CHINA. EXECUTIONS IN RUN UP TO INTERNATIONAL ANTI-DRUG DAY

June 24, 2005: at least 14 convicted drug traffickers were executed in China, two days before the United Nations-sponsored International Anti-Drugs Day, state press reported. Twelve people were put to death immediately after their execution orders were read out by the intermediate court in Kunming city, southwestern China's Yunnan province, Xinhua news agency said. Ten of the executed were convicted of selling or transporting heroin in quantities ranging from 410 grams (14.6 ounces) to 7.7 kilograms (16.9 pounds). The other two executed murdered a drug trafficker during a deal gone wrong. In Hangzhou, in eastern Zhejiang province, two other convicted traffickers - both infected with HIV/AIDS - were executed after their sentences were read out at a public sentencing rally, Xinhua said in a separate report. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 24/06/2005)