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 20, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Five convicted armed drug traffickers were hanged in...
Five convicted armed drug traffickers were hanged in a prison in Iran
- MAY 8, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
A teenager who was handed the death penalty on the...
A teenager who was handed the death penalty on the charge of dealing in narcotics has realised what a difference a day makes
- APRIL 24, 2002ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Five prisoners were executed at Bang Kwang Maxium Security...
Five prisoners were executed at Bang Kwang Maxium Security Prison in Thailand
- APRIL 21, 2002IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
More than 60 percent of inmates at Tangerang women's...
More than 60 percent of inmates at Tangerang women's penitentiary, Banten province, are drug-related offenders, with some of them continuing to take drugs while serving their sentences
- APRIL 21, 2002ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced four men to death...
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced four men to death for possessing more than 31 kilograms of heroin with intent to sell, although three of them had no drugs on them when they were arrested
- APRIL 16, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Surigao del Sur Gov
Surigao del Sur Gov
- APRIL 12, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Capital punishment in Singapore has long been shrouded...
Capital punishment in Singapore has long been shrouded in silence, with little public debate about the issue and even less information on how the process is carried out
- APRIL 3, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A Vietnamese court sentenced three people, one a women,...
A Vietnamese court sentenced three people, one a women, to death by firing squad and two to life in prison after they were found guilty of trafficking 346 kg of opium, official media reported
- MARCH 22, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
One of Vietnam's most senior police officers spoke...
One of Vietnam's most senior police officers spoke out against the death penalty, saying statistics show it does nothing to cut crime
- MARCH 14, 2002ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A 21-year-old Thai masseuse was sentenced to death...
A 21-year-old Thai masseuse was sentenced to death for smuggling 600 grams of heroin from Thailand into Indonesia in September 2001
- MARCH 14, 2002IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
A 21-year-old Thai masseuse was sentenced to death...
A 21-year-old Thai masseuse was sentenced to death for smuggling 600 grams of heroin from Thailand into Indonesia in September 2001
- MARCH 13, 2002IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
An Indonesian court sentenced a 21-year-old Thai woman...
An Indonesian court sentenced a 21-year-old Thai woman to death for attempting to smuggle 600 grams of heroin into the country in September 2001, news reports said
- MARCH 12, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A Malaysian court charged an Australian woman with...
A Malaysian court charged an Australian woman with carrying heroin in transit under a law carrying a maximum sentence of five years in jail rather than the death sentence for traffickers
- MARCH 12, 2002AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
A Malaysian court charged an Australian woman with...
A Malaysian court charged an Australian woman with carrying heroin in transit under a law carrying a maximum sentence of five years in jail rather than the death sentence for traffickers
- MARCH 8, 2002ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Criminal Court sentenced to death a woman convicted...
The Criminal Court sentenced to death a woman convicted of trafficking 29 kilograms of heroin
- MARCH 1, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
An Australian woman appeared in court in Malaysia on...
An Australian woman appeared in court in Malaysia on charges of trying to smuggle 3kg of heroin hidden in her corset onto a flight to Sydney
- MARCH 1, 2002AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
An Australian woman appeared in court in Malaysia on...
An Australian woman appeared in court in Malaysia on charges of trying to smuggle 3kg of heroin hidden in her corset onto a flight to Sydney
- FEBRUARY 26, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
To show the government's resolve in stamping out the...
To show the government's resolve in stamping out the drug menace, the Senate passed a bill that seeks to punish with a lethal injection anyone caught with at least 99 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly known as shabu
- FEBRUARY 20, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A debt collector escaped the gallows when the Court...
A debt collector escaped the gallows when the Court of Appeal in Kuala Lumpur set aside the death sentence imposed on him by the High Court for heroin trafficking and amended the charge to one of possession
- JANUARY 30, 2002AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
An Australian woman faces a death sentence in Vietnam...
An Australian woman faces a death sentence in Vietnam after being arrested at Ho Chi Minh City's international airport carrying more than 800g of heroin
- JANUARY 30, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
An Australian woman faces a death sentence in Vietnam...
An Australian woman faces a death sentence in Vietnam after being arrested at Ho Chi Minh City's international airport carrying more than 800g of heroin
- JANUARY 25, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A 49-year-old man convicted of drug trafficking was...
A 49-year-old man convicted of drug trafficking was hanged at the Kajang Prison
- JANUARY 18, 2002VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Six of 23 offenders charged with drug trafficking were...
Six of 23 offenders charged with drug trafficking were sentenced to death by the People's Court in Vietnam's Nghe An province, according to a report of Vietnam's official news agency VNA
- JANUARY 17, 2002ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian embassy in Bangkok confirmed the execution...
The Nigerian embassy in Bangkok confirmed the execution of five Nigerians by firing squad in Bangwang, Thailand, for drug trafficking
- JANUARY 17, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian embassy in Bangkok confirmed the execution...
The Nigerian embassy in Bangkok confirmed the execution of five Nigerians by firing squad in Bangwang, Thailand, for drug trafficking
- JANUARY 16, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese court sentenced a South Korean drug trafficker...
A Chinese court sentenced a South Korean drug trafficker to death
- JANUARY 16, 2002South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese court sentenced a South Korean drug trafficker...
A Chinese court sentenced a South Korean drug trafficker to death
- JANUARY 7, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China should halt the execution of Hong Kong residents...
China should halt the execution of Hong Kong residents convicted of capital offences, an alliance of civic groups fighting the mainland's death penalty said in a petition presented to the SAR [Special Administrative Region] Security Bureau
- JANUARY 7, 2002Hong Kong SAR ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China should halt the execution of Hong Kong residents...
China should halt the execution of Hong Kong residents convicted of capital offences, an alliance of civic groups fighting the mainland's death penalty said in a petition presented to the SAR [Special Administrative Region] Security Bureau
- JANUARY 1, 2002PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Smuggling more than a kilo of heroin carries the death...
Smuggling more than a kilo of heroin carries the death penalty in Pakistan