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 31, 2001IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
In the preceding 18 months , the Tangerang District...
In the preceding 18 months , the Tangerang District Court handed down death sentences to 13 defendants for drug offences
- AUGUST 18, 2001Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
State-owned media reported that the Yangon district...
State-owned media reported that the Yangon district court sentenced Mr Yumingyu, a 45 year old Taiwanese citizen, to death for trying to smuggle heroin out of the country
- AUGUST 17, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Thonburi Criminal Court sentenced to death a Ukrainian...
The Thonburi Criminal Court sentenced to death a Ukrainian woman for having 1
- AUGUST 17, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Court of Thanh Hoa Province in central...
The People's Court of Thanh Hoa Province in central Vietnam handed down 12 death penalty verdicts and seven life sentences to 19 of 24 defendants charged with drug trafficking
- AUGUST 17, 2001UkraineDEATH PENALTY
The Thonburi Criminal Court, in Thailand, sentenced...
The Thonburi Criminal Court, in Thailand, sentenced to death a Ukrainian woman for having 1
- AUGUST 13, 2001IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
The Tangerang District Court sentenced to death two...
The Tangerang District Court sentenced to death two Nigerians, a Zimbabwean and a Nepalese man for drug related offences
- AUGUST 10, 2001PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Munawar Hussain Munj, a former member of the National...
Munawar Hussain Munj, a former member of the National Assembly (lower house) from the central province of Punjab, was sentenced to death for drug trafficking
- AUGUST 3, 2001PakistanDEATH PENALTY
In a letter smuggled out of his cell, Rehmat Shah Afridi,...
In a letter smuggled out of his cell, Rehmat Shah Afridi, the former editor of the Frontier Post, said he was tortured and insisted his conviction on June 27 was politically motivated
- AUGUST 2, 2001Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
A Burmese woman was sentenced to death by the South...
A Burmese woman was sentenced to death by the South Bangkok Criminal Court in Thailand for drug trafficking
- JULY 28, 2001IranDEATH PENALTY
Ahmad Samanzehi, an armed Afghan bandit, sentenced...
Ahmad Samanzehi, an armed Afghan bandit, sentenced to death by an Iranian revolutionary court for illegal possession of prohibited drugs, was hanged at dawn in northeastern Iran
- JULY 28, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Ahmad Samanzehi, an armed Afghan bandit, sentenced...
Ahmad Samanzehi, an armed Afghan bandit, sentenced to death by an Iranian revolutionary court for illegal possession of prohibited drugs, was hanged at dawn in northeastern Iran
- JULY 26, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Criminal Court needed only three months to hand...
The Criminal Court needed only three months to hand down death sentences against 19 convicted drug traffickers because the court had been trying the four cases nonstop, Criminal Court Chief Justice Sombat Tiewissaret said
- JULY 25, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND CONDEMNS 19 TO DEATH
July 25, 2001: Thailand´s criminal court sentenced 19 drug dealers to death, the largest number ever handed the maximum penalty in one day.
- JULY 23, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Criminal Court sentenced to death two foreigners...
The Criminal Court sentenced to death two foreigners and a Thai for trafficking heroin
- JULY 23, 2001Hong Kong SAR ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Hong Kong woman was sentenced to death by Thailand's...
A Hong Kong woman was sentenced to death by Thailand's main criminal court for trafficking in 6
- JULY 4, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Pong Ketsiri, 64, was executed by a firing squad in...
Pong Ketsiri, 64, was executed by a firing squad in a Bangkok prison after being convicted of smuggling 275lb of heroin into Thailand
- JULY 3, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Supreme Court has issued a resolution...
The People's Supreme Court has issued a resolution guiding the implementation of six Criminal Law regulations
- JULY 3, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The punishment imposed on heroin traffickers is to...
The punishment imposed on heroin traffickers is to be reduced, the vice chief justice of the Criminal Court Dinh Van Que said
- JUNE 28, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Foreign prisoners' chances of clemency under a Royal...
Foreign prisoners' chances of clemency under a Royal Pardon from Thailand's King may have ended under a tougher government stance against drug traffickers
- JUNE 28, 2001PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), an international press...
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), an international press rights group, condemned the sentencing to death of a Pakistan newspaper editor on drugs charges, calling it an attempt to gag him for his critical reports
- JUNE 28, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The central Ha Tinh Province's Court of Appeal upheld...
The central Ha Tinh Province's Court of Appeal upheld the death sentences passed by a lower court on seven people found guilty of drug trafficking and circulating counterfeit dollars
- JUNE 27, 2001PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Rehmat Shah Afridi, owner of The Frontier Post was...
Rehmat Shah Afridi, owner of The Frontier Post was sentenced to death on drug smuggling charges
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hong Kong residents Tan Hung-chien and Tan Hao-hui...
Hong Kong residents Tan Hung-chien and Tan Hao-hui were condemned to death by the Guangdong Supreme People's Court
- JUNE 26, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A convicted drug trafficker was executed by a firing...
A convicted drug trafficker was executed by a firing squad at the Bangkwang Maximum Security Prison, raising to six the number of drug convicts executed since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government took office in February
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A public-sentencing rally was held in Hangzhou to pronounce...
A public-sentencing rally was held in Hangzhou to pronounce judgment on 11 alleged drug criminals involved in eight cases - including one death sentence, which was carried out afterwards on Wang Chao
- JUNE 25, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme People's Court in Beijing upheld the death...
The Supreme People's Court in Beijing upheld the death sentence given to Li Shaoju, a Myanmar [Burma] citizen for drug trafficking
- JUNE 5, 2001United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Malaysia's Court of Appeal has freed a Briton sentenced...
Malaysia's Court of Appeal has freed a Briton sentenced to death for drug trafficking after ruling there were "too many contradictions and inconsistencies" in his case
- JUNE 5, 2001MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Malaysia's Court of Appeal has freed a Briton sentenced...
Malaysia's Court of Appeal has freed a Briton sentenced to death for drug trafficking after ruling there were "too many contradictions and inconsistencies" in his case
- MAY 31, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced to death two Singaporeans...
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced to death two Singaporeans convicted of attempting to smuggle heroin out of the country and related charges
- MAY 31, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Criminal Court sentenced to death two Singaporeans...
The Criminal Court sentenced to death two Singaporeans convicted of attempting to smuggle heroin out of the country and related charges