The resort to the death penalty for drug offenses continued unabated this week and arguably scaled new heights as an Indian court sentenced a man to death for selling hash and an Iranian court handed out the same sentence to a chronic drunk. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia lopped the heads off another pair of drug traffickers.
As reported by the death penalty abolitionist group Hands Off Cain [6], an Iranian court sentenced a 22-year-old man to death for repeatedly violating the Islamic Republic's ban on drinking alcohol. The man, identified only by his first name, Mohsen, has confessed and expressed remorse, his lawyer told the Iranian state news agency. Under Iran's Sharia law, a person caught drinking four times can face capital punishment, but the resort to the ultimate sanction for drinking is reportedly rare.
Meanwhile, India made a rare appearance among the ranks of the death-dealing countries this week when a Mumbai court meted out a death sentence for selling 20 kilos of hashish [7]. Under Indian law, a second drug trafficking offense can merit the death penalty, but the sentence handed down to Gulam Malik was the first one in the city of Mumbai.
And Saudi Arabia kept up on its bid to be a world leader in drug executions, with the executions in Mecca last week of two people for drug trafficking. Pakistani citizen Ghulam Nawaz was beheaded after being found guilty of trafficking, as was Nigerian woman Tawa Ibrahim. Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law that prescribes the death sentence for murder, apostasy, rape, drug trafficking, highway robbery, sabotage and armed robbery.
The resort to the death penalty appears to be a violation of international law. An international campaign to end the practice is getting underway. Read about it here [8].