Author: IdiotSavant

From No Right Turn – New Zealand’s liberal blog

Saddam Hussein goes on trial tomorrow for crimes against humanity over the 1982 Dujail massacre. While I’m looking forward to this, and believe that Saddam has no defence under international law, I am concerned that justice may not be done.  The most basic problem is the standard of proof: rather than the accepted standard of “proof beyond a reasonable doubt”, the tribunal simply has to be “satisfied” of guilt.  This is a significant violation of fundamental standards of justice.

[From the diaries by susanhu.] Today, October 10th, is the world day against the death penalty. While the civilised world (including New Zealand) has abolished capital punishment, 74 countries still retain the death penalty. The world day against the death penalty is the day we work to change that.

This year, the focus is on Africa.  Out of 53 African nations, 12 have abolished capital punishment, and 20 observe a practical moratorium. But 21 still execute people, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Botswana and Egypt. The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty has an electronic petition, which you can sign here. It’s a small gesture, but the more people who sign it, the more weight it will carry.

Idiot/Savant
No Right Turn – New Zealand’s liberal blog

Interim results in the New Zealand election: PartyVote %Seats Labour40.7450 National39.6349 NZ First5.847 Green5.076 Maori Party1.984 (overhang) United Future2.723 ACT1.522 Progressive1.211 There are still 193,000 special votes...

It’s election day in New Zealand.  This is the most hardfought election in decades, and people are anticipating a high turnout.  New Zealand election law prohibits campaigning on the day, so I can’t really...

New Zealand’s general election will be held on September 17th, and with less than two days to go, it looks as if it will go right to the wire.  Two polls released tonight show different results, with one showing the...