KobbyJosvan

Tag: death sentence

  • Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi sentenced to death

    Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi sentenced to death

    According to Toomaj Salehi’s attorney, dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi has been sentenced to death for his participation in the widespread protests that swept through Iran in 2022.

    “An order for the execution of Toomaj Salehi has been issued,” Salehi’s lawyer Amir Raesian tweeted Wednesday.

    The rapper was reportedly tortured after being arrested, detained, and kept in solitary confinement.

    According to Iranian pro-reform sites Shargh and Entekhab, an Isfahan court on Tuesday overturned the ruling of the higher Supreme Court in Saleh’s case, adopting the original finding of “corruption on earth” and imposing the death penalty as the maximum penalty. This is an unprecedented move.

    Toomaj Salehi

    Salehi, 32, was briefly released from jail last year before police brutally arrested him again and sent him to a prison in Isfahan, according to witnesses at the time. Salehi has been vocally critical of the Iranian regime and outspoken against the government in rap lyrics and on social media.

    In a statement released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN experts said that he was detained again after he made an appearance in a video in which he claimed to have been subjected to abuse and held in solitary confinement for 252 days after his arrest in October 2022.

    Ye-One Rhie, a German member of parliament who supports Salehi politically in Europe, referred to Salehi’s death sentence as “absurd and inhumane.”

    “It is still completely unclear how this verdict came about,” she tweeted Wednesday. “It is unbelievable how irresponsibly and arbitrarily the Iranian regime treats defendants. It is impossible to recognize the rule of law in the chaos of the courts in charge.”

  • Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon to death in $12B fraud case

    Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon to death in $12B fraud case

    In the biggest financial fraud case in Vietnam’s history, real estate mogul Truong My Lan was found guilty on Thursday and given the death penalty by a Ho Chi Minh City court, according to state media Thanh Nien.

    The 67-year-old chair of the real estate firm Van Thinh Phat faces fraud charges totaling $12.5 billion, or almost 3% of the GDP of the nation in 2022. Between 2012 and 2022, she illegally controlled the Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank, using it to syphon off funds through thousands of fictitious companies and bribing government officials.

    During the ongoing and intensifying anti-corruption campaign in Vietnam since 2022, Lan’s arrest in October 2022 was one of the most well-known. Vietnamese politics at the highest levels have been impacted by the so-called Blazing Furnace campaign. Following his involvement in the campaign, former president Vo Van Thuong announced his resignation in March.

    However, the country has been shocked by the scope of Lan’s trial. VTP was among Vietnam’s richest real estate firms, with projects including luxury residential buildings, offices, hotels and shopping centers. The scope of the scam, according to analysts, begged the question of whether other companies or banks had made comparable mistakes, dimming Vietnam’s economic prospects and unsettling foreign investors at a time when Vietnam has been attempting to present itself as the perfect location for companies looking to shift their supply chains away from China.

    Vietnam’s real estate market has been particularly severely affected: According to state media, developers have been luring buyers with discounts and gifts of gold, and even though shophouse rent in Ho Chi Minh City has dropped by a third, many of the city’s center’s properties remain unoccupied. An estimated 1,300 real estate companies left the market in 2023.

    Vietnam’s leading politician, Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party, declared in November that the fight against corruption would “continue for the long term.”

  • Six coup conspirators sentenced to dead by hanging (Details)

    Six coup conspirators sentenced to dead by hanging (Details)

    The High Court found six people guilty of both committing high treason and conspiring to commit high treason, despite their alleged involvement in a coup.

    They received the sentence on January 24.

    Donya Kafui, also known as Ezor, a blacksmith, and Bright Alan Debrah Ofosu, a fleet manager, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit treason and treason, respectively, while Johannes Zikpi, a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Forces, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit high treason. The six individuals, including three soldiers, were found guilty of both counts.

    Benjamin Agordzo, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Colonel Samuel Kodzo Gameli, and Corporal Seidu Abubakar, a junior military officer, have also been found not guilty by the court.

    Background

    Dr. Frederick Yao Mac-Palm, the Chief Executive Officer of Citadel Hospital (now deceased) and ACP Dr. Agordzo together with eight others were charged variously on April 24, 2021, for conspiracy to high treason, abetment to high treason and high treason.

    Dr Mac Palm (A1- now Deceased), Donya Kafui alias Ezor (A2), Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu alias Bright Alan Yeboah (A3), Yohannes Zikpi (A4), Warrant Officer Class Two Esther Saan Dekuwine (A6), Cpl Seidu Abubakar (A7), Lance Corporal Ali Solomon (A8) and Cpl Sylvester Akanpewon (A9) were charged for conspiracy to commit high and high treason.

    Col. Samuel Kodzo Gameli (A5) and ACP Dr Benjamin Agordzo (A10) have each been charged for abetment.

    All 10 accused (then) pleaded not guilty and have been granted bail while standing trial.

    Dr. Mac-Palm (A1), who was testifying at the time, passed away, and the records were cleared of his testimony.

    The prosecution was led by the Godfred Yeboah Dame of the Attorney-General’s (AG) Department. The team also includes Ms. Lawrencia Adika, State Attorney, Mrs. Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, Director of Public Prosecution, Principal State Attorney (PSA) Hilda Craig, Winifred Sarpong, PSA, and Assistant State Attorney Akosua Agyapomaa Agyemang.

    The defence team included Ms. Rita Akukunti Ali, a Legal Aid attorney, who represented Bright Allan Debrah Fosu, the third accused, along with Osei Kwabena and Linda Elikem Mensah.

    Attorneys Anthony Lartey and Eric Kpongo are representing Col. Samuel Kodzo Gamelie, the fourth accused, while Victor Kodjogah Adawudu is representing Donya Kafui alias Ezor (A2), CPL Seidu Abubakar (A7), LAC Ali Solomon (A8), and CPL Sylvester Akanpewon (A9).

    As the attorneys for Esther Saan Dekuwine, the sixth accused, Lamptiig Apanga is accompanied by Matthias Yir-Eru. Attorneys Ephraim A. Vordoagu and Maud Opoku represented Dr. Mac-Palm until his death, and Attorney Kormivi Dzotsi, under the direction of Martin Kpebu, is the legal representative of ACP Benjamin Agordzo, the tenth accused. After their client’s death was formally reported to the Court, they were let go.

    Justice Stephen Oppong, Justice Hafisata Amaleboba, and Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe comprised the three-person panel of judges. Presently serving as additional High Court judges are all Justices of the Court of Appeal.

    The president of the panel is Justice Asare-Botwe.