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Solomons ‘disqualifies’ pro-Taiwan ex-provincial leader

Daniel Suidani, a former provincial leader of the Solomon Islands, has been “disqualified” by the pro-China government for his refusal to recognise Beijing over Taipei. The move follows Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s decision to switch the country’s diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019.

Suidani, who plans to challenge the decision in the High Court, has consistently refused to toe the line set by Sogavare, citing overwhelming support among people in Malaita for maintaining ties with Taiwan.

The move comes at a time of growing Chinese influence in the Solomons and the wider Pacific.

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — The pro-China Solomon Islands government has reportedly “disqualified” a former provincial leader because of his defiant refusal to recognise Beijing over Taipei.

The sanction against Daniel Suidani — a local assembly member and ex-premier of the largest island Malaita — comes at a time of growing Chinese influence in the Solomons and the wider Pacific, viewed with concern by the United States and its allies in the region.

Suidani — already ousted as provincial premier in a no-confidence vote in February — has consistently refused to toe the line set by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who switched the island nation’s diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019.

A letter informing Suidani last month of his disqualification from the Malaita assembly cited his “ongoing failure to recognise the One China Policy which is a key policy of the National Government”,  said a government statement published by local media on Wednesday.

Suidani’s seat in the Malaita assembly should be declared vacant, it said.

The former Malaita leader plans to challenge the decision in the High Court, according to the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation.

“We are disappointed because the decision really does not look like a legitimate decision,” Dickson Pola, a supporter of Suidani in the Malaita assembly, told AFP.

Pola claimed overwhelming support among people in Malaita for maintaining ties with Taiwan rather than China.

China claims the self-governing island of Taiwan as part of its territory to be retaken one day and, under its “One-China” principle, no country may maintain official ties with both Beijing and Taipei.

They have been engaged for years in a diplomatic tug-of-war in developing countries, with economic support and other aid often used as bargaining chips for diplomatic recognition.

Sogavare’s switch paved the way for unlocking huge amounts of Chinese investment but it was far from unanimously popular, particularly on Malaita where residents had benefited from Taiwanese aid projects and maintained deep links to Taipei.

Solomon Islands’ strengthening ties with China have also led to hand-wringing in the United States and among allies including Australia and New Zealand.

Western concern over China’s sway in the Solomons deepened when the two countries signed a secret security pact in 2022.

Both China and the Solomon Islands denied the pact would lead to the establishment of a permanent Chinese naval base, but the details of the agreement have never been revealed.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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1 year ago

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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1 year ago

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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