CHINA: DEATH FOR DRUG DEALING

a man was sentenced to death with a two year reprieve by the Shanghai Railway Transport Intermediate People's Court in China. During the trial, prosecutors and defence lawyers discussed their opinions on sentencing with the judge, the first time the railway court had permitted such debate during a hearing, in what was seen as an experiment. The court decided the group of young adults, led by Duan Guoping, trafficked 1,033 grams of ice in total. Duan was sentenced to death since he provided most of the capital and had a prior drug conviction, but he got a two-year reprieve for cooperating with police.