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
- AUGUST 10, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for...
The Thai Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Fang Kee Tun, a 46 year old Singaporean convicted of possessing 1
- AUGUST 10, 2003SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for...
The Thai Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Fang Kee Tun, a 46 year old Singaporean convicted of possessing 1
- AUGUST 9, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Twenty-six convicted criminals were collectively sentenced...
Twenty-six convicted criminals were collectively sentenced to death in China's southern city of Guangzhou as part of a government effort to clear a back-log of cases awaiting verdict, state press reported
- JULY 17, 2003AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Le My Linh, an Australian woman condemned to death...
Le My Linh, an Australian woman condemned to death by a Vietnamese court in 2002 on drug trafficking charges, had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment
- JULY 9, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Four people on death-row in Vietnam, including Le My...
Four people on death-row in Vietnam, including Le My Linh, an Australian citizen of Vietnamese origin, had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment
- JULY 3, 2003PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said through...
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said through her spokesman that she agreed to the idea of executing convicted big-time drug traffickers in an effort to curb the drug problem in the country
- JUNE 30, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Hekmat Shah Ahmad, a Pakistani man convicted in Saudi...
Hekmat Shah Ahmad, a Pakistani man convicted in Saudi Arabia of drug trafficking, was beheaded by the sword in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah
- JUNE 30, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Hekmat Shah Ahmad, a Pakistani man convicted in Saudi...
Hekmat Shah Ahmad, a Pakistani man convicted in Saudi Arabia of drug trafficking, was beheaded by the sword in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wang Xiongyin, "convicted drug peddler", was sentenced...
Wang Xiongyin, "convicted drug peddler", was sentenced to death in Guangzhou as China marked International Anti-Drugs Day
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chang Chi-hsien, a Taiwanese man convicted of drug...
Chang Chi-hsien, a Taiwanese man convicted of drug trafficking, was executed in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen, the Beijing Times newspaper said
- JUNE 26, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Chang Chi-hsien, a Taiwanese man convicted of drug...
Chang Chi-hsien, a Taiwanese man convicted of drug trafficking, was executed in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen, the Beijing Times newspaper said
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chinese state media reported that "courts at different...
Chinese state media reported that "courts at different levels in Jiangsu Province tried 53 drug cases and punished 74 suspects
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Henan Provincial Higher People's Court, China,...
The Henan Provincial Higher People's Court, China, sentenced Zheng Ziyi and Liu Guobo to death and Ran Lingxiang to death with two years reprieve
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Chongqing Number One Intermediate People's Court...
The Chongqing Number One Intermediate People's Court executed a number of "drug criminals" including: Huang Kaiming, who was found in possession of 14 kg of heroin; Ji Shirong, 61, and Li Chunxiang, a female, age 38, found guilty of buying heroin in Burma
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Shao Jibin, Gao Feng, Wu Ming and Liu Baohong were executed
Shao Jibin, Gao Feng, Wu Ming and Liu Baohong were executed
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three convicted drug traffickers were executed in Shenzhen...
Three convicted drug traffickers were executed in Shenzhen city in South China's Guangdong Province, state media reported
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wuhan Intermediate People's Court, in Hubei Province,...
Wuhan Intermediate People's Court, in Hubei Province, China, sentenced 11 people to death for trafficking and transporting drugs
- JUNE 20, 2003SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Mohamed Isnin Saleh, 33, Azman Ismail, 35, and Ruzaini...
Mohamed Isnin Saleh, 33, Azman Ismail, 35, and Ruzaini Ajis, 32, all Singaporeans, were executed by hanging
- JUNE 18, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Vu Xuan Lich and Tong Van Loi, leaders of a 16 member...
Vu Xuan Lich and Tong Van Loi, leaders of a 16 member ring that smuggled heroin from Laos to Vietnam, were sentenced to death by the People's Court in Lai Chau province in Vietnam
- MAY 20, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Two brothers convicted of drug smuggling were publicly...
Two brothers convicted of drug smuggling were publicly hanged in a park in eastern Tehran
- MAY 16, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Tran Minh Cong, 31, convicted of trafficking 1
Tran Minh Cong, 31, convicted of trafficking 1
- MAY 16, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Two men on death row in Vietnam had their sentences...
Two men on death row in Vietnam had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment by Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong
- MAY 7, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
A court in Pakistan sentenced a woman to death for...
A court in Pakistan sentenced a woman to death for drugs offences
- APRIL 14, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Court in Ba Ria Vung Tau sentenced to...
The People's Court in Ba Ria Vung Tau sentenced to death Pham Van Dzung, found guilty of trading and possessing a total of 33
- APRIL 11, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Pham Van Dung, 42, was sentenced to death for trafficking...
Pham Van Dung, 42, was sentenced to death for trafficking opium and heroin under Vietnam's tough anti-drug laws
- MARCH 27, 2003IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Indonesia will delay the execution of six convicts...
Indonesia will delay the execution of six convicts including an Indian on death row after five of them appealed to the Supreme Court for a second review, prosecutors said
- MARCH 20, 2003SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Yen May Woen, 36, who was caught in Singapore on 8...
Yen May Woen, 36, who was caught in Singapore on 8 May 2002 with 120 sachets of heroin in a black sling bag, was sentenced to death for drug trafficking
- MARCH 14, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A court in northern Vietnam sentenced six men to death...
A court in northern Vietnam sentenced six men to death for trafficking nearly 90 kilograms of heroin
- MARCH 7, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China has developed a "mobile execution vehicle" to...
China has developed a "mobile execution vehicle" to make capital punishment easier to deliver, state press said
- MARCH 6, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed two people by lethal injection in southwestern...
China executed two people by lethal injection in southwestern Yunnan province