FURIOUS Kenyan lawmakers have submitted a parliamentary motion to seize British-owned land, if the former colonial power does not rescind its ban on multimillion-dollar exports of the "herbal high" khat, reports said yesterday. MPs from Kenya's central Meru region, the country's key khat-growing area, urged the government to consider repossessing farms occupied by British farmers. The motion read in parliament on Wednesday called for "compulsorily acquiring all land owned or acquired by the British," The Standard newspaper reported. [continues 107 words]
TEN people have been arrested after Police and suspected members of a drug gang clashed in Lusaka's notorious Chibolya Township yesterday. A failed raid by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) sparked the violence which also left two private vehicles torched during the skirmish. Police and the DEC have over the years struggled to clean up drug activities in Chibolya, leaving the illicit drug dealers to operate at will, selling cannabis, cocaine and heroin, among others. Lusaka Province commissioner of police, Lemmy Kajoba reiterated that the law enforcement agencies would re-strategise on a soon-to-be embarked drug operation in Chibolya. [continues 278 words]
TUNIS: Tunisia's tough law on cannabis use, laying down jail terms of at least one year, is "destroying lives" and overcrowding prisons, according to a group of activists urging reform. Since the law was passed more than 20 years ago, "tens of thousands of Tunisians have been convicted," the group said in an open letter to the government. "But the number of people sentenced and the number of users continue to grow, proving that this law is not a deterrent. It has failed," said the group, named Al-Sajin 52 (or Prisoner 52) as the law is called. [continues 556 words]
TUNIS, May 7 - Tunisia's tough law on cannabis use, laying down jail terms of at least one year, is "destroying lives" and overcrowding prisons, according to a group of activists urging reform. Since the law was passed more than 20 years ago, "tens of thousands of Tunisians have been convicted," the group said in an open letter to the government. "But the number of people sentenced and the number of users continue to grow, proving that this law is not a deterrent. It has failed," said the group, named Al Sajin 52 (or Prisoner 52) as the law is called. [continues 557 words]
Cancer-stricken IFP MP Mario Ambrosini's heartfelt plea for the decriminalisation of cannabis for medicinal purposes comes at a time when use of the drug is increasing becoming acceptable worldwide. While cannabis remains illegal in most countries, the US states of Colorado and Washington have recently legalised use and possession. In December Uruguay became the first country to legalise the sale, cultivation and distribution of cannabis. Medicinal use is allowed in 20 US states and a number of countries, including France, Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain and the Czech Republic. [continues 201 words]
IN AN EMOTIONAL plea for a change to the law, IFP MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini yesterday admitted he was using dagga as part of his fight against the terminal cancer he was diagnosed with almost a year ago. "I was supposed to die many months ago. I am here because I had the courage of seeking alternatives in Italy in the form of bicarbonate of soda and here in South Africa in the form of cannabis, marijuana, dagga," Oriani-Ambrosini said, adding: "It is a crime against humanity not to allow this." [continues 437 words]
DAGGA Party president Jeremy Acton has rallied to the defence of a man sent to prison this week for the possession of dagga in Coffee Bay, saying imprisonment was a transgression of his cultural rights as a Rastafarian. Gustav Nowers, 28, who recently arrived from Cape Town with his partner Odette Oberholzer, pictured, to teach on the Wild Coast, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for possession of 0.68g of dagga in the Kwaaiman Magistrate's Court in Mqanduli on Tuesday. [continues 200 words]
TEENAGERS who regularly smoke cannabis suffer long-lasting brain damage and are in much greater danger of developing schizophrenia. US researchers who conducted a study say the drug is particularly dangerous for a group of people who have a genetic susceptibility to the mental health disorder - and it could be the trigger for it. Asaf Keller, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, says the results highlight the dangers of teenagers smoking cannabis during their formative years. The study exposed young mice to the active ingredient in marijuana for 20 days. It found that their brain activity was impaired, with the damage continuing into adulthood. [continues 219 words]
WEED, dope, marijuana, cannabis they're words that strike fear into the hearts of policymakers. Except in Uruguay, where last Wednesday the House of Representatives passed a bill to legalise marijuana. The bill is expected to be approved by the Senate and signed by President Jose Mujica as the initiative to legalise the drug was not driven by activist groups, but by the president himself. Once approved, Uruguay will become the first country in the world to legalise the growing, selling and recreational use of marijuana. The world is watching to see what the impact of recreational drug use will be, but in the background the liberalisation may pave the way for a shift in global industries. [continues 503 words]
NEEDLE exchange for drug addicts. Shooting galleries. Drug substitution therapy. These are just some of the practices associated with the internationally controversial "harm reduction" philosophy, which has NGOs working with drug addicts angered over the possible damage implementing such a strategy could have on increasing drug dependency in the country. The National Drug Master Plan 2013-2017 was approved by the cabinet on June 26 this year, to be implemented with immediate effect by the Central Drug Authority (CDA). And harm reduction as well as supply-and-demand reduction is one of the strategies that will be applied. [continues 535 words]
The country's hardline ruling party wants to legalise marijuana cultivation and give the economy a $10bn boost. Souhail Karam reports from Rabat Mustapha Tahiri, a cannabis farmer in northern Morocco, looks forward to the day he can sell his crop without worrying about being jailed. If politicians in the country's Islamist-l ed government have their way, that isn't too far off. "I'd be a lot happier if the state leaves us alone, stops the arrests and lets us grow the herb," said Tahiri, a father of seven whose house in the village of Beni Gmil was raided by anti-drug security forces last year. He said he'd be willing to sell his cannabis resin for 7,500 dirhams (UKP577) per kilo, about half of what he is now getting from middlemen. [continues 833 words]
CONGRATULATIONS on an articulately written article, "Dagga: What's the fuss about?" (July 7), but a few things need to be pointed out. First, the article fails to raise any issues related to cannabis usage other than that a few who use it might some day move on to other substances. This can be likened to saying that someone who drinks coffee or, dare I say, alcohol, will later start using other drugs. This is ridiculous. As for prohibition, it is a violation of basic human rights and just does not work. Thousands of taxpayers' money and a vast amount of police resources are pumped into the massive dagga prohibition engine while rape, murder and other actual crimes fall by the wayside. [continues 232 words]
Kebbi state has been identified as a drug cartel in recent times as notorious drug barons have found it a haven for their illicit trade. YAHYA SARKI writes on the efforts of the NDLEA and Voluntary Youth Groups to curb the menace. Recently, the 2013 International Day against Drug Abuse and Drug Trafficking was held with the theme, "New Psychoactive Substance: Make Health Your 'New High' in Life, not drugs". This day was set aside by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 42/112 of 7th December, 1987 in honour of one Lin Zexu who dismantled the opium trade in Guangdong just before the first opium war in China. The purpose of this day which was established in 1987 is to create a society free of illegal drug use and trafficking. The use of illicit drugs and trafficking has continued to pose great health danger to humanity in terms of safety and wellbeing, especially the young people. [continues 830 words]
NDLEA figures: Lagos, Kano, 278 suspects/1200kg of hemp; Oyo, 207 suspects/2,631kg of hemp; Zamfara, 322 suspects, Osun, 219 suspects/85 hectares of hemp farms/6,022kg of hemp; Enugu, 70 suspects/595kg of hemp APART from those ubiquitous white painkiller tablets, Indian hemp is gradually emerging as the most abused drug in Nigeria. Anyone who doubts this only needs to stroll into any of the motor parks, liquor joints, abandoned buildings (public and private), mechanic workshops, major bus stops and spots where railway lines pass through markets or parks in Nigeria's major towns, to mention just a few. [continues 1828 words]
IT MAY be illegal in Durban, but in California patients are puffing up a storm with Durban Poison courtesy of a doctor's prescription. Durban Poison a Durban strain of cannabis is, according to a Californian company, Craft Research Alliance for Therapeutics (Craft), becoming the cannabis of choice for patients. Craft provides medical cannabis, which is certified as Clean Green, meaning it is grown organically, and free from pesticides. California decriminalised the use of dagga in January 2011. Californians with cancer, Aids and other chronic illnesses, can grow or obtain marijuana for medical purposes when recommended by a doctor. [continues 142 words]
Four organizations at the Coast have struck a partnership deal that will see them work together to rehabilitate thousands of drug addicts in the region. The four, including Reach Out Centre, Muslims for Human Rights, Mewa Hospital and the Shariff Nassir Foundation have set aside an initial budget of Sh8 million for the programme. The budget may however increase according to the success and needs of the rehabilitation programme. There are about 60,000 addicts of various drugs at the Coast with between 300-500 new addicts annually. [continues 278 words]
A 45-YEAR-OLD peasant farmer of Masaiti has told the Ndola Magistrate's Court that the marijuana which Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) officers seized from his house, was meant to be used as medicine for his sick child. This is in a case in which Henry Mumba is charged with trafficking in a psychotropic substance. The offence is contrary to Section 6 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act Chapter 96 of the Laws of Zambia, as read with Statutory Instrument number 119 of 1995. [continues 285 words]
TO mark this year's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has warned secondary school students across the country against indulging in illicit drug consumption. The agency warned Nigerian children and youths to desist from all appearances of drugs. In Lagos, the government in conjunction with NDLEA organized a seminar for the students tagged: "Make health your 'new high' in life not drugs" at the Immaculate Heart Secondary School, Maryland. The event was attended by many secondary schools in Lagos. [continues 722 words]
THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the weekend lamented the inability of Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Ministry to comply with the provisions of Section 45 of its Act, a development, which it said has resulted in non-accurate statistics of Nigerians in jail abroad for drug related offences. Section 45 of the NDLEA Act mandates all Heads of Nigerian Diplomatic Missions abroad to furnish NDLEA with the statistics of Nigerians in jail abroad for drug related offences every six months. [continues 326 words]
Police in Kiambu are investigating a school has been accused of colluding with a clinic to steal from parents. Irene Wairimu, a parent at Gathiruini Boys Secondary School in Githunguri, said the administration sent for her and told her to take her son to a certain clinic to be tested for drugs. The deputy headteacher gave her the doctor's contacts saying they refer students suspected of abusing drugs to Freedom from Addiction Organisation in Kiambu town At the facility, Wairimu was charged Sh5,000 for the test and Sh8,000 for 10 counselling sessions. She grew suspicious when the doctor in charge, James Karuri, refused to give her the boy's results because she did not have the Sh8,000 to pay for counselling. [continues 203 words]
The impoverished community of Westbury will petition President Jacob Zuma to broaden the reach of the government's multi-sectoral anti-narcotics and drugs cleanup campaign, which began in Eldorado Park, to the West Rand. Since Zuma's presidential visit to Eldo's on May 14, 133 drug related arrests have been made and 23 "lolly lounges", where young girls are prostituted to drug addicts, have been shut down. The Westbury community wants similar action in its neighbourhood. Community Care Foundation director Mike Fetane yesterday said: "We have lists of drug dealers that we submitted to the police and nothing has happened. We have not seen any arrests. Everything that is happening in Eldo's is also happening here. Government's programme against drugs should spread. We want Zuma to intervene." A public meeting will be held at the Westbury Community Hall on Sunday and a petition will be signed and submitted to the Office of the Presidency. [end]
ISSAGUEN, Morocco, May 29, (AFP): "If you try to grow other crops here they will fail," says Ahmed, surrounded by lush green fields of cannabis, the illegal plant he and thousands of other poor farmers in Morocco's Rif Mountains depend on. The country's most notorious export has been cultivated in the traditionally rebellious northern region for centuries, where the climate for growing cannabis, or "kif", is considered ideal above an altitude of about 1,200 metres. Along the stunning valley that runs between the towns of Taounate and Issaguen, women work in the fields tending this year's emerging crop, while young dealers ply the 70-kilometre (43-mile) road in their cars looking for customers. [continues 569 words]
IN THE "war on drugs", drugs seem to be winning. As the approach to global drug policy is characterised by prohibition, to many it seems obvious that the only way forward is to substitute it with policies sometimes referred to as "legalisation" combined with "public health". If legalisation was a "magic bullet", it would have been used years ago. A more nuanced and evidence-based approach is required. This has now been provided by the Organisation for American States in a study that explores a range of drug policy options for the hemisphere. [continues 115 words]
COME election time next year, Jeremy Acton, leader of the Dagga Party, hopes to have his face printed on ballot papers along with those of the political bigwigs. Acton is working flat out to ensure that his party garners the 500 signatures required to contest the poll nationally. Currently he is 200 names short and does not have a cent in the kitty. Acton started the party after "listening to the herb". His conscience told him to speak up about the "lies" perpetuated about the plant. [continues 138 words]
The Minister in charge of general duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, has praised teachers for their role in nurturing children and asked them to fight drug use in schools. He made the remarks while passing out 618 head teachers of secondary schools and heads of teacher-training institutions at Merryland High School in Entebbe yesterday. The ceremony marked the end of the National Patriotism Corps Retreat. Kabwegyere noted that there is increasing consumption of drugs in schools. [continues 278 words]
PROGRESS towards a sensible drugs policy is glacially slow, but the latest report from the Home Affairs select committee on Britain's ineffectual prohibition laws suggests the balance of opinion at Westminster may be tilting towards common sense at last. Sad to say, the government shows few signs of following suit. Britain's existing laws are indeed, as committee chairman Keith Vaz puts it, "not working". It may be that drug use has dipped slightly in recent years. But one in five secondary school children still admits to having experimented with illegal substances. [continues 238 words]
THE Drug Enforcement Commission wishes to respond to the article that appeared in the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper on 3rd September 2012 entitled: 'Legalising marijuana; to smoke or not to smoke?' written by Professor Kenneth Mwenda, and to the letter written by Robert Sharpe addressed to the Editor of the same newspaper on 6th September 2012 on the subject of marijuana. It was sad to note that, to a large extent, Professor Mwenda's article was skewed towards inciting Rastafarians to push for the legalisation of cultivation, sale and use of cannabis in Zambia. For instance, the author questioned why Rastafarians in Zambia cannot bring a court order before the High Court against the law that prohibits the cultivation, smoking, selling or buying of cannabis. [continues 1058 words]
THE Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has maintained that marijuana is an illegal substance that shall continue to attract punishment by law in Zambia. The DEC was responding to an opinion authored by US-based Zambian Professor Kenneth Mwenda who wants to see the drug legalised. Marijuana is a dry, shredded green, brown or grey mixture of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves obtained from the hemp plant scientifically known as Cannabis sativa. DEC public relations officer Samuel Silomba told the Zambia Daily Mail in a statement that there is no credible research both locally and abroad that supports Prof. Mwenda's desire to have the drug legalised. [continues 388 words]
A young man sells marijuana to raise school fees and he gets arrested, tried before the courts and is sentenced to two months in prison. That he did something wrong is not in dispute but the fact that he had to resort to an illegal way of raising money to educate himself should be something that should worry all of us, more so, our political leaders. There are many more young men who are surviving through similar entrepreneurial skills. If people are determined to grow and sell marijuana because there is a ready market, maybe we should be thinking beyond the feel good mood-enhancing capacity of the herb and, in the spirit of empowerment, set up pharmaceutical companies. [continues 940 words]
Both the dangers of smoking cannabis and its potential health benefits have been a source of controversy for many years. The latest study on the drug suggested that heavy and prolonged cannabis smoking as a young person can result in a permanently lower IQ, reports Sade Oguntola. Persistent use of marijuana when the brain is undergoing critical development may have toxic effects on brain cells. Of particular worry is the permanence of these effects among people who began smoking marijuana in adolescence. Even after these subjects stopped using marijuana for a year, its adverse effects persisted. [continues 1074 words]
In a Huffington Post article titled, Marijuana legalisation: More 100 college professors express support for Colorado's legal plot measure, published online on August 28, 2012, Matt Ferner reports that: "The more than 100 professors represent many different fields of study from law, health, economics and criminal justice from various universities around the nation including some professors from CSU as well as former colleagues of President Obama's during his time as a professor at University of Chicago Law School." Fermer continues, as he cites a professorial source: "... 'The time has come to take a more rational approach to marijuana policy,' Thomas Ginsburg, University of Chicago Law School professor, said in a statement. [continues 1400 words]
Addicts who are trying to quit their addictions have pointed out various places in Atteridgeville where the infamous homemade nyaope drug is sold. A group of youngsters between the ages of 16 and 25, who have been using the drug for more than six years, have spoken out about their life of hell. All they want now is to help eradicate nyaope, which makes users aggressive and violent, from their community. "Kwape/nyaope is easily accessible in the township. On every corner there is a dealer so it is difficult for one to get off the drug. There are more than 10 houses here that sell the drug," said self confessed nyaope user Karabo Mphela. [continues 757 words]
PIGGS PEAK, Swaziland - After her daughters died, Khathazile took in her 11 orphaned grandchildren without hesitation. It is what a gogo, or grandmother, does in a country where the world's highest H.I.V. infection rate has left a sea of motherless children. "God will help us," she said. Perhaps. But Khathazile has some insurance in case divine intervention fails: Swazi Gold, a highly potent and valuable strain of marijuana that is sought after in the thriving drug market of next-door South Africa. In a field deep in the forest, atop a distant hill in this arid corner of tiny Swaziland, Khathazile grows Swazi Gold to keep her growing brood of grandchildren fed, clothed and in school. [continues 910 words]
"Tik messes with the heads of the foot soldiers," a source closely involved with the gangs told The New Age. According to him the violent behaviour created by the use of this designer drug makes it impossible for gang leaders to properly control their members and to stem the recent spate of killings and turf wars on the Cape Flats. "There is no discipline left." He explained that tik is increasingly becoming a serious problem in the tight and strict gang culture in the Western Cape. His main concern is that the gangsters on the streets do not heed the gangster rules that nobody shoots unless the orders come from the top. [continues 313 words]
The Western Cape department of social development has embarked on a visionary project to provide a social crime prevention and upliftment programme for the young people who live in the drug, and crime-ridden towns and suburbs of the province. The New Age last Thursday evening witnessed the enthusiasm and dedication of 180 young girls, who had just completed the three-month upliftment programme at their graduation ceremony at the Chrysalis Academy in Tokai, Cape Town. "These are all girls from gang-infested areas who had somehow fallen through the cracks," social development MEC Albert Fritz told TNA. [continues 341 words]
The ceasefire serves no purpose. Our people must unite and stand together against this threat "IT is just a matter of time then we will come knocking on your doors in the fancy suburbs where you are living," Pagad's national coordinator, Abdus-salaam Ebrahim, warned the drug lords this week. The People Against Gangsterism and Drugs' (Pagad) leader told the New Age in an interview at its headquarters in Athlone, Cape Town, that Pagad is not a Muslim organisation, but a movement for the people. [continues 402 words]
The killing fields on the Cape Flats are all about drugs and a turf war on behalf of the stinking rich drug lords living in comfort and safety in the upmarket suburbs of the city of Cape Town. They live there as "respected" citizens rubbing shoulders with law abiding people on Fridays at the mosques, on Saturdays in the synagogues and on Sundays at church. Organised crime have now grown into a sophisticated "business venture" of bartering between the main international suppliers of the raw materials for the manufacturing of designer drugs in South Africa, and rhino horn, perlemoen and shark fins. [continues 345 words]
The Western Cape is home to one of the most diverse cultures in the country with most of the nightclubs in the CBD owned by Jewish businessmen. They hire the Congolese and Moroccans as bouncers. The Congolese are regarded as fearless, loyal and also much more disciplined due to their military background. The Congolese and Moroccans are the first line of defence, "protecting" and ruling the underworld of Cape Town. They are the strong-arm bouncers and bodyguards at the night spots and for the mob bosses. [continues 404 words]
With an estimated 300 000 people using more than half a gram of tik a day, more than 150kg of this designer drug is needed to supply the demand for it in the greater Cape Town area per day. Selling at street level for more than R30 a "straw" (less than half a gram) explains the cut throat gang wars being fought for this very lucrative drug market. Crystal Methamphetamine-popularly known as "tik" is chemically related to amphetamine and is known for the violence it triggers among its users. [continues 305 words]
Several MPs, high profile businessmen and celebrities are under investigation over drug trafficking and money laundering. The Police confirmed that at least three MPs are under investigation. Among them is Tonny Kipoi, for Bubulo West. "Yes, his file is on my table and we are looking for him over drug trafficking," said the commissioner in charge of Narcotics, Amadia Fabian. Kipoi reportedly went missing after the Criminal Investigations Department started probing him. He last signed attendance in Parliament on May 17 and has so far missed 25 consecutive parliamentary sittings without permission. [continues 265 words]
Experts have disclosed that about 27, 000 people have mental disorder in The Gambia and that it is estimated that half of that number have been caused by the use of cannabis. This disclosure was made recently during a symposium on drug abuse situation in the Gambia organised by the National Drugs Enforcement Agency (NDEA). The World Health Organisation (WHO) representative at the forum, Dawda Samba, said mental health and advocacy programme describes illicit drugs as chemical substance that are taken without medical prescription and have the ability to harm the person's physical, mental, and social health. [continues 444 words]
The increasing number of drug-related cases in the country is worrisome, and a cause for concern for religious scholars, state and mental health officials, who all called for a concerted effort to curb the menace. At a forum convened by the National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDEA) at the weekend on the drug situation in The Gambia, religious scholars among others dilated on the devastating effects of drug abuse. The forum, which brought together panelist in the persons of Dr Omar Jah, deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of the Gambia, Reverend Gabriel Allen, secretary of the Inter Church/Inter Faith sub-committee of the Gambia Christian Council, SH Bakun, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) among others, was held at the Kainifing Municipal Council hall in Kanifing. [continues 331 words]
The National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDMA) is on the move. Since the launching of operation bulldozer, the Agency has also stepped up efforts to ensure that drugs and drug peddlers have no room in our society.More arrests have been made and even though it appears drug peddlers are changing tactics, the narcotics agency has shown them that they can run but they can never hide. What is however disheartening is that despite all efforts by the government to ensure that the country becomes drug free, some youths are still actively engaged in this nefarious trade. Almost all those nabbed by the NDEA are youths and recently the Agency revealed that some 300 young people are in their custody for being in position of illicit drugs. [continues 246 words]
A Royal Canadian Navy commander says he believes drugs that were intercepted by a Royal Canadian Navy vessel in the Gulf of Aden had links to terrorist organizations. Cmdr. Wade Carter of the HMCS Charlottetown said in a conference call Friday that the frigate intercepted an illicit drug shipment in the gulf on the west side of the Arabian Sea, north of Somalia. The commander says about 270 kilograms of hashish was captured on May 7 when a team from the ship boarded a small vessel, though no arrests were made. [continues 65 words]
Police Anti-Drug Unit head Godfrey Nzowa and his team deserve praise for their dedication to tracing the movement of illegal narcotic drugs countrywide. The unit impounded a record 210 kilogrammes of heroin and arrested four suspects in Lindi Municipality on Thursday. In September, they seized 97 kilogrammes of heroin worth Sh4.3 billion and arrested three Tanzanians and an Iranian suspect in Tanga.Two Pakistanis were arrested with 179 kilogrammes at Mbezi in Dar es Salaam in February. The latest development confirms the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report that drug traffickers have turned some African countries, including Tanzania, into a cost-effective route for heroin shipment to Europe and elsewhere. [continues 108 words]
This week's stories about South African drug mules in far-away countries resuscitated a deliberately forgotten episode of my life a visit to a prison. In 1998, while employed as a senior writer for a weekend publication, Correctional Services authorities granted me access to a group of women serving long jail terms at Sun City prison south of Joburg. As I walked through the female section of the prison in my jeans and running shoes, I attracted stares, waves and smiles from female prisoners young and old, black and white with the same magnetic force. [continues 1049 words]
No margin of error is acceptable when it comes to the death penalty. This is why the gallows, lethal injection, firing squad or any other means of judicial killing should be forbidden. Morality of executions aside, the finality and the possibility of even the smallest mistake, make capital punishment unacceptable. So it was in Janice Linden's case, where Chinese officials put her to death on Monday after airport authorities found 3kg of methamphetamine in her luggage three years ago. She apparently never admitted guilt, suggesting that the tik might have been planted. As long as there was a sliver of doubt about this, and any plausibility in her protestations of innocence, she should not have been executed. [continues 198 words]
'You must come and see me soon." These were the tearful words of Janice Linden to her two sisters, Nomalizwi Mhlophe and Priscilla Mthalane, during a 45-minute visit at Guandong prison in China, the day before she was executed by lethal injection. She was not aware that she was going to die and one of the conditions of the visit was that her sisters from Durban were not allowed to tell her. Linden, 36 was arrested three years ago at the Baiyun International Airport, in China after 3kg of tik (methamphetamine) was found in her luggage. [continues 726 words]
China is not alone in imposing the death sentence, but it is by far the most enthusiastic proponent of state-sanctioned executions. The execution yesterday of a South African woman for drug smuggling added to a number which, while never officially revealed, is widely believed to dwarf the rest of the world combined. China does not publish statistics on the number of people it executes annually, but Amnesty International estimates it to be in the thousands. Among those executed this year was Janice Linden of Durban, put to death yesterday after being convicted of smuggling 3kg of methamphetamine into the country in 2008. [continues 106 words]
THE execution yesterday in China of a South African for drug smuggling brings the horror of the death penalty close to home. Janice Linden of Durban was put to death after being convicted of smuggling 3kg of methamphetamine into the country in 2008. China is not alone in the world in imposing the death sentence, but it is by far the most enthusiastic proponent of state-sanctioned executions. China does not publish statistics on the number of people executed annually, but Amnesty International estimates it to be in the thousands, though earlier this year the number of crimes carrying the death penalty in China was reduced by 13 to 55. The number of executions every year is widely believed to dwarf those in all other countries combined. [continues 233 words]
Inside Africa
