[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

August 18



CHINA:

Woman accused of heroin in panties


A Chinese woman has appeared in court accused of transporting panties and
long johns soaked in heroin, state media said on Friday.

Wang Zhiqin, 42, from Wuhan, capital of China's central province of Hubei,
was charged with transporting 1.44 kg (3.2lb) of heroin soaked into 15
items of underwear, the China Daily said.

"Drug tests apparently detected heroin on them and Wang was arrested after
a tip-off," the China Daily said.

Wang pleaded innocent during her trial at a Shanghai court on Thursday,
saying the tainted underwear had been planted in her luggage, a pink
trunk, after two men in Kunming, capital of the southwestern Yunnan
province, offered her a job and a plane ticket to Shanghai.

Wang's lawyer queried the investigating police's methods, who derived the
quantity of heroin by weighing the drug-soaked underwear, the paper said.

"There is no evidence of the exact purity and quantity of the heroin, and
there is no evidence proving Wang was aware of what she was carrying," the
paper quoted the lawyer as saying.

If convicted, Wang could face the death penalty, the paper said.

The trial continues.

(source: Reuters)