Death Penalty News

The condemned headed family syndicates that trapped Chinese abroad in massive scam centres BEIJING — In less than a week, China conducted a series of executions on a scale rarely seen in recent decades. In all, 16 core members of mafia-like crime syndicates were put to death for a range of crimes, from murder to fraud and human trafficking. While all the victims in the cases were Chinese nationals, many of the condemned were citizens of Myanmar, a largely Buddhist country not known for executing crime bosses.

China has executed 11 members of the notorious Ming family criminal gang, who ran mafia-like scam centers in Myanmar and killed workers who tried to escape, Chinese state media reported on Thursday.  The Ming family was one of the so-called 4 families of northern Myanmar — crime syndicates accused of running hundreds of compounds dealing in internet fraud, prostitution and drug production, and whose members held prominent positions in the local government and militia aligned with Myanmar’s ruling junta. 

Chinese state media has reported that five people have been sentenced to death for their involvement in a violent criminal gang with fraud operations in Myanmar. Scam compounds have flourished in Myanmar, staffed by foreigners — many of them Chinese — who often say they were trafficked and forced to swindle people online. Five people have been sentenced to death in China for their involvement in a violent criminal gang with fraud operations in Myanmar's Kokang region, Chinese state media has reported.

In the aftermath of the 12-day war and amid a surge in executions, Iran's parliament has passed one of the most extensive espionage laws in the country's history. Legal experts say the law could send citizens to the gallows for offenses as minor as owning satellite internet equipment or sharing images on social media. President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday signed the “Law on Intensifying Punishment for Espionage and Cooperation with the Zionist Regime and Hostile Countries,” giving it immediate effect.  Human rights advocates warn the measure could further increase Iran’s already high execution rate .

LAHORE, Pakistan — Federal agents in Pakistan arrested a young Christian man under a blasphemy law mandating the death penalty for comments posted in Facebook chat groups under his name by unknown persons, his family said.  Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials took 24-year-old Arsalan Gill of Railway Quarters in Mughalpura, Lahore, into custody on March 17 as he returned home from his work as a sweeper, said his brother, Suleman Gill.

The Public Prosecution has addressed the crime of publishing information for trafficking in, or promoting narcotics via information technology means. The UAE Federal Public Prosecution has warned the public against publishing any information for the purposes of trafficking or promoting drugs. On its social media platforms, the Public Prosecution affirmed its ongoing efforts to support the fight against this scourge by heightening the awareness of the public on the risks of this crime. "Eliminating this plague will not only protect our young people but will also enhance the sense of safety and stability of our community," the Public Prosecution said. It emphasised that the UAE law, including the Federal Law no. 14 of 1995, and its amendments, has criminalised the possession of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for trafficking in, or promoting purposes, an offence which carries the death penalty. It further noted that the Federal Decree-Law No. 5...