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 28, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The People's Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld...
The People's Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the death sentence for Vietnamese American Bui Huu Tai, 33, who was charged with drug trafficking and possession
- APRIL 28, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Five men were sentenced to death by a southern Vietnam...
Five men were sentenced to death by a southern Vietnam court in a trial of nine people accused of drug trafficking from Laos (2
- APRIL 25, 2001GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Andaila Mohamad, 40; Wahab Medina, 40; Chab Abdullanaf...
Andaila Mohamad, 40; Wahab Medina, 40; Chab Abdullanaf Umah, 27, all Ghanaian nationals were sentenced to death in Thailand on drug related charges
- APRIL 25, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
An opinion poll conducted by Assumption University...
An opinion poll conducted by Assumption University found that the death penalty in Thailand has the support of 88
- APRIL 25, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Andaila Mohamad, 40; Wahab Medina, 40; Chab Abdullanaf...
Andaila Mohamad, 40; Wahab Medina, 40; Chab Abdullanaf Umah, 27, all Ghanaian nationals were sentenced to death on drug related charges
- APRIL 18, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The government executed five condemned prisoners, four...
The government executed five condemned prisoners, four of them major drug dealers, at the Bang Kwang maximum security prison and for the first time, televised their final hours up to the point the blindfolds were put on
- APRIL 9, 2001LaosDEATH PENALTY
Laos closed its National Assembly after passing a hotly...
Laos closed its National Assembly after passing a hotly debated amendment to the country´s 1990 criminal code that introduced the death penalty for drug trafficking
- APRIL 1, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Three convicted drug traffickers and producers, two...
Three convicted drug traffickers and producers, two Chinese and one Thai, will be executed before the Songkran [New Year] festival begins, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said
- MARCH 19, 2001IranDEATH PENALTY
Five people, included a woman, involved in a "ring...
Five people, included a woman, involved in a "ring of drug-traffickers" in Tehran's Khak-e Sefid District, were executed in public after being sentenced to death the day before by Branch 27 of Tehran's Islamic Revolution Court
- MARCH 13, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Bangkok Post editorial criticised Prime Minister...
The Bangkok Post editorial criticised Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's proposal for more liberal use of the death penalty saying "it will not deter drug smuggling
- MARCH 2, 2001VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Seven men were sentenced to death for drug trafficking...
Seven men were sentenced to death for drug trafficking and circulating counterfeit U
- FEBRUARY 22, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A [unidentified] Singaporean national was executed...
A [unidentified] Singaporean national was executed in China in January for drug trafficking
- FEBRUARY 22, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
A [unidentified] Singaporean national was executed...
A [unidentified] Singaporean national was executed in China in January for drug trafficking
- JANUARY 11, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xia Longhua and Zhao Guangkai were sentenced to death...
Xia Longhua and Zhao Guangkai were sentenced to death by the Shanghai Municipal Number Two Intermediate People's Court
- JANUARY 10, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zhang Yongda was executed for drug trafficking
Zhang Yongda was executed for drug trafficking
- JANUARY 1, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty applies in Thailand to heroin or...
The death penalty applies in Thailand to heroin or amphetamine drug trafficking and especially where the prisoner is found guilty after pleading not guilty at the start of their trial
- JANUARY 1, 2001BruneiDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is mandatory for murder, unlawful...
The death penalty is mandatory for murder, unlawful possession of firearms and explosives, and drug trafficking (possession of more than 250 grams of Syabu (methylamphetamine) the substance is enough to warrant a death sentence according to Brunei law
- JANUARY 1, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offenses against...
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offenses against the President, illegal possession of arms, and causing an innocent person to be executed by bearing false witness
- JANUARY 1, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Domestic consumption of drugs is becoming `more serious...
Domestic consumption of drugs is becoming `more serious with each passing day', according to an official white paper, which acknowledges that `the situation is grim for the anti-drug struggle
- JANUARY 1, 2001IranDEATH PENALTY
Since 1991 Iran has executed around 5,000 drug pushers
Since 1991 Iran has executed around 5,000 drug pushers
- JANUARY 1, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
To wage its war more effectively on drugs Singapore's...
To wage its war more effectively on drugs Singapore's highest court ruled that the act of helping dealers pack heroin into smaller sachets for sale is as bad as selling the drug
- DECEMBER 23, 2000IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Talmiz Ahmad said...
Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Talmiz Ahmad said that India and Saudi Arabia would sign an agreement for co-operation in combating drug trafficking during Indian Foreign Minister
- DECEMBER 22, 2000VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A court in central Vietnam sentenced 43-year-old Lieutenant-Colonel...
A court in central Vietnam sentenced 43-year-old Lieutenant-Colonel Le Van Luen a former senior police officer, to death by firing squad for dealing in heroin, bringing the number of people sentenced to death for drug trafficking in 2000 to at least 49
- NOVEMBER 25, 2000VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A court in the commercial capital of Ho Chi Minh City...
A court in the commercial capital of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced a US national, also wanted by Belgian police, to death for heroin trafficking, just days after US President Bill Clinton's landmark visit
- NOVEMBER 21, 2000MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Two drug traffickers from the same family were hanged...
Two drug traffickers from the same family were hanged in Kajang Prison
- OCTOBER 23, 2000TajikistanDEATH PENALTY
A court in Tajikistan sentenced two Tajik nationals...
A court in Tajikistan sentenced two Tajik nationals to be executed for drugs smuggling
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
An Afghan man was executed for smuggling drugs
An Afghan man was executed for smuggling drugs
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2000VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The five-day appeal court trying Vietnam's biggest...
The five-day appeal court trying Vietnam's biggest drug case in Nam Dinh province reached its verdict
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2000PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
The House of Representatives proposed a bill which...
The House of Representatives proposed a bill which advocated reducing the amount of illegal drugs found on a person in order to be eligible for the death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2000IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia executed an [unidentified] Indian man...
Saudi Arabia executed an [unidentified] Indian man for smuggling heroin into the country