[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 30


VIETNAM:

Death penalty for 15 drug traffickers 15 people have been sentenced to
death in Vietnam for drugs trafficking in 2 different trials.


11 people, including 4 women, were given the death penalty in Hanoi for
trafficking 440 kilograms of heroin, a court official said today.

7 other members of the same ring were jailed for life, while 4 received
terms from 17 months to 20 years at the 11-day trial, which ended
yesterday.

The gang was found guilty of selling heroin in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City
from 2000 until their arrest early this year.

On the same day another court, in the central province of Nghe An,
sentenced four people to death and jailed 3 others for life after they
were found guilty of trafficking heroin, an official at the provincial
court said after a 2-day trial.

Vietnam gives the death penalty to anyone caught with more than 600 grams
of heroin or more than 20 kilograms of opium.

The latest sentences bring to 78 the number of people who have been put on
death row in Vietnam since the beginning of the year, according to figures
compiled by AFP from state media.

In 2006, the communist nation sentenced at least 71 people to death,
mostly for drugs trafficking and murder.

(source: The West Australian)