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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

URGENT APPEAL for Syed Zahid Hussain Shah, 36, a Pakistani man facing imminent execution in China

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A Pakistani man, Syed Zahid Hussain Shah, 36, faces imminent execution in China. The Supreme People's Court in Beijing has approved his death sentence and announced an execution date of 21 September.

On 19 March 2010, the Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court found Syed Zahid Hussain Shah guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced him to death. At the same trial, the court sentenced four other Pakistanis involved in the case to life imprisonment. The Shanghai High Court upheld the verdict against Syed Zahid Hussain Shah, who was a jewelry importer/exporter, on 10 November 2010. The Supreme People's Court approved the death sentence and scheduled execution by lethal injection for 21 September 2011.

Syed Zahid Hussain Shah's family has said that he is not guilty of the charge against him, and that he did not receive adequate consular assistance during his detention. His family has asked several Pakistani officials to help, but were told there is little hope.

Syed Zahid Hussain Shah's relatives held a press conference in Islamabad on 9 September, during which they told reporters that his business partners had falsely implicated him in the case. The family also said they had sent letters to Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari to ask for help but that no one had answered these appeals. Pakistan's Advisor for Human Rights told Amnesty International he has asked the President to intervene in the matter and to request his Chinese counterpart delay the execution.

Please write immediately in English, Chinese or your own language:
- Calling on the Chinese authorities not to execute Syed Zahid Hussain Shah;
- Urging the Pakistan government to provide additional urgent consular assistance to Syed Zahid Hussain Shah and do everything in its power to press the Chinese authorities to commute his death sentence.
- Urging China's National People's Congress to introduce a legal procedure for clemency;
- Calling for an immediate moratorium on executions in China with a view to abolishing the death penalty, as provided by UN General Assembly resolutions 62/149, 63/168 and 65/206.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 21 SEPTEMBER 2011 TO:

Supreme People's Court President
WANG Shengjun Yuanzhang
Zuigao Renmin Fayuan
27 Dongjiaomin Xiang
Beijingshi 100745
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 10 6529 2345
Salutation: Dear President

National People's Congress Standing Committee Chairman
WU Bangguo Weiyuanzhang
Quanguo Renda Changwu Weiyuanhui Bangongting, 23 Xijiaominxiang
Xichengqu, Beijingshi 100805
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 10 6309 7934
Salutation: Dear Chairman

And copies to:

President of Pakistan
Asif Ali Zardari
Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: 011 92 5192 04974

Ambassador Zhang Yesui
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
3505 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel: 202 495-2266
Fax: 1 202 495-2138
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