The death penalty for drug offences
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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
- JULY 13, 2005LaosDEATH PENALTY
LAOS. TWO PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Laos, which is not believed to have carried out an execution for more than a decade, passed death sentences on two drug traffickers, the official KPL news agency said.
- JULY 8, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SEVEN PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN JIANGSU FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
seven people were sentenced to death and another to death with reprieve by the Wuxi Municipal Intermediate People's Court in east China's Jiangsu Province following what police described as the largest drug trafficking case cracked in the province.
- JULY 7, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. COURT SENTENCES TWO PAKISTANIS TO DEATH FOR SMUGGLING HEROIN
a lower court in Dhaka sentenced to death two Pakistani nationals, Rais Khan of Karachi and Alekjan of Peshwar after finding them guilty of smuggling 24 kg of heroin into the country on September 20, 1999.
- JUNE 30, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. 13 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CROSS COUNTRY BORDER DRUGS CASE
a court in southeastern China sentenced to death 13 convicted drug traffickers in what was being called the country's biggest case of cross-border drug trade involving "ice," state press said.
- JUNE 29, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SINGER YU'S BROTHER HAS NOT BEEN EXECUTED FOR DRUG OFFENSE: BEIJING
news reports that Taiwanese singer Yu Tien's adopted younger brother had been executed in China on charges of narcotics trafficking were incorrect, a spokesman for the Chinese government said.
- JUNE 28, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. JIANGXI COURT SENTENCES TWO TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING; EXECUTIONS CARRIED OUT
the Nanchang City Intermediate People's Court, China, sentenced Yuan Hao and Tan Qiang to death for trafficking and storing illegal drugs.
- JUNE 28, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. GUANGDONG COURT SENTENCES BURMESE NATIONAL TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
in its initial trial, the Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court, China, sentenced Burmese national Zhao Qiaohua to death for heroin trafficking.
- JUNE 24, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MASS SENTENCING IN RUN UP TO INTERNATIONAL ANTI-DRUG DAY
China relaunched an anti-drug crusade in April when it announced that the number of drug addicts had grown to 790,000 people, a 6.8 percent increase over 2004.
- JUNE 24, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. WOMAN EXECUTED FOR ORGANISING DRUG RING
China executed Wu Xiaohui, 24, a key woman drug trafficker who had left a gruesome tale of smuggling and murders, the 'China Daily' reported.
- JUNE 24, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. EXECUTIONS IN RUN UP TO INTERNATIONAL ANTI-DRUG DAY
at least 14 convicted drug traffickers were executed in China, two days before the United Nations-sponsored International Anti-Drugs Day, state press reported.
- JUNE 21, 2005VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. DRUG TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
the People's Court in the northern province of Hoa Binh has sentenced four people involved in the largest drug trafficking ring in the province to death.
- JUNE 21, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. GUANGDONG COURT SENTENCES TWO TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING
it was reported that recently, the Dongguan City Intermediate People's Court, China, sentenced to death Li Shaobo, a 26 year old Yunnan native;
- JUNE 15, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. GUANGZHOU COURT SENTENCES TWO TAIWANESE WOMEN TO DEATH
the Guangzhou City Intermediate People's Court sentenced to death two Taiwanese women
- JUNE 14, 2005IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. PAKISTANI SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
an Indonesian court sentenced Zulfikar Ali, a Pakistani national, to death for drug trafficking. Judges at a district court in Tangerang, southwest of Jakarta, ruled that Ali was guilty of trafficking 300 grams (10.5 ounces) of heroin.
- JUNE 10, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT TO PLEAD FOR DRUG SMUGGLER FACING FIRING SQUAD IN VIETNAM
the Australian federal government said it would plead for the life of Mai Cong Thanh, an Australian sentenced to death in Vietnam for conspiring to smuggle heroin.
- JUNE 10, 2005IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
NEPAL. RIGHTS ACTIVISTS APPEAL FOR LIVES OF FIVE IN INDONESIA
human rights activists said the government must take immediate steps to stop the death sentence of five Nepalese nationals charged with drug trafficking in Indonesia.
- JUNE 9, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. AUSTRALIAN-VIETNAMESE RECEIVES DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
a Vietnam court has sentenced a 46-year-old Australian of Vietnamese origin to death by firing squad for attempting to send heroin stuffed in loudspeakers to Australia, the state-run Voice of Vietnam radio said.
- JUNE 5, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. NINE PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HEROIN TRAFFICKING
thirteen members of a well-organized drug gang in Baise, a city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, were sentenced to death and to life imprisonment for trafficking 36 kilograms of heroin.
- MAY 26, 2005VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. SIXTEEN DEATH SENTENCES UPHELD IN COUNTRY’S BIGGEST DRUGS CASE
sixteen people failed in their appeal against death sentences in Vietnam's biggest drug trafficking case, a court official in Ho Chi Minh City said.
- MAY 26, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. GUANGDONG COURT SENTENCES TWO TO DEATH FOR HEROIN TRAFFICKING
it was reported that recently, in its initial trial, the Maoming Intermediate People's Court, China, sentenced Yang Cuiyun, a 40 year old female from Yunnan, and Chen Luzong, from Maoming, to death for drug trafficking.
- MAY 25, 2005LaosDEATH PENALTY
LAOS. FIVE HANDED DEATH PENALTY FOR SMUGGLING AMPHETAMINES
five people were sentenced to death and four more handed life prison sentences in Laos after one of the country's biggest ever drug trafficking cases, the foreign ministry said.
- MAY 19, 2005ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND. TWO DRUG SUSPECTS SENTENCED TO DEATH, THREE OTHERS HAVE SENTENCE COMMUTED
the Thai Appeals Court sentenced two drug suspects, earlier acquitted by the Criminal Court, to death and withheld the death sentence on another three suspects.
- MAY 13, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. COURT ORDERS EXECUTION OF DRUG TRAFFICKER, LIFE SENTENCES FOR MULES
Chengdu City Intermediate People's Court, pronounced the execution of Tang Mei, a female drug trafficker.
- MAY 9, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. ‘LET JUDGES DECIDE DEATH SENTENCE’, FORMER JUDICIAL COMMISSIONER
K.S. Rajah, a former judicial commissioner, called for a review of sentencing in cases in Singapore where the death penalty was compulsory. Rajah, now a senior counsel, wanted judges to be given the discretion to impose a life jail term where it was deeme
- MAY 8, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. PAKISTANI EXECUTED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
Saudi Arabia executed Salim Abdul-Rahman, a Pakistani national.
- MAY 7, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HEROIN TRAFFICKING
three convicted drug traffickers were sentenced to death in southwestern China's Sichuan province, while two accomplices were given long prison terms, the Chengdu Commercial Daily said.
- APRIL 29, 2005VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. BUSINESSMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH ON HEROIN CHARGES
former director of the Trans-Continent Company, Phan Trieu Phu, was sentenced to death in Vietnam on charges of "trafficking illegal drugs".
- APRIL 28, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT SAID IT WOULD APPEAL CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR BALI DRUG SUSPECTS
Australia's prime minister, John Howard, said the government would appeal any death sentence which might be handed down to nine Australians accused of drug trafficking in Indonesia.
- APRIL 27, 2005VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Vietnam. Five to face firing squad for drug smuggling
five people, including a woman, were sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Vietnam, court officials said.
- APRIL 22, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL GIVEN DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Nguyen Van Chinh, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin, was sentenced to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking.