7/7 Tass 80
(Adds details)
BEIJING, July 7 (Itar-Tass) —— A Russian citizen has been sentenced to death in China with a two-year delay in execution for an attempt to smuggle drugs, head of the consumer section of the Russian Embassy in Beijing, Leonid Ignatenko, told Itar-Tass on Thursday, July 7.
The man tried to import in China from a Central Asian country in May of the previous year 2.8 kilograms of heroin and was caught red-handed at the Urumqui airport. In November, the court in Urumqui found him guilty, and now the sentence was confirmed by China’s upper level court.
According to Chinese legislation, a death penalty with delayed execution may be changed for life or long-term imprisonment should the sentenced realises deeply the guilt and behaves perfectly.
Staff of Russia’s consular section had a meeting with the sentenced, Ignatenko said. Another meeting is due before he is sent to prison.