January 7, 2010

Asr’eh Iran website reports that ten Iranian who were caught by Chinese authorities and charged with transporting four to seven kilos of drugs,  have been sentenced to death and will be hung shortly.

According to the reporter from the central department who quoted official sources at the Iranian embassy in Beijing, currently there are a total of thirty seven Iranian citizens who have been arrested and found guilty of smuggling, ten of whom have been sentenced to death; eight of the Iranians are on death row in the Beijing prison and the other two are in prison in Guangzhou area of China.

These individuals were charged by Chinese police, for building compartments in their suitcases for transporting crack cocaine and methamphetamine crystal. According to Chinese law, possessing more than 40 grams of narcotics is a crime punishable by death and the government of China carries out these sentences without exception or delay.

Based on reports from the same sources within the Iranian embassy in Beijing, another twenty two Iranians, who are mainly from the Fiyoodj clan (northern Iran) are charged with pickpocketing and using forged passports, and they have been sentenced to eight to eighteen years in prison. Finally another individual is charged with murder and has been sentenced to life in prison.

In order to show the severity of the punishment where drug smugglers are concerned, last week China executed a British citizen who was charged with smuggling.

Compiled and translated from Persian to English by Planet Iran staff.