Australian cop's daughter Kalynda Davis and Peter Gardner may face firing squad in China for alleged drug trafficking

Kalynda Davis, Peter Gardner

Up to 9 Australians now face the prospect of being executed by firing squads in China prisons for drug offences, following the arrests of Sydneysiders Kalynda Davis, 22, and Peter Gardner, 25 in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou.

The pair were the latest to be busted trying to smuggle methamphetamine, also known as "ice" and "crystal", into Australia from China's drugs hub as part an intensifying national anti-narcotics sweep by the administration of Chinese president Xi Jinping.

The couple, from the western Sydney suburbs of Penrith and Richmond, were allegedly attempting to smuggle 75kg of the drug; now they face a minimum of life imprisonment and probably death, according to Chinese lawyers who spoke to News Corp Australia.

Wang Jinhe, a lawyer in Guangzhou who has represented several cases involved with drug trafficking, said: "76kg of drugs, in my legal career of 15 years, is an extremely high amount, record breaking to my knowledge. I'm representing a case with an African accused of drug trafficking for of 60kg and I am afraid none of them can escape death penalty."

Methamphetamine has emerged in recent years as the region's No. 1 drug scourge and its tentacles are fast spreading into Australia.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is offering consular assistance to Davis, Gardner and seven other Australians accused of drug smuggling, all of whom are now languishing in harsh Chinese detention centres. But DFAT would offer no further comment nor would the Guangzhou police.

It remains unclear whether the pair have been charged yet, but the process to a trial can take as long as a year in system that has a conviction rate of over 99 %, according to Chinese government statistics. Detainees are effectively guilty until proven innocent.

In September, the Federal government warned about the possibility of a death sentence for drug trafficking after a string of Australian arrests. In the past 12 months the Chinese government has mounted a major anti-drugs program across the country known as Operation Thunder.

"Keeping high pressure on drug traffic is a long-term policy in China, it is not a temporary campaign," Mr Wang said.

"With more foreigners in China, there is an increase in foreigners found drug trafficking too."

But even a far smaller amount could see offenders face bullets to the head, Xie Yanyi, a lawyer in Beijing told News Corp Australia.

"Trafficking of drugs (including meth and heroin) of more than 50 grams could lead to (a) death sentence."

Unlike other charges relating to business deals, which have proven controversial for some Australians sentenced to prison on China, drug cases are relatively cut and dried Mr Xie said.

"And China is taking tougher stance against drug trafficking, since it is a universal crime in any legal system, facts are relatively easy to confirm, and there is less possibility of political or ideological interpretations to such cases," he added.

Until they are officially charged, the families of Davis and Gardner must apply for special permission to see them, Mr Xie said. And even after charges are laid and sentences handed down, they will only receive one visit from family each month. That will remain the same if they escape death, for the rest of their lives, he added.

Guangzhou's position in the far south of China means it is the biggest city on the Chinese coast close Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle, with major air and sealinks via the nearby ports of Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Chinese gangs also manufacture huge quantities of the drug as well as having connections to notorious Mexican drug cartels.

Chinese authorities have few qualms about executing foreigners for drug offences. In July 2 Ugandans were executed. A number of Africans, who are prominent in on-the-street drug dealing in big Chinese cities are understood to be on death row. In 2010 4 Japanese were shot after being found guilty of drug offences.

Source: news.com.au, December 6, 2014

François Mitterrand, the Justice Minister Who Sent 45 Men to the Guillotine

The socialist president celebrated for abolishing the death penalty in France sent 45 condemned men to the guillotine when he was Minister of Justice. In French political history, François Mitterrand is the father of the historic victory of May 1981. He remains associated with one of the greatest moral laws of the Fifth Republic: the definitive end of capital executions, carried through with Robert Badinter in the autumn of 1981.

Texas | Jury recommends death penalty for man convicted of killing San Benito police lieutenant

A Cameron County jury recommended the death penalty for Rogelio Martinez for killing a San Benito police lieutenant during a police chase in Brownsville. Martinez stared forward as the judge announced the recommendation. Lt. Milton Resendez's family told Martinez in court that their lives will never be the same. Resendez's wife and siblings walked past cameras and declined to speak with reporters. Inside the courtroom, where no audio or video recording was allowed, Resendez's sister Jackie raised her voice at Martinez during impact statements.

Alabama | Brian Martin sentenced to death in killing of Sheffield Sgt. Nick Risner

Brian Lansing Martin was sentenced to death Monday for killing Sheffield Police Sgt. Nick Risner, whose death prompted Alabama lawmakers to restrict early-release credits for inmates convicted of killing someone with a deadly weapon. A Colbert County judge formally imposed the sentence Oct. 26, following a jury’s unanimous recommendation in September, WAFF reported. “Today’s sentence represents justice and accountability for the murder of Sergeant Nick Risner,” Colbert County District Attorney Hal Hughston said in a statement quoted by the station.

Florida | Bunnell man sentenced to death for fatally stabbing wife outside their home in 2024

A Flagler County judge sentenced Jermaine Mandell Williams Sr. to death Monday for stabbing his wife outside their Bunnell home in 2024. Williams, 34, was convicted of 1st-degree murder in July. Jurors deliberated about 20 minutes before finding him guilty and later voted 11-1 to recommend the death penalty. The attack happened Aug. 2, 2024. Surveillance video and testimony showed Williams went inside the home, returned with an 8-inch chef’s knife and attacked his wife, Yolonda Charmaine Williams, in the street, according to court and prosecution accounts. She was stabbed 19 to 20 times and later died at a hospital.

Indiana governor rejects brain scans for death row inmate ahead of execution

Gov. Mike Braun is still weighing Jeffrey Weisheit’s clemency request, however. Gov. Mike Braun’s administration will not allow death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit to undergo additional brain scans before his scheduled execution next week. The decision follows weeks of legal efforts by his attorneys to obtain additional medical evidence for his clemency case. Braun’s general counsel, Stephanie Flittner, met with Weisheit’s legal team Wednesday to discuss the testing and his pending clemency request.

Medical experts shocked by Tennessee team’s ‘malpractice’ in Christa Pike’s failed execution

New details of IV team’s attempts to find a vein shared by Pike’s lawyer ‘shocked and disturbed’ practitioners Medical experts have expressed shock at the apparent incompetence shown by Tennessee’s execution team during the failed lethal injection of Christa Pike , the prisoner who survived a normally fatal dose of pentobarbital, which they say would be considered medical malpractice in any other setting.

Indiana Parole Board hears testimony on clemency for man scheduled for Nov. 5 execution

Jeffrey Weisheit set his house on fire in 2010, killing his girlfriend’s two young children he was watching. The Indiana Parole Board will now make a recommendation in the coming days to Governor Mike Braun on whether to grant clemency to condemned killer Jeffrey Weisheit. Jeffrey is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 5 for the 2010 murder of his girlfriend's 2 children in Vanderburgh County.

‘I’m Not Incompetent’ Christa Pike’s execution doctor, Mark Fowler, speaks.

Dr. Mark Fowler knew something was wrong after 45 minutes passed without word from the warden. In most cases, executions take no more than ten minutes. When he was summoned from his waiting room to the chamber next door, he saw 50-year-old Christa Pike, who’d received two lethal doses of pentobarbital that night, strapped to a gurney, gasping for air. “She’s not dead,” Fowler recalls the warden saying. “I thought, Well, in human beings there’s a spectrum of responses to medications and we’ll give it a few more minutes,” he says. Another half-hour passed. Fowler worried she might survive with irreversible brain damage. “She’s going to be in a permanent vegetative state with a quarter-million dollars in medical expenses.” He came back in and diagnosed her as comatose. The deputy commissioner ordered the execution to stop. Now, instead of taking part in Pike’s death, Fowler’s job was to bring her back to life.

Tennessee Republicans want electrocution or firing squads to replace lethal injection

Tennessee Republican lawmakers are ready to change the state’s death penalty laws in the wake of two botched executions by lethal injection, including a renewed look at electrocution and firing squads. Republican Rep. Jody Barrett of Dickson confirmed this week he is considering sponsoring legislation in 2027 to make firing squads a method for putting people to death, even though one Democratic lawmaker called the practice “depraved.” Republican Sen. Tom Hatcher also said he is having a bill drafted that would either remove lethal injection from the execution process or reform it based on the results of a third-party investigation Gov. Bill Lee ordered after the failed execution of convicted murderer Christa Pike in September. Hatcher, a first-term senator from Maryville, acknowledged that eliminating lethal injection would leave electrocution as the only way allowed to put people to death.

Saudi Arabia executes woman, 'terrorists', 'indecent' couple, and juvenile offenders

Saudi Arabia carried out a series of executions in mid-October, including that of a woman convicted of killing her mother and attempting to kill her sister, alongside five men in the Eastern Province. Official statements described the five as terrorists; human rights groups described them as political prisoners sentenced under discretionary (ta’zir) penalties, one of whom was a child at the time of the alleged acts. The cases illustrate the kingdom’s continued use of the death penalty under Sharia, its stated commitment to public order and justice, and criticism from human rights organizations over the scope of capital punishment.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog