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
- MAY 25, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Malawi national Adam Wilson was sentenced by the district...
Malawi national Adam Wilson was sentenced by the district court in Tangerang, Indonesia, after he was found guilty of smuggling heroin
- MAY 21, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
An Indonesian court sentenced a South African man to...
An Indonesian court sentenced a South African man to death for smuggling heroin, an official said
- MAY 21, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
An Indonesian court sentenced a South African man to...
An Indonesian court sentenced a South African man to death for smuggling heroin, an official said
- APRIL 10, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Taiwanese nationals Suo Guizhi and Chen Qingbiao were...
Taiwanese nationals Suo Guizhi and Chen Qingbiao were sentenced to death and three others were given jail terms after court in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai convicted them of drug trafficking
- APRIL 10, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Taiwanese nationals Suo Guizhi and Chen Qingbiao were...
Taiwanese nationals Suo Guizhi and Chen Qingbiao were sentenced to death and three others were given jail terms after court in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai convicted them of drug trafficking
- APRIL 6, 2004NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Central Jakarta Dstrict Court, Indonesia, sentenced...
The Central Jakarta Dstrict Court, Indonesia, sentenced to death Nigerian national Humprey Ijike for possession of heroin
- APRIL 6, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
The Central Jakarta Dstrict Court, Indonesia, sentenced...
The Central Jakarta Dstrict Court, Indonesia, sentenced to death Nigerian national Humprey Ijike for possession of heroin
- APRIL 2, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three people received the death penalty in Guangzhou...
Three people received the death penalty in Guangzhou city three people were sentenced to death by the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court for their role in the largest ecstasy and ice trafficking case in China
- MARCH 25, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Hoang Thi Dan, a 46 year old woman convicted of drug...
Hoang Thi Dan, a 46 year old woman convicted of drug trafficking, was sentenced to death by the People's Court in Hai Phong city, northern Vietnam, for illegally transporting and trafficking drugs
- MARCH 24, 2004SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
The following is an editorial entitled " Singapore's...
The following is an editorial entitled " Singapore's Grim Parade Of Death" published in the Australian pubilcation 'The Age'
- MARCH 24, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The following is an editorial entitled " Singapore's...
The following is an editorial entitled " Singapore's Grim Parade Of Death" published in the Australian pubilcation 'The Age'
- MARCH 20, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Tuong Van, 23, a sales executive from Melbourne,...
Nguyen Tuong Van, 23, a sales executive from Melbourne, Australia, was sentenced to death after the Singapore High Court found him guilty of smuggling almost 400 grams of heroin
- MARCH 20, 2004SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Tuong Van, 23, a sales executive from Melbourne,...
Nguyen Tuong Van, 23, a sales executive from Melbourne, Australia, was sentenced to death after the Singapore High Court found him guilty of smuggling almost 400 grams of heroin
- MARCH 19, 2004SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Singapore authorities hanged Yen May Woen, a 37 year...
Singapore authorities hanged Yen May Woen, a 37 year old woman convicted of heroin trafficking, in the city-state's first drug execution in 2004
- MARCH 18, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wang Daohua, Yin Yaxiong, Zhu Zhongfa and Zheng Qiukang,...
Wang Daohua, Yin Yaxiong, Zhu Zhongfa and Zheng Qiukang, four convicted drug traffickers, were executed and Wang Yan, another member of the gang, was given a suspended death sentence on March 17 in Jinhua City of east China's Zhejiang Province
- MARCH 18, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Zhong Zubin and Tang Shangming,...
It was reported that Zhong Zubin and Tang Shangming, two Chinese men, were sentenced to death in Beihai City of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for smuggling heroin
- MARCH 17, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The people's court in northern Haiphong City, Vietnam,...
The people's court in northern Haiphong City, Vietnam, sentenced to death Tran Thi Bach Diep, a 42 year old woman and gave life imprisonment to a man and a woman for running a drug trafficking ring that was uncovered in October 2002
- MARCH 6, 2004NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Judges at the Tangerang District Court in Indonesia...
Judges at the Tangerang District Court in Indonesia sentenced Nigerian Stephen Rasyaad Akinyemi, 35, to death by firing squad for drug smuggling
- MARCH 6, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Judges at the Tangerang District Court in Indonesia...
Judges at the Tangerang District Court in Indonesia sentenced Nigerian Stephen Rasyaad Akinyemi, 35, to death by firing squad for drug smuggling
- FEBRUARY 17, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Four people, including two women, were executed by...
Four people, including two women, were executed by firing squad in Vietnam after being convicted on murder and drug trafficking charges an official said
- FEBRUARY 14, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The Hanoi Supreme People's Court, Vietnam, upheld the...
The Hanoi Supreme People's Court, Vietnam, upheld the death sentences handed down to the three men and a woman in August 2003 for smuggling heroin and opium into the country from Laos
- JANUARY 27, 2004PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Two Pakistani nationals were executed in Kuwait, in...
Two Pakistani nationals were executed in Kuwait, in the second hanging in a week
- JANUARY 27, 2004KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
Two Pakistani nationals were executed in Kuwait, in...
Two Pakistani nationals were executed in Kuwait, in the second hanging in a week
- JANUARY 20, 2004KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
Kuwaiti authorities publicly displayed the corpse of...
Kuwaiti authorities publicly displayed the corpse of Fazel Shirin Mohammad Sherif, 35, a Pakistani heroin trafficker who was hanged in front of the interior ministry in Kuwait City in the fourth execution of a drug dealer since the introduction in 1995 of
- JANUARY 20, 2004PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Kuwaiti authorities publicly displayed the corpse of...
Kuwaiti authorities publicly displayed the corpse of Fazel Shirin Mohammad Sherif, 35, a Pakistani heroin trafficker who was hanged in front of the interior ministry in Kuwait City in the fourth execution of a drug dealer since the introduction in 1995 of
- JANUARY 14, 2004SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Singapore has the highest execution rate in the world...
Singapore has the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population, outstripping China, Saudi Arabia and Sierra Leone, Amnesty International said in a report
- JANUARY 8, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Duanzhou District in China's Guangdong Province,...
A court in Duanzhou District in China's Guangdong Province, recently sentenced Zuo Chengfa, 21, to death for drug trafficking, the Xinxi Shibao newspaper reported
- DECEMBER 12, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
A Kuwaiti criminal court sentenced 'Akhtar', a Pakistani...
A Kuwaiti criminal court sentenced 'Akhtar', a Pakistani national, to death on charges of smuggling heroin into the country
- DECEMBER 12, 2003KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
A Kuwaiti criminal court sentenced 'Akhtar', a Pakistani...
A Kuwaiti criminal court sentenced 'Akhtar', a Pakistani national, to death on charges of smuggling heroin into the country
- DECEMBER 8, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in southwest China's Sichuan province sentenced...
A court in southwest China's Sichuan province sentenced five people to death for selling heroin, state media reported