Colombia asks China to reconsider death penalty for convicted nationals

Colombia on Wednesday again asked China to reconsider giving the death sentence to seven Colombians convicted for drug trafficking.

The convicted Colombians are expected to be sentenced on Monday. Drug traffickers caught in China usually receive the death penalty.

“We have asked the Chinese government to have another look at the cases. In Colombia the death sentence doesn’t exist, therefore we have asked that they be pardoned,” said the foreign minister, Maria Angela Holguin.

Although China and Colombia have signed bilateral agreements related to judicial and criminal matters, these do not cover the death penalty, extradition, nor the reparation of prisoners.

“When [Colombians] arrive there with drugs, they must understand that they are subject to Chinese law,” said Holguin, before reprimanding those in prison: “I hope that they realize the damage they have done to their lives and the lives of their families, carrying drugs to any country, but especially a country in which they know the death penalty exists.”

The Colombia government is expecting word from China about the fate of two Colombians already on death row, Guillermo Alvarez and Harold Sanchez, who will apparently be pardoned in the coming week, according to news website La Tarde.

MORE: Colombia asks China to review death sentence for drug trafficker

China executes more people than the rest of the world put together, with an alleged 3000 executions per year.

According to Colombian authorities, there are 113 Colombians imprisoned in China, 77 of which were convicted for drug-trafficking.

MORE: 11 Colombian ‘drug traffickers’ on death row in China