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Thread: China Capital Punishment News

  1. #11
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Death penalty for privileged student

    A Chinese court sentenced a college student to death Friday for murdering a woman he had injured with his car, in a crime that has sparked widespread debate over China's rich "second generation."

    Yao Jianxin was given the death penalty in the northern city of Xian after confessing he killed Zhang Miao because he feared the "peasant woman would be hard to deal with" after the accident, the state Xinhua News Agency said.

    According to media reports, Yao's car hit Zhang, a part-time cafeteria worker and the mother of a two-yearold son, while she was riding her bicycle late on the night of Oct. 20.

    The 26-year-old woman only suffered minor injuries but instead of helping her, Yao, 21, stabbed her eight times with a knife as she eyed his car number plate.

    The Xian Conservatory of Music student fled but was later caught.

    The crime has led to widespread social debate over China's "rich second generation," a well-off group of youths that demands privilege and sometimes lacks morals, after more than 30 years of booming economic growth.

    It follows another notorious incident involving a 23-year-old man, Li Qiming, who was sentenced to six years in prison in January after attempting to exploit his father's senior police rank to flee a fatal drinkdriving accident.

    After running over two young women on a college campus in north China, killing one of them, he shouted, "my father is Li Gang," and dared onlookers to try to stop him leaving the scene.

    In its judgment on Yao, the court said his crime was "extremely despicable ... and extremely cruel," and warranted the death penalty despite his confession and remorseful attitude, Xinhua said.

    Reaction to Friday's verdict was mixed in Internet postings, with many saying the life of a college student should be spared, while others agreeing wholeheartedly with the verdict.

    "If it were not for the strong public opinion over this case it is very unlikely that this verdict would have been reached," said a posting by a person named Mafan on the popular Sina.com web portal.

    Read more: http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Deat...#ixzz1KLPpbiVD

  2. #12
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    China still harvests most organs for transplant from executed prisoners



    China still harvests most organs for transplant from executed prisoners

    China, hoping to reduce its widespread illegal trafficking in human organs for transplant, announced a new program to encourage voluntary donation of organs.

    Most legal organs for transplants in China come from the bodies of executed Chinese prisoners. Allegedly, these are "donations" supplied via written consent from the prisoners or their families. There are doubts about the voluntary nature of these consents, and about whether many organ extractions are not in fact part of a program of political repression.
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    In China, only 10,000 legally obtained organs are available every year to supply to 1.5 million patients in need of them. This creates a huge demand for organs, and thus the illegal market for organ trafficking. Ironically, new penalties for illegal organ trafficking in China now include the death penalty.

    One problem with voluntary donations reported by China Daily in February is that "Most Chinese believe that his or her body is an inheritance from parents, which they are not allowed to break apart. Scientific education is needed to help them abandon those outdated thoughts."

    http://www.examiner.com/political-bu...uted-prisoners

  3. #13
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    China suspends executions for two years



    China is seeking to reduce the number of people it executes.

    The Supreme People's Court - the highest court in Mainland China - has ordered lower courts to suspend death sentences for two years, but only in cases that does not call for "immediate execution.”



    In a report, the Supreme People’s Court stated: "Strictly control and unify standards relating to the death penalty, and ensure that it only applies to a very small minority of criminals committing extremely serious crimes.”

    In recent years, Beijing has unveiled several measures to reduce the number of executions. Earlier this year, the government reduced the numbers of death penalty crimes by 13 down to 55 (the deleted crimes were all economic offenses, including tax fraud, the smuggling of cultural relics or precious metals, tomb robbing and stealing fossils).

    In 2007, the Supreme People’s Court regained the power to review death sentence cases levied by lower courts – a step that reduced the number of executions.



    In China, convicted criminals who are handed down a death penalty typically serve life in prison.

    However, most executions are carried out for the most egregious criminal offenses, including aggravated murder and drug trafficking.

    Although the country does not publicize the number of executions it conducts, human rights activists around the world believe China kills more convicts than any other country on earth.

    Amnesty International, the London-based human rights watchdog, has estimated that China has executed untold ‘thousands” of convicts.

    Amnesty has repeated demanded that the Chinese authorities reveal the number of people it executes, to no avail.

    This past March, Amnesty International said it officially recorded 527 executions in China last year, although the actual number is likely to be much higher.

    In March 2010, Claudio Cordone, Amnesty International's Interim Secretary General, said: "The death penalty is cruel and degrading, and an affront to human dignity. The Chinese authorities claim that fewer executions are taking place. If this is true, why won't they tell the world how many people the state put to death?"

    http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/1518...nesty-intl.htm

  4. #14
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    Russian woman sentenced to death in China

    Moscow, Nov 27 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A 37-year-old Russian woman has been sentenced to death in China for drug trafficking, the Russian embassy in Beijing said.

    However, the sentence will be delayed for two years.

    Marina Lopatina, a resident of Khabarovsk, was found guilty of trying to smuggle two kg heroin from China's special administrative region of Macao to the mainland.

    A court in China's Zhuhai city announced the sentence Nov 23, the embassy said Saturday.

    This brings the number of Russian citizens on death row for drug-trafficking in China to seven.

    Under Chinese law, an attempt to smuggle 50 grams or more of drugs is punishable with the death penalty.

    However, death sentences for drug-trafficking are often commuted to life imprisonment if the convicts show full remorse for their actions.

    http://in.news.yahoo.com/russian-wom...054806041.html

  5. #15
    Banned TheKindExecutioner's Avatar
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    I'd be shocked if China ever actually executes that Russian woman.

  6. #16
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    Why? It´s a local law. On a personal level I opose death sentences for non-capital crimes, but on the other hand I can understand that China tries toa void a drug problem.

  7. #17
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    Filipino drug mule to be executed Dec 8

    We told you on Sunday how a Russian woman was sentenced to death in Zhuhai for heroin smuggling. A 35-year-old Filipino man is set to join her in the gallows for the same crime -- he was found carrying 1.495 kg of heroin in September 2008 at the Guilin International Airport, and his execution is set for December 8.

    According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

    President Benigno Aquino III has sent a “letter of appeal” to his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, requesting commutation of the convict’s death penalty to life imprisonment, disclosed DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez.

    For his part, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario “made representations with the Chinese Embassy in Makati City to convey the appeal of the Philippine government for a mitigated sentence for the Philippine national’s case.”

    ABS-CBN News reports that the Malacañang Palace "respects" the decision of the Chinese government and that the Philippine government has “exhausted all efforts” to appeal for clemency. Said presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda:

    “We recognize the decision of the judicial authorities in China. It was made based on the evidence that the Filipino national was carrying [1.495] kilos of heroin. And therefore based on their law, it was subject to the death penalty. It was done in compliance with their legal processes. We respect that and I believe that in the same manner that three Filipinos were previously executed, this should not cause a hiccup in Filipino-Chinese relations."

    A Filipino migrant rights group is lobbying the Aquino administration to do something to save the life of the drug mule. Said John Leonard Monterona, Middle East regional coordinator of Migrante:

    “We are still praying and hoping that the execution will be halted, though Chinese authorities really adhere on its strict implementation of anti-drugs policy and have meted out death to those found guilty."

    “We hope that our calls for the Aquino govt. to work hard to saving the lives of other OFWs on death row must be met with all seriousness and pro-active stance on the part of the present administration,” Monterona added.

    Monterona reiterates his group calls on the Aquino govt. the formation of a high-level inter-agency task force that would find ways for the commutation of Filipinos’ death sentences and eventually spare them from execution.

    If the death sentence of the unnamed man is not successfully commuted, he will likely be the fourth Filipino to be executed in China this year. Three Filipino drug mules were put to death by lethal injection in Shenzhen this March and they were the first Filipinos to ever be executed in China.

    http://shanghaiist.com/2011/11/30/fi...executed_d.php

  8. #18
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    Binay seeks reprieve for Filipino convict in China

    VICE President Jejomar Binay said Thursday he was not banking on the commutation of the death sentence of the Filipino condemned by the Chinese High Court for drug trafficking but would still plead leniency for his compatriot as most countries have abandoned death penalty as capital punishment.

    “They (China) have their own law and we must respect that. We also condemn crimes involving dangerous drugs only we don’t impose the death penalty anymore and maybe that will be a consideration by China in the treatment of our national,” Binay said.

    “December 8 is the feast day of the Immaculate Conception. I’m certain prayers can make miracles happen,” Binay said.

    Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the Philippines can only make pleadings with China but cannot interfere with Beijing’s justice system.

    “There is nothing we can do about this in same manner we do not want other countries to interfere in our business. We should not interfere with their justice system, we can only appeal, “ Enrile said.

    Enrile lauded Binay’s efforts to try to secure a stay of execution but said China has already made it clear thatit has to enforce the law.

    Binay said that the situation at hand was different from the previous execution when only one, Ramon Credo, of the three convicts, was executed and the two had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment last March.

    “During the previous execution, President Aquino phoned the Chinese Premier directly but this time, he wrote a letter which I will deliver,” Binay said.

    Binay said he was still arranging travel permission from the China’s embassy here through the Department of Foreign Affairs and said will fly to Beijing as soon as travel protocols are met.

    The unnamed Filipino drug mule was caught at the Guilin International Airport in Guangxi on September 13, 2008 in an alleged attempt to smuggle 1.5 kilograms of heroin into China from Malaysia.

    His death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme People’s Court in late November.

    Binay defended the DFA that it had provided “all necessary and possible assistance” to the convict during his detention and trial and was also seeking to have his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

    http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/i...011/december/2

  9. #19
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    Kin murder suspects face death penalty

    A group of farmers are facing the death penalty after being accused of murdering three people and then burying the evidence in fake mine accidents.

    In a case eerily similar to the plot of the award-winning Chinese movie Blind Shaft, the four suspects are accused of murdering their victims and blaming the deaths on mine accidents to extort money from mine owners.

    Huang Yucai, 52, and his 41-year-old nephew, Huang Xianzhong, appeared alongside co-defendants Shi Xuesong and Zhang Xihua at Beijing's No 1 Intermediate People's Court on Tuesday. The trial was adjourned for further investigation.

    "This is a complicated case, so it could take time for the court to study all the evidence at hand," court official Yang Qianhui said. She refused to speculate on when the trial might reopen.

    Prosecutors said the murders took place in illegal coal mines. Court documents stated that Huang Yucai, Huang Xianzhong and Shi killed two relatives in 2007 in an area west of Beijing. The second incident, in July 2009, took place in the capital's Fangshan district, about 40 kilometers southwest of downtown, and involved the same three men, as well as Zhang, the only female defendant.

    In each case, the victim's head was caved in using a hammer or a heavy tool, even as supports were removed from the shaft overhead to cause a collapse, according to police.

    "In the first incident Huang Yucai's brother-in-law, who was mentally challenged, and his cousin were killed," said Han Xiujie, a police officer with the Fangshan public security bureau. "The victim (in the second incident) was Han Junhong, Zhang's husband."

    Although authorities have struggled to gather solid evidence following the 2007 collapse, resulting in a payout for the accused, detectives said they had reasons to believe otherwise.

    "We had no doubt that the 2009 incident was not a case of a simple mine accident. During the initial investigation we found a hammer and other tools that were likely used to carry out the murder," said Han Xiujie, adding that the case was immediately handed to the prosecuting authority.

    Other material evidence found at the scene included the victim's pocket watch and a pair of shoes, according to documents presented to the court.

    All four suspects were detained in their home village of Tangtougou, North China's Hebei province, within weeks of the second mine collapse.

    A spokesperson for the prosecution said authorities had attempted to bring the case to trial twice before it finally went before judges on Tuesday. However, the spokesperson would not confirm whether this was because Huang Yucai and Huang Xianzhong had retracted earlier confessions.

    Tang Hongxin, an attorney at Ying Ke Law Firm who specializes in criminal cases, said that if the defendants were found guilty, they will likely face the death penalty, as their behavior will be seen to have had "negative effects on society".

    "If it were true, and these guys did it for the money, it showed that they lacked respect for life," added professor Li Meijin, an expert in criminal psychology at the Chinese People's Public Security University.

    Wang Liwen, village head of Tangtougou, said his small farming community was rocked by the allegations against fellow residents.

    "Zhang's in her 40s and has always been easygoing and friendly to everyone. We can't believe this honest woman did such an inhuman thing," he said in a telephone interview, adding that most villagers were unaware that the divorced mother-of-two had been married to Han Junhong at the time of his death.

    "Maybe she was forced into whatever she did by the other suspects," Wang said. "Everyone is looking forward to a fair sentence from the court."

    http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/20...t_14200206.htm

  10. #20
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    A Glimpse of Death Row in China


    A view inside the walls of a Chinese prison, where four women awaiting execution were photographed in 2003; a slide show republished last week sparked debate online.

    A group of Chinese women, photographed inside death row at a Chinese prison, engage in seemingly banal tasks — painting their nails, brushing their hair, discussing clothes with uniformed guards — that take on tragic resonance in the final 12 hours before the women’s execution.

    The pictures, more than eight years old, remain stark and poignant, providing a rare, albeit officially approved, glimpse of death row in a country that executes more people each year than any other.

    The photo slide show and its accompanying captions describing the women’s activities were republished late last week on the Web site of Phoenix Television, a private broadcaster based in Hong Kong, and translated by Ministry of Tofu, a blog that is often critical of the Chinese government.


    Despite having been first published in the Chinese newspaper Southern Weekend nearly a decade ago, on June 25, 2003, the photos have circulated widely this week on Twitter and Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese microblogging site, sparking debate. It was unclear why the photos had been republished.


    A woman who “exuded childlike innocence and breeziness” in the last hours before her execution was fed by another inmate in a Chinese prison.

    The authorities appear to have originally granted access to the photographer in order to use portraits of the condemned women, each scheduled to be executed on drug charges, as a deterrent to future offenders. According to the captions, the pictures were taken days before an international day against drug abuse and trafficking.

    While the Chinese government has recently moved to limit the number of crimes for which execution can be applied, Chinese law still imposes the death penalty for anyone found smuggling more than 50 grams of heroin, less than two ounces, and many death row inmates have been convicted of smuggling.

    Foreigners too face death for drug charges in China. There are currently seven Russian nationals on death row in China, including a woman convicted last week of smuggling more than four pounds of heroin, Russia’s official RIA Novosti news agency reported. China executed a Pakistani businessman on drug charges in September, the second such execution in two years, local news reports in Pakistan said, and despite requests for clemency from the president of the Philippines, a Filipino man convicted for smuggling more than three pounds of heroin is to be put to death on Dec. 8, The Associated Press reported, following similar executions of three Filipino traffickers in March.

    In 2009, China executed a 53-year-old British man on drug charges despite an international clemency drive; supporters had said the man, Akmal Shaikh, was mentally ill and should not face death for his crime.

    China does not publish statistics on the number of people it executes, but Amnesty International estimates the number to be in the thousands. The group’s most recent report found that outside of China, at least 527 people were put to death in 2010, down from more than 700 the year before.

    The four women whose last hours were documented in the photographs were each described as “drug dealers.” According to the captions, one of the women, identified as Ma Qingxiu, a 49-year-old from Hubei Province, had been convicted and sentenced to death for trafficking about 5 pounds of unspecified drugs on multiple occasions. The other women’s crimes were not detailed.

    Nearly 300,000 people have viewed the images on Phoenix Television’s Web site, which elicited more than 3,600 comments and a debate over the application of the death penalty in these cases, and more broadly.

    “Our government should abolish the death penalty on drug dealers, especially they should adopt a more lenient legal approach to women given that they have been held down over 5,000 years,” one commenter wrote.

    “Compared with crimes committed by corrupted officials, what they did is not even worth mentioning. Unjust treatment indeed,” another said.

    Others were less sympathetic, believing that the Chinese government should deal as harshly as possible with the drug trade, even if it means the execution of women. “Criminals should get punished regardless of their gender. No need to highlight these four are women,” wrote one.

    Another commenter said: “Consider how many people’s lives they have ruined, I think they ought to be shot 20 times to death!”

    Some Chinese readers saw the treatment of the women during their final hours, in which they can be seen eating final meals and smiling with guards, as too coddling.

    “Those pictures strike me more like they are enjoying a vacation than on death row,” one commenter observed.


    Regular inmates, in blue, played a card game with women on death row shortly before their execution in 2003, as guards watched.

    http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/201...-row-in-china/

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