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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.

5 Indians caught smuggling drugs in China may face death penalty: Lawyers

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China: death-row inmates are led to a nearby execution ground
"Drug trafficking is a very serious crime in China."
Indian diplomats in China will be able to meet the accused on Sept. 21.

5 Indians arrested in China for alleged involvement in two cases of drug trafficking could face life imprisonment or even death sentence, say lawyers. The accused, who hail from Kidderpore in Kolkata, have been identified as Sheikh Ahmad Ali (46), Akrar Khan (33), Feroz Khan (31), Sheikh Ismail (24) and Maqsud Alam (24). Ismail is a student of Syamaprasad College in Kolkata.

They have denied knowledge about 24 kg of hashish found hidden in their laptop bags and packets of snacks. They were on their way to Shenzhen in southeastern China, an industrial and trade city that links Hong Kong to China's mainland.

According to legal protocol, Indian diplomats in China will be able to meet the accused on Sept. 21 and till then they will not be allowed to get in touch with their families.

Punishment, according to the law in China, is stricter when the quantity seized is large as that indicates the intent to sell. Cases involving drug lords, professional drug dealers or re-offenders may invite capital punishment in serious cases.

Death sentence may also be used to punish drug smuggling, organised transnational drug crime and armed or violent drug crime, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.

Last year, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) had also issued a circular emphasising that death penalty should be used to punish drug crime.

"It is a very serious offence. According to the law, any deals related to the sales of marijuana over one kg could attract a punishment of a jail term of 15 years," Shanghai-based lawyer Wang Chune was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. But the quantity involved makes the 5 suspects vulnerable to harsher punishment, she added.

Beijing-based criminal lawyer Zhang Liwen, who handles drug-related cases, also agreed with Wang. "The punishment is likely to be 15 years imprisonment, life sentence or death penalty - death sentence is possible," Zhang said, adding that the results of the suspects being administered drug tests being found negative will be of little help to them.

"Whether these suspects took drugs or not will have no influence on their sentencing and judgment," Zhang added.

Zhang also highlighted that Chinese law doesn't discriminate between Chinese nationals and foreigners and the same laws will apply to the Indians. There have been past precedents of foreign nationals being executed for drug related offences in China, including 5 nationals from Philippines, 6 from Japan and 1 man from Britain.

Source: ibtimes.co.uk, September 13, 2016

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