POOR DRUG SELLERS 'DESERVE LENIENCY'

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) said yesterday that people driven
by poverty to join drug traffickers' gangs but not playing important
roles may not be given the death sentence.

"Some of the people involved in drug trafficking are from the lowest
income group or are unemployed they are paid small amounts (of
money) to peddle or carry drugs," says an SPC guideline, issued to
lower courts.

Unlike drug dealers and gang leaders they have very little power and
are not considered as "harmful" to society.

"All courts should deal with them with leniency, instead of simply
punishing them according to the quantity of drugs" they are found
carrying or peddling, the guideline says.

While deciding on capital punishment, courts should consider
comprehensively the quantity of drug carried by the accused, how
he/she joined a gang and his/her subjective culpability.

At present, people found guilty of selling or carrying more than 50
g of heroin are given the death sentence, but if dealt leniently
some of them could be spared capital punishment, the SPC said.

The mother of a teenage boy undergoing soccer training abroad was
sentenced to death for trafficking drugs in Yunnan province in June.
She got involved in the crime to earn some extra money so that she
could pay for her son's training.

The crime was her first offense, and she was caught before she could
complete the deal. The local court had handed her the death sentence
because the quantity of drug she was carrying was far more than 50 g.

Her son decided to cut short his training overseas after coming to
know of his mother's crime.

"He is still a teenager and might have never recovered from the
shock if his mother were executed," said Gao Jinghong, presiding
judge of the SPC's 3rd Criminal Law Court.

The SPC "looked into the case carefully and decided to overturn the
death sentence handed to the woman by the lower court", he said.

The woman's behavior in prison has been excellent after her sentence
was changed, and her son is grateful to the judiciary for its
leniency, Gao said.

Qiu Baochang, dean of Beijing-based Huijia Law Firm, said such
considerations make sentences more logical and humane.

"In remote, not-so-well developed areas where crime is high, some
people are forced to peddle drugs to make a living. It would be
unfair if they are punished as severely as those who organize such
crimes," Qiu said.