China executes child trafficker Yu Huaying

A local court in Southwest China's Guizhou Province on Friday executed death sentence on Yu Huaying, who was convicted of abducting and trafficking 17 children in 10 years.

Between 1993 and 2003, Yu, in collaboration with others, traveled to various places, including Guizhou, Chongqing, and Yunnan, where she abducted a total of 17 children to gain illegal profits.

On October 25, 2024, the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Yu to death for child abduction, deprived her of political rights for life, and confiscated all her personal property.

Yu appealed the verdict. After a second trial, the Guizhou Provincial High People's Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the original judgment. The case was then submitted to the Supreme People's Court for approval.

Following a review, the Supreme People's Court approved the death sentence in accordance with the law.

The execution of Yu's death sentence quickly became a trending topic on China's social media. On the X-like platform Weibo, the topic gained over 35 million views by Friday noon.

"Delayed justice is still justice," one netizen commented on Weibo.

"Finally, may there be no more human traffickers in the world, and may all children have a happy home," another netizen wrote.

The execution of Yu reflects the fairness of the people's judiciary and upholds social justice and equality. It also reflects the effective deterrence of China's death penalty system against extremely heinous crimes, said domestic news site thepaper.cn.

Human trafficking, which treats children as "commodities," severely undermines social conscience and breaches the legal red line. It must be dealt with severely, it noted.

On Friday morning, Yang Niuhua, one of the victims in Yu's case, was on a live-streaming with her sister when she suddenly learned of Yu's execution, according to chinanews.com.

Yang Niuhua's sister responded in the live broadcast, saying, "This came too suddenly, and I'm a bit emotional. We've all been waiting for this day," reflecting on how Yu had harmed so many families.

Yang was one of the children trafficked by Yu Huaying. In 1995, when she was 5 years old, she was abducted by Yu Huaying from Guiyang, capital city of Guizhou, and trafficked to Handan in Hebei Province, the Chengdu-based Red Star News reported in December 2024. It wasn't until 2021 that she was able to find her home in Xiaotuoluo village of Guanzhai township in Zhijin county, Guizhou. Yang's case stirred a heated discussion online at that time.

The public security organs across China successfully solved over 550 current and cold cases of human trafficking in 2024, with a group of trafficking suspects apprehended and a batch of missing and abducted women and children rescued, including an individual missing for up to 30 years, helping to protect the rights and welfare of women and children, China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said on Tuesday.

Source: people.cn, Staff, February 28, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

Wyoming Hasn't Executed Anyone In 33 Years, But It's Tried

It's been 33 years since Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan stood in his office next to his priest, warring with himself over the execution of convicted serial killer Mark Hopkinson. The state hasn't executed anyone since that day — but it's tried. In the final few moments of convicted killer Mark Hopkinson’s life, protesters converged on the Wyoming State Capitol while the governor stood in his office, with a priest by his side. The state of Wyoming executed Hopkinson by lethal injection Jan. 22, 1992, at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins — 13 years after he was convicted.

Iran | Convicted killer hanged in Tabriz. Execution carried out by his uncle, who was plaintiff in the case

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 10, 2025: Hassan Saei, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Tabriz Central Prison. His execution was carried out by his uncle, who was the plaintiff in the case. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Tabriz Central Prison on 6 May 2025. His identity has been established as Hassan Saei who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court. An informed source told IHRNGO: “Hassan Saei was arrested for the murder of his cousin and his maternal uncle carried out the execution.”

Oscar Franklin Smith, Tennessee death row inmate, declines to select execution method

Oscar Franklin Smith, a Tennessee death row inmate scheduled for execution on May 22, will die by lethal injection if the process moves forward. Smith, who was asked to choose between lethal injection and the electric chair, declined to pick, his attorney Kelley Henry, a supervisory assistant federal public defender, said. When an inmate does not choose, the method defaults to lethal injection. It's not the first time Smith has been given this grim decision and declined. That decision to not choose ultimately saved his life for three more years.

Oklahoma | Former death row inmate Richard Glossip’s legal limbo

Former death row inmate Richard Glossip's court hearing gets postponed, leaving the next steps in his high-profile case uncertain. With his conviction overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the state must now decide whether to retry him for a 1997 murder of motel owner, Barry Van Treese. Richard Glossip’s long-running legal battle is once again delayed. His much-anticipated court hearing set for May 9 in Oklahoma County District Court has been postponed at the request of both prosecutors and defense attorneys, according to online court records. A new date has not yet been scheduled.

Saudi Arabia imposes death sentence for Bible smuggling

November 28, 2014: In a recent official statement from the Saudi Arabian government, the death sentence will now be imposed on anyone who attempts to smuggle Bibles into the country. In actuality, the new law extends to the importing of all illegal drugs and "all publications that have a prejudice to any other religious beliefs other than Islam." In other words, anyone who attempts to bring Bibles or Gospel literature into the country will have all materials confiscated and be imprisoned and sentenced to death. Source: heartcrymissionary.com, November 28, 2014

Execution methods used in the US today: The promise of a quick and painless death

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT The practice of execution has been around since the days of ancient civilisations, and, as uncomfortable as it may be to think about, this punishment is still handed out in various countries around the world today. Capital punishment for murder was suspended in the UK as recently as 1965, within living memory. Peter Anthony Allen and Gwynne Owen Evans became the last prisoners to be executed on British soil on August 13, 1964, with the pair hanged at separate prisons in Manchester and Liverpool for the murder of John Alan West. Since then, there have been frequent calls to bring back the death penalty, which some supporters believe to be an effective deterrent against the most despicable crimes. Those on the other side of the debate believe capital punishment to be an inhumane measure, often citing the numerous instances where convicts have faced agonising deaths.

Florida death row executioner recalls moment he realised job wasn't for him

Ron McAndrew was once the head of Florida's execution programme but one death made him regret everything A man that was once the head of Florida's execution programme recalled the moment where he realised the job wasn't for him, as he admitted he needed therapy to come to terms with what he'd seen. Ron McAndrew, now 88, didn't aspire to be a correctional officer in any form, but after being hired in a Miami prison in 1979, he climbed up the ladder over the next decade and became a warden. In what he now calls a 'wonderful career', he recalled moving to Florida State Prison, famous for holding the US state's death row inmates and for being the site where serial killer Ted Bundy was electrocuted to death.

Woman who killed pregnant victim she met on Facebook, cut fetus from womb, ‘claimed’ child as her own to face death penalty trial after double jeopardy appeal rejected

"The stuff that nightmares are made on." Reader discretion advised. A 45-year-old woman in Arkansas who lured a pregnant victim into an ambush and cut out her fetus in a botched scheme to “claim” the child as her own will face the death penalty after the state’s highest court rejected an appeal in which her lawyers argued that her upcoming state murder trial was barred by double jeopardy. The Arkansas Supreme Court last week denied the appeal of Amber Waterman, holding that her federal kidnapping convictions did not prohibit the state from pursuing murder charges against her for the 2022 slayings of 33-year-old Ashley Bush and her unborn daughter, whom she had named Valkyrie Grace Willis.

Dallas DA John Creuzot says office will seek death penalty in retrial of Texas 7 escapee

This will be the first time Creuzot has pursued capital punishment since taking office in 2019. Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot confirmed to The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday morning that his office will seek the death penalty against Texas Seven escapee Randy Halprin. This will be the first time Creuzot has pursued capital punishment since taking office in 2019. He has opted not to seek death in other high-profile cases, like accused serial killer Billy Chemirmir, Yaser Said, who fatally shot his two teenage daughters and went on the run for more than a decade, or Nestor Hernandez, who murdered two hospital workers at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

Saudi Arabia executes its 100th prisoner so far this year

100+ executions since January, more than half of them for non-lethal drug offenses Saudi Arabia has executed two people on terrorism-related charges, bringing the total number of executions in the kingdom this year to at least 100, according to an AFP tally. The Ministry of Interior said the two Saudis were executed for their involvement in acts of "terrorism", including joining a "terrorist organization" and attending training camps abroad, where they learned to make explosives.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog