2017' report released here yesterday, Amnesty said it has recorded at least 993 executions in 23 countries in 2017, down by four per cent from 2016 (1,032 executions) and 39 per cent from 2015 (when the organisation recorded 1,634 executions, the highest number since 1989). At least 2,591 death sentences in 53 countries were recorded in 2017, a significant decrease from the record-high of 3,117 recorded in 2016. These figures do not include the thousands of death sentences and executions that Amnesty International believes were imposed and implemented in China, where figures remain classified as a state secret. In India, 109 death sentences were recorded in 2017. However, there were zero executions in the country...

The newly announced laws against terrorism and its funding include the death penalty. The new laws state that individuals defaming and publicly insulting the King and the Crown Prince will be sentenced to 5 to 10 years of imprisonment. Terrorists conducting terror attacks while carrying arms and explosives will face 10 to 30 years in prison. Terrorists establishing a terrorist cell or leading one will face 10 to 25 years in prison. Individuals receiving training from terrorist organizations on using arms, explosives, chemical substances, wired and wireless telecommunication devices and ways to smuggle them into the Kingdom will face 20 to 30 years in prison. Individuals who entice and coax another person to join a terrorist organization will face 8 to 25 years in prison. Individuals who set up a training camp or manage one or get training in such a camp will face 10 to 20 years in prison. The punishment will be harsher for individuals with a military back...

Starting Sep 1, it will be an offence to possess radioactive material or any nuclear explosive devices with the intention to cause harm, said the Ministry of Home Affairs in a news release on Wednesday. This comes under new laws that were passed in Parliament in May.  A person who commits a fatal act of terrorism using radioactive material or nuclear explosive devices will face the mandatory death penalty. With the legislation going into effect on Sep 1, the United Nations' International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT), which Singapore ratified, will also come into force on the same day. Under ICSANT, it will be a criminal offence to intentionally use radioactive material or nuclear explosive device to compel other people, governments or organisations to do or refrain from doing any act, said MHA. It will also be an offence to use such materials and devices to damage a nuclear facility, leading to the release of radioactiv...

A person who commits a fatal act of terrorism using radioactive material or nuclear explosive devices will face the mandatory death penalty under new laws passed in Parliament on Monday (May 8). The legislation paves the way for Singapore's ratification of the United Nations' (UN) International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT). Second Minister for Home Affairs Desmond Lee said that while the likelihood of a nuclear terrorist attack in Southeast Asia was remote, the rise of terror group Islamic State means Singapore cannot discount such a scenario and must treat the threat seriously. "Especially when many countries, including those in our region, use nuclear energy, or are actively exploring the use of nuclear energy," he added. "In February this year, Malaysian authorities arrested 8 people connected to the theft of Iridium-192, a radioactive material which can be used to make dirty bombs." It will now b...