Campaigning for death row inmate in the US-run Tomorrow
Richard Gklosip is Death Row. Tomorrow is scheduled to run. The state of Oklahoma is discussing with what method will execute him, and that when they ask him, replied, "I wish I stop performing them with any method, because I am innocent."
Richard Gklosip, 52 years, will be executed for the murder of Barry van creaks in 1997. The fact is that he does not commit the murder. Another man, Justin Snint confessed to police that he hit the victim to death. He said, however, that the mandate for what he got from his boss, Richard Gklosip in exchange for money and professional privileges.
The Snint thus secured a life sentence for himself, and avoided the death penalty. His evidence is essentially the only element that connects Gklosip crime. There is no genetic material, no other evidence, there are no witnesses.
The Gklosip was manager in a small hotel, the victim, the van creaks, was the owner, and Snint was employed.
Among those who argue that Gklosip is innocent, one person stands out: the daughter of the man who committed the crime. The Justine Snint wrote to the Suspension Committee of Oklahoma, to say that after many communications with her father has "strong conviction" that Richard Gklosip is innocent. "For many years, my father speaks to undo the initial deposit. I believe that consciousness does not leave him alone. "
The wording of Justine Snint not arrived in time. His lawyers Gklosip not manage to include it in the file. Why he did not speak up today Snint himself? Because, according to his daughter, afraid of what this means for his own fate.
The case of Richard Gklosip has become the focus of a major campaign for the cancellation of his performance.
epa03506516 Actress Susan Sarandon, of the US, arrives in the press room during the 12.12.12 concert for Sandy relief at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, USA, 12 December 2012. A number of major music acts, including Bruce Springsteen , the Rolling Stones and Paul McCarthy are performing to raise money for people affected by Hurricane Sandy, which hit the region in October. EPA / JUSTIN LANE
Actress Susan Sarandon has appeared a few days ago in a television broadcast for this reason. He said: "I am devastated both the state of our legal system and for this man because, due to a color or economic status, can have a real chance. It should be so. This is America-we are better than that. "
Barry shek, co-founder of the Innocence Project, wondering in his article in the Huffington Post, «This Oklahoma to execute an innocent?". And co-signed with other known persons of the state, an open letter to the governor Mary Foligno, appealing to "prevent a fatal mistake."
The activist against the death penalty Sister Helen Prezin writes letter, and CNN publishes, entitled "Do not kill an innocent".
In the case of Richard Gklosip, his death "decided" on the basis of a single witness. He is finally really innocent or guilty?
The problem, say critics of the decision, it is just that. That a man sentenced to death without anyone being able to say for sure whether he is guilty or innocent.
And if the answer to that question is blurred, some other data is very clear. At the National University of acquittal List of Michigan reported that 115 defendants were sentenced to death and were released later when discovered new evidence of the innocent. Of these 115 people, 25% were sentenced to death based on the confession of another person, who was also suspected of committing the murder.
This year, the National Academy of Sciences of the United States published a study. According to this, it is estimated that if the convicts remained in jail indefinitely, that is, if there was time, 4.1% will be innocent. And this rate, the researchers point out, resulting in the most conservative estimates.
Albert Camus has written on the death penalty imposed by the state, "the maximum punishment is the most deliberate murder and can not be compared with any crime as premeditated though is this."
In the US, a different view prevails. 31 states apply it yet. Judges occasionally disagree. "The death penalty is not imposed on people who are well represented in a lawsuit," has said the judge Beinter Gkinsmpourgk. Opponents of the death penalty, they also say that it is necessary more often in people who belong to minorities or lower socioeconomic strata.
The UN has requested by resolution 2007 the abolition of penalties across the planet. Amnesty International says: "Every day people executed by the state for a different type crimes. Sometimes acts should not be illegal. In some countries it may be with whom you sleep, in other terrorism and crimes ... The death penalty is cruel, inhuman and degrading.
The death penalty is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to this. "
sources: CNN, The Intercept, Huffington Post, PNAS, Death Penalty Information Center, Amnesty International
