China pronounces death sentences to drug dealers

The sentences were handed down by courts in Shanghai, China's economic hub, Shenzen, a booming city, and in Fuzhou and Hefei in more than 20 drug trafficking cases on Monday and Tuesday, the state media reported.     

Among the executed was a drug dealer from self-ruled Taiwan, who was executed in an eastern province yesterday after the country's apex court approved a lower court's sentence against him.     

"As the number and scale of drug dealing cases have been increasing in recent years, the court has raised its strength to crack down," Zhang Zhijie, Deputy Chief Judge of the Second Intermediate People's Court of Shanghai Municipality, was quoted as saying by official Xinhua news agency.     

The Shanghai court handed down sentences in four drug trafficking cases on Monday, giving capital punishment in three of them. Two others were sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court at Shenzhen in Guangdong province which pronounced sentences in seven cases on Monday, it said.     

Executions have been stepped up ahead of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls tomorrow, to reflect China's determination to battle drug-related crimes.     

Beijing has often come under criticism from human rights groups for resorting to capital punishment frequently, but it maintains that death penalty is being used sparingly and judiciously with public support in its favour.     

"New challenges have been rising as new types of drugs are increasing. The mass sentence aims at increasing public awareness," Tang Yigan, the Intermediate People's Court of Hefei Municipality deputy chief judge said.