Sanjoy Roy was given a life sentence by the Additional District and Sessions Court in Sealdah on Monday for the rape and killing of a junior physician at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The court determined that the offence did not qualify for the death penalty even though the prosecution had requested it and hence it …

On Friday, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court decided to keep the death sentence while underlining that its application should be restricted to “special and exceptional circumstances.” Although it upholds the death sentence, this decision adds tougher rules to guarantee that its application stays a last resort only in extreme, exceptional circumstances. The decision followed a lawsuit brought forth by the 37 prisoners …

Malaysia – Last Thursday, the Cabinet resolved to abolish the death sentence. This doesn’t mean the death sentence is gone; judges will soon be empowered to impose an alternate punishment. Anyway, a Facebook survey revealed some fascinating correlations. First, the death sentence is seen as “barbaric” and without redeeming features. Its finality and terminal status give closure that many don’t …

ASEAN – A mentally disabled Malaysian man will be hanged in Singapore next week after losing a last-ditch appeal, his sister said today, despite an international outcry about his case. Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, which has some of the world’s toughest drugs laws, and handed a death …

Indonesia – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has shared that it expects policemen, particularly judges, to reexamine capital punishment, given its slow annulment in certain nations. In view of this, Just some nations including Indonesia, actually take on capital punishment. This is what Chairman of Komnas HAM Ahmad Taufan Damanik expressed here. His assertion was made because of …

Philippines – The Commission on Human Rights invited Sens. Panfilo Lacson and Vicente Sotto III’s withdrawal of help for capital punishment, confident that the improvement will block proposition in the Senate to reestablish the death penalty in the Philippines. Lacson, who is looking for the administration in 2022, uncovered that he and his running-mate, Sotto, presently don’t uphold capital punishment …