Drugs and the Death Penalty

By Richard Moore

Drug possession charges in some countries can result in the death penalty

With the news filled with images and stories about Schapelle Corby and the Bali 9 it is worth noting that in many countries of the world people found guilty on drug charges face the death penalty.

It can come in a number of ways - hanging or firing squad - or else in more enlightened places drug traffickers can get a life sentence in prison.

The key thing is that when you travel overseas you have to be careful about what you take in and out of countries, ensure you don't take anyone else's bag and you keep an eye on your own luggage.

Drug traffickers are sneaky, cunning, immoral scum who will use anyone to achieve their aims.

Once I helped an elderly lady carry her heavy bag into Bangkok airport. It was a natural thing to do and yet, afterwards, I thought 'how stupid was I'. That little old lady could well have been a courier who was looking to offload anything - including drugs - on someone.

It is a sad state of affairs, but it shows how easily things can happen.

In Morocco I can remember sitting on a beach and being offered a cheap stick of hashish. My first thought was this guy is a copper who just wants to suck a stupid foreigner into a drugs charge and get me to pay out either a bribe or cop serious trouble. No thanks I said and felt very comfortable in doing so.

In Schapelle Corby's case my years in journalism tell me she is an innocent victim of someone else's plan. If it was heroin - possibly, as people can be greedy - but marijuana? Why would you take dope into an area that is rife with the stuff? Doesn't make sense. But no matter what, she faces a very long time in prison - that is if the judges on her case don't decide to have her shot.

Her case highlights the need to be very careful and, in fact, I would just stay away from places that have such sentences. There are plenty of other beautiful regions to visit - why go to a place where you will put yourself at risk?

The case of the Bali 9 - Andrew Chan, 21 (Sydney), Si Yi Chen, 20 (Sydney), Michael William Czugaj, 19 (Brisbane), Renae Lawrence, 27 (Newcastle), Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, 27 (Brisbane), Matthew James Norman, 18 (Sydney), Scott Anthony Rush, 19 (Brisbane), Martin Eric Stephens, 29 (Wollongong), Myuran Sukumaran, 24 (Sydney) - is very different.

You have to think - what gullible or desperate kids are these to have got involved with such a plan? I have no doubt they will be sentenced to death - the evidence seems overwhelming. Mind you, I would trust the Indonesian justice system about as much as a drug-crazed street robber. Not one whit!

At the moment there are three other Australian citizens convicted on drugs charges and facing death. One is Tuong van Nguyen and he's in Singapore. Singapore is a place that rarely changes its mind on death sentences and more than 400 people have been executed since 1991. It has a higher execution rate than China. Also, Tran van Thanh and Nguyen van Chinh have been sentenced to death in Vietnam.

Others who have been charged and face the firing squad are Tran Thi Hong Loan, Mai Cong Thanh and Nguyen Manh Cong in Vietnam.

Three Australians have been executed overseas on drugs charges, the most infamous case being Brian Chambers and Kevin Barlow who were hanged in Malaysia by Dr Mahathir's court system. There were doubts over the guilt of at least one of them - they were accused of smuggling 141.9 grams of heroin - but Dr Mahathir was determined to show a doubting world that his corrupt officials could be tough on drugs.

The pair were weighed on scales by the executioner, the heavier you are the shorter the rope so your neck breaks properly and you don't strangle, and then stood bound side-by-side on connecting trapdoors. I'll not forget the TV images of their feet in the back of a vehicle after the execution.

In 1993, Queenslander Michael McAuliffe was hanged in Malaysia for drug offences - and like Chambers and Barlow no amount of political pressure could persuade Kuala Lumpur to commute the sentence.

The world pressure group Amnesty International opposes the death sentence in all cases saying the risk of error is too high and death leaves little room for appeal.

Related Articles:
Passport to Death

Links:
Death Penalty Info.org (U.S. website)