VIETNAM: 30 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING IN SINGLE TRIAL

January 20, 2014: A Vietnamese court sentenced 30 people to death for trafficking heroin at the conclusion of a mass trial.
State media reported the 21 men and 9 women were convicted of being part of four connected rings that smuggled nearly 2 tons of heroin from Laos into Vietnam and then on to China.
The 20-day trial in the northern province of Quang Ninh involved the largest number of defendants sentenced to death in a single trial in Vietnamese court history, said provincial court chief Ngo Duc.
It was not immediately possible to reach lawyers for the men. (Sources: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS , 20/01/2014)