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.

(China Daily December 24, 2008)