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China charges Taiwanese man with ‘secession’

Taiwanese man Yang Chih-yuan, who was held by Chinese authorities for eight months, has been charged with “secession”, a move condemned by Taipei as a violation of rights aimed at creating fear.

Yang is vice-chair of a minor political party that advocates Taiwan’s independence.

Beijing has increased pressure on Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen’s 2016 election and has arrested several Taiwanese people, including Yang. Taiwan’s government has urged China to release Yang and to “cautiously evaluate the risk” of going to China.

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BEIJING, CHINA — A Taiwanese man held by Chinese authorities for eight months was charged with “secession” by prosecutors on Tuesday, a move Taipei condemned as a rights violation meant to “create fear”.

Beijing has ramped up pressure on Taiwan — including by arresting several Taiwanese people — since President Tsai Ing-wen’s 2016 election because she regards the island as an independent nation and not part of “one China”.

Yang Chih-yuan was arrested and charged with secession by prosecutors in the eastern Chinese city Wenzhou, China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate said.

“The case is under further processing,” the state prosecutor’s office added in a post on social media, without providing further details.

Yang, 33, is vice chair of a minor political party that advocates for Taiwan’s independence, and he once ran unsuccessfully for the democratic island’s parliament, according to Taiwanese media.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan’s top China policy-making body, said Yang has been detained since August last year.

Beijing has not responded to repeated calls for his release, it added.

“The government stresses again that Yang is innocent and urges the Chinese Communist Party to release him so he can return to Taiwan as soon as possible,” MAC said in a statement.

“The Chinese side’s arbitrary arrests of Taiwanese people seriously hurt the rights and interests of our people and create fear”.

The council also urged Taiwanese people to “cautiously evaluate the risk” of going to China in light of its “random violations of personal safety.”

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to seize it one day, by force if necessary.

Among the most high-profile arrests was of democracy activist Lee Ming-che, who was jailed in China for five years on a national security conviction before his release last year.

— 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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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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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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