The death penalty for drug offences
Archive theme
International law restricts the death penalty, where it still exists, to the most serious crimes, and United Nations bodies have made clear more than once that drug offences do not belong to that category. Despite this, some states go on sentencing people to death and executing them for trafficking or possession of narcotics: in certain years these executions are a substantial share of the world total.
This page collects the news on death sentences and executions for drug offences.
Latest news
FEBRUARY 22, 2019IndonesiaDEATH PENALTYINDONESIA: SOUTH SUMATRA COURT DELIVERS DEATH PENALTY TO NINE DRUG DEALERS
The Palembang District Court in South Sumatra sentenced nine people to death on 7 February 2019 after finding them guilty of transporting 80 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.
- FEBRUARY 15, 2019DEATH PENALTY
IRAN. HANDS OFF CAIN, REDUCTION OF DRUG EXECUTIONS BUT NUMBERS REMAIN WORRISOME
Hands Off Cain, in the forty years of the Khomeini’s revolution, makes known the death penalty figures in Iran in 2018.
FEBRUARY 1, 2019EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: CABINET APPROVES DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG DEALERS
Egypt’s Cabinet on 30 January 2019 approved a draft law amending some provisions of Law No. 182 of 1960 on regulating the use of drugs and combating trafficking.
JANUARY 30, 2019SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MALAYSIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER HANGED
A convicted Malaysian drug trafficker was hanged in Singapore on 25 January 2019, officials said, after the city-state rejected last minute efforts to save him.
JANUARY 30, 2019MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE ON CHINESE NATIONAL FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
The Court of Appeal in Putrajya on 28 January 2019 upheld the death sentence of a Chinese national who was convicted for trafficking in 4,401.5g of methamphetamine at the Senai International Airport in Johor in 2014.
JANUARY 17, 2019ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: CANADIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
A Chinese court on 14 January 2019 upped Robert Lloyd Schellenberg’s sentence from 15 years in prison to execution after he appealed against the court’s December verdict.
JANUARY 17, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: SCHOOL TEACHER GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A school teacher in northern Vietnam has received the death penalty for drug trafficking, state media reported on 15 January 2019.
- JANUARY 16, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: DEATH PENALTY HANDED TO TWO HEROIN TRANSPORTERS
The Hanoi People’s Court pronounced the death penalty for two defendants charged with the illegal transportation of drugs at the first instance trial on 10 January 2019.
- JANUARY 11, 2019IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: 12 EXECUTED ON DRUG CHARGES
Twelve imprisoned drug offenders on 6 December 2018 were executed in the Central Prison of Kerman, South-Eastern Iran.
- JANUARY 1, 2019IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is applicable for murder..
The death penalty is applicable for murder...
- JANUARY 1, 2019BruneiDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is mandatory for murder
The death penalty is mandatory for murder
- JANUARY 1, 2019OmanDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is provided for under the penal laws of the Sultanate of Oman, which make reference to Sharia law.
The death penalty is provided for under the penal laws of the Sultanate of Oman, which make reference to Sharia law.
- JANUARY 1, 2019North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
North Korea denies holding any political prisoners.
North Korea denies holding any political prisoners.
- JANUARY 1, 2019LaosDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty in Laos is applied in cases of treason, murder and rape
The death penalty in Laos is applied in cases of treason, murder and rape
- JANUARY 1, 2019MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
In Malaysia capital crimes include murder...
In Malaysia capital crimes include murder...
- JANUARY 1, 2019SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offences against the President, illegal possession of arms, kidnapping and causing an innocent person to be executed by bearing false witness.
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offences against the President, illegal possession of arms, kidnapping and causing an innocent person to be executed by bearing false witness.
- JANUARY 1, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Capital punishment remains for crimes
Capital punishment remains for crimes such as murder, armed robbery, drug trafficking, and sexual abuse of children.
- JANUARY 1, 2019ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Under the Penal Code alone, the death sentence can be applied to 35 crimes
Under the Penal Code alone, the death sentence can be applied to 35 crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2019Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law
- DECEMBER 7, 2018SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: 2 MEN CONVICTED OF DRUG TRAFFICKING ESCAPE DEATH ROW AFTER ACQUITTAL BY APEX COURT
Two men convicted of drug trafficking escaped the gallows on 5 December 2018, after the Court of Appeal found them not guilty and acquitted them in a split 2-1 decision.
- DECEMBER 4, 2018VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: 13 SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TWO HEROIN TRAFFICKING CASES
Two separate trials sentenced 13 Vietnamese drug dealers to death on 30 November 2018, making them among the toughest in years.
- NOVEMBER 12, 2018VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: THREE DRUG DEALERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Hanoi court on 8 November 2018 sentenced three men to death and one man to life imprisonment for drug trafficking.
- OCTOBER 30, 2018SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: DRUG COURIER GETS DEATH PENALTY AFTER ESCAPING GALLOWS LAST YEAR
A Malaysian drug courier who escaped the gallows last year after the High Court reduced his charge, was on 25 October 2018 sentenced to the death penalty after the Court of Appeal overturned the earlier decision.
OCTOBER 30, 2018BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: PARLIAMENT PASSES LAW WITH DEATH PENALTY FOR YABA OFFENCES
Parliament has passed the Narcotics Control Act 2018 with a provision for death penalty to the people convicted of yaba manufacture, distribution and trade, bdnews24 reported on 27 October 2018.
- OCTOBER 29, 2018SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: FAMILY’S LAWYER CONFIRMS PRABU HANGED
It has been confirmed that Malaysian citizen Prabu N. Pathmanathan was hanged at Changi prison at dawn on 26 October 2018 for drug trafficking, according to his family’s lawyer N. Surendran.
- OCTOBER 25, 2018BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: DEATH PENALTY FOR CARRYING YABA, HEROIN
The Narcotics Control Bill 2018 was placed in parliament last night, with provision for death sentence or life-term imprisonment for carrying, producing, trading and using more than five grammes of yaba, and more than 25 grammes of heroin and cocaine, The
OCTOBER 17, 2018MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Judicial Commissioner Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed of the Penang High Court on 8 October 2018 sentenced Keow Sze Teve, 36, to death for dangerous drug trafficking and 16 years jail with 12 strokes of rotan for possession of firearms and bullets.
OCTOBER 12, 2018SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: 58-YEAR-OLD MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A Singaporean man who was arrested while trying to buy heroin to sell it to others was sentenced to death on 5 October 2018.
OCTOBER 9, 2018BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG OFFENSES APPROVED
The production, smuggling, sale, and use of methamphetamines will be punishable by death in Bangladesh, which has followed the Philippines’ Duterte and launched a brutal war on drugs that has seen more than 200 killed since May.
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2018Sri LankaDEATH PENALTY
SRI LANKA: YOUTH SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR POSSESSION OF HEROIN
A youth who had been convicted for trading heroin and possession of 9 grams of heroin was sentenced to death on September 26 by the Colombo High Court.