06 July 2007 :

according to official Vietnamese Government sources, four men condemned for trafficking drugs in Vietnam were executed yesterday in Hanoi. The men were accused of trafficking 35 kg of heroin in the north of the country and their executions were carried out immediately after the trial. Two days ago, sources at the Hanoi Court announced the death sentences of another five people, including a woman, for trafficking 5 kg of heroin. The five were convicted in a week long trial, during which another three were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Regarding the escalation of death sentences and executions for drugs in Vietnam, Sergio D'Elia, Secretary of Hands Off Cain, and Marco Perduca, Secretary of the International Anti-Prohibitionist League, said: “These current executions take Vietnam to the level of China and Iran and their ‘war on drugs’, a war that finds its legal basis in the prohibition derived from the three UN Conventions on this matter.”
The two radical members then addressed the Italian Foreign Affairs Minister, Gianfranco Fini, a “fierce defender of the need to increase the punishment in Italy for the personal consumption of so called light drugs”. “We invite Minister Fini, a supporter of the UN Moratorium on capital punishment, to keep in mind the example of justice that promotes worsening the penalty for behaviour that does not imply harm to others."
“Moreover, we ask the Italian Foreign Minister to use official channels to raise the issue of capital punishment, in particular regarding non violent crimes, in the bilateral agenda with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."