Jan. 24
CHINA:
Chinese given death penalty for murdering Japanese family
Yang Ning, a Chinese citizen, was sentenced to death Monday for murdering
one Japanese family, robbery and theft with others during his stay in
Japan from August 2002 to June 2003.
In its first-instance trial, the Liaoyang City Intermediate People's Court
in Liaoning Province, northeast China, also sentenced Wang Liang, Yang's
accomplice, to life imprisonment.
On Oct. 19, 2004, the city's Intermediate Court held the 1st hearing on
this case.
The court said that Wang and Yang, two former students in Fukuoka, sneaked
into Shinjiro Matsumoto's home along with an accomplice named Wei Wei on
June 19, 2004, killing all 4 members. They robbed 40,000 yen and threw the
victims' bodies into the sea. Wang and Yang returned to China soon after
the murder case.
Wang and Yang were also accused of robbery and burglary during their stay
in the city of Fukuoka from August 2002 to June 2003.
Wang, then working in the city of Liaoyang, was summoned to local police
when arousing suspicion among people by spending extravagantly. He
confessed the crime on his own initiative and provided essential clues for
catching Yang.
Considering Wang's performance, the court issued a life-imprison verdict
to Wang.
(source: Xinhuanet)
VIETNAM:
Hanoi to execute 17 drug smugglers
A Vietnamese court sentenced 17 people to death and another 10 to life in
prison on Monday in the communist country's biggest prosecution of drug
dealers.
Vietnam, a conduit for heroin smuggled from the Golden Triangle
poppy-growing region where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet, has been
stepping up its campaign against drugs as part of a broad crackdown on
"social evil."
Among those sentenced to death were two former anti-narcotics policemen
from the central province of Nghe An, on the border with Laos, said a
witness at the closing session of a trial that began on January 11 in Ho
Chi Minh City.
In all, 29 defendants pleaded guilty to trafficking more than 800 kg
(1,750 lb) of heroin over a period of nearly 5 years, the biggest volume
ever cited at a drugs trial in Vietnam.
Trafficking in more than 600 grams (1.32 lb) of heroin is punishable by
death by firing squad.
2 of the gang members received jail terms of 20 years and 4 years for
illegal money transfers, the witness said.
The main defendant, Nguyen Van Hai, 44, admitted to bringing in the bulk
of the heroin from Laos and Cambodia, beginning in 2001, state media
reported.
Hai and many of his accomplices were arrested in 2003.
In early January, the same court sentenced 6 people to death for selling
heroin and opium in Ho Chi Minh City between June 2001 and March 2002.
(source: Reuters)
