Death Penalty News

(Bloomberg) -- Swedish police have given a permit to a man planning to burn a Koran near the main mosque in central Stockholm on Wednesday afternoon, in what could be the first such display since a similar event led to a breakdown in negotiations with Turkey about the Nordic country’s NATO membership. The permit was granted to a man who has won court appeals after his previous applications for permission to burn the Koran outside of Iraq’s embassy in the Swedish capital were denied by police, broadcaster TV4 reported. If the event takes place as scheduled outside the main mosque on the Sodermalm island in the city center, it would be the first public act of its kind in Sweden since a Danish-Swedish far-right extremist caused an uproar in Turkey and other Muslim countries by burning a translated copy of the Koran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in January. 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would approve possibly reinstating the death penalty if parliament were to send a bill on the matter to him, broadcaster NTV cited him as saying on Friday. Erdogan’s justice minister said at the weekend Turkey would consider turning back the 2004 abolishment of capital punishment after the president earlier raised the issue in connection with the cause of wildfires.  His nationalist ally Devlet Bahceli has backed the idea and said the penalty should extend to terrorism, rape, and the murder of women. “If necessary, this should be brought back on the agenda and made into a debate. We should see what comes of this debate,” Erdogan was cited as saying. “I said it before, if parliament makes such a decision as a result of our justice ministry’s work, I will approve this decision,” he added. Source:  nationalpost.com, Staff, June 29, 2022 🚩 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submi...

Turkey is prosecuting 18 students and one academic for their participation in a Pride event at a local university last year. If convicted, they face up to three years in prison. The trials are set for Thursday. Pride and all other LGBTQ+ events have been banned in Turkey since 2014, but a court lifted the ban and allowed last year's event to take place. Still, police ignored the ruling and responded violently to those in attendance.  “In the summer of 2019, students and others peacefully participating in a celebration of love and solidarity were met with police pepper spray, plastic bullets and tear gas,” Nils Muižnieks, Europe director for Amnesty International, said in a statement. “Nineteen of them have also been dragged through the courts on baseless criminal charges and face absurd jail sentences.” The 19 individuals have been charged with participating in an unlawful assembly and failing to disperse when ordered to do so. The event at Middle Eastern Technical University in An...

He said criticizing a religious leader's anti-gay statements is "an attack on the state." The president of Turkey said that a prominent cleric was “absolutely right” to say that homosexuality “brings illnesses.” This past Friday, the head of the Turkish government’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Ali Erbas used a Ramadan address to denounce homosexuality, which he said “brings illnesses and corrupts generations.” RELATED |  Turkey uses tear gas to break up gay pride gathering While he did not specifically mention the current global pandemic, Erbas said that homosexuality “causes” HIV, which is not true. “Come and let’s fight together to protect people from such evil,” he said. His comments drew criticism from the Ankara Bar Association, which said that they “came from ages ago” and would encourage hate crimes. They also accused the Diyanet of ignoring child abuse in religious institutions. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, yesterd...

Turkey installed its flag instead of the mural of the leader of the “Kurdistan Workers’ Party” (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, which was destroyed by Turkish drones in Afrin in the countryside of Aleppo. On 9 April, Volkan Yılmaz, Silivri district mayor, published through his Twitter account, pictures showing the image of the Turkish flag at the southern slope of Darmaq Mountain located in the northern countryside of Afrin. Yılmaz said that a number of Turkish soldiers asked him to help provide the needed paint for painting the Turkish flag over the of Öcalan, which was later delivered to them by a man in the Turkish state of Gaziantep. He added that the process lasted 45 days, expressing his hope that the Turkish flag will remain in place forever, saying that “a flag raised once will never fall again.” Meanwhile, Turkish websites reported that the area covered by the flag is about 600 square meters (m²). In early February 2018, Turkish drones targeted Öcalan’s mural, st...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has once again brought up the issue of restoring the death penalty, vowing to approve such legislation if parliament passes it, after the murder of a woman by her ex-husband last week sparked nationwide outrage. “Everything is expected from the state. They insist on the death penalty and I, as president, say that I would approve the death sentence if parliament passes it. Today, I have the same stance,” Erdoğan told private broadcaster CNN Türk on Aug. 28. The president’s remarks came about a week after Emine Bulut was brutally murdered by her ex-husband, who slit her throat in a café before the eyes of her 10-year-old daughter. The video of the attack was published online, stirring nationwide outrage.  Video footage showed Bulut’s daughter screaming in tears, saying “Mum, don’t die.” Bulut was heard responding, “I don’t want to die.” A trial of Bulut’s murder case will take place on Oct. 9 and 60 lawyers will follow the case. ...

GENEVA/RIYADH – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other senior officials should be investigated over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi given credible evidence against them, a UN rights investigator said on Wednesday. Khashoggi’s death stirred widespread disgust and hurt the image of the prince, previously admired in the West for pushing to end the kingdom’s oil dependence and easing social restrictions including by allowing women to drive. After a six-month investigation, the 100-page report by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Callamard, accused Saudi Arabia of a “deliberate, premeditated execution”. “There is sufficient credible evidence regarding the responsibility of the crown prince demanding further investigation,” Callamard said. In Riyadh, a minister rejected the report as having nothing new and containing “baseless allegations.” After the killing, some Western executives pulled out of an investment forum in Riya...

After June 8, 2014, when General Abdel Fattah Al Sisi came to power in Egypt, displacing President Morsi (who was elected by popular vote), a total of 42 people were executed in Egypt. Turkey strongly condemns the practice of capital punishment, while European countries continue not to express any concrete position on the issue, with the exception of the individual statements of a few Western leaders. These statements turned out to be insufficient to stop el-Sisi’s government from resorting to capital punishment. Last week, another 6 young people were sentenced to death. 50 prisoners are currently awaiting the death penalty in Egypt. According to Egyptian law, only the President has the authority to sign a decree to execute defendants whose guilt has been proven, he is also the only one who can grant amnesty or reduce the severity of punishment. The leaders of European countries, for the most part, turn a blind eye to the executions in Egypt, even meeting with e-Sisi at vari...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday said he is ready to sign off on restoring the death penalty in the country, should the country’s parliament pass it, independent news site Diken reported. “We made a mistake, we abolished the death penalty,” Erdoğan said during a campaign rally for his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the northern province of Zonguldak ahead of the March 31 local elections. “I have always said it and I will say it again. If our parliament decides on this matter, I will approve it,” the Turkish president added.  Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004,one year after Erdoğan came into power as prime minister, though no executions have taken place since 1984. The Turkish president has repeatedly said that he would approve, “without hesitation” the death penalty, if parliament voted to restore it — a move that would effectively end the country’s decades-long bid to join the EU. Erdoğan on Tuesday also urged New Zea...

Reinstatement of capital punishment could spell the death of Turkey's application to join the European Union Turkish political leaders have agreed to restore the death penalty in the country for "terrorists" and killers of women and children, a move that - if implemented - would automatically put an end to Turkey's European Union accession bid. According to a report in the Cumhuriyet newspaper on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and ally Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), discussed the restoration of the death penalty at the end of July and came to agreement. The news comes as Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the reactivation of the Reform Action Group, the committee for pushing forward on reforms required for EU accession. Speaking on Wednesday at a press conference in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Cavusoglu said that putting Turkey back on the path to EU membership would be a focus...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the leader of his far-right junior coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli, have agreed to a proposal that could see the death penalty restored in Turkey, Cumhuriyet newspaper said on Tuesday. The 2 leaders want to see the death penalty restored for terrorism offences and the murder of women and children, having discussed the issue at a meeting held at the end of July, the newspaper said. An amnesty for other crimes is also on the agenda, Cumhuriyet said.  Bahceli has long advocated such an idea and his Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) recently produced draft legislation relating to the issue. Both the reinstatement of the death penalty and the proposed amnesty would require amending Turkey's constitution.  This requires support from at least 360 of parliament's 600 members.  The MHP and Erdogan's Justice and Development Party together won around 20 seats less than this in June's parliamentary elections. ...