[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 18



INDONESIA:

Indonesian President Defends Death Penalty for Drug Crimes


Indonesia's president is defending his country's use of the death penalty for 
drug offenses, arguing that drug abuse constitutes an emergency.

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws and more than 130 people on death row, 
mostly for drug crimes. Authorities recently said Indonesia is preparing to 
execute more foreigners convicted of drug offenses. Executions last year caused 
an international outcry.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said Monday that "Indonesia currently has an 
emergency, above all in drug abuse." He said 30-50 people a day die in 
Indonesia because of drugs.

Jokowi said through an interpreter: "Implementation of the death penalty is 
carried out very cautiously."

He spoke after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who underlined 
Germany's opposition to capital punishment and its wish for Indonesia "not to 
implement it if possible."

(source: Associated Press)

*********************

German president urges abolition of Indonesia's death penalty


German President Joachim Gauck urged his Indonesian counterpart to abolish the 
country's death penalty during a meeting in Berlin on Monday, telling Joko 
Widodo that, especially when it comes to human rights, government heads must 
sometimes take the 1st step, according to attendees.

Reassuring Joko that Germany supports Indonesia's path towards more democracy, 
Gauck said that it's especially in times of transformation that wise social 
policy is needed to bring a society forward.

Gauck and Joko got into an intense discussion on the topic, with the Indonesian 
president arguing that the death penalty was still necessary to fight against 
drug-related crimes.

He added that with 85 % of the population supporting capital punishment, it was 
not up to him to go against the will of the majority.

Gauck said that Germany's relationship with Indonesia was especially important 
in the fight against radical Islamism, and that the archipelago showed that 
Islam and democracy are far from incompatible.

(source: DPA)






CHINA:

5 Hongkongers could face death penalty over one of China's biggest cocaine 
seizures----Police seized 400.5kg of cocaine hidden in flats occupied by Hong 
Kong suspects in Shenzhen


5 Hongkongers could face the death penalty along with 4 others arrested on the 
mainland and in Vietnam in connection with China's biggest seizure of cocaine 
in recent years.

Announcing details of the operation yesterday, mainland police said they seized 
400.5kg of the drug hidden in 2 flats occupied by the Hong Kong suspects in 
Shenzhen last month. The haul had an estimated street value of HK$600 million 
on the mainland.

Chinese woman, 67, accused of acting as drugs mule, travelling over 30 times 
across China with narcotics strapped on her.

Mainland police said they had smashed the drug-trafficking syndicate 
responsible, which was controlled by a Hong Kong drug kingpin and arranged a 
1-stop service - cross-border delivery, storage and distribution, according to 
the state-owned China News Service.'

Details were made public about a week before the International Drug Enforcement 
Conference is held in Lima, Peru. It is understood mainland public security 
officials will also attend to exchange intelligence with their counterparts 
from South American countries that are sources of cocaine.

The latest seizure was based on a tip-off received by Shenzhen police last 
month, with the Ministry of Public Security's narcotics division and the 
Guangdong Public Security Bureau playing coordinating roles.

Chinese man growing poppies on his roof to make drugs caught by police after 
posting videos of flowers online.

After identifying the key figures of the syndicate, Shenzhen police picked up 2 
of the Hongkongers in the mainland city's Futian district on March 24. They 
seized 140.2kg of cocaine from the flat the suspects were occupying.'

The next day, police arrested another Hong Kong man on the Shenzhen side at 
about 1am when he tried to return to Hong Kong through the Huanggang border 
checkpoint. In his rented flat, officers confiscated 260.3kg of cocaine.

With the help of Vietnamese police, another suspect was nabbed in Ho Chi Minh 
City on April 10 and handed over later to the mainland authorities.

On the same day, another 2 suspects were arrested in Taishan, Guangdong.

Another Hongkonger was arrested along with an 8th suspect on April 11 in 
Quanzhou, Fujian, and the last suspect was nabbed 2 days later in Taishan.

Some of the Hongkongers were said to have strong triad backgrounds.

Among the biggest seizures in the past, the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau in 
June 2008 seized 530kg of cocaine with an estimated value of 500 million yuan, 
the biggest haul since the establishment of modern China in 1949.

9 people were arrested in the bust, with the authorities believing they had cut 
off a supply chain from South America.

Hong Kong's biggest cocaine seizure was a 649kg haul worth HK$760 million in 
July 2012, which customs found in a cargo container from South America.

(source: South China Morning Post)