International World 39
www. mmtimes. com
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan’ s new govt ends execution moratorium
PAKISTAN’ S new government has ended a moratorium on executions, an official said on July 4 as Amnesty International raised concerns about the“ shocking and retrograde step”.
Under the previous government led by the Pakistan People’ s Party( PPP), no one except a soldier convicted by court martial had been put to death since 2008.
But the PPP suffered a crushing defeat in historic elections on May 11, which swept to power the centreright Pakistan Muslim League-N( PML-N) under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
A presidential order imposing a moratorium on the death penalty, issued in 2008, expired on June 30.
In Pakistan all executions must be approved by the president. The PPP’ s Asif Ali Zardari is due to step down in August and the parliament controlled by the PML-N will elect a new head of state.
“ The new government has decided to deal with all cases of execution on merit,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Umer Hameed.
“ The government has given clear instructions to see all such cases on a caseby-case basis and there will be no general amnesty for the convicts waiting for execution,” he said.
London-based rights group Amnesty International on July 3 called for an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
“ Any government green light to resume executions in Pakistan would be a shocking and retrograde step, putting thousands of people’ s lives at risk,” said Polly Truscott, Amnesty’ s deputy Asia Pacific director.
Amnesty estimates that Pakistan has more than 8000 prisoners on death row, most of whom have exhausted the appeals process and could now be facing execution.
“ The sheer number of people at risk makes the new government policy of turning back to the death penalty even more horrendous,” said Mss Truscott.
The Interior Ministry spokesman said up to 450 convicts are awaiting execution and their cases will be examined. The government will show sympathy towards convicts who fall into a“ special category” such as women and the elderly, he said.
Pakistan’ s crowded prisons lack basic facilities for inmates and the country normally deals harshly with prisoners.
It also suffers daily Islamist militant attacks blamed on extremists linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as chronic crime in its largest cities.
“ Resuming executions would do nothing to tackle crime or militancy, but instead just perpetuate a cycle of violence,” said Ms Truscott.
– AFP
A girl walks past a billboard promoting Russian top opposition figure Alexei Navalny’ programme for the upcoming mayoral election. Photo: AFP
MOSCOW
Russia to charge Yaroslav mayor with extortion
WILL ENGLUND
RUSSIA’ S highly political law-enforcement authorities took aim on July 3 at their biggest target yet in a campaign to destroy the opposition, launching an attack on the country’ s most prominent independent officeholder- a man who had placed his faith in the ballot box.
The mayor of the city of Yaroslavl was taken from his car at 1:20am, and by first light, investigators were saying they planned to charge him with extortion.
By midday, they said they had found stacks of cash in his apartment. By afternoon, claiming that other suspects had agreed to plea bargains, they had labelled Mayor Yevgeny Urlashov the“ criminal mastermind” of a plot to shake down a road maintenance company.
“ This is about politics,” Mr Urlashov said at 5:45am as he was led out of a police van in front of reporters.
Yaroslavl is a venerable, sleepy city of just 600,000 on the upper Volga River, a four-hour train ride from Moscow, but Mr Urlashov’ s detention and the implausibly rapid development of his case jolted opposition organisers around the country. The mayor was the one nationally known independent politician who had tried to work inside the system and managed to beat Vladimir Putin’ s ruling United Russia Party in an election.
Mr Urlashov won his office in a landslide last year, and he has been the brightest hope of those who hoped to use the ballot box to strip influence from Mr Putin’ s“ vertical of power”.
“ The arrest of Urlashov shows once again that it is impossible to reform the system from within,” Ilya Yashin, an organiser of recent public protests, wrote on Twitter.“ Real reform requires the removal of Putin from power.”
The criminal charge pending against Mr Urlashov adds to a growing list of cases in which prosecutors answerable to Mr Putin have turned to the courts to silence the political opposition.
In Kirov on July 3, the judge hearing the trial of the anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny
‘ Urlashov will be on national television, which will be telling lies about this fabricated case and showing all those blockheads from the Investigative Committee trying to destroy his popularity.’
Alexei Navalny Russian blogger refused to let the defence present evidence. In Yekaterinburg, web journalist Aksana Panova pleaded guilty to tax avoidance but not guilty to extortion and theft. In Moscow, the trial of defendants accused of organising a riot at a 2012 protest is continuing.
In a tweet, Mr Navalny, who is also planning to run for mayor of Moscow in upcoming elections, said his chances in court are nonexistent.
Extra police flooded the streets of Yaroslavl during the day, but the Interior Ministry said it was only for a drill. Mr Urlashov’ s supporters gathered for a protest“ get together” – a“ rally” would have required a permit – on the evening of July 3.
Mr Urlashov’ s detention came only hours after he met with a delegation from the Council of Europe that is visiting Russia to inquire about civil society. One of the visitors is Andreas Gross, who wrote a scathing critique, released earlier this month, of the imprisonment and death of the whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky.
On July 2, Mr Urlashov had agreed to join forces with the Civic Platform Party organised by Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and to appear with Mr Prokhorov in Yaroslavl on July 7.
Mr Prokhorov said July 3 that having masked police agents take the mayor away in the middle of the night was a move designed to instill fear in Mr Urlashov and his constituents.
“ The seizure of the head of the city who was legitimately elected by the people is a blow at the civil rights and freedom of every citizen of Russia,” he said in a statement.
A month ago, Mr Urlashov said at a rally that he intends to run for governor of the Yaroslavl region next year, when gubernatorial elections are reinstated after a 10-year gap. The city dominates the region, and his popularity would make him a formidable candidate in a fair vote.
At that same rally, though, he warned that he expected efforts to undermine him, most likely through charges of corruption or drug possession.
The mayor insisted on July 3 that the accusations against him are groundless. He has consistently complained about the cost of the road contract and the poor work by the company that holds it. The firm has strong ties to the local United Russia organisation and signed the criminal complaint against him.
“ We do not give up and do not fear,” he told reporters in a phone call from the police station, as reported by the website Yarnovosti. com. His attorney said that, contrary to police reports, there had been no money in the mayor’ s apartment.
“ The case against Urlashov looks like a fabrication, was set up as a fabrication and is a fabrication- with 99 percent probability,” Mr Navalny wrote on his blog.
“ Urlashov will be on national television, which will be telling lies about this fabricated case and showing all those blockheads from the Investigative Committee trying to destroy his popularity.” – The Washington Post
WASHINGTON
International World 39
Can Mobiles Spark War?
FROM activists organising prodemocracy protests on Twitter to farmers checking crop prices on their Nokias, the positive impact that cell phones have had in the developing world has gotten plenty of press. But it turns out there’ s a dark side to wireless connectivity: It can kill you.
A new study by Jan Pierskalla of the German Institute of Global and Area Studies and Florian Hollenbach of Duke University looks at the relationship between mobile phones and political violence in Africa.
They found that from 2007 to 2009, areas with 2G network coverage were 50 percent more likely to have experienced incidents of armed conflict than those without. The clearest overlaps between
cell coverage and violence were observed in Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The authors think improved cell-phone coverage helps insurgent leaders overcome the“ collective-action problem”, when people are reluctant to join groups when there’ s a high level of personal risk. But better communication helps leaders recruit reluctant followers.
Still, as Mr Pierskalla points out, the relationship between cell-phone coverage and violence is“ specific to regions and countries that are prone to violence in the first place”. So unless you live in Mogadishu, it’ s a safe bet that the arrival of ever more powerful phone reception isn’ t going to lead to bloodshed. – Foreign Policy
TRADE MARK CAUTION
NOTICE is hereby given that PETCH NGARM COMPANY LIMITED a company organized under the laws of Thailand and having its principal office at 246 Sirinthorn Road, Bangplad, Bangkok 10700, Thailand is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademark:-
( Reg: No. IV / 2154 / 2013) in respect of:-“ Watches, watch chains”
Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademark or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.
U Kyi Win Associates for PETCH NGARM COMPANY LIMITED P. O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: 372416 Dated: 8 th July, 2013
TRADE MARK CAUTION
NOTICE is hereby given that Shiseido Company, Limited a company organized under the laws of Japan and having its principal office at 7-5-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademarks:-
SENKA
( Reg: No. IV / 1054 / 2013)
( Reg: No. IV / 1055 / 2013) SPEEDY PERFECT WHIP
( Reg: No. IV / 1056 / 2013)
The above three trademarks are in respect of:-“ Soaps, toiletries, fragrances, perfumeries, and cosmetics; sun care preparations; beauty care preparations; bath preparations; essential oils; skin care, hair care, body care, and make-up products” – Class: 3
Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademarks or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.
U Kyi Win Associates for Shiseido Company, Limited P. O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: 372416 Dated: 8 th July, 2013