Pubdate: Wed, 24 Dec 2008
Source: China Daily (China)
Copyright: 2008 China Daily
Contact: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/static_e/Contact_Us.html
Website: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4379
Author: Xie Chuanjiao
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

POOR DRUG SELLERS 'DESERVE LENIENCY'

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) said yesterday that  people driven 
by poverty to join drug traffickers'  gangs but not playing important 
roles may not be given  the death sentence.

"Some of the people involved in drug trafficking are  from the lowest 
income group or are unemployed they are  paid small amounts (of 
money) to peddle or carry  drugs," says an SPC guideline, issued to 
lower courts.

Unlike drug dealers and gang leaders they have very  little power and 
are not considered as "harmful" to  society.

"All courts should deal with them with leniency,  instead of simply 
punishing them according to the  quantity of drugs" they are found 
carrying or peddling,  the guideline says.

While deciding on capital punishment, courts should  consider 
comprehensively the quantity of drug carried  by the accused, how 
he/she joined a gang and his/her  subjective culpability.

At present, people found guilty of selling or carrying  more than 50 
g of heroin are given the death sentence,  but if dealt leniently 
some of them could be spared  capital punishment, the SPC said.

The mother of a teenage boy undergoing soccer training  abroad was 
sentenced to death for trafficking drugs in  Yunnan province in June. 
She got involved in the crime  to earn some extra money so that she 
could pay for her  son's training.

The crime was her first offense, and she was caught  before she could 
complete the deal. The local court had  handed her the death sentence 
because the quantity of  drug she was carrying was far more than 50 g.

Her son decided to cut short his training overseas  after coming to 
know of his mother's crime.

"He is still a teenager and might have never recovered  from the 
shock if his mother were executed," said Gao  Jinghong, presiding 
judge of the SPC's 3rd Criminal Law  Court.

The SPC "looked into the case carefully and decided to  overturn the 
death sentence handed to the woman by the  lower court", he said.

The woman's behavior in prison has been excellent after  her sentence 
was changed, and her son is grateful to  the judiciary for its 
leniency, Gao said.

Qiu Baochang, dean of Beijing-based Huijia Law Firm,  said such 
considerations make sentences more logical  and humane.

"In remote, not-so-well developed areas where crime is  high, some 
people are forced to peddle drugs to make a  living. It would be 
unfair if they are punished as  severely as those who organize such 
crimes," Qiu said.
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