Death Penalty News

The full extradition agreement between Macau SAR and Portugal has been published in the latest Official Gazette on Monday, with criminal fugitive offenders in the 2 jurisdictions to be handed over to the requested party in accordance with the agreement’s provisions. The delivery may take place for the purpose of criminal prosecution or for the execution of a prison sentence in respect to court rulings within the jurisdiction of the requesting party. According to the agreement, fugitives that have committed or attempted crimes punishable by the law of both parties with one year or more of detention are allowed to be surrendered. Meanwhile, if the purpose of the extradition request is solely for detention, the prison sentence remaining to carried out should be no less than 6 months. Portugal reserves the right to refuse hand over national fugitives requested by Macau authorities in Portugal; while the Macau SAR can refuse to surrender Chinese nationals, permanent resid...

HONG KONG - Tens of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday in a bid to block changes to the Chinese-ruled city's extradition laws, which could pave the way for fugitives wanted by mainland China to be sent across the border for trial for the first time. Hong Kong residents as well as foreign and Chinese nationals living or traveling through the global financial hub would all be at risk if they are wanted on the mainland. After weeks of broadening local and international pressure, debate in Hong Kong's parliament on the so-called Fugitive Offenders Ordinance amendment bill is due to start on Wednesday. With pro-establishment political forces now dominant in the Legislative Council, the bill is expected to be passed by the end of the month. What does the extradition bill involve? The Hong Kong government first launched the proposals in February, proposing sweeping changes that would simplify case-by-case extraditions of c...

Lawmakers in Taiwan voted on Tuesday to amend existing laws to enforce heavier penalties against anyone – locals, Hong Kongers or mainland residents – who leak state secrets or spy for Beijing. Previous anti-espionage legislation only targeted Taiwan residents, so the loophole had to be plugged to ensure that people from the mainland, Hong Kong or Macau can also be punished appropriately for spying, according to Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan. The move comes after a spy from the mainland was arrested and identified as a People’s Liberation Army intelligence officer. The defendant, surnamed Zhen, reportedly got more than 10 military officers to form a spy ring. But, he only received a four-year jail term from a local court. The new amendment will extend penalties to include the death sentence or life imprisonment for Chinese nationals as well as residents of Hong Kong and Macau who steal Taiwan’s state or military secrets. Also, amendments to the Criminal Code and the Clas...

The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has said that there are currently 129 Indonesian nationals facing the death penalty for their role in drug smuggling. "The majority of them are migrant workers who were tricked into becoming couriers by international drug syndicates and most of them are women," BNN chief Anang Iskandar said as quoted by Antara news agency on Sunday. The BNN has appealed to Indonesian citizens, especially migrant workers in Hong Kong and Macau, to remain alert over the danger of drug syndicates in the countries in which they work. "They should not be easily duped. They should be careful when someone wants to entrust something to them. Also be very careful with strangers," he said. Anang earlier warned women in the country to be careful when dating foreigners, suggesting they could be tricked into becoming drug mules. He said that many Indonesian women were languishing in prisons abroad because they were "easily tricked into ...